"How could this be? The enemy doesn't want to stop us?" Charles VIII was a little puzzled.
"Maybe, there are not many people on the other side. Or, they dare not fight head-on with the powerful French knights?"
"Maybe..." Charles VIII paused his thinking and began to observe the two sides...
After observing for a while, he also discovered that there seemed to be not many enemies...
"Matthews, the enemy seems to have only two or three thousand people..." Charles VIII speculated. In fact, he still overestimated the number of Marin's men. After all, according to common sense, without two or three thousand people, one would not dare to provoke 8,000 French knights.
"That's kind, Your Majesty, shall we wipe out this gang of Xiaoxiao?" Earl Matthews said excitedly.
"Idiot, where do we have enough time? Don't even think about it. Once the fight starts here, can they not notify the Italians? If the Italian reinforcements arrive, we won't be able to escape! Moreover, God knows that there are more than 10,000 Germans Where is the person!" Charles VIII did not want to fight recklessly. If those Italians rushed over, it would be difficult to escape. What surprised him even more was, where is the main force of the Germans
"Then, Your Majesty, what shall we do next?"
"Matthews, take 2,000 knights, dismount, and open a safe passage ahead! Remember, at any cost!" Charles VIII said through gritted teeth.
He didn't want to be captured. If he was besieged here by the enemy, he would definitely not be able to escape the fate of being captured. Just imagine, if he was captured, where would he put his face? In the future, who would take what he said seriously? Besides, after being captured, it is inevitable to be humiliated. Maybe, he will be forced to be imprisoned for a year or two like King Richard I of England, and then he will have to pay a huge ransom (Richard I paid a ransom of 150,000 marks to Emperor Henry VI of Shenluo), and maybe he will have to be forced to leave before leaving. Pledging allegiance to an emperor (Richard I was forced to swear allegiance to Henry VI)…
All of this was unbearable for Charles VIII, so he decided that this time he had to run away no matter what. Even if you abandon the army, you will not hesitate. After all, the army can be recruited when it is gone. If he is gone, the fun will be great.
Matthews also felt the determination of Charles VIII, so he took 2,000 strong French men, holding two-handed swords, against the stones that fell from his head from time to time, and began to cut those dead ties. At the same time, using the two-handed sword as a shovel, began to dig and fill the pit...
However, how can a two-handed sword compare with an engineer shovel? That efficiency is far behind the old nose... So, Matthews' efficiency is very slow...
An hour later, Charles VIII became a little impatient, and he summoned the Earl of Tours:
"Matthews, what's going on?"
"Your Majesty, the speed is a bit slow, the two-handed sword filling the hole is too slow..."
"Then don't think about fixing the whole road, and focus on a narrow passage first."
Charles VIII didn't want to wait any longer. In his opinion, the enemy troops on the hillside must have notified the Italian camp. If he had to wait for an hour or two, the Italians might have rushed over, and he couldn't afford to wait.
After receiving the order, Matthews changed his method and began to dig only a passage that could only pass the width of a horse. In this way, the speed is indeed much faster...
Marin looked at it from above, this is not possible. So, he started clamoring:
"Reinforcements are coming, reinforcements are coming, we will capture Charles VIII alive and chop him to pieces!" This sentence is also spoken in French. Many of his subordinates had gone to work in France and could speak French and acted as interpreters for him at any time.
After Marin finished shouting, the next stick man also followed suit. Charles VIII was taken aback—Nima, these mobs are going to hack the king to death? Don't you know that Europe is not allowed to kill nobles? However, if you accidentally kill yourself on the battlefield, it is not a violation. The rules in Europe are that it is not allowed to kill nobles who surrendered, but it does not say that nobles who are in battle are not allowed to be killed. Surrender, Charles VIII will not choose. Because, that would be so insulting...
The 2,000 French knights brought by Matthews tried their best to fill in the pits and pull out the stakes. Even though 300 people were smashed to death, they still refused to stop. Marin had already seen that the French ran away determinedly.
So, he waved his hand and called Kahn:
"Kane, take someone to move more big rocks!" Marin decided to use big rocks to block the narrow passage dug by the French...
Speaking of which, because each of the French was wearing thick plate armor, the effect of bow and arrow strikes was average, but they shot and killed many draft horses without armor. Seeing this situation, Marin simply asked the archer to slow down the shooting frequency.
Through a telescope, he observed and deduced that the number of French people who were stoned to death was only five or six hundred. In addition to those who were killed and injured when they climbed down the slope before, the French lost only seven or eight hundred people. For example, if a small stone hits a French knight, at most it hurts or hurts a little, but no one can die.
