Breslau, Laszlo received the letter from Nicholas through Matthias. Everything was progressing as they had expected.
In other words, a major war with the Kingdom of Poland was imminent.
In fact, Laszlo had wanted to fight for a long time.
With the army fully deployed, the rear was vulnerable, and even the Austrian border required assistance from the Hungarian Border Guard.
Most importantly, the provisions acquired and requisitioned along the way, and the grain transported from the rear, were running low. If war didn't start soon, he might have to return to court, and the money and resources spent on troop movements would have been wasted.
Since they were already here, how could they not fight a battle to achieve their strategic objectives?
The situation at the Toruń peace talks was also evident.
With the Roman Emperor backing him, the Teutonic Order Grand Master was determined not to concede an inch.
He knew that if he let Poland off for a small gain, once Poland recovered its strength, the Teutonic Order would never rise again.
Moreover, he urgently needed Poland's reparations to repay large loans and pay his mercenaries.
The Teutonic Order's largest creditor, the Elector of Brandenburg, provided the Teutonic Order with a loan of 40,000 florins, which was a crucial reason why the Teutonic Order was not defeated in the initial stages of the war.
When the Teutonic Order couldn't pay their mercenaries, the mercenaries even plundered the Teutonic Order's castles and resold them to the Poles, until the Grand Master handed over part of the land in Kuyavia as compensation to the mercenary leader Bernhard, which finally persuaded the mercenaries to continue fighting for the Teutonic Order.
The Poles' attitude was equally firm: no ceding of land, no reparations. They had held the advantage throughout. If they were to sign an unequal treaty that forfeited their sovereignty under such circumstances, it would be an enormous joke.
Before the war began, Laszlo wrote another letter and sent someone to deliver it to the King of Poland.
The letter read:
"To the cunning King of Poland, Bolesław IV:
Although I wished to remain polite to you, it now seems unnecessary.
Your notoriety is known from Northern Ireland to Cathay, known to all.
Regicide and usurpation, disregarding the Roman Emperor and the Pope, stubbornly refusing to accept the Teutonic Order's lenient and reasonable peace proposal—your actions are truly disappointing.
If, in the end, the negotiations in Toruń fail, I hope you are prepared to face the Imperial Army on the battlefield.
Ladislaus, holy Roman-German Caesar."
In Poznań, Bolesław IV, whose face was already gloomy, turned even colder upon receiving the letter.
He was now very glad that he had not naively trusted the Roman Emperor completely, but had made ample preparations.
Although this seventeen-year-old Roman Emperor was young, it did not mean he was an easy person to deal with.
He was clear-headed, firm in his convictions, and most importantly, decisive and domineering. It was likely that as early as when he conspired with the Pope to excommunicate Władysław III, he had already decided to attack Poland, and his intentions had not changed in the slightest.
The content of this letter was no different from a declaration of war; a major conflict was inevitable.
Soon, news came from Toruń: the second round of peace talks had failed.
The Teutonic Order and the Prussian League concluded a peace treaty, known as the Second Treaty of Toruń, reuniting and jointly declaring war on Poland.
King Karl VIII of Sweden, who was entrenched in Danzig, feared that the Teutonic Order would capture him and hand him over to their ally Denmark, so he led his pirate fleet to flee into the depths of the Baltic Sea overnight, seeking a new refuge.
After receiving the results of the peace talks, the holy Roman Emperor Laszlo officially declared war on the Kingdom of Poland in the name of protecting the Teutonic Order. On the Oder River, through multiple pontoon bridges and existing bridges that had been set up earlier, the Imperial Army crossed the river at an extremely fast pace in multiple routes, entering Polish territory.
Immediately, the Imperial Army, personally commanded by the Roman Emperor, advanced towards Poznań, where the main forces of the Kingdom of Poland were stationed.
Bolesław left two thousand troops to defend the city, then led the main army to encamp on the Imperial Army's inevitable path, awaiting their arrival.
While the main battle had not yet begun here, fighting had already started elsewhere.
Lubiczowski's army, reinforced by the Kuyavia noble army, reached eight thousand troops. He immediately led this army to launch a surprise attack on Toruń.
On the other side, Johannes was recruiting a large army within the Prussian League cities. Toruń had already been handed over to the Teutonic Order,
and the Grand Master was defending the city with five thousand Teutonic Order troops.
As for the mercenaries from Bohemia and Saxony, the Grand Master was unwilling to pay them more wages, so he gritted his teeth, paid off the overdue wages, and disbanded the force.
Some of the soldiers traveled through Danzig to the Brandenburg border region, returning to Imperial territory.
The mercenary commander Bernhard led his trusted retainers to the territory granted by the Teutonic Order, where he lived the peaceful life of a noble lord.
He did want to return to his hometown in Bohemia, but considering that getting back to Bohemia now would require a huge detour, and Prague had been devastated by the Roman Emperor, he lost his interest in returning home in glory.
In this chaotic era, if you were capable enough in combat, there was a complete opportunity for social mobility—provided you were truly very capable in combat.
The most confused people were the citizens of Toruń. Not long ago, the Teutonic Order had attacked the city,
and at that time, it was the Poles who defended the city.
Now, the roles were reversed: the Poles began to besiege the city, while the Teutonic Order's army desperately defended Toruń.
This world was gradually becoming insane.
The people of Toruń originally expected that the Teutonic Order, upon entering the city, would surely engage in burning, killing, and looting, and even commit massacres. But to their surprise, the Teutonic Order did not disturb the populace.
It was only after explanations from the Toruń city government that people fully accepted the fact of the Prussian League's return to the Teutonic Order.
A Danzig merchant was discussing a series of recent events with his business partner.
"You think, could this be a disguise by the Teutonic Order? After they drive out the Poles, they will surely carry out a cruel purge."
"Don't overthink it. The Roman Emperor has promised to supervise the Teutonic Order's actions. We just need to do our business peacefully," the merchant he was speaking with looked much more relaxed, clearly knowing more inside information. "Four years of sea blockade, every time we transported goods by water, it made us anxious. Those German cities were unwilling to receive our goods. Now, we finally don't have to worry anymore. Alas, in four years, who knows how much wealth we've lost."
"I hope so. So, recently, there have been more Hanseatic League merchants in the city. It seems our trade embargo has been completely lifted, which is a rare good thing."
The small talk ended there, and the two then began to discuss how, in post-war reconstruction, the demand for grain and timber would surely increase greatly, and they could seize this opportunity to make a fortune.
Of course, restarting the Amber Road was also a great business opportunity. After the trade embargo was lifted, Danzig, as one of the most important ports on the Baltic Sea, would quickly begin to recover. It would surely not be long before it prospered again.
In contrast to the flourishing atmosphere in Danzig, the atmosphere on the other side was so heavy it was almost suffocating.
In the second week after the peace talks failed, the Imperial Army and the Polish army met on the plains near the small town of Leżnica.
A major battle that would decide Poland's fate was about to erupt.