In the spring of 1458, outside Frauenburg, within the territory of the Teutonic Order, the haggard Bishop Wilfried looked up at the unremarkable small castle before him and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
His long-term life of ease and comfort in Vienna had made him unaccustomed to the hardships of long journeys, especially when the journey required passing through dangerous, war-torn areas.
The Emperor had recruited five hundred "volunteers" to form a Bishop's Guard, who escorted Wilfried through the dangerous war zone to assume his post in the Warmia Diocese.
The Warmia Diocese was located at the border junction of the Teutonic Order, Poland, and Lithuania. Two-thirds of the diocese's territory was within the Teutonic Order's borders, and the remaining one-third was within the Duchy of Masovia.
The Duchy of Masovia was a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland and was currently on the verge of being completely annexed.
Sandwiched between two warring nations, the Warmia Diocese should, in theory, have had a very difficult time, but in reality, life there was relatively peaceful.
Although the previous Archbishop of Warmia accepted the protection and patronage of the Teutonic Order, he also maintained good relations with the King of Poland, walking a tightrope between the two powerful nations, and miraculously managed to avoid being drawn into the conflict.
Of course, this was also related to the main battlefield of the war being in West Prussia rather than East Prussia, where the Warmia Diocese was located.
However, with his arrival, the fate of this diocese would likely head in an unknown direction.
Hidden in his cuff was a secret letter, containing the Emperor's instructions.
Even though he had been told many times, Laszlo still decided to write such a secret letter to constantly remind him not to forget his mission.
He was here to mobilize the power of the diocese to aid the Teutonic Order against the Polish people.
Of course, as a clergyman, he would not personally go to the battlefield, but he would widely publicize the King of Poland's crimes in his diocese, letting people know that this King, who disregarded the church, had been excommunicated and placed under interdict.
This would not only undermine the King of Poland's prestige but also incite people's enthusiasm to resist the Polish invasion.
As the new Archbishop took up residence in Frauenburg, the people of the Warmia Diocese adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
The decree issued by Charles IV in 1356 incorporated the Warmia Diocese into the Empire, stipulating that the local people had the right to elect their Archbishop through the church.
However, this time, the Pope's decree broke the electoral tradition, and an Austrian suddenly became the Archbishop of Warmia.
Fortunately, a large proportion of the residents here were German, and they welcomed the new Bishop.
Wilfried began to consolidate the various forces within the diocese, preparing to cause some trouble for the King of Poland here. By the end of the previous year, Marienburg had finally been captured by the Teutonic Order.
However, Władysław III's large army successfully contained the Teutonic Order's counterattack.
Now, the Teutonic Order, centered around Marienburg, Eylau, and Kulm, continued to resist the attacks of the King of Poland and the Prussian League. In Toruń, the Polish Kingdom's military headquarters, Władysław III carefully read the spy's report. The Emperor had recently been recruiting soldiers and buying horses, shouting slogans to punish the King of Poland, who defied the church, on behalf of the Pope.
But what was the reality?
Bohemia, ravaged by war, was slowly recovering, not to mention. There were no signs of war preparations in the Duchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary.
Władysław III did not know what Laszlo was planning, but he knew that he did not have much time left and had to end this war as soon as possible.
"Alexei," Władysław said with a serious expression, "Take this conscription order back to Kraków. I want to conduct another national conscription. I need more troops!"
Alexei Buczacki, a close confidant of the King, changed his expression slightly and hesitantly advised, "Your Majesty, please reconsider. To pay the mercenaries' wages and repay debts, the treasury is already empty. The Pope's interdict and trade embargo have also begun to show their effects. If we conscript again now, I am afraid the Archbishop of Kraków and the nobles will…."
"How dare they?" The King of Poland's tone grew more irritable. "If it weren't for these damned fellows holding me back, I would have long since driven these damned Germans into the Baltic Sea to feed the fish!"
Seeing this, Alexei knew he could not stop the King's crazy actions. He silently accepted the order and rushed to Kraków on horseback.
He knew very well in his heart that this would be the King's last gamble.
In fact, after the first major conscription, the Kingdom of Poland had a huge army of over thirty thousand, while the Teutonic Order's forces were only half that of the Polish army.
When the war began, the Polish people had every advantage.
However, the situation quickly deteriorated when fifteen thousand powerful Bohemian and Saxon mercenaries launched a surprise attack on Lesser Poland from within the Empire, declaring their support for the Teutonic Order.
The two sides engaged in prolonged warfare in the Lesser Poland region, and the Polish Kingdom's army was repeatedly defeated.
