Chapter 2146: Reinforcement from Poland and Bohemia

Zygmunt I watched the quarrel in Big Tumli, and his brain hurt. Because he lived in Poland for a long time, the influence of Sigmund I in Lithuania was far less than that of his late brother Alexander. Therefore, he could not quell the quarrel among the noble parliamentarians.

However, in order to be safe, he decided to mobilize some soldiers and horses from Poland. Because he lived in Poland all the year round, Zygmunt I had more influence than in Lithuania. Moreover, the two countries have an alliance relationship, and it is necessary to send troops to support.

Historically, during the Battle of Orsha, the Poles sent 14,000 Polish cavalry and 2,500 German mercenaries (from Bohemia and Silesia under the rule of Sigmund I’s brother Vladislas II), And 3,000 Polish and Tatar hired infantry. The 5,500 infantrymen are mainly musketeers, gunners and spearmen who cover the first two types of arms.

This time, Zygmunt was probably heavily influenced by Marin, and the composition of the soldiers and horses he planned to dispatch was not the same. This time, Sigmund I intends to send more infantry!

Because of the reputation of the Marlin phalanx, Sigmund I had not only 5000 winged cavalry, but also two standard phalanx with a total of 2500 people. They used the Marlin phalanx, that is, the Spanish phalanx.

But these 2500 people are a standing army, and in real battles, they will not only be formed into two square formations. Zygmunt I planned to use the veterans of these two phalanxes as the basis and expand it into 6 phalanxes with a total of 7,500 people. Among them, one-third of the veterans were in front of the phalanx, and two-thirds of the newly recruited recruits were behind them. Not a recruit, but a normal territory servant. During the slack days, these servants also have to receive military training, but they are not as skilled and elite as the 2500 standing army.

As for the cavalry, Sigmund I intends to send out 3,000 winged cavalry. In addition, let the Polish nobles send out 7000 Shirazta cavalry. In this way, the assistance provided by the Poles is about 10,000 cavalry and 7,500 infantry.

On the Lithuanian side, the Shilachita cavalry are the main ones. The main force is the heavy cavalry composed of the fief Shilachita, and the light cavalry composed of the poor Shilachita is the supplementary force.

However, in terms of the specific number of troops sent, Big Tham was arguing...

Specifically, the rich nobles hope that the amount of troops and money and materials allocated to them will be less. Especially for money, food and materials, no one is willing to pay more. Do you have any money? Naturally, I will cherish my life, I am not willing to work hard, and I am not willing to pay more...

And the poor Shirachita, who has no fief, is actively participating in the army, wanting to gain military merit, but also hoping to grab some financial affairs through the war. However, they are unwilling to pay, and they have no money to do so, hoping that the nobles will give more money and food to maintain the war needs.

But where is the rich noble lords willing to pay for these poor Shilachita? They all hope to save some army and money. Therefore, the internal situation of Big Tham is that the rich aristocrats quarrel with the poor aristocrats, quarreling over the issue of money and food. And among the wealthy aristocrats, they are also arguing about the share of each family.

Moreover, the core of the quarrel seems to be the money...

How should I put it, the more the nobles sent troops, the more money and food they needed to spend. Because the principle of this lord system is-lord dispatches troops and brings his own food and grass. Only those poor Shilachita who have no fief and are not lords do not need to bring their own food and grass, as long as they carry swords, armor and war horses, they can participate in the war.

In other words, the more troops sent, the more money and food needed to be paid. In addition, the lords also need to bear the food and grass of the poor Shirachita light cavalry...

But the problem is that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a poor country. Although this country is large, it can be very rough to manage. Before, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was still semi-barbarian. That is, after converting to Catholicism, Lithuania began to learn from Western Europe, engage in the feudal manor system, and established a large-scale plantation industry.

However, Lithuania only officially converted to Catholicism in 1387, only a hundred years ago. The primitive polytheism also fought stubbornly for a long time before finally failing. Therefore, if Lithuania really wants to talk about development, it is only a matter of decades. Even agricultural technology, Western European agricultural technology is considered poor in Marin's eyes, and Lithuania is even worse. However, Poland, which is in a similar situation, is probably closer to Germany, which facilitates communication and has much better agricultural development.

In fact, the feudal lordship of Lithuania is more imitating the Teutonic Knights. After all, he was a neighbor, and he was beaten down by the Teutonic Knights in the early stage. Therefore, Lithuania developed a feudal lordship. Moreover, the absolute main force of the Lithuanian army is now the same plate knight as Western Europe. However, the existence of Qin Shila Chita also supplemented the army with a large number of light cavalry. In other words, the light cavalry of Ching Shrachita is the traditional tribal cavalry of Lithuania.