Seeing this, Marin simply stopped the archers and asked them to move medium-sized stones. A medium stone can kill a person, but also move it. Unlike big rocks, which can only be pushed and rolled down, and cannot be thrown down, hitting the person is purely luck. The kind that can injure and kill the enemy is at least a stone about the size of a brick.
Marin was also struggling with the tortoise-like defense of the French knights. He finally knew why the Spanish phalanx used big muskets instead of bows and arrows. Bows and arrows are effective against infantry without plate armor, but they are completely useless when used to shoot plate armor knights. Just now the archers shot so many arrows that the number of casualties caused by the French army must not exceed 100, which is far less lethal than the stone.
Marin can be sure that if it is on the plains, his team that lacks actual combat experience will definitely not be able to withstand the impact of the French knights at all costs. Fortunately, he sent people to ambush on the mountain, and it was difficult for the French to climb the mountain.
After another period of time, after losing 800 knights, Matthews finally opened a passage one horse wide in the dense array of traps...
"Your Majesty, I finally opened a passage!"
"Are you sure there are no traps ahead?"
"Sure, I have sent someone to investigate!"
"Okay, rush over!"
"Yes!"
As a result, groups of French troops gathered and rushed to the very narrow passage...
However, the passage can only accommodate one person and one horse, so the passing efficiency is surprisingly low...
After an hour or so, 1,500 French knights passed through, including Charles VIII and Earl Matthews, who are close friends of Charles VIII...
But at this moment, the team led by Kahn moved a lot of big rocks and piled them on the hillside...
At the same time, Marin released three firecrackers made by himself:
"Boom-pa-"
"Boom-pa-"
"Boom-pa-"
"What is that?" Count Matthews looked up at the sky curiously.
"No, it's the enemy calling for reinforcements!" Charles VIII's expression changed drastically.
Kohler, a few miles to the south, immediately ordered after seeing the signal:
"Light two torches, one person takes two, spread out, but keep in formation. Brothers, you arrange their positions!" These torches are wooden sticks that Kohler found casually in the village, A simple torch made of a rag soaked in grease tied to the head will not burn for a long time, but it does not need to burn for a long time.
After everyone's torches were lit and they took their positions, Kohler began to order again:
"Those of you who can speak Italian, command these Italian farmers to shout in Italian, 'Seize Charles VIII and destroy the French'!"
Then, 1,000 Italian peasants lined up in a sparse formation, shouted, and walked slowly towards the ambush site...
"Your Majesty, it's too bad. The enemy's reinforcements are coming from the south. There may be thousands of people!" The scouts who stayed behind the palace in the south rushed to the front to report.
"Oops, who is it?"
"It seems to be the Italians. From a long distance, I can hear them shouting 'destroy the French', and... seize your majesty..."
"What..." Charles VIII's face was livid.
But what made him even more angry was yet to come. At this time, Kahn and other strong men who had moved the big stones began to push the stones down the mountain, in the direction of the narrow path where the French opened the passage...
Hundreds of big stones roared and rolled down, blocking the passage of the French cavalry at once...
At this time, there were less than 2,000 French cavalry passing through this passage. The unlucky Earl Fryer with a broken leg happened to be stuck in the valley...
"What should I do?" Matthews panicked.
The French thought that the main force of the Italians was coming, and if they were surrounded, they would not be able to escape at all.
Charles VIII gritted his teeth and struggled for a while, then he sent someone to climb over the stone and told Earl Fryer, who had a broken left leg:
"I'm going first, you lead the people to the rear, and block the Italians. If you really can't resist... you can surrender... I will spend money to redeem you..."
Earl Fryer was stunned. He knew that he was abandoned by His Majesty the King... Although Charles VIII promised to redeem him, a captured noble will become a laughing stock in the noble circle...
Seeing Charles VIII and about 2,000 French knights fleeing away, Earl Fryer's confidence collapsed. Coupled with the severe pain from his left leg, he had already lost the confidence to resist... Moreover, Charles VIII also allowed him to surrender...
Under his chaotic command, the knights left by the French in the valley became even more chaotic...
And the escaped Charles VIII, in order to go into battle lightly, ordered his men to take off the plate armor and take off the armor of the horses, just to be able to run away easily...
According to the guide's instructions, go a little further north and you will enter the plain area. At that time, he would not have to take the main road, so he would not worry about being ambushed again. On the plains, it is very difficult for infantry to ambush cavalry. In particular, the French took off their plate armor and horse armor, so they were able to go into battle lightly, and it would not be a problem to escape for one or two hundred miles in one breath...