……

In five years, Gaozu and the princes attacked the Chu army together, and won a decisive victory with Xiang Yu. The Marquis of Huaiyin deserved 300,000 yuan, General Kong was on the left, General Fei was on the right, the emperor was behind, and General Jiang and Chai were behind the emperor. Xiang Yu's death can be 100,000. Huaiyin first combined, unfavorable, but bad. General Kong and General Fei were longitudinal, the Chu soldiers were unfavorable, and the Marquis of Huaiyin reverted to it and was defeated. Xiang Yu heard the Chu song of the Han army, thinking that the Han had won all the Chu land, but Xiang Yu was defeated and left, and he was defeated with soldiers. The cavalry general chased and killed Xiang Yu Dongcheng, beheaded 80,000, and then slightly settled on Chu.

……

The situation of the French army deteriorated, and they had to disperse in order to maintain their domination over all parts of Naples, or at least the city. At this point, although it was a bit of a stretch against the Knights of the Imperial Decree and the Swiss pikemen (most of whom, unfortunately, had already returned north—they were Swiss, not French, after all), the Spanish light cavalry was able to deal with smaller, exhausted infantry and squads of cavalry - and it was a very effective tactic to cut off the battlefield and then besiege or attack a relatively weak enemy. The losses of the French artillery were the most serious.

……

Gonzalo led the Castilian Army, the Aragon Army, and the Neapolitan Civilian Army in constant maneuvers, striking at the French army's transport lines, supply lines, and trying to divide them into several units. The ultimate goal was to drag the French army in southern Italy alive until they starved to death and died of disease!

It is not uncommon in history to be forced to surrender due to insufficient supplies, or to be demoralized and significantly reduced in combat effectiveness. However, in the southern theater of the First Italian War, the difficult situation of the French army was very directly reflected on the battlefield and directly in the battle.

Eventually, a significant part of the remnants of the French army was dealt a fatal blow to the Spanish army in Atella in the central province of Pottenza in southern Italy, because Gonzalo surrounded them with his main army.

In this battle, Gonzalo fully implemented the principle of bullying less with more, the Spanish army was two to three times the strength of the French army, of course, this does not include the half-hung Neapolitan army, the cavalry of the Italian states may have been accustomed to the less intense battle of taking prisoners to earn ransom, the French and Spanish armies have experienced the brutal Granada War, the Hundred Years' War, etc., and the discipline is relatively strict and the combat is efficient - the main business is to harvest heads.

Adhering to the principle of using more to bully less to the end, Gonzalo deployed 10 Hongyi cannons and bombarded the French army fiercely (the French army of more than 2,000 people on the opposite side did not have a single cannon), and the crossbowmen also worked hard to suppress it. Then, the French army, numbering just over 2,000 men, was desperate to see the Spanish commander lead 200 knights, 900 javelin cavalry, and 550 gondo terri heavy cavalry (not counting the 400 crossbow cavalry...... has reached the scale of the first battle of Seminara in history) pounced on the French army, charging in a dense formation. Originally, it was expected that although the number was small, the French cavalry on the opposite side would not be so easy to deal with. Although most of the knights of the Imperial Decree had returned north with the French king, the combat effectiveness of the ordinary cavalry of the French army should not be underestimated.

However......

The Spanish javelins and the mercenary cavalry of Gondo Tieri easily broke through the French formation, and the French cavalry desperately held back a failed counterattack before completely crumbling...... As for the Swiss pikemen? I'm sorry, they've long since left, who will accompany you to eat soil in the Kingdom of Naples?! Percy, a young French nobleman and cavalry commander, was unlucky this time, he had the opportunity to command the Swiss pikemen in Seminera a year ago to teach the Neapolitan Nationalists and the Spanish sword and shield soldiers a profound lesson, but in Ferdinand and Gonzalo's new operation, Percy never got the opportunity to participate in a slightly larger battle, and today may be the largest battle he has been able to participate in and command in his life, but it is also likely to be the last, because he has been picked under the horse by the javelinees, Then he became a prisoner in embarrassment. Of course, Percy should not despair, he is still young, and if he is redeemed in the future, there may be a chance to make a contribution......

At that time, there were still some "non-mainstream" Spanish arquebusiers who fired bullets that had not yet achieved much success, and 800 Spanish pikemen and 1,500 sword and shield men were ready to go...... The French infantry on the opposite side had already collapsed without defeat...... In the end, the entire French army just laid down its arms and surrendered!

The whole battle didn't start with any brilliant operations, but the battle ended cleanly, and not a single French soldier was able to escape the battlefield. The commander of the French army was a big fish, and it turned out to be the governor of Naples appointed by the French king, the Count of Montpensier, who had already lost his fighting spirit when he saw the Spanish army, which was far outnumbered by the French.

In the Battle of Atra, more than 200 French infantry and cavalry, dozens of officers, and the remaining more than 20 nobles, including the governor of Naples, and the remnants of all about 2,000 people were captured, and the tide of the battle was completely reversed.

The point is that the Spanish army suffered almost no casualties, none of the dead, more than a dozen wounded, and that's it.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that the French army had been short of food for three days, and they had never had enough food in the months before, and of course, His Excellency the Governor of Naples was still full of fat brains and big bellies. But the French soldiers, even the bravest knights, had little fighting spirit. Not to mention the peasants with crossbows......

Ferdinand spoke highly of this victory, believing that in this battle, General Gonzalo fully concentrated his superior forces to surprise and gave full play to the advantages of his elite troops, thus easily destroying the enemy army that was smaller than his own but still not to be underestimated, completely changing the situation of the First Italian War and becoming a turning point in the liberation of the Kingdom of Naples......

Ahem...... However, in the European military circles, Gonzalo is generally laughed at, believing that he has not won a battle head-on, and the French are even more indignant about this, believing that next time, as long as they are well prepared, they will be able to completely destroy this gang of Iberian barbarians who can only play intrigue and stab in the back, or bully more and less! Including those Italian scumbags, next time, you won't have such good luck!

There were even French soldiers who thought: "As long as the chivalrous knights of the edict are combined with the brave Swiss spearmen, the Spaniards, who are three times their size, will not be able to stop them!" ”

Even in Castile and Aragon, there was discontent about this, and some gossip began to circulate again, such as the cliché that Gonzalo had risen thanks to the hat given to King Ferdinand......

"What's the matter, there's still this kind of nonsense going around!" Ferdinand had just left Valencia, and was as sick as if he had eaten a fly. "I'll take the time to invite you to tea another day......"

(To be continued)