The Battle of Fornovo was said to be a battle, but it was actually a farce. Because neither side is desperate. The only serious battle was that of the Venetian infantry crossing the river to attack the Swiss phalanx. And that battle lasted more than an hour in total.
Of course, there were a lot of casualties in this battle. The Swiss suffered more than 1,000 casualties, and the Italians suffered more than 2,000 casualties. Counting those who were scared away and fled, the Italians lost a total of about 5,000 people.
But the strange thing is that the light cavalry of Mandovan and Milan, who were in charge of outflanking the French army, went to the fucking road to pick up gold and silver treasures.
This is also a strategy of Charles VIII. He knows that the coalition forces have thousands of light cavalry. He is naturally not afraid of a head-on confrontation, but he is worried that this group of Italian cavalry will outflank them from the side.
So, in order to get out as soon as possible, he gritted his teeth and scattered all the gold, silver and treasures that he was reluctant to lose on the roads on both sides of the French army's needle thread...
It has to be said that Charles VIII's strategy was very successful. You know, most of the soldiers in this era are mercenaries, and they fight for money. Charles VIII gave up money, and indeed attracted the group of Italian cavalry. Then, the 6,000 Italian cavalry also forgot that they were here to fight the French, and went directly to pick up treasures...
At this time, Charles VIII had no intention of fighting, so he quickly led people away from the battlefield and went back to the camp first, leaving only the Swiss and the Venetians to confront each other. Afterwards, the Swiss also withdrew to the French camp. The remaining 5,000 infantry in Venice (in addition to the 2,000 killed, 3,000 were dispersed by the Swiss), did not dare to chase the Swiss, but retreated at the same time.
In the French camp, the French and the Swiss are stationed separately. The Swiss camp is on the northeast side, facing the direction of the coalition forces. The French knights were stationed on the southwest side, separated from the Swiss camp.
After returning to the camp, Charles VIII had already made plans to escape at night. Therefore, he directly ordered the men and horses to rest. The scouts are responsible for finding bridges and boats across the river.
In fact, this road was originally the route for the French army to go south. Therefore, the scouts of the French army did not go too deep into the two northward roads to investigate, and did not find Marin's ambush site.
Moreover, it was getting late, and the scouts could not see too far. After scouting a few kilometers away, the French scouts confirmed that there was nothing wrong. Moreover, the coalition army camp was also monitored by French scouts. After confirming that the coalition forces returned, they ate and drank and prepared to rest...
At about 9 o'clock in the evening, according to the report of the French scouts, Charles VIII confirmed that the Italians in the coalition camp had basically rested, so he began to gather all the French knights and prepared to run away.
At this time, the French scouts just collected enough wooden boats and built a pontoon bridge across the small Tarot River to facilitate the French knights to cross the river.
Then, at around 10 o'clock in the evening, the French army began to cross the river somewhere in the west of the Tarot River, which was far from the coalition camp. At this time, the Swiss were still kept in the dark, they were abandoned by Charles VIII...
Around midnight, all the knights and horses of the French army crossed the Tarot River. Then, under the command of Charles VIII, began to march along the riverside road in a north-east direction.
But after traveling 10 kilometers, it happened to arrive at the place where Marin dug the embankment...
"What's going on? Why did it stop?" Charles VIII, who was in the middle of the team, drove forward and asked.
"Your Majesty, the embankment seems to have collapsed due to the torrential rain. Now, the roads and farmland are flooded. Cavalry, it is difficult to pass..."
"Then what should we do? Can we just turn around?" Charles VIII said helplessly.
"Your Majesty, I remember that there is another road leading to Asti, and that road is shorter than this road." A scout officer recommended.
"Oh, there is still such a way? Why didn't we take that way last time?"
"It's like this. It's a mountain road. People and horses can pass without any problem, but the artillery is difficult to walk. When we came last time, we carried too many artillery, so it's not suitable to take that road."
