King of German Mercenaries

底 At the end of February 1495, news came from Vienna that the emperor finally decided to expand again ...

At this point, King Charles VIII of France had led a coalition of 60,000 people from France and Savoi to the kingdom of Naples, and halfway along, the troops of other Italian city-states were pushed by them. Even the Papal State was crushed by Charles VIII. Charles VIII brought his army into Rome with brilliance and forced the Pope to crown him as King of Naples.

八 Charles VIII pushed the terrible power of the Apennine Peninsula and made the countries of Italy feel fear. So, led by the most powerful of the states and the most prestigious papal states, the Italian countries decided to establish a "sacred alliance" to jointly fight the French who coveted Italian territory.

The sacred Roman Empire, as the enemy of power and the French, was naturally invited. You know, the original Principality of Burgundy was huge, in addition to the current Burgundy (Franche-Comté), there are also the Principality of Burgundy (Burgundy, France in the later generations), and the Netherlands. .

But after the daring battle of Charles, the French took advantage of the internal chaos in Burgundy to cut away the large Burgundy Principality (Burgundy Region), so that Maximilian I, who inherited his father-in-law's heritage, Only the smaller Burgundy (Franche-Comté) and Netherlands regions were obtained.

So, Maximilian I and the French had the hatred of robbing the territory. Therefore, Maximilian I will actively prepare for war without the sacred alliance. Of course, he will also pretend to show that he does not want to be involved in Italian affairs. In fact, it was good for him to pose with the Venetian.

As we all know, the European Republic of Venice is currently estimated to be the country with the best financial situation. Although small, Venice is extremely well-developed. These years, the Ottoman Empire has just begun to rise, and it has not yet competed with Venice for Mediterranean hegemony. The new route is still under development. The Portuguese have not yet arrived in India and have yet to challenge Venice's maritime trade status. Therefore, Venice is still in a strong stage. The strong Venice has more than 3,000 paddle boats and 36,000 sailors.

Although the total population of Venice is less than 200,000. But the Venetian is rich. In this era, you can hire a lot of mercenaries to fight for you. Therefore, rich Venice has great potential for war. Even the strong neighbors on the side did not dare to wrangle with Venice.

The country of Venice is so small, but its financial situation is excellent. Little Venice, a year of fiscal revenue, up to 2 million ducat gold coins. In the same period, France was only about 1.2 million.

Alas, Venice is just a small city-state with a population of less than 200,000. France is a large European country with a population of 15 million ...

Of course, in this era, the Netherlands has not yet risen, and Spain and Portugal are still exploring the sea. Therefore, no country in Europe can compete with Venice financially.

Although France's fiscal revenue cannot keep up with Venice, it is better than Britain and better than Shen Luo. Why? Because France established permanent taxation right at the time of Charles VII and taxed nationwide (however, this would exclude those vassals and vassals, so this is not a universal taxation system). This made France's financial situation among the best in Europe. Otherwise, the French could not send tens of thousands of troops to invade Italy.

Britain is fine, Henry VII also began to imitate France for centralization, but has not implemented a fixed tax system like France. Therefore, the British finance is far less than that of France, but it also has 120,000 pounds per year, which is equivalent to 480,000 ducat.

The Holy Roman Empire looked very big, but the Emperor did not have permanent taxation rights at all, and could only tax in Austria and Burgundy. Among them, taxation in Burgundy is still very difficult. Therefore, the financial level of the huge Holy Roman Empire is now slightly better than Britain, which has not stabilized, and much worse than France.

If it was not during the war, the emperor could ask the Imperial Parliament for help, and if he could levy a war tax on the whole empire, the Holy Roman Empire would not have the power to compete with France.

So, in this period of Europe, Venice was the deserved boss when it came to financial resources. The Holy Roman Empire, but the emperor's younger brothers, is more bluffing.

So, the emperor had a wry brain when he faced Venice, and wanted Venice to help him with some military expenses ...

