Rome, once a small and inconspicuous tribe on the banks of the Tiber River, all began with the emergence of this tribal village, which was no different from any other village.

From a small village built on a river, to a formidable tribe, to a vast and terrifying empire, the city and country named after it are both participants in and witnesses of this history.

Countless people have made a name for themselves in the city, but many more have finally disappeared in the city's great shadow.

In this megalithic building, there have been historical giants such as Caesar and Augustus, as well as legends such as St. Peter, who had an unimaginable influence on later generations.

There are so many heroes in this city, but there is even more decay and depravity here.

For thousands of years, almost every street in Rome has been washed by blood flowing for various reasons, whether it is the blood of the aristocracy or the blood of the slaves' struggle, the entire city of Rome can be said to be whitewashed with scarlet blood again and again.

The Romans prospered, the Romans declined, the barbarians came, the barbarians were defeated, the thick stone walls of the city of Rome looked indifferently at everything that was happening around them, and the question of "Man, where are you going" still made countless people flock to this city where they could find every opportunity.

When Rome finally became the capital of the whole God on earth, the eyes of the whole Christian world involuntarily gathered here, and people longed for God's revelation and redemption, so his agent on earth became the hope of all.

The Bishop of Rome became the supreme pope in the eyes of all Catholics, his word was seen as God's preaching through his mouth, and as time went by, the power of the Pope grew, and when his prestige and authority reached its peak, even the nobles and even the kings, who had a large territory and a large army, had to bow their proud heads to the papal crown of Rome.

But despite this, the city still could not escape the fate of being conquered.

For thousands of years, conquerors have come and gone, and gradually many people have seen the march into Rome as a symbol of their authority, from Attila the whip of God to all the barbarians, from the Goths who finally exterminated the glory to Frederick the Redbeard, it seems that everyone sees Rome as the best embellishment to show off their prowess, so that the city has to play the fate of the vanquished again and again.

The most recent conquest of the city was Charles VIII of France.

When Charles suddenly entered Italy in 1494, the whole Apennine Peninsula was in an uproar, and the people were completely frightened by the powerful army of the French king, from Milan to Bologna, Charles quickly advanced to the lower Lombard region with little resistance, and then under the embarrassment of the Medici family, Charles entered Florence as a conqueror, and finally one day, he strode through the triumphal arch and entered Rome, the oldest city in Europe.

At that moment, Charles was indeed fascinated by the city, compared to this magnificent metropolis that can be called the mother of European cities, Paris is completely unsightly and poor, even if someone tells him that today's Rome has long since fallen short of the splendor and splendor of ancient Rome thousands of years ago, Charlie is still completely immersed in it.

And it was here, whether by coercion or inducement, that Charles forced Pope Alexander VI to recognize him as the king of Naples, and at that moment, the king of the French was not only complacent, but even had a kind of sigh that "although there are many heroes in the world, I do not know who is his opponent".

However, this pride lasted for less than a year, and Charles was defeated by the coalition forces, and even had to leave the army and return to France alone.

In Charlie's opinion, there was no chance in Italy for the time being, but even then he still refused to give up Rome, the temptation of that city was so great that even Milan and Naples combined would not make him so obsessed.

So when the situation was not good, he did not hesitate to give up Naples, Milan, and Florence, but he still insisted on sending people to defend Rome.

Charles hoped that when he returned, the flag of Valois would still fly over the city, and the more important reason why he valued the city was because as long as Rome was in his hands, Pope Alexander VI would not dare to easily abolish his title of king of Naples, and as long as the crown was on his head, Charles would have enough reason to continue to assert his rights.

Despite the restoration of the Neapolitan royal family and his public refusal to recognize Charles' claim to Naples, the King of France remained confident that his setbacks in Italy would be temporary, and that he would be able to reorganize a stronger army and sweep the Apennine Peninsula again if he returned to France and prepared a little.

And this was not surprising even to the Neapolitan aristocracy.

No one thought that Charles would be so willing to admit defeat, especially when his army still occupied Rome, and even less that he would just run back to France and never come back.

The only disagreement is when he will come back.

Most people thought it would be the late spring and early summer of 1498, because it would take at least half a year for Charles to prepare for the winter season.

At that point, perhaps the French will cross the Alps again, as they had done before, and then quickly invade the rich Lombardy region.

The war is not over yet, and if you understand this, you know that the war of 1494 may have been just the beginning.

But no one knows at this time that the war will last so long that it is not uncommon for two or even three generations of a family to be born in the war and die without seeing the end of the war.

As for Charles, no one would have thought that the young king, who had provoked a protracted war, would never have the chance to return to Italy once he left.

"It seems that understanding the future is really the best cheat."

Looking at the city of Rome in the distance, Alexander, who was on horseback, stood on the top of the hill and thought proudly.

On October 8, after a dozen days of travel, Alexander's grain convoy finally arrived on the outskirts of Rome.

As agreed with James Columbus, Alexander set up camp on the top of a hill in Rocadipas, not too far from the temple of the goddess Diana.

