In the southwestern part of the Transylvania Plateau, at the top of a hill that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, stood a massive castle.
Hunyadi Castle, and the Hunyadi town at the foot of the mountain, served as the administrative center of Hunyadi County and the ruling seat of the Hunyadi Family.
Under Janos's many years of management, Hunyadi Castle had already become the largest castle in Transylvania, second only to Budapest in the Kingdom of Hungary.
It usually housed over eight hundred defenders, only slightly fewer than the royal castle guards in Budapest.
At this moment, in the castle's council hall, Hunyadi Laszlo, who had fled back to this place in a hurry, was convening his many retainers to discuss countermeasures.
Many of the old officials Janos had left for him sat around the long table, including his most trusted general, Giraks.
Although Giraks had not completed the task Hunyadi had given him, suffering a defeat in Wallachia, Hunyadi still valued him greatly.
After all, this Bohemian had led his army to defeat Janos four times.
It wasn't until the fifth battle that Janos defeated him, taking him as a retainer and entrusting him with important responsibilities.
Hunyadi scanned the room; indeed, many people had come, but even more had not.
For example, the Arad County governor, who had sworn allegiance to the Hunyadi Family, was now nowhere to be seen.
Those who hadn't come had clearly made their choice.
Those who remained to support him were basically old officials and close friends who had deep relationships with his father, Hunyadi Janos.
Hunyadi now couldn't spare the time to feel angry or disheartened by the traitors, because he knew that the Emperor's army was already on its way.
Moreover, from the intelligence he had gathered, it seemed that this time he would face attacks from multiple directions.
Hunyadi unfolded the map before everyone, and his retainers all gathered around.
"The Emperor's army is coming fiercely, but he is the furthest from us, and we have mountains to our west as a natural barrier," Hunyadi analyzed seriously, "so we don't need to worry for now. The only thing to pay attention to is Timisoara, which is a fortress that blocks the main road.
If the Emperor chooses to bypass it, he must pass through rugged hilly terrain, which will slow down his advance and greatly increase his losses."
"But the army of Serbia is very close to Timisoara," Vitez Janos, the Archbishop of Alba Iulia, reminded with a frown, "If we decide to delay the Emperor's army here, we must quickly send reinforcements."
"Hmm." Hunyadi nodded lightly, looking with some emotion at the elder beside him.
As a long-standing political ally of the Hunyadi Family, and also one of the three Archbishops of the Kingdom of Hungary, he could have simply left.
However, he ultimately chose to help Hunyadi.
Coming back to his senses, Hunyadi pointed to two key mountain passes on the map: Deva City, which blocked the northwestern pass, and Corvin Castle, which blocked the southwestern pass.
"We have to be prepared for the rapid fall of Timisoara," Hunyadi considered cautiously, "Which path will the Emperor choose to cross the mountains and enter Transylvania?"
"From past experience, it's much more likely for an army of tens of thousands to take the northern route than the southern route," analyzed Sanok, the Polish priest who was the teacher of the Hunyadi brothers. "The southern mountain road is much harder to traverse, and the terrain is more treacherous.
We only need to guard the passes, and even if the Emperor has an army of a hundred thousand, he will still be unable to advance."
Upon hearing this, Hunyadi turned to Efikende, the castellan of Corvin Castle, who was beside him: "I'll entrust the defense of the southern line to you."
"Don't worry, Your Lordship, as long as I live, not a single enemy will pass."
Corvin Castle was actually Efikende's family castle; since its construction over a hundred years ago, it had endured numerous sieges but had never fallen.
Hunyadi nodded with satisfaction, his gaze fixed on Deva City on the northern line.
"If the Emperor wants to take the most convenient route, it would be from Arad to Timisoara, then along the main road to near the mountain pass, and then he would still need to pass through a difficult mountain road to reach Deva," Hunyadi's tone showed a hint of urgency, "If we set an ambush here…."
"Then even if the Emperor has a vast army, he will not escape the fate of defeat. If the Emperor can be beheaded in the Transylvanian mountains, then Hungary…" Sanok sneered, "Even if the ambush fails, we can still retreat to the fortified city of Deva. It will probably not be so easy for the Emperor to enter Transylvania."
Hunyadi let out a sigh of relief and turned his gaze to the other side: "Several castles in the Severin region have sent pleas for help.
Vlad's attack is very swift.
I'm afraid that after he takes those castles, he will immediately cross the mountains and attack our east. The threat he poses is even greater than the Emperor's."
Giraks, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke: "As long as we block the Sibiu mountain pass, Vlad will not be able to invade Transylvania."
"Sibiu?" Hunyadi frowned, saying somewhat uncertainly, "Sibiu is a Saxon city, and it has always been close to the Emperor. It's unlikely they would be willing to help us, right?"
Giraks shook his head and said, "Perhaps Sibiu was indeed unlikely to help us before, but the situation is different now.
I think the Saxons of Sibiu must be quite familiar with Vlad's character.
They previously spared no effort in providing money and resources to support Dan's rebellion against Vlad.
If Vlad were to lead his army into Sibiu now, there would surely be a bloody massacre.
Moreover, I think the Saxons of Sibiu are also very worried about what kind of punishment the Emperor will inflict upon them if their conspiracy is exposed.
In other words, they and we are now in the same boat.
I am willing to go to Sibiu for you and persuade those Saxons to block the enemy forces invading from the Wallachia direction."
Hunyadi hesitated for a moment, then agreed with Giraks's suggestion, adding: "We cannot place all our hopes on the Saxons. The several fortresses in the east must also strengthen their defenses. I'll entrust the defense of this direction to you.
Don't disappoint me again, Giraks."
"Yes, Lord Hunyadi," Giraks bowed deeply to Hunyadi, "I finally see your father's shadow in you. May God and the souls of the White Knight protect you."
Hunyadi paused slightly, showing no further reaction, only a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth.
If he could truly be like his father, how could he have fallen to this point today?
"My Lord, in addition to the soldiers stationed at each defense line, we still have about five thousand mobile troops in Hunyadi Castle," Sanos gave Hunyadi his final report, "This is all the strength we have."
"How could… there only be this many troops?"
Hunyadi was somewhat taken aback. Only five thousand men? Didn't this mean that the temporary conscription he had ordered in Transylvania had actually only recruited fewer than three thousand men?
His father had once conducted a super-large-scale militia training in Transylvania to resist the Ottomans. At that time, the militia even reached a size of twenty thousand. How could they not recruit soldiers now?
"In recent years, you have levied heavy taxes, reinforced fortresses, and recruited more professional soldiers, leading to public discontent, plus the suppression of rebellions…"
Sanos didn't continue speaking.
Hunyadi slammed his fist on the long table, gritting his teeth and saying, "Five thousand it is, five thousand. With five thousand troops, I will fight the Emperor to the end!"
The defense of Southern Transylvania was solid as gold. Even with only five thousand troops, Hunyadi was confident he could compete with the Emperor.
He was gambling that the Emperor, having campaigned far from home, would be bogged down beneath the high mountains and strong fortresses, suffering heavy losses and being greatly weakened.
As long as the Emperor could not enter Transylvania, Hunyadi would have a chance to win.