Towards Prague

The Hussites captured in Kuttenberg were all gathered and imprisoned. Laszlo ordered Werner to lead the greatly weakened Saxon Army to garrison this important city and guard these prisoners.

At the same time, he also sent people to ride back to Vienna to summon several mining experts, and as soon as they arrived in Kuttenberg, the reconstruction and mining of the silver mine would begin immediately.

These Hussites were the best miners to use. Although their skills were far less professional than German miners, they were free. As long as they were given food and threatened with swords, these defeated Hussites would work for him until they died.

After arranging the affairs here, Laszlo did not want to stay for a moment longer, leading his troops non-stop towards Prague.

The news of Iri's death quickly spread, and panic spread within Prague. Now, the main force of the Hussite rebels had been completely annihilated, and the Emperor's forces were pointing directly at Prague.

All they could do was intensify their preparations for war and pray for a miracle to happen.

Iri's sons, Heinrich and Viktor, were ordered by Iri to defend Prague Castle, but they were still too young, and most of the rebels did not believe they had the ability to lead the army to continue fighting.

With the support of the Cup faction elder, the English theologian Peter Payne, Karlštejn of Schlick, the commander-in-chief of the Prague city defense forces, was elected as the new leader of the Cup faction.

As Iri's most important supporter, Karlštejn was deeply trusted by Iri. Now, he would take over Iri's banner,

and continue to lead the Cup faction in fighting against the tyrant Laszlo.

Even if the Cup faction in Prague was full of fighting spirit, how difficult would it be for the Hussite rebels, with less than five thousand troops, to defend the entire Prague?

Karlštejn could only do his best to strengthen Prague's defenses to the extreme.

The Imperial Army marched rapidly, encountering no resistance along the way. In just one day, the army arrived at Český Brod, a town not far southeast of Prague.

There used to be silver mines near Český Brod, but their scale was much smaller than the Kuttenberg Silver Mine. They gradually declined after being destroyed during Sigismund's invasion of Bohemia and the Hussite Wars.

Out of curiosity, Laszlo specifically asked the local residents and learned that there was indeed a village nearby called "Silver Skalice," which provided silver ore to the royal family.

Before its destruction, Skalice belonged to the royal burgrave Raděj Kobyla. In 1403, Sigismund's Cuman mercenaries destroyed it.

Later, roughly between 1410 and 1415, this burgrave served as the castellan of Vyšehrad Castle—that important castle guarding Prague's southern gate. The rebels sent by Iri are now defending this castle, and it will also be the first target for the Imperial Army's attack on Prague.

In 1416, a tax resistance riot occurred in Kuttenberg. Raděj was ordered to collect taxes for Wenceslaus IV. In this process,

he was brutally murdered by the rioting miners.

Laszlo didn't know if this burgrave had an illegitimate son named Henry. Anyway, he thought Kingdom Come: Deliverance was quite fun, and he regretted not being able to play the second part.

Now it was his turn to play the live-action version, but as the big BOSS.

After resting for a night in Český Brod, the army charged straight from the southeast towards Prague, camping not far from the city's outer wall and beginning preparations for the siege.

Laszlo and a group of generals ascended a higher hill outside Prague to observe the entire city from above.

The scale of Prague in this era was truly astonishing, several times larger than Vienna, and its city defenses were complete and heavily guarded.

In the 15th century, there would not be more than ten cities of this scale in all of Europe, which is why Prague was known as the Holy Roman Empire's most prosperous metropolis, "The City of a Thousand Cities."

A staff officer presented a map of Prague's urban area. Laszlo and the others observed Prague's situation while referencing the map.

Outside the city's southern gate, the first obstacle now in front of the Imperial Army was Vyšehrad Castle.

A little further north from the castle was Prague's eastern district, east of the Vltava River, which was also Prague's central district.

A circle of strong, tall city walls surrounded the entire eastern district of Prague, providing complete protection.

Inside the city, Charles Bridge spanned the Vltava River, connecting Prague's eastern and western districts.

The western district was much smaller than the eastern district, but the difficulty of attacking here was the greatest.

The small western district was also surrounded by an outer wall, which was taller and sturdier than the walls of the eastern district.

Inside the walls, in addition to some residential areas, there was also a city within a city, which was Prague Castle, located on the high ground in Prague's northwest corner.

This castle was also known as Prague Castle or the Royal City of Bohemia—it had served as the residence of the royal family ever since Bohemia established its kingdom. Now it was occupied by the Hussites, and Iri's two sons were leading troops to defend this castle.

Since Prague was built right at a bend in the Vltava River, the northern part of the eastern district was protected by the great river and could not be attacked. To the east, there was an important high ground called Vitkov Hill.

Once, Jan Žižka personally led over a hundred Tábor faction rebels to defeat Sigismund's attacking force of several thousand knights, shocking the entire European continent.

If Vitkov Hill could be captured, it would greatly facilitate the Imperial Army's attack. Vyšehrad Castle to the south was also an important stronghold that needed to be captured first.

However, the terrain around the eastern district was relatively complex, which was not conducive to the deployment of siege troops.

After some discussion, Laszlo decided to first send troops to seize Vitkov Hill and capture the bridges nearby, sending a portion of the troops to the other side of the river to besiege Prague's western district, forming a encirclement, and then proceeding slowly.

In fact, before observing Prague, Laszlo had hoped to use a direct assault to capture this important city in one fell swoop.

However, after witnessing Prague's sturdy fortifications with his own eyes, Laszlo realized that even with a considerable numerical advantage, he could only adopt a long-term siege strategy.

If he launched a direct assault, there was a high probability that the Imperial Army would suffer a crushing defeat under Prague's strong walls.

If that were the case, he would become the second Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, after Sigismund, to suffer a disastrous defeat at the walls of Prague, becoming a laughingstock to the world.

Laszlo certainly did not want to see such an outcome.

Now, he could only sigh daily while looking at the city, gazing at Prague, the super fortress city that Charles IV had painstakingly built with countless riches, and he still harbored a little resentment in his heart.

"Charles IV built Prague so strong, he probably couldn't have imagined that his son Sigismund would suffer repeated defeats at the foot of this city, becoming a King of Bohemia unable to enter Prague, and a laughingstock to all of Europe, right?"

Laszlo speculated with no small amount of malice.

He felt that Prague's city-building model was worth learning from. After the city was built, its walls were repeatedly expanded and reinforced to counter the threat of war, and even super-tough defensive structures like a city-within-a-city appeared.

Vienna, after a period of resource injection, had become increasingly prosperous. The original urban area was constantly expanding, and a large settlement had already formed outside the city walls. It was time to expand Vienna's city walls when he returned.

In addition, the roads from Vienna to Moravia, Bohemia, and the Hungarian plains also needed to be widened and repaired,

all of which would require a large number of laborers.

The Kuttenberg Silver Mine also needed more manpower, and the post-war reconstruction of Bohemia equally required sufficient labor. These arduous labors would all be borne by the Hussites of Bohemia.

Prague, this prosperous and beautiful city, was now before him, and Laszlo would acquire it no matter what.

He would not follow Sigismund's absurd trick of moral victory, nor would he be crowned King of Bohemia outside the walls of Prague.

He would enter the Bohemian Royal Palace and complete the coronation ceremony of his last crown in the place where successive Kings of Bohemia were crowned.