The small town of Gelden in northwest Germany, the capital of the Principality of Gedes, Duke Charles II was looking at the map while thinking. Looking from the map, the Duke Charles II of Gedes was not the Principality of Gedes itself, but the Sifriesland in the north.

Charles II, Duke of Gedes, was a very ambitious prince who wanted to expand the territory of Gedes's principality and strengthen his own strength.

Unfortunately, his neighbors were not easy to mess with. For example, the neighbors to his west were the Holland Kingdom and the Principality of Brabant, both of which were the territory of Philip, the son of Emperor Maximilian I.

In fact, before that, the Duchy of Gedes was annexed by Maximilian I's father-in-law, Charles, and it was not until 1492 that Charles II took advantage of the opportunity of riots in the Flanders area and allowed the unscathing Maximilian I to agree to restore the Duchy of Gedes.

Obviously, the Duchy of Gedes could not confront the emperor's forces. Therefore, expansion to the west was not feasible. The neighbors to the south were mainly the Bishops of Ringer, the Principal of Cliff, the Archbishop of Cologne and the Principal of Yulich.

There is no need to talk about Archbishop of Cologne. One of the seven electoral emperors, Charles II dared not develop a confrontation. Even the weakest Bishop Ringer country in the south is also protected by Archbishop of Cologne and it is difficult to do it.

As for the Principality of Cliff and the Principality of Yulich, they are both powerful opponents and are difficult to deal with. If the war really starts, Charles II will not be sure to defeat the two countries.

As for the east of the Principality of Gedes, it is mainly the Bishop of Munster, which is also the Archbishop of Cologne, so it cannot be taken. The two neighboring countries in the north are mainly the Archbishop of Utrecht and Westfriesland.

There is no need to mention the Archbishop of Utrecht. It is the power of the Holy See in the Netherlands. Charles II is not so bold and dares to challenge the Holy See. Therefore, after thinking about it, only Westfriesland is the most suitable for seizing.

In fact, since the restoration of the Principality of Gedes in 1492, Charles II had the idea of ​​annexing West Friesland and made a lot of preparations.

But the plan could not keep up with the changes. Before he could take action, the Principality of Saxony took the lead and occupied Westfriesland, causing Charles II's plan to fail.

Charles II was unwilling to give up, so he secretly supported the nine nobles in the former Westfriesian country, agreed to their settlement in the northern part of the Principality of Gedes, and encouraged and supported them to gather their troops and return to Westfriesians to harass the Saxons.

However, this is also the limit that Charles II could do. Because Charles II dared not publicly offend Albresitt, Duke of Saxony.

Among them, in addition to the fact that the Principality of Saxony is relatively powerful, the Duke of Albresit himself is also very important.

Albresit, Duke of Saxony, is a relatively cunning old fox and is also very greedy. However, he is very capable, with both diplomatic and military capabilities.

Although the Duchy of Saxony was split from the Saxony Electoral State. However, because Duke Albresitt of Saxony was the uncle of Frederick III, the nominal leader of Saxony Noble, Saxony Elector of Saxony. Therefore, the Duke of Saxony has a high prestige among the Saxony Nobles and is the real leader of the Saxony Nobles.

And this is what Charles II, the Duke of Geders, feared the most. Because, as the leader of the Saxon nobles, Albresit, Duke of Saxon, could easily convince more than a dozen Saxon nobles to send troops to support him.

Just like the Duchy of Saxony invaded East Friesland, many of the more than 20,000 troops were borrowed by other princes. The most obvious one was the 3,000 heavy cavalry lent to him by the Elector of Saxony Frederick III.

Therefore, facing the cunning and prestigious Duke of Saxony, Albresette, and Charles II, who was also very cunning, was not far from fighting with him, but instigated the nine nobles of the Westfriesland to fight back to Westfriesland from time to time with their bandit-like troops, and consumed the strength of the Saxony people.

Originally, Charles II, Duke of Guedes, did not have the idea of ​​taking over Sifriesland. Because he lacked enough confidence. After all, the strength of the Saxon nobles was too strong.

However, the battle of Lyer County in East Friesland gave Charles II, Duke of Geders, to see great hope. Although Marin defeated the Saxony coalition in the Battle of Lyer County, the subsequent interference of many forces forced Marin, who had to give up the annexation of West Friesland, which gave Charles II hope.

Charles II knew very well that no matter how strong Marin's army was, he could not turn against the princes. Because Marin was the emperor's public enemy of the princes, this meant that most princes would not agree to Marin's annexation of Westfriesland. Therefore, Marin, who had strong military strength, was temporarily unable to annexation of Westfriesland due to diplomatic reasons.

However, if the Duchy of Tagdes was to annex West Friesland, there would not be as many oppositions as Marin. Because, after all, the Duchy of Gedes was also one of the princes standing opposite the emperor.

The princes were not united in normal times, and they would only unite when facing an emperor who wanted to centralize. Therefore, if the Duchy of Gedes was like annexing West Friesland, the only ones who opposed it were the Saxon aristocrats to which the Duchy of Saxon belonged.

However, although the Saxonian nobles were strong, they were far away in the eastern part of Germany and were not strong in northwestern Germany. Moreover, through the battle of Lyle County, Marin depleted a large amount of the Saxonian strength, causing the Duchy of Saxon to be severely damaged and could not recover in a few decades.

Therefore, Marin's weakening of the Principality of Saxony gave the Principality of Gedes more opportunities. Since the end of the Battle of Lyer County, the Principality of Gedes began to recruit soldiers secretly and actively prepare, preparing to take advantage of the period when the Principality of Saxony was weak, to provoke a war and take over Sifriesland.

Moreover, in recent times, the Duke of Gedes, Charles II, sent back important information in Dresden, the capital of the Principal of Saxony. Albresette, the Duke of Saxony, is sick and very ill. Whether he can survive this year is a question...

This immediately shocked Charles II. He knew very well that Albresitt, Duke of Saxony, was an old fox and very capable, but his eldest son George was a fool.

If George became the Duke of Saxony, then the strength of the Duchy of Saxony would decline. The most important thing is that the Saxony nobles would not follow George's leader.

When Albresit, Duke of Saxony died, the most prestigious nobleman in the Saxony system would be Frederick III, the nephew of Duke of Albresit. By then, other Saxony nobles would only give Frederick III, Saxony's electorate, and not necessarily give George a face.

At that time, when the Duchy of Gedes and George clashed, other Saxon nobles might not be willing to send troops to help. What's more, after the Battle of Lair County, the Duchy of Saxon compensated 1 million Gulden gold coins, and now he is so poor that he owes a lot of foreign debts. If he wants to send troops, he is not enough money and food.

If Duke Albresit was alive, he could still borrow some food and soldiers from each family with his old face as the leader of the Saxony. But George didn't have that face. Once the Duke of Saxony died, the strength of the Duke of Saxony led by George would greatly reduce.

Recently, what made Charles II, the Duke of Geders, was even more ecstatic that his biggest competitor, Marin, was confusedly involved in the war in the Swiss region.

Charles II knew that Switzerland was a sinkhole. Marin fell into that big pit and could not get out of it for a few years. In addition, Marin's identity as an emperor's lackey was naturally boycotted by most of the princes and nobles. Therefore, in fact, in terms of diplomatic environment, it is better for the Gedes Principality.
Chapter completed!