Louis XII was a man who did not hesitate to act when he saw an opportunity, so as to maximize the benefits.

At home, at the beginning of his ascension to the throne, he began to accumulate strength in the name of following the policy of the first kingdom, and in the name of conquering Italy again, he quickly gathered many nobles loyal or disloyal, willing or unwilling, to his castle court in the Loire Valley.

The beauty of the Loire Valley and its remote castles seemed to be the perfect fit for bringing such a large group of people together to discuss important matters, and most importantly, from here he could quickly gain the support of the forces of the Orleans domain, which were completely loyal to him.

The result of the discussion was another invasion of Italy in the last year of the 15th century, and Louis XII inquired about Maximian's current plight through various means.

The crushing defeat in Switzerland was due to the retreat of his supporters, and Venice was said to have made clear its displeasure with the Emperor's frequent interference in Italian affairs.

In view of this, Louis XII thought that this was probably the best opportunity to solve the Italian problem, and it was for this reason that when the news came from Varese that the Austrians had attacked first and quickly occupied the position on the shores of Lake Como, Louis XII did not rush into battle, but ordered the returning Count de Bowicken to advance in the direction of Turin to monitor the movement of the main Austrian army, and at the same time ordered the whole army to launch a fierce attack in the direction of Varese.

For a while, the armies of both sides were like two snakes trying to bite each other's tails, and a competition between you and me started in northern Italy.

The French were not very surprised by the Emperor's first attack, and when he heard about the Emperor's financial difficulties, the French had already guessed that Maximian was destined to attack soon because he feared that a confrontation that would last too long might make his situation worse.

So Louis XII decided to scare Maximian away with a posture of complete decisive battle.

He knew that in the current situation, Maximian could not bear huge losses, even if the losses after a victory were too heavy, it was not something that the emperor who was now in debt could bear, just like when the Venetians defeated the French army commanded by Charles, but as the commander of Venice, Niccolò. Pittiliuno was also severely reprimanded by the Venetian Consulate for the heavy losses he inflicted on his army, when in fact the Venetians had lost less than 1,000 men, most of whom had fled in fear.

So how much loss could Maximian bear, and what casualties and price could the Austrian Archduke accept for a head-on battle with the French in a situation where the big financiers, the Fugger family, could no longer afford to pay for his greedy ambitions?

Louis XII had a precise grasp of Maximian's thoughts, so his decisive stance was resolute and unreserved, and he did not just put on a show but did devote all his forces to the attack on Varese.

The purpose of this was obvious, Louis XII risked being cut off from behind by the Austrians to force Maximian to fight him.

Although this bold plan was opposed by many generals, Louis XII stubbornly insisted on his opinion.

In Louis XII's view, his generals were right, but they were clearly focused on the battlefield, and for the King of France he had made this bold decision because he saw the advantages beyond the battlefield.

It was not clear how long Maximian would hold out, but Louis XII was able to accurately judge the dire situation he was facing, given that the Emperor was at a disadvantage in his forces and was in a hurry to attack without waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

Louis was convinced that Maximian was bluffing, just like him, and the Emperor had put on a posture of breaking the net, but under his armor that looked like a fierce giant was actually a scarecrow that would fall apart with a slight push, so let yourself peel off the Emperor's last disguise, and then beat him to the ground and flee back to Vienna.

In mid-September, after mutual probing, provocation and small exchanges of fire, a battle took place in Ostato, not far from the southern shore of Lake Como, at Ostato, where the two armies fought on a much larger scale than before.

The French army was about 30,000 men, while the Austrian army was about 18,000.

Early morning on September 14th.

It was already a cool morning, and a faint mist floated on the outskirts of Ostato, and with the faint sound of war drums, groups of troops from both sides gradually entered the battlefield.

Louis XII wore a shiny and ornate armor, and it is interesting to say that the style of his armor was still designed by his enemies, the Austrian Archduke and the Holy Roman Emperor, the famous Maximian armor, which almost completely covered the whole body but was not as bloated as the old armor, which provided enough protection for the wearer, but what really reassured the French king of his safety was his army of 30,000 and the nearly 100 knights who accompanied him to the teeth.

Although the French knights were ravaged by the English longbowmen at the Battle of Cressie, the mighty French knights were still terrifying.

When unleashed like a moving fortress rolling forward, the French knightly army remains a nightmare for all enemies on the continent, especially in the flat terrain of northern Italy, where the mighty knightly charging group is a symbol of death and fear.

However, Louis XII did not intend to use these precious knights around him, he believed that there was no need to even launch a full-scale attack, as long as the battle lasted for a while, Maximian, who was already inferior in terms of strength, would not be so stubborn as to fight his old roots to give up.

