The Rise of the European Emperor

Marin's previous worries were very prescient. Sure enough, the grain he stored in Clark Village, west of Siena, was snatched by the Siena defenders who went out of the city to "requisition grain", without even a white note. Leave.

In the village of Yalani in the valley a few kilometers away, which is the second place Marin chose, nothing happened. why? Because Yalani Village is in the mountains, there is not even a road leading to the outside world, and vehicles cannot pass. Previously, Marin had hired a group of donkeys and mules who were good at walking the mountain roads to carry grain into the mountains to store grain here.

In such a place, even if you snatch food, you can't transport it out without a car. You can't count on those mercenary uncles to carry the food out by themselves... So, the village with difficult mountain roads was lucky to escape the disaster of being ransacked by the army...

In ancient times, there has always been a saying that "soldiers and bandits do not separate families". The ancient army was generally more honest in peacetime. But once the war broke out, these officers and soldiers who were supposed to "defend their homes and the country" immediately turned into bandits, suppressing bandits while looting the people in the name of suppressing bandits. Therefore, in order to prevent soldiers from disturbing the people, the Ming Dynasty had no choice but to set the rule that "guests are not allowed to enter the city". The so-called guest army is the passing army from other places. They are not allowed to enter the city because they are afraid that they will take the opportunity to rob the people in the city. There are many rich households in the city and a lot of shops. It would be bad if the passing guest army had evil thoughts.

The Chinese army did not really disturb the people until the Red Army launched the "Three Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention". Bald Jiang himself is not weak, but the discipline of his army is not good, and they use the name of "bandit" everywhere to rob ordinary people and ruin his reputation. Wherever the Communist Army went, it sang "Three Great Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention" loudly to calm the hearts of the people. Such a comparison, it's no wonder that the bald Jiang didn't lose his country.

When Marin rushed to the Alani village in the mountains, 50,000 pounds of barley had been stockpiled here, all of which were bought at high prices in nearby villages. Moreover, the batch of mules that Marin hired before have not yet returned. Because Marin needs these mules to transport the grain out of the mountain. When the army arrives, the food must also go outside Siena with the army. It is not impossible to let the soldiers carry the food out of the mountain, but it is too wasteful of the soldiers' energy. Therefore, Marin rented a long-term contract in advance in order to let these mules help to carry the food out of the mountain and reach the front line.

After Marin disguised himself as a businessman and arrived at Alani Village in the valley, he stayed there and did not leave. Then, hundreds of Marin's subordinates came to the valley where the Alani village was located one after another. They are mainly here to protect Marin's safety. After all, Marin is the real core of Beihai State. If something unexpected happened, the hegemony of the Beihai Kingdom would disappear in smoke. Moreover, after these hundreds of people arrived, they set up guard posts on the mountain road leading to the outside world every day, and the mountain people were not allowed to go out. Because they were afraid that the mountain people would go to Siena to inform them. In fact, they were too worried, and the people in Yalani Village had experience. During the war, they never went out to avoid being blackmailed by the chaos outside. Of course, their vigilance is not useless. At least, it can prevent outside troops from entering the mountain. If the enemy is found, at least it can buy time for Marin to escape into the mountains.

...

Marin waited for the arrival of his subordinates in Yalani Village,

As for Kahn and others, it is more difficult. Because, they are going to wade and land in the winter at the end of November...

The landing site is Jiaoerik Village, a small coastal fishing village in the northwest of the Grosseto Province of the Republic of Siena, located in the northwest of the city of Grosseto.

The reason why I chose here is mainly because it is close to...

The straight-line distance between Eric Village and Siena City is less than 70 kilometers, which is more than 10 kilometers closer than the distance between Grosseto City and Siena City.

However, there is no decent road from Eric Village to Siena City, even if it is a decent mountain road...

Of course, it doesn't mean that Eric Village really has no way to Siena City. The "no road" mentioned here actually means that there is no road for horse-drawn carriages. But if you are on foot, you can also go over the mountains to Siena. Moreover, the donkey mule among the mules can barely walk the mountain road to Siena.

Malinte walked through this mountain road before, and found that the road has a lot of ups and downs, going up and down for a while, it is okay for people to walk, but it is absolutely impossible for a carriage. Because some road sections are too steep. Even if people pass by, they don't use walking, but "climbing". Therefore, this road cannot transport goods at all, and only some pedestrians can walk on foot. Alternatively, some donkeys and mules can also pass. But in some passages with too steep a slope, donkeys and mules cannot climb over with their load...

