Bringing the Railway to Daming

Based on his previous understanding of Louis II, Philip II did not originally think he was the kind of schemer.

However, when he learned that the Duchy of Bourbon was preparing for war, his original idea wavered.

In addition, John spread rumors about Louis II throughout Paris and even secretly formed an "anti-Bourbon alliance".

The nobles in this alliance also advised Philip II to guard against Louis II launching a war with the help of Ming mercenaries, and that they should strike first.

So, in the last month of the second year of Vincent de Bourbon, which was January of the following year in the Gregorian calendar, Philip II finally made up his mind and used the power of the Grand Duke Regent to have the Mad King Charles VI issue a royal decree to abolish the Duchy of Bourbon on the grounds that "Louis II conspired with the Ming Dynasty bandits to rebel"!
The French Civil War thus broke out in full force!
Because the peace faction is currently stronger in France, and even the royal family, under the control of Philip II, is considered to be peace-loving, while the war faction is weak.

Therefore, on the advice of the Ming Dynasty mercenaries, the Duchy of Bourbon initially adopted a defensive posture.

Since Philip II was going to abolish the Duchy of Bourbon, he naturally hoped to get rid of Louis II as soon as possible, or even wipe out the Duchy of Bourbon, and thus took the offensive.

He appointed John the magnanimous, Duke of Berry, one of the three regents, as commander-in-chief, leading 50,000 troops directly under the royal command and more than 50,000 soldiers recruited from various pro-peace lords, claiming an army of 120,000, and marched into the territory of the Duchy of Bourbon...

···
Clement.

This is the second largest city in the Duchy of Bourbon, and it is also a city that must be conquered when entering the Duchy of Bourbon from the direction of Paris.

Therefore, Louis II of Bourbon placed the main force of the garrison here, preparing for a decisive battle with the pro-war army at the foot of Clermont—this was also the suggestion given by the Ming mercenaries.

The Duchy of Bourbon was, after all, just a duchy, located in the heart of France. Although some pro-war nobles had replied expressing their willingness to support Louis II, they had not yet made any public statements. They had only sent some troops in private to help him, clearly wanting to wait until the situation became clearer before making a public statement.

Even with all his efforts, Louis II could only muster a little over 30,000 troops in the Duchy of Bourbon, of which over 10,000 were professional and semi-professional elites, and the remaining 20,000 were militia temporarily conscripted.

In addition, there were nearly 20,000 reinforcements sent by the pro-peace allies, with the Earl of Neville sending the largest force, more than 8,000 men.

Therefore, excluding the Ming Dynasty mercenaries, the pro-war faction, led by Louis II, only had about 50,000 troops, which was no match for the pro-peace faction's 120,000-strong army.

However, when Louis II, on the advice of Baron Vine, began making military preparations in advance, he made a request to the Ming mercenaries, hoping to hire more Ming mercenaries to help him.

Therefore, in addition to the original "Jin State Pingyi Guard" and "Four Kings Mercenaries", the French escort troops secretly developed by the Prince of Dai also took the opportunity to turn some of them into open troops. At the same time, the guards of the Prince of Su, the Prince of Liao, and the Prince of Ning who infiltrated France, as well as the escort troops of the Western Sea, also revealed some of their troops.

Ultimately, Louis II obtained over 30,000 Ming Dynasty mercenary troops!

In fact, the guards and entourage of Prince Zhu Gui alone numbered over 30,000! If we include the entire army of the Jin princes and the three princes of Su, Liao, and Ning in France, the total number is over 80,000!
But Louis II was unaware of these things.

On this day, upon seeing the Archduke of Berry leading a 100,000-strong army of peacemakers to the outskirts of Clermont, Louis II looked out from the city walls and couldn't help but feel tense.

He then asked Fang Gui, who was serving as the chief liaison officer for the Ming Dynasty's mercenaries, "Mr. Fang, the pro-peace faction has 100,000 troops, including 50,000 royal troops, making them very powerful."

"And on our side, even including the troops you recently deployed, we only have a little over 80,000 men, a significant portion of whom are militia. Do you really think we can win?"

Fang Gui felt that Louis II was far too timid and did not resemble a ruler at all.

However, he did not show it on his face. Instead, he smiled and said, "Your Excellency, rest assured, we are the defending side and have the advantage of terrain. We don't need to have more troops than the enemy."

"Moreover, Your Excellency has witnessed the fighting power of our Ming mercenaries—with over 30,000 Ming mercenaries, what are 50,000 royal troops to worry about?"

Louis II had only witnessed Ming mercenaries fighting against his knights, and had never seen the Ming army in actual combat. Therefore, he still had doubts after listening to the translator's translation. However, he was not confused and knew that at this point, he could not keep dampening his side's morale, so he nodded and said no more.

at the same time.

Outside Clermont, in the ranks of the peacemakers, John the Younger (Philip II's eldest son) rode a white steed beside John the Elder (Grand Duke Berry), his face beaming with excitement.

He said, "Uncle Berry, we're sure we'll win this war and wipe out that old bastard Louis II, right?"

Archduke Berry felt slightly displeased when John referred to Louis II as an "old fellow"—after all, Louis II was of the same generation as him, and although he was more than ten years younger, it still gave him the feeling that he too had become the "old fellow" John was referring to.

However, he was full of confidence in this war.

"Don't worry, little John. This time, we not only have 50,000 royal troops, but your father, the Grand Duke of Anjou, and I have also mobilized powerful legions from our respective duchies. Although the total number of troops is not the claimed 120,000, there are more than 80,000 elite soldiers!"

"With the strength of a mere duchy, even with the help of Ming Dynasty mercenaries, Louis II could only field a little over ten thousand elite troops."

"Their true elite force numbers are definitely less than 30,000; how could they possibly be our match?"

"Once the war horns sound, just watch! Today we will surely break through Clermont, and tomorrow we will enter Bourbon!"

The main city of the Duchy of Bourbon was called Bourbon, and it was built around the castle of the Bourbon family.

Therefore, if the enemy were to enter Bourbon, the Duchy of Bourbon would be utterly defeated.

John imagined the scene of the Duchy of Bourbon's garrison being defeated, and his heart became even more excited. He immediately said, "Uncle Berry, please grant me a request."

"Oh, what request?" Grand Duke Berry asked curiously.

"If we capture those Ming mercenaries in this battle, I hope you will hand them over to the Duchy of Burgundy."

Grand Duke Berry asked, puzzled, "Why?"

John's face showed resentment as he said, "I once led the Snow Lion Knights to defeat by them, and I must wipe away this shame—therefore, I plan to reduce all those Ming Dynasty mercenary prisoners to slavery and torture them to death one by one, so that the world will know that the army of the Duchy of Burgundy is invincible!"

Berry listened with a strange expression, thinking: What kind of logic is this? If you lost on the battlefield, shouldn't you try to avenge your defeat on the battlefield?
But you say you want to torture the prisoners.

It seems that this young John is really not that great, far inferior to Philip II.

But it's all for the best. The Duchy of Burgundy is already powerful enough with Philip II. If another powerful Grand Duke were to emerge, he might very well replace the royal family and dominate France in the future.

Composing himself, Berry nodded and said, "Sure, they're just some foreign prisoners. You can handle them as you see fit."

John quickly said, "Thank you, Uncle Berry."

Subsequently, Grand Duke Berry began issuing military orders, commanding his army to attack Clermont.

woohoo~
The bugle call for the peace-loving army to attack sounded, and hundreds of catapults were pushed out of the ranks, only stopping when they reached about three hundred meters from the walls of Clermont. (End of Chapter)