Marin looked very "knight" in this challenge. In this way, the Duke of Saxony naturally couldn't do a bad job, or he would lose face.
Then, after negotiations, the two sides finally agreed on a specific time and place for the battle-on December 15th, a big battle will be held in the south of Lyle County.
Even, the Duke of Saxony announced very arrogantly that he completely defeated Marin just before Christmas, and then went to Emden for Christmas...
The Duke of Saxony is undoubtedly very excited. He has never been afraid of anyone in a decisive battle in the wilderness. You know, he has a heavy cavalry composed of thousands of wandering knights. Under the charge of thousands of plate armor knights, who can resist? Hmm...probably...the Swiss can resist...
As for Marin, he didn't respond to the Duke of Saxony's clamor. He wished that the Duke of Saxony would look down on him. In this way, if he started to fight, his chances of winning would be even greater.
Now the technical and tactical training of the army is almost done. The only troublesome thing is the problem of digging trenches. Marin thought that if the soldiers were allowed to dig holes, they might not have the strength to fight when the enemy came. Therefore, a large number of civilians mobilized by Marin dug two trenches in advance at the predetermined location. However, the trench was covered with branches and dry grass, so that it was not visible in advance. Because, before the battle begins, the Saxon scouts will definitely come to the scene to investigate. If they found two ditches, they might have responded in advance. Therefore, Marin planned to cover the trench first to prevent the enemy from discovering it, so that they could be caught off guard.
Then, considering that the Saxon army was coming from the southeast, Marin must take a few avenues in the south of Lyle County. Therefore, Marin simply evacuated all the serfs in the manor near the South Avenue to the north temporarily. And several fertilizer processing sites in Lyle County were all burned down without leaving any traces. This is the current core secret of East Frisia, and the Saxon people cannot know it.
In addition, on the river, Marin also made corresponding arrangements. For example, the river Leda, which the Saxons will cross, is not a joke. Of course, it cannot be compared with the Ems River.
In such a river, the situation is a bit troublesome for ships over 200 tons. However, a ship with more than 100 tons is still no problem. Marin had planned a long time ago. Before the war, he would ambush three more than 100-ton warships captured from the former Frisian Republic in the Ems River to the west. When the battle begins, these three warships will be loaded with artillery and enter the Leda River to cut off the retreat of the Saxon army. When a large ship of more than 100 tons enters the Leda River, let alone shelling it, even if it hits it, it can overturn the infantry boats crossing the river. After the three warships entered the Leda River, they would crash and bombard, completely blocking the retreat of the Saxon army, so that Marin could fight the battle of annihilation.
Moreover, the appearance of three warships in the rear can not only block the opponent's retreat, but also use the artillery on the ship to bombard the enemy's rear and create chaos for the enemy...
When Marin was preparing, the Saxons were not idle. In order to gather troops, the Duke of Saxony urgently mobilized the country after the autumn harvest, and even ran to his nephew for assistance.
The Duke of Saxony originally had three thousand plate armor knights, which can be described as strong. But he didn't think it was enough, so he ran to his nephew and borrowed two thousand plate armor knights, and made up five thousand plate armor knights. After that, he recruited 15,000 infantry across the country. Among them, 5,000 infantrymen are veterans. The other 10,000 people were conscripts brought from various knight manors, and their combat effectiveness was average.
In this way, the Duke of Saxony gathered an army of 20,000 troops and planned to confront Marin Gang. This is more than that, in order to serve the 20,000 army, the Duke of Saxony also recruited 15,000 civilians to deliver supplies and food. At the same time, he sent several envoys to borrow ideas from the princes along the way.
Not only that, Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, also asked his son George to be stationed in Groningen, and prepared 4,000 soldiers and horses, and placed them near the border of East Frisia. Once he himself defeats Marin's main force on the frontal battlefield, George's 4,000 people will take the opportunity to cross the Ems River and approach Emden, the original capital of East Frisia, in an effort to control the city.
Of course, this action must be after the results of the main battlefield in Lyle County come out. Otherwise, the act is not cavalier. Because, after making an appointment with someone for a head-to-head confrontation, but sending troops to attack their capital first, is something that the nobles in the Middle Ages despised. This kind of behavior is probably only done by modern pragmatists like Marin. And people in this era, influenced by the spirit of chivalry, generally can't hold back their face.
