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Attack When Thirty Times Stronger

"Explain yourself. Why would this happen to my newly appointed Serbia Regent?" Laszlo asked with a hint of helplessness, his gaze fixed on Sigismund's injury.

Sigismund replied somewhat shamefully, "Your Majesty, I immediately began assembling troops after receiving your order.

However, the Serbia nobles kept delaying, which caused me to arrive here two full weeks later than the original deployment time. When I got here, I found that the terrain around Timisoara was flat, making it easy to attack, so I immediately ordered the army to advance in three columns to attack the urban area south of the Begej River.

However, the defenders in the city resisted very stubbornly, and I only had over five thousand men, so both attacks were repelled.

During the second attack, some soldiers had already climbed the city wall. I intended to go forward and boost morale, but who knew those despicable Hungarian would fire a sneak arrow!"

"I think you should thank God for leaving you with a small life," Laszlo sighed softly. "The Lionheart King died this way, and you miraculously survived.

I don't want to hear such surprising news again. Serbia cannot be lost, so don't risk your life again, understand?"

"I… I understand, Your Majesty."

Sigismund breathed a sigh of relief. He was very surprised that he didn't receive the Emperor's scolding and punishment; instead, he received extra concern.

How should he put it? Sigismund's evaluation of Laszlo in his heart increased significantly.

At least compared to his father, Laszlo clearly valued kinship more.

As for the 'Prodigal Son' Albrecht VI, who died in the chaotic army, he subconsciously ignored him.

After all, swords and blades have no eyes on the battlefield, and dying in battle is not uncommon.

Anyway, Sigismund was unwilling to believe that his cousin, the 'Prodigal Son' Albrecht, died under Laszlo's secret instigation.

Thinking carefully, after Albrecht VI died in battle, Laszlo allowed him to be buried in the royal cemetery and repented for several days in St. Stephen's Cathedral.

No matter how you look at it, this matter doesn't seem to be intentional on Laszlo's part.

Laszlo, of course, didn't know what the person in front of him was thinking.

If he did, Laszlo would probably retort, "If it weren't for the lack of available people, would it be your turn, you scheming uncles, to help govern the vassal states?"

Laszlo now only hoped that his children would grow up quickly. Once they were a little more mature, these important vassal states should be given to his sons to manage.

He had counted that to fully control the family territories outside of Austria, he and Leonor would need to have five or six more sons.

Before setting out with the army, he continued to work hard, but Leonor's belly always remained quiet.

Such things couldn't be rushed. For a long time to come, large territories in the Near East could only be managed by his two uncles for now.

Laszlo then inquired about the defense of Timisoara.

According to Sigismund's description, the city's defenders seemed not to be that strong.

The Serbia's reckless attack was not entirely useless; at least it allowed Laszlo to ascertain the true strength of the defenders in the city.

If it was truly as the intelligence stated, that there were less than a thousand regular troops stationed there, then he now had an almost thirty-fold numerical advantage.

Moreover, the terrain around Timisoara was flat, which was very suitable for a large army to besiege.

Laszlo instructed Sigismund to rest well, then stood up and left the tent.

Although Sigismund's explanation just now had an air of shirking responsibility, the problems he mentioned were likely true. Those Serbia nobles were not very interested in this war, which was why they dragged their feet.

In fact, from Laszlo's perspective, he truly had no reason to blame these nobles.

Not to mention that he had only recently become King of Serbia, the Serbia nobles had no obligation to send troops to suppress the rebels for him, the King of Hungary.

The reason they accepted the summons and gathered troops to attack Timisoara was merely to fulfill their military obligations under the contract to Laszlo, their liege lord.

After forty days of service, they could refuse to continue fighting for the Emperor and then lead their armies back to Serbia.

Thinking of this, Laszlo abandoned the idea of summoning the Serbia nobles for accountability.

Inherited composite monarchies were simply different from territories conquered through actual combat. Many things would be constrained, which was an unavoidable reality.

