King of Mercenaries

At the end of February 1495, news came from Vienna that the emperor finally decided to expand again. At this time, King Charles VIII had led the 60,000 coalitions of France and Savoy to the Kingdom of Naples, and in the middle of the road, the other Italian city-states were pushed by them. Even the Papal State was crushed by Charles VIII. Charles VIII took the army and triumphantly entered Rome, and forced the Pope to crown him as the King of Naples.

Charles VIII swayed the terrible strength of his army, and the countries of the Italian region felt fear. Thus, under the leadership of the most powerful Venice and the most prestigious Papal States among the states, the Italian countries decided to establish a "sacred alliance" to jointly fight against the French who coveted Italian territory.

The Holy Roman Empire, as a deadly enemy of the power and the French, is naturally invited. It is important to know that the Principality of Burgundy was huge, except for the current Burgundy (Franche Conte region), the Burgundy Principality (the later Burgundy region of France), and the Netherland region. .

But after the Bold Charle's death, the French took advantage of the large internal Burgundy Principality (Burgundy) while carrying the internal chaos of Burgundy, making Maximilian I, who inherits the father's inheritance, Only the smaller areas of Burgundy (Franchet) and the Netherlands.

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

As we all know, in the current Europe, the Republic of Venice is estimated to be the country with the best financial position. Although Venice is small, the business is extremely developed. This year, the Ottoman Empire has just begun to rise and has not yet competed with Venice for the Mediterranean hegemony. The new route is still open, and 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. Strong Venice with more than 3,000 paddle boats and 36,000 sailors.

Although the total population of Venice is less than 200,000. However, the Venetian has money. In this era, rich people can hire a lot of mercenaries to fight for you. Therefore, the rich Venice has great potential for war. The country of Venice is so small, but the financial situation is excellent. A year's fiscal revenue, up to 2 million Ducat gold coins. In the same period of France, only about 1.2 million.

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

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

Although France's fiscal revenue can't keep up with Venice, it is stronger than Britain and better than the Holy Roman Empire. Why? Because France established the permanent taxation right at the time of Charles VII, it was permanently taxed nationwide (however, this would exclude those vassals' seals, so this is not a universal taxation system). This made France's financial situation among the best in Europe. Otherwise, the French could not move tens of thousands of troops into Italy.

The United Kingdom is also okay, Henry VII also began to imitate France for centralization, but has not implemented a fixed tax system like France. Therefore, the British finances are far less than France, but there are also 120,000 pounds per year, equivalent to 480,000 Ducat.

The Holy Roman Empire, looking very big, but the emperor has no permanent taxation rights, can only be taxed in Austria and Burgundy. Among them, the taxation in Burgundy is still very difficult. Therefore, the wealthy Holy Roman Empire, the financial level, is now slightly better than the United Kingdom that has not stabilized, much worse than France.

If it was not during the war, the emperor could ask the imperial parliament for help. If the war was taxed in the whole empire, the Holy Roman Empire would have no strength and French hegemony.

Therefore, in this period of Europe, in terms of financial resources, Venice is the well-deserved boss. The Holy Roman Empire is more awkward.

Therefore, the emperor faced the Venice and also raised his support. He wanted Venice to help out some military expenses...

Venice is naturally rich, and they can also hire mercenaries from all states of Italy. However, Italian mercenaries do not have Germans ways. Because the Italians admire business, they are busy doing business. Or, intoxicated with literature and art, or busy with picking up girls. The German region is still more martial. The Swiss Union, which is rich in mercenaries, is also considered to be in the German region.

Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the Empire army is higher than that of Italian mercenaries. Therefore, Venice will think about pulling the goods. Otherwise, if Italian mercenaries where really strong, Venice would had long dominated Europe. For the emperor's intentions, the Venetian messenger is naturally clear. However, the Venetians did not care too much. Because, compared to the less golds, they are even more afraid of France with money and strength.

Therefore, the messenger promised that as long as the Empire assembled the army and went to Italy, Venice would provide partial subsidies to satisfy the emperor. The reason why this is done is that the emperor is afraid of taking the money and not working. When the emperor gathers the army and enters Italy, he will not fight.

It happened that the tax on the Burgundy side also arrived. Although the Imperial Parliament has not relaxed, the money of Burgundy can make the emperor much better. Anyway, in Italy, Venice promised some money. If you win, there will be a war bonus.

The emperor with money naturally shakes up. Then, the second batch of recruiting notices were also sent to various places. The second round of recruitment, officially started...

After getting the news, Marin quickly pulled out the camp and put the supplies on the cart. And all the soldiers, all walked, went to Vienna. After Marin's abuse for more than a month, these mercenaries have no pressure on the march.

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

You know, there is no car in this year, and the infantry march must be on its own. Even horses, it is very expensive. Moreover, horses eat more than people. If it is not in a hurry, the general officer will not let the soldiers ride horses. Unless it is a cavalry.

Therefore, the infantry marched, it was completely dependent. Fortunately, this age is medieval, and these poor mercenaries are also used to walking. Wherever they go, if they are not particularly far away, they basically walk on their own. It's normal to walk a few dozen miles a day. Unlike modern people, sitting in the car, let him walk a 5 km is not expected to be happy.

Under Marin's high-intensity training, everyone now feels no pressure for long-distance marching. Each of them, carrying a linen backpack with carry-on items, holding a spear, lined up neatly, and silently walked on the road to Vienna, no one talked and laughed. Because, before, they also talked and laughed when they marched, and then they were suppressed by the whip stick... So everyone formed the habit of quietly marching. Moreover, they are used to listening to Marin's order. This one-month training has made this an instinctive reaction for everyone...

Marin took everyone all the way to march, spent a day, marching 50 kilometers, and finally arrived outside the city of Vienna. Then, Marin found that everyone was a little tired. After all, the longest march before was only 20 kilometers. 50 kilometers, although we can run, everyone is tired. In this era, the average infantry team can travel 30 kilometers a day, even if it is not bad. Marlin led the team for 50 kilometers a day, which made everyone a little tired. But he knows that this is not the limit. You must know that the Red Army is more perverted than this. However, everyone ran so far the first time, not too used to it. You know, Marin gives physical training to these people, but it is very abnormal.

In order to save physical fitness and show a better state in the selection of tomorrow, Marin let everyone camp in the city, recharge their batteries, and prepare for tomorrow's selection. The Sauer riding horse, because of the low energy consumption, was sent to investigate the infantry recruiting site. Of course, he is walking to inquire about the news. After all, he is not tired, because he was riding a horse, but Carl is tired.