In modern times, Siena is just a small town with tens of thousands of people. Compared with big cities such as Milan and Turin, which have a population of over one million, it is completely incomparable. It is even not on the same level as Florence, which has a population of 300,000 or 400,000 people and is only 50 kilometers away.
In Italy, Siena is the capital of the province of Siena, with a population of only 54,000. However, the Italian province cannot be compared with the provinces of China. The area of ​​Siena is only 3,821 square kilometers, which is not as large as a prefecture-level city in China, let alone a province in China. Of course, the area of ​​European countries is generally small, and the area of ​​the whole Italy is not as large as that of a province with a larger area in China, let alone a small province in Italy? The population of 54,000 is not as large as that of a small county in China.
In short, Siena in later generations was an inconspicuous Italian town, and its light was completely concealed by nearby Rome and Florence. Even the city of Pizza, which was not as famous as the Leaning Tower of Pizza and pizza.
However, in this era, the Republic of Siena was one of the most powerful countries in Italy. The Republic of Siena, with an area of ​​about 8,000 square kilometers, can be regarded as a "big (vault) state" in Europe, where the vassal states are everywhere.
Moreover, like medieval Italian republics such as Venice, Geneva, and Florence, the Republic of Siena was also a country with developed commerce, with relatively developed wool and finance. Moreover, the province of Grosseto, which was along the coast of later generations, was also the territory of the Republic of Siena at this time, and the maritime transportation industry was also relatively prosperous.
In addition, the Republic of Siena is also very strong. How to express the military strength of Siena? For example, when Siena fought against Florence in 1260, Florence dispatched 33,000 troops, while Siena was a little weak, but also dispatched more than 20,000 troops. Moreover, the final victory was Siena...
Being able to dispatch 20,000 troops shows that Siena has good financial resources and considerable manpower. Moreover, that was 1,260 years, and nearly 250 years have passed, and Siena's strength has not diminished.
Moreover, during the First Italian War, the French army entered the Republic of Florence and ransacked and destroyed the more prosperous Republic of Florence. But then, the French army left Florence and headed straight for Rome, then attacked the Kingdom of Naples, but directly ignored the Republic of Siena not far from Florence...
The Republic of Siena escaped, but because of this, it surpassed Florence in national strength... Of course, it is meaningless to say this now, because the Republic of Florence has been destroyed...
However, this also shows that the current Republic of Siena is more difficult to fight than the original Republic of Florence. Moreover, the city of Siena is located in the valley and the terrain is extremely complex. In history, in 1555, Charles V's Spanish army finally captured the city of Siena for two years. Therefore, the city of Siena is much harder to fight than the city of Florence.
Moreover, after Marin helped the Pope to conquer Florence, he also needed to digest and absorb the wealthy "big power" of the Republic of Florence, and had no time to take care of Siena.
Now, the Pope has basically completed the absorption and digestion of the Florence region. Therefore, Pope Julius II feels that the time to capture Siena is ripe...
Of course, Julius II also knew the difficulty of capturing Siena. Therefore, he could only ask for help from Marin, who had more ideas about fighting. In addition, if Marin could help the Pope capture Siena, he would have reason to reward Marin. For example, reward the colonial rights of the Americas. In this way, other countries would not object to it - you see, they have indeed made actual contributions to the Holy See. If you are jealous and dissatisfied, you will also help the Holy See capture a piece of Italian territory?
...
However, Marin did not make a rash decision, but conducted a three-day analysis based on the information such as the topographic map of Italy's mountains and rivers collected by Kohler.
As a result, Marin came to a sad conclusion that if he wanted to conquer Siena among the mountains, he would need at least 30,000 troops. Moreover, it is said that the gate of Siena was replaced by iron...
It’s not that Marin couldn’t take out the 30,000 army. But it’s true that Marin has a total of 50,000 troops, but two legions were placed in England and could not be mobilized at all. There are 30,000 people in the country, but it is impossible to transfer them all to Italy to help the Pope attack Siena. For security reasons, he dispatched at most half, which is 15,000 people. However, this is not enough. Even if he added the 7,000 people he sent to the Pope, it would be only 22,000. As for the Pope’s own Italian mercenaries... it would be fine if he didn’t mention it...
It’s not that the 22,000 North Sea troops could not conquer Siena, but that it might take a long time to conquer Siena. Charles V’s Spanish army was scattered across Europe and beat France at that time, and it took two years to conquer Siena. Therefore, if 22,000 troops were used, even if Marin personally commanded and used the strategy, it would probably take several months.
But Marin knew that if he had brought half of the country's troops to Italy for a few months, he would have known what would have happened. After all, he was not popular among the German princes. If someone had attacked his hometown at that time, he would have been in a dilemma...
To capture Siena as soon as possible, Marin estimated that at least 30,000 troops would be needed, and 30,000 main combat troops would be without waste...
Of course, if there is an army of 40,000, the confidence will be even greater. The premise is that the commander is Marin...
But where did Marin find the 40,000 troops? Then, he became depressed...
...
There is no way out. Just when Marin was worried about how to mobilize enough troops to quickly capture Siena, Emperor Maximilian I, who was far away in Austria, suddenly sent a special envoy.
The envoy came for two main purposes - one is to buy porcelain and silk. As the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I was more respectful than those kings and dukes. If there were no porcelain decorations in the palace, wouldn’t it be laughed at? In addition, the spy under Marin said, “If there are not many porcelains at home, do you want to call yourself aristocrats?” The lethality is too great. As an emperor, he also needs some porcelain to serve as a facade. Otherwise, it would be difficult to call himself emperor when he went out...
Of course, as Marin's old lord, he would definitely not be the sucker for the price of the people. Then, dozens of pieces of porcelain were missing in Marin's warehouse. The discount was still 50% off... In addition, there were some exquisite silks used to make new emperor's new clothes (literally)...
As for the second purpose of the envoy, it was to invite Marin as a lobbyist. And who did the emperor want Marin to help him convince? It was the Pope. What was it for? It was the emperor's crowning issue...
All the Holy Roman Emperors of all generations were going to Rome for their crowning. Before the crowning, although they were called emperors, they should actually be called "German Kings" legally. When France and other countries interacted with Maximilian I, they also called him His Majesty the King, not His Majesty the Emperor. Only the Holy Roman Empire recognized the position of Emperor Maximilian I. Even the princes who opposed Maximilian I recognized this. After all, this was elected by the leader of the princes, the seven electoral emperors. The bosses all admitted it, how could they not recognize it?
However, Julius II was an old politician. He knew that Maximilian I wanted to be crowned, but he did not crown the other party. Because he needed to hold this bargaining chip that he could control in his hands and exchange for the best interests...
Chapter completed!