King of Mercenaries - Chapter 45: Ambush 2

On the night of September 6, after a heavy rain during the day, the sky seemed to be much cleaner. Although there are still some clouds, it is already very thin. Plus the moon is hanging in the sky. Therefore, there is still a little visibility, although very low.

The French army was running, fearing to alarm the Italian coalition and the Swiss who did not know that they had been abandoned. Therefore, the French did not ignite torches. Because the torch is too conspicuous at night, you can see it at kilometers away. If the 8000 French cavalry is holding a torch, anyone can look at the movement of the French army.

In the middle of the night, the horse could not run because it could not see well. If the enemy troops use the infantry and run, they might catch up, they may not be slower than the cavalry. If you are attacked by the enemy, you can’t escape. Under the night, the cavalry was not as powerful as the pikemen. Moreover, Charles VIII arbitrarily abandoned Swiss mercenaries. At that time, Swiss mercenaries may not be willing to help them run. Therefore, the order of Charles VIII is that at least you must leave Fornovo surrounding and when they could not see any of the lights of Fornovo, then you can light up the torch. Before this, the French army could only rely on the faint starlight and the faint moonlight that was blocked by dark clouds.

This mountain road, because some places have a large slope, it is not suitable for carriage, only horses and pedestrians. Therefore, the road is harsh, there are still a lot of grass and stone on the road, and it has not been completely leveled.

Marin was teaching everyone how to scare the French, suddenly Sauer rushed back and said to Marin:

“Sir, the French are here!”

Marin was shocked and he began to get nervous in his heart. But in order not to affect everyone, it is easy to say:

“French is coming, soldiers, remember, after the battle starts, you must catch Charles VIII! Whoever catches Charles VIII live, I reward him with 10,000 gold coins!”

“10,000 gold coins…” A lot of mercenary saliva for the money as a soldier could not help but flow out. Under the spur of the Marin prize, many people have forgotten the tension, and only the money is left in their eyes.

When the Frenchman got closer and closer, Marin let everyone climb to the hillsides on both sides. As for the mountain, there are only the gullies, wooden pickets, trapped horses and squats that are blocking the French side.

In fact, Marin originally intended to bring people directly in the array below, forcibly blocking the French army. Doing that, although there is a good chance to block the French. However, under the circumstance of the French, they are desperate and could become death soldiers driven by desperation. Because they have no choice but to go this way.

However, the 1,100 people under Marin are all newcomers who have never fought a battle. Let them fight their first battle against the 8000 French Knights who are desperate, the requirements are too high. If you lose, you die here.

Marin had some regrets. He did not find a weak opponent to practice and see blood. Because, only veterans who have practiced and seen blood have dared to fight. The recruits who fight for the first time will not dare to fight the enemy with superior training, equipment and experience. They will not have that confidence. Moreover, Marin had talked with the Swiss military officers before, knowing that Swiss mercenaries know how to fight knights, spearmen… The reason why he used the long halberd was to hook the knight who wore the plate armor and put them down. If you only use a spear to resist the charge of the plate armored knight, the casualties are sure to be big. The Swiss often use the long halberd to knock down the knight, then slowly poke with a spear end, or use a hammer and other weapons to kill or knock down the fallen knight.

However, Marin had only a spearman in his hand, no long halberd, and the bow and arrow can not hurt the plate-knight, and Marin had no gun. Really a straight plate armored Knight’s charge, the square is easy to be broken. Therefore, Marin had no choice but to ambush the French on two high slopes. Even if the ambush become problematic, the French can hardly rush to the high slopes on both sides.

Even if the French knights stepped down, because of the heavy plate armor and the weapons, it is difficult to climb the high slope. Even if you climb the high slope, it is easy to be pushed down by the spear. But if you take off the plate armor, climb uphill and be easily killed by a spear. Therefore, as long as it occupies a high slope, it is in an invincible position. Although the French are not unlikely to break Marin’s defense, it will take a long, long time. The problem is that Charles VIII is running away and there is no time to entangle with Marin. Therefore, Charles VIII’s attention should be to clear the traps on the road, rather than desperately fight Marin’s men.

Marin’s mission was to cause a lot of damage to the French before the French cleared the trap on the road. At the same time, try to create chaos for the French army.

When Marin thought about how to deal with it, Kohler suddenly came together:

“Young Master, I want to ask for a errand.”

“Say!”

“I want to go back to the group of Italian farmers!”

“What?”

“Let them pretend to be reinforcements!”

“This… It’s a good idea!” Marin responded, creating momentum, and working better with a living person.

“Where did the group of farmers go?”

“I just let Tara take people to the nearby villages for the night, and I will recover them.”

“If they are not happy?”

“Nothing serious, they are just some timid farmers, if the young master gave me 20 people, I promise to bring them all back.”

“Good, organize the thousand Italian farmers as soon as possible. You take them to the back of the French, and they will be more ignited, and the formation will be a little thin. It looks like thousands of people. Then, when you are close to here, Let them yell together ‘catch Charles VIII alive’ and scare the French.” A reminder by Kohler, Marin also thought of a way.

“What if the French sent people to fight? This group of farmers can beat the French.” Kohler was worried.

“Be reassured, you gather the team, bring enough torches to make each person takes two. When the team reaches a certain distance, stop, don’t make a noise. Wait until I find signs of breaking the defense of the French. After that,you immediately bring the the torch to ignition and start to make noise.”

“Young master, but I am worried that the French will send a broken army to stop me…”

“You are stupid? The troops that are broken are intercepted by us. Because if they are going to fight with you, we can break their way.”

“Yes…”

“And, I will send people to the back of the French army to smash some big stones and block the road they are marching on. The French are escaping and may concentrate on cleaning up the stones in front, and may not be careful to clean up the back.”

“I am relieved of this, Master, I will go!”

“Well, I will give you 50 people, so that you can hold the farmer.”

“Thank you, Master!” Kohler took 50 soldiers to Tara and the village where the Italian farmers were. Tara itself carries 10 people, plus 50 people from Kohler, the total number is 60, which is enough to force the 1000 farmer.

However, Kohler needs to hurry and make time to make a torch. Marin asked, and each person had to take two torches to scare the French as much as possible. Then, let the 2000 torches go loose, go out of the battle of thousands of troops, and confuse the French.