Hearing that the Duke of Swabia still wanted revenge, Otto was relieved. It seemed that the failure of a battle did not affect his confidence.
That's good, lest the Duke of Swabia cower in the war later, how can he fight for the interests of a "loyal" vassal like him.
Unfortunately, the Duke of Swabia may not be able to realize his wish to take revenge personally.
When the results of the Battle of Arnhem came out, the commanders of East and West Francia realized the seriousness of the problem. They all thought that the Kingdom of Lotharingia was at the end of its strength and could only rely on important fortresses to hold on. However, they did not expect that the Duke of the Netherlands would still be there.
Leave some room and dare to fight head-on with the main force of the East Frankish Kingdom.
As soon as he learned of the battle report, the Duke of Bavaria, the commander-in-chief of the East Frankish Kingdom, immediately gave up his plan to besiege Aachen and bypassed the fortified Aachen to attack the Arnhem region.
The situation in the Kingdom of West Francia was actually similar. Except for a small number of troops still besieging the fortified Antwerp, the remaining main force chose to attack the Principality of the Netherlands.
Both sides have the same plan, which is to eliminate the last remaining living force of the Lotharingia Kingdom and end this war.
It was precisely because the East and West Frankish Kingdom made such a quick and decisive choice that Otto successfully escaped disaster after his defeat.
It wasn't that the Duke of the Netherlands stopped pursuing out of kindness, but that he got news of the incursions of two other armies.
In early May, in Arnhem again, this time in the hilly area south of Arnhem, the army of the Kingdom of Lotharingia, under the personal command of the Duke of the Netherlands, launched a fierce battle with the army of the Kingdom of East Francia.
The Duke of the Netherlands had close to 40,000 soldiers, and the number of troops on the East Frankish side was about the same. Although the number of troops mobilized by the East Frankish Kingdom before the war had reached 80,000, the long-term offensive and division of troops to occupy the key points made it difficult for the Duke of Bavaria to hold the army.
There isn't much left.
The most important reason is that the Duke of Swabia suffered a disastrous defeat, which forced him to dedicate nearly 10,000 troops to help his younger brother fill the hole. Otherwise, the nobles in the northeastern part of the Kingdom of Lotharingia would not be so obedient.
obedient.
The second Battle of Arnhem lasted for three days, with neither side winning or losing.
In the end, the Duke of the Netherlands, under the pressure of his territory being attacked by the West Frankish Kingdom, chose to retreat after losing three to four thousand casualties at the meeting.
This retreat basically announced the demise of the Kingdom of Lotharingia.
Regarding the remaining territory of the Kingdom of Lotharingia, East and West Franks reached a rare tacit understanding. The two sides settled their differences and jointly attacked the Principality of the Netherlands.
Facing the attacks from both sides, the Duke of the Netherlands was unable to resist. After the most important fortress in The Hague was breached, the Duke of the Netherlands sent a letter of surrender and formally surrendered to the two kingdoms.
The Duke of the Netherlands who surrendered was actually treated quite well. Because he had proven his strength and loyalty in the previous two battles of Arnhem, both the East and West Frankish Kingdoms wanted to win over him. He actually went from a surrendered prisoner to a seat of honor for both parties.
Guest of honor.
As for the young King Hugues of Lotharingia and his brothers and sisters, since they are all members of the Carolingian family, they will still have no problem living a wealthy life after losing the throne.
Yuge, from being the king of Lotharingia, transformed into the Duke of Bar.
The Kingdom of Lotharingia has been captured and Hugh abdicated. The ownership of the throne has become the focus of overt and covert struggles between the East and West Frankish Kingdoms.
In this kind of fight, the commanders of both sides are somewhat unqualified.
King Charles of West Francia and King Louis of East Francia rushed to the Netherlands in person to discuss the ownership of the throne of Lotharingia.
Both sides had just experienced a major war, and neither side wanted to use war to resolve the issue. The main reason was that both sides were equally powerful, and there was no way to determine the outcome in the short term.
Otto didn't care whether the meeting of the two kings would cause sparks to hit the earth and break out a larger-scale war.
According to historical trends, the two sides will sign the famous "Treaty of Molson", the Kingdom of Lotharingia will no longer exist, and the Kingdom of East and West Frankia will divide its territory.
Now, all the news is just a smoke bomb released by both parties for the sake of negotiation. The purpose is to gain more bargaining chips for themselves at the negotiation table.
Even though the nobles below seemed to have misfired, Otto still knew that it was impossible for a war to break out between the two sides.
You know, the Carolingian family, in addition to the two Franks, now also has an Italian king who is watching covetously from the side.
Although the Carolingian king of Italy was busy expanding into southern Italy, he had not come to participate in the feast of carving up the Kingdom of Lotharingia until now.
But who can guarantee that once a war breaks out between the East and West Frankish Kingdoms, the Italian king will really not intervene.
Otto is now running around for post-war interests every day.
"Your Majesty Duke, you have to believe me. We will never have a fight with West Francia. Now is a great time for the Principality of Swabia to expand. My suggestion is to swallow up the entire Alemannia region."
Otto was persuading the Duke of Swabia to start grabbing territory, because in this war, many nobles on both sides were killed, and naturally, a lot of territory would be vacated.
These territories will basically be given as rewards to nobles with military exploits. As long as the Duke of Swabia obtains these territories before the rewards are given, the owner of the new territory will naturally become a vassal of the Duke of Swabia.
His influence and power naturally expanded.
"Wouldn't it be good at this time?" The Duke of Swabia was a little moved, but he was also a little scared deep in his heart.
Otto gave a signal with his eyes, and Count Ansbach on the side also advised him.
"Your Excellency, take action when it's time to take action, don't hesitate. If you don't take action, will your brothers make the same choice as you?
Lord Duke, don’t forget that the principality suffered heavy losses in this war this time. If the strength cannot be replenished..."
Before Count Ansbach finished speaking, the Duke of Swabia suddenly woke up.
Yes, the total income is only so much. If you don’t start early, the meat will be eaten up by others.
"Okay, then I will listen to you, we will send troops to take over those territories."
Hearing this, many nobles in the camp began to praise the Duke of Swabia for his wisdom and were very excited.
The Duke of Swabia eats meat, and only the nobles below them have soup to drink.
Otto and Count Ansbach looked at each other, smiled at each other, and said nothing.
Otto's prediction was correct. Just when the army of the Principality of Swabia took the lead in encircling the territory, news came out that King Charles of West Francia and King Louis of East Francia had signed a treaty.
The fresh "Treaty of Molson" was released, and the tense confrontation between the two sides, from nobles to soldiers, disappeared.
The treaty stipulates:
The northern part of the Kingdom of Lotharingia, that is, the essence of the lowlands, will belong to the Kingdom of East Francia. The central area will be divided equally between the two sides. As for the southern area, the area bounded by Lyon and including Provence will be classified as the territory of the Kingdom of West Francia.