Hawkins issued a declaration of war, and soon France mobilized, and within half a month, 50,000 soldiers and 35,000 livestock were assembled.

As the main striking force of the whole army, the French army had one hundred and fifty artillery pieces, of which 120 were imported from the Ming Dynasty, and his army also had 20,000 guns from the Ming Dynasty.

There is no doubt that the production capacity of Daming is crushing level, but it has to be admitted that France's mobilization capacity has made great progress, and it can even be said to be a earth-shaking improvement.

After breaking the aristocratic feudalism, the parliament could directly issue orders to the people and carry out extensive levies, which was much better than the previous model of being dominated by nobles at all levels.

What is even more crucial is that the soldiers who are so mobilized can be fully reorganized without any barriers. Otherwise, as in the past, the assembled soldiers and horses would have to obey the orders of the lords and nobles, and they would seem to be a whole, but in fact they would fight separately.

The army under the feudal system is very similar to the nomadic cavalry of the tribal system.

But this time the situation in France was different, the aristocratic class was broken, and France exploded with exponential power. If nothing else, under Hawkins, among the fifteen executives, there is a man named Rabelais.

His father was a lawyer, he himself was a writer, he was proficient in all kinds of languages, he also studied medicine, and he had a great reputation in France.

But I'm sorry, he's not a nobleman, and he doesn't have the power to participate in government affairs.

But after Hawkins came to power, Rabelais was introduced into the bureaucracy, and initially he was in charge of the sanitation campaign in Paris.

Clean up garbage, provide clean drinking water, and promote healthy living.

He was then in charge of education, and when his work was recognized, he was promoted to one of the executive officers, and he was very powerful.

Hawkins introduced Daming's urban management experience to him and asked him to implement it, including Xu Jie and Yan Shifan, who also admired this person very much and talked to him many times.

After taking up the post of executive, the cross on Rabelais' chest was quietly removed.

We don't have to hope for a fantasy paradise, we can rely on our own efforts to turn our country into a fair, just, and flawless paradise!

Rabelais confronted the scholars in Paris and uttered the same words.

Almost all the scholars are insane, they do not believe and do not admit that this man who has been taught all religion could have betrayed God, and that he must have sold his soul to the devil!

Many left in anger.

But Rabelais didn't care, and he told the rest that a new education system would be established, and that they had already written curricula in language and arithmetic, as well as astronomy, navigation, medicine, ...... Especially important, there is also a foreign language, Chinese to be exact, and he also developed the test standards.

Before the introduction of the new education system, he had to evaluate the scholars, and as long as they passed the examination and were recognized, they were assigned to the districts to serve as inspectors and enjoy the same treatment as the county governors.

Those who perform well can be promoted to the rank of superintendent at the municipal level, or simply the mayor, and even have the opportunity to become an executive officer.

This is the benefit of abandoning the aristocracy, all opportunities, open to everyone, as long as they have the ability, they can get their own status.

"I ask each and every one of you, isn't this heaven?"

Rabelais sent out a soul torture.

The remaining French scholars are stupid, is it really possible? Are they going to be officials?

No, not yet, there's still an exam waiting for them.

Soon, these people walked into the examination room, and to their surprise, many of the people who had left a few days ago also appeared in the examination room......

In this world, no one can escape the law of true fragrance.

The changes in France have made them more explosive than other countries.

Taking advantage of the fact that the army of the old aristocracy was not ready, the French army broke into the Duchy of Burgundy and, after crushing less than 8,000 defenders, immediately moved directly south to attack the small city of Vichy.

In this small city, 30,000 soldiers and horses of the old nobles were stationed, and the commander of this army was none other than the Duke of Bourbon.

Around Vichy, the two sides launched a fierce offensive and defensive battle.

In terms of tactical level, Hawkins does not have much advantage, and the half-tricks he learned from the Water Margin and the Three Kingdoms are not very suitable for siege warfare that completely competes in strength.

Moreover, the Duke of Bourbon is powerful, and his soldiers are also very brave.

The battle lasted for nearly a month, and Hawkins had the idea of giving up.

Because he had received the news, the men of Italy and Spain were hurrying in, and the rest of the old nobles of France were also gathering men to come to the rescue of the Duke of Bourbon.

