in his own chair. He was now feeling weary himself, in mind if not in body.
“I’m still puzzled, though.” He gestured with a thumb toward one of the windows. That window looked out over the town’s main thoroughfare. The window was closed because of the cold, but the sounds of the heavy traffic outside could easily be heard.
“What produced all these refugees?”
Grassi frowned. Then, rose and went to the window. After studying the scene below for a few seconds, he chuckled softly.
“Those aren’t precisely ‘refugees,’ Baron. They’re not people fleeing their homes ahead of an invading army. They’re mostly merchants racing ahead of an invading army to make sure their business concerns aren’t jeopardized when the army arrives. That’s why they’ve come so soon, even though they don’t expect anything to happen for some time yet. Arranging such business can be time-consuming.”
“Ah.” That made sense, now that it was explained. There was a fixed season for campaigning, if you were the Turk seeking to march a huge army through the Balkans. That sort of mobilization presupposed enormous numbers of livestock. You couldn’t start the march, therefore, until the spring grass was coming up or your horses and oxen would starve.
In the Balkans, once an army got past Belgrade, that meant waiting until early May. So the merchants crowded in the streets out there and packed into the taverns had three months or so to do their preparations.
“I take it they don’t have any doubts that the Ottomans plan to attack Vienna next year.”
Grassi chuckled again. “Not any, Baron. Neither do I. After such a great victory, the Turk is flushed with pride and ambition. That new young sultan intends to become as famous as Suleiman the Magnificent. More famous, even. And to do that…”
Suleiman had conquered most of Hungary, after the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. That, perhaps more than anything, is what had cemented his reputation as the greatest sultan in the Ottoman line. If Murad IV intended to match him, much less surpass him, he would have to take most of the Austrian empire. Conquer it, not simply defeat it and extract concessions.
Janos rose and came to stand by the window next to Grassi. In his case, not to study the crowd in the streets but the sky.
“The weather looks to be holding up,” he said. “I’ll need to leave early on the morrow.”
Grassi cleared his throat. “Yes, I thought you would. Back to Vienna, I assume?”
“Yes. I need to speak to the emperor as soon as possible.”
“Do you remember the occasion when you offered me sanctuary, should I ever need it?”
Drugeth nodded. “Yes. The time has come, I take it.”
“Indeed so. Schmid has disappeared entirely. I have no idea where he is. So has the Dutchman, Haga.”
Perhaps even more than Schmid, Cornelis Haga—or van Haag, as he preferred to style himself—was the epitome of an “old Ottoman hand” when it came to European ambassadors to the Sublime Porte. He’d been Holland’s ambassador in Istanbul for almost a quarter of a century. If he’d gone into hiding—or been taken in custody by the Turks—then things were getting chancy indeed.
“Is Murad on a rampage?”
Grassi made a face. “Hard to say, with that man. His rages are notorious, but I think at least some of them are feigned. Don’t make the mistake of under-estimating him, Baron. He’s probably the most capable sultan the Turks have had in a century. He’s certainly the most dangerous.”
The doctor turned away from the window. “Certainly too dangerous for me, at least for a while. I think my health would be greatly improved by a stay in Vienna.”
“Early tomorrow morning, then. This time of year, the weather can also be dangerous.”
Chapter 38
Pirna, in southern Saxony
Mike paused the march into Saxony when the Third Division reached Pirna, the first major town north of the border with Bohemia. He’d been driving the men hard and they needed to rest and refit. There was another storm coming across northern Europe, too, and Pirna was the best place in the area for the division to wait for it to pass. In addition to the town itself, there was a large castle nearby—Schloss Sonnenstein—that could hold a number of the division’s soldiers. The castle also made an excellent spot for Mike’s radio operators to set up. As soon as the storm was over, he wanted to broadcast some messages that were sure to be picked up anywhere in the USE that had a functioning radio.
The time for subterfuge and deception