It wasn't until after the end of the war that Ralph didn't know what Machiavelli had done with those men.

It was very difficult to assassinate a commander in war, and the same was true of Gaston, the commander of the French, who was surrounded by layers of crossbowmen, spearmen, musketeers, and knights of the Imperial Order, and it was impossible for even a master assassin like Ezio to break through such a tight barrier and assassinate Gaston on his own, but what if he came out on his own?

Wanting a commander to come out of the center of the army on his own, generally speaking, is only possible after the end of the war, when he accepts the surrender of the enemy leader, but there is also a situation where he is a young man, especially the kind of young man who has not experienced too many setbacks, and he has the courage to make him invincible on the battlefield, but this courage will also lead him into a trap.

It's just that Gaston didn't realize this at all, he rode up a small hill, and noticed that the shape of the Ouroboros had been twisted and loose - although in some places, the battle continued, but the situation on the battlefield was infinitely biased in favor of the French, the Italian mercenaries had begun to prepare to retreat when they saw that the situation was not good, and Cardona, the commander of the Holy Alliance, was also trying his best to preserve the existing forces - to break through, not attack, and the Allied soldiers who had captured the French positions were constantly called together by the heralds who galloped on the battlefield, they charged backwards, or silently towards the weak points of the French army, detachment from the battlefield in one group, one by one, and gathered together as much as possible.

Of course, Gaston was not willing to let go of the coalition and their commanders, he had not been through many wars, and only this time, he was completely dominated by him, and he hoped that his first battle would have a bright start like a morning, instead of clouds and mist and chaos—after all, in this battle, the French soldiers had already suffered countless losses and mourning. So when he saw Raymond. Morality. When Cardona's banner began to move towards the rear, he couldn't help but raise his sword, shout out to the soldiers, and rush with him towards the enemy.

And just as Gaston's steed had not yet begun to gallop, an edict knight blocked his way: "Your Highness," he discouraged, "please stay here, for it is the knight's job to wield a sword, and a commander should hold a scepter and wait calmly for the victory they bring back." ”

"I am also a knight," replied Gaston, "but I am also a commander, and now that the work of the commander has been completed, I will fulfill the duties of a knight." ”

"And," added Gaston, "I would rather take the crown of my enemy with my own hands and make him kneel before my horse in repentance than the victory that others have offered me." ”

The knight couldn't help but hesitate when he heard this, because Gaston was going to pursue not some ordinary soldiers, but the commander of the Holy Alliance, which meant a lot of things, although the knight's starting point was to ensure the safety of the commander, but who knows, after the battle, will anyone criticize him for his intention to seize Gaston's merits? For example, isn't Gonzalo in Spain favored by the old and new queens because he once captured Charles VIII, the commander of the French at that time?

After such a pause, Cardona's flag moved several hundred feet, and Gaston became even more impatient, "and," he said, "look around, who else but me can leave Raymond. Morality. What about Cardona? With that, he pushed away the knight's hand holding the reins of his horse, and with a shout, he led the knights who belonged only to him into the chaotic battlefield like a sharp sword.

Gaston is not wrong in this sentence, in this huge battlefield, the French and the people of the alliance army have been drawn into an incomparably bloody and huge whirlpool, all the reserves and rear hands have been used, except for the commander and their knights, the French can not draw more troops to intercept Cardona and his soldiers, so it seems, Gaston's choice is actually correct - it's just that the knight of the edict watched the silver armor and white vest belonging to Gaston gradually disappear into the twilight mist, I couldn't help but feel a little tight. "May God bless us." He muttered a prayer.

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Rome.

Julio. The Medici, the Pope's most trusted cardinal, was in the Vatican as usual to handle the affairs of the Temple, but because of the terrible assassination of Leo X not long ago, he changed his office from the signing room to the next door to the papal bedchamber, a small reception room, so that he could take care of his brother and supervise the running of the church, and just as his affairs were over and he was about to take a nap, an urgent text message was delivered to him.

"Cardinal Sisneros? And Cardinal George? Giulio pressed his forehead as he unwrapped the text message, which was simple - the two cardinals were coming to Rome day and night from their diocese, and Cardinal George had appeared in Le Piy last night.

In addition to them, there were in fact many more cardinals who were on their way to Rome.

"I wonder if they saw me so alive," Leo X said of himself without healingness, "Will he be so depressed that he will almost cry?" ”

Julio gave him a reproachful look: "This is also human nature. "Not everyone expects you to have a misfortune. ”

"Those who are not ready to pay the bribe certainly do not want to see me go to God so soon, but others have other ideas, such as Georges of the French." Leo X said bluntly. George. Amboise's desire for the papal throne was no less than that of Cardinal Grand Lauvere.

"So what?" "We will be more cautious, more careful, Your Excellency, and I will not let that happen again," said Giulio. ”

"Don't worry, dear Giulio, my Vatican Palace is now an impregnable fortress, guarded by more than the clergy, and you have arranged for me to test the poison, so ......" Leo X asked as if he didn't care, "Can the restrictions on wine, sweets and meat be lifted?" ”

"Nope." Julio didn't look up and said, "You didn't take a lot of poison before, but you have too much fat in your blood to get rid of the toxin quickly, which is why it will get better so slowly - if you continue to overeat like this, even if there is no poison, you will die because of these delicacies." ”

"But what's the point of living like this?" Leo X shouted.

