Chapter 265: The End of the Battle of Ravenna

General Cardona did not mean to underestimate the knights of the edict, and these knights of Louis XII and the proud knights of the previous kings of France proved in every battle that they were indeed the most feared and admired war machines of the century, but when the Spaniards rushed at them, they found that the knights had also fallen into a disorderly chaos - dazed, angry, and incredulous...... With all these complex emotions, they simply can't cope with the current situation.

It was probably the simplest, easiest victory ever won by an enemy from an Imperial Knight.

It was only after all the Edict Knights had been defeated or killed that General Cardona received a surprising message from one of the Edict Knights - the commander of the French, the Duke of Nemours, Gaston. Morality. Fuwa, who had died at the first blow of the crossbow, watched his servants see him dismounted by the bolt that had narrowly passed through the gap, and even before the knights who accompanied him, the young and promising general went to God in silence. There was not a single wail, not even the slightest struggle.

General Cardona half-knelt down and took off the deformed helmet of the enemy commander with his own hands, Gaston's handsome face was presented in front of the people, the knights of the French edict let out a cry of grief, and the Spaniards all sighed, the crossbow arrow of the big crossbow made a pit in the helmet that was large enough to put down the baby's fist, but this was not a fatal injury, like other helmets, there was a leather padding inside Gaston's helmet, its construction was similar to that of a helmet hundreds of years later, there was a considerable gap between the head and the helmet, a blowAlthough the helmet was dented, the damage it did was not great.

In the end, it was the huge impact of the crossbow arrow that took Gaston's life, Gaston was pushed straight into the air from his horse, and then fell, nearly three meters high, his head fell straight to the ground, his shoulder and neck armor was suddenly deformed, and his head was infinitely pressed against his chest......

General Cardona reached out to wipe the blood from the corner of Gaston's mouth, the latter's eyes were wide open, and he didn't seem to want to believe that he had lost his life, but the facts are the facts, General Cardona sighed at the impermanence of fate, and ordered the knights around him to take off Gaston's horse coat, which had the family and royal coats of arms on it, and several light cavalry tore the horse coat into several parts, shouting "Gaston is dead", and galloped towards the battlefield that had gradually fallen silent.

The situation on the battlefield was indeed in favor of the French, most of the Spanish cavalry were killed or captured because of their reckless impulses, and the retreat or flight of the mercenaries in the coalition army made the Spanish infantry even more discouraged and terrified, but at this time, the small artillery that had been mistakenly transferred to the left flank by General Cardona, although abandoned by their original owners, was re-erected by the people from the free city, the Tuscan Line, and at this time, The French had already half-swapped battlefields with the Spaniards, and this time it was the turn of the French to be mercilessly shelled on their flanks.

The guns could inflict more damage and intimidation on people at this time than people can imagine now, the stone bullets jumped in the crowd, and the blood and flesh were splashed everywhere they passed, and no one could fight such a blow, and when the French broke up again, General Cardona led the retreating infantry and light cavalry to meet them, and joined up with the Spaniards, who had been caught up in the French, shouting "Gaston is dead!" The voice grew louder and louder, and the sound became more and more neat.

The Assasin assassins, led by Machiavelli, raced around the battlefield at a rapid pace, and in the name of General Cardona, with the Medici money, the mercenary Italian mercenaries, and the English and the Turks, they were especially English, and although Henry VIII did not promise Pope Leo X more soldiers, Giulio still managed a thousand longbowmen instead of a thousand infantry.

England's longbowmen have always been famous, the problem is that they almost all come from the mountains and fields of England, and they are some lowly commoners - yes, the king of England from the 11th century onwards, allowed commoners to use bows and arrows, and even legislated that all able-bodied Englishmen between the ages of twelve and sixty-five must gather in the school grounds near the church every Sunday after Mass to practice archery, and avoid training classes to be fined.

In order to ensure the time and physical strength to practice archery, the law also strictly forbade the playing of soccer - because people were very keen to play football at that time, this game evolved from kicking the enemy's head could be played anywhere, and at most hundreds of people would run in the streets - but since the king did not allow it, they had to devote all their energy to archery, and some children had been practicing archery since the age of seven. This continues to this day, and the king of England has easily gathered thousands of well-trained longbowmen, who are almost undefeated on the battlefield.

