Artaxerxes
Senshi sautés seashells by the seashore
- Location
- #VALUE!
The Italian wars are generally seen to have been kicked off by the invasion by Charles VIII to claim the crown of Naples, it was a fairly simple campaign and a bit of a triumph for the French king whon very much came, saw and conquered... at least on the way there.
Italian political infighting saw city after city give way as it the French marched to Naples where they indulged themselves to for a few months before pressure from the North and Milan and Venice especially saw them retreat with some alacrity back up the peninsula until the armies clashed at a river crossing called Fornovo.
It wasn't a decisive battle for either side, the French escaped relatively unharmed at the cost of it's baggage even though much of it's army arrived ragged and worn down while the Italians held the field at the cost of many of it's more important captains(1) though they did obtain Charles porno collection and his gilded helmet and the freedom to slowly repulse the French from the rest of Italy for a time.
The entire thing does have several interesting points where it can split though;
Firstly the rain caused the river to swell delaying and blunting the Italians battle plans as they hit the French in the sides
Secondly the French king for a few moments became separated and saved only by a groom, capturing or better still killing him is a major blow. Especially as at this point the Duc'd Orleans the heir to the throne the future Louis XII was under siege at Novara and would be for some time longer.
Lastly of course, what if the italian army really does just crumple? They suffered losing one of the Gonzanga clan (Rodolfo Ginzanga the man in charge of reserves and a capable captain died during the river crossing) splits very feasible that a stronger river, a few sword blows gone right can actually harm Italian chances further.
(1) The Italians at this time were not as many assume isolated from Europe and it's system of wars, in many ways Venice was at the bleeding edge of technology and administrative organisation of troops, many of the advances and lessons used by the French had been spun off from the Italian systems(2) What it was however was very much smaller and in the hands of a variable and sometimes capricious number of important captains leading it's armies, often from the front and unused to large scale action.
(2) The further south you went the less capable the cities of Italy were at actually running it's armies. Florence was a notoriously unreliable paymaster while Naples was far more feudal in running it's armies. Again this ties into the political infighting that made the initial French invasion such a success.
Italian political infighting saw city after city give way as it the French marched to Naples where they indulged themselves to for a few months before pressure from the North and Milan and Venice especially saw them retreat with some alacrity back up the peninsula until the armies clashed at a river crossing called Fornovo.
It wasn't a decisive battle for either side, the French escaped relatively unharmed at the cost of it's baggage even though much of it's army arrived ragged and worn down while the Italians held the field at the cost of many of it's more important captains(1) though they did obtain Charles porno collection and his gilded helmet and the freedom to slowly repulse the French from the rest of Italy for a time.
The entire thing does have several interesting points where it can split though;
Firstly the rain caused the river to swell delaying and blunting the Italians battle plans as they hit the French in the sides
Secondly the French king for a few moments became separated and saved only by a groom, capturing or better still killing him is a major blow. Especially as at this point the Duc'd Orleans the heir to the throne the future Louis XII was under siege at Novara and would be for some time longer.
Lastly of course, what if the italian army really does just crumple? They suffered losing one of the Gonzanga clan (Rodolfo Ginzanga the man in charge of reserves and a capable captain died during the river crossing) splits very feasible that a stronger river, a few sword blows gone right can actually harm Italian chances further.
(1) The Italians at this time were not as many assume isolated from Europe and it's system of wars, in many ways Venice was at the bleeding edge of technology and administrative organisation of troops, many of the advances and lessons used by the French had been spun off from the Italian systems(2) What it was however was very much smaller and in the hands of a variable and sometimes capricious number of important captains leading it's armies, often from the front and unused to large scale action.
(2) The further south you went the less capable the cities of Italy were at actually running it's armies. Florence was a notoriously unreliable paymaster while Naples was far more feudal in running it's armies. Again this ties into the political infighting that made the initial French invasion such a success.