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In our time, in the 21st century, amateurs in history often ask - what enabled Visegrad to survive this long, surrounded by such hostile odds? Ever since it's creation, it had been attacked from all three sides, by the Ottomans, by the Lithuanians and by the Germans, and yet it managed to repulse any invasions for hundreds of years. Even when their enemies would gnaw away pieces of their territory and destroy their armies, it would return like a phoenix and restore it's borders. Some called it extreme, stupid luck and happenstance. Some babbled that the West Slavs and the Magyars are biologically superior. Some tried to look into the country's economy or demographics, and while they found some clues, it didn't explain the whole picture.

One of the best explanations, however, came from the Polish historian Karol Maciewski in 1987, in a book titled "Guns, Tactics and Steel", where he raises the proposal that Visegrad's survival was mandated by the country's approach to warfare, starting with 16th century reforms that managed to save the country in the long term. One thing that both contemporary and past historians note about Visegrad is it's education. In 1680, the union hosted 14 universities (in comparison, Lithuania only had four - in Vilnius, Kiev, Riga and Karaliaučius), not counting numerous colleges as well as a primary school network. Visegrad's literacy rates were among the highest in Europe - and it especially specialized in military literacy. Since the 16th century, all military officers in the army were required by law to be literate and have a degree in military education, and in the middle of the 17th century, the literacy requirement was extended to normal soldiers as well - a phenomenon way ahead of it's time. Visegrad had the highest quantity of published military literature in the continent, it supplied all of Europe with manuals of arms, and all of this resulted in an obvious outcome, as Maciewski states - the army of Visegrad was much more adaptable, literate, disciplined and accepting of innovation than any of it's peers, a giant advantage on the battlefield that allowed Visegrad to survive for so long.

Of course, it's not like the country was full of heavy armored space marines or something - it was not a perfect and flawless force. What it especially lacked was numbers, which is where their opponent in the Galician War, Lithuania, shined.

The Galician War began with a major Lithuanian thrust into Mazovia, in northern Poland, where the imperial army overwhelmed local garrisons before reinforcements could arrive, reaching the Vistula by September. The Visegrad force was focused on Galicia itself - a Hungarian army of 25 000 men marched across the Carpathians and joined up with the rebels in East Galicia, capturing Przemysl in October of 1687 and marching east towards Lemberg. They engaged a vanguard Lithuanian unit of 14 000 soldiers near Mostyska, easily defeating them and forcing the survivors to flee. In the Battle of Mostyska, the Visegradians showcased a new military development of theirs, the perfected art of volley fire - line infantry. Standing in a thin straight line with only a few lines of men making it up, shooting in volleys, the soldiers were able to maximize the effectiveness of the musket, even if this tactic came with a cost in mobility. The Lithuanians, who were mostly light skirmishers and scouts, could not withstand this unseen type of offensive.

In light of this defeat, Grand Hetman Aleksandras Chodkevičius was briefly recalled from Vilnius to the Galician Front, commanding the Lithuanian forces in Lemberg in preparation for a Visegradian assault. The intelligence that the survivors of Mostyska reported was worrying, but Chodkevičius was confident in his army's abilities. The 37 000 men large Lithuanian force, mainly composed of recruits from Ruthenia, left the fortress in the beginning of December, when the first snow had already fallen, and faced the Hungarian forces in the Battle of Horodok. The winter was turning out to be an extremely cold one, and the ground was already covered in two feet of snow, heavily limiting the mobility and visibility of both armies. Lithuanian skirmish attempts were ineffective and were repulsed by the Visegradian line infantry, but what the Hungarian commander did not expect was the sudden Lithuanian cavalry charge into the battlefield - perhaps because trying to attack with horses during freezing weather is insane. The first Visegradian line collapsed under the sudden strike, but there were two more left, and they suddenly moved back and formed a square. An infantry square. Chodkevičius's cavalry did not try to break them, fearing that the losses would be too monumental, and eventually the weakened Visegradians retreated anyway. The Lithuanians were left in control of the battlefield, but at a great cost in manpower.
In Greater Poland, the Lithuanian advance was stopped by the harsh weather. The local Polish population took arms to resist the Lithuanian invasion, disrupting their supply, slowing the invading armies down and damaging their war effort in other ways, and vanguard Lithuanian units were defeated near Kielce, to the north of Krakow, preventing the Lithuanians from storming into Lesser Poland and thus potentially cutting off and surrounding the Visegradian armies in Galicia.

