Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2204 Italian Peninsula

"Look! What a mighty and majestic army!" Outside a barracks on the outskirts of Milan, an army of around 3000 people was being inspected.

The troops under review are all organized, generally including two infantry regiments (1250 Spanish establishments) and one cavalry regiment (500 people), all of whom are experienced soldiers drawn from active-duty troops in various countries.According to the suggestion of the East Coast Military Advisory Group, they did not recruit those veterans who had wandered abroad for many years and served as mercenaries for several monarchs, but focused on looking for honest soldiers who had been on the battlefield but had little habit.

These honest people may not be as experienced as the mercenaries who have fought for many years, but they are relatively hardworking and obedient. As long as they formulate strict and scientific training plans and carry them out without compromise, they will become good soldiers. The people on the east coast who have formed too many reserve or servant troops are very confident in this.

Of course, those mercenaries will not be wasted.Although they are very habitual, they were also incorporated into the army and formed the backbone of the third and fourth divisions of the Northern Italian Allied Forces.Each of these two divisions has about 5000 people, and each has three infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, and Japanese soldiers, engineers, heavy soldiers, guards and other miscellaneous personnel. Yes, it's just a little smaller.

Judging from the composition of these troops, the Northern Italian coalition with a total of four divisions and 2 people is relatively scientific, and it is the only one in the European continent in this era.The French and Austrian armies may also have similar units, but neither the scientific level of organization nor the guiding theory of the troops is as clear as the troops built by the East Coast consultants, although their combat effectiveness is definitely stronger than that of these Italians .

The equipment of 2 people in four divisions is not a small business.More than half of them were ordered from the east bank, especially the artillery, almost all of which were bought from the east bank (subsequent ammunition was partially produced by the Milan Arsenal, and some were purchased from Lisbon), and a considerable part of the muskets and other military materials were self-produced. If it is insufficient, it will be purchased outside.As for the war horse, it was imported from Spain and the price is not cheap, but it seems to be no problem for the Italians.

The commanders of the four divisions were appointed by a separate military council.The members of the committee come from various city-states, there are more than ten people in total, and important military operations are also decided by them.It can be said that the Military Council of the Northern Italian Confederation is the lifeblood of the entire region and the biggest security barrier. If the French go crazy and attack them in the future, I believe that these four divisions can also make the French pay a certain price.The northern Italian countries are no longer pitiful bastards who can be bullied!

"The boys are also very energetic, and it can be seen that the morale is very high!"

"If they go through another two years of rigorous training, I think they will be ready for battle."

"Our interests need such a powerful army to defend, otherwise the shameless French will blackmail us endlessly, as they have always done."

"It's just that there are more officers in Venice. I don't like this very much. I think it is a potential hidden danger."

"Except for the Savoys who have bowed their knees to Louis XIV, the Venetians have the richest war experience. After all, not everyone can defeat the Turks on the Dalmatian coast, nor can anyone invade Greece. .”

"Forget about Savoy. They're so frightened that they dare not join the coalition or pay for it. It's a shame."

"But we still have to win over them in the future. Their army is not bad, but unfortunately they met the French. In order to balance the power of Venice, which is too powerful, we need the Savoys."

"If none of you can fight, I don't think it will be our Venetian turn to control the overall situation. Our officers are all professional, you better respect them."

……

Outside the noisy barracks, Mr. Cai Zhenguo, the special envoy of the East Coast Republic of China to Europe, was chatting with Paul from the Doria family.

"How is the formation of the navy going?" Cai Zhenguo asked.

According to the previous plan, the Northern Italian coalition forces were divided into two parts: the army and the navy.Among them, the army is dominated by the Venetians, supplemented by some officers and soldiers from Tuscany, Milan, and Modena. It is temporarily organized into four divisions with about 2 people.The navy is dominated by Genoa, which has a deep sailing tradition, and its establishment is tentatively scheduled to be ten sailing warships and twenty galley warships.Among them, the galley warships can't be found at all, and Genoa can take out half of them by himself, and everyone can get together the rest, and basically work together. The main trouble is the sail warships. Their pure sail armed merchant ships are available Some, but in this day and age, it is obviously inappropriate and can only be ordered from outside.

"The galley warships are basically in place. Although they are all old ships and vary in size, they are still usable. In the big tub of the Mediterranean Sea, they are sometimes better than sailing ships." Paul, whose head was already bald Doria said.

