How did the battle start?

Who was the first to provoke the incident?

And who is responsible for causing a direct conflict?

By the time the dull sound of muskets rang out in the open field, no one thought about the wizards anymore.

The soldiers of the Papal Army, who were lining the line, suddenly saw smoke and dust rise, followed by a large shrill whistling sound coming towards them.

Before a soldier could react, he fell to the ground, a stain of red blood stained the ground under his neck, and screams rang from the rest of the group while his companions around him didn't know what was happening.

"Attack!" An old soldier shouted and raised his shield, knowing that it was useless in front of a musket, but years of habit had made him shrink his body behind the shield as much as possible.

Just as he was about to look up, the roar of a second musket rang out.

The veteran only felt that the shield in his hand seemed to be smashed head-on, the huge impact pushed him to a stumble and almost fell, the shield rope hanging on his arm strangled his arm and made him grin in pain, when he finally stood firm, only to find that a piece of the top of the shield had been knocked away by a bullet, and there was a hot pain on his face, and he reached out to touch the wet blood, but also touched a piece of shield fragments that were blown away by the projectile and embedded in the face.

"Forward, forward!"

A mercenary officer raised his sword, and he was keenly aware that the position where the other party was standing was obviously not a suitable terrain for defense, and that the enemy was obviously too small in number, but it seemed to have been hastily organized.

Seeing that Montina's musketeers were alternating between reloading after two rounds of fire, and that the spearmen in the opposing formation, both wide and thick, were clearly not enough to protect their musketeers at the head of the line, the officer decisively gave the order to attack.

The mercenaries began to move towards the Montina army in an open field, and although they could not let go of their feet to keep in formation, the distance between the two sides was rapidly approaching.

Soon, both sides could clearly see the same anger, apprehension and uneasy expressions on each other's faces, and they could clearly see the cold and shining weapons in their hands.

"Musketeers, prepare!" Carlo raised his saber in the air, and when he saw the front soldier of the enemy step on a slightly raised ridge on the ground, he let out a shout "Shoot!" ”

The muskets rang out again, and when several of the mercenaries who had walked up the ridge fell to the ground, Carlo and the mercenary officer who followed closely gave the order at the same time.

"Rush forward!" The mercenary officer roared, he had been annoyed by the third musket shot, and seeing that seven or eight of his men had already been hit by muskets, he could no longer bear the musketeers that made him hate them.

"Musketeers retreat!"

Seeing that these soldiers quickly retreated to the middle of the spearmen, some drew their short swords, and some began to reload their ammunition behind the spearmen, Carlo couldn't help but shout excitedly: "Don't panic, you are Agri, they are not much more than you, but they are definitely not your opponents!" ”

Carlo's shouts echoed through the crowd, and with the first mercenary to rush forward, the spear in the hand of a spearman caused a terrible howl, and a hand-to-hand battle finally began!

The spearmen roared, each stab coming out of their throats, as if to intimidate their enemies and embolden themselves.

The sword and shield soldier struggled to use the shield in his hand to block the sharp spear halberd that stabbed at him, and then immediately lost no time in stepping forward, silently slashing at the spearman who showed the flaw with the sword in his hand.

Everywhere was the sound of weapons colliding and fighting, and the screams that sometimes sounded were often drowned out by the slashing sound of both sides as soon as they were issued.

Carlo struggled to block an oncoming axe with his saber, and although he dodged in time, the heavy axe slash almost dislocated Caro's arm.

Furious, Carlo didn't think much about it, he habitually pulled out the musket from his waist, and when the other party looked at the muzzle of the gun in front of him in a daze, Carlo pulled the bolt.

"Smack!"

There was a flint clash that was not audible but seemed to be perceived, but the musket was not fired.

It's just that the axe soldier who was almost at gunpoint to his head didn't have time to rejoice in this escape, and the saber in Carlo's other hand had already stabbed him in the stomach.

