I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 472 Hunting

   The duke of Orleans, the younger brother of the king of France, is certainly not an ordinary person.

I remember I said before that some of the forces that Catalonia reluctantly handed over were Catalan mercenaries, please note that it is Catalonia and not Catalonia Ronian mercenaries - Catalans are not a group of people lacking courage or force. The saddest thing about this rich and beautiful place is that it has always been used as a battlefield. When the Moors fought against the Franks, God The tributes fought against the French, the Castilians against the Turks, and the fires of war mercilessly scorched this emerald gem.

At the beginning of the thirteenth century, when the king of Aragon fought against the king of France, a group of Iberian warriors rallied together. After these people traveled long distances to Catalonia, the king of Aragon talked to the king of France. And, they have no place to play, and they don't know where to make up for their losses - most of these people are shepherds, farmers and craftsmen in the Iberian interior, and they are the most sincere and honest in their hometowns. But every once in a while, like sheepdogs stealing chickens at night, they will take simple weapons, an iron helmet that has been passed down for decades or even centuries, and go to war with pagans , get some windfall...

  Yes, they are so simple, far more credible than the priests say "sensing the call of God, fighting for the Holy Land and the saints".

These people have accumulated a lot of fighting experience in such wars. When the king of Aragon called them to fight the king of France, they did not hesitate to go. Who knows that the war will end before they reach the battlefield, then Who will pay them the commission, who will feed them, who will make up for the various losses they have incurred due to leaving their hometown... Some people also borrowed money from Judah in their hometown because of this war.

At this time, an Italian saw the opportunity. He recruited about 10,000 Catalan mercenaries, including cavalry and infantry, at an extremely low price. He took them to various places. From Constantinople, to the peninsula of Asia Minor, and from the peninsula to Athens, when the Duke of Athens hired them and violated the agreement and was unwilling to pay, they actually defeated the duke in a frontal war, the leader of the mercenary legion He then controlled Athens as regent for decades until the King of Sicily expelled the Catalan mercenaries from Athens.

After leaving Athens, the Legion temporarily took shelter on an island purchased by its leader, but for some reason, the leader eventually sold the island to the Venetians, and the Catalan mercenaries were included in their army by the Venetians, and Lost in subsequent wars against the Ottoman Turks.

   But before the island was transferred to the Venetians, a group of wise men left the legion, and their leader Lupo de Benatague led his subordinates to be active in the Mediterranean until 1462, and eventually disappeared.

This Mr. Lupo obviously had the ambition to inherit everything that Lupo left behind. He should not have been called Lupo at first, but he changed his name to Lupo, and consciously let people associate him with the brave and intelligent one. The chiefs are linked - although there are many people with the same name in Europa, there are always people who are willing to let their children inherit the names of fathers and grandfathers.

   The Duke of Orleans valued this man, not because of his name. Whether he was a descendant of Lupo had nothing to do with the Duke. The Duke cared about the three thousand mercenaries he had (although it was a bit watery).

At least a thousand of these mercenaries are veterans with strong combat experience. They are called "raiders". As the name suggests, they are not the kind of soldiers who stay in the queue and obey the orders of the officers in Hoi An. They are like thieves. , likes to fight in groups of three or five, and the weapons for combat are mostly a spear, four or five short javelins, slings, short swords or short knives for close combat.

   They are also the skirmishers used by the Duke of Orleans when formulating tactics. They are not afraid of oncoming artillery fire and bullets, and are very sensitive to the movement of the enemy, and can easily catch the cracks.

   As for Lupo, aside from being a duke, he liked nothing more than the generosity of his new master. His legion has grown rich and swelled rapidly in these few short months, and the raiders are almost all equipped with a good flintlock gun except for the spear, and the captains can also get a burst of fire. The spear, as he is now, with the spear held for him by the squire, the spear dangling from his saddle, the spear in his waist, and the shotgun in his hand.

The mercenaries were always smiling when they saw the gold master, not to mention that the duke had promised not only to bring Lupo, but also to give him a title when he returned to Paris, which means nothing to a mercenary. , he was intimate, dismounted respectfully, performed a fancy but absurd etiquette to the duke, and caused a burst of laughter, but he didn't take it seriously. , he wouldn't be here—who could match Bourbon's ceremonial prowess? Most of the court's ceremonies and rules today, and even supporting buildings such as bathrooms, are modeled after Versailles.

The Duke returned the salute, and when Lupo got back on his horse, he caught a gloomy and unpleasant look out of the corner of his eyes. He looked sideways, the figure was fleeting, but the back was enough to remind him of who it was—the one before him. employer. Someone like Ruby, even without the 3,000-strong legion, would not be willing to let him go casually. He had heard or guessed that the Duke of Orleans was recruiting officers and soldiers before he half-forced to ask for that. People who write letters of recommendation.

  The employer is of course unwilling. In order to keep Lupo, he is also willing to marry his youngest daughter to Lupo with a dowry of a thousand livres.

  Ha, Lupo got a diamond ring worth three thousand livres from the Duke on the first night of his allegiance to the Duke.

Nothing can impress a mercenary more than real gold and silver, Lupo thought. As long as there is gold, he can get anything. Even at the political level, a French duke and a prince's brother are more than a city councillor. Value, good birds choose wood to live in, even if this mercenary never saw this sentence, he would strongly agree with this sentence and practice it.

Although he didn't think the congressman could do anything, in order to protect the tall branch, Lupo asked his attendants to notify his companions to strengthen their defenses and patrols. Falcon-like eyes are constantly searching for anything unusual.

