Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2474 The Italian people stand up!

On March 1703, 3, the sun was shining outside the city of Asti. Lieutenant Colonel Bai Chuanping, head of the Sixth Mixed Regiment of the East Coast Army, had just signed an order to release the prisoners.

The released prisoners were all Spanish soldiers, a total of more than 9600 people, all of whom were captured by the Sixth Mixed Regiment in the previous battle.At that time, General Castillo, the commander-in-chief of the Spanish army, retreated hastily with more than 2 defeated troops. As a result, the Eastern and Italian Allied Forces (the main force of the Sixth Mixed Regiment plus the "Lombard Division" in North Italy) had already moved behind them. ) volley.The entire Spanish army was defeated, and the commander Castillo fell off his horse and was injured. In the end, only more than 7000 people desperately broke through and fled back to Turin.

The Spaniards thought that the 5000 troops captured outside Asti were all killed. In fact, they over-thought. Less than 5000 were killed and wounded, and nearly [-] others surrendered.The Spanish soldiers who have been owed military salaries all the year round don't have the concept of being loyal to the king.

It was a headache for the people on the east coast to capture so many Spaniards.There are tens of thousands of mouths, eating, drinking and drinking every day, and the consumption is not a small amount, so they are directly dumped to the "Lombard division" who accompanied them in the battle, and they are responsible for detaining and guarding them.The Italians are not polite to them. Although food is provided, these people also have to undertake labor, that is, to repair a large number of buildings that were destroyed in this war.

This time, they fought against more than 4.5 Spanish troops. The Northern Italian Allied Forces were commanded by the famous Venetian general Marshal Acuto. They invested a total of [-] people. They adopted the tactics of luring the enemy to go deep. Lured into the hinterland of the Principality of Milan, then closed the door and beat the dog, defeated the enemy in one fell swoop, and achieved a brilliant victory.But since it is to lure the enemy deep, the place will definitely be poisoned by the enemy. Even if it is not long, the damage to some buildings is inevitable-the Spaniards demolished the fortifications or lit a fire for warmth-so these Spanish Captives come in handy.

In this way, 9600 Spanish captives worked in the Federal District of Asti for three full weeks, atoning for their previous actions.Lieutenant Colonel Bai Chuanping also visited the construction site and found that the Spanish prisoners were not very sad.After a little inquiring, you will know the whole story.It turned out that although these people were doing heavy jobs, they ate and rested at regular intervals. They didn't have to worry about their livelihoods for tomorrow, and their lives were not in danger. They were much happier than their comrades who were sent to fight on the Rhine and the Southern Netherlands. , so each one is very comfortable.

The "easy life" of the Spanish prisoners came to an abrupt end on March 3th, when Lieutenant Colonel Bai Chuanping signed an order to release them-although the prisoners were taken care of by the Italians, the commander of the "Lombard Division" did not Command power - the reason is that the East and the West have formally signed an armistice agreement. An important part of the agreement is to release the Spanish soldiers captured by the Sixth Mixed Regiment. Sheng Dehong agreed, and Bai Chuanping had no choice but to release them.

In fact, these Spanish captives were captured during the attack on the Northern Italian Federation. Logically speaking, the people on the east coast should not interfere, and it is not convenient to release them at will.But who asked the East Bank to "rebuild the same grace" with northern Italy? After only a brief mention to the Milan Parliament, they obtained permission and used these captives as bargaining chips. Of course, the Spaniards also had to pay a ransom for this. Ten pesos per person, handed over to the Federal Council of Northern Italy.

It is worth mentioning that the agreement signed by Sheng Dehong and Count Jimenez is an "armistice agreement" rather than a "peace agreement". Everyone can taste the meaning of this.Count Jimenez wanted to come up with a peace agreement, but Sheng Dehong disagreed, arguing that the two countries had never declared war, so how could there be a "peace negotiation"?Therefore, he insisted on signing the armistice agreement, and the armies of both sides had a de facto ceasefire and disengagement.Count Jimenez had no choice but to sign and agree in the end, and submitted it to King Philip V for review and approval.

The armistice agreement stipulates that people on the east bank can control the current occupied area and continue to "hunt for pirates" locally to ensure trade security.The Kingdom of Spain is not allowed to station troops within twenty kilometers of this area, nor to conduct any hostile activities, otherwise the soldiers on the east coast have the right to freedom of movement.The Spaniards held their noses and agreed to this condition. In exchange, they did not have to pay compensation, and the people on the east coast would immediately release the Spanish soldiers and residents stranded in Gibraltar.

Once this agreement is signed, the goal of the East Coast people has been achieved, and the future will be operated later.As a result, Sheng Dehong ordered that the soldiers of the garrison regiments in Danji and Ceuta counties began to retreat, and the Portuguese would also retreat in a month. In the future, Gibraltar will only be stationed by naval forces.With an area of ​​just over 20 square kilometers, a thousand people is more than enough, and too many are a waste of troops.

Most of the naval warships will not be withdrawn for the time being, but the "Bianliang" and "Luoyang" iron-clad warships pulled anchor on the day the agreement was signed and set sail for the newly established Danzig County.People from the east bank occupied this strategic port with excellent conditions. Poland's Lesinski was very dissatisfied. Even the former king August, who had been beaten like a dog, stood up and scolded "righteously" and swore To take the city back and do something for the people of Poland - bragging and no taxes anyway, whatever you say, the king of the wild, huh?

