Ulliu returned to the camp the next morning, accompanied by an old man who looked to be in his mid-50s.

By the time Uliu reported that this man was the butler of Viscount Gronobe, Alexander had probably understood what this man meant.

Sure enough, the viscount's butler had come to negotiate a ransom for his master.

The ransom of 10,000 florins offered by Joanna was obviously impossible, and Alexander knew very well that neither the viscount himself nor his soldiers would pay such a ransom.

It wasn't a really crucial battle, and the viscount wasn't as important as he boasted he had, and even though the Gronob family might have been glorious in its early years, he was probably just one of many French nobles brought by Charlie now.

If it was really a big man, he would have either followed Charlie back to France by this time, or he should have been in Rome, not in a place like the Bruiny Valley.

"My master needs to be taken care of," the butler demanded at the sight of the viscount, "do you not see that he has a fever, why don't you bleed him, is it to kill him, if my master dies you will not only not get a single florin, but will become the enemy of the whole family of Gronob." ”

Saying that, the old butler was desperate to pull out the knife from his waist and make a gesture to the wrist of his master who was lying on the blanket, and if Alexander had not stopped him in time, perhaps before he could receive the ransom, the old butler would have left a large ransom for one of the heirs of Gronob.

Alexander looked at him a little speechlessly, glaring at him angrily, quite a bit of a butler who regarded him as an enemy, and for a moment he really couldn't tell whether he wanted to save his master or take the opportunity to click him away.

Bloodletting, a method that has been handed down since ancient times, is still used to treat many diseases even after two centuries, but how many people can be saved by this method depends entirely on the patient's own luck.

In the eyes of people, it seems that the existence of blood is the source of all diseases, and only by watching the red liquid flow out of the body can we drive away the terrible disease.

This is happening even in Alexander's own camp.

Although Alexander had ordered water to be boiled, cloth to be found and disinfected, and all the liquor he was carrying, the wounded were treated with little treatment.

This forced him to seek out the bohemians, and after promising them more of the booty, he collected all the wine from them.

Burning the cracked wounds with a red-hot knife, and wiping the mud-stained body with a hot-soaked hand towel as much as possible, Alexander ordered the wounded to stay in a fairly clean place as much as possible.

Although his order seemed to many to be somewhat incomprehensible, it was overcome by his unexpected toughness, so that when an otherwise brave soldier was found casually covering a very dirty blanket over his wounded companion, he was immediately whipped.

"I don't ask you to make the wounded as comfortable as if they were living in a castle, but if they are killed by filth and neglect, that's what I can't allow."

Alexander took the trouble to explain this to everyone, and he knew that it would not help, or that there was no way to help more at a time like this, but he still could not tolerate the act of giving up people's lives out of sheer ignorance.

And for Alexander, these wounded were not a burden or a burden to him, but an immeasurable treasure.

In times of war, experienced soldiers are an asset, and many new recruits who have just entered the battlefield often lose their lives before they can become experienced veterans.

In this way, having an army with soldiers with the majority of combat experience becomes a luxury for all monarchs and generals.

Generals always wanted an army that was brave and would not crumble easily in panic, and many battles were won not so much by the number of enemies killed on the battlefield at once, but by the pursuit after the defeat of the opponent.

Whether the opponent can be defeated as soon as possible often depends on which side of the soldiers on both sides can hold out in the face of the enemy.

Alexander did not believe in the bravery of the so-called young impulse, and from the performance of the first battle of the Agri, he knew that he was not wrong in this thinking.

The bloody courage at the beginning often vanishes the moment they see the horrific killing, and even the more desperate the person is to make a career on the battlefield, the more the illusion will lead to their collapse when they see that they are just insignificant pawns in this slaughter, and they may be killed at any time.

It is the so-called only those who have not experienced war that praise war.

So Alexander decided to try to save the lives of the wounded, and for these soldiers who had already experienced blood and fire, although they were still not veterans, at least these people already knew what the real battlefield was like.

"Don't be stingy with money," Alexander instructed Ulliu, who was resting and eating, "to find the queen's retinue, buy more cloth and silk from them and cook them in hot water, and make sure that everyone covered their wounds with clean cloth, and that they had clean food and water." ”

"Don't worry, my lord," said the Moorish man, who took a sip of the soup and threw down his plate and stood up, "I'll do it, but what are you going to do with the viscount?" ”

"I decided to let him go, and I wouldn't ask him for too much ransom."

Alexander's words surprised the Moors, who had expected his master to hammer a blow on the Frenchman, but now it seemed that it was not the case.

When Alexander arrived at the makeshift tent for Viscount Gronob, he saw his butler sitting beside his master and couldn't stop talking, and although they spoke French, he could guess that he was complaining from the name "Cambrai" from time to time.

The viscount's face was still not good, he would moan from the pain every time he breathed, the sweat on his face was still a lot, the flush did not go away, and when the butler kept talking, he even fell asleep groggily for a while.

But when he heard the sound, he opened his eyes again, and when he saw Alexander, his lips moved but he did not make a sound.

Although the viscount was in a bad situation, Alexander did not pity the prisoner, not to mention that he had brought the battle in the first place, the main thing was that Alexander felt that he had suffered a lot.

His phalanx was even in its infancy, and the Agri had not even experienced the process of becoming a soldier, and they had to face the sudden arrival of the French, which made Alexander now think back and even wonder how he was lucky to survive.