But those problems would not have existed if George's army had crossed the river after the Lyle County field battle had ended. Anyway, this happened after the decisive battle. As the wily and calculating Duke Albrecht, he took advantage of the loopholes in the rules.
Under normal circumstances, when Marin's army can't beat the Duke of Saxony head-on, the series of arrangements of the Duke of Saxony are really very clever.
It is a pity that the Duke of Saxony did not know that Marin had recruited another 5,000 troops because of inaccurate information. In his intelligence, Marin seemed to recruit one or two thousand recruits later. Then, adding the original nearly 10,000 people, it will be around 11,000 or 2,000 people. Only, only 5,000 of them are veterans.
The Duke of Saxony looked down on those conscripts and recruits in the Marlin Army at all. Even if those recruits trained for several months, he didn't think they would be better than his knights. Under the impact of the torrent of steel from 5,000 armored knights, what is invincible
In theory, the Duke of Saxony was right. However, this is only in theory. Because Marin is not a person of this era, and the method he came up with is better than that of people of this era. It just so happened that the Spanish phalanx was to guard against the knight's charge. Therefore, the Duke of Saxony is doomed to suffer.
After a long time of consideration, Marin added another measure—that is, to insert pickets under the two trenches...
Even, Marin planned that after the war began, he would still not untie the branches and weeds covered by the trench, so that the Saxon knights would mistake it for flat ground. By the time they fell into the ditch, right on the pickets...
This approach also caused discomfort among the knight officers in the Marlin Army. Because, this method is too insidious, it is completely killing the opposing knight... However, out of good discipline, despite some dissatisfaction, they still did not object.
In fact, Marin wanted to kill the opponent's plate armor knight. Because killing the opponent's knight is equivalent to killing the opponent's reserve officer and grassroots backbone.
Every knight is an existence that can be trained as an officer. As long as there are knights, you can recruit some infantry casually, and you can form a small army. Because, the knights not only practice martial arts since childhood, but also study and receive some basic military command methods at the same time. Therefore, every knight has the ability to become a grassroots officer, although this ability may vary.
Every time a knight is killed by the opponent, it is tantamount to weakening the opponent's possibility of rebuilding the army. For this reason, Marin quietly prepared a long-handled hammer for the musketeers. Once the opponent's knights stopped charging, these musketeers could put down their musketeers, use a long-handled iron hammer to hit the plate armor knights who fell in the pit through the inclined wooden stakes, and try to kill them before they surrender...
You know, the knight is wearing a full set of plate armor. Falling into a pit full of wooden pickets may not necessarily kill you. However, those war horses were easily stabbed to death because they had no armor on their abdomens. However, falling into a pit and falling heavily can easily injure those plate armor knights and temporarily lose their combat effectiveness. Therefore, musketeers can use long-handled warhammers to take the opportunity to hammer all the opponent's plate armor knights who are still lying in the pit to death...
Of course, if the other party saw the opportunity quickly and raised their hands to surrender early, they could spare their lives. Because this is the unspoken rule of the European battlefield. If Marin does not comply, he will be hostile by all the nobles.
However, with those knights' desire to pursue glory, they generally would not surrender immediately. Even if you surrender, you will only surrender after you are tied up and find a step down. Otherwise, if they are notoriously cowardly, no nobles would hire them.
But Marin didn't plan to give them time to find steps. As long as there is a chance, those Musketeers who are free will be smashed with a warhammer, so that these people will not become the backbone of the Saxon army after being redeemed by the Duke of Saxony...
Even, Marin allowed the musketeers to waste gunpowder and lead bullets, shoot the Saxon knights struggling in the first pit with muskets, and try to shoot them directly...
After all, there are two tunnels, and the warhammer can only hammer the second tunnel near the side of Marin's battle formation. The plate armor knight struggling in another trench is a little farther away, and it is better to shoot with a musket. At such a short distance, even if the opponent is wrapped in a tin can, the musketeers can completely target the opponent's weakness. Even if you can't kill the opponent, it's enough to cripple the opponent, such as breaking bones or internal organs, so that they can't go to the battlefield from now on...
In short, in this battle, Marin not only wanted to defeat the army of the Duke of Saxony, but also tried to kill the opponent's plate armor knights to weaken the core force of the Duke of Saxony...