A Risky Move?

"Tell me, what is your purpose here?"

Laszlo withdrew his gaze from the Hungarian man who had somewhat intrigued him and turned to the two city envoys, who were now beaming with fawning smiles.

"Your Majesty, our city council of Szebes heard of your army's long journey and has prepared some military supplies and materials, hoping to do business with your army."

The Szebes envoy spoke to Laszlo in German with a slight accent.

"I can assure you, Your Majesty, our prices are absolutely fair and honest.

Your Majesty, as you know, we Germans who have migrated to the East often miss our homeland.

We heard that Your Majesty has a unit called the Saxon Army.

That name makes us feel very close, and everyone wants to get acquainted with our compatriots who have come from afar."

He looked at the Emperor with anticipation, hoping to obtain trade permission.

Upon hearing the news of war, the merchants of Szebes had hoarded a significant amount of supplies, just waiting for this moment to sell them to the soldiers.

Then, they would buy the looted goods from the soldiers at a low price.

Although doing business with the army carried unusual risks, the profits were often very high.

After the soldiers captured a city, their pockets would quickly swell.

At such times, as long as their needs could be met, there was no need to worry about money.

This kind of money should be earned by brave merchants, and their German immigrant trade caravans had some natural advantages.

Compared to their Jewish neighbors, Austrian soldiers who had traveled far from within the Empire and ventured deep into the eastern mountains of Hungary would certainly be more willing to buy goods from German immigrants.

The envoy from Korchev Castle, who was standing by, clearly realized this point, and he secretly cursed the cunning Saxons in his heart.

Then, he eagerly pleaded with the Emperor: "Your Majesty, we can also discuss, we can also—"

"Alright, I will grant special permission to the merchants of both your cities, but there will be people constantly monitoring the merchants who come to the military camp to buy and sell goods.

Contraband must be controlled, and those who inflate prices will be beheaded; you must make this clear to them beforehand."

Laszlo smiled slightly; these two people didn't seem to have any ill intentions.

Doing business, making money, it's not shameful.

His soldiers also needed an opportunity to dispose of their acquired wealth or spend the money in their pockets.

However, the Szebes envoy mentioning the Saxon Army's name was somewhat humorous.

It was almost like saying, "Germans don't cheat Germans."

As far as he knew, the earliest German immigrants in the Kingdom of Hungary—those who established the Seven Saxon Towns—actually came from Franconia, the heart of the Empire.

However, the Hungarian officials responsible for immigration affairs overlooked this point and simply called these German immigrants Saxons, which led to the current misunderstanding.

As for his Saxon Army, it was indeed initially built around the Saxon Black Guard, with most of its soldiers coming from the Elector of Saxony's territory.

However, as this army endured one brutal battle after another, the source of its soldiers was no longer as limited as it once was; recruits from Bohemia and mercenaries from various parts of the Empire now constituted the majority of this army.

It was simply due to Laszlo's uninteresting naming habit that this army was still called the Saxon Army.

Although this was just a minor misunderstanding, it was an undeniable fact that these German immigrants still maintained some German traditions even after centuries of living here.

Perhaps the soldiers would be interested in their compatriots in this foreign land, but Laszlo needed to use them even more to control Transylvania, and by extension, Hungary.

Although both envoys regretted not obtaining exclusive permission, they were happy to accept this outcome.

The Szebes envoy then remembered an important person beside him and quickly introduced him to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, this is Essikender, the brother of Efikende, Lord of Korchev Castle."

"Korchev Castle?" Laszlo narrowed his eyes slightly. "I remember that this castle is within Hunyadi's sphere of influence, so does that mean you and your brother are also members of the rebels?"

"Your Majesty, we were indeed forced to submit to Hunyadi earlier, but this was merely to make him complacent."

Essikender showed no fear in the face of the Emperor's questioning; instead, he displayed an indignant expression.

"In fact, we have been waiting for Your Majesty's army to arrive.

Hunyadi is too self-confident and has not deployed many troops on the southern front, relying entirely on my brother to block the pass and obstruct the road into Transylvania.

However, he does not know that my brother has long detested his stubbornness and secretly resolved that as soon as your army arrives, my brother and I will open the gates and surrender the city.

Your Majesty, Hunyadi is currently stationed in Deva, and his rear defenses are weak.

You only need to send a detachment of troops with me to enter Transylvania through the southern mountain pass, and you can directly threaten Hunyadi's stronghold.

By then, Hunyadi, caught between two fires, will surely be defeated."