Counting the days, most of them had just completed their tenth day of service, and in another month, they could return to Serbia.

Of course, they could also choose to stay and continue fighting for the Emperor, in which case Laszlo would need to pay wages to those who stayed.

Thirty days was a bit tight for Laszlo, but it wasn't impossible.

In any case, he would suppress Hunyadi's rebellion as quickly as possible.

If this rebellion were allowed to continue, it could lead to extremely negative subsequent effects.

And if his actions were swift enough, the deterrent effect on other great nobles might exceed his initial expectations.

Inside the Emperor's main tent, the accompanying staff officers meticulously divided Timisoara's defenses and formulated a battle plan in less than a day.

Early the next morning, the generals gathered in the Emperor's military tent to receive their assignments.

Karl, as the absolute main force, his army along with Laszlo's Imperial Guard Legion were kept as reserves, with only the artillery units temporarily lent to allied forces to bombard the city walls.

Werner finally secured the main assault mission this time; his Saxon Army would be responsible for attacking the city gate directly north of Timisoara.

Paul and Szécsényi's two legions were also on the north bank of the Begej River, each responsible for besieging a section of the city wall to disperse the enemy's defensive forces.

The Serbian Army was still responsible for the attack on the south bank. Adhering to the principle of making the best use of everything, Laszlo ordered the Serbian Army to launch a probing attack first.

Before the formal assault began, the soldiers, under the command of their officers, began their final siege preparations.

The Austrian had built a large number of scaling ladders, Hungarian artillerymen continuously adjusted and maintained their cannons, and the Serbia had even built several simple trebuchets.

This bustling scene was clearly visible to the defenders on the city walls.

They saw enemy camps all around the city, one siege camp connected to another, forming a huge circle that completely surrounded Timisoara.

The fortress was shrouded in the shadow of war, and the air was filled with a suffocating tension.

The defending general, Bem of the Gara Family, moved along the city walls, constantly calming his restless subordinates.

However, deep down, he held no hope for this battle with such a vast disparity in strength.

He was Hunyadi's brother-in-law, a member of the gradually declining Gara Family.

In the past, his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father had all served as Royal Ministers of the Court, and two had even held the highly influential position of Governor of Hungary.

But now, the Gara Family had fallen to the status of lower nobility in Hungary, all because his father, Gara Lajos, had angered Albrecht II in parliament.

The Emperor's favor obviously could not fall upon the almost forgotten Gara Family again, and Hunyadi had given him new hope for the family's revival.

Whether for himself or for his family, Bem had to fight to the death against the Emperor's army in Timisoara.

The siege army's preparations took a full five days. During this time, seven more heavy cannons were sent to Timisoara.

These heavy cannons were not masterpieces from the Graz arsenal, but products of the Hungarian Royal Cannon Factory.

Although it was called the Royal Cannon Factory, its main business was actually various military equipment, but it possessed the technology to manufacture various types of cannons.

Hungary, after all, was the country where the genius cannon master Urban was born, and its tradition of manufacturing and using cannons was quite famous in Europe.

These heavy cannons were proof of Hungarian cannon-casting craftsmanship; most of them were manufactured between 1450 and 1455 to counter the Ottomans's cannons.

Originally, these cannons were meant to equip the border guards, but due to many changes in the border guards later, these cannons were hidden in the Fisherman's Bastion armory next to the Budapest Royal Palace.

Now, Laszlo brought these heavy cannons back into the light.

The artillerymen unloaded the cannons from the oxcarts, fixed the barrels onto temporarily erected gun carriages, and aimed their dark muzzles at the precarious Timisoara.

Once all preparations were complete, a Hungarian warrior volunteered to deliver a surrender letter to the Emperor.

Laszlo stood on a temporarily erected high platform, observing the situation on the northern city wall.

Regrettably, he witnessed his envoy being thrown from the city wall by the defenders, falling into the moat, and disappearing from sight.

Laszlo waved his hand, and the heavy sound of a horn echoed through the sky, officially marking the beginning of this bloody battle.