The French are coming.

Although there were still illusions until the last moment that there might be a miracle, that perhaps the French fleet in the Mediterranean would be wiped out by a storm like the Persians who had invaded Greece, or that they would have to concentrate all their forces on the north in an unfavorable situation to deal with the problems there, or that there were simply those who hoped that the army of Aragon would arrive before the French would save them from being occupied by the French again, all these expectations were ultimately disappointed.

At the beginning of August 1499, the expeditionary force sent by King Louis XII of France finally appeared in the open sea of Naples after a long period of preparation, but now the lighthouse that was originally used as a warning was no longer guarded, and the officials who received the news did not swear to defend Naples from inviolation, as the queen swore when she left, they wore black clothes and carried a black flag symbolizing the king's death. Then, a few of the nobles who could still speak, led a small detachment of infantry, cavalry, and a small artillery corps of several men, opened the gates of the city and went outside to await the surrender of the French.

The French did not seem surprised by the Neapolitans' surrender without a fight, and they were already prepared, and their commander even had the audacity to personally perform this highly honorable ceremony.

"With the authority conferred upon me by the King of France and the people of France, I accept the surrender of Naples, and at the same time I swear by the honor of a noble knight to guarantee that your dignity and safety will not be violated."

The Frenchman's commander, though not kind, relieved the Neapolitans a little by his strong promise, though they knew very well that such a promise might be kept for the time being, and would soon be treated as waste paper, but at least for now the man had given them enough face so that they could go back and tell the people that they had to make this decision for the safety of the whole city.

After all, the king died, and he still died two in one go, and the queen, who was the regent, had abandoned everyone and fled, so choosing to surrender at this time seemed to be a good opportunity and had more than enough reasons.

Moreover, the top commander of the occupation army sent by the French king should also be "experienced", so the Neapolitans should not have much trouble.

Thinking about it this way, those officials even felt that they had become heroes of Naples.

Sharron walked on the road of the palace with a little emotion, he had already taken off his helmet, but the tightly wrapped black armor on his body still brought invisible pressure to the people around him.

As an official in the era of Charles VIII, Charlon actually did not think that he would be appreciated by the new king, at least not so quickly, in his mind, he might be left out of the cold for a long time, and even might be expelled from the court by those favored ministers of the new king, and sent back to Savoy to spend a bleak life.

Therefore, when Louis XII appointed him as an envoy to Pisa with great appreciation, Charlaine's gratitude to the king was self-evident.

Then Louis showed extraordinary bearing, he did not listen to the opinions of those around him about the Chalon suffered a crushing defeat when he was stationed in Rome, so he was overwhelmed, but after a detailed understanding of the process of the siege of Rome, he gladly used Sharon again, and let him serve as an adviser to the army in his own army, which seemed to have no real power, but made many people blush.

Charlon then became a strange mixture of a general and a diplomat, a politician and a spy chief, who advised the king on the layout of the frontal battlefield of the impending Italian war, and on the other hand spied on the news through his complicated relations with the nobility of Rome and throughout Italy, and exchanged information with a Moorish man through various channels, such as the rather classified information about how many troops Ludvico Sforza had mobilized in Milan. It was passed to him through many channels.

The reward for all this effort was the unfavorable decision of King Louis XII of France to appoint Charlaon as supreme commander of the invasion of Naples, much to the dissatisfaction of Garol de Boweken, Count of Proswan, who had expected the king to give him this prestigious post.

However, the count was clearly the king's favorite, for Louis XII later appointed him commander of the march into Rome, an honor that was more than enough to offset his displeasure, and even more enviable, but it also showed that the king valued Charlain as much as his friends who had supported him as staunchly as the Duke of Orleans.

Charlain still wanted to come to Naples, because according to the information provided by the Count of Giulip Normezi, King Ferdinand of Aragon seemed to have great ambitions for Naples, and Charlon did not think that Count de Boweken could handle such a matter well, which obviously could not be solved by the army alone, which also made him understand why the King of France sent him to Naples instead of de Bowicken.

Another reason for Charlon's interest in Naples was that he had heard that two kings of Naples had died one after another, and that it was Alexander's sister, now the Queen Regent of Naples, who now ruled the exiled court in Naples.

Queen Regent, this title makes Sharron find it very interesting.

She's the queen, but she's just the regent, but if one day the seemingly cumbersome prefix is removed, will the queen, who is said to have only been a little short of a few days, become the real queen?

The gathering of three different forces in a single Naples made Charlon seem to be back to his time in Rome, and he could not help but admit that if he had to choose, he would rather deal with the young Count of Montina.

There wasn't a lot of news about the Neapolitan court, but it was generally clear that Charlen had received information that the court of exile was now in Biliselli.

