"Their soldiers are very brave, but this is not the most important thing, for our French soldiers have the same noble virtues, and bravery sometimes pays a higher price than cowardice, and your Majesty forgive me for bringing up an unpleasant past that has made us all unhappy, and that the bitter lesson of the Battle of Crécy is a tragic event for which not only that generation, but also the people of France have so far grieved, the tragic consequences of the self-proclaimed bravery of the knights who took part in the Battle of Cressie, It is a French tragedy and irony that bravery and loyalty have become synonymous with stupidity and recklessness, but it is also a testament to how important discipline is in an army. ”

Louis XII once again dug out the letter that Charlain had written to him before and looked at it carefully, he was actually very familiar with the content of the letter, but now he had a different experience when he read it again.

In mid-November, when the cold northerly winds collided with the monsoons from the Mediterranean Sea to create an unpleasantly cold and humid climate in the south of the European continent, the French army first attacked the Genoese regiment of Montina's army stationed there on the north side of the town of Tarot Valley.

The battle began smoothly, and the Genoese sword and shield men were brave, but as Charlain said, bravery was not a unique virtue of any army, and the bravery of the French in braving the crossbows fired by the Genoese when they rushed at the enemy was enough for the sentimental knights to write an entire book of hymns.

So the Genoese regiment could not resist the attack of the superior forces of the French after less than two hours, after all, they were facing an enemy army that was nearly half more numerous than them, and Louis XII sent his beautiful cousin, Henry, Count of Chamblesant, from Savoy, like Charlon, to admire this young man, Louis XII, and thought that he would be his future helper in the French court.

Louis XII had the same respect for his elderly ministers as he did for his teacher Ficher, but he wanted to see a group of young people in the court, and he needed to do a clean of the seemingly daunting court of France, whether in habit, strategy, or purely personal, Louis XII found it difficult to endure the suffocating intransigence of the French today.

It had nothing to do with whether or not to start a war on his own initiative, but rather a purely change in the mood of France, and Louis preferred himself to be a dynamic king who could be active in front of the people like the monarchs of Italy, rather than a dead scene even when he passed by the people.

Unlike his cousin Charlon, the beautiful count of Chamblesant, Henri, a pure knight, promised the king without hesitation that he would see the French flag flying on the tallest building in the town of Tarot Valley before it got dark at the latest.

By the way, the tallest building in Tarot Valley is not a church tower, but a barn built in the middle of the town for more than 200 years, with a strong stone wall on the outside.

The attack that Count Henry began was indeed very successful, although the Genoese regiment gave his army some trouble, but when he ordered a group of more than 100 heavy cavalry to attack the flank of the Genoese regiment, Montina's army, which had been able to hold out for a while, immediately abandoned their position.

It was a number of pre-dug trenches and horsebacks made of local trees, but these things did not hold back the French knights' attack as they had done at Cressy more than 100 years ago, and although there were only more than 100 cavalry, the French cavalry immediately pursued the retreating Montina army in the direction of the town, but after bypassing the horses that were not very wide in front.

"At that time, many brave cavalrymen were still shouting 'For Cressie.'" Sitting on a wooden pier opposite the king, Count Henry, who was being bandaged on his head by the royal physician, recounted to the king what had happened not long ago, his face was mixed with mud and blood, and he looked embarrassed, and a deep cut in his cheek turned the flesh upside down, and it looked as if two mouths were talking at the same time. ”

"I already know," Louis XII nodded, although his imperial camp was still some distance from the town of Tarot Valley, and the heavy cannon could not be heard from here, but he could imagine what had happened to the retreating soldiers from the dismal appearance of them. ”

"No, Your Majesty, we were actually attacked by the enemy before we even got close to the town, but at that time we saw those Montinas retreating towards the town, so we wanted to keep chasing it so that we could take the town before they reorganized their counterattack." Henry shook his head, and saw that the king was silently watching him, and the young earl spread his hands helplessly, "I admit that I am indeed underestimating, but at that time it is unlikely that even if I order to stop the advance, because no one cares about orders anymore. ”

Louis XII nodded slightly with his left arm crossed his chest, his right hand supported his chin with his left arm, and he remembered the words of Charlon's letter: "So you are attacking under enemy fire, tell me that their artillery is very powerful?" ”

"It's like Charlie the Bold did in Nancy."

Henry's words made Louis XII slightly stunned, he knew why his cousin would say this, in the Battle of Nancy, the Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold was the last battle of his life, in the face of the brave and tenacious Swiss mercenaries, Charles bombarded them again and again with artillery, although the number of Charlie's artillery at that time was not much, but this still caused huge casualties to the Swiss, if it were not for the stubbornness of the Swiss mercenaries who surpassed the strict discipline of most armies at that time and the unique tenacity of the hill peoples, Perhaps before they could seize the artillery position of the bold Charlie, they would have been broken into pieces.

Henry would describe the artillery of Montina's army in terms of Charles the Bold at the Battle of Nancy, which led Louis XII to think that the cousin was making excuses for his defeat, but then quickly dismissed the speculation.