...

In Italy at the end of November, even if the temperature is higher than that in Germany, it is still very cold. Most of the soldiers were shivering from the cold as they waded to land.

Fortunately, a spy had stored a lot of firewood in Eric's village in advance. So, as soon as everyone got ashore, they immediately sat around the fire. At the same time, he took out the prepared ginger slices and chewed them in his mouth.

On the first day, everyone wasted their time landing and warming up to the fire. It was not until the next morning that the army regrouped and prepared to march eastward.

Before departure, the Italian spy sent by Marin to act as a guide suddenly asked whether it was possible to requisition a group of donkeys and mules to carry more baggage.

Kahn was a little strange, so he asked through a translator:

"Didn't it mean that some sections of the road are difficult for mules to climb?"

The Italian spy who delivered Kiernik explained:

"There are such road sections, but relatively few, only a few sections. Moreover, it is difficult for mules to climb over because they are carrying heavy loads. If it is on that limited section, unload the heavy loads carried by the mules and let the soldiers carry them over. , the mules can still climb over.”

Kahn was stunned, and then sent people to the nearby villages to collect donkeys and mules, but they actually found dozens of mules carrying loads. The area is mountainous, and some farmers simply raise mules to help people carry goods. At this moment, their mules were forcibly confiscated by Kahn. Of course, Kahn gave money, not for nothing.

Then, the four generals Kahn, Stadt, Steindorf and Heynckes led 15,000 soldiers with large backpacks and 50 donkeys and mules full of food, and began to fight in the Siena Mountains. "Crossing mountains and ridges" type of rapid march...

The experienced Stade ordered the army to be divided into two parts - the front part was 14,000 fighters. In the back part, 1000 soldiers guarded 50 donkeys and mules loaded with goods. Each mule carried about three hundred pounds of cargo. In addition to food, they are also responsible for carrying powder kegs. After all, although this army did not carry artillery, the musketeers also consumed gunpowder. Stade asked the musketeers to bring part of the gunpowder themselves, and the rest to be carried by mules. And the 1,000 soldiers walking behind are not only responsible for protecting the donkey and mule transport team, but also responsible for carrying the goods when encountering steep slopes, and even pushing the mule's buttocks uphill...

In addition, the spears of all spearmen were also ordered to saw off the spears, leaving only 3 meters in length. This is because a Swiss-style spear five or six meters long is too heavy to carry on the mountain road. After sawing half of it, it is more convenient to carry. Not only that, but it can also be used as a walking stick for climbing. Moreover, in the city of Siena, when fighting street battles, the five or six meter long spear could not be used. The army of the North Sea State has experienced many urban street battles, and has summed up the experience and lessons-street battle spears, the best length is two or three meters. Moreover, the ones at the front should preferably be sword and shield soldiers...

However, wooden shields are heavier. Generally, those who are selected as sword and shield soldiers are relatively strong and can move wooden shields with their left hands. Or, if you are left-handed, it is also convenient to use a wooden shield.

Therefore, in an army, the proportion of sword and shield soldiers is not high, and they can only account for a small number. However, Marin knew that in the Ming Dynasty at this time, a rattan card with the effect of a wooden shield but very light was popular in the southeast region. It's a pity that Marin has never seen a rattan card, so he doesn't know how to get it. Moreover, there must be old vines suitable for making rattan signs. In Qi Jiguang's mandarin duck formation, there are rattan players, whose status is important. It is said that in the Qing Dynasty, rattan soldiers belonged to the elite special forces, named "tiger-clothed rattan soldiers". Because Kang Mazi felt that the rattan badge soldiers were too explosive, he later ordered the private manufacture of rattan badges to be prohibited. Then, people will find that their left hands are always waving wildly with some southern sword techniques handed down from generation to generation. Blind gestures...

The advantage of the rattan shield is that it is light, and it is not easy to crack like a wooden shield. It definitely won’t work against muskets, but it’s absolutely useless against the aborigines... If the whole army holds rattan cards, the attacks of the aborigines will basically have no effect...

Of course, that's in the future. For the time being, the 2,000-knife shield soldiers selected by Marin can only carry heavy wooden shields covered with iron to climb mountains and ridges... Fortunately, with the support of their comrades, they are also selected as the main force in the entire army wrestlers. Otherwise, just climbing a mountain with a heavy wooden shield on your back would be very sad...