Venice is naturally rich, and they can also hire mercenaries from various Italian states. However, Italian mercenaries could not fight with Germans. Because Italians love business and are busy doing business. Or, drunk art and busy picking girls. The German region is still relatively martial. The Swiss Alliance, which is rich in mercenaries, is also considered to be German.

Therefore, the combat literacy of the Shinra army is higher than that of Italian mercenaries. It is for this reason that Venice wants to win over Shinra. Otherwise, if the Italian mercenaries are strong, Venice would have dominated the European continent.

The messenger of Venice could not understand the intention of the emperor. However, the Venetians didn't care too much. Because, compared to the poor ghost God Emperor Luo, they are more afraid of rich and powerful France.

So, the messenger promised that as long as the Shinra empire assembled its troops and drove to Italy, Venice would provide some subsidies to satisfy the emperor. The reason for doing this was to be afraid that the emperor would take the money and not work. When the emperor assembled his army and entered Italy, he would not fight for nothing.

It happened that the tax revenue in Burgundy has arrived. Although the imperial parliament has not let loose, the money in Burgundy can make the emperor much better. Anyway, in Italy, Venice also promised to pay some money. If it wins, there will be war dividends.

的 The emperor with money shook naturally. Then, the second batch of recruitment notices was also sent everywhere. The second round of recruitment has officially started ...

After getting the news, Marin quickly rushed to camp and loaded the supplies onto the ox cart. And all the soldiers, all walking, went to Vienna. After more than a month of maltreatment by Marin, these mercenaries have absolutely no pressure on the march.

You know, every day, Marin will force them to carry Marin's "designed" backpack, holding a spear, and armed off-road for 5 kilometers. At first, just come 5 kilometers every morning. In the later period, it is already 5 kilometers each morning and evening.

You know, this year, there are no cars, and infantry marches must go by themselves. Even horses are expensive supplies. Moreover, horses eat more than humans. Unless it is in a hurry, the general officer will not let the soldiers ride horses. Unless, it is cavalry.

Therefore, the infantry marches, it is completely by walking. Fortunately, this era is the Middle Ages. These poor mercenaries were also used to walking. Where they go, if they are not so far, they basically walk on their own. It's normal to walk a few dozen miles a day ~ www.readwn.com ~ Unlike modern people, they are used to riding a car and let him walk for 5 kilometers.

Under Marin's high-intensity training, everyone now feels no pressure on long-distance marches. Each of them, carrying a linen backpack with belongings, holding spears, and lining up in a neat line, walked silently on the way to Vienna. No one laughed. Because before, some of them also talked and laughed while marching, and then were suppressed by the whip stick ... Therefore, everyone has formed the habit of marching quietly. Moreover, they are also accustomed to obeying Marin's orders. After more than a month of training, this has become an instinct for everyone ...

Marin took everyone to march all the way, took a day, marched 50 kilometers, and finally rushed out of Vienna. Then Marin found everyone tired. After all, the longest march before was no more than 20 kilometers. 50 kilometers, although we can run, but everyone is tired. In this era, the average infantry team can travel 30 kilometers a day, even if it is not bad. Marin led a team of 50 kilometers a day, which made everyone tired. But he knows that this is not the limit. You must know that the Red Army has more than eight perverts. It's just that everyone was so accustomed to running so far a day for the first time. You know, Marin's physical training for these people is very abnormal.

In order to save physical fitness and show a better status in the selection tomorrow, Marin let everyone set up camp outside the city, and prepare for tomorrow's selection. And Sauer, who was on horseback, was sent to search for infantry recruiters because of his low physical energy consumption. Of course, he went on foot to inquire about the news. After all, he is not tired, but his horse is tired ~ www.readwn.com ~ Welcome the book readers to read, the latest, fastest, hottest serial works are all in ~ www.readwn.com ~ Mobile users please go to read.