Swiss Arms

Swiss Arms

Chapter 159

-VB-

Rudolf III, Duke of Austria

January 1310

Rudolf drummed his fingers.

He had gathered enough mercenaries, had trained the levies, and moved the men-at-arms and knights from the east and north to the south and east.

His brother, Leopold, had already moved over to Spielberg with his army to strike at Klagenfurt while he would soon move to gather his forces to march north into Bohemia to meet with his allies. As soon as he sent this letter, his cousins and governors in Swabia - who all should have been gathering their forces for the past month - will attack the Compact from the north.

Kyburg, Muri, Beromunster, Luzern, Mulhausen, Laufenburg, and the ancestral seat of Habsburg alone should provide him with an army of four thousand, which should be more than enough to keep the Compact occupied if not outright conquer the lands of the Toggenburgs, the filthy traitors who have rejected to his messages of a secret alliance. The Duchy of Styria alone, under his brother Leopold, should have provided around six thousand soldiers. This too should be enough to keep the Duchy of Carinthia and County of Tyrol under control.

The Duchy of Austria and Sporon will provide a total of four thousand soldiers, and his ally, Matthew Csak, will bring forth another two thousand. The combined army of six thousand troops along with the estimated force of two thousand of his Bohemian allies should be enough to bring the Bohemian lands quickly under his control.

From what he gathered about the Compact's forces, Count von Fluelaberg had less than one thousand soldiers, including those rangers of his. The rest of the Compact combined had less than two thousand soldiers. This meant that his Swabian vassals will face, at most, three thousand soldiers to their four thousand, which wasn't even all of his vassal's army but rather the combined army of seven biggest vassals and fiefs. Of course, since he would be invading first, the Compact might not have the time to gather all three thousand soldiers, which meant that his vassals were unlikely to face all three thousand but rather something close to two thousand. And unlike the levies his vassals would be bringing, Fluelaberg's levies wouldn't be properly trained before the first battle happens.

Which was perfect.

What was even better was that he managed to fool Count von Fluelaberg into allowing himself to hire out one hundred rangers as mercenaries into "scouting out" his "rivals" in the Kingdom of Hungary, which further reduced the number of fighters he had at hand. Of course, only the best truths made for the best deceptions. It was true that he did have Hungarian rivals who were after his ally's lands and titles, and the rangers will be collecting information he needs to push deeper into the territories of the Hungarian oligarchs.

"You look… excited."

He glanced up from his desk and saw his wife, Elizabeth Richeza of Poland. The seven year younger woman had joined him in matrimony for political purposes: she needed someone to help her keep her dowry towns and assets while he needed more legitimacy to go after the Bohemian Crown. Who better was there for such legitimacy than the former queen of Bohemia?

"... I suppose I am," he hummed. "As much as I find Count von Fluelaberg to be an upjumped peasant, he still provides challenges I never expected to have encountered. He is a good reminder that things will not always go as I want them, too. If it wasn't for him and mother, then I would have attacked the ducal Gorizia years ago." Then he paused. "Also, some of the medicines that have been coming out from Fluelaberg has been effective at calming my stomach."

She hummed. "And you still want to ruin them?"

"Ruin them? No. I want to do what my father should have done and firmly put that innovative peasant under my thumb," he grinned. "Instead of letting him run around like an idiot waving his sword, I'll make sure he's confined to Fluelaberg to make more wonders. And I'll be the one to benefit from it."

She chuckled. "From what I heard, that will be harder than you make it out to be."

"But of course," he nodded. "It will be the work of decades if not generations. But if I can whittle down the Compact to half its current size, then I will be happy with that, too. I can't have another competitor cropping up and threatening my house's ancestral lands. The Burgundians and Savoy are enough as it is."

"And what about the Bavarians?" she asked. "I believe that the current Duke of Upper Bavaria is an ally of both Gorizia and Fluelaberg?"

"I have my own Bavarian allies to deal with him," he smirked. "The Wittlesbachs in Landshut and Burghausen are eager to take territory from their cousin in Upper Bavaria."

She giggled. "My, aren't you someone adept at ruining inter-house relationships?"

He shrugged. "I am merely playing the game. It's not my fault they choose not to play it."

-VB-

Hans von Fluelaberg

January 1310

I raised an eyebrow as I read the report from my rangers in the east, currently "working" for the Duke of Austria.

I snorted. "I am stunned by how uncritical Rudolph is," I hummed.

"How so?" Isabella asked as she played with our son.

"You know how I let him hire a hundred rangers?"

"Yes. I was against that, if I remember."

"Yes, well, the rangers have been sending regular reports," I replied with a smile. "Including how empty the Duke's eastern borders are."

"Oh?"

"The duke tried to move my rangers through empty passages to make sure they wouldn't see any military movement within Styria, but my rangers peeled off a squad or two. That's the downside of hiring so many rangers; Habsburgs can't keep track of them all. They also found a lot of details from rummaging about the Styrian valleys."

I handed her a copy of the report, and she read it.

Her eyes widened. "They're going to strike everywhere at once?"

"Kind of ballsy of them, actually," I agreed. "In Styria alone, they have some six thousand soldiers. It should be enough to keep Henry and his brothers occupied there." Then I handed her another report. This time, this one came from our west in the Swabian lands. "And the Habsburgs have another four thousand to our west."

She stiffened. "They want to attack us directly?"

"Apparently," I huffed. "And it would also depend on how much of the Compact they recognize as part of Fluelaberg. If they attack Fluelaberg as a whole, then they will be forced to fight all of us."

She frowned.

I smiled and pulled her hands into my hands.

"Don't worry about it. It wouldn't have been a problem even before I got magic. With it, I probably won't even be hurt."

Her frown didn't go away.

"Call upon my father."

I blinked. "What?"

"Isn't this the exact kind of situation that family needs to be called upon? Call my father to war when they do attack us. Even if he doesn't come to reinforce us directly, Henry is also of the House of Gorizia and closer to our homeland. It will be easier for him to reinforce Klagenfurt." Her hands tightened. "My father has at least five hundred men-at-arms under him. He will be able to help you."

I looked at her in the eyes … and then nodded. "Alright. I'll make sure to send him a letter explaining the situation."

She nodded.

"Now, let's see about gathering volunteers, mercenaries, and levies. I'm sure Dad's neighbors will appreciate a job this late in winter." A pause. "I'm sure a few of them will appreciate not being stuck in the house."