The battle did not start with much suspense, and the two sides tacitly used the infantry to attack the opponent's position from different parts of the battle line first, and the reason for this was actually just to contain or attract the enemy's main force in this way, and then look for opportunities.

Although Louis XII believed that the enemy would fail, he did not despise his opponents, so he handed over specific command to his trusted generals from the beginning of the battle.

The French king, not deceived by blind self-confidence, was soon rewarded, and at about 3 p.m. the Austrian army finally showed signs of wavering at about 3 p.m., and it was evident that the disparity in strength gave the French an advantage, despite the valor and command of the Austrian generals.

However, this was enough to surprise Louis XII, he didn't expect Maximian to grit his teeth and withstand such a big loss and still refuse to admit defeat and withdraw from the battlefield, which made Louis wonder a little badly, should he give his generals a little hint, ask them to slow down the offensive a little on the premise of ensuring victory, and then lure the Austrians to launch a counterattack against him, so that the whole battlefield can be like a terrible bloodletting vessel to keep bleeding the Austrians.

However, Louis did not give this order, not because he suddenly became merciful, but because his men reported to him that they had noticed that the palace of the Austrian Archduke seemed to be moving.

Louis was suddenly excited, and it was clear that Maximian had finally lost enough of the terrible loss and was ready to retreat.

Louis XII immediately ordered an attack, hoping to drive the Austrians out of the battlefield at Ostato altogether, preferably to Varese next, and then directly back to the Austrians' own territory.

The drums of war of the French army rumbled, accompanied by the sound of artillery fire from time to time, and the situation on the whole battlefield quickly developed in favor of the French.

Louis XII did not think of capturing Maximian, let alone killing him on the battlefield, which would cause a lot of trouble.

He only hoped that the Emperor would honestly hide back in his Vienna court to lick his wounds, and as for the next quarrel at the negotiating table, it would probably be a long time later.

Since he had nothing to do with himself, and it was impossible to really capture or kill the opponent on the other side, Louis XII felt that there was nothing to do with himself at this time.

So he formally handed over command to the head of his imperial camp, giving him nominal command of the army as an agent, while he himself prepared to return to Milan to await good news.

The King's Guard was ready, they were an elite army of Swiss mountain people, these Swiss mercenaries who had long ago proved their bravery, courage and reliable work ethic on the battlefields of France, and the recent defeat of the Emperor in Switzerland made these Swiss mercenaries even more valuable.

Louis XII, who was in a good mood, smiled and greeted the captain of the Swiss Guards, who had saluted him from afar, and then he carefully turned over his horse with the help of three horse boys.

"Hopefully I'll never have to wear armor to battle again." The king casually said to one of the courtiers who was waiting next to him, "A good king does not necessarily have to prove himself on the battlefield, and sometimes the decisions made in the court can affect the well-being of all the people in a country." ”

The courtiers were accustomed to compliment the king's wisdom, but he certainly did not know that it was this thought that earned Louis XII the title of "Father of the People" more than a year later.

Although the road from Aostato to Milan is plain, the road is not very easy to walk, especially in these times when it is difficult to get around.

Fortunately, however, the road was not smooth, and King Louis XII of France did not become a captive of the Austrians.

In mid-September, while Louis XII was engaged in a major battle with Emperor Maximian in Ostato, de Bauwicken, Count of Proswan, was ordered to lead some 8,000 French troops in the direction of Turin, and his task was to monitor the main forces of the Austrian army and prevent them from reinforcing in the direction of Varese.

Originally, there were not many Austrian troops sent to Varese, and the main Austrian army occupying Turin once reached nearly 29,000 people, just because the emperor went to Varese and took about 12,000 people, so the so-called main force of the Austrian army in Turin was actually only about 17,000 people.

With 8,000 to 17,000, De Bowicken may not have the ability to compete head-to-head, but it is enough to just monitor and harass.

De Bowicken did faithfully fulfill the king's orders, and he did not rashly provoke the Austrian army in Turin, both in terms of the number of troops and the fortifications of Turin, which made him very clever enough to know that he could not eat such a large piece of fat.

While the French and Austrians confronted each other at Ostato, de Bauwicken set up camp at Torinorea, not far from Turin, to monitor the Austrians.

Torinorea is a small city, located northeast of Turin, which happens to be the only way to Varese, and to occupy it is to cut off the road for the Austrian army of Turin to help Maximian.

Although de Boweken's army did not make contact with the Austrians, he was still vigilant enough, and although he could not make a contribution on the battlefield of Varese, as long as he ensured that the Austrian army in Turin would not be able to pass, his merits were no less than that of the other generals.

