Both the armies and your intrepid reporter, having entered into winter quarters, a relative calm had descended over the lands of Franconia and its neighbors. Securing a foothold in the disputed lands, the Hessian forces of its "fraternal assistance", set up housekeeping. In keeping with their assumed role, the troops behavior was remarkably good. Merchants were paid, taverns remained intact, and the farmers received real money for their supplies. The Yule Revelries maintained good cheer (for the most part) throughout.
But beneath the supposed calm, the sinews of war (such as they were) were about. Franconia had mobilized! The Franconian capital, Nurnberg, saw the small army of the duchy mobilize. Volunteers were eagerly sought, and the local militias were called up. A day of reckoning was coming soon.
On the diplomatic front, frantic efforts were made to enlist the help of the major imperial powers: the Empress was getting a bit tetchy about all the pleas for intervention; the King in Prussia was unimpressed, at least for now, (the prospect of picking up a province or two, at small cost, however, interested him greatly). Saxony's king was non-committal. France was still smarting over the recent loss of her American colonies. And George of England, after muttering something in his odd Germanic dialect, shook his head, and promptly went back to his vegetable garden.
But other powers were very much interested.
The ambitious Duke of Burgundy saw an opportunity to increase his lands in the east. He offered his aid with both gold and supplies. "We can work out the details later..." was his reply to Franconia's envoy who thought the vague terms offered seemed just a bit too good. But, hey, not his job... Within days of the agreement, a strong Burgundian force began to move toward Suabia and Franconia.
Tensions began to rise, however, as the line of march would take them a little too close to yet another Duchy that had hoped to stay neutral. Founded in the middle ages by an English Baron fighting with his mercenary band in some war long forgotten, Sir Hugo Bascombe seized a valley no one seemed to want. The Duchy of Grand Fenwick entered the European stage.
They had kept their independence for hundreds of years. Aggressors would trespass at their peril. To that end, the army was expanded and mobilized: long bows were turned in for muskets (France had a really good deal on surplus firearms that had been intended for New France). New uniforms, originally intended for the British Provincials in North America, and practically brand new, were purchased and issued. Another duchy had joined the fray!
