Chapter 612: Getting worse
Vytautas has led his army to the battle. They are ready to attack Minsk directly, so that the Russian army can fight them to the death.
However, the war of the fall of Reval also stimulated their nerves. If Livonia cannot stop it, then Lithuania will be under pressure from Russia in the north. After consideration, Vytautas decided to change direction and resist the Russian army to the north.
At this time, in the Polish castle, Władysław met with the Romanian envoy Prevest. For this sudden envoy, he wanted to see what the other party said.
"Your Excellency came to Warsaw, is there anything?"
The cold words made Prevest uncomfortable. It was the first time he saw a king who was so cold to the imperial envoy. It seemed that the other party was preparing for war.
"For the dispute between Russia and Lithuania, His Majesty the Emperor sent me to discuss with your country."
"Ha!" Władysław laughed. "The negotiation is not biased towards Russia? You are all in cahoots, and you openly say that this is for peace. I think it is for your ambition."
This sudden remark made the other party feel dizzy, but he quickly adjusted his state and asked back.
"Since your majesty said that our country is the culprit that endangers peace, but how good are you. You once resisted the Mongols, but if Russia had not consumed their strength first, could you have resisted successfully?
And what kind of good people are Lithuania? They can't live without land, and they force Russians to convert to heresy. Oh, by the way, your Excellency is also a Lithuanian, and it seems that he is also a conscienceless guy."
Władysław was still angry when he changed his name from His Majesty to Excellency. "You... aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
"I'm afraid that if you kill me, you and your country will perish together the next day. Need I tell you? Ottoman, Venice, Florence, which of these countries was not powerful for a time, but in the end, they were all destroyed by the empire."
This time, Władysław could no longer bear it. He quickly asked people to put the envoy and his entourage into a prison in Warsaw, waiting for him to make the final decision.
"Your Majesty, Romania openly provoked us. If we don't fight back, then one day Poland will be destroyed by them."
"Yes, Your Majesty, we must do something. Declare war on them."
The nobles next to him asked Władysław to declare war on Rome. After careful consideration, the Polish king came to a conclusion: war may have a way out.
In this case, don't blame him. At the same time, in order to avoid irritating Rome, Poland declared war on Russia in the name of aiding Lithuania.
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"Your Majesty"
Listerlin saluted Peter who had just arrived. It had been a long time since they had fought a war, and now was the right time to come.
"Thank you for your hard work"
Peter also wanted to see the demise of this country that had been divided many times. Even if he restored the country, it would be hundreds of years later.
Moreover, this was too much of a leap. There was no country around that he would not fight. Since history had changed, let him completely change Eastern Europe.
"Your Majesty, we are going to use 100,000 troops to attack Poland along Lviv. Although Władysław moved the capital to Warsaw, Krakow is still an important city, and there are many nobles here. As long as we attack here, we will definitely force Władysław to fight a decisive battle with us."
Chris talked about the plan incessantly. This time they would join forces with Russia and Brandenburg. The three countries are estimated to have nearly 200,000 troops, which is a huge pit for Poland.
Therefore, he suggested: besiege Lviv but not attack it, pin it here, and then send more than 20,000 soldiers to bypass the city, destroy the Polish fields all the way, and arrive at the important city of Krakow. If the Polish reinforcements and Lithuania come to rescue, then take the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with them in the field; if the enemy does not rescue, then attack Krakow and finally take it down, so as to end the war in the fastest way.
However, another general, Alexius, refused. In his opinion: the enemy is in front of him, with the strong strength of his army, he can completely fight a decisive battle with the enemy while taking Lviv. There is no need to march for so long and risk being harassed by the enemy to attack the capital of the Poles. That is both dangerous and too troublesome.
Of course, Listerin also supports taking Lviv first. Because he wants to ensure the smooth transportation of materials. If he attacks Krakow directly without taking it down, there will be a risk of being looted.
"In that case, let's attack Lviv first. Chris, you lead the army to shock the nobles of Krakow."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I won't let you down."
While they were discussing, the Cossacks, Romania's allies, began their attack on Lviv.
However, they obviously didn't have much experience in sieges, and the wide trap belt in front of the trench made them suffer enough, and many soldiers were hooked and stabbed in the feet.
Just when they had to patiently clear the traps, the defenders sent out hundreds of soldiers who were familiar with the distribution of traps outside the city. They scattered and ran on the safe passages in the trap zone, attacking the Cossacks who were busy clearing obstacles on the ground, which not only caused casualties, but also delayed their progress in siege.
The Great Hetman was a little angry. He sent thousands of light infantrymen to attack the Poles who were sneaking out of the city, risking being stabbed by the traps under their feet. In the end, the defenders who suffered heavy casualties did not dare to leave the city easily. A few days later, the Cossacks suffered certain casualties and basically cleared the traps in front of the trenches.
The Polish defenders launched long-range attacks from all directions. Every stone and every arrow could cause damage to the Cossacks. After paying the price of more than 2,000 casualties, they still failed to attack the city.
The Lviv defenders were greatly encouraged by this victory and strengthened their determination to defend the city. The Great Hetman was also angry and launched a fierce attack on Lviv from the east, west and south.
By the afternoon, the Cossacks attacked the top of the city one after another, and the Poles had to continue to fight back. Because of the shortage of manpower, they even had to arm the elderly and women and send them to the top of the city to resist the fierce attack of the Cossacks.
But at this critical moment, 15 nobles nearby formed a 1,100-man reinforcement force and attacked the Cossack army from outside the city. This directly broke up the siege formation, and the Great Hetman had to order a retreat.
In this attack on Lviv, the Cossacks lost more than 5,000 people, which was a disaster for the Cossack state with a total population of hundreds of thousands. But they also basically figured out the deployment of the Polish army and sent the news to Kiev as quickly as possible.