Chapter 616 Brandenburg joins
War broke out again in Eastern Europe, and Władysław was ready to go to Lviv to fight Romania. The Russian direction was left to Lithuania and Livonia, and they just needed to hold on.
But Lithuania might not be able to comply with such a request. Russia did everything it could to win. Directly destroy the local churches and villages on a large scale, harvest a large number of crops, and burn the unharvested ones directly.
Under such circumstances, many Livonian cities could not hold on for a long time. Either surrender or be broken. Now only Riga and the surrounding areas have not been occupied.
Vytautas was ready to lead the army to rescue, but Mihaly led the army directly to the north, forcing them to stay in Samogitia. Vytautas was a little anxious, but the army was small. If the troops were divided, they would definitely be surrounded.
Mihaly led the elite troops to leave Minsk, quickly went north, and soon entered Samogitia. In order to maintain his strength, Vytautas took the initiative to give up Vilnius and retreat to Kaunas.
Kaunas built a stone wall in the 13th century to deal with the constant attacks of the Teutonic Knights. In 1362, the city was occupied by the Teutonic Knights, and the Kaunas Castle was destroyed and rebuilt. Because it is located at the intersection of trade routes and is a river port, its importance continues to increase.
Due to its excellent geographical location and environment, Vytautas decided to use it as the rear base of his troops on the advice of those around him. He built it in the past year and completely built the city. The stored food and baggage can last for half a year.
Of course, giving up Vilnius is not giving up completely. He also left 10,000 defenders in the local area. The place has been built as hard as stone. If it can hold on for a long time, Vytautas can free up his hands to deal with the Russian army in Livonia. Therefore, the only suspense is whether Vilnius can hold on for more than three months.
Mihaly ordered the army to line up in front of Vilnius. The team stretched for several miles, blowing the bugle, thundering the drum, and the soldiers roared in unison, the sound was deafening. Then, he sent his men to the city to persuade them to surrender, otherwise he threatened to massacre the city, but was sternly rejected.
So he ordered the troops to retreat one mile away, and began to prepare siege equipment while building a temporary camp.
The soldiers began to transport artillery and cut down trees to make ladders and siege vehicles. At the same time, they surrounded the city tightly, fearing that someone would come out.
The people of the city had been reminded by the Grand Duke two months ago, and under the guidance of Poland, they re-reinforced the city defense. At this time, there were still 20,000 residents in Lithuania. They had nowhere to go and could only wait for the final judgment here.
Mihaly had no sympathy for the Lithuanians. He directly ordered the men to be killed, the women and children to be sold, and everything with Lithuanian culture to be destroyed. A large number of books were burned, and Orthodox missionaries entered the local church to announce the takeover. The culture that finally came out looked like it was about to disappear.
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While the Russian army was besieging Lithuania, Władysław led the Polish army from Warsaw and marched eastward along the road.
Just a few days ago, the Romanian army had already advanced towards Lviv. According to the time, the enemy has now arrived at the gates of Lviv. Time is running out, and they have to set off quickly.
The army marched quickly towards Lviv, fearing that they would fail if they were late. But they did not expect that Brandenburg also marched quickly.
The Hanseatic League was divided because of the issue of Brandenburg declaring war on Poland, but Vlad still united most of the people and assembled the army to attack Pomerania. Their goal was clear, which was the current headquarters of the Teutonic Order - Konigsberg.
The castle was built by the Teutonic Knights and named Konigsberg in memory of King Przemysl Ottokar II of Bohemia who participated in the Crusades with the Knights.
But before Konigsberg, Vlad had to take Chojnice. The city was not big, nor was it populated. There were less than 4,000 residents capable of fighting in the city. There was no moat in front of the city. The hill on which it was located was less than 150 meters high and had a gentle slope. However, the defenders not only set up a large number of traps, but also cut down all the trees on the hill, and even dug up rocks that could be used as offensive cover and used them as stones to defend against the enemy.
Because of the existence of the hill, the large siege equipment made by Brandenburg would not only cost more manpower to push to the front of the city, but its movement would also be very slow. Therefore, the soldiers carried ladders and rushed to the front, but they were deeply troubled by the traps.
For several days in a row, Brandenburg launched a brutal attack on Chojnice. Artillery, tunnels, and gunpowder bombings were all used. But the city was still not occupied.
And during their siege, some guerrillas wandered around the edge of the battlefield, harassing from time to time, and once almost burned Brandenburg's camp. Although Vlad had been prepared for this, the damage caused was not great, but they tied up a lot of energy.
As he was thinking hard, he suddenly remembered that he had hired a group of Bavarian mercenaries when he set out. They had rich guerrilla experience, so he asked them to go and wipe out the local guerrillas.
The Brandenburg army continued to attack Choynice. They cut off all communications outside the city and bombarded it continuously with artillery. As a result, four artillery guns exploded, but a section of the opposite wall also collapsed.
"Charge! Attack!" The soldiers near the gap were so excited that they stepped on the bricks and rammed earth on the ground, ignoring the risk of falling, and rushed to the gap quickly. The defenders also came to their senses and ran to the top of the gap, throwing stones and wood down to prevent them from entering the city.
Even so, it was useless. They could not stop the Brandenburg army from entering, and could only try to shrink the front line and return to the castle in the center of the city to resist stubbornly.