"Stupid." With a muttered mutter, Carlo threw away the musket that had not had time to reload, and once again headed for the onrushing enemy.

Alexander was reading a letter in a shop in the fishing port, which had been sent by Lucrezia.

Despite her orders to block information as much as possible, Lucrezia eventually learned what was happening in Livorno.

Lucrezia was shocked and insisted on leaving Livorno, much to the panic of those around her, and after the captain of the city guard of Pisa ordered her carriage to be confiscated and her coachman arrested, Lucrezia had to stay.

However, she immediately wrote a letter to Alexander, in which she kept crying to Alexander, asking him to promise that he would never hurt Caesar.

"Otherwise I won't forgive you, I won't forgive myself, and our children will grow up with remorse that we can't get rid of for the rest of our lives."

Looking at the contents of the letter, Alexander couldn't help but rub his head.

It was terrible for a woman to go crazy sometimes, and thinking that Lucrezia was at the most dangerous time of pregnancy, and that pregnant women were always prone to emotion, he quickly picked up his pen and prepared to write a reply.

"Ofreil listens to me, and must not be too nice to women in the future," Alexander said to Ofleiyi next to him, "and once she finds out that you care too much about her, she will drive you crazy." ”

Ofleiyi knew that it was best not to say anything at this time, so the marching captain just nodded silently.

At this moment, fierce gunfire was heard.

"What's going on?" Alexander's hand smacked.

Offrey had already walked briskly out into the street, and after a little discernment, he quickly determined the direction from which the gunshots were coming from.

"My lord, it's south of Livorno."

"Go and see," Alexander immediately commanded, "blow the trumpet and prepare for the enemy." ”

The sound of a long horn sounded over Livorna, and the soldiers who heard the horn rushed from the town towards their positions outside Livorna.

Although several soldiers appeared to be disheveled, and even one was panting with his trousers lifted, apparently having just gotten out of some woman's bed, Oflaiyi did not reprimand.

Since he was not on duty, and there was no delay in the assembly time and no violation of the promulgated conduct, Alfreil would not care what the soldiers usually did.

He remembered that Alexander had previously told him that the value of a soldier was only in his ability to perform his duty, not in how high his morals were.

The sound of the battle from the south made many of the soldiers look at each other, they don't know how to suddenly engage in a battle with the Papal army, some of them were extremely excited, and to Offrey's surprise, it was the new recruits of Agri who seemed to be unable to hold back.

Some of these men had been bandits for a while with the men brought by Tony de la Rovere, which had led them to surprisingly quickly become a group of decent soldiers.

Looking at their excited faces now, Oflaiyi couldn't help but wonder if these people had all earned a lot of money when they played robbers.

However, Ofleiyi did not count on these recruits, and the battles he had experienced had made him deeply aware of the difference between a rabble and a well-trained army.

These recruits may be useful in a dogfight, but they can sometimes become a burden in tight formations.

"Look at these stags jumping around," Alexander said to Ofrey, "I don't want to make this place my Agincourt because of these guys, Carlo has caused enough trouble." ”

Alexander, who already knew what was happening, furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the Papal army camp on the other side of the open field in the distance.

It can be seen from the figure that the Papal army is also moving, and at this time, the sound of fighting from the south to the right of the position seems to have become fierce again after a short pause.

"My lord, the Papal Army is moving south." Offrey pointed across the open field, "Should we also send someone to rescue Carlo immediately?" ”

Oflaiyi's suggestion made Alexander groan slightly.

He knew that there was now a vague gap between Oflaiyi and Carlo, which was inevitable, and with the expansion of the army and power, subordinates like Carlo, who had begun to be entrusted with important tasks, had gradually revealed the shortcomings of lack of ability.

Among the Agri who had followed Alexander earlier, there were already many who could only be reduced to middle and lower rank officers because they could not take charge of themselves, and Carlo was a representative of them.