Scharron didn't quite understand the Queen Regent, or why Alexander chose that place as a foothold, at first, until he saw the map, he vaguely felt the purpose of the other party's choice there, and at the same time gradually understood that his own environment now did not seem to be as ideal as he had thought.

Billy Shelly is located in the interior of Naples, although it is not very far from the city of Naples, but because of the mountainous terrain in the south, it is not so easy to attack.

In the southeast corner of Naples, Cosenza and Billy Silly form a seemingly irregular but mutually supportive horn.

As he looked at the map, he was wondering what the Neapolitans were planning, and when he got the exact news that the Count of Montina was now organizing an army for the queen in the Neapolitan court, Charlon was even more sure that all this should have been prepared by the brother and sister in advance.

And apparently, the present situation was that the Neapolitans had given up the city, but they clearly had no intention of giving up resistance, so they took everything they could, and left the French with a city and all its people.

Charlain could not help but admit that this hand was indeed very powerful, and perhaps if this kind of abandonment of the people in France was to be hated by the people, even if the king returned again, it would be spurned, but in Italy it was really nothing.

Probably the Count of Montina really knew this too well, so he chose to give up the city without hesitation, but this gave Charlen a wonderful idea, he wondered if if the Count of Montina would be able to give up the territory so freely if the Count's Montina was facing the fall.

In any case, the Neapolitans retreated to Bilischeri after abandoning the city to the French, but Charlon did not think that they were cowardly, but saw a hint of danger.

If what that Normezi said was true, then Charlon would not only have to face the fleeing Neapolitan forces, but also be ready to clash with the Aragonese army at any time, although there was no news of the Aragonese troops so far, but Charlon would not wait for the opponent to appear before hastily preparing for it.

So he returned to the barracks as soon as he had completed his duties as an occupier after entering the court, and he needed to draw up a plan as soon as possible to ensure the effective occupation of Naples by the French army in this complicated situation.

Normezi followed Charlen back to Naples, a former rebel turned collaborator of the Belt and Road and the occupation forces, and his current identity is somewhat similar to that of Count Modillo, who stayed in Naples to deal with the French during Charles' invasion, but Normézi himself knew that he could not compare with Modiglo.

However, Normezi also provided the French with valuable information that would allow them to take over the city more quickly and easily, and Charlon knew the importance of taking Naples as soon as possible before the Aragonese arrived.

So he simply appointed Normezi as the civil affairs officer of Naples, and for a time Normezi was powerful and unparalleled.

While trying to digest the huge spoils of Naples, Charlon did not only focus on this corner, but sent an army of less than 1,000 men to carefully advance towards Cosenza in order to test the attitude of the Neapolitans.

The French army sent about 8,000 troops to occupy Naples this time, which was actually a lot more than Louis XII had envisioned, according to Louis's earlier judgment of Naples' strength, he thought that a maximum of 5,000 men was enough, and any more would be a waste.

After all, northern Italy has not yet stabilized, and if too many people are sent, it may affect the situation in the north.

However, the news brought by Normezi forced Louis to reconsider the possibility of a possible direct conflict with the Aragonese, which made him finally decide to send an expeditionary force of 8,000 after careful consideration, and he was really powerless to do anything more.

Charlon's task now was to complete the occupation of Naples as soon as possible, and at the same time to control southern Italy as much as possible, which made him a little annoyed by the fact that the brother and sister had left him with a situation that was not optimistic at all.

It is clear that the Neapolitan court did not choose Billy Silly as a place of exile, as the interplay with Cosenza was a sign of access to southern Italy, and the fortified castles and fortresses of Cosenza blocked the French from advancing southeast.

"Looks like we'll have to talk to that Cambrai."

Charlon, of course, knew that Louis had not sent him to Naples purely for the purpose of military occupation, and it could be said that there were not many people in the French court today who could deal with the Italians, and he was one of them.

Normezi was in front of Charloon again, and his days were going well, or in a sense he had really gotten what he had always dreamed of, the power to rule Naples.

In Naples today, Normezi is a man of real power, and he has not only gained the power he had previously dreamed of, but even more than he could have imagined.

Knowing that Normezi knows that such power is not only illusory, but also spurned by countless people.

It also made Normezi wonder if the price was worth it, but when he thought of the betrayal of him by the Aragonese, he felt that the only way to get revenge on Ferdinand was to cooperate with the French.

"You can now decide the fate of most people in this kingdom, and even their life and death, which should make you happy."

Scharron's words made Normezzie a little dazed for a moment, and his hand holding the cup paused slightly, and then slowly brought it to his mouth and took a sip of wine.

