After Sinan Pasha's successful sneak attack, he led his troops deeper north, intending to capture Trenčín and cut Austria's territory in half, severing supplies and support from the west. This would make it only a matter of time before the lands east of Hont fell into their hands, and it could further threaten Prague, where the Austrian court was located.
At the same time, the Ottoman Empire's main army on the Hungary battlefield had already mobilized, dispatching five thousand troops to garrison Hont city, and over forty thousand men were successively deployed from various directions to attack Spiš, east of Hont.
With merely five thousand elite troops and over ten thousand cannon fodder, Hont city could be easily taken. The Austrian defenders in Spiš numbered less than eight thousand. The Ottoman Empire had assembled almost all of its remaining main forces from the Hungary battlefield to attack, so it should not have been too difficult. However, the actual situation was precisely the opposite.
To avoid alarming Austria too early, Sinan Pasha, apart from secretly withdrawing five thousand elite troops, made no other troop movements in various locations. Therefore, before the operation began, the Ottoman Empire's main army was still very scattered.
Furthermore, Sinan Pasha did not order the troops to gather in their own cities; instead, he instructed them to besiege Spiš as soon as they arrived. This resulted in significant differences in the arrival times of troops from various locations.
Additionally, the Ottoman Empire's army was a mixed bag, including regular soldiers, mercenaries, local warlords' private forces, as well as bandits, marauders, and pirates. After a long period without large-scale military operations, the strong will to fight made it even harder to manage units with low organization, and the efficiency of deployment varied greatly.
The sudden heavy rain made the roads muddy, and many irregular units that were unprepared for rainy-day marches needed to make temporary preparations, further widening the time gap.
A series of influencing factors combined to result in a situation where units closer to the battlefield were almost there, while those further away hadn't even left yet.
Before the Ottoman Empire's army arrived at Spiš, the Spiš defenders had already learned of Hont's fall from fleeing survivors and were also informed of the Ottoman army's atrocities.
Lorenz, the commander of Spiš, was shocked but keenly guessed that the Ottoman army from the Hont direction would target Trenčín next, and the Ottoman army from the south was about to launch an attack on several eastern cities, including Spiš.
Lorenz immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for battle, simultaneously making public the fall and massacre of Hont and his own conjectures. He easily gathered the civilians outside the city into the city and then initiated a full-scale war mobilization.
Lorenz also declared to everyone: The Ottoman Empire was now making a desperate gamble, not merely for the purpose of capturing cities and territories, but rather to maximize the killing of Austrian soldiers and civilians in a short period, to deter and drive away the Papal States' reinforcements.
With such an objective from the enemy, if the nest is overturned, no egg will remain intact. Once the city fell, everyone inside would face certain death. Only by holding the city and waiting for reinforcements could there be a glimmer of hope.
Upon learning of the Hont massacre, with Trenčín in peril and their retreat cut off, the Austrian soldiers, who yesterday were only thinking of returning home, were now filled with righteous indignation and their fighting spirit reignited!
The civilians had nowhere to go and had witnessed the brutality of the Ottoman army. They no longer held onto false hopes, and large numbers of able-bodied men took up arms and joined the ranks of the city defenders, while the elderly and women participated in ensuring logistics.
As Spiš was already at the forefront of the conflict, it did not lack weapons, equipment, or siege machinery, and had relatively ample food and fresh water. Now, with everyone mobilized for war and united against a common enemy, Lorenz was confident of holding out for a month or so. After dispatching messengers to various places, he still remained deeply worried.
The messenger sent to Trenčín was probably too late. Were the Trenčín defenders prepared? If Trenčín fell like Hont, and the connection with the west was severed, even if he could hold out, the Ottoman Empire would not need to force an attack. By heavily guarding Trenčín and Hont, they could simply starve him out.
The first few Ottoman Empire units to arrive on the battlefield were main forces already deployed on the border. These units, totaling over ten thousand men, had conscripted over ten thousand able-bodied men from various places as cannon fodder before their departure, gathering a total of thirty thousand soldiers.
Although these units moved quite quickly, they still had a long way to go, were marching in heavy rain with cannon fodder troops and siege equipment. At this point, the Spiš defenders, whose numbers far exceeded their previous strength, had already completed their deployment.
However, because Spiš deliberately concealed its strength, from outside the city, looking through the heavy rain, the defenders on the city walls seemed no different from before. The Ottoman Empire's generals were completely unaware of the changes in Spiš.
"Spiš has so few defenders, there's no need to wait for those miscellaneous units to converge. We can take Spiš ourselves! All the credit will be ours then!" one general impatiently said.
But an old general noticed something amiss: "This isn't right. We've come all this way and found that the civilians in the suburbs have all evacuated. If they weren't organized by the defenders and moved into Spiš city, so many people couldn't just disappear into thin air so quickly. But if the Spiš defenders already guessed we were coming, then why would they sit idly by?"
The general who spoke first thought for a moment and quickly found a reason to convince himself: "Sinan Pasha massacred Hont city with no effort at all. The Spiš defenders are probably afraid and want to surrender directly, right?"
Another general echoed, "Who cares so much? We'll know everything if we just try attacking! Anyway, it's going to be a fight sooner or later, so let the cannon fodder go first. The rain is getting heavier and shows no sign of stopping. If we don't act now, it won't get easier later."
"Yes, we rushed here through heavy rain. If we just besiege without attacking, it will be a huge blow to morale. The Ottoman Empire's eastern front is tight, and the resources we can allocate are extremely limited. Plus, logistical transport and supply losses will be much higher in the rain. The longer we drag this out, the more disadvantageous it will be for us.
Moreover, the proportion of cannon fodder is too high, leading to huge food consumption. If we drag it out for too long, it's easy for trouble to arise. Instead of having to suppress it with effort then, it's better to send them out now to be consumed in the siege. If it's not enough, we can just capture more."
The old general still felt uneasy and suggested, "Then let's first set up our siege camp and then launch a probing attack? I always feel that the situation inside the city is not that simple."
To his surprise, the other generals scoffed. One of them contemptuously said, "There's absolutely no need for that! There are only a few thousand troops inside the city. According to the intelligence Sinan Pasha sent back about Hont, the Austrian soldiers were all just thinking of going home, completely lacking fighting spirit.
With our thirty thousand strong army, if we catch them unprepared, we might just take it in one fell swoop, like Sinan Pasha. Then the military merits and everything inside the city will be ours, and those irregular units won't even get a sip of the soup!"
"Haha, yes, even if we can't take it in one go, it won won't be too late to build a siege camp then. Are you afraid that the few thousand defenders in the city will rush out?"
At these words, everyone burst into laughter again, and some even mocked, "If you're scared, then let your troops guard outside the city. But if we take it in one fell swoop, you can have a share of the military merits, but don't be jealous of the spoils!"
The old general felt aggrieved, but for the sake of the bigger picture, he made an unexpected decision: "Alright! I'll guard outside the city! I wish you success in your first battle!"