The Eagle of Eastern Europe

"Prepare, release"

Rows of artillery fired shells at the target. As the smoke dissipated, a deep crater was made at the target.

“Okay, very good”

On the outskirts of Adrian, an army was trying out newly built artillery pieces from the artillery factory. This artillery is different from the previous one. The current artillery is smaller than the previous one and fires iron bullets.

The empire's demand for artillery is increasing. The navy needs it, the castle needs it, and the army needs it. And also better quality, which led the empire to invest more and more in artillery.

Mircea also learned lessons from the history of the Janissary rebellion and selected people from Armenians, Ruthenians and other remote areas to form the Janissary Corps. Only a 3,500-man regiment of the previously formed small force remained with the emperor, named the Basarab Corps. Other units have been integrated into the national army.

Peter's private army was also integrated into the country through foreign wars, but only the majority. There was also an army of 25,000 people that Peter tried to transform into a new firearms army.

When the Grand Phalanx reform was carried out, most of the long-range weapons were crossbows, but now they have been replaced by matchlock guns. The power has been improved a lot, but the operation is still a little difficult, and a large amount of gunpowder, match rope and lead must be prepared. And the weather must be good, otherwise the match rope cannot be lit.

In this army, every two men have a musket and nearly 150 artillery pieces. Moreover, those who operate artillery have been separated into independent services. The various services cooperate with each other, and there is also a group of officers responsible for conveying orders and arranging formations.

Although Rome has begun to use firearms on a large scale, due to the stability and limitations of current firearms, coupled with a serious shortage of production, many armies now have only a few large-scale firearms units in addition to artillery.

For this army, Peter spent a lot of money. To put it bluntly, arming and training this army was almost piled with money, and the cost was several times that of an ordinary army. Regarding this, the army There was quite a bit of criticism, but with the prince's enforcement and the emperor's support, this force still existed.

"Your Highness, the expenses of this army are just too high. Daily firearms training costs hundreds of silver dollars. If you add military pay, equipment losses and other expenses, it will be really scary in a year. Others think it is better to practice more. A fighting army is the real thing."

"Yes, but this is the secret to our ability to defeat the Ottomans. The muskets and artillery cannot be stopped, and they must be produced no matter how much money is spent."

In addition to muskets, the army is also equipped with hand-held fire mines. However, this kind of thing is not very effective in practice. At first, it was made of a thin iron shell, but eight or nine times out of ten, it either failed to explode or exploded. It has no effect. Later, it was changed to a ceramic shell, which could explode. However, because the material was not easy to transport and the power was not very good, it was rarely used in the military and was only kept as a reserve.

Meanwhile, Mines and Canned Fire are equipped. Peter learned about a kind of thunderbolt from Eastern books. This kind of weapon can be buried in the narrow road. When the enemy approaches, it can be detonated with a slow-burning match to kill the enemy. Therefore, it is also introduced in large quantities.

In addition to the extremely high level of firearms equipment, the training of the entire army is different from other armies. Let’s not talk about other things. Let’s just talk about daily training. The imperial army usually conducts exercises every three days, which is about ten times a month. Some elites The troops will be increased once, to eleven to twelve times. This training intensity is already extremely strong from today's perspective. Even the Eight Banners, who were later called the elite by the Manchus, only trained six times a month, and it was not completely guaranteed.

But in Peter's army, the model was implemented on a one-day-one-day basis, with one day off every ten days. The training intensity could be said to be unprecedented.

Of course, for such a powerful training, the logistics and treatment of the new army are incomparable to that of the ordinary regular army. Not only are the logistics supplies of food, grass and meat complete, but even the military pay is more than 30% higher than that of the ordinary army. In addition, it has achieved outstanding results in training. These awards are not only glory, but also tangible benefits, such as gold coins and even promotions. It is precisely for these reasons that despite the hard training, no soldier who joins the army is willing to leave.

Such an elite army cannot just train, they must actually go to the battlefield to hone their skills. If any war breaks out in the future, they can take the lead and see what the results of their training over the past few years are like.

What people are most concerned about now is the war between Poland and Teutonia. The two countries are fighting intermittently. They are not fighting well now, but Poland has a stronger foundation than Teutonia. The Knights can only engage in blitzkrieg. Once they fall into a war of attrition, they will lose their little strength. The war must end now, so since last year, the two countries have begun secret negotiations.

Poland's conditions were very harsh. The Knights needed to return Samogitia, allow the kingdom's merchants to enter Gdansk for free trade, and pay a compensation of 850,000 pounds to both countries, which was Britain's 15 years of income.

The Teutons would not agree to such conditions, and negotiations between the two parties broke down.

If you can't beat him, then shake him. It doesn't work in Rome, but it does in Moscow. Lithuania occupies a lot of land in Rus, and the Teutons can hand over half of Lithuania's land to the other party. The other party will definitely fall for such a temptation.

The reason why the Teutonic Knights are able to kill everyone is that their combat effectiveness is several levels higher than that of their neighbors. Either a small earl or a small lord, or an aborigine. Although there were several uprisings, they were all suppressed.

Now their combat effectiveness is gradually reduced due to the erosion of wealth, and local commerce and trade make every knight rich. If you have money, you don't have to go to the front line to shout and kill, just hire people to go there.

Although Poland's centralization is a mess, local development is quite fast. Abundant national power and a wise monarch are the confidence to fight against the Teutons, and there are two of them.

Vytautas has entered Samogitia to join the local rebel army, and local rule has been restored. This cut off the land connection between Teutonia and Livonia, and Livonian soldiers could only rely on sea transportation. This was bad news for the Teutons.

Envoys were sent to Moscow one after another, but still to no avail. The head of the delegation had no choice but to continue sending people and ask for the support of the Pope. Those knights from two years ago are either not on the battlefield or have gone home. It could be said that they were alone, with only the support of the King of Bohemia remaining, but what was the use?