Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

Knight Captain Alvaro shook his head, showing obvious disdain for the combat strength of the Italian City States.

Before the outbreak of the Italian Wars in 1494, Europe had clearly overestimated the military prowess of the Italian states. The astonishing wealth controlled by each commercial city-state, combined with large iron smelting and armor workshops fueled by advanced productivity, created exaggerated numbers and armor rates of troops on sheepskin scrolls, appearing stronger than the Castilian Army. However, once the French army arrived, the "prosperous and powerful" Italian city-states fell apart, revealing only the enviable "wealth" and none of the "strength."

Last August, the French army invaded Lombardy, captured Asti in October, Florence surrendered in November, King Charles marched into Rome in December, and by February this year, they entered Naples, successfully completing the "speedrun." In just half a year, King Charles’ "Naples military campaign" had opened Italy from north to south. Subsequently, the French army plundered frantically in each of the Italian city-states, filling hundreds of royal horse carriages with looted sculptures and paintings. Each army unit’s accompanying baggage was also filled with extorted and pillaged gold and silver currency and jewelry! The prosperity of Italy astounded even the French knights with envy!

To gain wealth, the French army’s pillaging was ruthless, slaughtering fiercely, targeting not just commoners and merchants but also the manors of the great nobility and the property of the Roman Church. This brutal and unrestrained approach was entirely unlike the "polite" manner of warfare among the Italian states, where nobility could expect clemency.

Faced with the merciless looting by the French, Pope Alexander, who had invited King Charles southward, was left stunned; the city-state nobles who surrendered finally understood pain. The Venetians were especially anxious, hopping in urgency. As the Venetians wielded their "golden" weapon, the Roman Church issued one "Invitation to Serve the Emperor" after another...

The Republic of Venice, the Papal States, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of England, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Castile-Aragon United Kingdom—nearly half of Europe joined forces to establish the Anti-French Holy Alliance, which was established with unprecedented speed in the Middle Ages in a matter of months!

Although Pope Alexander was not adept at military matters, he was truly skilled at intrigue. Venice’s Governor Barbarigo was shrewd and calm, especially proficient in diplomacy. Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire, King Ferdinand of Aragon, and Queen Isabella of Castile were all rare figures to behold. The swift establishment of the Anti-French Alliance was entirely beyond King Charles’ expectations. Before King Charles sensed the danger and began withdrawing his main forces from Italy, the Alliance had already gathered over twenty thousand allied troops, blocking King Charles’ retreat route!

"The Almighty protects! I was escorting the Queen when I personally heard the details of the Battle of Fornovo..."

"This battle took place on July 6 of this year, three months ago. Over twenty thousand Holy Alliance troops hurried to the Taro River to block the northern return path of King Charles... The overall commander of the allied forces for this battle should have been Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire. However, Emperor Maximilian couldn’t make it, leaving the Marquis of Mantua, Francesco, to take command. This fellow had a considerable force at his disposal, but he lacked Emperor Maximilian’s command abilities and the Knight Emperor’s authority... Originally, this was a perfect opportunity to keep King Charles completely trapped in Italy. As long as we could besiege or capture King Charles, the war would end immediately! We would have won!..."

At this point, Knight Captain Alvaro sighed again. Faced with the summons from Venetian creditors and the Roman Church, Castile simply couldn’t sit by and watch, becoming directly embroiled in the Italian Wars. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Naples was originally ruled by the Aragon family. King Ferdinand had claims and desires for the throne of Naples...

All of this precipitated the inevitability of the United Kingdom of Spain standing opposed to the Kingdom of France. Their involvement in this war would deepen, growing increasingly fierce! But the militarily formidable Kingdom of France, possessing thousands of Imperial Knights, was not so easily dealt with!

"As the Almighty bears witness! The deployment of Marquis of Mantua’s army wasn’t wrong. He placed the main forces along the Taro River, engaging the understrength French Army. Then, he stationed the right wing at an advantageous terrain in the highlands, with the left wing relying on the village of Fornovo, and a unit of city-state light cavalry pinning down the rear of the French Army. If the allied forces could hold off the French Army for a few days, waiting for the reinforcements from the Holy Roman Empire and the Italian city states to arrive, forming an over threefold advantage in troops, the French Army would undoubtedly be completely annihilated, buried in the plains of Northern Italy!..."

Knight Captain Alvaro crouched in the captain’s cabin, dipped his finger in the wine offered, and sketched the terrain of the Battle of Fornovo. The allied forces had both a numerical and a terrain advantage, attacking from both front and rear, with more reinforcements on the way. No matter how you looked at it, this battle was one where the French Army was bound to lose more than win! But the final outcome...

"Oh Almighty! The two sides first engaged in an artillery battle with over a hundred cannons. Then, the French Army took the initiative to strike, sending out hundreds of Imperial Knights along with over a thousand elite Swiss Long Spear Soldiers, fiercely charging the high-ground positioned right wing of the allied forces! This was a true death-defying charge, as those Imperial Knights charged like an unstoppable herd of mad bulls!..."