Baron Billund ruined the mood of everyone at the banquet to continue drinking and merry.

He was called Billon the Coward at private gatherings after the banquet prematurely ended, but the day after the banquet ended, before the nickname spread, no one in Paris would think he was alarmist.

On the 20th day of November in the 10th year of Wanli, Marshal Matthion on the front line sent an urgent report, hoping that the king would send a knight as reinforcements to the south, and the traces of the Ming army appeared on the north bank of the Dordogne, and the two castles twenty-four miles apart were captured in five days, and a team transporting supplies was attacked at the same time.

Because of this urgent report, Billon reluctantly took command of the expedition again.

Billon was overjoyed to be able to lead the army again, but he was dissatisfied with the troops assigned to him by the king.

Assembled in Paris with Billund were four hundred knights of the Decree and their well-armed men, the decisive force that the French could put into the land battlefield, but their direct commanders were two nobles who had been lucky enough to make it on their butts, as if fighting the Ming army was an easy battle.

One of them was Jean-Louis Nogale's Lavalette, who was born into a family of warriors from Gascony, whose ancestors led an army against Pope Boniface in the time of Philip in the United States, and who was a fellow countryman of Navarra Henry but betrayed him and threw himself into the French royal palace. If you can bring Chen Jiujing's head back, you can make him a field marshal.

The other is the Duke of Juvayez, who has a prominent background, his father is the south has been fighting against the Protestants, he was made a duke at the age of twenty, and he also married the distant sister of Hum Laosan, the extravagant wedding was just held, in order to show intimacy, Hum Laosan let the court prepare for two weeks, and wore the same clothes as the groom to attend the wedding on the same day.

After the wedding, 17 banquets, horseback riding competitions, musical performances, masquerade balls, and dance parties are held at lavish expense.

Even in the past, before the wars of religion began, in the days of François, the annual income of France was only 2,620,000 ducats.

At a time when the war lasted for decades and was even more difficult, the court estimated that the wedding and gifts to the newlyweds amounted to two million gold coins, which was equivalent to 1,960,000 taels if the Ming Dynasty's gold and silver exchange ratio was used, which was almost a year's income for France.

Billund's so-called proposal to let the Queen Mother Catherine go to Chen Jiujing to buy back Bordeaux was actually aimed at the king and the Duke of Jouvalez, he estimated that two million taels of silver or the equivalent value of gold were placed in front of Chen Jiujing, and it was very likely that Chen Jiujing would happily leave France with the fleet and sign a treaty of commerce.

Even if they haven't had enough to eat, at least a truce can allow France to recuperate and deal with other challenges.

The royal family will not use the money to build the army anyway.

What's the use of throwing the same money on Duke Juvalez?

But now the situation is different, the Ming army has already launched an operation, and in the cold winter, Billund can only lead the army south...... And take these two fellows who dislike him, and refer to their opinions in everything.

Billon had always wanted to talk to the two of them, and before the war began, he needed to make sure that the two men would not act on their own and would be able to fight with him, but he didn't have a chance.

The entire force was cavalry, and although there were supplies for Marshal Matillion at the front, they still arrived on the banks of the Loire on the fifth day of the expedition, and further south into the garrison area of Marshal Matillion, which meant that there was a possibility of encountering the Ming army, so Billon decided to wait for the news that the sentinels would bring back to the front before continuing the operation.

He didn't know how to communicate with the two, and the Duke of Jouvalez took Lavalette to him first.

"The marshal said to explain the situation of the army, Mr. Lavalette needs Chen Jiujing's head." In Duke Juvajez's mouth, Chen Jiujing's head seemed to be an easy thing to obtain, and he smiled: "Don't worry, even if he becomes a marshal, he won't steal your military rank." ”

Lavalette, who followed behind, carried a helmet with only one eyelit gold trim, and held high his rugged and handsome face, which seemed to be destined for the title of Duke of Epenon.

Billon didn't like their attitudes, but the conversation was good for the rest of the fight, and he spread his hands and got into the groove.

"Chen Jiujing has several troops, 4,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry should be the army deployed by the Ming Dynasty in the New World, and the heavy cavalry all wear Milan, Spain and our plate armor, and they don't like to use heavy cavalry guns, and use powerful bows to shoot at close range or heavy weapons."

"Their knights were never used to storm the line, and often used cavalry as a last resort to hunt down the collapsed phalanx infantry and grab artillery, and these knights were familiar with looting places, collecting supplies, cleaning the battlefield, and they alone outperformed our squad."

Duke Juvalez listened to Billon's Xu narration, looked at Lavalette and smiled: "I'm sure they won't have a chance to build a battlefield. ”

Bironn did not refute, and continued: "I have engaged them in the infantry phalanx under the city, and I can only see them from a distance, they are nothing special, probably unloading the artillery from the ship, giving them ten times more firepower than us, and plenty of ammunition. ”

Recalling that Chen Jiujing under the city of Bordeaux used a salvo of artillery to defeat the troops of the three large phalanxes to collapse, Billon doubted whether these two guys could understand the concept of sufficient ammunition, so he had to add: "It is extremely sufficient." ”

The two of them had heard of this characteristic of the Ming army for a long time, and they were very cautious, and they rarely did not stiffen their mouths, and listened to Billund continue.

"In addition, Chen Jiu passed through two mercenary armies, one from the Han pirates in the Atlantic, composed of two black infantry legions using Spanish muskets, they were demoralized, one used light muskets and the other used heavy muskets, they were vulnerable to fighting independently, but they were very dangerous under the protection of cavalry and spearmen."

"The other is a Spanish mercenary, which is very common and difficult to deal with."

Billon said in a cautious tone: "But Marshal Matthion's letter asking for help mentioned that the mercenaries of the Han pirates have left, and the Spanish mercenary regiments are only stationed in various places due to the cold weather, and the Ming army should not have fought at this time, but not only did they cross the river, but according to the report of the rout, the style of this Ming army was also different from before, and he suspected that Chen Jiujing had reinforcements coming." ”

"This Ming army is more well-equipped, unlike Chen Jiujing's soldiers who wear clothes and armor to put together, they all wear a standard blue cotton armor, which has iron in it, and it is difficult for swords and spears to kill them, and they can continue to fight if they are hit by muskets at a distance."

"Despite their small numbers and their presence in detachments, they are well-trained to brave the cold, and most importantly—"

Billund took a deep breath, shook his head, and said, "Unlike Chen Jiujing's cavalry, who are skilled in identifying our noble officers and taking prisoners in exchange for ransom, there is already one earl, three barons, and twenty-four knights who have died at their hands, even if they are injured or surrender, they will be directly executed." ”