In recent times, the luck of the Italian mercenaries seems to be good. Because, they frequently receive employment contracts, and their lives are settled. Although it is said that the more than 20,000 people hired by the French were more unlucky and were used as cannon fodder. However, as a mercenary who trades his life for money, this is normal.

And now, another batch of Italian mercenaries has received mercenary contracts......

This time it was Spain who offered the contract, and it didn't seem to be very dangerous – it was just a defense of a few important Moroccan cities.

If you defend the city on the European side, it may be more difficult. After all, European countries all have artillery, and the siege is dangerous. In Morocco, it was easier. The Moroccans, not to mention artillery, are not even good enough for normal siege equipment. For example, the Moroccans could not build a ladder with a secondary ladder, but only a ladder with only one main ladder. This kind of ladder, rolling logs and gravel are easy to deal with.

Therefore, for so many years, the Wattas dynasty has not been able to break through European castles such as Ceuta and Melilla by the sea. As a well-informed mercenary, this must have heard of it. Therefore, the Italian mercenaries were very happy to win this order.

For example, Palgani, who had just returned from the North Sea Kingdom for a few months, received a big order - he would lead 4,000 Italian mercenaries to defend the old Moroccan capital of Fez, for more than half a year......

Pargani is also a lucky man, originally, he is not very famous. However, this time, he was deceived by Marin to lead Oldenburg, but under the stimulation of the materials in Oldenburg, he burst out with powerful energy, and withstood tens of thousands of enemy troops for a long time before he had no choice but to fail. Then, he fell into the name of "good at defending the city". This time the Spaniards wanted to transfer the Moroccan garrison and replace it with the Italians, so they thought of him.

Pargani was very happy, although he had failed to defend Oldenburg and had only received a partial salary. However, there is not much danger in guarding the city of Fez this time. The Vatas dynasty has long been replaced by Gonzalo. Morality. Córdoba's army was crushed, and only a few remnants remained. If fighting in the field, Pargani may be a little afraid of the opposing cavalry. However, in the defense of the city, the group of scimitar cavalry on the opposite side is a weak chicken......

This is the weakness of the nomads - they are good at fighting in the field, not good at siege. Therefore, the general nomads can only harass the farming peoples, and cannot completely conquer them. Only the Mongols, who had obtained the technology of the Central Plains and the return cannon from the Arabs, were able to sweep the world. There was also the Manchu Qing, after obtaining the Hongyi cannon technology, they had the ability to conquer cities.

And the remnants of the Wattas dynasty in Morocco obviously did not have these technologies. So, in the face of the coastal fortresses of the Spaniards and Portuguese, they were helpless.

Therefore, for these Italian mercenaries, this trip was relatively easy and there was no danger. After the Spaniards handed over the employment contracts, about 15,000 Italian mercenaries signed the contracts and began boarding ships to Morocco to replace the 20,000 Spanish troops originally stationed there.

The other passers-by hurried overland and crossed through the south of France to the German region. Then, split up and go all over Germany to hire veteran German mercenaries who had just ended their contracts with the princes.

However, after hearing that they would have to face 60,000 French troops and more than 20,000 Italian mercenaries, many German mercenaries were a little hesitant. But in the end, nearly 20,000 people signed contracts and were willing to fight for the Spaniards. The Austrians helped to do a lot of the work in it. Although the Habsburgs did not have the money or troops to help, they were able to use the prestige they had to help.

In addition, the Spaniards also sent a group of men and horses to the north to Aurich, asking to meet Marin, hoping to hire the army of the North Sea Kingdom to fight against the French.

How could Marin agree? He was the one who fooled the French into Italy, and he did this so that Spain and France would consume each other, so how could he mix in with it? That would not achieve the goal of consuming both countries at the same time......

As a result, Marin refused to send troops to help Spain in the name of "being too close to France by land, for fear of French retaliation".

However, in order not to make relations with Spain too stiff, Marin agreed to provide Spain with a large amount of rye at a "CIF price" of 1 fennig per pound.

The so-called CIF price is the price that includes freight. In this year, the freight is more expensive, so the cost of 1 pfennig per pound of German rye is shipped to Spain, where the grain price is very high, and the starting wholesale price is generally 1.3~1.5 pfennig. Marin gave this CIF price, which is definitely very friendly. Moreover, the amount is large......

Because of the war, the autumn harvest in Beihai last year was actually greatly affected. For example, wheat fields in the province of Oldenburg were burned.

Fortunately, in recent years, Beihai has accumulated a lot of old grain. Therefore, Marin also has the conditions to use a batch of old grain as a personal favor. Anyway, there is no shortage of food in Beihai Country......

After receiving Marin's reply, Ferdinand II and Juan III were a little disappointed that Marin did not send troops, but they were understandable. Because, as a continental European country, there are indeed not many countries that dare to offend France.

In his reply, Marin explained that he had a bad relationship with the German princes and was worried about being attacked by the princes. If you offend France again, it will be easy to be jointly targeted, and you may lose your country......

This explanation is reasonable, and Ferdinand II and Juan III have nothing to say. Anyway, Marin is also willing to provide a large amount of affordable military rations.

Spain now has to mobilize tens of thousands of troops, and also to strengthen the food supply of the Italian mercenaries stationed in Morocco, which is indeed very stressful. However, the Iberian Peninsula in Spain is mountainous and does not produce much food. Therefore, at this time, Spain was indeed a little short of food.

In addition, the Kingdom of Naples was already an important grain producing area in Spain. Now, occupied by the French, Spain is also somewhat caught off guard. And most importantly - the granary of Naples is in the city of Naples. Now surrounded by the French, there is no way to rescue the food......

Today, there are two main grain producing areas in Spain - one is the "Golden Basin" of Sicily, which mainly produces durum wheat for pasta, which is the most valuable territory. And the other is the Kingdom of Naples. However, the Kingdom of Naples mainly produces barley, and durum wheat is also available, but it is not the main variety. However, in terms of production, the Kingdom of Naples produces more barley. Unfortunately, the largest granary in the city of Naples was surrounded by tens of thousands of French troops......

Therefore, now Spain also listens to the lack of food, tens of thousands of troops plus tens of thousands of people, and the grain needs to be consumed by boats. Fortunately, Marin offered a friendly price of 1 pfennig per pound, which made Spain feel a lot better.

But they didn't know that Marin was just clearing some of the old grain. Not only can you cash out a lot of money, but you can also sell personal favors to Spaniards......