As the so-called "over 10,000 soldiers and horses, boundless", how amazing is the power of the forty thousand troops marching? Not to mention that Archbishop Urie of Mainz was shocked when he saw it, even Marin was shocked when he saw it.
The Beihai army learned the most standard PLA queue in later generations, and had extremely high requirements for discipline. Basically, when the army is marching, the soldiers of each team travel in the same order on their left and right legs.
It doesn't matter if a few people walk like this. But 40,000 people behaved uniformly, and the scene was shocking to everyone who saw it. Not to mention hitting, scaring can scare people.
What's more, Marin also brought more than 20,000 people to help transport food and ammunition supplies. The lineup of supply unicycles was also out of sight.
After leaving Mainz, Marin led the army south and went straight to Worms. Worms is the meeting place of the Imperial Parliament, 40 kilometers south of Mainz, and also on the west bank of the Rhine.
After the imperial parliamentary interim meeting is held, Marin will definitely be here. However, the main reason for him to go south along the Rhine is to supply. Because it is much more convenient to transport supplies by ship on the Rhine than on land. As a result, Marin only brought 20,000 people strong this time, which is enough.
Moreover, Basel, the destination of the Marin Army this time, is also on the River Rhine, just on the upper reaches of the Rhine in the south. Marin led the army upstream along the west bank of the Rhine, and certainly reached Basel. Moreover, the terrain of this road is relatively flat. Even the Rhine River in Basel belongs to a navigable section. If you go a little further upstream from Basel to Rheinfelden on the east side of Basel, you will reach the border of the Rhine navigation.
Therefore, this march is very comfortable for the Beihai army. Because the heavy artillery and other heavy loads are mainly placed on ships for transportation. Food is mainly transported on land only if it is afraid of moisture. After all, Mainz goes south to the Rhine River, although it can be navigable, but it can't take the big ship with deep water. If it is a small boat, the draft is too shallow, and it is easy to get wet. If the grain gets wet, it is easy to mold.
Of course, the reason why Marin brought 20,000 people to the army, besides transporting grain, also meant to serve as an engineering team. After all, the construction of military barracks or something cannot always be done by combat troops. If the combat troops have spent too much energy building the barracks, they will not be insured against the enemy.
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The words were divided into two parts. After Emperor Maximilian I returned to Innsbruck, he also ordered Franzberg to dispatch a 20,000 army, and the soldiers approached Basel and took the offensive posture, which surprised the princes. .
Today, Basel City is still under the control of the coalition of princes. However, Frensberg has completed the reorganization of the 15,000 surrendered mercenaries. Later, on the advice of Kohler, Maximilian I quietly snatched food from the hands of the princely alliance, forcibly digging up seven or eight thousand veteran mercenaries, so that the total strength soared to 35,000.
Moreover, in terms of combat effectiveness, the 35,000 army of Frensberg is actually capable of slinging 37,000 of the coalition of princes. However, because the "Swiss Resistance Army" dominated by the French had more than 20,000 soldiers watching, Frensberg did not dare to act rashly.
Therefore, this time, Frenzberg dispatched 20,000 troops from Aarau in the north. As for the 15,000 people in Lucerne in the south, they did not move to guard against the combined Swiss and French forces.
Of course, 20,000 people singled out 35,000 people without insurance. After all, the 20,000 people under Frensberg are not ten-year veterans like the First and Second Legions of the North Sea State.
Therefore, after Frensberg led the 20,000-strong army under the base of Basel, the first thing was not to siege, but to build a solid earth city immediately. Moreover, several trenches were dug outside Tucheng, and the trenches were filled with pointed piles ...
Frensberg was a man who followed Marin very early. He learned a lot about Marin's methods. For example, when building a camp, Marin prefers to use rammed earth to build an earth wall. Because the earth wall is much stronger than the wooden fence. The soil wall with thatch added as a "ribbon" is still very strong, and it is somewhat like a weakened version of concrete. Although it was difficult to withstand heavy artillery, the general military in Europe did not have heavy artillery in this era, and light guns such as the three-pound artillery could not open the earth wall with added thatched bones.
Moreover, soldiers can stand on the earth wall and guard the barracks like guarding the city. This is much easier and safer than guarding the wooden fence. Because there are also simple battlements on the clay wall, which can resist bows and arrows and bullets.
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As for the coalition of princes in the city of Basel, they did not dare to leave the city to attack the troops of Frenzberg. why? Because the coalition of princes has a total strength of 37,000. But at this time, only 20,000 people remained in Basel. Another 17,000 people, scattered in the capital of Franche Comté, Besançon, and the capital of Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden (Karlsruhe said earlier was wrong, and the capital of Baden-Bo was moved to in 1715. Karlsruhe).
why? Because the coalition of princes sent troops to Franche Comté and Badenbog to collect food ...
Right now, it is precisely the time when the autumn harvest ends, and it is also the best time for the monarchs and princes to collect food. The total number of motors of the princely coalition army reached 37,000, plus 40,000 people, and the food consumption was very alarming.
The financial support of the princes alone and the private subsidies of the princes of the church have been difficult to maintain. So, just after the autumn harvest ended, the princely coalition forces divided their troops to go to Franche Comté and Badenbeau to collect food.
Of course, it is said that it is "collecting grain", which is almost the same as the devil going to the countryside to grab grain. The coalition of princes is an aggression army for the Franche Comté and Badenbog under the Habsburg family. Therefore, the coalition of princes will not care about the life and death of the locals. They can collect as much food as they can. If the soldiers see the chickens, ducks and geese raised in the manor, they will catch the chickens, ducks and geese like a devil ~ www.novelhall.com ~ On the spear ...
Therefore, there were only 20,000 defenders in Basel at this time. Faced with the army of Frensberg, which is also 20,000 people, they have no chance of winning and dare not go out to fight. Of course, they have the walls of Basel as a support, and they will not be afraid of the soldiers of Frensberg.
As for Franzberg, it is also very clear-siege is not cost-effective, and the emperor did not ask him to siege. And when another 17,000 enemy troops arrive, he may not be able to fight ...
Therefore, while the enemy's troops are scattered, it is the best choice to build a solid battalion of the style of an earth city ...
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The coalition of princes was really scared by the inexplicable actions of the Habsburg family. Then, the army that was still "requisitioning" in the countryside of Franche Comté and Badenberland was urgently recalled, and then gathered in Basel to be prepared Further actions of the Fortsburg family army.
But they did not know that they simply wanted to scare them. But by all means, the coalition of princes was frightened and had to gather in Basel City, but did not dare to act rashly ...