course

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send word to me by courier.
Richelieu.

While his enemies—open and hidden—plotted against him, the king of Sweden solidified his hold on central Germany. He left Leipzig to be recaptured by the chastened Saxons, while he himself followed Tilly’s retreating army. He captured three thousand more of those men in a small battle outside Merseburg two days later. On September 21, four days after Breitenfeld, he occupied Halle and allowed his army to rest and refit.
The future was unclear, his ensuing course uncertain. Already the king was being urged in many different directions by his various allies and advisers.
No matter. Whichever course he decided upon, Gustav Adolf was certain of one thing. At Breitenfeld, the world had changed forever.
Breitenfeld. Always Breitenfeld.





Part Four



On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?


Chapter 37
Word of Breitenfeld reached Grantville toward the end of September. The town erupted in celebration, which went on for two full days.
The fact that the Catholics—who now constituted well over half the population—participated fully in the festivities was a sign of just how little religious affiliation lay at the center of the war. Germany’s commoners, by and large, tended to be indifferent to

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