In desperation, Władysław III invited Frederick II, the Brandenburg Elector, to mediate, but the victorious Teutonic Order was unwilling to accept the King of Poland's terms to leave Prussia.
So, Władysław III gritted his teeth and signed the Nieszawa Statutes, granting extensive privileges to the nobility, and conducted a second round of major conscription. This time, the Polish army's size reached an astonishing thirty-five thousand men.
As a result, as soon as the army captured Kulm, the Polish nobles refused to advance further. They left the King a sum of money, telling him to find mercenaries to continue the war himself.
Then, these nobles returned to their respective territories.
This attack was therefore easily repelled by the Teutonic Order, and even Memel, which had been previously captured, was recaptured by the Teutonic Order.
Thereafter, the financially depleted King of Poland could only continue small-scale military conflicts with the Teutonic Order.
Until 1457, to resist Moldavia and prepare to aid Bohemia, Władysław III conducted a third major conscription. This time, the scale was not as large as the previous two, but it still comprised an army of over twenty-five thousand soldiers.
Unexpectedly, this army still failed to completely subdue the Teutonic Order, and even suffered losses due to the Teutonic Order's counterattack in winter.
Now, in the spring of 1458, Władysław decided to conduct a fourth large-scale conscription in the Kingdom of Poland. As for whether this would harm the nation's foundation, he did not care at all.
This King of Poland now only wanted to completely destroy the Teutonic Order.
In the reception room of the Kraków Cathedral, candlelight flickered, and a dozen nobles in luxurious clothes sat around a table. The acting Archbishop of Kraków, Spalkowski, had convened this secret meeting.
Since the death of the previous Archbishop, Olesnicki, in 1455, the Pope and the King of Poland had a fierce conflict over the right to appoint the Archbishop of Kraków.
Władysław III directly ignored the Pope's bull and appointed Spalkowski as the Archbishop of Kraków, but the Pope rejected this appointment, so his Archbishop title currently still had the prefix "acting."
As a devout clergyman, Spalkowski was first loyal to the Pope, and then to Władysław.
After the Pope issued the interdict against the King of Poland, Spalkowski quickly determined his stance and secretly contacted important nobles of the Kingdom of Poland, hoping to reach a consensus.
Originally, this process was not very smooth, but on this day, Władysław III's close confidant appeared in Kraków with that letter, announcing the order for the fourth major conscription.
Soon, the nobles came together to the Kraków Cathedral, hoping to discuss with the Archbishop, which led to this secret meeting.
"Władysław wants to drain the Kingdom's marrow," the Archbishop said, striking the ground twice with his staff. "Three conscriptions have consumed tens of thousands of warriors, and the Teutonic Order's iron cross is still planted at the mouth of the Vistula River."
Piotr, the Lord of Poznań, took over with a gloomy expression: "The Emperor's army is gathering and is about to attack us. Now we should consider how to gain the understanding of the Emperor and the Pope! That bastard only wants to continue this damned war. Think, if the German army sets foot in Poland, what will be left of this land?"
"Then what should we do?" asked Bolesław Piast, the Duke of Masovia, with a deep frown.
The King's conscription order this time specifically stated that enough troops, likely over 6,000 men, were to be conscripted in the Duchy of Masovia. If this were truly done, his duchy would be severely weakened.
"Should we choose a new King?"
Everyone's gaze turned to the proposer of this bold suggestion, a great eastern noble from Lviv.
A strange silence suddenly fell in the room until the Archbishop broke it: "If we choose a new King from the Habsburg Family, can we directly end all possible conflicts and preserve the Kingdom of Poland?"
"Let a German be the King of Poland? Haven't we suffered enough persecution from them?"
"How is that any different from directly submitting and surrendering to the Emperor?"
The nobles were unwilling to accept this risky suggestion. The power of the Habsburg Family was too terrifying. If they were to lay claim to the Polish throne, Poland would likely be swallowed whole before long.
"Then let the King's brother do it. In this time of crisis, only the union of two countries can offer a glimmer of hope. Don't forget, over forty years ago, it was this great union that crushed the pride of the Germans!"
This proposal immediately received the approval of most people. Although the Archbishop still had doubts, the will of the nobles would not change because of him.
The result of this conspiracy was out: an envoy departed from Kraków and rushed overnight to Vilnius (the capital of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy), carrying a secret letter bearing the Jagiellonian family's red-backed double-sword emblem. The content of the letter was a joint petition from several Polish great nobles and the Archbishop of Kraków.
In Poland, which had not yet implemented the free election of Kings, such a conspiracy was in fact an act of rebellion.
And Władysław III, who remained on the Prussian front, knew nothing of all this.