King of Mercenaries - Chapter 42: Preparation

By June 30, 1495, Marin finally led the square and rushed to the vicinity of Parma. However, Marin did not lead the square to the Italian coalition station and converged with the Italians, but hid in the hilly mountains on the west bank of the Tagus River, the tributary of the Po River (the largest river in Italy). Then, he sent people to the nearby towns and urgently ordered 500 engineer’s shovel.

The reason why he had to order 500 engineer’s shovel is to dig trenches. Marin is going to contain the 8000 French knights who escaped from the French army. If the Frenchman is on the flat ground, the Frenchman will be quite eager to come up. Therefore, it is very important to not allow the French cavalry to rush. And blocking the French cavalry charge, horse trap, and pointed wooden stake is a good choice. When the heavy cavalry charge, it is not the same as when the infantry charge: when the heavy cavalry really makes charge, as long as there are enough people, even a “spear wall” formation can be broken. In contast in face of traps, any horseman must be forced to slow down or even stop the charge. When the cavalry speed is reduced, then the impact is gone. At this time, if you still want to continue the attack, you are definitely making a death wish.

Ditches and pointed stakes need not be mentioned, these are the means used in hunting and battle in Europe. However, Marin’s two trenches are more cumbersome than the current ditch in Europe. The trapping pit is actually a trap for the hunter. A pit is dug on the ground and covered with grass. This simple trap, to the infantry, it is easy to see. But for the cavalry is different. They are rushing from afar and have no time to observe the ground. Even if the trap is rudimentary, to the enemy cavalry when they discover the trap that mean it is too late. When it was identified, the horseman couldn’t stop his ride and could only watch the trap killing his horse. Then, people turned their heads. As for the camouflaged trap, then let alone talk about it, the Chinese people know that it is deadly. There are two types of camouflage trap – dead and live. The so-called dead camouflaged trap is to lay two wooden stakes on the ground, and the wooden are connected by ropes. The horse is rushing over you, and the hoof was caught by the rope trap, then the man is basicaly stunned on the ground or dead. However, this kind of trap means the death of the horse (this kind of trap usually break the front hooves of the horse, so it will not be able to walk ever again, that’s why it is considered dead), and it’s a one use only type of trap. If the rider is good and the horses are obedient, it is possible to avoid the death of the horse. The live type of camouflaged trap is controlled by soldiers. When the enemy cavalry rush over, the soldiers on the sides suddenly pull a cord and it lift a wall of pointy stake. The horses and the knights are normally too late to react, and it become a human/horse shish-kebab. It stands to reason that it is better to use live camouflaged trap. However, the live one also has its own shortcomings – if the enemy soldiers are in the wrong direction, it will be troublesome. In an ambush soldier may itself be exposed to the enemy’s butcher’s knife. The people Marin had were few and could not withstand the loss of personnel, so he decided to use the dead trap strategy. After all, the dead trap is simple and low-cost. Although, the death of the horse is easy to be avoided by the enemy, and they even can make the horse jump directly over it.

However, if Marin uses a combination of multiple traps. Just in front is the dead trap then if will use it again. Often, even if you drive the horse to skip the first trap, it will just fall into the second or third trap. Besides, Marin is planning to ambush the French cavalry in the middle of the night. Even if it is dead trap, the French cavalry will have a hard time to find.

In the next few days, Marin sent a message to Sauer as he explored the terrain. After all, in history the french went northwest, there is more than one road, and Marin was not sure which one was Charles VIII going to take. Because, first of all, he did not know where the French battalion was. Charles VIII fled, certainly starting from the French army camp, taking the most convenient road, and avoiding the direction of the coalition forces to avoid interception. Therefore, in order to judge the direction of the French army’s retreat, we must first know the French army station, and then we must also know the coalition station. Finally, according to these circumstances, the French army escape route can be judged.

However, even if he knew the location of the French army camp, Marin did not dare to prepare an ambush for it. Because, before the escape, the French will definitely explore the way. The French had cavalry and they can send a scout to be completely unstressed. Therefore, in order to successfully ambush the French, it is necessary to avoid the investigation of the French cavalry. However, it is necessary to ensure that the ambush is right. If the Frenchman ran away from an other road, he could not catch up with this small square. Because the other party is a cavalry, and they are on foot. So, in the past few days, Marin ordered all members to practice digging trenches and trapping horses, while it is happening, Sauer’s riding out to explore the terrain and roads.

In the end, Marin determined that there were two major roads in the northwest direction of Fornov. One is the smooth road on the plains. However, this road is to turn north to the east after crossing the Tarot River. The French take this road and it is not a shortcut. Moreover, there is the possibility of being caught up by the coalition forces. Because the coalition forces seem to be on the riverside, as long as they go north, they can stick to this road. The other way is to cross the hilly area and go straight to the northwest. After crossing the hilly area, you can reach the banks of the Po River. Then, along the Po River, you can travel to Asti, the important town of the Piedmont region under the Savoy. And Asti, also the most advanced military fort and assembly area after the French army entered Italy. As soon as you arrive in Asti, the French army is basically safe. Moreover, Charles VIII will not stick to Asti. As long as he left, and if the coalition forces attacked Asti, he wouldn’t be there anymore.

The roads in this hilly area have many slopes and low hills on either side of the road. In Marin’s view, this road is best suited to ambush. Moreover, if the French army marches during the day, it may be difficult to set up an ambush. After all, Charles VIII is not an incompetent general, he will certainly send reconnaissance cavalry to explore the road. However, after the Battle of Fornov, Charles VIII was running overnight. Marching in the middle of the night, as long as Marin’s men did not ignite torches and did not make a sound, it was difficult for the French scouts to find the ambush in the middle of the night. But now the question is, how to get the French army go this mountain road instead of taking the flat road…

To this end, Marin raked his brain.

“Young master, are you unwell?” Kohler came over attentively and gave Marin a bread.

“Oh, no, I just worry, how to let the enemy follow one of my ideas, and take one of the roads instead of the other.” Marlin took the bread and said while biting on it.

“This way… Master, if you broke the other road, isn’t it good? If the road is not good, the enemy can just walk the way you want them to go?” Kohler said with a sigh.

“Destroy the road? Oh, it’s a way!” Marin slaps his head.

Then, Marin began to summon the men, and planned to dig the flat road. Just in time, Marin had 500 engineer shovels in his hand. Two people can take turns to use it. However, Sauer told Marin that the coalition might arrive in Fornovovo through this road. If Marin digs this road, the coalition may not be able to reach Fornov, which Marin expected. Marin thought about it and decided to give up the road for the time being. Because he did not want to destroy the road because of his own, affecting the progress of the Battle of Fornov.

However, he decided that during the day after the war between the two sides, he would bring people and quietly come to this road, dig the road, and make the river to block the French army’s way forward. Then, go to the ambush spot on the other road and wait for the French to come over at night.