Chapter 126: The Finale of War

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"Why is this happening...... For the first time, commanded a major army of France; For the first time, with His Majesty achieved the great achievement of conquering a kingdom. I should have beaten the enemy and made France glorious in Naples. Even though I had suffered a setback because of the despicable methods of the shameless men, I had disregarded my own reputation, and at great shame and risk, I ordered the withdrawal of my troops, at least, I should have been guilty of it, but I still commanded thousands of French soldiers to return to their homeland...... But why is it the way it is......

At the pass of the Alps, finally approaching the territory of France, and at this time, the French commander-in-chief who had been in southern Italy in high spirits last year, and who was still in the Doge's palace in Naples last month, was thoughtful, brave and responsible, and scolded Fang Xuan, General Orbigny, but at this time he had already lost his sharpness, leaving only an old and desolate thin body, because of the torture of malaria, the muscles were still spasmodic and trembling from time to time, and only eight attendant knights were followed behind him, in the summer and July, under the blue sky of the Alpine Pass, But it shows the bleak atmosphere of autumn that should only be there at the end of October.

How did things become like this?

"Hehe......" Gonzalo, who was repairing in the city of Naples at this time, seemed to sense the resentment from the northern mountains, and smiled, "Do you want to get out of the way, have you asked us?" ”

Although Gonzalo was concentrating his forces at the time, there was still a partial division to the north. With the Spaniards having a significant advantage in military power and the French not concentrating their forces, it doesn't matter to violate Napoleon's principle of concentration of forces even a little – especially since it's 1496, long before the time of the emperor.

When he learned that Aubigny had retreated from the city of Naples, Gonzalo had approached the city of Naples and immediately rushed to catch up. And the army in the north also played a certain role in delay......

In fact, in peacetime, this arrangement does not work, do not forget the Battle of Fornovo, in the end, the French army still managed to break through?

However, let's not forget, what kind of army was the French army under Aubigny, they were starving, sick and sick, and the high-quality troops had basically returned north, such as the Swiss pikemen and the knights of the imperial order. During the Battle of Fornovo, the French artillery was limited in its usefulness because the lead was wet with rain. And now, the French just wanted the rain to wet their artillery leads, and there were few cannons to wet, and there was too much gunpowder to use.

This situation is a bit like Saladin's battle against the Crusaders. Now the entire kingdom of Naples has become a big fire pit, and in fact, there is no cavalry elite in the French army that can break through strongly, all of them are tired infantry who have been tortured to exhaustion, and even the cavalry has been tossed to the point that it is almost finished.

It was still too late for Aubigny to withdraw. And, worst of all, he could have started with the aim of breaking through.

After all, the task was still there, asking him to defend the Kingdom of Naples, and although he abandoned the city of Naples, Aubigny still wanted to hold out in the north of Naples for a while longer.

However, he soon found that there was no way to do it, so he had to cancel his plan to confront the Spanish army in the north of the Kingdom of Naples again, and lead the whole army to retreat as soon as possible.

As a result, Gonzalo, led by light cavalry troops, caught up with the rearguard of the French army.

"The weight of grain and grass must be in the rear"......

Ahem, in this era where there are hot weapons, but hot weapons have not completely overwhelmed cold weapons and become the dominant weapon, even if there is a bit of formatting in a novel like "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it can still appear often.

And the way it appears is the same as in the novel, and the ending is not the most bloody, only more bloody......

Last time, the Battle of Fornovo, which the French army in the north led by the French army and the Italian coalition army, was not a living example of blood?

The commander of the Italian coalition army, Francisco "Manhou" Gonzaga, looked like he was determined to win the enemy, and the result really did what he expected. And the Zeguo caused by the heavy rain hindered the movement of the Italian coalition army, and it was a sense of déjà vu that Zhongda's father and son escaped in the rain, and that the plan was in the sky. As for the scene where the French army abandoned their baggage treasures later, and even the Italian beauty photo album of the French king made the Balkan cavalry loot and get out safely, it is really powerless to complain......

And this time, there was not a concrete, decisive battle, but the entire kingdom had become a huge battlefield of pursuit.

The Spanish light cavalry, javelin cavalry, and relatively small number of local heavy cavalry led by Gonzalo, as well as some cavalry hired by Germany by the heavy cavalry of Gondogori, although there are also different types, but they do not have the bad problems of the Balkans, at least, on the battlefield, under the leadership of a well-disciplined general like Gonzalo, he will not indulge in looting. However, the focus of the attack now is indeed on the supply and food and grass of the French army.

As a result, the rearguard of the French army and almost all the supplies were finally swept away by the Spanish cavalry like autumn leaves......

And the partial divisions in the north also carried out a diversionary attack on the French army. Of course, this is not important, the important thing is that the French army is really out of food now.

And this time, it has been so serious that it has become literally without food.

Because, the Spaniards did not take too many prisoners and did not leave too many corpses on the battlefield.

In addition, there was an important problem that the Spanish army was blocking in the north, mainly in the northwest, forcing the French to abandon the path of retreat directly along the coastline.

To retreat directly along the coastline is to retreat according to the path of the French army, and in this way it is to retreat northwest from the city of Naples to the border between the Kingdom of Naples and the Papal States, and then rush into the heart of the Papal States again, and again break into or bypass the city where Charles VIII once flaunted his might, Rome, and then withdraw to Florence (but now, Florence's attitude has faintly changed, after all, although Savonarola is supported by the French, but now the overall situation is like this, and people have also seen the direction of the wind), Then ...... northwest

Now, the French army had no choice but to take the same route that Prince Eugen had marched on during the War of the Spanish Succession, detouring to the northeast of the Kingdom of Naples, turning into the Papal States, and then crossing the border between Milan and Florence and heading northwest.

In the absence of supplies, and the whole journey through enemy territory, and the "Long March", it is conceivable what the fate of the French army will be. It was also thanks to the Battle of Fornovo that the Italian coalition army was bleeding a lot, and they did not want to touch the mildew of the French again, so they only carried out a non-fierce interception and harassment, however, this was enough to put the French army to death.

In this way, the French army was constantly consumed. After leaving the borders of Naples, passing through the Italian states, they fell one by one like hungry men marching through the wasteland, and when they reached the foothills of the Alps, the French army had actually disappeared.

Only Aubigny himself and several of his retinue remained.

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