open sea

Chapter 1175 New Enemies

Baron Billon ruined the continued enjoyment of the party at the banquet.

People called him Billon the Coward in private gatherings after the party ended prematurely, but on the second day after the party, before the nickname spread, no one in Paris thought he was alarmist anymore.

On November 24th, the tenth year of Wanli, Marshal Matteon at the front sent an urgent report, hoping that the king would send decree knights as reinforcements to go south. There were traces of the Ming army on the north bank of the Dordogne River. Two castles [-] miles apart were in It was captured one after another in five days, and a supply team was also attacked at the same time.

Because of this urgent report, Billon reluctantly took charge of the battle again.

Billon was delighted to be able to lead the army again, but he was dissatisfied with the troops assigned to him by the king.

Together with Billon, four hundred noble knights of the law and their well-equipped retinues were gathered in Paris and set out. This is the decisive force that France can put into the land battlefield, but their direct commanders are two dependable soldiers. The nobles who are lucky in their buttocks, it seems that fighting the Ming army is an easy battle that earns meritorious deeds.

One of them was Lavalette of Jean-Louis Nogalet, who came from a family of warriors born in Gascony. However, the fellow betrayed him and joined the French royal palace. Before the expedition, the youngest promised him that if he won the battle, he would be named Duke of Epernon; if he could bring back Chen Jiujing's head, he would be named a field marshal.

The other is the Duke of Joyez, with a prominent family background. His father is Joyez, who has been fighting against Protestants in the south. He was duke at the age of 20, and he married the third brother's distant sister. The extravagant wedding was held not long ago. In order to show intimacy, the third child asked the court to prepare for two weeks, and wore the same clothes as the groom to attend the wedding that day.

After the wedding there were seventeen banquets, joustings, musical performances, masques, and balls, all at great expense.

Even in the past, when the religious wars had not yet begun in the Francois era, the annual income of France was only 260 ducats.

And in this more difficult period when the war lasted for decades, the court estimated that the wedding and the gifts to the newlyweds totaled 200 million gold coins. annual income.

Billon's so-called proposal to let Queen Dowager Catherine go to Chen Jiujing to buy back Bordeaux is actually aimed at King Hun Lao San and the Duke of Joyez. He estimates that 200 million taels of silver or gold of the same value is placed in front of Chen Jiujing. Chen Jiujing happily left France with his fleet and signed a treaty of commerce.

Even if it is not full, at least a truce can allow France to recuperate and deal with other challenges.

The royal family would not use the money to build an army anyway.

What was the use of throwing the same money at the Duke of Joyez?

But the situation is different now, the Ming army has already launched operations, and in the cold winter, Biron can only bite the bullet and lead the army south... and take these two guys that he dislikes, and refer to their opinions in everything.

Billon has always wanted to have a good talk with them. Before the battle, he needs to make sure that these two people will not act without authorization and can cooperate with him in fighting, but they suffer from no chance.

The entire army was cavalry. Although there were supplies escorted by Marshal Matteon on the front line, they still arrived at the Loire River on the fifth day after dispatching troops, and entered the garrison area of ​​​​Marshal Matteon further south. Encountered the Ming army, so Billund decided to wait for the sentinel to bring back the news before continuing to act.

He didn't think about how to communicate with the two of them, and the Duke of Joyez brought Lavalette to him first.

"Marshal, let me explain the situation of the army. Mr. Lavalette needs Chen Jiujing's head." According to the Duke of Joyez, Chen Jiujing's head seemed to be an easy thing to get, and he said with a smile: "Don't worry, even if he is Marshal, I will not take away your rank."

As for Lavalette who was following behind, she was carrying a helmet with only one eye slit edged with gold, with her rough and handsome face held high, it seemed that she was bound to win the title of Duke of Epernon.

Billund didn't like their attitude, but the conversation would be beneficial for the rest of the battle, and he opened his arms and entered the state.

"Chen Jiujing has several troops. The [-] infantry and [-] cavalry should be the troops deployed by the Ming Dynasty in the New World. The heavy cavalry wear Milan, Spain, and our plate armor. They don't like to use heavy cavalry. point-blank or heavy weapons."

"Their knights are never used to charge the front lines, and cavalry are often used as a last resort to hunt down the crumbling phalanx infantry and rob artillery. In addition, these knights are familiar with looting places, raising supplies, and cleaning the battlefield. They alone are better than us alone Squad."

Listening to Billon's narration by Xu, the Duke of Joyez looked at Lavalette and smiled: "I'm sure they won't have the chance to create a battlefield."

Billon did not refute, and continued: "When I was fighting with them, the infantry phalanx was placed under the city, and I could only see them from a distance. They were nothing special. It may be that the artillery was unloaded from the ship, so that they had ten times more soldiers than us. firepower and sufficient ammunition."

Recalling that under the city of Bordeaux, Chen Jiujing used a salvo of artillery to destroy the troops of the three large phalanxes. Billon wondered whether these two guys could understand the concept of sufficient ammunition, so he had to add: "It is extremely sufficient .”

The two of them had heard about this feature of the Ming army for a long time, and they were very cautious, and they were rarely stubborn. They listened to Billon's continuation.

"In addition, Chen Jiujing used to have two mercenaries, one from the Han pirates on the Atlantic Ocean, composed of two black infantry regiments using Spanish muskets, their morale was low, one using light muskets, and one Vulnerable alone with heavy muskets, but dangerous when protected by cavalry and pikemen."

"The other is the Spanish mercenaries, which are very common and difficult to deal with."

Billon spoke in a cautious tone and said, "But the letter from Marshal Matteon asking for help mentioned that the mercenaries of the Han pirates had already left, and the Spanish mercenaries were only guarding various places due to the cold weather. They were not supposed to go to battle, but they not only crossed the river, but according to the report of the defeated army, the style of this Ming army is also different from before, and he suspects that Chen Jiujing has reinforcements coming."

"The equipment of this Ming army is more sophisticated, unlike Chen Jiujing's soldiers who are patched together with clothing and armor. They all wear a standard blue cotton armor with iron inside. It is difficult to kill them with swords and spears. You can still fight if you hit it.”

"Although the number is small and they operate in units, they are well-trained in the cold, and most importantly—"

Billon took a deep breath, shook his head and said, "Unlike Chen Jiujing's cavalry, who can recognize our noble officers and take them captive for ransom, an earl, three barons, and 24 knights have already died in their hands. Or surrender, will also be executed directly."

(End of this chapter)