"Perhaps," said Normezi, vaguely, and then he asked, "General, you probably didn't come to me just to drink, but did you want me to do something?" ”

Charlen nodded and greeted Normezie: "I would like you to send me a message to Count Montina, perhaps he would like to talk to me about Naples affairs." ”

Normezi slowly drank the wine from the cup, and then looked at Scharon and said, "General, what are you going me to bring to the earl?" ”

"I hope he will cooperate with us," said Scharron, pondering, "since the Aragonese is coming, why can't he form an alliance with my king, perhaps his sister can't accept this reality yet, but I think the Count himself understands their situation, so I look forward to you bringing me good news, and I'm sure you know it's important to you as well." ”

Normezi listened silently, knowing that what Charlaon meant was that whether or not he could complete his mission would depend on his future position before the king of New Naples.

But Normezi didn't care too much about that.

He noticed what Charlain said that he wanted Alexander to cooperate with the French, which made Normezi feel an impulse in his heart.

"I'll bring your word to the Count," Normezzie nodded to Scharron to accept his mission, and then he reminded him, "but General, the Aragonese are likely to appear at any time, so I advise you to gather your army as soon as possible." ”

Charlen nodded slightly, he knew that Normezi was right, but he had just captured Naples, and he had to give the army a chance to indulge.

As for the threat from the Aragonese, Charlon was still very confident in the 8,000 French troops he had brought.

Although the distance from Naples to Bilischeri was not far, the journey became an insurmountable obstacle for the French.

This was due to the fact that not only did the complex mountainous terrain of southern Italy greatly limit the route of the French army's possible advance, but even worse, the threat from Cosenza could approach the French army at any moment.

And just as Normezi was about to rush to Bilischerly, an unexpected news cast a shadow over his trip.

The army sent by Charlain to Cosencha was attacked by a rather unexpected attack shortly after entering Cosencha territory, and according to the descriptions of the returning French soldiers, in addition to the recognizable Cosencha, another army attacked them.

Charlen thought of the Montina people, but Normezi had heard that there were not many Montina troops brought by Alexander, which made Charlen wonder in his heart.

Fearing that things might turn wrong, Charlon urged Normezi to get on his way as soon as possible, and again told Normezi to show him his sincerity to Alexander.

"I hope the Count will understand that it is more reliable to work with us than with the Aragonese, after all, Ferdinand's ambitions are well known to all of us."

Charlon left Naples with Normezi's advice, and the news of the defeat of the French army at Cosenza made Normezzi become cautious, he knew that the reason why Alexander did not kill him in the first place was to let him reveal to the French about Ferdinand's attempt to get his hands on Naples, and now the French have arrived in Naples, although Normezi does not know what Alexander will do next, but he is beginning to worry about his safety.

Normezi's fears were not unfounded, and as Count Giulipe, he became an agent of the French in Naples, which was enough to make many people hate him.

He couldn't think of any reason why Alexander would protect him, a traitor to Naples.

Normezi was worried, and what happened on the road made him feel as if he was in a state of great distress.

Soon after they entered Billy Silly, he was intercepted by a procession of emissaries, and the Count of Julipe, though not humiliatingly disarmed, was ordered to remove their flags.

Anxious to see Alexander, Normezi ignored the indignant protests of the French, who followed, and wisely obeyed the Neapolitans' orders.

It was for him to see Alexander as soon as possible, for he would only be somewhat safer if he saw the Count of Montina.

The last time Normezzi came to Biliselli was a few years ago, when he had no impression of this poor country, but he could not have imagined that it would one day become a place of exile for the Neapolitan court.

As for how many members of the Neapolitan royal family are still in this court, it is another matter.

The Neapolitan flag flying over Billyselli's castle looked striking from afar, but Normezi paid more attention to the other two flags hanging side by side on the city walls.

One is the unicorn flag of Cosenza, while the other is the quirky Montina pennant.

When he saw the three flags flying side by side, Normezi suddenly had a strange thought in his heart, as if the era of the Kingdom of Naples was actually over.

Normezi was brought into the castle, and when he was finally allowed to meet the Count after an already impatient wait, he did not expect that with the sudden arrival of a messenger, everything would become chaotic.

It was a dusty soldier whose face was no longer even recognizable, and his dark red uniform and short cloak indicated his identity, and when the soldier rushed into the castle on horseback, and even rushed directly under the door of the corridor despite the warnings of the Balkan guards, Alexander saw this surprising scene.

"My lord! Montina Urgent! The hunter shouted and turned and dismounted, but when he tried to untie a leather bag from his waist, the soldier suddenly staggered and fell to the ground.

"What did I see," Alexander asked in some surprise, and he walked quickly to the unconscious hunter and crouched down, tearing off his uniform vigorously, and said helplessly to the people around him, "My huntress actually fainted like a girl in front of me, it would be too bad if all my soldiers were like this." ”

Alexander said as he opened his purse and took out the secret letter from inside, when he carefully checked the seal and tore open the letter, only looked at the first few lines, Alexander's expression couldn't help but show an unconcealable stunned: "Dead?!" ”