In the southwestern border area of West Frisia, troops are stationed here to guard against the army of the original Frisian nobles who escaped for a long time. The former Frisian nobles were not stupid. They heard that the enemy had mobilized 4,000 soldiers and horses. Without even thinking about it, they agreed to Marin's original suggestion—run away.
When the Saxon army rushed to the southwestern border, all the 2,000 soldiers and horses of the original Frisian nobles withdrew into the territory of the Principality of Gedes, and took away a large amount of food and livestock. However, they also robbed the food and property of the local people, leaving a group of local people with nothing.
After the Saxon army arrived at the border, they wanted to collect food on the spot according to the rules of the Middle Ages, but there was no trace of food, and the locals were digging wild vegetables and fishing from freshwater rivers...
In desperation, Prince George had no choice but to send someone to collect food elsewhere. Now, the autumn harvest has just ended, and the granaries everywhere are full, so it is easy to requisition.
At the same time, Prince George is not stupid. He realized that the enemy might have fled into the territory of the Geddes Company. However, the Principality of Gerdes is not a weak country. If Saxony is fully mobilized, it will certainly be able to hold down the Principality of Gerdes. However, West Frisia was too far away from the Saxon mainland to mobilize enough troops to suppress the Geddes. It was the tens of thousands of troops who attacked West Frisia last time, or they asked the Elector of Saxony to borrow thousands of talents to gather them together.
Usually, in West Frisia, George can use up to 5,000 troops to fight. Therefore, facing the Geddes Corporation, George is also under great pressure.
Therefore, he did not easily chase into the Principality of Gedes, but he excluded the envoys and sent an envoy to the Principality of Gedes, asking the other party to allow him to lead troops into the Principality of Gedes to wipe out the rebels who were fleeing.
But while he was waiting for the reply from the Principality of Geddes, there was a sudden shocking news from the east—East Frisian County has changed hands...
Marin blocked Emden for ten days, but Emden is a busy commercial port after all. So, ten days later, Marin realized that the blockade could no longer be achieved, so he removed the blockade. Then, the news began to spread slowly. After the Saxon officials in Groningen heard the news, they first sent someone to Emden to inquire about the news, and then sent someone to report to George on the front line.
"Tell me, what's going on?"
"It's like this. At the end of last month, someone found that the trade in Emden Port seemed to be suspended. I don't know what happened. A few days ago, when the merchants went to Emden for trade, they had already discovered the emden city. The flag has changed…”
"Changed? Which nobleman did it? Have you seen it clearly?"
"It's not a nobleman from outside, but a person from East Frisia."
"People inside? Is it a rebellion?"
"It can't be considered a rebellion, Your Highness, have you heard of the Brock family in East Frisia?"
"The Bullock family? I've heard of it. Isn't that the family that ruled East Frisia more than sixty years ago?"
"Yes, the descendants of that family have fought back. It is said that all the descendants of the nobles who participated in the rebellion were killed, and the whole of Emden was bleeding like a river..."
"Okay, what's the name of the current earl?"
"Your Highness, you may not even know who he is..."
"Stop talking nonsense, who the hell is it? If you try again, I'll send someone to beat you up!"
"Yes, that person is Baron Varden, Marin..."
"What? It turned out to be him? Isn't his surname Hoffman? How did he become the heir of the Block family?"
"It's like this. Marin Hoffman's mother is the granddaughter of the last Earl of Brock. And the main line of the Brock family is only his mother. So, Marin Hoffman is indeed The heir of the Brock family."
"Impossible. Marin Hoffman was born as a wandering knight. That is to say, he has an elder brother in his family. Even if his mother is the heir, it is impossible for Marin Hoffman to inherit the title."
"You're right, he does have an elder brother. However, his elder brother has already signed the renunciation document!"
"So that's how it is... However, East Frisia is a site that the old man has long set his sights on. This kid dares to compete with our Weiting family..."
"By the way, how many soldiers does this kid have? How long did it take to defeat Emden?" Prince George suddenly thought of an important question. The Duke of Saxony had taken a fancy to East Frisia before, and planned to find an opportunity to annex East Frisia in the future. However, East Frisia suddenly changed hands, and Prince George wanted to know how Marin's military strength is and whether it is easy to annex...
"This... villain doesn't know the specific strength of Marin Hoffman. However, there were 1,400 defenders in Emden before. Among them, 1,000 were straw hat swordsmen with strong combat effectiveness. Therefore, Marin Hoffman's The strength should be more than 3,000. Otherwise, Emden can't be defeated... "
"If it is 3,000 people, we still have a chance to take East Frisia. Now, we can take advantage of his unstable foothold and mobilize a large army from the mainland to take East Frisia. However, if there are more troops, then Trouble..."
"Hatch (Prince George's adjutant), you continue to stay at the border with 2,000 people and wait for Duke Geddes' reply. I will take 2,000 people back first, and go to the East Frisian border to see..."
"Your Highness, what are you going to do? 2,000 people are not enough to attack East Frisia!"
"I know, I just brought people to station on the East Frisian border to deter the other party. By the way, scare Marlin, and then, most importantly, see how many troops it can mobilize to confront me..." George confidently Said.
"How many soldiers and horses to mobilize?"
"Yes, now that our army is pressing down on the border, the opponent must be nervous and will deploy the main force to defend against it. At that time, we will be able to see the size of the opponent's main force and the appearance of the army at a glance. Whether it is a strong army or not, we can tell at a glance." Prince George Not stupid. Therefore, he decided to use a very simple trick to test the current strength of East Frisian troops and the speed of the opponent's reaction...