Lithuania is still arguing, but Poland has quickly passed a resolution to support Lithuania. Originally, Poland's Great Sum was mentally prepared to support Lithuania's 14,000 Shrachita cavalry. But Zygmunt I only asked them to send out 7000 Shirazta cavalry, they couldn't ask for it, and soon passed the plan.

As for the infantry, the Polish noble parliamentarians have no objection. Why? Because the expenses of the 7,500 infantry were all from Lithuania. After all, there is no reason for Poland to pay for war in Lithuania.

In other words, as a participating party, Lithuania has not yet quarreled with the result. As an ally, Poland has already passed a resolution quickly agreeing to dispatch 7,000 Schlachta cavalry and 7,500 infantry.

Of course, Polish reinforcements need time to assemble. Within two or three months, he could not go to the battlefield.

In addition, as the eldest brother, Vladislas II also transferred 2,000 infantry from Bohemia and Silesia to Lithuania for support. These 2,000 infantrymen are all veteran mercenaries, and the equipment rate of matchlock guns has reached one-third, which is similar to the ratio of the Marin phalanx.

In fact, Vladislas II intends to support more soldiers and horses. But the problem is that the Lithuanian Big Sum refused...

Why? There are too many people to support...

What's so special? Poland has taken 10,000 cavalry and 7,500 infantry. If Bohemia sends a few thousand more, how can it afford so much money? Therefore, it was Lithuania's Great Sum who asked Vladislas II to send only two thousand infantry. For infantry, the food consumption is much lower than that of cavalry, and the salary is much lower. If you have more cavalry, you can't afford it.

The heavy cavalry, in particular, rides tall horses. The food eaten by these heavy horses is equivalent to the food rations of 5 people or more. Lithuania’s fiscal revenue is poor, so it can’t afford too many cavalry.

…

Seeing that the Poles have established the number of reinforcements, even Bohemia has sent reinforcements. The great nobles of Big Tham finally felt that they could not drag on any longer. As a result, they finally determined the number of troops sent-17,000 Shirazta cavalry.

This is a figure obtained after a long quarrel among the Big Sum parliamentarians. They believe that 27,000 cavalry is the limit of Lithuania’s financial support. No matter how much, I can’t afford to pay for it...

Then, the number of people allocated by each family. In the end, the 17,000 Shirazta cavalry set the number of plate-armored knights to be 3,500, accounting for more than one-fifth of the total number. The rest are traditional light cavalry.

These hussars cannot be said to be traditional either. Because they mostly imitate the Hungarian hussars, but they don't fully learn from the Hungarian hussars.

Because the Hungarian hussars often used one-handed warhammers at this time to deal with plate knights. But the cavalry of the mortal enemy of the Lithuanians of the Grand Duchy of Moscow were Mongolian cavalry, light cavalry with a scimitar or even a bow and arrow.

Therefore, the light cavalry in Lithuania and Poland mostly use sabers and spears. They are accustomed to fast assaults, the fastest approaching Mongolian cavalry of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and do not give the Moscow cavalry a chance to shoot. But their spears seem to be expendable, UU reading www. Once uukanshu.com pierces the enemy's body with a spear, it is difficult to pull it back, so it often gives up the spear. Then, he drew his saber to continue fighting.

This was also an important tactic of the Polish Lancers, who also shined during the war. And Marin improved this tactic, changing the ordinary spear into a spring-loaded lance with a spring buffer. Even, there is a bond on both sides of the spear head, which is convenient for the spear tip to be pulled out even after being pierced and used for the second charge stab.

The 5000 winged cavalry under King Sigmund I now use spring lances provided by Marin. However, because springs are more expensive, and Marin is very awkward not to provide stainless steel springs, resulting in frequent spring replacements. And the spring is so expensive... Therefore, ordinary Shilachita light cavalry can only use ordinary spears. Without him, cheap...

However, Marin has been selling high-carbon steel sabers produced in the North Sea country, that is, modern cavalry knives with protective gloves, to Poland and Lithuania over the years. Because of the good quality, the price is not too expensive. As long as economic conditions permit, many Schlachta cavalrymen in Poland and Lithuania have bought a cavalry knife produced by the North Sea country as their melee weapon. Even those plate-armored knights like to buy a North Sea State Cavalry Sword and hang it around their waist for spare use. After all, spears and lances are consumables in the horse station. Cavalry swords or cavalry swords are the last means of self-defense for knights...