And now came a very serious turn
in the fortunes of Rhodolph. Notwithstanding the armistice which had
been concluded with the Turks by Rhodolph, a predatory warfare continued
to rage along the borders. Neither the emperor nor the sultan, had they
wished it, could prevent fiery spirits, garrisoned in fortresses
frowning at each other, from meeting occasionally in hostile encounter.
And both parties were willing that their soldiers should have enough to
do to keep up their courage and their warlike spirit. Aggression
succeeding aggression, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other,
the sultan at last, in a moment of exasperation, resolved to break the
truce.
A large army of Turks invaded Croatia, took several fortresses, and
marching up the valley of the Save, were opening before them a route
into the heart of the Austrian States. The emperor hastily gathered an
army to oppose them. They met before Siseck, at the confluence of the
Kulpa and the Save. The Turks were totally defeated, with the loss of
twelve thousand men. Exasperated by the defeat, the sultan roused his
energies anew, and war again raged in all its horrors. The advantage was
with the Turks, and they gradually forced their way up the valley of the
Danube, taking fortress after fortress, till they were in possession of
the important town of Raab, within a hundred miles of Vienna.
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