It turned out that what Count Charlie said was the 17,000 captured Swiss mercenaries who were sold to the Habsburg family by Marin.
A few years ago, after defeating the 50,000 troops of the Bossa coalition, Marin captured about 18,000 Swiss mercenaries with strong combat effectiveness. Then, the 18,000 Swiss mercenaries were captured by Marin as a coolie to dig the canal. After the Münster Canal was dug, Marin released the 18,000 prisoners of war "as promised". However, secretly, Marin quietly informed Emperor Maximilian I and asked him to send cavalry to intercept the unarmed 18,000 Swiss mercenaries who were preparing to go home halfway. After a conflict, only 17,000 people were left and were locked in the Parson concentration camp in the Principal of Brabant.
Later, Charlie, who was still the Duke of Guedes, sent a large army to attack Parson's concentration camp, trying to rescue these 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war with powerful combat power and use it for his own use.
But unexpectedly, this was clearly a trap set by Marin for the Principality of Gedders. The real Swiss mercenary prisoners of war had long been transferred, and the only thing left was the trap...
Then, the Gedes Principality, which once had extremely powerful and defeated the powerful Principality of Saxony, was cut off from the fertile land of Xiagedes...
This incident has always been a thorn in Earl Charlie's heart and it is hard to let go. However, later he was demoted to Earl Gelden, and his strength became much weaker and he no longer had the ability to rescue the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war.
But when he was escaping from the Rhine this time, Count Charles suddenly heard that the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war were currently sent by the Habsburg family to near Muldike at the mouth of the Rhine, where he dug a drainage ditch. Because there is a large swamp along the Rhine near Muldike. Maximilian I's son, Philip, intends to let the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war dig several drainage ditches, use Dutch windmills to draw the accumulated water in the swamp into the drainage ditch, and drain it to the Rhine... Then, this swamp can be transformed into fertile fertile fields...
This trick was learned by Prince Philip and Marin. At the beginning, Marin used tens of thousands of people to dig many drainage channels in the East Friesland area and introduced a large number of Dutch windmills from the Netherlands for pumping and draining. Then, East Friesland, which was originally full of swamps, had tens of thousands of Yugram's arable land. Marin also produced a large amount of grain every year with these extra arable land, and was rich in oil...
Prince Philip was naturally unwilling to fall behind. Just so happened that in recent years he had 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war who did not need to pay wages. So Prince Philip sent people to escort these 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war to reclaim land everywhere in the Netherlands, adding about 100,000 acres of cultivated land to the Habsburg family. If the swamp near Muldike on the south bank of the Rhine River was transformed, the Habsburg family could add another 20,000 acres of cultivated land...
...
However, the matter was found out by Count Charlie, who happened to escape, and the matter changed...
As far as Earl of Charles knows, because the war in Switzerland is tight, Maximilian I has drawn troops from Austria and the Netherlands to reinforce Switzerland.
Today, the Habsburg family has only left 8,000 soldiers in the entire Netherlands. Among them, 5,000 people stayed in the capital Ghent to protect Prince Philip and Princess Juana (the mad girl Juana), as well as Prince Charlie (the future Charlie V), etc.
In addition, 1,000 troops were stationed on the border between the southern Netherlands and France, monitoring the movements of France. The remaining 2,000 soldiers were supervising the work of the shackled Swiss mercenaries prisoners of war in Muldike...
Count Charlie believes that this opportunity is rare. Taking advantage of the current empty troops of the Habsburg family in the Netherlands, France can send cavalry to raid Muldike quickly and rescue the 17,000 Swiss mercenary prisoners of war...
Those Swiss mercenary prisoners of war were not ordinary people. Most of them were veterans who had been through the battlefield. They were also hired by France and participated in the Italian War.
If France could send troops to rescue the 17,000 Swiss mercenaries at this time and release them back to Switzerland, then these veterans with rich combat experience will immediately become the main force against the Habsburg family's army in Switzerland.
Moreover, with the torture of the Habsburg family by the Habsburg family in recent years, they must have hated the Habsburg family to the core. At that time, they will definitely spare no effort when they confront the Swiss fronts of the Habsburg family under Frenzberg.
In addition, France does not have to pay their salaries when they fight against the Habsburg family. Because, participating in the Swiss Resistance Army to fight against the Habsburg family is not for France, but for the Swiss themselves. Therefore, France does not have to pay any commissions for them, just to fund some food. It saves money, is also fierce. In addition, these people's hatred for the Habsburg family, they will not be able to explode when the war begins...
...
"This idea is so wonderful!" Louis XII slapped the table in surprise and stood up.
"That's right, most of these 17,000 people are the most elite veterans! I almost forgot about the existence of these warriors! If they were to join, the Swiss Resistance Army would not lose!" Louis XII said happily.
Earl Dult also echoed:
"Yes, we don't have to pay the commission!"
The commissions of Swiss mercenaries are not a joke. The commissions they used to fight for France were three times the commissions of ordinary mercenaries, which is 9 Finney for 17,000 people per day, and the commissions per day would exceed 2,500 gold coins.
However, after they returned to China, they joined the Swiss Resistance Army. Because they were fighting for themselves, the French did not need to pay commissions this time, which was very cost-effective.
After these old Swiss mercenaries returned to China to participate in the war, the French did not have to worry about the deterioration of the situation in Switzerland. Even if they could not defeat the invading army of the Habsburg family, they would at least not be defeated again.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Even with these 17,000 people returning to China to participate in the war, France does not have to keep the tens of thousands of French elites in the "Swiss Resistance Army". These people are elite French soldiers. In order to prevent the Habsburg family from annexing Switzerland, they were specially sent by Louis XII to pretend to be Swiss against the Habsburg family.
If the 17,000 Swiss veterans were returned, Louis XII could take back the tens of thousands of French elite veterans. Then, they would bring Italy to the war to compete for the volcanoes on the Italian Peninsula...
...
But Louis XII obviously had other ideas—
"I plan to rescue those Swiss mercenaries, and draw 7,000 of the most elite veterans from them, follow my army south to Italy, and fight the Spanish decisively. The Spanish army has strong combat power, while France has strong cavalry, but lacks elite infantry. The Swiss mercenaries are one of the best mercenaries in Europe......" Louis XII did not want to add "one", but when he thought of the combat effectiveness of the infantry in the North Sea, he had no choice but to add one.
"If we have 7,000 of the most elite mercenaries in Switzerland and cooperate with the French cavalry, we can't defeat the Italian Spanish army if we don't believe it!"
Count Charles obviously also knew the reason why Louis XII conquered Italy, because volcanic ash was the secret of fertilizer, and the eight princes knew it. He thought about it and supported Louis XII's decision to focus on Italy first...
"Your Majesty is wise, but first of all, we have to save the 17,000 Swiss mercenary warriors who have been tortured by the Habsburg family for several years!"
Chapter completed!