When Laszlo summoned Janos, he was instructing his attendants to pack his luggage, not intending to stay a day longer.
After all, if the Emperor was not in Budapest, the overall situation in Hungary still required him to preside over it, so he naturally had to return as soon as possible.
Janos quickly arrived at the palace. Besides Laszlo, there were three other people in the palace.
Laszlo sat on the throne, and Ulrich had brought the two Generals he recommended to the court, awaiting the Emperor's inspection.
"Ah, Janos, you've arrived. Please wait for a moment. I have important matters to discuss with you later."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Laszlo's gaze returned to the two Generals, neither of whom was Austrian or Hungarian.
Karl von Jerin was Danish, and Adolf von Kuttenberg was Bohemian, and...
[Character: Adolf von Kuttenberg]
[Identity: Commander of the Austrian Archduke Guard, Hussite General]
[Attitude: Neutral]
[General Attributes: Firepower 4, Shock 2, Mobility 2, Siege 3]
[Trait: Artillery Expert (Artillery firepower +1, Siege +1 for his troops)]
[Trait: Battlefield Organizer (Troop morale loss from shock -10%)]
Seriously? A Hussite General? Commander of the Austrian Archduke Guard?
Laszlo couldn't understand why the commander of his father Albrecht's guard, who had fought the Hussite for more than a decade, was actually a Hussite General.
Moreover, Kuttenberg was quite close to Prague, which meant his family was likely closely related to Iri, and perhaps he himself...
However, this trait was quite something, and his attribute values were almost on par with Janos, making him a very powerful General.
Seeing Laszlo's gaze focused on Adolf, Ulrich II quickly introduced, "This is Adolf von Kuttenberg. He is a Bohemian artillery expert who once participated in the Hussite Wars... as a General of the Tábor faction (Hussite radicals). He was later wounded and captured. The late Emperor valued his talent and recruited him into the Guard. Because he repeatedly achieved military successes in battles against the Ottomans, he was promoted to commander of the Guard."
Laszlo raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking at this heretical General.
He actually had such a past, but then again, in this era, those who could wield cannons were truly rare. Wait a minute... cannons?
"Our troops are equipped with cannons?"
"The troops are equipped with a total of 8 heavy stone-throwing cannons, primarily used to attack city walls."
This number made Laszlo a bit speechless. What was wrong with these German?
In 1426, the Hussite Army of 6,000 men, equipped with 36 light cannons, 10 heavy cannons, and 300 hand cannons, combined with the Hussite War Wagon developed by Jan Žižka, completely defeated his grandfather Sigismund's army of tens of thousands.
Why, after nearly 30 years, did the Emperor's grand army still only have a few cannons?
As far as Laszlo knew, historically, Matthias I's Hungarian Black Army, modeled after the Hussite Army, also skillfully mastered and employed the Hussite War Wagon tactic, with one in every four soldiers equipped with firearms, and also equipped with a large number of cannons.
The Black Army at that time swept through Bohemia and Austria with no effort at all. Their achievements were verifiable, they were the conquerors of Vienna and Prague.
At the same time, in the war against Mehmed II, Matthias repeatedly defeated Mehmed II, preventing him from gaining an inch of Hungarian land for thirty years, which shows that the Ottomans couldn't defeat them either.
That was almost around 1480, and Jan Žižka, the Hussite commander who first emphasized firearms and developed the Hussite War Wagon tactic, had already unfortunately died in battle in 1424.
Of course, the Black Army's impressive achievements were also due to their persistent training, brave fighting spirit, rich combat experience, and the rapid development of artillery and firearm technology.
In fact, Matthias's method had already pointed out the future direction for Laszlo. His Black Army surpassed all contemporary European armies. Even the terrifying Sultan's elite Janissaries and Sipahi cavalry were their defeated foes.
However, the Crusade was imminent, and for Laszlo to complete a thorough reform of the army in a not-so-long time was nothing short of a pipe dream... He had only just now established a standing army. Training was not a concern; Gunter was overseeing the training of the Independent Army, and the Austro-Hungarian Army was not too lax, but these two forces alone were not enough to deal with the Janissaries.
Laszlo's original intention in establishing the Imperial Standing Army was to directly counter the Sultan's elite Janissaries.
He wanted to control a powerful armed force of his own, which could accelerate the process of centralization.
At the same time, in foreign wars, such an elite standing army needed to be able to play a decisive role.
He had actually considered very early on how to deal with the Ottomans.
