The Emperor's Power

Upon receiving the Emperor's orders, all parties began to prepare.

However, apart from Serbia and Wallachia, the other subordinate forces did not need to undertake large-scale mobilizations.

Eliminating the Hunyadi was not a difficult task in itself, and the shrewd Frederick quickly guessed the Emperor's intentions.

He knew that Laszlo was using this opportunity to display his power to the Hungarian nobles, and the Hunyadi Family merely served as an excellent target.

Therefore, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Morea barely managed to assemble three thousand men in total.

Frederick knew very well that he lacked the ability to command troops in battle, and he disliked traveling far.

Thus, he handed over all these troops to Grand Master Martin of the Royal Order of Saint George. Martin would lead his army across the Danube River to rendezvous with Prince Vlad of Wallachia, and then advance together into southeastern Transylvania.

Meanwhile, in Wallachia, Vlad and Stefan had already joined forces, leading over five thousand troops south to clear out the remaining forces of the rebellious nobles.

At the same time, Vlad also targeted five important hub castles occupied by the Hunyadi Family in the Severin region of Wallachia, leading his army to besiege them.

On the other side, the Split Legion, the Slavonia Army, the Croatia Army, and the Bosnia Army, totaling over six thousand men, also marched north under the command of Royal Inspector Hervoye to rendezvous with the Emperor's army.

Before the Serbian army had even finished assembling, the Emperor's grand army had already crossed the Danube River from Budapest.

Laszlo intended to traverse the flat Hungarian Great Plain along the main road that cut across the Kingdom of Hungary.

His first stop was Szeged, a central city in the south-central part of the Kingdom.

This had always been an important city directly under the Royal Family, and also the seat of the county government.

After Hunyadi transferred his important fortresses and territories here to Matthias, these lands came into the Emperor's hands through territorial exchange.

The county where Szeged was located was thus reclassified as Royal territory, and Laszlo appointed a new county governor to manage it.

Now, it became a bridgehead for attacking the Hunyadi Family's territories.

Advancing from here along the Mures River, one could soon reach the territories controlled by the Hunyadi Family.

Such a large-scale military expedition even alarmed Mehmed II, far away in Anatolia, and the Lithuanian Grand Duke in the north.

Mehmed II initially thought that Laszlo intended to tear up the thirty-year truce and gather a large army to besiege Constantinople again.

When he heard that Laszlo's grand mobilization was merely to suppress the rebellious Hunyadi, he couldn't help but feel a bit regretful.

If he had been given a few more years, such a significant rebellion would have been a great opportunity for him to counterattack the European continent.

However, he was currently still deeply entangled in the quagmire of Anatolia and unable to extricate himself.

Therefore, Mehmed could only watch as his nemesis, Laszlo, step by step cleared obstacles and gained greater power.

This, however, provided him with greater motivation, spurring him to intensify his invasions of the various states in Anatolia.

Laszlo, of course, did not know what impact his "grand move" had on the Ottoman Sultan; even if he did, he would only smile faintly.

Because the Dragon Knight Order and the Balkans defense perimeter were originally prepared for the Ottomans, this time it was just a test of their might against the Hunyadi.

Such a large-scale operation, besides shocking neighboring countries, also brought immense shock to the arrogant Hungarian great nobles.

In Budapest, inside the luxurious and grand Károlyi Manor, Chak István had prepared a banquet and was currently clinking glasses with two distinguished guests.

Amidst the clinking of cups, the three showed little joy; instead, their expressions grew more solemn, as if something bad was happening.

Károlyi of Slavonia was the first to lose his composure.

His gaze swept over Chak and Batthyány, and he said with some anxiety, "You all saw it, didn't you? That massive army outside the city today."

Batthyány snorted coldly, saying irritably, "I think Emperor Laszlo would love nothing more than to parade his army around Budapest and Pest, so that all the nobles gathered here can behold his glory."

Chak's face was grim, his heart extremely unsettled, and he said in a low voice, "The Emperor now seems very different from a few years ago.

Young people like to show off their power, which I can understand.

But, at this sensitive time, what is his intention in displaying military might before the Kingdom's nobles?"

"Is it that hard to guess?" Károlyi gulped down a large mouthful of wine, speculating with some apprehension, "I think he just wants to intimidate the nobles, to make sure no one has any ill intentions."

Batthyány revealed a cold smile: "Never mind whether we have ill intentions or not, that bastard Hunyadi is about to be finished anyway.

The Emperor's grand army is coming from all directions; the last time I saw so many troops was during the Crusade.

Károlyi, you were his father's subordinate and have worked with him for many years, do you not have any thoughts?"

Károlyi's face immediately darkened, and he said angrily, "If you want to frame me, at least find a more clever way!

Forget about how close my relationship with Hunyadi is, even his uncle, our Grand Master Szilágyi, isn't he cowering in Budapest like a turtle?

These past few days, he's been refusing visitors, claiming to be seriously ill, which is clearly a pretense.

Even he is eager to distance himself from Hunyadi, so would I be stupid enough to rush to my death?"

"That's hard to say…"

"Are you looking for a fight?"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again at the slightest disagreement, Chak quickly cleared his throat, interrupting their argument.

"Gentlemen, the current situation is not optimistic for us, let's stop arguing for now."

Chak said with some helplessness.

Although there were many territorial disputes between him and Károlyi, now was not the time to dwell on them.

It was precisely for this reason that he had invited Károlyi over, hoping to temporarily put their differences aside.

"What exactly do you want to say?" Károlyi was somewhat dissatisfied with Chak's vague words and asked directly.

"I suspect that the Emperor's target this time is not just Hunyadi; he has other objectives."

Hearing Chak's words, Batthyány and Károlyi both began to ponder.

What other objectives could the Emperor have? Isn't it just to bring the Austrian army to Hungary to quell the rebellion?

"Gentlemen, who among you has the confidence to say that you are not afraid of the Emperor's power?" Chak asked.

Batthyány and Károlyi both shook their heads.

Chak continued, "In the past, the reason we held power in the country was because the King needed us to provide him with money and troops.

Whether it was taxes and loans, or military service, the King had to pay a corresponding price.

And this was based on the premise that our strength was greater than the King's.

But now, Emperor Laszlo's power is such that even if we combine our forces, and more nobles unite, it would probably be very difficult to contend with him.

This means that the King no longer fears our armies, yet we possess wealth that troubles him.

Recently, rumors have spread from the Royal Palace that Emperor Laszlo intends to implement reforms.

Although the specific content of the reforms is still unclear, they will definitely not be beneficial to us.

At that time, what should we do?"

He wasn't afraid before because Chak was convinced that the Emperor lacked the resolve to fall out with the Hungarian Parliament and overturn the table.

However, times were different now; those twenty thousand-plus troops didn't look like they were to be trifled with...

"Like before, put pressure on the Emperor in Parliament, forcing him to abandon those messy reform plans?"

Batthyány said with some uncertainty.

The three suddenly fell into an eerie silence. In the past, this method might have worked.

But now the Emperor's grand army had already assembled and was rapidly advancing eastward, intending to quell the rebellious Hunyadi.

Hunyadi, as the chief noble with the largest territory and greatest power below the King, had no chance of victory against the Emperor.

In such a situation, to jump out and confront the Emperor in Parliament...

The three exchanged glances, realizing in despair that they only had two choices.

Either wait for the Emperor to clear out Hunyadi, reclaim Transylvania for the Royal Family, and then return with the might of a great victory to forcefully implement reforms.

Or, respond to Hunyadi's rebellion now and fight the Emperor to the death.

But who had the guts to do that?

This secret conversation ultimately ended in silence and sighs.