"They have a lot of artillery, I mean more than I thought before," Henry waved his hand to let the royal doctor who had just cut off the wound and stitches to leave, "Originally, I thought they didn't have artillery, but after the shelling, I knew I was wrong, but even at that time I didn't think about how terrible the mistake I had made," the Count picked up the cup handed by the servant next to him and took a sip of wine, "They first shot at the cavalry that we rushed to the front, of course it was useless, The first shells were all empty and did not hurt a single of us, but their purpose was only to prevent our cavalry from continuing the pursuit. ”

Louis XII nodded, although artillery is a terrible weapon, but in terms of the current artillery, it may not be as good as a wave of bows and arrows that are moving quickly.

"They did get their goal, and the cavalry horses were terrified, so we watched the Genoese flee back to the town."

"It's Montina."

The king didn't know why he had to remind his cousin so much, perhaps because he had vaguely guessed what Henry was going to report to him next would shock him, after all, in Louis XII's mind, the Genoese should not have had the ability to inflict such a heavy blow on the French army that he was so proud of.

"Yes, the Montiners," Count Henry seemed to be aware of this, and changed his words, "they apparently thought in advance that they might not be able to compete with us in the wilderness, so they built fortifications at the edge of the town and in the town, and I did not notice any difference at the time. ”

Hearing this, the king nodded, he almost knew what was going on.

"Muskets, artillery, and Genoese crossbows, the Montinas refused to come out to fight us, but used the town to inflict casualties on us again and again, especially their artillery, and then I found out that they were more numerous than I expected, and I don't know how they did it, but I think they must have some way of getting their gunners to be more accurate, for I have noticed that every time our artillery fires, Because the shock of the artillery always requires a series of corrections before it can be fired again, and even then the accuracy of the shells is often frustrating, but the Montina seem to be able to aim again very quickly, and the number of hits is obviously much higher than ours, and you know that this means ......"

"This means that even if they have the same number of artillery pieces as us, they will inflict more casualties on us because they shoot more accurately."

Count Henry nodded silently in agreement with the king's statement, just thinking about the fact that the enemy can suppress his own artillery with shorter time and more accurate shelling when the two sides are evenly matched, this idea alone is enough to make people's scalps tingle, not to mention that Henry does not think that his side must have much advantage in the number of artillery.

"The ensuing battle was also terrible, our soldiers braved the heavy artillery bombardment to attack again and again, but the enemy showed great fighting power in addition to the fortifications, which we did not expect before, you must know that the Genoese only resisted for a short time and retreated, but after the town was reorganized, they showed a very tenacious will."

"Maybe you were fooled at first, and their purpose was to lure you out of town," Louis XII spread his hands, not sure if he was right because he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, but it caught his attention, "Do the Montinas, I mean Genoese, look panicked as they retreat?" ”

"It's panicked, that's what makes me feel strange, I can see that they are indeed retreating because of our attack, but in my past experience, the enemy who retreats like this often becomes confused because of panic, no one can reorganize them in such a short time, many people may even slip away from the battlefield in such a panic, but those Genoese they were indeed defeated, but then they soon reappeared on the battlefield."

Louis XII listened silently, he knew that Henri was a very talented young soldier, and that he was indeed willing to raise this cousin, and now looking at his somewhat depressed appearance because of the defeat, Louis XII pondered what he had heard from him, and thought about how to rekindle his fighting spirit.

At this time, Henry continued: "I find that their way of fighting is actually no different from ours, maybe they have more muskets than us, but this is not the point, and I don't see anything special about them except that they are as stubborn as the Swiss, but our attacks have failed again and again, although I am sure they do have a reinforcement army in the town, but even if they are the same number as me I should not be defeated." ”

Henry's army was about 4,400 men, the largest French army in southern Alexandria, and Louis XII had divided his army into three distinct parts in order to defend against Austrian troops from the northwest and southeast.

Before this, neither the King of France nor the Count of Henry thought that a French army, which was nearly twice as strong as the other party, would be defeated by an army of Montina, or as Count Henry said, even if the Montina people received reinforcements during this time, they should not be defeated so easily.

However, Henry's words also suddenly caught Louis's attention, and he seemed to remember something, and immediately got up and went into another room, and after a little rummaging with the help of his attendants, the accompanying clerk found a memorandum among the many documents.

This is an index of the contents of many important documents signed by kings in the past, and although the originals are kept in the local court, the transcription index must be carried at all times so that the king can consult it at any time.

"Ah, here," Louis XII took the memorandum to the light and looked at it carefully, and found what he needed, "here it is said that when Charlain was on his mission to Pisa, he had made an agreement with the Count of Montina for the import of a batch of semi-finished muskets from our country, etc., what does this semi-finished product mean? ”

"Your Majesty, it's a musket with only a few parts, such as a coiled iron barrel, a finished wooden butt, and other things," explained the civil attendant next to him, "and these parts are sometimes more cost-effective than buying a whole gun directly." ”

"I see, that Cambrai is quite good at business," Louis looked at the memo again, and then casually tossed it to the squire next to him, "The trouble now is that the Montina seem to be working against us with the weapons we sold them, which is really annoying, so should Charlain be held responsible?" ”

Count Henry was secretly surprised, he did not expect that the king would hold the earlier Charlain accountable at such a time, although Louis XII was known for his generosity since he ascended the throne, but what kind of results would happen to a minister who was disgusted by the king, it is also conceivable.