According to Laszlo's own concept, the essence of war was trading pieces.
Not all of Mehmed II's troops were elite; the truly formidable ones were merely the elite cavalry "Sipahi cavalry" and the Sultan's elite "Janissaries."
As for cannons, the cannons of this era had extremely poor mobility and very limited power. To make them effective on the battlefield, only lighter cannons could be used, and the number could not be small. Often, dozens of cannons concentrated together were needed to achieve the effect of suppressing fire.
The Hungarian had been preparing for many years to deal with the Sipahi cavalry, and now the Hungarian light cavalry was not much weaker than the Sipahi cavalry.
When the troops led by Janos fought the Ottomans, the cavalry were often able to break through enemy lines or resist the Ottomans cavalry.
In terms of the quality of ordinary troops, the Ottomans might have a slight advantage, but this advantage was also very limited. After all, everyone was human; the Ottomans were not all Space Marines.
The key point was how to deal with the Janissaries Corps.
This entire corps was composed entirely of the Sultan's slaves, possessing absolute fanaticism and loyalty. They followed the Sufi sect, were ascetic, disciplined, well-equipped, high-spirited, and extremely well-trained.
It is no exaggeration to say that currently, no force in all of Europe could contend with the Janissaries.
Moreover, Mehmed II was a great monarch with foresight.
His father, Murad II, began partially re-equipping the Janissaries with firearms, and Mehmed II intensified the re-equipment effort. Now, this corps consisted of master archers, elite musketeers, and a large number of artillerymen. When they dropped their firearms and bows and drew their scimitars, it often signaled that the war was nearing its end.
A force of about ten thousand, fearless of death, well-equipped, and battle-hardened, Laszlo couldn't think of what to do.
His current troops numbered thirteen thousand. The Independent Army were all mercenaries; they could turn and flee at any moment. Don't expect people who fight for money to be very brave. They're fine in a winning battle, but once the situation turns bad, these people are likely to collapse faster than peasants.
The Austro-Hungarian Army was a patchwork of three guard units established by Albrecht II years ago. Their loyalty was beyond doubt, but in terms of combat effectiveness... it's hard to say. Many of them were noble young masters just looking to pass the time, and the Austrian Archduke Guard had not seen war for many years. Their last participation in combat was with Albrecht during the invasion of Bohemia, which went very poorly. Afterward, they were stationed in Vienna, basically degenerating into a police force, maintaining order and clearing out bandits, living a very leisurely life.
How could such a motley crew contend with the Janissaries? A commander must be chosen quickly, and reforms must be rushed...
Laszlo shifted his gaze to the Dane, Karl, and his stats appeared before him.
[Character: Karl von Jerin]
[Identity: Commander of the Emperor's Guard]
[Attitude: Loyal]
[General Attributes: Firepower 2, Shock 4, Mobility 4, Siege 1]
[Trait: General on Horseback (Cavalry shock +1, mobility +1 for his troops)]
Unexpected.
This Dane was actually a cavalry General, with slightly lower stats than Adolf, but his attitude was loyal, and he was not a heretic.
Comparing the two, Laszlo already knew who to choose.
"Karl von Jerin, you shall be the overall commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army, granted the rank of General and the Imperial standard."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Karl was overjoyed and quickly expressed his gratitude.
Adolf's expression remained unchanged. He was not surprised by this outcome. After all, he himself wasn't particularly loyal to the young Emperor, and he was a heretical General, so how could it be—
"Adolf von Kuttenberg, you shall be the Imperial Marshal. I authorize you to establish the Imperial General Staff, and both the Imperial Independent Army and the Austro-Hungarian Army shall be under your command.
In addition, I hope to make some changes to the army. The specific measures... I will summon you separately later. Alright, Ulrich, take them away."
There was no one more suitable than a General who had served in the Hussite Army to carry out reforms that emulated the Hussite Army.
Adolf was still in a daze at this moment. Ulrich secretly kicked his shin, and only then did he snap back to reality, his voice growing a few decibels louder with excitement: "Thank you for your appreciation, Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty."
[Attitude: Loyal]
"Just give me your loyalty, that's enough."
Laszlo tried his best to appear magnanimous and like a wise ruler who valued talent.
Such a display greatly elevated the two Generals' opinions of the young Emperor, and even Ulrich was quite surprised.
How come this youngster was no longer acting impulsively and recklessly as before?
It seemed that manipulating the political situation would be much more difficult from now on, Ulrich thought with some helplessness.