The Eagle of Eastern Europe

In the Grand Council of Venice, the proposal to declare war on Rome was discussed for two days. Each member supported or opposed it from the perspective of their own and family business. The newly appointed Governor Michael Steno is inclined to negotiate, but some members of Congress disagree.

These are Venetian families who are at a disadvantage in the competition with Rome. They hope that Venice can fight a war with Rome and then use their victory to snatch their resources.

"Look, the rulers of the East thought they could rule the world after expelling the pagans. Venice wants the East to know that even they must listen to our opinions."

Such a statement won the support of many people. They wanted a lot of resources and interests from Rome. Even in war, the monarch had to surrender to them because of their interests.

Moreover, they also painted cakes for the so-called neutralists, saying that after victory, they would force the Roman emperor to exempt Venetian goods from tariffs, and would use the most preferential policies to nourish their industries. This caused the neutrals to gradually switch sides, and a declaration of war seemed inevitable.

Rome took action quickly. Peter's army had all left Anatolia and was preparing to attack new targets. Croatia and Bosnia were hidden dangers on the west side of Rome, so they were targeted first. .

Peter left Constantinople and headed for Nis. Along the way, he recruited some more trained people and gathered 20,000 troops to prepare for the attack. Bosnia and Croatia, on the other hand, have a small population of 12,000 at most, and some of them have to defend Hungary in the north, so they have even fewer troops to spare.

The whole of Rome began to prepare for self-reliance, vigorously develop its own shipping and shipbuilding industries, and vigorously expand to the east to find new markets for domestic products. In this way, Rome waited for the first declaration of war against the Roman alliance.

The first to start was Genoa, and the Assembly reacted quickly by declaring war on the brazen Rome. Afterwards, the Principality of Chandia under Venice declared war on Rome, as well as the Ottomans, a pagan country at war, and the Turkic tribes opposing Rome, and Constantinople fell into a situation of being surrounded on two sides.

Mircea did not panic when facing this scene. He first conscripted troops and then recruited merchant ships to form a navy. In addition, the Patriarch of Constantinople will add a buff to all the soldiers, and with the bonus of religion and interests, they will soon go to war.

At the same time, in order to prevent Lithuania and Poland from disrupting the situation, Rome also contacted Moscow through the Principality of Ukraine and encouraged the other party to annex Novgorod. Even if a country competes with him for Eastern Europe in the future, it will not ask for a heretic.

From the beginning of the war, the war tilted towards Rome. The small northern countries that obeyed the Ottomans were wiped out, and the east was completely suppressed by Rome. The pressure on the west was much less due to the help of Hungary. No one wanted to go to the east for unknown dangers. Genoa could only use the money from its treasury to hire soldiers to fight. Venice also spent a lot of money to hire soldiers, and the price of mercenaries suddenly rose.

Fortunately, Rome has made great efforts to repair its road system in recent years, so it only takes two days to travel from Constantinople to Nis. Peter also had plenty of time to make his next plan.

"Bosnia is mountainous and it is difficult to transport cavalry and artillery, so the attack here is mainly based on infantry."

90% of Bosnia is rugged mountainous terrain, with the Dinara Mountains running slopingly across the west and separated from the coastal areas of Croatia. The southwest is a limestone plateau; the plains are limited to both sides of the river. The territory of Croatia can be roughly divided into three geographical areas: plains, mountains and coastal areas. The plains account for about 49% of the country's area and belong to the southwest of the Pannonian Plain, consisting of Slavonia and Baranya. and the Central Croatian Plain. Mountainous areas account for about 20% of the country's area, mainly the Dinaric Alps extending from northwest to southeast, located on the Adriatic coastline.

Peter's plan was to concentrate his forces and attack Jajce, the capital of Bosnia. After sending the army out of Croatia, he would use the Sava River to penetrate directly into Salegb, the capital of Croatia. This was the initial plan and was expected to resolve both countries within six months.

All military plans are decided by a meeting of generals, because the increase in soldiers has made the original work of generals more and more arduous, especially personnel administration, military intelligence, military training, logistics supplies, political warfare and planning. In order to reduce the pressure , Peter formed a meeting of generals and let the meeting handle all the above matters. This should be called the General Staff in later generations.

On the way Peter came, tens of thousands of people reported to the military recruitment office or handed over the food in their homes to the government. Because the government pays itself more than those who collect for free. Therefore, their enthusiasm has soared, which is the result of the reform.

The entire country's war machine was set into motion, and within a month it was expected that 20,000 people would be ready for the battlefield. There will be 80,000 people in the first three months. Their weapons are all equipped by the arsenal, and they have uniform uniforms. From officers to soldiers, everyone obeys the orders above and will never violate them.

The navy also recruited merchant ships for modification, equipped with artillery and Greek fire, and equipped with sailors, and a simple armed merchant ship was ready. The Chamber of Commerce also actively supported the empire's war against the infidels and began to transport military supplies.

The kings of Bosnia and Croatia panicked when they heard that war was coming, and hurriedly began to prepare for war. However, Count Pinsk of Hungary sent troops to put pressure on Croatia, and Louis had to use part of his army for defense. When they heard that the Roman army was coming, some residents fled into the mountains for fear of being captured and used as cannon fodder.

Austria is still trying to get the ransom, so there is no assistance to Croatia for the time being. Sigismund was obediently preparing for the next election of the German king. The other princes wanted to take this opportunity to carve up Italy's interests, so France, Aragon, and HRE were all quietly watching the show.

The first land battle began at Sinop in Anatolia, where Adrian led 11,000 people to defeat a 2,000-man Turkic cavalry force. This is a port with convenient supplies. Adrian rests here and waits for the arrival of other armies.

Muhammad also stepped up training of his army to prepare for counterattack. His countermeasures were the same as those of other nomadic tribes, using their high mobility to fight mobile warfare with the enemy. Tent animals and other things can be driven away, and the tribes undergoing transformation are forced to return to their mobile days.

Rome's policy towards nomads was also formulated when Peter became governor of Anatolia. It was to assimilate them, let them settle down, and become members of the empire. This policy was very explosive in Europe at that time. Who would live in peace with pagans and enemies, but as it turns out, Rome did it, and very well.