The goodwill unleashed between Ladislaus and Szaboray was indeed a pure smokescreen.

After learning that the Ottoman and Austrian armies were moving south one after another, Szaboray also reacted immediately.

He personally led an army of 20,000 people from Alba Iulia, the capital of Trasylvania and the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Hungary, and marched towards Buda.

During the confrontation between the Austrian and Ottoman armies, Schauporai had been in contact with other major powers in Europe through various channels in an attempt to obtain recognition of his throne.

Although there were envoys who really elected the pope to lobby for him, the effect was still limited, and he only received a positive response from France.

Naturally, Spain would never admit it, and England and Poland, which had high hopes, did not respond. In particular, the unsupportive attitude of the Kingdom of Poland was extremely detrimental to him. Poland was one of the most important weights in the competition for the Hungarian throne.

But King Sigismund of Poland was obviously not prepared to accept this position. Although he was Szaporany's brother-in-law, his first wife, Queen Szaporany, had died long ago, and only one child was left.

daughter.

His second wife was Queen Sforza. Although it was France that initially killed the Sforza men, Austria obtained the territory of the Duchy of Milan, which obviously made the queen have no interest in Ladislaus.

Good impression.

King Sigismund still wanted to reclaim the throne that once belonged to the Jaglonni family.

Although he is currently wiping out the last remnants of the ancient Polish royal family, the Piast family, the Principality of Mazovia, he still refuses to give up intervening in Hungarian affairs.

A branch of the Piast royal family has always controlled the Principality of Mazovia, centered in Warsaw. Although this semi-independent country is not powerful, the remnants of the Piast family have always been a thorn in the side of the Jaglonni family.

Now that there is a succession crisis in this principality, Sigismund will certainly not miss the opportunity to eliminate the last bit of independence of this small country.

However, he did not intend to give up the Hungarian throne. According to the report of Ambassador Ladislaus, he had already proclaimed himself King of Hungary in his own court.

Although his attitude was also a problem for Ladislaus, it obviously made Szaboray even more isolated and helpless.

Although King François of France has a very positive attitude, it is obviously impossible for him to provide any effective help to Schauporai, not even a diversionary attack on Austria.

Although Spain was worried about the joint action of Britain and France, King Henry VIII of England was actually very wary of the Habsburg military prowess in the past few years. He had no intention of taking active actions at all, and making a limited threatening gesture to contain the Spanish navy was the limit.

Already.

King Francois had suffered so many defeats in Italy and had just escaped from prison. He was extremely nervous about Spain's power, and it was unexpectedly bold to dare to take advantage of him again.

But he certainly didn't dare to spread his strength. The mobilization against Spain was particularly insufficient, and it was impossible to allocate strength to deal with Austria.

The fact that the Austrian army was able to gain an advantage over the Ottoman army was quite beyond Szaboray's expectations. Most of his military preparations were based on the expectation that the Austrian army would also be defeated.

He greatly strengthened the defense of several key fortresses, including Alba Iulia, and made the mistake of clearing the country, which greatly harmed his speed in re-entering the plains surrounding the Danube.

In addition, his core sphere of influence is limited to Transylvania. Although some cities far away from Alba Iulia have surrendered to him for the time being, they have shied away from providing supplies, and he does not dare to take drastic measures for the time being.

He replaced him with his cronies.

These unfavorable factors meant that by the time he reached the Danube River, the Austrian army had not only controlled Buda, but even Pest no longer belonged to him.

The double-headed eagle, the symbol of the Habsburg family, angered him so much.

Although his envoys were on the west bank of the Danube expressing goodwill to Ladislaus, Szobolay immediately launched an attack on Pest without hesitation.

He was very aware of the threat that this bridgehead on the east bank posed to his new kingdom, and he could accept the loss of the Electorate of Bohemia. However, he would consider giving up the Hungarian territory on the west bank of the Danube, including the capital Buda, only if it was really unfavorable.

The Danube River is his final bottom line.

The city wall of Buda no longer exists, so the leading soldiers of Szaboray can be sure that the main force of the Austrian army is not on the other side. It is indeed chasing the Ottoman army south.

Szaboray was determined to defend his position on the east bank of the Danube. After all, the enemy was probably just the Pest militia who had been drained of their best manpower several times.

Originally, these militiamen were just scrap-level troops, and they were mobilized several times by Louis II. Now they can be regarded as a large gathering of the old, weak, sick and disabled.

Although there are only less than 3,000 standing troops among the 20,000 troops in Szoborai, they are still elite enough compared to the Hungarian militia in Pest.

............................

"Boss, this is wrong. How come those people in Sirica can go to Buda, but we still have to stay in Pest?" A drow stood on the city wall and looked at the seemingly endless Transylvania outside the city.

The runner-up complained to Jarlaxle. "Do they want to harm us?!"

"Harming you? It depends on whether you are worth it. Didn't you see that Entreri is also in the city?" Kim Murray was much calmer. "Pest is also an important town in Hungary, not even bigger than Timbatuk.

You're young, what are you afraid of?"

Jones, Weidenfeller and the governor of Pest, who had newly defected to Austria, were discussing something on the other side of the city wall.

"I don't know how many tens of thousands of people there are outside, and there are not that many people in Timbatuk in total." In the war on the Black Continent, a battle involving two thousand people can determine the rise or fall of a city-state.

"The old Puskas man and his troops are here, we can defend the city no problem." Most of the guerrillas behind enemy lines that had harassed the Ottomans have been destroyed.

Faced with the pressure of the Ottoman army, they could not even delay even a little bit. The Austrian fleet's capacity was limited. Except for Jones's group of troops who received support, the others were left to fend for themselves.

Puskas' men once swelled to more than 2,000 men, but facing the returning Ottomans, many Hungarians were unable to escape in time, and now 80% of them have been reduced to powder.

The remaining nearly a thousand people were transported to the east bank of the Danube in time, avoiding the sharp edge of the Ottoman army.

Then this unit, as a representative of Ladislaus, showed up in several cities on the east coast as a symbol of Austria's existence.

They finally headed north into Pest, the most important Austrian-controlled stronghold on the east bank of the Danube, replacing Sirica's boss who had been here for half a month.

Sirika boss did not get help from Jevich. He found a way to capture and repair a damaged Ottoman transport ship, and then hid on the east coast early.

Of course, Sirica's boss said that after being invited by some officials on the East Bank, he crossed the Danube and effectively instigated the defection on the East Bank.

Obviously, there will be local officials who will admit this statement, and Machiavelli will endorse such actions.

But Jones was not worried. Compared to the worries of those drow warriors, he thought he had a good opportunity.

After Hohenzollern arrived in Buda, he transferred Sirica to Buda where it was difficult to perform meritorious service, but left him in Pest. Apparently he thought so.

He had reinforced the city wall of Pest for his political allies in advance, renovated the revolving crossbow, and also reserved a transport fleet. When the situation was unfavorable, Jones only needed to attack a few miles west to board the ship and escape.

Back to Buda.

Hohenzollern was really considerate of his old friends, and of course Jones had his son-in-law Weidenfeller in his team, which was also an important reason.

The sons of Lord Hohenzollern are all pretty good, some are promising young bureaucrats, and some are brave officers, but none of them can match this powerful spellcaster.

This is a golden opportunity.

But Jones is not content with just a layer of gold.
Chapter completed!