This hill is an important road leading to the city of Rome from the east, and the temple of Diana, the goddess of the moon, looms in the distance, and the locals say that if the weather is good, you can see the reflection of the moonlight on the temple's open-air marble pillars even at night.

However, there was a reason why Alexander left the team on this hill to meet with James Columbus.

The road ahead is blocked.

The city of Rome is famous for its seven hills and the Tiber River, but Roccatipas is far from the center of Rome.

The Temple of Diana is located not too far from this low hill, and although it may seem a little remote, it is undoubtedly a very dangerous point to the east of the city of Rome.

It is not unreasonable to say that all roads lead to Rome, as the birthplace of ancient empires, Rome's extensive thoroughfares are a sign of pride.

Although the original magnificent Roman Empire fell into the abyss of the Dark Ages with the conquest of Rome by the Goths, the precious wealth left by ancient Rome, even after a thousand years, still blessed this city with too many things.

Rocca di Paz is still a long way from the city of Rome, and from the hill you can see not only the Temple of Diana, but also an irregular cross-shaped road not far in front of the Temple.

The road continues down from the slope in front of the temple and joins another road, forming an artery leading to the city of Rome from the southeast.

The cross-shaped road leads vertically to the city of Rome, while the horizontal one follows the downhill slope of the temple, leading to the bay to the west and to the depths of the hilly jungle to the northeast.

On the side of the slope, slightly closer to Rocadispas, a breastwork reinforced by wicker hedges is running diagonally towards Rocadispas.

On the opposite side of this breastwork, nearly three hundred yards away, another near-parallel breastwork was also built against the hill, blocking at the other end of the crossroads.

Valois' golden fleur-de-lis banner and the colorful and patterned coalition flags confronted each other across the breastwork, while merchants and hawkers hurried through the two opposing armies on the east-west road between the two armies.

It may seem a bit strange, but there is a war going on between the French and the Holy Alliance against Charles VIII, and the French have been locked down in Rome for more than three months.

The French in front of the temple of Diana were the frontline garrison of the French army in the southeast of the city of Rome.

On the hillside, although not clear, Alexander could see the French troops patrolling back and forth behind the breastwork in the distance.

The coalition forces did not launch an offensive against the French in Rome, only that the situation for the French became worse and worse as the autumn progressed.

After several battles, the road to the western coast had been completely cut off by the Allied forces, and the main French forces in the north, which had already entered the Lombardy region of Upper Italy, were intermittently unsettling to the French, and worse, just a few days earlier, they had lost contact with the French defenders in the valley of Bruini, far southeast of Rome.

It's clear what it means to lose touch at this time.

The French defenders of Rome had to send troops to the Bruini Valley, and while they didn't think the coalition would actually completely encircle the city, they still needed to figure out what was going on.

But what the French did not expect was that their army had just left the city of Rome when they were blocked by the allied forces, and what they did not expect was that a paraplanch, although it was built temporarily, but apparently tried to block them, suddenly appeared on the road leading to the hills of Rocadispas.

Faced with this sudden breastwork, the only recourse for the French was to immediately build a breastwork to confront it, in case the coalition forces might attack from the east of the city.

"Rome is surrounded."

Standing on the top of the hill, Alexander looked down with some surprise, the news he had heard earlier did not mention that the coalition forces had begun to lay siege to the city of Rome, on the contrary, Gonzalo did not seem to have any intention of storming the city.

In Gonzalo's view, as long as the main French force in Lombardy was defeated, the French defenders who refused to defend Rome would naturally collapse without a fight.

This is also what Alexander grasped to be less noticeable, allowing this batch of grain to quietly fall into the hands of the French.

But now everything had changed completely, and looking at the small number of people, but the breastwork that had been erected to block the road to Rome, Alexander felt as if something was wrong.

A cavalry came galloping from the plains north of Mount Rocadispas, and the Bohèmes, already on alert, quickly moved on both sides.

Alexander looked behind him, and the convoy was still a little farther away.

Knowing that Rome was approaching, the team moved much slower than usual to prevent accidents, and the convoy had made proper defensive preparations according to Alexander's orders.

In addition to Carlo, there was also a group of Bohemian cavalry who followed Alexander to climb Rocca Lipas, and when they saw the cavalry emerging from the north, the Bohemians immediately quickly climbed to the top of the hill while controlling the high ground and monitoring the opposing army on the west side, while the other part began to distance itself along the slope to the southeast.

"French!"

Seeing the emblem under the other party's blue shading, Carlo immediately became nervous.

Although he had already put on the armor that Alexander had bought for him from the Bohemians, the hunter could not help but be nervous when he saw the knight approaching the other side, his armor glistening in the sun.

However, the other side also seemed to be wary of Bohemia's move, and they began to quickly change the marching line while slowing down their advance slightly, and as the team behind them accelerated to the flanks, the other side quickly formed a formation of two columns in front and behind.

As they drew closer, Alexander's eyes narrowed slightly.

"That's not French." After scrutinizing the approaching army for a while, he shook his head slightly.

"They fly the French flag, my lord." Carlo hastened to remind.

"Although it is blue, the coat of arms is a golden oak and a cross, not a French irise," Alexander pondered, "Could he be ......?"