If Carlo had been a little later in his reply, if the Bohemian support had been a little sluggish, or if the Agri had collapsed more completely in the face of the French infantry, perhaps Alexander himself would have been lying on this blanket.

Or worse, his second life will be lost in this valley.

"You're going to have to pay a ransom for yourself," Alexander didn't want to waste his time, he had too much to do right now, "but I can't take you until your family in Gronob sends you a ransom before releasing you, so I'm making other conditions now." ”

The Viscount looked up at Alexander, who was a little groggy from the inflammation, but he nodded as best he could: "You say, I will keep the credit of being a nobleman." ”

"Let your army in the valley of Bruini make way for us, and at the same time compensate us with your horses and equipment."

"Are you going to disarm my cavalry?" The Viscount suddenly became agitated, he wanted to get up from the blanket but had no strength, "This is impossible, I can't accept it." ”

"In that case I will have to let the Bohemians attack your camp," Alexander said with a blank face, "maybe you think that the Bohemians will not be able to take your camp, but they can constantly harass you, and can cut off your way out, I already know that you will come out of the camp because you have not much food, I believe that as long as I keep harassing you, you will run out of food one day, and I have food that can wait until your people can't hold on." ”

Viscount Gronob gasped as he looked at Alexander, who was looking down at him indifferently, not knowing what to say except for the incessant gasp.

The viscount knew that Alexander had indeed seized on his weakness, even stuck in his dead place.

Although the coalition army did not attack the city of Rome, but bit Charles's main force and rushed into northern Italy desperately, and even the momentum was a bit like continuing all the way west, directly crossing Piedmont and entering the French mainland, but they did not relax the slightest towards the French near Rome.

In order to prevent the French army from behind the Romans, the coalition forces left a sizable army to monitor the French forces on the Roman side.

What annoyed the French the most was that the Romans also seemed to have become less honest.

When Charles marched on Milan and then on Florence, all the monarchs of the entire Apennine Peninsula were frightened by the horrors of the French, and almost all the lords of the city-states at that time were honest.

When Charles entered Rome to take over the crown of Naples from the stolen Alexander VI, few believed that he could defeat this formidable enemy.

But Charles was defeated in the end, and he was defeated by a coalition of many countries, and finally had to abandon his army and flee back to France alone, so that the troops he left behind had a hard time

No one was willing to supply the French anymore, and even many of the nobles who had been on good terms with the French became ambiguous.

Of course, the French were not hungry, but it was another matter if they were under siege.

In particular, the French troops guarding the perimeter of Rome, such as Viscount Gronobe, would soon be in danger of running out of food if their camps were besieged.

Especially after seeing the power of the Bohemian cavalry, it was difficult for the viscount to imagine what to do with the cavalry sent out in the camp.

The Bohemians could have dragged down the French cavalry with constant harassment and then killed them back when they were exhausted.

And what if their own army directly attacked the convoy of these Neapolitans?

This thought only flashed in the Viscount's mind and disappeared, not to mention whether the camp could still send troops to do so now that he was not there, as long as he thought that he was still in the hands of the other party, the Viscount secretly hoped that his subordinates would not do such stupid things.

"Can you offer any other conditions, I can't accept this, and I'm willing to pay more for me and my soldiers." The Viscount asked in a low voice, feeling a little clogging in his chest, not just because of the injury, but also because of the conditions Alexander had proposed.

If you just ask for a ransom, although it is a bit humiliating, the viscount can still accept it.

But Alexander asked for all the horses of the French cavalry, which made the viscount feel a great humiliation.

And he knows very well that if he agrees to this condition, even if he is released, he will already lose face, which he can't accept.

Alexander nodded slightly, of course he knew that this condition was indeed a bit too harsh, but he still brought it up for a reason.

He was deeply impressed by the bravery of the French cavalry, and although he was expelled by the Bohemians, it did not mean that the French cavalry was not good.

On the contrary, just consider that the Bohemian cavalry of more than 100 people only drove more than 20 French cavalry out of the battlefield, and failed to inflict heavy losses, let alone annihiation, which shows how strong the French cavalry was.

It can be said that in this era, there are not many armies that can confront the French cavalry head-on.

This not only gave Alexander a keen interest in forming cavalry, but also began to have certain ideas.

The cost of building a cavalry was staggering, and it was even more time-consuming and laborious to raise enough horses and equipment, and Alexander felt that he did not have so much time for this alone.

Now that such a great opportunity presented him, Alexander felt that he could not give up easily.

Using the equipment of the French to form their own cavalry is a good deal.

In addition, Alexander knew very well that the convoy he led seemed to be strong, but in fact it was empty.

If he wanted to enter Rome, he would have to pass through the camp of the French in the valley of Bruini, and if the French suddenly attacked at this time, then a disaster awaited him.

And a French army, disarmed by cavalry, would have been much less threatening.

"That's all I have," Alexander whispered, "and if you find it unacceptable, I can offer you a chance to preserve your dignity." ”

"What did you say?" The Viscount's eyes widened, and though he didn't think the Neapolitan would give any good advice, he held his breath and listened carefully, even if it made him feel a pain again.

"Aren't you short of food," said the pressured man, in a low voice that sounded like a demon of temptation, "I can provide enough food for your people, but you need money to buy it." ”