The Rise of the European Emperor

In the Roman Temple of Langtran, Julius II's anger gradually subsided, and he was still interested in drinking milk tea with Marin. Weng and the husband-in-law chatted while drinking, and then came to the topic of Venice.

Julius II took a sip of milk tea and asked casually:

"Marin, I heard that you have a good relationship with the Venetians?"

Marin was stunned for a moment, but still replied:

"Indeed, in 1494...we...we beat Charles VIII..." In fact, this is an official statement. The real situation is - Marin ambushed Charles VIII's heavy cavalry regiment alone, but finally sold half of the prisoners of war, horses and plate armor to the Venetian tyrants...

If it were not for the millions of gold coins exchanged for Venice by selling prisoners of war, war horses and plate armor, Marin would not have been able to rise up and annex East Friesland just by relying on the island of Texel in the North Sea. It can be said that the battle that ambushed Charles VIII changed Marin's life.

Of course, it also changed Venice. Relying on the false "heroic exploits" of "defeating the French King Charles VIII", the Venetians established a strong prestige in the Italian region. Except for a small number of high-level officials of the Republic of Venice, most Venetians do not know that the beautiful ambush 10 years ago has nothing to do with Venice. The deceived people of Venice thought that Venice's military strength was strong enough to compete with France, the hegemon of the European continent.

Therefore, the current citizens of Venice are walking sideways in the Italian region. These Venetians who don't know the truth seem to regard the Republic of Venice as the "American Empire" of Italy. When they see people in other Italian states, they use their nostrils to look at people...

Although, because of Marin's intervention, when Julius II became the Pope, he had a powerful army of 7,000 people, which was much stronger than in the original history.

However, also because of Marin's handwriting in those days, the Venetians were overwhelmed with self-confidence and felt that they were contemporary "American emperors" and could walk sideways in Italy. Therefore, although Julius II's power was stronger, the Republic of Venice still occupied the Rimini region, including the historic city of Ravenna, as it had in its original history... Moreover, the Venetians believed that, with the Papal State's Strength, it is impossible to retake the Rimini area...

"By the way, you were just a phalanx commander, right? How did you come up with the idea of ​​breaking away from the Austrian army and rushing to Fornovo to participate in that battle?"

"Count Alfred (the Habsburg family) didn't want to lead the army to attack without the emperor, but the Italian coalition frequently asked Austria to send troops. So, I simply took the initiative to fight at that time and brought my own phalanx to act as the The role of reinforcements..."

"Then how did you judge that the French army was about to flee,

And who set an ambush on the mountain road where the French escaped? Are you so sure the French will take that mountain road? ' Julius II continued with interest.

"It's very simple. At the time, I didn't actually know that the French would be the main force to escape (in fact, Marin was clear, who told him to read history...), at that time, I judged that the French were eager to return to the country and might not be able to defeat the Italian coalition. , it is very likely to run away in the middle of the night. So, I simply set up an ambush in the middle of the night. Anyway, even if the French did not escape, I would at best take my men to the air. If the bet is right, then..."

Julius II nodded, indeed, this kind of gambling, there is no loss if you lose, and if you win, you will go to the sky in one step, and it is a very cost-effective transaction. But Julius II continued to ask:

"Still the question, even if the French escaped, how did you make sure that the French would take that mountain route? Maybe they would take another route?"

"It's very simple. At that time, there were only two roads for the French to retreat. One was the mountain road that I set up in ambush, and the other was the plain road along the Tarot River. When the French army and the Italian coalition went to war, I sent people to dig. Opened the banks of the Tarot and flooded the road on the plain. Then the French would have to take the mountain road where I ambushed..."

"Hey—it's really good..." Julius II was shocked by Marin's handwriting. In order to make the French take the bait, they dug the embankment without saying a word...

"By the way, how did your phalanx get mixed up with the Venetian army? It's strange. According to Venice, they had a team of two or three thousand people lost on the way of reinforcements and encountered your army. Phalanx. Then, those two or three thousand people are willing to accept your command... This is not normal... Your phalanx only has more than 1,000 people, and the Venetians have two or three thousand people. Why should they listen to you? The phalanx leader?" Julius II was a little confused...

Of course, Julius II couldn't figure it out, because the so-called Venetian army of two or three thousand people did not exist at all. The phalanx of Marin's troops in total, plus the more than 1,000 Italian farmers who used to frighten the French and pretend to be reinforcements...

Marin thought for a while, and felt that Julius II was his own, and he was in the back room of the Lateran Temple, and no outsiders were present (the entourage who made the tea had already left), so he decided to tell Julius. The truth about II:

"Giuliano, in fact... there was no Venetian army at all, that ambush, from beginning to end, only my army..."

"What? Impossible, according to the French who were captured later, an Italian army did come to reinforce it, and the number was indeed two or three thousand..." What Julius II said was It means that Marin arranged for the more than 1,000 Italian peasants, each with two torches, and the team walked loosely, looking like thousands of soldiers and horses... And Charles VIII, it was because of a misunderstanding that the Italian coalition was chasing after him. I was so scared that I ran away. Also, it's really hard to see at night. If the French knights really stayed and fought to the death, Marin might be defeated.

Marin used the more than 1,000 Italian peasants he had captured to disguise himself as reinforcements, and told Julius II the truth...

Julius II was directly stunned - can the battle still be fought like this?

After a long time, Julius II reacted:

"You...you...you are a genius who is good at fighting..."

Marin is a little embarrassed to be praised - what kind of wizard is he? It's just that the knowledge of later generations has exploded. He has read more related books and technical posts before he understands so much. Aside from the vast amount of advanced knowledge in later generations, Marin is just an ordinary person with a middle-to-high IQ.

"Later, I sold half of the captives, war horses and armor to the wealthy Venetians, and got millions of gold coins... As for the two or three thousand soldiers and horses in Venice, it was a lie that was later made up by cooperation..."

Julius II sighed:

"You are so daring. If Maximilian I knew that you sold the spoils worth millions of gold coins, he would have to kill you. You also know that Maximilian I is the most short of money. And The Habsburg family is also a big family with a lot of money..."

"What's the matter? I had already made plans to escape at that time. With hundreds of thousands of gold coins, I could live comfortably wherever I went. It really didn't work. At that time, I planned to go to England to buy a fief and become a little noble. Anyway, the influence of Maximilian I is also in the German region."

"No wonder, you have a good relationship with the Venetians. It turns out that you are embarrassed and deceived the whole world!"

"Don't say it so ugly, okay? We each took what we needed... I wanted money, and the Venetians wanted fame..."

"Well, since you have a good relationship with the Venetians. Then, I want to ask you to help me with one thing..." Julius II said sternly.

"What's up?"

"On behalf of me and the Holy See, negotiate with the Venetians to see if the Venetians can voluntarily give up the Rimini area in a peaceful way!"

"This...it's very difficult..." Marin hesitated. Convincing a country of profiteers like Venice to spit the meat out of its mouth is not so difficult...

"Nonsense, can I find you without difficulty?"

"I like to hear this. Well, I'll take over this matter. I'll make a trip to Venice, but I can't guarantee whether it will work or not."

"It's okay, just give it a try. If it fails, isn't there an alternative plan for war..."

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