It turned out that Count Charles was talking about the 17,000 captured Swiss mercenaries who were sold by Marin to the Habsburgs.

A few years earlier, after defeating the 50,000 troops of the Bossa coalition, Marin had captured about 18,000 Swiss mercenaries who were fighting hard. Then, the 18,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war were captured by Marin and used as coolies to dig canals. After the Münster Canal was dug up, Marin released the 18,000 prisoners of war "as promised". Secretly, however, Marin quietly informed Emperor Maximilian I that he would send cavalry to intercept the 18,000 unarmed Swiss mercenary prisoners of war who were about to return home. After some conflict, only 17,000 people were left in the Parson concentration camp in the Duchy of Brabant.

Later, Charlie, who was still the Duke of Guedes at the time, sent a large army to attack the Parson concentration camp, wanting to rescue the 17,000 powerful Swiss mercenary prisoners of war for his own use.

But what I didn't expect was that this was clearly a trap set by Marin for the Duchy of Godes. The real Swiss mercenary prisoners of war have long been transferred, and all that remains is the trap......

Then, the Duchy of Geddes, which had been extremely powerful and had defeated the powerful Duchy of Saxony, was defeated and ceded the fertile region of Lower Geddes......

This incident has always been a thorn in the heart of Count Charles, and it is difficult to let go. It's just that he was later demoted to the rank of Earl of Gelden, and his strength has become much weaker, and he no longer has the ability to rescue the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war.

But when he escaped from the Rhine by boat, Count Charles suddenly heard that the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war were being sent by the Habsburgs to the vicinity of Murdike at the mouth of the Rhine, where they dug drainage ditches. Because, near Murdijk there is a large marshland along the Rhine. Maximilian I's son, the handsome King Philip, planned to have the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war dig several drainage ditches, and use Dutch windmills to pump the stagnant water in the swamp into the drainage ditches and drain it into the Rhine...... This marshland can then be transformed into fertile fields......

This trick was learned by Prince Philip and Marin, who used tens of thousands of people to dig many drainage canals in East Friesland, and introduced a large number of Dutch windmills from the Netherlands to pump water. Then, East Friesland, which was originally swampy, was given tens of thousands of eugrams. And Marin, with this extra arable land, can produce a large amount of grain every year, and is very rich......

Prince Philip is naturally not far behind, and it just so happens that in recent years, he has these 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war who do not need to pay wages. As a result, Prince Philip sent the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war to reclaim land everywhere in the Netherlands, adding almost 100,000 acres of arable land to the Habsburgs. If the marshland near Muldike on the south bank of the Rhine estuary were to be transformed, the Habsburgs would have added 20,000 acres of arable land......

……

However, when Earl Charles, who happened to flee by chance, heard about it, things went wrong......

As far as Count Charles knew, Maximilian I had sent troops from Austria and the Netherlands to reinforce Switzerland due to the current tension on the Swiss side.

Today, in the entire Netherlands, only 8,000 soldiers remain in the Habsburgs. Of these, 5,000 remained in the capital Ghent to protect Prince Philip and Princess Juana (Mad Juana), as well as Prince Charles (the future Charles V).

In addition, 1,000 men and horses are stationed on the border between the southern Netherlands and France, monitoring French movements. The remaining 2,000 soldiers were in Murdijk, supervising the shackled Swiss mercenary prisoners of war......

Count Charles thought that this was a rare opportunity, taking advantage of the current lack of Habsburg forces in the Netherlands, France could send cavalry to quickly raid Murdike and rescue the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war......

The Swiss mercenary prisoners of war were not ordinary people, most of them were battle-hardened veterans, who had also been hired by the French to fight in the Italian War.

If France can send troops to rescue the 17,000 Swiss mercenaries at this time, and release them back to Switzerland. Then, these veterans with combat experience can immediately become the main force of the army against the Habsburgs in Switzerland.

Moreover, with the torture of these Swiss mercenary prisoners of war by the Habsburgs in recent years, they must have hated the Habsburgs to the core. When the time comes, they will certainly spare no effort against the Swiss Front of the Habsburgs under the command of Frenzberg.

In addition, these people went against the Habsburgs, and France did not have to pay them salaries. Because, to join the Swiss Resistance against the Habsburgs, not for the sake of France, but for the sake of the Swiss themselves. Therefore, France did not have to pay them any commission at all, as long as they financed some grain. It saves money and is fierce in combat. Coupled with the hatred of these people for the Habsburgs, it is not allowed to explode when the war starts......

……

"What a great idea!" Louis XII slapped the table in surprise and stood up.

"That's right, most of these 17,000 people are the most elite veterans! I almost forgot that these warriors existed! With them, the Swiss Resistance would not have lost! Louis XII said happily.

The Count of Durt chimed in:

"That's right, we don't have to pay a commission yet!"

The commission of Swiss mercenaries was no joke, and their commission for fighting for France was three times that of ordinary mercenaries, which was 9 pfennigs per day. 17,000 people, the daily commission will exceed 2,500 gold coins.

However, when they returned home, they joined the Swiss Resistance, because they were fighting for themselves, and the French did not need to pay a commission this time, which was very cost-effective.

And after these veteran Swiss mercenaries returned to China to participate in the war, the French did not have to worry about the erosion of the situation in Switzerland. If not the Habsburg invasion army, at least it will not be defeated again.

Even, with these 17,000 people returning to China to participate in the war, France does not need to continue to keep the tens of thousands of French elites in the "Swiss Resistance". These people were the elite of the French army, and in order to prevent the Habsburgs from annexing Switzerland, they were specially sent by Louis XII to pretend to be Swiss against the Habsburgs.

If the 17,000 Swiss veteran mercenaries returned, Louis XII could completely recover the tens of thousands of French elite veterans. Then, take it to Italy to fight for the volcanoes on the Italian peninsula......

……

But Louis XII apparently had something else in mind -

"After rescuing the Swiss mercenaries, I will draw 7,000 of the most elite veterans from them and follow my army south to Italy to fight the Spaniards. The Spanish army was strong in combat, while the French, although strong in cavalry, lacked elite infantry. And the Swiss mercenaries are the best mercenaries in Europe...... One ...... "Louis XII didn't want to add "one", but thinking of the combat effectiveness of the infantry of the North Sea State, he had no choice but to add one.

"If we have 7,000 of Switzerland's most elite mercenaries, with the French iron cavalry, we don't believe we can't defeat the Spanish army in Italy!"

Count Charles apparently also knew the reason for Louis XII's conquest of Italy, because the volcanic ash was the secret of fertilizer, and the eight princes knew it. He thought about it and supported Louis XII's decision to focus on Italy first......

"Your Majesty is wise, but first, we have to save the 17,000 Swiss mercenary warriors who have been tortured by the Habsburgs for several years!"

"Okay, I'll mobilize tens of thousands of elite cavalry and set off to go straight to Murdijk to ensure that we can save those 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war!"