"Your Highness the Duke, His Majesty the Habsburgs mobilized their troops overnight. Is there going to be a decisive battle tonight?"

"Yes, Your Majesty is best at mobilizing and fighting at night. We have already made a strict plan."

In front of several Hungarian nobles who hurriedly came to inquire about the military situation, Horthy behaved very calmly and arrogantly, as if he really knew Ladislaus's plan.

This was of course not true, organizing a dinner was one thing, entering a military meeting was another, although he had been provisionally appointed commander of five thousand Hungarian troops.

Ladislaus divided the remaining 10,000 Hungarian troops into two parts, one part was given to Duke Horthy, and the other part was given to the former Esztergom guard. Esztergom served as a military base on the Danube River.

Important strongholds have been taken over by Vienna.

In fact, Horthy, like other Hungarians, had just learned of the attack plan.

Of course, other Hungarian nobles did not know this, and Horthy seized the opportunity to show his strength in front of his former colleagues.

After more than ten days of coordination, Horthy has reorganized his wings.

His dukedom and relationship with Queen Mary made him the natural leader of the Hungarian faction. The guard officer of Esztergom actually had no competitiveness because he was from Spain.

"Your Highness the Duke, His Majesty the King has an order. He orders you and your troops to set off immediately after the last group of Austrian troops leaving the camp. You must maintain your formation in accordance with the signs at the intersection and the instructions of the gendarmerie."

"Yes. Please tell your Majesty that I will fulfill my duties!"

The first batch of troops leaving the camp had been walking for more than half an hour. The last Hungarians left behind by Ladislaus walked out of the camp. Although the Hungarians brought a lot of horses, only 800 recognized cavalry were among them.

Ladislaus was handed over to the command of Kessell-Vitting.

These cavalry are not necessarily particularly elite, but are composed of yeoman farmers who are easier to compensate and establish authority. As long as they are tax-free for three years, most yeoman farmers are willing to accept the direct command of Austrian officers, and it is often necessary to break up the nobles' troops.

There are also some political costs. After accepting their services, Ladislaus will pay attention to their demands and add some of their candidates when forming a new government.

Even if it is not fulfilled now, it is a potential agreement, and Ladislaus is not willing to make a promise after being convinced that the combat capabilities of these troops are limited.

Although Ladislaus was very polite to these nobles and even occasionally complimented them during meals, he absolutely did not guarantee the rights they once had in the local government.

He wanted to completely centralize administrative power to the central government in Vienna, even if it would arouse some resistance and prolong the time to form local governments. This was an inevitable price for establishing an effective country.

All Hungarian nobles were told that if they wanted to become civil servants, they had to go to Vienna to undergo screening and pass the necessary German language test.

The unification of the working language is the symbol and cornerstone of national unity, and Ladislaus was determined not to compromise.

Of course, Ladislaus could also use the Hungarians first and then break his promise.

However, Ladislaus does not intend to do this. It is not impossible for him to break his promise. But it is definitely not for such a small price.

The 10,000 Hungarian troops assigned to the command of Horthy and the Spanish veteran were all private soldiers of the major nobles.

Although wrapping them in the middle could reduce the losses of the march, Ladislaus finally, under Frundsberg's advice, left them at the end, as many as they could keep up with.

After all, the march can be made do, and when the formation is deployed, it is better for these troops to be lined up alone on one side.

For these troops, it is not worthwhile to increase the difficulty of marching and formation of the main force. It is not worthwhile to give excessive benefits to these nobles.

However, Austria’s old system cannot eat up all the benefits at once. The greater the responsibility, the greater the rights. This is the principle upheld by Ladislaus. Only in this way can national integration be promoted. If only

Having responsibilities but not rights will eventually lead to resistance.

"Everyone, if you want to keep your position, you have to fight hard tonight." Horthy knew very well that he also needed to prove his worth like these nobles, so he cheered desperately. "Your Majesty has commanded countless night battles, and has never...

It has failed, please rest assured, even the Ottomans will only die today!"

"Must win."

"Must win."

Although the Ottoman army that had wiped out dozens of people and had just wiped out tens of thousands of their compatriots was ahead, the Hungarians still had some morale since it was a pursuit battle.

Not only the nobles, but also the peasants and soldiers also hoped to pull out a suit of clothes from the enemy's corpse to survive the winter. It would be great if they could grab a worn-out leather armor. With the armor and a horse, they would be able to be recruited next time.

It is possible to become a cavalryman under a noble, and then you will have military pay.

Iron armor is much more expensive than horses in Hungary, and better leather armor is also very valuable.

Although this is not the way Ladislaus likes to organize his army.

The night march of the Hungarian troops organized in this way was naturally chaotic, and various accidents occurred one after another.

Although there were signs and military police, there were still soldiers falling behind, either falling into deep pits on the roadside for no apparent reason, or walking on the spears of their comrades during the march.

The more ridiculous accidental injury was a fool who had his neck slit open with his own axe, and then screamed "enemy attack" and "enemy attack" at the top of his lungs before dying. This unlucky guy was dead, so he didn't need to disturb the morale of the army.

put to death.

Horthy and other Hungarian nobles were extremely nervous and first sent out cavalry to search for the enemy. It wasted an hour and a half before they regained control of the troops and continued on the road.

All this allowed Horthy's troops, who were at the end of the queue, to arrive at the Ottoman camp on the banks of the Drava River. It was already dark and the battle was over.

