In the temple of Runtrand in Rome, Julius II's anger gradually subsided, and there was still interest in grabbing milk tea with Marin. The two of them chatted while drinking, and then talked about Venice.

Julius II took a sip of milk tea and asked casually:

"Marin, I heard that you have a good relationship with the Venetians?"

Marin was stunned for a moment, but replied anyway:

Indeed, in 1494 ...... We...... We have been hit by Charles VIII in a wambal ......" In fact, this is an official statement. The truth is that Marin alone ambushed Charles VIII's heavy cavalry legion, but ended up selling half of his prisoners, horses, and plate armor to the Venetian tycoons......

If it weren't for the millions of gold coins he had earned from the sale of prisoners of war, horses, and plate armor to Venice, Marin would not have been able to rise and annex East Friesland on just a small North Sea island, Texel. It can be said that the battle that ambushed Charles VIII changed Marin's life.

Of course, it also changed Venice. Relying on the false "great feats" of "defeating King Charles VIII of France", the Venetians established a strong prestige in Italy. Except for a few high-ranking members of the Republic of Venice, the vast majority of Venetians don't know that the beautiful ambush battle 10 years ago actually has little to do with Venice. The deceived Venetian people thought that Venice's military strength was strong enough to compete with France, the overlord of the European continent.

Therefore, the citizens of Venice now walk sideways in the Italian region. These Venetians, who don't know the truth, seem to regard the Republic of Venice as the "American imperialism" of Italy, and people who see other Italian states look at people through their nostrils......

Although, because of Marin's intervention, when Julius II ascended the throne as pope, he had a powerful army of seven thousand men, which was much stronger than in the original history.

However, because of Marin's handwriting back then, the Venetians were full of self-confidence, feeling that they were the contemporary "American imperialists" and could go sideways in Italy. Thus, despite the greater power of Julius II, the Republic of Venice occupied the region of Rimini, including the historic city of Ravenna, as it had been in history...... Moreover, the Venetians believed that with the strength of the Papal States, it would not be possible to recapture the Rimini region at all......

"By the way, you were just a phalanx leader at the beginning, right? How did you come up with the idea to break away from the large forces of the Austrian army and rush to Vornovo to take part in that battle? ”

"Count Alfred (the Habsburgs) did not want to lead an army in the absence of the Emperor, but the Italian coalition frequently demanded that Austria send troops. So, I simply took the initiative to ask for battle at that time, took my own phalanx, and acted as a reinforcement......"

"Then how did you tell that the French were about to flee and set up an ambush on the mountain road where the French had fled? Are you so sure that the French will take that mountain road? Julius II continued to ask with interest.

"Quite simply, I didn't know that the French would be the main force to flee (in fact, Marin knew it, who told him to read history...... At that time, I judged that the French were eager to return home, and they might not be able to defeat the Italian coalition army, and it was very likely that they would run away in the middle of the night. So, I just set up an ambush in the middle of the night. Anyway, even if the French didn't run away, I would have taken my men to the air at most. If the bet is right, then ......"

Julius II nodded, indeed, this kind of gamble, if you lose, you don't lose, if you win, you will reach the sky in one step, and it is a very cost-effective deal. But Julius II went on to ask:

"Again, how are you sure that the French will take that mountain road, even if the French escape? Maybe they'll go the other way? ”

"Quite simply, there were only two ways for the French to retreat, one was the mountain road I set up in ambush, and the other was the plain road on the banks of the Tarot River. When the French and Italian armies were at war, I sent men to dig the embankment of the Tarot River and flood the road on the plain. In this way, the French will have to take the mountain road that I ambushed......"

"Shhh......h In order to let the French take the bait, they dug up the embankment without saying a word......

"By the way, how did your phalanx get mixed up with the Venetian army? It's weird. According to Venice, they had a team of two or three thousand people who got lost on the way to reinforcements and met your phalanx. Then, those two or three thousand people were willing to accept your command...... This is not normal...... Your phalanx is only more than a thousand people, and the Venetians have two or three thousand, so why should they listen to you as the leader of a small phalanx? "Julius II was a little confused......

Julius II, of course, could not figure it out, because the so-called Venetian army of two or three thousand men did not exist at all. Marin's troops in the war consisted of a phalanx in total, plus more than a thousand Italian peasants who were used to frighten the French and pretend to be reinforcements......

Marin thought about it for a while, and felt that Julius II was his own, and that he was in the secret chamber of the Lateran Temple, and there were no outsiders present (the retinue who made the tea had already gone out), so he decided to tell Julius II the truth:

"Juliano, actually...... There was no Venetian army at all, that ambush battle, from beginning to end, only my army ......"

"What? It is impossible, according to the French who were later captured, that there was indeed an Italian army that came to reinforce it, and the number was indeed two or three thousand...... "What Julius II said was that Marin arranged for the more than 1,000 Italian peasants, each with two torches, and the procession was so loose that it looked like thousands of soldiers and horses...... And Charles VIII, it was precisely because of the misunderstanding that the Italian coalition was chasing after him that he was so frightened that he hurriedly ran away. Moreover, it is true that it is not clear at night. If the French knights really stayed to fight to the death, Marin's men might have been defeated.

Marin told Julius II about the more than 1,000 Italian peasants he had captured in disguise as reinforcements......

Julius II was directly stunned - can the battle still be fought like this?

It took a long time for Julius II to react:

"You...... You...... What a prodigy who is good at fighting......"

Marin was a little embarrassed to be praised - where is he a genius? It's just that the knowledge exploded in later generations, and he read more relevant books and technical posts to understand so much. Aside from the massive amount of advanced knowledge in later generations, Marin is just an ordinary person with an average to upper IQ.

"Later, I sold half of my captives, horses, and armor to the wealthy Venetians, and I received millions of gold coins...... As for the two or three thousand soldiers and horses in Venice, they were all lies made up later......"

Julius II sighed:

"You're so bold, if Maximilian I knew that you had sold millions of gold worth of loot, he would have to kill you. You also know that Maximilian I was the most short of money. And the Habsburgs are also a big family that spends a lot of money......"

"What's this? At that time, I had already planned to escape, and with hundreds of thousands of gold coins, I could live comfortably wherever I went. I was going to England to buy a fief and become a petty nobleman. Anyway, the influence of Maximilian I was also in the German region. ”

"No wonder, you have a good relationship with the Venetians. It turns out that you are in an embarrassed way and have deceived the whole world! ”

"Don't say it's so ugly, okay? We took what we needed...... I want money, Venetians want fame......"

"Well, since you're on good terms with the Venetians. Well, I'd like to ask you to do something for me......" said Julius II.

"What's the matter?"

"On my behalf and the Holy See, negotiate with the Venetians to see if we can use a peaceful way to get the Venetians to give up the Rimini region on their own initiative!"

"This ...... It's so difficult......" Marin hesitated. It is not very difficult to convince a profiteer country like Venice to spit out the meat that reaches its mouth......

"Nonsense, it's not difficult to find you?"

"I love to hear that, well, I'll take it. I'll just go to Venice, but I can't guarantee if I can make it. ”

"It's okay, just give it a try, if it fails, isn't there an alternative to the war......

……