At present, almost all of the Fourth Mixed Regiment of the Army has arrived in Danzig County, so there is no need to worry too much about the local defense—in fact, Lieutenant Colonel Yang Chengdong, the head of the regiment, even hopes that the Polish puppet Lesinski will have the courage to come Offensive, but so far I haven't seen the legendary "very brave" Polish hussars.The navy's two ironclad ships came to Danzig, and the purpose of the army was basically the same, that is to deter any potential enemies so that they would not dare to act rashly.They would even bombard the coastline in a show of force if necessary.It's a pity that the Poles have not yet appeared, and their purpose is doomed to fail.

"9600 people, hehe, actually 9600 pigs. I took a lot of trouble in catching them. Let them go today, and this group of people has accumulated virtue in their ancestors." After signing, Lieutenant Colonel Bai Chuanping took the pen Throwing, took a cup of milk tea, and teased: "Don't worry, I have already made an agreement with the Spaniards, they will not invest here again. In fact, after this defeat, the Spaniards have no intention of picking on you anymore .Naples and Sicily, just rest assured that you can eat it in your stomach, it’s okay.”

Sitting opposite him was the silver-haired Genoese patriarch Paul Doria. After hearing what Bai Chuanping said, he nodded with a smile.To be honest, although he has not been able to deal with the Venetians very well, even he has to admit that Marshal Acuto fought the battle beautifully. Federation morale.You know, before that, they could only bully and bully the Spanish colonial troops on the peninsula, or beat the barbaric Moroccans in North Africa (the performance was not good at the time), and they had never experienced a real test and could not prove their strength .But now it’s all right, having defeated a big country, the people of Northern Italy can proudly say: We have stood up from now on!

Moreover, this battle is not only of great military significance, but also has great influence politically.No, the former Principality of Reggio, which was separated when the Principality of Modena applied to join the Northern Italian Federation, is about to join in again, which makes people laugh and cry, but it is also very gratifying.

The Este family that ruled Modena was originally the Duke of Modena. Over the long years, the family successively obtained the titles of Duke of Reggio and Duke of Ferrara, and ruled the three neighboring cities of Modena, Reggio and Ferrara in one fell swoop. Principality, later Ferrara was annexed by the Papal States, but the Este family still retained the former two.A while ago, the Este family announced to join the Federation of Northern Italy, and Modena under its rule successfully joined, but the nobles in the old land of the Reggio Principality, which was relatively weakly controlled, united against joining the Federation under the instigation of the Pope.At that time, the Commonwealth was about to fight Spain, so they didn't have time to take care of them for a while, so they let it go.

Now that the war is over and the Federation has won a big victory, they are about to turn around and take care of the nobles in Reggio, but these people are very cunning. Seeing that the situation is not right, they resolutely betrayed Pope Innocent XII and announced that they would join the North The Italian Federation is also gone.The Northern Italian Federation has already sent officials to this place. For some purpose, Reggio did not rejoin the Principality of Modena, but was designated as a territory directly under the central government of the Federation. , they can only endure it.

After acquiring the old land of the Principality of Reggio, the Milan Parliament turned its mind to the former territory of the Este family and the old land of the Principality of Ferrara, which was annexed by the Papal State in 1598.They pointed out that Modena, Reggio, and Ferrara are all the sacred territories of the Este family, and they demanded that the Papal State return them—the Este family was miserable, they were just put together by the Federation, and now they have been pushed out to fight with the Pope In the ring, is it really the right decision to apply to join the Northern Italian Federation?

The request of the Northern Italian Federation was naturally rejected by the Pope.Not only that, the Pope also called on the Dukes of Savoy, Puglia, and Calabria (the latter two are small vassal states in Naples, which have been captured by the Northern Italian coalition forces) to stand up against this aggressive country , to maintain the "ancient tradition" of the peninsula.In addition, Pope Innocent also condemned the allied forces for occupying Benevento when they attacked the old site of the Kingdom of Naples.This city is a bishopric, the Papal State's enclave in Naples, but it was occupied by hundreds of soldiers sent by the coalition forces, and it was designated as the central jurisdiction of the Milan Parliament, which naturally made the Pope very dissatisfied.

There is no doubt that the current relationship between the Papal State and the Northern Italian Federation is already very tense.The Pope is extremely opposed to the Northern Italian Federation, and the Federation also regards the Papal State as the last obstacle to the unification of the peninsula. At present, except for a few inconspicuous free cities or small states, the peninsula is basically annexed or unified by the Northern Italian Federation. One step only needs to occupy the Papal State, and then defeat the Principality of Savoy, and the unification of Italy will be completed.

"How's the talk with the Ragusans?" Lieutenant Colonel Bai Chuanping pushed a cup of milk tea with salt in front of Paul Doria and asked with concern.

"There are basically no obstacles to the free city of Ragusa joining the federation. The Venetians are currently negotiating with them, so it shouldn't be a big problem. The Turks are so crazy now that everyone is afraid. The free city of Ragusa also speaks Latin Yes, it comes from the same source as us, and it is very cost-effective to sacrifice some freedom in exchange for security." Paul Doria took a sip of milk tea and said.Although the Free City of Ragusa is not big, it has a large population and a very prosperous trade. Joining the Federation will benefit both sides. Although the Turks may be a little unhappy, who cares!

"Okay, with the addition of Ragusa, Reggio, and Modena, the momentum of the federation is getting stronger and stronger." Lieutenant Colonel Bai Chuanping praised: "However, the federation has gained so much new land and population, it is best to spend time digesting it. Give it a shot, or I'm afraid the foundation will be unstable. Only when it is completely digested will it be time for a showdown with the Papal State and the Principality of Savoy, and we will provide support at that time."

"Thank you very much for the support of the East Coast. The Italians will always be the most staunch allies of the East Coast people, forever!" Paul Doria said with emotion: "Thank you very much!"

(End of this chapter)