Chapter 44: Ambush (Part 1)

The Battle of Fornovo is a battle, but it is actually a farce. Because neither side is trying hard. The only fierce battle was the battle between the Venice infantry crossing the river and the Swiss front. And that battle lasted more than an hour.
Of course, there were quite a lot of casualties in this battle. The Swiss had more than 1,000 casualties, and the Italians had more than 2,000 casualties. Including those who were scared and flee, the Italians lost about 5,000 people.
What's strange is that Mandova and Milan's light cavalry, who were responsible for encircling the French, went to the road to pick up gold and silver treasures.
This is also a scheme of Charles VIII. He knew that the coalition had thousands of light cavalry. He was naturally not afraid of head-to-head confrontation, but he was worried that the group of Italian cavalry would copy from the side bread.
So, in order to get away as soon as possible, he gritted his teeth and scattered all the gold and silver treasures that he could not afford to lose on the roads on both sides of the French needlework ...
I have to say that this strategy of Charles VIII was successfully used. You know, soldiers of this era were mostly mercenaries, and they fought for money. Charles VIII gave up his money and it really attracted the Italian cavalry. Then, the 6000 Italian cavalry also forgot to come to fight the French, and went down to pick the treasure ...
However, Charles VIII also had no intention of falling in love at this time, and quickly took people off the battlefield, and went back to the camp first, leaving only the Swiss and the Venetian confrontation. Later, the Swiss also withdrew from the French camp. The remaining 5000 infantry in Venice (in addition to the 2,000 killed and 3,000 were broken up by the Swiss) did not dare to chase the Swiss, but retreated at the same time.
In the French army camp, the French and Swiss were stationed separately. The Swiss camp, on the northeast side, faces the coalition forces. The French knights, on the southwest side, were separated from the Swiss barracks.
After returning to Yingzhai, Charles VIII had already made plans to escape by night. So he went straight down and both the horse and the horse began to rest. The Scout is responsible for finding bridges and ships across the river.
Actually, this road was originally the route of the French army going south. Therefore, the French scouts did not go too far into the two northbound roads to investigate, nor did they find the ambush site of Marin.
Alas, it was late, and the scouts couldn't look too far. After a few kilometers of investigation, the French scouts confirmed that there was nothing wrong. In addition, the Allied Forces Battalion was also monitored by the French Scouts. After confirming that the Allied Forces returned, they ate and drank, preparing to rest ...
多 At about 9 o'clock in the evening, Charles VIII confirmed that the Italians of the Allied Camp were basically rested according to the report of the French Scout, and began to gather all the French knights to prepare to run.
At this moment, the French scouts just collected enough wooden boats to build a pontoon crossing the small Tarot River, making it easier for the French knights to cross the river.
Then, at about 10 o'clock in the evening, the French army began to cross the river somewhere in the western part of the Tarot River far from the Allied Forces camp. At this time, the Swiss were still in the dark, they were abandoned by Charles VIII ...
12 Around 12 o'clock in the evening, all the French knights and war horses crossed the Tarot River. Then, under the command of Charles VIII, he began marching along the riverside boulevard, east-north.
But after walking for 10 kilometers, he arrived at the place where Marin dug the river embankment ...
"What's going on? Why stopped?" Charlie VIII in the middle of the team asked immediately.
"Your Majesty, the river bank seems to have collapsed due to heavy rain. Now the roads and farmland are flooded by the river. Cavalry, it is difficult to pass ..."
"What shall we do? Can we only turn back?" Charles VIII said helplessly.
His Majesty, "His Majesty, remember that there is another road leading to Asti, and that road is more distance-saving than this road." A scout officer recommended.
"Oh, this way? Why didn't we go that way last time?"
"It's like this, it's a mountain road, no problem for people and horses to pass, but the artillery is difficult to walk. When we came last time, we carried too many artillery and it was not suitable for that road."
Indeed, when the French army came to Italy last year, they brought a hundred or dozen artillery pieces. Going down the mountain road is indeed enough. But by this time, the French had already lost all their artillery. Even the carriages carrying the treasures, because the treasures were scattered, did not need to be carried.
Riding through the less steep mountain roads in the hills can still be done. After all, a horse is a four-legged animal, not a carriage with high road requirements. Horses can pass on small mountain roads. The flood-swept roads on the plains could not easily pass by the knights. Because the flooded roads and farmland will be very soft. The French knight in heavy armor had an astonishing total weight. After the flood zone, the horseshoe easily fell into the quagmire and it was difficult to escape.
Moreover, Charles VIII was worried that the coalition forces would learn about the intelligence and came to surround himself. So, in order to hurry, Charles VIII decisively ordered, turned back, took the legendary mountain road, and plunged into Marin's trap ...
In fact, Charles VIII was useless even with caution. Because, at night, French scouts can't look very far. Even if he walked into the ambush circle, he could not see the ambush as long as he did not fall into the traps and trenches.
At the same time, because the French sent a lot of scouts to investigate the Italian battalion, it was repeatedly confirmed that the Italians did not send out troops and troops. Therefore, as clever as Charles VIII, he did not expect that someone would wait for him early.
While the French turned around and hurried, Marin taught his French to speak:
"Brothers, wait for us to ambush the French who fled. They are crowded and we have no chance of winning. However, the French cannot see clearly in the middle of the night and we can scare them."
来 "Come, everyone tell me," Suppress and not kill "(French) ..."
"Do not surrender (French) ..." The soldiers were a little aggressive and at the same time nervous.
But Marin flickered them, saying that the army was defeated and morale was low. Otherwise, if this group of grandchildren is to know that they are facing 8,000 unscathed French heavy cavalry, they may not have the courage to face it. However, they were ambushing on the high slopes on both sides of the road, and the French cavalry could not rush up the high slopes, and they were not worried. Moreover, even if the French find that they are few, they will not stop and attack the high slopes on both sides. Because, the French are running away ~ EbookFREE.me ~ most afraid to alarm the Italian coalition. As long as it withstands a few waves of attack, the French will not continue to storm and waste time.
But Marin had no plans to completely destroy the French army. His plan was to seriously damage the French army. At the same time, the night was used to frighten the French army and make the French army self-defeating. If you can kill or catch Charles VIII while in chaos, it would be a gigantic job ...
Because it is at night, it is difficult for French to observe how many people Marin has. As long as Marin's subordinates put on the momentum, they can calm the French army.
"Charlie VIII is dead (in French)!" Marin taught everyone to shout again.
"Ah?" Some soldiers who know French are inexplicable. Isn't this a rumor?
But Marin wanted the effect of making rumors. In the middle of the night, the French were suddenly attacked and must have panicked. And shouting "Charlie VIII is dead" here in French will certainly cause huge confusion to the French army. And Charles VIII did not justify himself without a loudspeaker. 8,000 French troops, some people will always be scared by this fake news.
This trick was learned from the Battle of Xishui. The former Qin 800,000 army retreated because of being deceived, Zhu Xu shouted "the Qin army was defeated" after the battle, and then the group of former Qin soldiers was unknown, so they really thought they were defeated and retreated to escape. Therefore, 800,000 former Qin Army lost somehow to tens of thousands of Eastern Jin Army ...
Marin intends to wait for the French to enter the ambush before smashing a round of stones before firing a few rounds of arrows. Then, he sent someone to yell "Charlie VIII is dead!" Even if Charles VIII wanted to shout to prove that he was alive, he would be covered by noise. Then, it is difficult for the French to think without confusion ~ EbookFREE.me ~ Welcome the book readers to read, the latest, fastest, hottest serial works are all in ~ EbookFREE.me ~ Mobile users please read.