Chapter 164: Occupation of Belgrade

The next step is self-development. You can't interfere too much in the economy and the market. In addition to developing new products, Peter can now learn from Colbert, implement mercantilism and encourage reclamation.

At the same time, in terms of colonization, the Rus Company was reorganized into the Eastern Company. It is responsible for economic and trade affairs in Rus, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and other regions, and is also responsible for investigating local work. At present, most of the affairs are still in the Rus region, and the development of Asia Minor is slow.

The head of the Eastern Company is a businessman, and Peter only sends people to supervise. Part of the profit must be handed over every year, and unknowingly, economic colonization is completed.

The Eastern Company has established a trading house in the Rus region of Lithuania for trade, and has also extended northward to Moscow through the Dnieper River and the Volga River. A trade route from Bukuryesti to Moscow has been built.

The development of trade has increased Wallachia's income, and the Grand Duke has invested part of the income in economic activities. This is a virtuous circle. The increasing wealth has also made many countries jealous, but it is not easy to attack without a suitable excuse. Who makes them need Wallachia to stop the Ottomans?

Wallachia also paid less attention to the Ottomans, and now they were more concerned about the situation in Transylvania.

In Atlaide, the Hungarian army attacked for half a month but failed to take it down. The opponent's fighting will was too fierce.

Sigismund was anxious. He had been unstoppable before, but now he couldn't fight.

What's more terrible is that his funds are almost gone. Because of the outbreak of the civil war, Sigismund took part of it from the pockets of Hungarian nobles, but it was only enough for three months. And the other expenses of the soldiers were also very high, which was not enough at all.

And now, they are blocked in Atlaide. If they can't break through, I'm afraid the soldiers will mutiny.

Sigismund continued to sell the royal property in Hungary, and a large number of manors were sold, and the nobles took this opportunity to continue to grow and develop, which made Sigismund even more difficult to compete.

In order to further gain the support of other classes, Mary signed the Peasant Decree. All the noble lands in Transylvania that were loyal to Sigismund were confiscated and given to the Orthodox nobles and the Orthodox Church who were loyal to her. Some serfs working on the land were freed, which made the lower classes directly support Mary, and even many Hungarian peasants fled to Transylvania at the risk of being caught.

In order to defend their homes, all the people of Transylvania were soldiers. A population of more than 300,000 people burst out with 10,000 troops. They attacked westward and fought to protect their beliefs.

Peter's army had reached Belgrade along the Danube. This fortress on the Danube was too important. Bela, the head of the Negro Corps, decided to capture it first and then go north to rescue Transylvania.

Belgrade had 1,000 garrisons. Sigismund had previously ordered most of the garrisons to be transferred to attack Transylvania. So when they found that there were troops attacking outside the city, they were very scared. They began to ask Buda for help.

The Cossack troops were arranged to plunder around, and the Negro Corps waited for the artillery to come. At the same time, siege equipment and reconnaissance intelligence were built.

Some survivors of the massacre heard that an army was attacking here, so they came to the camp to volunteer to provide intelligence and act as guides, and told them what they had experienced in the city.

"It's so cruel, they are all going to hell."

The priests who followed the army were furious when they heard about such experiences, and they wanted to enter Belgrade immediately and kill all these pagans.

"Father, it's not the time yet. Once the aid arrives, we will make them pay the price."

The news that Belgrade was besieged by unknown troops made Sigismund faint again. He could only let the Hungarian Parliament continue to pay, but the nobles didn't buy it at all. What does Transylvania have to do with them? It's better to continue to take care of their own land.

And Sigismund's homeland, the Holy Roman Empire, has also been a bit unfavorable to him recently. He joined the noble alliance that opposed his brother's being Wenzel a few years ago, and forced him to make concessions two years ago, but as Hungary fell into civil war, Wenzel began to stir again. Moreover, the movement to criticize Catholicism in Bohemia was also used by Wenzel, trying to defeat them with this force.

However, who is Sigismund? He will not be defeated by the difficulties in front of him. He began to contact the nobles of the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary constantly, using his diplomatic ability to maintain the balance between countries, and ordered the army to pacify Transylvania as soon as possible.

The Hungarian army continued to attack Atlaide, and it was about to be lost. Fortunately, the soldiers who traded with Mary and the Chamber of Commerce had arrived at the front line and brought supplies to the battle to defend the city. There was no way, the Hungarian commander could only continue the confrontation.

The Archbishop of Buda asked Rome for help and asked for permission to form a crusade. The intelligence network in Buda told Peter the news, and Peter understood that if the crusade was formed, Transylvania would be even more unable to resist.

"Tell Cluj this news, and let our people make some noise, the bigger the better."

Peter provided artillery and gunpowder for the army attacking Belgrade. At this time, Belgrade did not build the defensive buildings for the subsequent battle with the Ottomans, so its defensive capabilities were naturally low, but its geographical location also showed that it was not so easy to fight here.

The Negro Legion began to attack continuously. The ammunition fired by the artillery fell on the city walls, the defenders, and the buildings in the city. The fragments produced by the explosion injured many people.

The psychological defense line of the defenders gradually collapsed, mainly because they had never seen so many artillery with such great lethality. And they, including the civilians on guard, had a total of only 2,000 people. It was really difficult to defend the city with such a small number of people...

After 20 days of siege, the legion's artillery destroyed a section of the city wall west of Belgrade. The army and the Crusaders formed by the Andre Society swarmed in. That night, the defenders of Belgrade were cleared and they completely occupied the city.

After the fall of Belgrade, Hungary's door was wide open, and the Vojvodina region was facing foreign attacks at any time. But because they could not go directly to the battlefield, the news was organized into a joint attack by the Transylvanian army and the army composed of Orthodox believers. And the tragedy of the Belgrade massacre was spread through various means.

Whether it was civilians, nobles or the church, they were all angry. Patriarch Carol proposed to form an army to go on the expedition, and the boyars also wanted to attack Hungary, and even said that Serbia, which could not be stopped, would pay the price.