When the French returned along the main road, they slowed down specially when passing near Fornovo, trying not to make loud noises, so as not to disturb the Italians in the Italian coalition camp by the river.
At the same time, Charles VIII took back several French knights who had been scouting near the coalition camp:
"What's the matter with the Italians?" asked Charles VIII.
"Return to Your Majesty, there is no movement." Several French knights have been around the Italian camp and found nothing unusual.
The peace of mind of Charles VIII led his men to walk up the steep mountain road. The mountain road is wide enough for 10 French knights to walk abreast. The slope problem is not a big deal for horses.
The French knights, in order not to disturb the Italians, sealed the mouths of each horse with cloth strips to prevent them from neighing. Then, everyone silently walked up the mountain road and headed northwest.
However, with no torches lit, visibility was limited and their speed was slow. They didn't arrive at Marin's ambush point until around 12 o'clock in the middle of the night.
Here, the French began to relax a little. Because it is already more than ten kilometers away from the coalition camp, and everyone no longer needs to be on guard against the Italians. Thus, the French knights began to talk and laugh. Even Charles VIII discussed with several nobles there how to arrange it after returning to Paris.
In general, if it weren't for the syphilis epidemic, France would still be very profitable this time. After all, such a big kingdom of Naples was taken down. You know, Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples were the most agriculturally developed areas in Europe in this era.
There are many volcanoes in Italy, and volcanic ash is an important natural fertilizer. Europeans don't know how to use manure, but Italians knew how to use volcanic ash as fertilizer in Roman times. Therefore, the southern region of Italy, in the Middle Ages, has always been a wealthy region in Europe. Sicily, in particular, is called the "Golden Basin" by Europeans. Of course, Sicily was snatched by the Spaniards, and it is also very good that the French snatched Naples, which is slightly worse than Sicily.
However, just when they were relaxing, they didn't know that they had entered an ambush...
The first 10 French knights didn't even notice that there were many traps set on this low valley road. As a result, they were all tripped over by a very low-level deadly stumbling horse...
All of the French turned on their backs for a while, and the knights in the front and rear couldn't stop the car for a while. Seven or eight rows of knights collided together, and many horses and knights fell to the ground.
Sensing that the knight in front of the French had already been recruited, Marin stopped hesitating and shouted:
"attack!"
As soon as the words fell, the rows of stones on the mountains on both sides began to fall down...
"what… "
"咴咴..."
For a time, many horses were hit, and the horseshoes were injured and broken by the stone. The French knights on horseback were also thrown off their horses and draft horses one after another.
At the same time, the 100 archers under Marin's command also set up their arrows and opened their bows one after another. For a while, arrows fell like rain...
"what… "
"咴咴..."
Many French knights and horses were recruited again, but in general, the most unlucky ones were the draft horses. Because the horse has no horse armor, and it is impossible to bear the blows of bows and arrows.
For a while, the French were in chaos...
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" The French officer began to shout, asking the knights to defend.
But how to defend this? Because, the blows are all from the sky...
And Charles VIII, surrounded by many knights, looked terrified:
"What's going on? What's going on?" The French fled this time, but they were well prepared, and the Italians didn't move out. The whole process was monitored by French scouts, so they shouldn't be here...
"Could it be a German?" An earl next to him guessed.
"I think so. It seems that 15,000 Germans did not participate in the previous battle..." Another French nobleman interjected. The French also knew that Count Alfred led an army of 15,000 behind and did not participate in the battle.
It is precisely because of this that Charles VIII was in a hurry to leave. If he was trapped by the opponent's 35,000 army, it would be too late for him to escape. The Germans are not this group of Italians. The Germans are martial, and there are many wandering knights with high martial arts among the people. If they are entangled by the German army and the Italians assist, the French are already few and they will definitely not be able to bear it. Therefore, Charles VIII chose to run away very spinelessly, because he didn't want to entangle with the Italians and waste time.
