The Slovak uprising should have been a good thing for the Austrian Empire—not just for Baron Gregorich. In a sense, after all, it was another victory for the royalists.
Once again, the bells rang out across the ancient city of Košice, on the eastern stretch of the Hornád River near the Hungarian border.
The bell ringer had changed, but the piercing toll was just as grating.
Outside Košice, Baron Gregorich was puzzled. After the Battle of Banská Bystrica, the Magyar forces had crumbled at the first touch.
Yet this city, which was hardly what anyone would call magnificent, had blocked his way. Baron Gregorich refused to believe that every Magyar was unafraid of death.
If the Magyars really did have fearless warriors, then he would be happy to oblige them. After all, another man's hero was his own enemy.
A people this fanatical were all the more frightening the stronger they became.
Baron Gregorich had only just ordered the city surrounded when a troop appeared on the bridge outside its walls.
The troop was sizable, numbering three or four hundred, but they didn't look like soldiers. They seemed more intent on putting up a show of force.
"Report! Baron! The Czechs in Košice are demanding negotiations."
"The Czechs?"
"Yes. They claim to represent the Czech people and the Slovak region."
"Since when did Košice become Czech territory? And when did they gain the right to represent all of Slovakia?"
Baron Gregorich was perplexed, but above all, furious. Even so, he agreed to receive Košice's representatives.
"Loyal subjects of the Empire, you can lay down your arms now and let everything return to normal. The Magyar forces have been broken, and the Empire is here to restore order in Košice."
As an officer born into the nobility, Baron Gregorich knew how