ous a storm. The emperor, by false professions
and affected clemency, had so deceived them that they were quite
unprepared for so formidable an attack. They soon, however, saw that
their only salvation depended upon a vigorous defense, and they
marshaled their forces for war. With promptness and energy which even
astonished themselves, they speedily raised an army which, on the
junction of its several corps, amounted to eighty thousand men. In its
intelligence, valor, discipline and equipments, it was probably the best
army which had ever been assembled in the States of Germany. Resolutely
they marched under Schartlin, one of the most experienced generals of
the age, toward Ratisbon, where the emperor was holding a diet.

Charles V. was as much alarmed by this unexpected apparition, as the
Protestants had been alarmed by the preparations of the emperor. He had
supposed that his force was so resistless that the Protestants would see
at once the hopelessness of resistance, and would yield without a
struggle. The emperor had a guard of but eight thousand troops at
Ratisbon. The Duke of Bavaria, in whose dominions he was, was wavering,
and the papal troops had not commenced their march. But there was not a
moment to be lost. The emperor himself might be surrounded and taken
captive. He retired precipitately about thirty miles south to the strong
fortress of Landshut, where he could hold out until he received succor
from his Austrian territories, which were very near, and also from the
pope.

Charles soon received powerful reinforcements from Austria, from the
pope, and from his Spanish kingdom. With these he marched some forty
miles west to Ingolstadt and intrenched himself beneath its massive
walls. Here he waited for further reinforcements, and then commencing
the offensive, marched up the Danube, taking possession of the cities on
either bank. And now the marshaled forces of the emperor began to crowd
the Protestants on all sides. The army became bewildered, and instead of
keeping together, separated to repel the attack at different points.
This caused the ruin of the Protestant army. The dissevered fragments
were speedily dispersed. The emperor triumphantly entered the Protestant
cities of Ulm and Augsburg, Strasbourg and Frankfort, compelled them to
accept humiliating conditions, to surrender their artillery and military
stores, and to pay enormous fines. The Archbishop of Cologne was deposed
from his dignities. The e