章 40: Charles VIII Northward Withdrawal
In Naples, Italy, King Charles VIII was very upset and even desperate. why? Since the French army entered Italy, it has been very smooth. Basically, the Italian army that resisted the French army saw the French army and fled. Therefore, the French army from Lombardy to Naples, almost lost nobody. Only after entering Naples, several people who lost the siege of the city lost a lot of people. Other battles are basically the Italians themselves running away.
However, after entering Naples, the French army was infected with a strange and terrible disease - syphilis. This extremely powerful infectious disease is mainly spread through indiscriminate communication. According to a study by scientists in later generations in 2011, syphilis was brought back from the Americas by Columbus two years ago. At that time, Columbus brought back a group of Indian female slaves from the Caribbean islands of central America, and these female slaves were infected with syphilis.
Later, some Spaniards infected with this group of female slaves and contracted syphilis. The island of Sicily on the edge of the Kingdom of Naples is also the territory of Spain. As a result, some Spanish sailer brought syphilis to Sicily, and then passed through the Sicilian prostitutes to the neighboring Neapolitans and then into the Kingdom of Naples. After the French army occupied the Kingdom of Naples, tens of thousands of young men, there must be a group of coquettish guys, ran to the brothels in Naples. Then they got it.
In this era, mercenaries especially like to drink and fuck. Then, with these Neapolitan prostitutes as means to release themselves, many French soldier have contracted this serious disease. As a result, many French soldiers and Savoy soldiers, who have been contaminated, began to grow pustule shaped like a plum, the skin began to fester... and then, they died. Because the patients with this disease died too badly, causing serious panic in the French army. What is even more tragic is that the French do not know how the disease came from.
Because the syphilis raged, the morale of the French army fell to the lowest point. At the same time, Charles VIII learned that Venice, the Papal States, the Principality of Milan, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and some small states of Italy formed an anti-French alliance. Not only that, but the mighty Venetian Navy also dispatched a fleet to bypass the southern tip of the Apennine peninsula and began to block the sea route from Naples to Marseille, France. This made Charles VIII realize that if he stayed in Naples longer, he might be trapped here. Others are trapped here, but he can't. He is the King of France. If he is not in the country for a long time, it will easily lead to domestic issue (aka: coup, rebellion...). Moreover, it is said that the British have also begun to harass the Brittany region in northwestern France. Therefore, Charles VIII decided to return to the country to stabilize the situation. To this end, he was in the army, picking the soldiers who did not get syphilis, and returned to the country with him.
Fortunately for Charles VIII, his tens of thousands of troops of the heavy cavalry of the French knight, probably because of the relative restraint of life (Artim's note: the author is referring to the knight's code), so most people did not get syphilis. Most of the soldiers who contracted syphilis were the hired mercenaries, especially the mercenaries of Savoy Piedmont, Italy. These bastards are the most horny, so the rate is very high.
By May, the 23,000 troops of the Savoy's Principality had basically collapsed, leaving only a few thousand people who were broken, but they also completely lost their fighting spirit. Many people, because of fear, have quietly fled the army and returned to their hometowns.
As for the French army, it was fine. Charles VIII selected 8,000 skilled French knights and 4,000 Swiss mercenaries and began to go north. He planned to return to the country before the anti-French alliance reacted. First, to maintain domestic stability, and second, so he can escape the terrible syphilis.
At the same time, in order to control the occupied kingdom of Naples, Charles VIII left the unfortunate Gilbert de Montpencière as the governor of Naples, leading the remaining troops to continue to occupy Naples. This lord was later unlucky and seemed to have died because of syphilis. Then, the French army of Naples collapsed and the French were expelled from Italy.
Charles VIII's northward withdrawal is a runaway behavior similar to running. Therefore, the morale of the French army is relatively low. And because of the severe shortage of supplies, and the 8,000 heavy cavalry carrying as many as 16,000 horses (each heavy cavalry have a war horse and a saddle horse), the demand for grain is enormous. And because the maritime transport route was cut off by the Venetian Navy, the French did not have enough supply. Therefore, Charles VIII had to order and send troops to grab food along the way. Otherwise, the French army would not be able to continue.
In fact, the 12,000 French soldiers selected by Charles VIII are not all healthy. Some people have been infected with syphilis, but during the incubation period in Naples. So, I didn't see it at the time. But on the way to the north, these guys also appeared to rape local women in the process of grabbing food. Then, syphilis marched along the French army and spread out...
At this time, the people of all parts of Italy were very angry with the brutality of the French army and organized the resistance of the people. Therefore, when the French army went all the way north, they suffered a lot of resistance. In order to obtain enough supplies, the French army often needs to besiege those small cities. However, the fierce resistance of the people, although ultimately failed, but it has greatly delayed the pace of the French army north, making the French army march very slowly. While passing through the Papal State, the Pope was angry and savage, knowing that the French would rob, and had already transferred all the main materials to several defensive cities such as Rome, forcing the French to be in the pope's hand and having to find those small towns that were remote. When the French retreated to the north, the anti-French coalition forces were arguing. Of course, the Italians's quarrels are not like the Empire Parliament. The quarrel between the Emperor and Imperial Parliaments is a fierce battle for the distribution of power and a joint restriction of the emperors strength by the major princes. The Italian quarrel is often for the sake of some trivial things, making people laugh.
On the way to the south march, Marin also saw the temptation of Italian mercenaries. Often, on the way to the march, I saw a beautiful girl, many Italian mercenaries left the team without permission, ran to the girl to pick up, and ignored the military discipline. When encountering some wineries, these bandit-like Italian mercenaries will also break into the door and grab the wine of the host family. Then, on the march, you will see Italian mercenaries with many wine bottles tied to them. Therefore, speaking of it, the anti-French coalition forces at this time are no faster than the French. The French were delayed because of lack of food, and the Italians slowed down because of the temptation. Moreover, because the coalition's nominal leader Maximilian I was absent, the Marquis of Mandova and the Venetian general seemed to be competing for the command of the coalition forces, causing the army to be divided.
The Earl Alfred seemed to be very dissatisfied with the Italians' temptation. Therefore, the army of the Holy Roman Empire did not go with the Italian, but went on their way. However, in order to wait for the emperor to return, the army also deliberately slowed down, even more than the Italian army. Marlin seemed to understand that for the Battle of Fornovo, the Italian State were forced to fight with the coalition forces, and there was no such thing as the Imperial army. Because the two armies are not at all together.
The two armies are divided into two groups. The Italian squadron headed by Italy, Italy, such as Venice, Mandowa and Milan, has a total of about 20,000 people. On the other hand, the army that was temporarily led by Earl Alfred, including the 11,000 people of the empire, and the army of several small Italian states that are closer to the empire, a total of 15,000. Therefore, the history book also said that the Holy Alliance army totaled 35,000 people. But in fact, the 15,000 army of the Empire did not participate in the Battle of Fornovovo. The battle was completely ridiculed by Italy. Therefore, it is not surprising that there is such a situation.
Marin did not interfere with the marching line of the Imperial Army. At this time, it was only in early June. It will take about a month for Italian army to confront the French. If he intervened, it would be impossible for the Italians and the French to meet. At that time, his "prophetic foresight" will lose its effect.
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