"I think it's a healthy and pleasant life," said Giulio, "and you can look at the disappointed faces when they find that you will be on the papal throne for at least ten years." ”

Leo X hissed in exasperation, turned and left the reception room, and returned to his bedchamber, knowing that Giulio loved him, and so did him, but when he collapsed on the bed, without wine on his left hand, and no cream or roast meat on his right, he could not help but feel loveless for a while: "...... Ten years ......" he thought and whispered, "Ten years ......"

Duarte, as Giulio's secretary, was always by his side, and when the Pope arrived, he stood in an unobtrusive corner, and when the noble father left, he returned to his original position and asked: "What should these cardinals do with them?" ”

"They're just here for the Pope." To be precise, if the Pope really died because of this assassination, whether it was for that glorious position or for the large bribes they could get during the election, they would not give it up easily - there was a cardinal who carried himself across the Apennines in a palanquin in December in order to catch the election day, and almost died when he arrived in Rome.

"When things settle down and the Pope is safe, they'll go back."

Duarte seemed to want to say something, but he suddenly fell silent, lowered his head, and began to work on the papers that would never be finished.

Giulio didn't mean to continue explaining to him, he was used to not explaining anything to anyone else, there was no need and no need.

——————

Daylight slanted westward.

The battle on the banks of the Ravenna River was nearing its end, and after seven hours of continuous fighting, the French army and the army of the Holy Alliance were like two thugs who had exhausted their blood and strength despite their incomparable hatred, and even if everyone was already red-eyed, they could not make much of a wave - the Italian mercenaries were the first to flee, then the Scots and some Turkish mercenaries, and then the Spanish army led by General Cardona, but compared to the former's embarrassment, the Spaniards were in teamsRetreating gradually and orderly and defensively, the general may not be very good at achieving victory, but he also does not let his enemies get too proud - it is not easy to get thousands out of the vortex of chaos, and he did.

But as Cosimo Jr. had guessed, the young and vigorous French general, Duke Gastonnemours, was not satisfied with his present exploits, and he led about fifty or so knights of the Imperial Decree, and their accompanying knights, about one hundred and twenty in all, and the smoke and dust tracked down the Spanish flag, just as Gaston, General Cardona's armor was also shining silver, and his horses were covered with dark purple horse coats, embellished with gold and silver threads, which shone in the last rays of the setting sun, even without the flag, He can also be easily captured.

But Gaston was the same, although there was no flag to follow, little Cosimo's eyes quickly fell on him, with the help of the telescope, still some distance from the battlefield, he soon found Gaston chasing Cardona, and just in front of him, there were also two forces that were converging towards the center, Gaston and his knights may have noticed, but did not care, because those people were only infantry, and judging from the clothing, they were not Spaniards, but Italians, and the combat effectiveness of Italian mercenaries, They've just understood.

The contempt for the Italians led Gaston to fall headlong into the trap of the Cardona and Assasin assassins.

When the knights were five hundred feet away from Cardona's team, and the knights were ready to sprint, the infantry on both sides finally reached their intended positions, they were prostrate on the ground, and for a moment they could not see what they were doing, but the entourage of the knights of the edict also moved from the tail of the line to the sides, they were either good at longbows or crossbows, and when the hoplites were ready to attack, they were mainly aimed at the spearmen and halberders in the infantry, but they were not yet within range of holding bows and crossbows, The Italian infantry set up their weapons.

They saw a great crossbow that they had never seen before, smaller than the ballista erected on the city wall to guard, but larger than a cross crossbow or a hand crossbow, and an arm length of at least four or five feet, and then it was no longer for them to think about it, and the people who had only crawled down before they had to be pedaled with both feet at the same time, and the waist could only be opened.

Huge arrows in proportion to the great crossbow roared, the armor that was lighter than the Edict Knights was torn apart, the pieces of iron and the flesh inside bloomed horribly, the small crossbows were thrown into the air and fell with their masters, almost instantly, the Edict Knights lost their attendant knights, some of the Edict Knights roared, these attendants were either their blood relatives or their friends, but after removing this weak barrier, more crossbows were aimed at the sweeter interior.

The Knights' modified and strengthened armor was so reliable against crossbows, musket rounds, and even hammers or greatswords. But no matter how hard and tight the armor is, it is still human flesh and blood in it, these crossbow arrows made of fine walnut wood and arrows made of heavy black iron, and the arrows are even blunt, and they rely not on the blade at the beginning, but on the weight and speed - when they strike on the knight, those ridges that are only less than a finger thick and high cannot play a role in transferring and shirking them, after all, the arrows are much thicker than these peaks, and they slam into the armor, A large chunk of the armor immediately dented, and the enormous force that followed was able to push a person off his horse at once.

Several knights of the Imperial Order, who had the misfortune of being shot in the head or neck, fell off their horses without saying a word, and were killed instantly.

The bolts were shocking enough, but the danger was even more to come, and each of them carried a stiff rope at the end, and silk, linen, and wire were twisted together so that even the sharpest sword could not cut them for a moment, and they lay between the horses' hooves, in front and behind, tripping them or immobilizing the knights.

At this moment, General Cardona, who had been being chased, had also turned around and launched a counter-charge with his knights.

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