Indeed, when the French army came to Italy last year, it brought more than a hundred artillery pieces. Walking on the mountain road is really choking. But at this time, the French army had lost all the artillery. Even the carriage carrying the treasure, because the treasure has been scattered, there is no need to carry it.
It is still possible to ride a horse through the less steep mountain roads in the hilly area. After all, a horse is a four-legged animal, not a carriage that requires high road requirements. When encountering a mountain road with a slight slope, horses can pass. However, knights could not easily pass the flooded roads on the plain. Because the flooded roads and farmland will be very soft. The French knights in heavy armor weighed an astonishing total. After passing through the flood zone, the horseshoes tended to get stuck in the quagmire and it was difficult to get out.
Moreover, Charles VIII was worried that the coalition forces would learn the information and came to surround him. Therefore, in order to hurry, Charles VIII ordered decisively to turn back, walk the legendary mountain road, and plunge into Marin's trap...
In fact, it was useless for Charles VIII to be cautious. Because, at night, French scouts can't see very far. Even if he walked into the ambush, as long as he didn't fall into the horse pit and trench, he couldn't see the ambush.
At the same time, because the French sent many scouts to scout the camp of the Italian coalition forces, they repeatedly confirmed that the Italians did not send people and troops abroad. Therefore, being as smart as Charles VIII, he never thought that there would be someone waiting to overshadow him early on.
While the French turned around and hurried on their way, Marin was teaching his subordinates to speak French:
"Brothers, we will ambush the fleeing French later. There are so many of them that we have no chance of winning. But in the middle of the night, the French cannot see clearly, so we can scare them."
"Come on, everyone tell me 'surrender, don't kill' (French)..."
"Surrender without killing (French)..." The soldiers were a little confused, and at the same time, a little nervous.
But Marin fooled them, saying that the army was defeated and their morale was low. Otherwise, if these grandsons know that they are facing 8,000 unscathed French heavy cavalry, they may not have the courage to fight. However, they were ambushing on the high slopes on both sides of the road, and the French cavalry couldn't charge up the high slopes, so they were not worried. Moreover, even if the French find that they are few in number, they will not stop and attack the high slopes on both sides with all their strength. Because the French are fleeing, and they are most afraid of alarming the Italian coalition forces. As long as they withstand a few waves of attacks, the French will not continue to waste time by attacking.
And Marin did not intend to completely wipe out the French army. His plan was to hit the French army hard. At the same time, they used the night to frighten the French army, causing the French army to mess up their positions. If you can kill or capture Charles VIII in the chaos, it will definitely be a feat...
Because it was at night, it was difficult for the French to know how many people Marin had under him through observation. As long as Marin's men pretend to be imposing, the French army can be restrained.
"Charles VIII is dead (French)!" Marin taught everyone to shout again.
"Ah?" Some French-speaking soldiers were puzzled. Isn't this a rumor
And what Marin wants is the effect of spreading rumors. The French must have been in a panic when they were suddenly attacked in the middle of the night. On my own side, shouting "Charles VIII is dead" in French will definitely cause great confusion to the French army. Charles VIII, on the other hand, had no megaphone to justify himself. With 8000 French troops, someone will always be frightened by this fake news.
This trick was learned from the "Battle of Feishui". The 800,000 troops of the former Qin Dynasty were tricked into retreating, Zhu Xu shouted "Qin army is defeated" from behind the formation, and then the group of leading soldiers of the former Qin Dynasty, who didn't know why, really thought they were defeated, so they retreated instead of fleeing. As a result, the 800,000 former Qin army lost to the tens of thousands of Eastern Jin troops inexplicably...
Marin planned to wait for the French to enter the ambush circle, first hit a round of stones, and then shoot a few rounds of arrows. Then, send people to shout "Charles VIII is dead!" in French, and at the same time, send people to make noise. Even if Charles VIII wanted to shout out to prove that he was alive, he would be covered by noise. Then, it's hard for the French not to be confused...