Unexpectedly, they had just left the barracks and planned to run away, but they were blocked here...
In the middle of the night, everyone can't see clearly, and they don't know how many enemies there are. As a result, 8,000 French knights were in a panic under the attack of more than 1,000 German mercenaries. Moreover, the opponent is on the high ground on both sides, and the French knights can't go up at all.
Charles VIII panicked for a while, but calmed down quickly. Because panicking doesn't do much good, it just kills you. He calmly commanded the French army to shrink and defend, leaning together, and putting the horses that were killed and injured at the outermost periphery to block the stones that fell from the hillsides on both sides.
"Fryer, you lead people to attack the left hillside!" Charles VIII ordered.
"Your Majesty, our horses can't go up!" Earl Fryer of Toulouse had a bitter expression on his face.
"Stupid, who told you to climb the mountain on horseback? You take 1,000 people and get off the horse to climb the mountain. You must occupy a commanding height. At least, stop throwing stones on the hillside near our army!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Fryer quickly took the order, leading 1000 plate armor knights, wearing a full set of plate armor, carrying two-handed swords, and began to climb the left hillside. Coincidentally, the place he chose to attack was exactly where Marin was lying in ambush...
"The idiots, let them climb!"
"My lord, what if they climb up?"
"Let's hit the stone slowly first, save some stones, and the archers will continue to shoot at the French main formation."
"Also, yell at me!"
"Yes!"
Soon, strange cries of "Surrender without killing (French)!" and "Charles VIII is dead (French)!" sounded from the hillsides on both sides.
Earl Fryer, who was leading the mountaineering team, was taken aback. He hurriedly stopped climbing, got on his horse, and returned to the main camp to see the situation of Charles VIII...
"You idiot, what are you doing back?" Charles VIII was furious.
"I am worried about His Majesty's safety!" Fryer was loyal.
"Stupid, that's the enemy spreading rumors!"
"Oh..." Fryer hung his head, and went back to organize the climb...
But after such a commotion, the desperate momentum of Fryer's thousand subordinates immediately disappeared. Even the French army's main formation was stretched too long. Those close to Charles VIII naturally knew that His Majesty the King was fine. But those who are left behind don't know. So, in the second half of the French army, many people began to panic...
And Earl Fryer, who was in charge of climbing to seize the commanding heights, had just led people up to the part near the top, but saw Marin's wretched smiling face...
"Hey, even now, you're too short to climb, and it's not enough to smash it..."
With an order, the stones that had been piled up a long time ago were smashed on the head of the Frenchman who was lying on the half slope...
All of a sudden, the seven or eight hundred French knights who were lying on the slope fell down one after another...
The French knights themselves wore thick plate armor, and how could they bear the impact of stones? So, they fell down one after another, like dumpling...
However, this hillside is tens of meters high, which is equivalent to the height of a dozen-story building, so is it safe to fall? Therefore, most of the French knights who were recruited fell and died or were disabled...
As for Earl Fryer, he was lucky. Because, when he fell, a fat knight underneath acted as a pad. Then, when falling down, it was blocked by a few unlucky eggs halfway, which slowed down the falling speed. So, when he finally hit the ground, he miraculously survived the fall, but broke his left leg...
"Ouch, it hurts me to death..."
Soon, the unlucky Earl Fryer was brought before the ashen-faced Charles VIII...
"What a waste!" Charles VIII scolded angrily.
However, he couldn't do anything about the shameless stone-throwing behavior of the people on the mountain. So, he turned his head and told the Earl of Tours:
"Matthews, take someone forward to see how many German troops are in front." In Charles VIII's view, since the opponent set up an ambush, there must be a lot of troops blocking the front.
But soon, Matthews, who led the team to explore the road, reported back:
"Your Majesty, there seems to be no enemy troops ahead, but there are many traps and pits, and it is impossible to pass through on horseback..."
"So that's how it is. I thought there were a lot of people blocking the way..." Charles VIII was also a little dumbfounded...