The Eagle of Eastern Europe

The newly recruited troops are trained very quickly, and they have become proficient in firearms and artillery. Newly appointed military officers and civil servants also helped Peter govern Illyria.

This war of annihilation allowed Rome to increase its land area by 100,000 square kilometers and a population of nearly 600,000. Various basic managements were in progress, and the civilians easily accepted Roman rule, and those who resisted were directly exiled to Anatolia.

This population allowed Peter to continue recruiting people as soldiers, eventually recruiting 10,000 people to form part of his army. Except that the language takes time, everything else is basically the same as the veterans.

Peter was at the training ground looking at the latest product developed by the arsenal, a four-wheeled vehicle with explosives and flammable materials on it that could explode within one minute after being ignited and pushed out. Suitable for use as a weapon of mass destruction.

"It looks good, but I don't know how it will be used on the battlefield."

Peter ordered some such weapons to be made, intending to try them on future battlefields. In a while, he will go on an expedition.

With the establishment of the Venetian League, Rome also began to seek alliances. It happened that Laszlo also wrote to his father-in-law proposing an alliance. Then he would invite Hungary and Ragusa to participate in the grand event in Constantinople.

Rome, Hungary, Naples and Ragusa formally formed an alliance in Constantinople. For the spoils of the Western War, in addition to money, Naples could obtain Sicily and Sardinia, Hungary could obtain part of Austrian land, and Ragusa could obtain Venice. part of the commerce and trade, and the rest was owned by Rome.

And as an ally, Laszlo renounced his claim to the Hungarian throne and publicly established Orthodoxy as the state religion. Ragusa was also occupied by the Orthodox Church, and the Orthodox Union was formally established.

Although Ragusa had a small military force, relying on its position, it began to attack one of Venice's lifebloods, the salt industry.

The Republic of Venice was active in the production and trade of salt, salt products and other related products on trade routes established with salt. By the 7th century, Venice was producing its own salt in Chioggia for export trade, but eventually turned to purchasing and establishing salt-producing factories throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Venetian merchants purchased and produced salt from Egypt, Algeria, Crimea, Sardinia, Ibiza, Crete and Cyprus. The establishment of these trade routes also allowed Venetian merchants to extract other valuable goods from these ports, such as imported Indian spices for trade. They then sold or supplied salt and other goods to the cities in the Po valley - Piacenza, Parma, Reggio, Bologna, etc. - in exchange for salami, prosciutto, cheese, soft wheat and other goods.

The Venetian government resold the salt at a profit to markets in Italy, Dalmatia, Slovenia and the seaport countries, as a form of salt tax. Venice monopolized many similar markets.

Now that Rome had attacked many Venetian salt production bases, Ragusa also received money from Rome to produce and sell salt. Their prices are about a quarter lower than those in Venice, and some tariffs will be reduced when passing through Naples, which directly compares with the salt in Venice. Revenue from the salt industry gradually dried up.

Euboea, Venice's second largest island in the Aegean Sea, was also captured by Rome, so Venice lost an important food production area. Then a pair of armed merchant ships from Smyrna surrounded Rhodes, and the Thessaloniki fleet attacked Crete. The angry Venetians kept cursing, is this still the weak empire? This is more powerful than Rome at its peak.

The workers' hands in the artillery factory were almost so dry that they were smoking. Ships, armies and fortresses needed at least a thousand artillery pieces. Even if the artillery factories across the country were added together, it would take two months to complete. For this reason, the government directly took action and state-owned all military industrial industries. They set up arsenals and arms factories in various cities, recruited workers for production, and purchased raw materials in large quantities. In Bukur Yesti alone, more than 2,000 households transported raw materials for weapons. They provided raw materials for the military industry. Workers will make various weapons as quickly as possible.

The Roman government began to get involved in some industries. The military industry and salt industry were completely monopolized by the government. In industries such as shipbuilding, shipping, and textiles, the government opened state-owned enterprises to increase government revenue. The chancellor wanted to devalue the currency to increase revenue, but Mircea refused.

Rome successively developed Eastern trade and reached agreements with the Ottomans, Trabizond and Georgia to allow imperial merchants to pass through. He also sent people to Samarkand, preparing to meet Timur, the Roman benefactor, and increase the trade volume.

In August, the Genoese navy suffered a major defeat in the waters near Crete. More than 140 warships were destroyed by less than half of Rome's artillery ships. Thousands of sailors died and the rest were taken prisoners. This further confirmed the importance of artillery. Before these maritime republics broke away from gang-hopping operations, Rome had already ordered long-range operations.

Peter also set off, from Salegbu to Ljubljana in the principality of Kaniola. Including the Hungarian Allies and the defense forces, a total of 80,000 troops went out, and 350 artillery pieces of various calibers accompanied them.

It can be said that no ruler can command so many troops. Moreover, since this man ate horse chews, it was also difficult to transport supplies. On the one hand, Peter used the tricks he had used before, exchanging spices for merchants for transportation; on the other hand, he used rivers and animal power to transport supplies.

Austria is also ready. Ljubljana has assembled an unprecedented 1,000 soldiers, accounting for one-tenth of the Austrian army. There are also troops hired by Venice to help the Austrian army defend the city. They also made a lot of efforts to collect food, reserve water, clear the countryside, and demolish suburban buildings. As long as they could hold on for a month, Vienna would be able to send reinforcements.

When the residents on the border saw the Roman army coming, they all fled with their families. Along the way, they also talked about the size of the Roman army, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions. They also said that the Roman army had transformed from Satan. , they crawled out of hell to kill them, the people of Christ. This rumor has been passed down from generation to generation, directly portraying Rome as even more evil than the Crescent Church.

After five days of march, Peter finally arrived in Ljubljana. As long as he captured this place, he would be able to open a passage into northern Italy. He also received news that the Venetian Alliance coalition force was about to be formed. A total of nine regimes sent 25,000 troops, led by George Alderafe of Florence, preparing to march eastward and sweep across Rome in the near future. (Aragorn is too far away, the Papal State provides spiritual support)