If East Frisia is weak, then the Principality of Saxony would not mind sending troops again to take over a large area of territory. But if the opponent is very strong, you may have to give up first. After all, the Weiting family will not do things that cannot be taken advantage of.
A few days later, Prince George appeared outside the western border of East Frisia with 2,000 troops and began camping...
When the news reached Aurich, Marin was taken aback:
"What? The Saxon army? Are you sure? How many are there?"
"There are only 2,000 people, but the team is led by Prince George, the coach of the Principality of Saxony stationed in Friesland."
"And, curiously, Prince George didn't attack, seemingly waiting for something..."
"Waiting for reinforcements? No, Saxon has only more than 5,000 troops here... Could it be that they are going to mobilize troops from Saxony? But that's not right... There's no need for this bastard to send someone to the west to scare the snake away..."
After thinking for a long time, Marin slapped his head:
"I understand, he is spying on our reality!"
Now that he understood this truth, Marin decided not to be polite. He is not willing to go to war with the Principality of Saxony now. So, he decided to show off his muscles to Prince George...
"Jeffrey, how many troops can be mobilized in the entire territory of East Frisia, and the fastest speed!"
"Ah? My lord, is there going to be a war again?" Jeffrey was a civil servant, and he was most afraid of war.
"No, the Saxons in the west are provoking at the border. I am going to gather enough troops to frighten them!"
"I see..." Jeffrey patted his chest and heaved a sigh of relief.
"My lord, of the 6,000 troops you received, 1,250 went to the east, and 1,250 went to the south. There are also 1,250 soldiers in the west..."
"In other words, I still have more than 2,000 people to mobilize?"
"That's not what I said. You know, there is a phalanx on the western border. If you bring more than 2,000 people there, won't it be more than 3,000 troops? And, don't forget, there are still 600 straw hat swords. soldiers and more than 2,000 prisoners of war who participated in the rebellion of the nobles in the countryside that have not yet been released. Originally, you planned to lock them up for a period of time and release them back... "
"600 straw hat swordsmen... more than 2,000 captives...the 600 straw hat swordsmen must be elite, but it's not reassuring... As for the 2,000 captives, they can be recharged..."
"By the way, if you mobilize separately, how much can you mobilize?"
"The whole of East Frisia can still mobilize five or six thousand people. However, it will take half a month..."
"Why weren't these people mobilized to fight me before?"
"My lord, mobilization requires officers to command. Did you know that the commanders of these mobilized soldiers are all among the original 1,000 straw hat swordsmen. These 1,000 straw hat swordsmen are both elite soldiers and grassroots officers! There are no officers to command It's useless to mobilize soldiers even if they mobilize..."
"Then keep the 600 straw hat swordsmen locked up, and the other 2,000 captives will move with the army!"
"This is?"
"Since these guys are all officers, if they are allowed to contact those conscripts, wouldn't they be able to get started immediately? It's too dangerous, and these guys can't be released now. Wait until they stabilize."
"Also, Jeffrey, you use the fastest speed to mobilize the strong men to gather in the nearby area. I give you two days, as much as you can mobilize. After two days, I will take the army to the western border..."
"Yes!"
Two days later, Marin left 300 men to guard Aurich. He took 2,000 original main forces, 2,000 captives, and 1,700 temporarily mobilized conscripts to the western border...
On the Ems River, Marin's men collected enough boats and built several pontoon bridges on the river to let the army cross the river...
On the west side of the Ems River, an area of nearly 200 square kilometers belongs to East Frisia. At this time, the original garrison here, under the command of Frundsberg who had arrived before, had all crossed the river and confronted the Saxon army outside the border.
When Prince George of Saxony, who climbed high and looked far away, saw thousands of troops rushing across the river, your face changed drastically:
"Where does this bastard have so many troops? By the way, this guy is a mercenary, isn't it all hired? But this guy has so much money to support so many people?"
Marin's main force crossed the river very quickly and in an orderly manner. However, the more than 3,000 East Frisian native troops in the back crossed the river in a mess, and the efficiency was relatively low.
Marin didn't have time to pay attention to those mobilized soldiers with low combat power. After arranging some people to coordinate and command, he brought 2000 main forces forward and set up the formation together with the original phalanx...
Marin's main force has been trained very strictly. Therefore, they lined up very quickly, and soon reached the border, and together with Frundsberg's troops, they formed a very tight line of defense. That speed, that discipline, made Prince George sweat...
"Sure enough, he is a man who can defeat the king of France. The training is amazing! But what happened to the army behind? Crossing the river is so slow... I understand, those are conscripts..."
"That is to say, the opponent's elite troops, counting the more than 1,000 people before, there are more than 3,000, and the conscripts are also more than 3,000... There are more than 6,000 people? Made, it's too much..." George swallowed Swallow.
Not to mention, three days later, the fourth phalanx on the southern border was also transferred. They were replaced by a force of levies. Because there is no hostility with the Bishop of Munster. So, using levies is enough.
Seeing Marin mobilize another elite phalanx, George continued to swallow his saliva, his hands trembling a little...
A week later, the Eastern Front troops also came, and their defense was replaced by 2,000 conscripts...
Seeing the elite troops of five or six thousand people lined up in front of them, plus more than three thousand conscripts, the total number is almost tens of thousands. Prince George was a little limp in fright. If we really want to fight, the more than 5,000 people under him will not be opponents...
Fortunately, Marin was also afraid of the strong strength of the Saxony family, so he didn't take the initiative to attack, but just demonstrated. Otherwise, Prince George and his 2,000 people will all be finished.
Prince George also understood this, so he withdrew with his men in embarrassment, but took a lot of psychological shadow with him. And Marin, after achieving the goal of frightening his opponent, also brought the army back to the court...