As Sandor Roy and Erik Lange prepared to cross swords, the Hussar who had been captured alongside the former spoke up.
"I know everything!"
"You know everything?"
Erik Lange asked with a smile, offering the Hussar a cigarette.
"Of course! I know János Damjanich's troop strength, supplies, and deployment. I even know where he lives! I also know János Damjanich is going to launch a second attack!
This time was only a probing assault."
The Hussar was a tough one. He rattled off a whole string of details—and, worst of all, he did it in German. Sandor Roy's face changed dramatically.
"You traitor to the Hungarian people!"
The words flew out of Sandor Roy's mouth, but the militia commander Erik ignored him. Instead, he walked over and clapped the Hussar on the shoulder.
"Brother, you speak German?"
The Hussar caught on at once and replied,
"My maternal grandmother was German."
"Then you're one of us!"
In fact, from the Austrians' perspective, the Hussar spoke far better German than Commander Erik did. Erik kept talking as he patted the Hussar on the shoulder.
"Brother, you haven't heard, have you? The British, the French, and those Liberal clowns have all been defeated.
His Majesty the Emperor's million-strong army is about to march east. The separatists are doomed!"
Erik had embellished the truth, but the astonished expressions on the two Hungarians' faces showed they had no idea what was really happening. Otherwise, they wouldn't have foolishly tried a sneak attack.
In truth, Erik had underestimated how tightly the Hungarian government kept its intelligence under wraps. Even János Damjanich, their commander, had no idea what was happening beyond their borders.
They still thought the Austrian Empire was bogged down in the German Civil War and couldn't extricate itself. They believed that if they showed