Everything went well, even two days before the Franco-Austrian battle.

But suddenly, the Turin Austrian army began to act.

They set out from the city of Turin, and just as de Bauwicken was about to harass them and delay them as planned, he discovered to his surprise that the Austrians were not approaching Torinorea, which he occupied, but to a place he had never expected.

Milan, the Austrian army launched a direct attack on Milan.

De Bowicken was taken aback, and when the scouts brought back the news, he began to suspect that it was a decoitous conspiracy by the Austrians, but then two successive groups of scouts brought back the same information, and the Austrians were heading for Milan.

The delay in waiting for the scouts' intelligence to determine the Austrians' movements had left de Bowicken no longer time to report to Louis XII, and he immediately ordered the whole army to go in pursuit of the Austrians.

As for the fact that the enemy was nearly twice as numerous as himself, de Bauwicken could no longer care about this, and told himself that he must stop the Austrians at all costs, at least until Louis XII, who had rushed back at the news, to reinforce him.

But de Bowicken's attempt failed.

According to Louis XII's estimates, the Austrian army, which was unable to fully exert its strength because of its financial difficulties, could no longer send enough reinforcements to threaten him at this time.

In other words, the Austrian army of about 35,000 men in northern Italy was all that Maximian could use today, and even though they were not far from Austria itself, the emperor could no longer afford to move a single soldier from Austria.

This was how it should have been, and only then would Louis XII calmly confront Maximian, until he had to attack first.

But things have changed.

On the afternoon of 13 September, after finally establishing the direction of the Austrian army in Turin that was indeed marching towards Milan, de Bauwicken quickly ordered 8,000 French troops to intercept it, but before his army could leave Torinorea, the scouts reported to him a surprising situation, and another Austrian army suddenly appeared not too far from Turin, and in the direction of their advance, it seemed to be Varese.

This caused de Bowicken to fall into a stunned and almost rigid stupor for an instant.

Although according to intelligence the Austrian army seemed to be about the same strength as him, de Bowecken knew that it was not a question of the number of enemies, but a terrible thing of extraordinary gravity, and Austria had sent reinforcements!

With Austria's convenient route from northern Italy, if reinforcements really arrived, then all the plans of the French army would be completely disrupted, and even the half month that Louis XII deliberately delayed before would provide valuable time for the Austrians to move calmly.

"Send someone to deliver a letter to Your Majesty, be quick!" De Bauwicken immediately realized the urgency of the situation, and while he ordered the situation to be sent to Louis XII, he was torn between his next decision.

De Bauwicken was in a dilemma as to whether to pursue the Austrians advancing to Turin or to intercept the enemy who were trying to reinforce Varese.

However, the Austrians were quick to help him make his choice.

Instead of reinforcing Varese, the Austrian troops, who suddenly appeared, quickly spotted de Boweken's troops during their march to the south, and then they attacked de Boweken.

De Bowicken knew that he could not stop the Austrians from advancing into Milan, for if he continued to pursue the Austrian army that was trying to occupy Milan, he was in danger of being completely annihilated by the superior enemy in front and behind.

The Count of Proswan, who had no choice but to fight on the spot.

To de Bwewicken's surprise, there were many Swiss mercenaries in this army in addition to the Austrians, which made him wonder whether the news that Maximian had been beaten by the Swiss barbarians not long ago was true or false, but in any case his immediate priority was to repel the current enemy, because he found that although this enemy army was not much, because of its unusual bravery, it made de Bauwicken worry that if they were given the opportunity to reinforce Maximian, it might affect the situation on the battlefield of Varese.

Compared with the anxiousness of the Count of Proswan, the commander who led the sudden appearance of the Austrian army was much more calm.

While the two armies were actively preparing for battle near Torinorea, the commander did not forget to write a letter to a friend of his distant in southern Italy: "Count, it is a pleasure that you have extended your hand of friendship to Your Majesty at this time, and I am sure that the Emperor will not forget the great support you have given him in such a difficult time, and I am sure that you will be rewarded sufficiently, and as for the help you have provided in a timely manner which has now made a difference, except for the 5000 reserves that have been rapidly mobilized in the country, We also paid to hire about the same number of mercenaries from the Swiss, and it is interesting to note that we both traded with the kind of gold coins you issued called Ladia, which has now become a guarantee of credibility in Switzerland, which has just put down the war, well, the Count writes here, if I am lucky enough to survive this war, I hope to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss our exciting plans for the future, your faithful friend, the Austrian court chief court minister Kotzchach. ”