At least if the king really angers Charlon, then the future of the rest of his life is over.

"Your Majesty, when we signed the contract with the Count of Montina, none of us thought that it would become like this," Count Henry reminded vaguely, even the King did not expect the embarrassment of the current situation, "In addition, Your Majesty, I found that the muskets of the Montina army seem to be very different from the firearms we are familiar with, or even if they did use the muskets we sold them at the beginning, I don't know what method they used, the muskets of the Montina people are much more powerful than we know, Or at least their muskets have a much faster rate of fire than any kind of musket we know. ”

"Oh, again, accurate shooting, faster speed, and plenty of discipline and soldiers, all of this seems to tell me that the commander of this army is a great commander, so tell me who I'm dealing with, Caesar?" Louis XII frowned, "His name is indeed Alexander, but do you think he is really the same as Alexander the Great in history?" ”

Seeing the king's rare display of displeasure and anger, the retinue bowed their heads in fear, but Louis XII did not continue to be angry, he sat down and rubbed his forehead, which was a little painful, and then as if he had forgotten the anger just now, the king tilted his head and looked at the Count of Chambersand on the side: "Tell my dear cousin, do you think that if I give you another army, will you be able to defeat that Montina army?" ”

Speaking of this, the king raised his hand and stretched out an index finger to stop the earl who was about to speak: "I must warn you that I do not have much force for you, for I have to deal with our emperor, and the Austrians are now approaching us from two directions, and I think that the Austrian archduke seems to be a little carried away by the so-called victory of the past, so I must remind him in time, so that I can only help you." ”

Listening to the king's words, the young Count Chambersand could not help but furrow his brows slightly, the enemy was unusually difficult to deal with, it was beyond the earl's expectations, and now he even thought that it was a little too hasty to accept this task so easily.

However, the king's attitude told him very clearly that if he was cramped now, there would be no good fruit waiting for him next, which of course made the Count of Chambersand have to accept the king's orders, and at the same time, when he heard that he could get some reinforcements, the count could not help but feel a little lucky.

"Your Majesty, how many soldiers can you give me?" The Earl thought it would be better to inquire about this first.

"1,500 people, 2,000 more for you at most," Louis XII shook his head slightly, "This is already the greatest help I can give you, you must know that I am dealing with nearly 50,000 Austrians." ”

At this point, a slight annoyance appeared on Louis XII's face.

Louis XII always thought that he knew Maximian as an opponent, and he imagined that the Austrians would never have more than 35,000 men at their disposal, and until the Battle of Varese began, everything was as the French king had expected, and it was more advantageous for the French that Maximian had divided his army into two parts when he was not in a dominant position.

So when Varese met the Austrians, Louis XII did not hesitate to give the order to attack the Austrians.

The purpose of the French king was clear: he intended to first defeat Varese's enemies before Austrian reinforcements arrived, and then to crush the Austrian reinforcements who were rushing to support them in various ways.

Everything went well, and even in Varese Louis the clarion call for victory was already heard.

But suddenly, the Austrians gathered a new army from nowhere, and the Austrian minister Kotzchach, who led this army, boldly attacked Milan, which was occupied by the French army.

The fall of the logistical base, the threat of retreat, and the sudden appearance of Montina's army, which had already been dominated by the enemy, all made Louis XII feel as if he was on the same path as his predecessor.

If you think about it, you will see that even the scene when Charles was besieged is very similar, except that Sforza's Milanese army became Cambrai's Montina army, and the commander of the coalition army became Emperor Maximian himself.

"Less than 50,000 people." When the Comte de Chamblesant had left, Louis XII whispered to himself as he tapped the map on the table in front of him with the small scepter in his hand.

The situation on the map did not look very good for the French army, and the nearly 34,000 French troops who had been forced to retreat to Alexandria were surrounded by a coalition army of about 48,000 men, and the allied forces approaching from Turin, Milan and Genoa were advancing towards Alexandria in a hurry.

Judging from the map, even the Montinas, who were attacked by the French army, were following the main road north of Genoa to the southwest of Alexandria.

Louis XII looked at the map carefully, and after a while the scepter in his hand poked again at the location of the town of Tarot Valley, where Montina's army was located.

"Go and call Henry," seeing that the squire was a little confused, and the king had to continue, "go and call the Count of Chamberson." ”

The Earl, who had just returned to his lodgings to lie down and rest, soon heard the news, and he did not know what the King had in mind in such a short time.

"Tell me Henry, if I give you another 4,000 men, how long do you think it will take to defeat your enemies?"

The king's words surprised Earl Henry at first, and then overjoyed.

"Your Majesty, if that is the case, I can assure you that it will only take one day for me to meet you in the center of Tarot Valley."

Listening to the count's earnest reply, though full of confidence but clearly and with blind optimism, Louis XII nodded in satisfaction.

"Listen to Henry, take the town of Tarot Valley," the king paused at this point, and then said something that surprised Count Chambersant, "and then we will attack Genoa directly." ”