King of German Mercenaries

In the mountains of northern Italy, on the southern mountain road connecting the Mistyr Valley in the Graubünden region of Switzerland, came a group of embarrassed knights...

The Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, with the remaining 1,500 light cavalry under his command, is walking on the mountain road in embarrassment, heading for the Telina Valley...

After more than a year of hard fighting, the Principality of Milan was defeated. After all, the strength of the Principality of Milan and France is too different. Although the Principality of Milan had prepared an army of 35,000 this time, it was very weak in front of the 30,000 French army. Why? Because the quality of the two armies is too different...

The French cavalry are all knights and apprentice knights from knight families, and all of them are highly skilled in martial arts. The infantry is even more powerful and is the most capable Swiss mercenary in Europe. In contrast to the Milanese army, the cavalry were all light cavalry, and the infantry were also Italian mercenaries with average combat power. The combat power of the two sides is completely unequal.

Fortunately, Ludovico Sforza, after being reminded by Marin, did not send Trivulchio and Count Caiazzo to command the troops. Therefore, the Principality of Milan did not have a large-scale surrender to France this time. Therefore, the Principality of Milan lasted a long time longer than its original history. Moreover, this time, the Milan army mostly hid in the fortress to defend, and did not have a decisive battle with the French team in the field. Therefore, to a large extent, this offsets the lack of combat effectiveness of the army.

Therefore, the French had to fight a protracted siege. After all, neither the French knights nor the Swiss mercenaries could fly, and it was difficult to easily conquer the tall city walls.

However, the French still have a killer, that is - artillery...

Seeing that the storm was hopeless, Louis XII simply sent people back to China to pull heavy artillery...

Then, after the French brought in a batch of 12-pound bronze heavy artillery from China, they launched a fierce bombardment on several fortresses of the Milanese...

Although, the fortresses of the Milanese are made of stone and are very strong. However, after all, that is not a bastion structure that is resistant to shelling. So, after a few months of bombing, the solid stone city wall was also blasted...

Then, the French conquered several fortresses on the border of Milan and came under the city of Milan...

As a big city with 100,000 people, Milan's city defense must be extremely strong. The Duke of Milan, with more than 10,000 men under his command, relied on the strong city of Milan and launched a resistance against the French...

The city walls of Milan are not comparable to those fortresses on the border. Because the city of Milan is huge and prosperous, all the Dukes of Milan were willing to spend money to reinforce the city wall. The French heavy artillery could not be fired for a long time...

But, by the spring of 1500, the Milanese had a big problem themselves...

It turned out that the city of Milan was out of food...

After all, the city of Milan has a population of 100,000, plus the army of 16,000 participated by the Duke of Milan, the daily food consumption is an astronomical figure.

However, after being under siege for several months, Milan was still running out of food, and signs of instability soon appeared in the army...

In desperation, Ludovico Sforza had to take 2,000 trusted hussars with him. In the middle of the night, he opened the east gate and broke through the gap in the French defense. In the process of breaking through, 500 cavalry were still stopped by the Swiss...

In this way, Ludovico Sforza fled to the Telina Valley where the fortress had been built with only the remaining 1,500 light cavalry and San Severino, the most loyal general of the Tournament under his command.

The commander ran away, and the city of Milan naturally surrendered. As soon as Ludovico Sforza ran, Milan surrendered the next day. Louis XII swaggered with the army and entered the city of Milan. Sure enough, Trivulchio and Count Caiazzo, two anti-bone boys, immediately came out to kneel and lick the king. Because of Marin's reminder, the two were not reused in the previous battle, and were also monitored. So, they have no chance to betray. But now that the French are in town, they immediately jump out,

Said to be a puppet army...

Fortunately, the Duke of Milan listened to Marin's advice before, built a strong fort in the Tellina Valley, and quietly deposited a lot of money here. Not only that, there are 4,000 soldiers and horses stationed here, led by one of Ludovico Sforza's cronies. Even the young son of the Duke of Milan was brought here long ago...

With enough money, 5,500 soldiers and horses, plus the terrain of the Telina Valley and the Graubünden controlled by Maximilian I behind it, even the French have to weigh it.

Because there is only one narrow valley in the Talina Valley, it can be said that "one husband is the one who is in charge, and ten thousand people are not allowed to open it". What's more, the Duke of Milan built a defensive fortress in the valley ahead of time. Dangerous terrain and strong fortresses, no matter how many you are, it is difficult to break through.

Moreover, the northern part of the Terina Valley is the emperor's territory, and supplies can be continuously delivered from the Graubünden area. I believe that if the French came to attack the Telina Valley, Maximilian I would never sit idly by.

Therefore, under such circumstances, Ludovico Sforza, who has enough money, food and troops, can completely stay here for a long time.

You must know that after several forts on the front line were breached, Duke Ludovico Sforza sent his cronies and escorted 200,000 gold coins here. By the way, his son was also brought here. With this money, and the large amount of money that had existed here before, the Duke of Milan brought more than 5,000 subordinates, and it was no problem to persist here for a few years. What's more, even if he ran out of money and food, Emperor Maximilian I would certainly be willing to lend it to him. Because, Maximilian I naturally did not deal with the French...

And after Ludovico Sforza ran away with more than a thousand people, Louis XII did not send troops to attack him. From the direction of escape, Louis XII thought that the Duke of Milan had fled to Austria. Obviously, the French are not willing to turn against the Shinra Empire. Moreover, Louis XII did not know that Ludovico Sforza had secretly transferred a large amount of money and food...

You know, the Principality of Milan is the second richest country in Italy, even richer than Naples. Because although the agriculture of the Principality of Milan is comparable to that of Naples, the handicraft industry of the Principality of Milan is too developed. Therefore, the Duchy of Milan has a lot of taxes, second only to Venice and second in Italy. Even though Duke Ludovico transferred more than 200,000 gold coins, 300,000 gold coins and a lot of other property were left in the palace, making Louis XII full.

Moreover, after the French army entered the city, in the largest city in Italy (larger than Venice, but not as rich as Venice), they looted and robbed more valuable property...

The robbery lasted for five days and almost wiped out the citizens of Milan. Therefore, the citizens of Milan are very resentful of the French army. A sense of dissatisfaction breeds among the citizens...

Ten days later, Louis XII continued to take the army south. Because, he is going to attack the kingdom of Naples. As for the city of Milan, Louis XII left it to a few rebels who came from Milan to rule. Its commander was Trivulchio, who was the first to join the French.

Before leaving, Louis XII also scavenged a lot of food from all over the Duchy of Milan to supply the needs of the army. Moreover, he only left 7,000 soldiers and horses for Trivulciao to prevent Trivulciao from becoming bigger. At the same time, Louis XII did not leave any food for Trivulchio, but only gave 20,000 gold coins as military expenses.

But where is the money enough? In desperation, Trivulchio continued to rob citizens after the French robbed them once, and sent troops to the countryside to snatch food... In this way, Trivulchio was completely in the eyes of the Milanese. douchebag. At this time, the Milanese began to miss the "Moor" Ludovico Sforza who was once cursed by them...