The winter of 1688 was the epitome of the Little Ice Age, a period in climate history marked by a relative drop in temperatures across the world, especially in Europe, and this year, one of the coldest winters in Lithuanian history set in. Large fields of crops were destroyed by snowstorms, and the situation was critical in the northern parts of the country. Aleksandras Chodkevičius returned to Vilnius on his own, and there, he secretly persuaded the weak Emperor to wait before helping the poor in distressed regions, claiming that the war must be placed higher than relieving the peasants. Chodkevičius knew that this decision will be very unpopular and that the blame will be placed on Žygimantas II, not him, a major boon to his plans, even if this meant risking the lives of thousands and people. And indeed, famines rapidly spread across the countryside, the Emperor's inaction was irritating the mobility and the peasants, the monarch's standing within the country was weakening.

In 1688, the Visegradians went on the offensive. The Grand Hetman had left the front, officially leaving control over the war to the Emperor himself, who was far less versed in strategy, if he knew anything about it at all. In Greater Poland, the Lithuanian forces were soundly defeated in the Battle of Skiernewice, a two times smaller Visegradian army was victorious in the field with only minor losses. Throughout the year afterwards, most of occupied Poland was liberated, the Polish, Czech and Hungarian forces even took over a large portion of East Prussia, standing a breath away from the heartland of the Empire itself. However, the Visegradians were unable to advance, as their push towards Gumbinė was surprisingly pushed back by the Karaite Guard - the best of the best in the Lithuanian army, the Emperor's guard, founded in the 16th century, handpicked from Karaite, Jewish and Tatar soldiers and instilled with nigh perfect discipline - near Allenstein. Despite there being only 1000 Karaite Guards on the field, they stopped and pushed back a five times bigger Visegradian conscript force. Lietuva Land was safe for the time being.

The war in Galicia was also in Lithuania's losing side - at Stryj, the Visegradian army began a renewed offensive. Lithuanian positions were constantly harassed by Galician partisans, lacking in adequate supplies and in a large salient, so they eventually retreated. Lemberg was captured by the Hungarian forces in August of 1688, and this marked the Visegradian reconquest of the region. Charles VI was growing ambitious, however - taking only Galicia will not be enough. Push forward, soldiers of the Triple Crown!

But wait! Do you remember the Battle of Allenstein? Where the Karaite Guard defeated the Visegradians, even though it is required to constantly stay by the Emperor's side unless he wishes differently? It was Aleksandras Chodkevičius, working through bribed courtiers, who encouraged the Emperor to send the Karaite Guard to the front, actually - their undying loyalty to the Emperor would have proven to be troubling had they stayed in Vilnius. Of course, he didn't voice these concerns publicly. A conspiracy was beginning to form in the court, targeted against Žygimantas II. The military was tired of Žygimantas's weak rule and was ready to take the matters into their own hands. The people were angered by the inaction during the winter of 1688, and a large portion of the nobility feared that Žygimantas II will turn out to be a Siemowit III analogue for Lithuania - a braindead ruler who will run it to the ground. The "Group for Russian Liberation" was arming and preparing to retake the streets. Visegrad was less than a hundred miles away from the Nemunas River.

This was fertile ground for the 1688 October Coup. The military units loyal to the so-called "Council of the Lords", headed by Chodkevičius, stormed the Royal Palace and arrested Žygimantas II, only releasing him five days later, when he accepted all of the conspirators' demands. The executive powers of the country were transferred to the ten people council, headed by the Grand Hetman and composed of the most powerful position holders in the country - Field Hetman (second in command) Martynas Pacas, Patriarch Jevgeniy, Chancellor Jogaila Sapiega and other important figures. However, the rest of the Council of the Lords only had an advisory role, and in reality, almost all of the power was concentrated in the Grand Hetman, who ruled with the power of the military under his command.

However, there is one important distinction - Žygimantas II did not go anywhere. The Emperor was still the Emperor, he could have nice clothes, parties, be protected by the Karaites and call himself Emperor if he wants. But don't get confused, it was now the Grand Hetman, not the brightly colored man in the Palace, who was the real leader. Lithuania had become a military dictatorship, with even a fancy term to refer to it - the Hetmanate.

Aleksandras Chodkevičius now held all the strings of the country, and it was up to him to save it.