Alexander knew that whatever suggestion Ofreil made at this time would be inappropriate, as he would be hesitant to consider whether it would affect his relationship with Carlo.

But should Carlo be reinforced?

Alexander couldn't make up his mind for a moment.

"Can't send anyone!"

A very abrupt voice came, and Alexander looked back to Machiavelli, who was standing a little farther away.

The Florentine man seemed a little nervous, or rather excited, as if Alexander didn't exist, his eyes passed over his shoulders and looked across the open field, while his exposed hands rubbed together unconsciously in front of him.

"Sending reinforcements at this time will only cause the Papal army to do the same, so that the two sides will have to fight head-on in the south," Machiavelli kept looking at the other side, and he kept saying, "But this is an opportunity, this is an opportunity, if that Carlo can hold on, maybe this is the Agincourt of the Papal Army," he said, glancing at Alexander, "and they are French." ”

"So what would you do if it were you?" Alexander looked at Machiavelli earnestly, he knew that this man would write several famous books in the future, and one of them was called "On the Science of War".

Alexander didn't think he was a great commander, perhaps because he had a farther vision than anyone else could put him ahead of any opponent in the development of the army, but he also understood very well that this did not mean that he was a qualified battlefield commander.

Even the Battle of Oral-Chimone, which seems to have made him famous, did not actually command the regular 15th-century field battles.

Machiavelli took off the floppy hat from his head and tightened it in his hands, looking a little nervous as well.

Despite his interest in military science, Machiavelli had never actually commanded a battle, but he felt compelled to do so.

It's not for the Count of Montina in front of him, it's for Florence.

Machiavelli's constant fear was that an agreement would be reached between the two Alexanders, and if that were the case, what awaited Florence would be a disaster.

And because of Lucrezia's relationship, this may become a reality at any time.

Now seeing the sudden and inexplicable conflict between the two sides, Machiavelli believes that this rare opportunity to plunge the two sides into deeper enmity must not be missed.

"The Papal Army will always move its troops to the south, so that their center and north flank will be weakened, if at this time we can attack from the middle of the open field."

Machiavelli said cautiously, not knowing whether Alexander was intent on a large-scale battle with the Papal army, or simply to prevent the situation from escalating.

But when he saw Alexander's gaze toward the low knoll across the open field, Machiavelli's right hand, hidden in his wide sleeve, shook it vigorously.

"Ofleil, send a detachment to Carlo," Alexander ordered in a calm voice, "and tell him that I will put nearly a third of my army under his command, but that he must ensure that he can hold the southern flank of Livorno for me." ”

"Yes, sir."

Offrey nodded, his steps quick, for he knew from Alexander's words that the Count had made up his mind to turn this fortuitous conflict into a real battle.

A group of Papal cavalry appeared on the downhill opposite the open field, and they seemed to be hesitating whether to enter the open field, and when they saw that Montina's army, like them, had only sent a group of soldiers towards the southern flank, the cavalry slowly but carefully entered the open field.

However, it was evident that the rare long-range musket fire of Montina's army made them very wary, so they stopped at a great distance, and began to divide into two groups and patrol the open ground close to their side.

"They're testing if we're going to send cavalry to support Carlo," Machiavelli reminded, "or if you're going to let the battle expand." ”

Alexander nodded silently, knowing that there were some places where he really needed to learn from Machiavelli, even though he probably only learned a lot of things from books.

A sudden fierce battle came from the south, Machiavelli couldn't help but look back a little nervously, he didn't know if Carlo could hold on, at least in his mind, even if Alexander sent one-third of his troops to Carlo, but the Montina army, which was already a little less than the other side in terms of total strength, was still in a bad situation.

The only thing Montina's army could rely on was well-trained discipline and a tenacious will to fight.

Machiavelli was vaguely nervous, knowing that if Alexander failed this time, not to mention how he would anger himself, Florence would definitely suffer.

For many years, Alexander VI had been coveting Pisa to attract the expelled Zaloni family, and once he took control of Pisa, the end of Florence was coming.

