Italian War

War came to Italy, but this was not the so-called "civilized" conflict that the Italians were accustomed to; instead, it was the brutal warfare experienced by the Imperial Army, which had been tested on countless battlefields.

The ringing of church bells and the clamor of arguing merchants would soon be replaced by the terrifying, destructive sound of cannon fire.

Italian mercenaries were more than willing to serve either side of the war, provided the price was high enough.

They cared nothing for the impact the Emperor's entry into Italy would have, only how much profit they could gain from this war.

They clearly underestimated the intensity and scale of this war, which would later cost them dearly.

Laszlo was unwilling to pay even a single florin to Italian mercenaries; he preferred to hire mercenary groups from within the Empire, and that is precisely what he did, though it's unclear if this counted as a unique form of expanding domestic demand.

Late at night, in a camp near Trieste, Laszlo was reading a report sent by the Court Military Commission, which summarized the larger wars that had occurred in the Italian region over the past fifty years, as well as the performance of Italian mercenaries in those wars.

When Laszlo saw that in one battle where the Florence army repelled the Milanese army, the total casualties for the entire battle were less than a hundred, he was utterly shocked.

Especially since it later described the significant meaning of this war: it maintained the stability of the Florence regime and enabled Florence to successfully annex Lucca.

It seemed the Italians viewed everything as business, and warfare was no exception.

In earlier years, Italian mercenary companies were quite powerful; the most famous was likely the Grand Company founded by Sir Urslingen, which was unmatched in the Italian region at the time.

And this Sir Urslingen was a pure German, and most of his troops were German mercenaries.

Later, Roderic Visconte of Milan founded the first German mercenary company led by an Italian—the Company of St. George.

The White Company, formed around the same time, was also founded by German nobles, but its leadership later fell into the hands of Sir Hawkwood, a veteran of England's Hundred Years' War, who showed the Italians the might of English longbowmen.

Upon closer examination, it can be seen that the early powerful Italian mercenary companies were almost all founded by foreigners, primarily Germans, and Italians later emulated them, thus giving rise to the world-renowned mercenary tradition in the Italian region.

By this era, the combat effectiveness of Italian mercenaries had severely declined.

Gunpowder weapons were gradually becoming widespread, yet lacking state financial support and without the pressure of strong external threats,

The military technological iteration of Italian mercenaries had fallen far behind France and Austria.

Moreover, mercenaries were too profit-driven, often switching sides mid-battle, and their fighting was always restrained.

Everyone was there to make money and earn a living, so there was no need to fight so desperately.

Thinking this, Laszlo suddenly felt that his insistence on using German mercenaries was even more correct; when it came to fighting, the valorous Germans were clearly superior.

The only thing he regretted was that the army could not recruit Swiss mercenaries, who inherently possessed strong discipline.

He actually quite liked using these mountaineers; they could always stabilize their formations at critical moments and faced cavalry charges fearlessly, truly the strongest mercenary force of their time.

It was precisely this formidable combat power that caused the Habsburg Family to suffer repeated setbacks in Switzerland.

After this Italian War, it would be time to reclaim the family's lost territories; the old site of Habsburg was still within Switzerland, and he had to reclaim it no matter what.

This time, all Imperial Princes who participated in the Mantua Alliance would be punished, because Charles IV's golden bull had clearly stipulated that Imperial Princes were forbidden from joining alliances against the Emperor.

However, these were long-term goals, and the Venetians were already close at hand.

Laszlo came to the table, looking at the towns and fortresses marked on the map, as well as the Imperial Army's advance routes.

The Hungarian army in Croatia had already advanced into the Dalmatia region, and the Serbian Army had also gathered to attack Cattaro, which was originally the Serbia's outlet to the sea, but had previously been occupied by the Venetians; this time it was considered a reclamation of lost territory.

The Albanian army advanced to besiege Durrës, Albania's most prosperous port, which, of course, was currently occupied by the Venetians.

Further afield, the Bulgarian and Macedonian allied forces attacked the Thessaloniki region.

Thomas, the Despot of Moria, was instructed to hold his position and defend his territory; he truly lacked the strength to attack Athens and Thebes.

The seemingly grand offensive actually only served to tie down the Venetians; the true main battlefield was the Imperial Army personally led by Laszlo.

From Trieste, there were two options for attacking the Venetians: advance south into Istria, or north into Friuli.

Of course, they could also split their forces to attack both regions, but that would entail the risk of being ambushed by the Venetians.

The Venetians, who controlled the seas, could quickly transport ground troops by sea, especially at such close distances, where the transport time would be very short.

Meanwhile, Austrian ships would be seized or even sunk as soon as they appeared at sea.

With the sea completely blockaded, Laszlo had to make a careful decision.

Just then, Matthias entered the tent and announced, "Your Majesty, the staff officer requests an audience."

"Let him in."

Joachim Wodnic, head of the army's staff department, entered the tent, bringing the Emperor new intelligence on the Venetian army.

"Your Majesty, the Venetians have assembled twenty thousand mercenaries and are currently stationed in Treviso, expected to advance towards the Friuli region. The army they dispatched to attack Milan is currently besieging Brescia."

Listening to Joachim's report, Laszlo's fingers traced the map, pointing out the movements of the Venetian army.

Before the war, the Venetians already possessed about twelve thousand standing mercenaries, a strength that was quite exaggerated throughout Italy.

However, three thousand of these troops were stationed in Split in Dalmatia, three thousand in Athens, and another three thousand in Thessaloniki.

During several months of war preparations, the Venetians expanded their forces to nearly thirty thousand, which cost an enormous amount of money.

However, the Venetians didn't care at all.

The troop strength alone was indeed impressive, but the combat effectiveness of Italian mercenaries still needed to be evaluated; Laszlo, however, was full of confidence.

The French were the most concerning, but the main French forces were currently confronting the Imperial Army near Naples.

Even if the remaining troops were fully assembled, it would take a long march, possibly three or four months, to reinforce Venice.

Moreover, Laszlo expected the French to first capture Milan, then aid Venice; Switzerland and France were allies, Genoa was under French control, and the three would certainly combine their forces.

Then, the only ones likely to aid Venice would be Florence and Mantua, and these two states lacked the ability to influence the overall situation.

"So, now it's a race to see if we crush Venice first, or if the French take Milan first….

Laszlo pondered for a moment, feeling that the odds were still very much in his favor. He decided to first attack Istria, and after capturing its prosperous trading ports, then advance into the Venetian homeland.

The next day, Laszlo left ten thousand mercenaries under the command of Field Marshal Albrecht to guard Trieste, preventing the Venetians from ambushing his rear, while he himself led the main force into Istria.