I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 454 The First Horn (3)

To briefly describe the marriage negotiations and transactions between Sweden and France, we tend to say that King Louis XIV of France and King Carl XI of Sweden exchanged each other's territories—Livonia and Groningen, when in fact they exchanged Only a part of these two territories, the princess Elizabeth brought a military port and a commercial port, and the territory between the two, Louis XIV, the Abbot of St. Martin of Neville (the former King John II of Poland) In the name of the world), the purchase was nothing but a city of Kalsava, a city under Vizemegao in Livonia, which was the ancestral land of the Zmich family.

However, this deal may only last until the end of the succession war. Sweden has finally annexed Norway and Denmark, France has Spain, and the anti-French alliance of the Holy Roman Emperor and the princes has been defeated. This will be a very long time. -Whether the Bourbons of France or Poland can use this territory as a foothold and conquer the surrounding area like they swallowed Lorraine or Brittany, that is another matter.

King Ludwig I of Poland, when his dear friend and brother Louis XIV wrote to him, wishing him to send an army to run his new domain on behalf of the poor abbot, readily complied, but in At this time, he also monitored the great nobles of Poland, lest they be deceived by Leopold I's rhetoric, so he asked his crown prince, Earl Henry, to go out on his behalf.

Louis XIV mentioned vaguely in his letter that this territory might be transferred to Poland after the War of the Spanish Succession - first; the enclave was not of much use to France; second: nothing compares Taking back the looted territories will consolidate the authority of the new king; third: when the war of succession is over, if Karl XI annexes Norway, Denmark, as he expects, the king after him will inevitably turn his sights To the North Groningen, which he inherited from his mother, is very territorial. As I said before, Groningen in the Netherlands is the throat of Scandinavia, even if the new king of Sweden comes from the womb of Lady Bourbon , but it is ridiculous to rely on blood and feelings between countries.

Louis XIV didn't say it, but Ludwig I, the Grand Condé, could also see that the former ceded the territory of Livonia to Poland, and also hoped that in the future, neither Poland nor Sweden could get rid of each other's To be restrained, to say something unpleasant, is to plant a hidden seed between them.

   But Ludwig still had to thank Louis XIV, just as Karl XI reached a deal with Louis XIV despite the objections of the Queen Mother and the ministers.

Dauphin Henry set out with his army, which consisted of French musketeers, but also Polish Schlachta and winged cavalry - the two were generally inseparable, since Poland still had the old serfdom , the serfs provided for Lord Shilachita and their masters, ministers and priests, and Shilachita used the information provided by the serfs to support expensive cavalry, so the winged cavalry in the army did not belong to Henry, not even to him Their father, King Ludwig I of Poland, belonged only to their masters—these masters merely obeyed the king's call and came to serve the king.

There are also Tatars, of which the most important thing is Buhua, this Tatar with the Mongolian name, his son is beside the Prince of France, or it can be said that he is the son of Henry's son. For the sake of this friendship, Buhua has to be closer to Henry. Now the Tatars under Henry's command are all servants of this general. Of course, there will be battles and disputes during the period, but Buhua has the support of the French king, no matter what. Financial resources or armaments are higher than ordinary Tatars, and the objects of his competition in the army have always been those of Shila Chita.

   But the cunning Tartar also wooed some, from French musketeers to winged cavalry, and the whisky from France opened his way like a hot knife in butter.

   He just came to the square when someone came to talk to him, and the person who came was the servant who was beside the Crown Prince Henry.

"But we're in Karsava." Buhua complained, half-truth, to accuse the enemy of being unprepared for attacking them by surprise. It was Narva in Estonia, and this time they chose Karsava, which is also a border area, and they were excusable.

First of all, Narva is in the innermost part of the Gulf of Finland, which means that even if the Russians have captured Narva, they are still surrounded by the Swedish army and have to pass through the entire Gulf of Finland to enter the Baltic Sea. The enemy, it is impossible to build a shipyard or sail here - Karsava is located below Narva, not close to the bay, but straight west from Karsava is Riga, the hub city of Livonia .