No, this must not be allowed to happen!

Machiavelli secretly told himself in his heart that he must help Count Montinabau to victory!

In the woods across the open field, a hurried figure caught Machiavelli's attention, and he stepped on a rock, then simply on the breastwork.

The woods weren't dense, so when they saw the team clearly, the Florentine's face couldn't help but change.

"Your Excellency, it's a heavy infantry! They're sending heavy infantry to attack Caro! Machiavelli shouted to Alexander, who was standing under the breastwork.

"The Papal Army is going to eat Carlo?" Alexander frowned and looked at Oflaiyi beside him, "Do you think Carlo can block it?" ”

The marching captain was silent, considering what to say.

Alexander waved his hand and didn't ask any further questions, his eyes fell on Paolo Busako on the other side.

"What about the hunters and the bohemians?"

Busako's voice was deep and powerful: "My lord, the hunters are ready to go into battle at any time. ”

Alexander nodded slightly, and he looked at Machiavelli, who was still standing on the breastwork and looking down at him.

"Tell me, what would you do if it were you?"

"Me?" The Florentine opened his mouth and looked back to the south where the fighting was getting louder and louder in the distance: "I'll wait until the heavy infantry is engaged in battle before attacking, so they won't be able to rush back in time, but ......"

"That's it," Alexander interrupted Machiavelli, turning to Ofleigh, "then I'll leave it to you." ”

Offleigh opened his mouth to say something, but Alexander had already turned and jumped on Pagasus' back.

"Where is the Earl?"

Machiavelli, who came down from the breastwork, asked a little puzzled.

"Your Excellency is going to Carlo," said Ofleigh to Machiavelli, who was stunned by surprise, "well, according to your command, I will take over the command." ”

After saying that, Ofleiyi gave the order to the herald next to him: "Prepare to blow the trumpet." ”

Carlo gasped and spat as a broken tooth flew out of his mouth and landed on the ground.

He felt dizzy, probably because he had been hit on the head by the heavy shield of the Yankee on the other side.

The heavy shield was heavy, and now half of his face was numb, and Carlo probably had his gums shattered, otherwise he wouldn't have twitched uncontrollably with a moan.

At this time, Carlo actually regretted it a little, especially after seeing a group of heavy infantry from the Papal Army joining, he was ready to let the team retreat, at least in front of the breastwork, so that he might be able to get the support of the musketeers who arrived in time.

The phalanx and musketeers of Agri were the cornerstone of Alexander's army, and whether they had recruited soldiers from elsewhere or would be joined in the future, the Agri were Alexander's most trusted men.

So now that Carlo looked at the Agri soldiers who had fallen to the ground, he knew that he was really in big trouble this time.

Several attempts to retreat back were unsuccessful, and it was clear that the Papal Army had seized an opportunity to inflict heavy damage on Montina's army.

Whatever the outcome of this fight, what awaits him will be a pair of tripods.

Carlo felt a black hole in front of him, and he knew it was the result of a blow to his head.

Maybe it's better to die here, Carlo raised his saber mechanically, he didn't know what the enemy on the other side was going to do with him, but it didn't matter, at least it was better to die on the battlefield than to be hanged, so that his wife in Agri's old house would not be too ashamed, and probably the people in the farm would take care of her.

A gunshot rang out from behind him, then a second, then a third.

The dense gunfire kept ringing in Carlo's ears, and he shook and barely turned around, and saw a familiar figure in a trance.

Alexander came, and he came to Carlo under the protection of several hunting guards.

After looking at him a few times, Alexander asked coldly, "Can you still hold on?" ”

"It's okay, sir."

"Then attack," Alexander looked ahead, "some say this is Agincourt, and the Papal Army is French, and now I want you to prove it to me." The latest chapter of "Conquest of the Dawn of Heaven: The Age of Claw Books" is free to read for the first time.