There is even a legend that the Duke of Bourbon is ready to be crowned King of France, and he will command all the horses and destroy the thieves.

"If you retreat, there's nothing!"

Yan Shifan came from Paris and only gave Hawkins this sentence.

This thing rose too fast, won consecutive battles, and didn't fight any hard battles, in the end, he was still not so sober.

There is simply no way back.

And the forces still have an advantage, why retreat?

Beat!

The next day, all the French soldiers changed into clean and tidy military uniforms, held the polished firearms, Meimei enjoyed a breakfast, and then looked calm, even with a smile, and walked to the battlefield.

The cannon rumbled, and this time they used the flowering shells introduced from the Great Ming.

And they did not focus only on the city walls, a large number of cannonballs were thrown into the city, and the volley of shells caused great damage to the soldiers defending the city.

The whole shelling lasted all morning, and before the shelling could stop, the French rushed forward in the smoke of gunpowder.

The bright red military uniforms, like a tide, swarmed in, and they kept shooting at the remnants of the city wall to prevent the men and horses in the city from counterattacking.

At the same time, dozens of demolition teams also went up, using gunpowder packs, stuffing cracks in the walls of the city in an attempt to blow them up.

Yan Shifan personally watched the battle, and he had to admit that these French were indeed brave, or when fighting for themselves, anyone could burst out with explosive combat effectiveness.

The Demoman pounced on the muskets and arrows at the head of the city, and without hesitation, he paid a dozen lives before an earth-shattering bang erupted.

Before the smoke and dust cleared, the French, shouting hooray, rushed in.

The defenders of the city knew that the tide was turning, but they had no intention of fleeing, and the fierce street fighting continued until three days later, when the battle was completely over.

In total, more than 20,000 defenders were wiped out, and Hawkins paid the price of 15,000 men.

Corpses and blood flooded this small city.

Hawkins stared at the ruined city, falling into a long silence...... This battle not only taught him the cruelty of battle, but also made him realize for the first time that maybe he could control France, or even a larger territory!

"Fight! Don't let the fight stop! ”

Hawkins went mad, led 10,000 horses, did not trim, and went straight to Lyon.

And in Lyon, what awaits him is not a brutal battle, but flowers everywhere and a welcoming crowd.

After a short period of repair, Hawkins, with the support of Yan Shifan, may go south to attack Marseille.

The rapid march and successive victories made the French all immersed in joy,

Maybe they really were invincible, but this time they failed.

In Marseille, they met the Spanish army.

The Spanish navy, to be precise, transported 10,000 men in advance to join the defense of Marseille.

"Hit! Must fight! ”

Yan Shifan once again played the role of supervising the team.

"Why? It's just a port, and although it's useful, we don't have a strong navy, at least not a strong Mediterranean fleet, and we shouldn't fight hard with the Spaniards! ”

Yan Shifan smiled slightly, "Your Excellency Hawkins, I agree with you, but I also have news here that the Ottoman Suleiman the Magnificent is willing to ally with France to deal with the Habsburgs. They have already sent five hundred warships......"

Before Yan Shifan finished speaking, Hawkins jumped up, what are you waiting for, fight! Must fight!

This time the French learned wisely, and instead of attacking the port directly, they first cut off the link between the port and the outside world, and isolated the garrison.

After losing the land connection, they had to rely on sea for supplies, and at this moment the Ottoman navy was also frequent.

The Spaniards held out for a month and had to choose to retreat.

The French captured Marseille.

While they were celebrating their victory, an even greater piece of good news came, and twenty large ships with a shipment of munitions were sent to France.

Surprisingly, the head of this fleet is actually Cui Shilin.

"Senior brother, why are you here?" Yan Shifan's jaw was so shocked that his jaw was about to fall!

Cui Shilin snorted, "What? If I don't come, will I still let the master and his old man come? ”

Yan Shifan glanced at Cui Shilin's big belly, and was embarrassed to say it! Look at the past few years, I have fattened you into a pig.

Cui Shilin said helplessly: "Man, you can't stop middle-aged fortune, and there is nothing to do in China." I've sent 50,000 muskets this time, let's not let the battle stop! ”