Different from the hunting that people in later generations thought, the hunting of the nobles is a thrilling but orderly game-since it is a game, it is impossible for this group of dignitaries to spend their precious time and energy in searching for prey and traveling long distances. All prey are prepared, kept in cages and released one by one or in groups depending on size and ferocity.

   There are no dangerous beasts such as lions and tigers. The most feared are the bison. After the bison, there are tall stags and wild boars. After the wild boars, there are small beasts such as sheep and foxes. Finally, there are groups of rabbits.

As the half-host and the most important guest of this hunt, the Duke of Orléans was of course at the forefront. He was surrounded by many people. Among them, Senator Tamarit undoubtedly occupied the first place, but the Duke's left-hand side was always Tightly occupied by Lupo, who complained in low voices and scolded loudly, Lupo stood still, and he knew that some maliciously described him as a fly chasing honey - but asked him to say that the man beside him. Do people gather around the Duke for the sake of pure ideals?

In any case, they have arrived at today's hunting ground. This woodland has been burned by fire, and the new trees have not become an obstacle for people. Warm and almost want to sleep, the Duke of Orleans and Lupo, on the contrary, they are full of energy.

The attendant gave a signal, the duke took the shotgun handed by someone else, and a bull ran out of the shadows quickly. In front of it was the duke and the others, and on both sides were dense forests - the bison only liked to drive. Running in open spaces, cramped spaces would make him furious, the bull had been in the smallest cage for days before going mad, and all he could see was one passage.

It charged towards the duke, the duke raised his shotgun, but at a distance of three hundred paces, the bison only needed ten seconds to reach the duke's horse, but ten seconds was enough for the duke to hit it—the duke still had the sight on his shotgun , he effortlessly slipped the bison's head into the crosshair and pulled the trigger.

   No gunshots, no bullets flying out of the barrel!

   Nine seconds!

Without thinking, the duke pulled the trigger again, still unable to feel the familiar vibration, and he threw off his shotgun and pulled up the reins. "Get out of the way!" he shouted, his mount neighing and wiggling its neck, Leaping to the side, at the same time Lupo next to him fired, the bullets whizzed through the air and hit the bull in the left shoulder, but not fatal, **** not fatal!

  Seven seconds!

  The pain drove the bull crazy, it let out a whine like a bell, and after a moment of pause, it accurately caught the person who hurt it. It panted and charged towards the crowd again.

  Six seconds!

Another shot rang out, and Lupo only had a quick glance. It was the Duke of Orleans. He had just moved to the right. It was an accurate decision, and it did not prevent Lupo from firing. The misfired shotgun was thrown on the ground, but at that time the tower Congressman Mallet was also already holding a shotgun - although he had no talent for shooting, he should be just pretending, the shotgun should not have been manipulated - the Duke gave him an unceremonious elbow and snatched the shotgun. , followed by Lupo firing a shot at the Bulls.

   But because his current position is not good enough, although this shot hit the head of the bull, it only knocked off one horn and some tough skin.

   "Shoot! Shoot!" someone shouted.

  Three seconds!

Not all of the entourage were just like Senator Tamarit, but because of etiquette and respect, they turned their guns to the ground and waited for the duke to shoot down the bison before going on their hunt—this is not The first hunting, this is not the first time the duke has hunted bison, they are only betting that the duke will use one bullet or two bullets... When the accident happened, some people couldn't react, and now they heard the shouting, and they subconsciously Raised the gun.

   Gunshots came and went, but hell, maybe because of the panic, no one could hit the bull's vitals, it was still running!

   One second!

  The bull was right in front of him, but the duke was suddenly empty—others might not know what happened, but the Duke of Orleans, who had been on the battlefield, was suddenly shocked—someone attacked his horse!

In this case, attacking a horse is easier than attacking a person, and the threat is no less than direct assassination. First, the horse will inevitably fall into a frenzy in front of a wounded bull. The nature of the animal makes the rider out of control. Stop them running and kicking.

The Duke once led cavalry across the battlefield, and though he had never experienced it, he had seen enemies or companions fall off their horses, be dragged by horses, trampled by hooves, or crushed by overturned horses—broken bones, visceral bleeding, suffocation All may have been the cause of their death.

As soon as he was empty, he knew that his horse was falling. The Duke quickly raised his feet, broke free from the stirrups, put his hands on the saddle and jumped away quickly. He could even feel the heavy and hot body of the horse brushing his own when he was in the air. The calf, just a little bit, he was about to be crushed by it. Immediately he fell to the ground. Fortunately, because of the hunting requirements, the place was leveled and there were no sharp stones and branches. He violently gathered his body - surrounded by hooves inlaid with horseshoes, they fell on the soft soil, and all of a sudden It's a pit as deep as a beer mug.

When Lupo saw the duke fall from the horse, he screamed wildly, wanting to rescue him, but I don't know if it was intentional or not, a person was interspersed between him and the duke. Although the latter was also screaming, his voice was full of Schadenfreude, Lupo saw that this was his former employer?

The bison rushed into the crowd, the scene became more and more chaotic, the duke dodged left and right, tried to stand up several times (some people dismounted to help him) but always failed, Lupo's heart seemed to be burned Burning, his former employer grinned at him now, as if to say something, but Lupo had already bent over and drew a short javelin from a leather pouch by the saddle.

   His face was expressionless, and with a backhand, the javelin stabbed straight into the councilor's chest.

The senator collapsed in astonishment, and Lupo rode around the bull—if anyone stood in front of him, he didn't guess whether it was intentional or not—he had four javelins in his leather bag, and before he ran out he reached the duke In front of him, he stretched out his hand and pulled the duke onto his horse.

   He and the duke sighed at the same time.

   (end of this chapter)