"The galley warship has great limitations, and it is becoming more and more difficult to adapt to modern naval warfare. You should consider this carefully. Is it worthwhile to invest precious military expenses in such a thing that is destined to be eliminated?" Cai Zhenguo frowned upon hearing this, and said.What a joke, how many twenty galley warships are equipped, and this is not produced locally, so how much business will be lost by the shipyard!

"In fact, the imaginary enemy of our galley fleet is the French galley warships. There are still many galley warships among the French oriental warships in the port of Toulon. These are our opponents, not those huge sail warships. In addition Galleons are also very useful for combating pirates in offshore waters and chasing smuggling ships.” Paul Doria replied: “Don’t worry, my friend. Except for two of the ten galleys built in Genoa, the rest The order for the eight ships is yours. In fact, we have sent a professional team to the southern New World, and the three sailing warships will start construction immediately after their arrival, if there are still vacancies in your berth."

"To build a warship for a friend, of course there is space on our berth, and there must be space." Cai Zhenguo said in a tone of approval: "The East Coast Navy is a powerful fleet with a long history, and the quality of warships built by our shipyards is also guaranteed. I think that in the future, the navies of our two countries can conduct more maritime exchanges, which will help your country's naval construction."

"Thank you very much for your country's kindness, I think it is very necessary." Paul Doria immediately agreed, only to hear him continue: "To be honest, if your country didn't push it hard this time and help us If many disputes and contradictions are coordinated, this fragile military alliance may not be able to be established. Without the Northern Italian coalition, Northern Italy is actually a mess. Not only the Spaniards shout at us, but the Austrians and the French can also Easily blackmail or even invade us, and loot our wealth."

The northern Italian states participating in the northern Italian coalition this time include Genoa, Venice, Tuscany, Lucca, Parma, Modena, and Milan, and they are basically states that are relatively close to the east coast.Among these seven countries, Milan and Parma still belong to the Kingdom of Spain in name, but in fact they have been in a state of actual autonomy many years ago.The Spaniards don't have any troops here, and the governors they send just collect taxes regularly, and then they don't care about anything.Therefore, when the people on the east coast contacted the local powerful nobles and invited them to join the formation of the Northern Italian coalition forces, the Spaniards could only pinch their noses to recognize them.

They are very clear that the reason why these two places are still nominally loyal to the Kingdom of Spain is mainly because the interests of the powerful aristocrats who rule the localities are not threatened.The Spaniards knew very well that once this delicate balance was broken, these aristocrats might rise up, or at least turn to other countries, and then the Kingdom of Spain would get nothing from the bamboo basket.Therefore, rather than these countries being controlled by Austria or France, it is better to let them be deeply influenced by the east coast. After all, it is impossible for the east coast people to annex these lands, which avoids the worst situation.

In addition to the military aspect, the seven countries have actually negotiated an economic agreement, which is to use a unified currency.The currency is minted separately by the Republic of Genoa, which has the strongest economy among them, and the free city of Lucca, which is dominated by merchants. The name is tentatively named lira, and it is stipulated that one lira contains 10 grams of silver.

After the lira has been minted and shipped to countries, all other old currencies will remain in circulation for three years before being scrapped.Lira silver coins are also the only currency paid by the officers and soldiers of the Northern Italian Allied Forces to enhance their circulation and prepare for the full spread in the future.

In fact, these seven countries have also discussed another agreement, which is to eliminate tariff barriers among countries and establish a unified commercial market.It's just that everyone's disagreement on this matter is too great. Under the active guidance of the people from the east coast, everyone conducted a total of six rounds of negotiations, but they all failed due to various reasons, which is very regrettable.

However, Cai Zhenguo is quite optimistic that they will finally reach an agreement to establish an internal unified market.Because there is actually not much competition between these countries, and the degree of industrial overlap between them is not very high. For example, Genoa * mainly benefits from finance, Venice has a lot of food production because of its plains, and Milan is mainly industrial. Lucca focuses on commerce, while Tuscany focuses on art, leather manufacturing, and fishing. Parma and Modena are too small to pay too much attention. Therefore, if they take the time to coordinate their interests and establish If we look at their respective development directions, it is still possible to finally reach an internal unified market agreement.

Military unification, monetary and financial unification, and if market unification can be achieved, is political unification really far away?I'm afraid not necessarily!And once they are unified politically and turn the current somewhat loose confederation into a relatively tight federation, then a pivotal country will appear on the entire Italian peninsula.This country has a fairly decent army, its economic strength is in the middle and upper reaches, and its geographical location is excellent, so no one will be able to stop their rise.

The other large and small states on the Italian peninsula need to accept the reality and face the rise of such a local power!

(End of this chapter)