Laszlo's heart initially leaped with joy, and he was about to speak, but then he felt something was amiss.

It was a very strange feeling; normally, Laszlo would not have had too many doubts, and he would most likely have gladly accepted the surrender and then dispatched troops to advance on separate routes.

However, at this particular moment, he could not afford to be anything but cautious.

The main army's assault on Timisoara had already resulted in thousands of casualties, and the Pressburg Legion was left to garrison Timisoara, leaving Laszlo with approximately twenty thousand troops.

He would only be able to rendezvous with Hervoye's army after entering the Mures Valley, and Laszlo had not yet learned of the casualties there.

In other words, Laszlo currently had only twenty thousand troops at his disposal.

What was even more critical was that after occupying Marjina, the main army would have to pass through a rugged, difficult, and rarely traveled mountain pass.

Laszlo had already begun to speculate about the possible blocking points the rebels might choose even before capturing Timisoara.

Aside from the river valley areas that the enemy would undoubtedly defend strictly, the most likely possibility was the mountain road from Marjina to the river valley; he had already suffered greatly from reckless actions in his early years, almost being wiped out by Mehmed II at Varna.

Since then, Laszlo's personal command of military operations had almost always been steady and methodical, advancing step by step.

If a battle did not have a certain chance of victory, or if the conditions were unfavorable, Laszlo would rather temporarily avoid the confrontation and seek another opportunity.

Taking risks had indeed brought him many benefits: the decisive battle at Varna, the race in Friuli; bold decisions often produced miraculous results.

So this time, should he risk an ambush and insufficient forces to attempt a risky division of troops?

If it succeeded, Hunyadi's rear would be ablaze, unable to attend to both ends, and defeat would be imminent.

But what if an accident occurred before that?

Laszlo realized he seemed to be becoming overly cautious.

However, this concerned the life and death of the main army, and not a single detail could be overlooked.

His current location was Lugos, which was also a crossroads; one could go south through the southern mountain pass or north directly into the Mures Valley.

"Gentlemen, what do you think?"

Laszlo finally posed the question to the generals seated beside him.

The generals exchanged glances, no one speaking.

They all actually felt that such a strategy was indeed feasible, but no one was willing to take the even more rugged southern mountain road.

Finally, Ester, the commander of the Imperial Guard, who usually expressed his opinions the least, spoke first: "Your Majesty, I believe it is not suitable to divide our forces at this time.

As a Transylvanian noble, I strongly advise against it.

The southern mountain road is winding and rugged; sending troops to encircle from there would be time-consuming and arduous, and who knows if this person's words are true or false.

It would be better to concentrate our forces and break through the valley in one fell swoop."

"Hmm, good!" Laszlo smiled, having made up his mind. He turned to Essikender, whose expression had eased slightly, and said, "If you and your brother are truly willing to surrender, then complete a task to prove your loyalty."

"A task?" Essikender showed a puzzled expression. "Please instruct, Your Majesty."

"I remember, Korchev Castle is not far from Hatteg, is it?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the two cities are only half a day's journey apart."

"You should know that Hatteg is the county seat of the royal domain.

I will give you an imperial edict; you are to persuade or compel the commander of Hatteg to surrender, and then you will combine your forces to disrupt Hunyadi's rear.

If you handle the matter well, I will reward you handsomely; if you do nothing, you will be treated as rebels."

"This..." Essikender hesitated for a moment, then sighed softly and replied, "I understand, Your Majesty."

The envoys then left the city hall.

As Essikender, carrying the Emperor's edict, rode his swift horse out of the city gate of Lugos, he let out an imperceptible sigh.

It seemed that the path for his two brothers was now set.

Although they ultimately failed to complete Lord Hunyadi's plan, they had at least tried.

From now on, they would no longer be Hunyadi's aid, but rather... enemies.

On the other side, Laszlo was still pondering the recent events, some doubts lingering in his mind.

Although Essikender's attitude was [Neutral], indicating no significant hostility towards him, he always felt that something was off.

The people from Korchev Castle had arrived a bit too coincidentally, as if they were specifically waiting for him.

Looking at the map, Korchev Castle was at least ten days' journey from Lugos, plus the delay in transmitting messages.

It was highly probable that these two brothers had already been thinking of surrendering as soon as the main army besieged Timisoara.

Would Hunyadi allow such people to guard his back door?

If that were truly the case, then he deserved to fail.

Thinking this, Laszlo stopped dwelling on the matter and began to study the battles he might encounter next.