The Rise of the European Emperor

After the banquet, Louis XII planned to organize a counterattack immediately. However, the newly promoted Viscount John Lafite stopped him:

"Your Majesty, at this time, we can't make any moves, especially not to fight back!" These are the strategies Marin secretly confessed.

"Why?" Louis XII was a little puzzled. The enemy has left, shouldn't we take the opportunity to counterattack?

John Laffey recalled the content of Marin's letter and replied:

"If we are in a hurry to fight back now, it would be fine if we can defeat the Spanish army at once. If we can't defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, it is very likely that the Spaniards will go back on their word and bring that guy Gonzalo back!"

Louis XII thought, this is really the case. If as soon as Gonzalo de Cordoba left, the French began to organize a counterattack, and even achieved certain results, wouldn't that prove from the side that Gonzalo's transfer was wrong? Once the guy was brought back, the Frenchman's previous efforts were in vain. So, really have to wait, lest the Spaniards go back on their word.

"What's more, the Spaniards sent a few big nobles to take over the military power, but they just arrived, and they will definitely not overthrow the military deployment plan left by Gonzalo. At this time, our counterattack is just the same. Besides, a few of them have just arrived, and they haven't been able to get the military power yet."

"So, we have to wait for a while until these trash get the military power. Moreover, after they take power, there is another benefit..."

"What's the benefit?" Several other French favorites asked with interest.

"Ferdinand II specially sent five Spanish nobles to take power together in order to prevent the military power from being controlled by powerful ministers. Although this will prevent one family from being dominant, it is also prone to a serious problem-infighting As long as time goes by, those 5 people will fight internally and fight for control of the army without us taking action. Once their fighting intensifies, there will be certain chaos within the Spanish army. At that time, it will be the best time for us to attack Opportunity!" John Lafite recited this long "line" pretending to be calm. In the end, he also assumed the posture of a worldly expert...

Louis XII and a group of French favorites were immediately shocked. Even Charles, the former Duke of Geddes, who was truly extraordinary in strategy, looked at John Lafite with admiration and agreed with his judgment very much.

"Excellent, my Viscount John. Then, for the next period of time, we will stand still and wait for their civil strife?" Louis XII said happily.

John Lafite shook his head pretentiously, and said:

"No, we can't wait. It's better to pretend to be frustrated and pretend that we can't beat the Spanish army. This tactic is called deliberate weakness, and its purpose is to strengthen Ferdinand II's determination to transfer Gonzalo. Right now I think that Ferdinand II is also conflicted in his heart, for fear that those people are not our opponents. If that happens, Ferdinand II may go back on his word and call Gonzalo back. Therefore, the minister My opinion is that during this period of time, I deliberately showed weakness, making Ferdinand II mistakenly believe that these idiots are very capable. In this way, it can also strengthen his determination to transfer Gonzalo away, and prevent him from going back on his word!"

"And once we show weakness, those five idiots may mistakenly think that the French army is nothing more than that. Then, they will feel at ease fighting among themselves. If we act too strong, these people may unite and fight us wholeheartedly." ! Only by making them mistakenly think that they have the chance to win, will they engage in internal fighting with peace of mind!"

After finishing speaking, after a long silence, Louis XII took the lead in applauding and said:

"That's great! I think you all have no objections to my promotion of him as Viscount?"

The French nobles present applauded together and shook their heads again and again. Just kidding, their brains can never think of these. Moreover, the king of France has the final say. Even if they object, it will be invalid. It is better to save face.

Next, the French army in Naples stopped a lot. Even the Spanish soldiers shouted and cursed outside the city, but they didn't curse back. Moreover, the city was deliberately filled with old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers,

They were also asked to pretend to be moaning.

Sure enough, the Spanish soldiers under the city were very surprised to see that the French at the top of the city did not scold them back. Moreover, they also saw the old, weak, sick and disabled French soldiers moaning on the city wall. Then, the Spanish soldiers who were tired of scolding returned to the camp and reported this abnormal situation.

Francis, the adjutant left behind by Gonzalo de Cordoba, instinctively felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong. And several new commanders were there to discuss:

"Could it be some conspiracy?"

"Can't you? That's the king of France! The king doesn't want to lose face?"

"Well, that's right, it seems that something happened in the city..."

Then, a few guys made up their minds about the infighting in the city, food shortages, etc., and even suspected that Louis XII had died...

Soon, a few Spanish bigwigs blindly made up the content of their own brains and spread in the Spanish army camp. When the news reached one of the tents in the camp, a Spaniard dressed as an officer flashed his eyes...

That night, a secret letter was sent to Beihai by carrier pigeon. After receiving the secret letter, Marin opened his mouth in surprise—why don't these guys write novels?

However, the next day, Marin sent the content of the secret letter to John Lafite in the middle of the night through another system of messenger pigeons, and gave Lafite some other instructions, including two sets of plans to show weakness.

John Lafite was also shocked when he received the secret letter, and he was overwhelmed by the whimsical ideas of several Spanish nobles. As for the plan of showing weakness given by Marin, John Lafite thought about it and ruled out the plan of pretending that King Louis XII was critically ill. He was afraid that this plan would be regarded as an unlucky curse by Louis XII. Therefore, he only chose the second plan...

"Your Majesty, let's deliberately disclose false news to the Spaniards, pretending that there is a shortage of food in the city!" John Lafite suggested.

"Pretending to be short of food? Yes, but how do you disclose it to the French?"

"We can use a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, we send messengers on horseback to be intercepted by them on purpose. On the other hand, we deliberately sacrifice one or two carrier pigeons to let them intercept..."

"Wait...why did the pigeon intentionally let the opponent intercept it?" Louis XII asked curiously.

"It's simple. We release carrier pigeons during the day, deliberately letting them detect them in advance. In addition, we tie more letters on the carrier pigeons and make them heavier. In this way, the carrier pigeons cannot fly high and are easily shot down by the opponent. In this way, fake news Intercepted by them..."

Louis XII thought for a while and said:

"It's a good idea, but I'm afraid that if the carrier pigeon is not intercepted, if the country receives false news, there may be chaos..."

John Laffey said in his own words:

"Your Majesty, don't worry. We released a batch of carrier pigeons at dawn in advance to tell the country that the news brought back by the carrier pigeons that flew back within two days is fake. Of course, there are marks on the fake letters, so you can understand it when you see it!"

"That's a good idea! Let's do it like this, you hurry up and send someone to prepare a fake letter!"

"Obey!"

...