In Naples, Italy, King Charles VIII of France was very distressed, even a little desperate. why? Since the French army entered Italy, it has been very smooth, the so-called "invincible, invincible".
Basically, the Italian army resisting the French army fled when they saw the French army. Therefore, the French army fought from Lombardy to Naples with almost no losses. Only after entering Naples, many people were lost in several battles besieging the city. In other battles, the Italians basically escaped by themselves.
However, after entering Naples, the French army contracted a strange and terrible disease - syphilis...
This extremely serious infectious disease is mainly spread through promiscuity. According to later research by scientists in 2011, syphilis was brought back from America by Columbus two years ago. At that time, Columbus brought back a group of Indian female slaves from the Caribbean islands in central America, and some of these female slaves were infected with syphilis.
Later, some Spaniards contracted syphilis through sexual intercourse with these female slaves. Sicily, on the edge of the Kingdom of Naples, is also Spanish territory. As a result, some Spanish prostitutes brought syphilis to Sicily, and then, through the prostitutes in Sicily, it was transmitted to the neighboring Naples, 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 such a group of coquettish guys, went to the brothels in Naples to mess around. Then, they get infected.
In this era, mercenaries especially like drinking and whoring. Then, through the medium of these Neapolitan prostitutes, many French people were infected with this serious disease.
As a result, many French soldiers and Savoy soldiers were recruited one after another, and pustules in the shape of plums began to grow all over their bodies, and their skin began to fester... Then, they died...
Because of the terrible death of patients with this disease, there was a serious panic among the French army. What's even more tragic is that the French have no idea how this disease comes from...
Because of the raging syphilis, the morale of the French army dropped to the lowest point. At the same time, Charles VIII learned that Venice, the Papal State, the Duchy of Milan, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and some small Italian states had formed an anti-French alliance.
Not only that, the powerful 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 continued to stay in Naples, he might be trapped here. It's fine for other people to be 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 changes. Moreover, it is said that the British have also begun to harass the Brittany region in northwestern France.
Therefore, Charles VIII decided to return home to stabilize the situation. For this reason, in the army, he selected soldiers who were not infected with syphilis and returned home with him.
Luckily for Charles VIII to arrive, among his tens of thousands of troops, the heavy cavalry from the French knight family, probably because of their relatively abstinent life (not a good person), most of them did not contract syphilis.
Most of the soldiers who contracted syphilis were bohemian mercenaries, especially those from Savoy Piedmont, Italy. These bastards are the most lustful and thirsty, so the rate of success is extremely high.
By May, the 23,000 army of the Principality of Savoy had basically collapsed, leaving only a few thousand people in panic, but they had completely lost their fighting spirit. Many people, out of fear, quietly fled the army and returned to their hometowns.
As for the French army, it was okay. Charles VIII selected 8,000 still healthy French knights and 4,000 Swiss mercenaries, and began to go north, intending to kill back to the country before the anti-French alliance reacted. Firstly, to maintain domestic stability, and secondly, to avoid the terrifying syphilis...
At the same time, in order to control the already occupied Kingdom of Naples, Charles VIII left the unlucky Gilbert de Montpensier as Governor of Naples, leading the remaining army to continue to occupy Naples. This gentleman was more unlucky later, he seemed to have died of syphilis. Then the French army in Naples collapsed and the French were driven out of Italy.
Charles VIII's retreat to the north was a kind of escape behavior similar to running away. As a result, the morale of the French army was relatively low. And because of the severe shortage of supplies, plus 8,000 heavy cavalry carrying as many as 16,000 horses (each heavy cavalry carries a war horse and a pack horse), there is a huge demand for food and grass. And because the sea transportation route was cut off by the Venetian navy, the French were short of supplies. Therefore, Charles VIII had to order to send troops along the way to grab food, otherwise, the French army would be unsustainable.
In fact, not all of the 12,000 French soldiers selected by Charles VIII were healthy. There were people with syphilis who were still incubating in Naples. So, I didn't see it at the time. But on the way to the north, these guys also raped local women in the process of grabbing food. Then, syphilis spread along the route of the French army...
At this time, people all over Italy were very indignant at the brutality of the French army, and they organized the people to resist. Therefore, when the French army went all the way north, it encountered a lot of resistance. In order to obtain enough supplies, the French often need to besiege those small cities. However, they resisted fiercely. Although they failed in the end, they greatly delayed the pace of the French army's northward march, making the French army's march very slow.
When passing through the Pope's country, the Pope was cunning and cunning, knowing that the French would rob, he had already transferred all the main supplies to Rome and other large cities with strong defenses, forcing the French army to find those remote small towns in the Pope's country. Go looting to get enough food and supplies. Otherwise, Charles VIII could not afford to support so many people and horses.
And when the French were dawdling to go north, the anti-French coalition forces were also dawdling and arguing endlessly. Of course, the Italians are not bickering like the Shinra Council. The quarrel in the Shenluo Empire Council is a fierce competition for the distribution of power, and it is the joint restriction of the princes on the emperor. The Italians' quarrels are often for some trivial things, which makes people laugh and cry.
On the way to the south, Marin also saw the teasing of Italian mercenaries...
Often, when they saw a beautiful girl during the march, many Italian mercenaries would leave the team without permission, and went to pick up girls, ignoring military discipline and regulations at all.
When encountering some wineries, these bandit-like Italian mercenaries will also break in and rob the owner's wine. Then, you will see Italian mercenaries with many wine bottles tied to their bodies on the marching road...
So, speaking of it, the anti-French coalition forces at this time were not marching faster than the French at all. The French delayed their speed because of lack of food, while the Italians slowed down their marching speed because of teasing.
Moreover, because the nominal coach of the coalition forces, Maximilian I, was absent, the Marquis of Mandova and the Venetian general Nicolo Pitti Liu Nuo seemed to be competing for the command of the coalition forces, causing the army to be in a mess.
Earl Alfred seemed to be very dissatisfied with the teasing of the Italians, so Shinra's army did not go with Italy after that, but went the other way. However, in order to wait for the return of the emperor, the Shinra army also deliberately slowed down, even lagging behind the Italian army.
Marin seemed to understand why the Battle of Fornovo was fought by Italy to force the coalition forces, and there was nothing wrong with the Shenluo Empire. Because, the two armies are not together at all...
The troops of the two sides are divided into two groups. The Italian Army, headed by Italian states such as Venice, Mandova, and Milan, has a total of about 20,000 people, which is one of them.
The other route is temporarily led by Earl Alfred, including 11,000 soldiers from Shinra, and a total of 15,000 troops from several small Italian states that are closer to Shinra.
Therefore, the history books also say that the Holy Alliance army has a total of 35,000 people. But in fact, the 15,000 troops of Shinra did not participate in the Battle of Fornovo at all. That battle was completely fought by the Italians and forced the coalition forces. Therefore, it is not surprising that such a situation occurred.
Marin did not interfere with the marching route of the imperial army. At this time, it was only early June. It will take about a month before the Italians will force the coalition forces to face the French. Had he intervened, the Italians and French might not have met. And at that time, my "foresight" will lose its effect...