Between Karsava and Riga is the Vizeme Heights. It seems that while the Russians plan to occupy the heights, they plan to open the gate of Riga. The important thing about the city of Riga is that it is directly above the Riga Bay, a calm and peaceful place. In the vast inland bay, ships in the Gulf of Riga can reach the Baltic Sea as long as they pass through the Ilbe Strait.

  The Russian tsar is clearly taking advantage of Karsava's empty moments - the Swedes are withdrawing, the Poles and French are new arrivals and are new to everything.

   "Actually we did hear some wind," said Prince Henry, "but they all pointed to Narva, even Tartu, not Karsava."

"It seems that someone is trying to confuse our line of sight." Buhua said, he bowed to the crown prince, they have come to the battlefield, the Russians obviously want to catch them by surprise, so it can't be said that the army is overwhelming, Prince Henry guessed that there might be only 10,000 or 20,000 people coming from the directions of the cities of Ostrov and Ochipoka, which were forming a triangle with Karsava.

The Russians went out of the city at dawn, arrived outside at dusk, and settled down on the edge of a swamp, apparently planning a raid at the next dawn - Karsava was not an important city, its walls Although it was wide enough but not high enough, the city gates were in disrepair, there were no bastions that are very common today, and the city was not sufficiently armed, with low houses and narrow streets.

Prince Henry's army totaled no more than 5,000 people, which was three times the population of the city, so that he had to bring only officers and squires into the city, while his soldiers lived scattered on the farms surrounding the city-they were It was being called up quickly. Fortunately, Prince Henry brought twenty small and medium artillery pieces, and his armament was always on par with Louis XIV's Guards.

They climbed all the way to the highest point in the city, which is a bell tower on a hill. Next to the bell tower is a solitary chapel. A Tatar beside Buhua couldn't help but ask: "Is there really ten thousand people there, Your Highness, my eyes are like night owls, and I can even see mice in the fields, but I haven't found a trace. "

  Prince Henry just nodded.

Looking at the calm and affirmative expression of His Highness, Hua Hua couldn't help but think of some things that Anwo had said to him - the devils, spirits and wizards who haunted the court - presumably that His Majesty also had similar "things" around him," What the hell," he said in his stomach, "they've never seen these things before." In the last decade or so, they've gone from the occasional scaly claws to everywhere.

  Prince Henry had no doubts that the people who brought him the message - for a reason - were from Zmich's family.

Amon, the leader of Zmich, will not serve any mortal casually, but the deal he made with Louis XIV can also extend to the Bourbon family, and since he has made an agreement with Bourbon, he will No more favourable glances at the Tsar - so that he won't watch Karsava change hands again.

There are not many people with doubts like the Tatar, but in any case, they obeyed Henry's orders, and the Tatars headed by Buhua were sent out to explore, patrol, soldiers, and forcibly recruited cities The inhabitants began to build fortifications, blocking the gates and fortifying the walls. For a time, Calsavari was full of crying and cursing - because Henry asked them to demolish the house to meet the needs of fortification materials, and Henry didn't care about those eyes full of hatred - he came out of the battlefield The general, who had been with his father and Louis XIV for so long, had long known how to appease these people.

Sure enough, only to hear that their losses would be compensated, people quieted down, although there were still people mocking that the Polish crown prince was scared out of his courage, "Is it seen in a nightmare that the Russians came over!" They said a little I also don't believe that the Russians will choose this little-known town as the target of their attack.

   Then, before the fog over the swamps and rivers had completely dissipated, the golden light of the tsar's double-headed eagle banner stung their eyes.

  ———

   "Really?" Alexei I said: "It seems..." We made a mistake, "We still have to face a real war."

   After he finished speaking, he coughed a few times. The war in Karsava didn't start well, and everyone in the room couldn't help but look troubled, from the tsar to the minister. Alexei I's eyes fell on the double-headed eagle flag embroidered with gold thread for a moment, as if he had fallen into contemplation, but his thoughts had nothing to do with the war at the moment, he remembered that the double-headed eagle was also used. Logo of Holy Roman Empire Leopold I.