But like the soldiers from the Tuscan defenses of Cadiz, Florence, Pisa, and Lucca, these English longbowmen were not valued by the Spaniards, because they were civilians, and could not speak Italian, Spanish, Latin, or any other local language, and could not communicate with the Spaniards at all, but they were all equipped with their own devices

Seamus, they have not forgotten these by Julio. The Medici fought hard to get back the soldiers.

Machiavelli recruited the discouraged longbowmen at the behest of General Cardona, and the promise of the Grand Duke of Nuoro for ten gold florins each, and promised them another ten gold florins if the battle was won, and the light of the gold coins illuminated the eyes of the Englishmen, who stuck their arrows into the ground and stood between the gaps in the Tuscan infantry array, drawing the longbows that had terrified countless enemies.

Unlike the great crossbows used against the knights of the Edict, the power of the arrows thrown by the Scottish longbowmen was in number, and when a thousand longbowmen drew their bows at the same time, each of them could shoot at least twelve arrows per minute, and they carried about twenty-four arrows with them, which meant that the rain of arrows that could cover the sky and the sun could last for sixty - sixty may seem short, but only those who are in it can realize the horror of it.

The French, in particular, in 1480 a Burgundian merchant (who was supposed to have served in the army) complained that the rainstorms in Bruges were like arrows from the English, and in his notes he said that the arrows of the English might have been more dense than the rainstorms.

It was only in this battle, thanks to the gold blessings of the Medici family, that the English longbowmen were more earnest, and some of them even reached the peak of twenty arrows per minute - in the face of such a rain of arrows, even the knights of the edict had to temporarily avoid their edges, let alone infantry and crossbowmen.

The Goddess of Victory was finally willing to stand by the side of the Holy Alliance and smile.

The battle continued for more than an hour until nightfall, when the people lacked plenty of meat, their night vision was poor, it was impossible to light enough torches on the battlefield, the clouds obscured the moonlight and the stars, and the sound of swords and muskets became softer and less ...... Even the knights close to Cardona were already visibly tired, not to mention the others, a lord whispered to General Cardona if he wanted to leave the battlefield first, they were already victorious anyway, Gaston's cold body was lying on a carriage that had been used to carry arrows and cannonballs, covered with the cloak that belonged to General Cardona, although he was an enemy, he was equally worthy of respect.

"They're just as tired." General Cardona said. Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a white horse leaped out of the French battlefield, and a knight of the edict galloped towards them.

General Cardona exhaled softly.

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Although the French were willing to surrender to the Holy Alliance, all post-war matters needed to be dealt with after dawn, but even if they couldn't see anything, even if they smelled the smoke and blood in the air, they knew how tragic the end of this battle was, starting with General Cardona, everyone was exhausted, but no one was sleepy that night, not even Cosimo Jr., he came out of the tent, looked at Machiavelli, who was counting the people under the torches, and asked: "How many people have we lost?" ”

"According to preliminary statistics, about seven hundred."

Cosimo Jr.'s heart jerked: "I thought our soldiers ......"

"Being well trained does not mean being able to live on a real battlefield," Machiavelli said ruthlessly, "Do you know how many people run around in fear when they are confronted with artillery, knights and arrows, and then disappear?" ”

After a long while, Cosimo Jr. asked with difficulty, "This is war, right?" ”

"Yes." Machiavelli stared at him, he was also terrified, he knew that little Cosimo had been a gentle and kind man since he was a baby, but he was destined to become a ruler, and a ruler, it was impossible to be bloody, he had to carry his burden, or he would have to die, even if his biological father was Giulio. The Medici was no exception. This is why, although Machiavelli hated Caesar's daughter Louise, he expected him to be a benevolent prince who would bring a bright future to the Italians, but he also hoped that he would be able to make each of his opponents toss and turn in the middle of the night because of half of Borgia's blood.

"I see." "But every one of our soldiers, we have to get it back, no matter what it was that he died for, or if he ran away just because of cowardice," Cosimo Jr. said. ”

"Will you punish them?"

"I will."

"Then you will reward those who are brave, too."

"There is no doubt about it."

"That's good." Machiavelli's expression relaxed slightly, his mean and sinister face has always been criticized, but now it seems that there is actually some kindness: "I will sort out the relevant list as soon as possible, now, go back to sleep, the war is over." General Cardona's, mine, and yours. ”

Cosimo Jr. nodded slightly, but before he could turn around, a thin figure suddenly appeared from the shadows, dressed as a monk and an Assasin assassin, and Machiavelli noticed that his face had never been worse than ever.

"What's the matter?" Machiavelli asked.

"Bad news, my lord." The Assasin Assassin said.