All the hustle and bustle has gone away, but the battlefield has not yet been cleared.

There are many corpses lying scattered in the Ottoman camp. They are all Ottomans in Near Eastern style, and a small number of Austrian corpses have been collected. The soldiers held funerals on the spot, and the nobles could return to their hometowns for burial.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations." Although he could not help, Horthy still rushed to Ladislaus without blushing.

Ladislaus didn't react at all to his words, but still stared at a corpse on the ground.

Although I had long expected that the Hungarians would not be able to help, their performance last night must be taken into consideration.

Of course Horthy also cooperated to show his fear, but he was not very worried about his position. He was the first Duke to defect to Ladislaus, and he was an excellent example and benchmark. All Hungarians were watching

His fate.

"Your Majesty, we killed a total of 733 people and captured 255 people. Judging from the enemy's combat effectiveness and clothing, they should all be Yenisei elites. Our losses were 150 people.

Within. No more than forty people died." In Horthy's opinion, the numbers provided by Frundsberg were very good, and this could already be regarded as a big victory.

In fact, Louis II fought against the Ottomans for more than ten years during his reign, and he did not kill a thousand real Ottoman new troops in total. He could claim a great victory by killing dozens of irregular Ottoman troops on the border.

.

There was absolutely no such amount of losses caused on the battlefield of Mohache.

Not to mention the battle loss ratio of ten to one. Even if these enemy elites were performing rearguard missions, this ratio was remarkable. It showed that the Austrian army, which had traveled all night, still maintained an extremely strong fighting will and superb combat skills.

Skill.

And along the way, Horthy saw a troop that was tired but still able to fight.

The formations of various regiments have been restored, and warning cavalry has been dispatched around the battlefield.

Horthy knew that if his own troops came after him, it would be entirely possible for the thousands of Ottoman troops waiting for work to be completely annihilated, not to mention being completely wiped out.

At this time, the attendant announced that Commander Yevich's envoy had arrived.

"Where is my fleet?!" Ladislaus immediately began to question without waiting for the officer's report.

Horthy's big victory obviously did not meet Ladislaus's expectations, and he was not as satisfied as Horthy.

Always keeping a distance of more than twenty miles was the correct strategy, Ladislaus was sure of it.

However, while this strategy prevented the Ottoman army from launching a decisive battle, it also made it difficult for Austria to win a decisive victory.

The Austrian army marched for more than thirty-five miles before regaining contact with the Ottoman army. Apparently, in the past period of time, the Austrian army's scout team made a major error in judging the enemy's distance, and the river fleet did not discover this.

Suleiman's main force withdrew, and they successfully withdrew to the south bank of the Drava River before the Austrian army defeated the palace army.

"Your Highness, Your Highness." Knowing that the situation was not good, Jevich asked one of his main assistants to report back, but the middle-aged officer was still almost suffocated in front of the monarch's anger. Although Ladislaus had not yet been crowned,

But few Austrians call him His Highness.

"Don't be nervous, speak slowly." It was Sazastan who comforted the officer.

Frunzberg did not speak at this time because of the competition among the military. It would be very unprofessional for him not to add insult to injury.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, General Jevich is pursuing the upper reaches of the Drava River. He has judged that the enemy cannot cross so many people in one night. The maximum capacity of this ferry must not exceed 100,000 people, and the enemy's army alone is

There must be more than this number, there must be a ferry upstream!"

When Ladislaus heard this, he immediately started studying it with Frundsberg and Sazastan.

"Last night, as soon as we turned into the Drava River, we were attacked by the enemy. The enemy had the advantage of going down the river and had been waiting for us. However, after a bloody battle, we were able to repel the enemy, although we lost two people.

ships, but General Yevich ordered us to continue the pursuit and prepare to attack the transport convoy."

"But the enemy knows the hydrological conditions here better than we do. We only found out after pursuing some channels that their small boats could go that the big ships would be stranded. The bottom of Rudolf the Great's largest ship was scratched by stones under the river, and we lost consecutive ships.

Two damage control captains, the repair efficiency was greatly reduced, and it was only two hours before dawn that the necessary ability to move was restored." The officer finally became able to speak fluently.

The young lieutenant Raeder who had spoken to Ladislaus last night was too tired. When he went into the water to explore the bottom of the boat, he accidentally hit a stone under the river. He was immediately knocked unconscious and was rushed into the river. Now he is ten thousand.

No luck.

However, Ladislaus did not realize at this time that the damage control captain was the heroic ensign, nor did he know that if he had lived, he might have become a great naval commander.

"You have worked hard, go and take a rest." Ladislaus said to the officer.

"Should we pursue upstream?" Frunzberg hesitated.

"On the Drava River, the nearest ferry is in Borchi, a distance of more than 20 kilometers." As a local native, Horthy played a role. "The road condition in this section is worse than the one we passed last night."

"The enemy has already divided their forces. Your Majesty, let's wait for Yevich's report. The enemy may have already withdrawn, or there may be tens of thousands of enemies waiting for us there."

The Austrian army's light pursuit may very well give the Ottomans the decisive battle opportunity they have been waiting for.

Of course, the enemy is more likely to be eager to load ships, and hesitation may also miss the opportunity to win a victory.

Although the elimination of a thousand enemies could not satisfy Ladislaus's appetite, he understood rationally that these troops serving as the palace army were the elite of the enemy, and a thousand soldiers was a very good result.
Chapter completed!