If you want to get to the bottom of it, the Russian tsar (the word tsar comes from Caesar) is not recognized by the kings of Europa, after all, they are rooted as embarrassing as the Hungarian prince of Transylvania - Russia The earliest time was the Principality of Kyiv, and later the Mongols (Tatars) invaded Northeast Rus, and the Russian princes accepted the canonization of the Golden Horde of the Tatars, the Grand Duke of Moscow... and other principalities, until Ivan III. It was only during the period that it was able to get rid of the control of the Golden Horde and become an independent country.

It is also this Ivan III, in order to wash away the shame of accepting the canonization and enslavement of the pagans, he married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, and claimed to have inherited the crown of Eastern Rome, that is, with the Holy Roman Empire. Like the mantle of the Western Roman Empire, Russia also considered itself the "eldest son" of Byzantium.

This claim is undoubtedly vain and unacknowledged by others, but there is no doubt that every tsar, from the Ruriks to the Romanovs, was working to make their falsehoods come true—when the other When the double-headed eagle sent a secret letter, intending to reach a covenant with Alexei I, he was moved, even if there was no war in Alexei I's original plan.

He had been ill for a long time, and even with the drugs and treatments of priests and sorcerers, he would not be able to live for long, and his two sons, the eldest and the second, although of noble blood, were like him. Frail and sickly, because they have been like this since childhood, it is difficult to persevere and concentrate on their studies. Alexei I can't criticize them, but he can't help but sigh occasionally.

   In the future... what should I do, a weak emperor, how to face the enemies like tigers and wolves at home and abroad?

  His eldest son Ferdo was ten years old, and he was barely able to sit firmly in the seat, and he tried to look solemn, but at a glance he knew that he could not understand anything.

When    his father's eyes fell on him, he looked like he had been pricked by a long needle.

"But our number is several times that of them. Even if they are prepared, they can't fight against the army of 30,000 people." A minister said in a timely manner, not only to answer the emperor's question, but also to relieve the emperor's eldest son. It was a member of the Empress' family Miloslavsky, and after the Empress' death, their political rival family Naryshkin found the opportunity to continually recommend to the Tsar a young lady of their family - most likely a man named Natalie Ya's girl, she is young, healthy, strong, and looks like a candidate who can give birth to a more perfect heir.

  No one in the Moscow court did not know the mind of Alexei I. He cherished his sons and daughters no less than King Louis XIV of France, but his eldest son was really… worrying compared to Louis XIV’s heir.

"Yeah, we have 30,000 people," another minister smiled sarcastically, "but they don't need to fight against these 30,000 people for long. They can stop us in Weyland as long as the nearby reinforcements arrive at Karsava. beyond the Likaya River."

   The previous minister glared at the other party, and the person who refuted him was the Naryshkin family.

The tsar frowned in pain, his head rattled, and his scalp seemed to be torn apart. He really didn't have the energy to adjust the conflict between the two families. He had already decided to sign a marriage contract again, Milo. He knew the Slavsky family's thoughts, but he didn't blame them for choosing such an incompetent wife and mother for him—it must be the woman's fault for not giving birth to a healthy heir—forgiving enough, but asking him to keep a The identity of the widower, impossible.

   "Are reinforcements from Sweden?" he said: "Is Denmark already on the move?"

   "You said Christian V," the minister of the Miroslavsky family replied at once: "His messenger said that an army of fifty thousand men would be ready to attack Sweden at any time."

   "Twenty-five thousand people would be very good." Alexei I said contemptuously.

"The Swedish garrison in Livonia was not many." Although Miroslavsky's minister was speaking to the tsar, out of the corner of his eye he glanced at his eldest son, a sickly and cowardly heir to an emperor. It's not a good thing for me, but for the minister... "We still have time, it's just a little regret at the beginning."

   "I hope your general is as you said." Alexei I said, with a hint of sternness in difficulty.

   "He is a brave man and is willing to die for you."

   "It doesn't matter if you're a traitor, I just need to win..." Before Alexei I finished speaking, he heard a commotion outside the door.

   Because this is the last battle of Louis XIV, it is also a multi-national battle, so it is difficult to grasp the rhythm during this time, and the update is relatively slow. Please forgive me.

   (end of this chapter)