Chen Jiujing chose Bordeaux as his destination for many reasons, the most important of which is the ease of transportation.

Bordeaux is just one of several metropolises like Nantes that can be reached from the coast, but Nantes is a Catholic territory, and his mercenaries may not be willing to attack it.

What's more, if there is a river, there is a navy, and there are shore fortifications, Chen Jiujing didn't think about attacking the city in the past, and he couldn't defend it if he beat it, his goal was very clear - just like the French pirates did to the West Indies, just plundering the troops.

"In this way, Bordeaux has a very advantage, it is close, the voyage is only two days, it can attack the city, retreat can plunder the coast, and there is really no way to return to Bilbao."

After the soldiers assembled and went to sea, Chen Jiujing called several mercenary leaders under his command to the ship to discuss the battle.

After the initial news that he was going to recruit mercenaries, Carlos found more than 20 mercenary teams of various sizes under the Habsburg rule for him, but the uneven quality of these mercenary groups also opened Chen Jiujing's eyes.

Some mercenary groups can only be divided into a sword by a few people, and the four 'crossbowmen' share a longbow, and it is basically difficult to see the arquebus, which requires Chen Jiujing to prepare weapons and armor for them in the employment contract, and the corresponding remuneration is much lower than those well-equipped mercenaries.

Others were highly morale and well-equipped, and it seemed that the soldiers had also been weathered, which was very much in line with Chen Jiujing's expectations, and the contract was signed to prepare for the mobilization of troops, only to find that this army was dragging a long tail behind it.

Hundreds of wagons, more than forty horses with luggage and foals born to them, army vendors and their wagons, male servants, female servants, child servants, officers' wives, prostitutes looking for business with them, and prostitutes outnumbered the army.

A mercenary group is the equivalent of a small moving town in Europe.

"Our march must ensure that within a month, you will earn a lot of money with me, all the materials plundered, the six mercenary groups are divided into seventy, and I only need thirty percent, so don't think about letting my wife and children drink Bordeaux wine."

Although Chen Jiujing forcibly restrained the families and servants of the mercenary group in the port before leaving, in order to prevent them from dying in the next battle, he sat on the deck and said, "It's not too late to bring them back and give them drinks." ”

Chen Jiujing is trying to accept the use of mercenaries by the Europeans as a means of warfare, and although they seem unruly and their commanders have no means to restrain them except their salaries, they are very effective in fighting in enemy territory, and the most important thing is that they are dead and lost.

It's just money.

The rulers of Europe believed that whoever had the money was the victor in the war; Commanders also believe that war requires three things: money, money, and money.

At this point, as long as Spain's Fei Lao Er is willing to give Ming Jun this platform, Chen Jiujing has an overwhelming advantage.

It is not only Chen Bazhi's privilege that his father can defeat the country.

"This is the first time we've fought together, and you're not familiar with it yet, but I think you'll get used to it quickly."

Chen Jiujing raised his hand and ordered: "General Carlos, please inform you of the battle plan and military orders of the general of the Xiyong Battalion." ”

As the general of the Xiyong A battalion and the mercenary recruiter of Chen Jiujing, Carlos's deliberate humility made him look less like the mercenary captain and more like Chen Jiujing's servant. ”

As he spoke, Carlos pointed to Juan, who was dressed as a musketeer with a beard, and pointed to several places on the map, and said, "The map for you will mark the distance and location of the four villages and towns along the way, and the distance on the map will be marked in Mingli, one mile and nine Mingli." ”

"This route is two hundred miles long, and you have eight days."

With that, Carlos took out another picture and handed it to General Franco, saying, "The well-armed General Franco and his battalion of Siyondin will disembark with Juan, march sixteen miles east and sweep north along the main road, defeat the garrisons of the monastery and villages along the way, and arrive two hundred and forty miles north in ten days." ”

"You may meet the army sent by Bordeaux on their way to the western seaports, and it will take two and a half days from the time they receive the news that they are ready to leave the city and travel hundreds of miles to get here, and if they have few troops, kill them."

Juan had no objection to this, and nodded slowly and said, "How many troops?" ”

"Don't worry, my battalion is forty miles to the west of you, and if all goes well, by this time my battalion A, Salazar's battalion B, Aji's battalion E, and Guzmán's own battalion have gathered their forces to capture the port, and the most likely is that Bordeaux's forces have already engaged us."

"If that's the case, you have to be careful and cut off their retreat; If they're slow, they'll hit you if they can, and if they can't, they'll retreat west, and in any case, try to get the rider to get the news back first. ”

"Once this battle begins, no one can rob anymore, the most important thing is to defeat the enemy, don't disobey the order, whoever disobeys the order, the entire mercenary group will not be paid."

"It is said that in General Chen's hometown, there is a word called Liwei, which means to set up an order and wait for the first person to break it, and to let others know that the order is true and valid by imposing punishment."

Several leaders looked at Chen Jiujing and unanimously agreed!

Is there a more comfortable military order than this? This is simply to send them to France to make a fortune, no country's regular army will give such an order, and the pirates can't pay such a high salary to hire them, only Chen Jiujing.

They didn't care about the monasteries and anything like that, the south of France was Protestant territory, enemies of the Church, and they all had a Spanish military background in the past, and not only did they not have any psychological burden, but they also thought it was extremely honorable—if they came back and were willing to give a tenth of the harvest to the Church, they would be heroes of the Church.

"This battle, which is bound to take place on the outskirts of Bordeaux, has ten days left for us, and if they are dealt with within ten days, we will have time to try to attack Bordeaux; If we can't take Bordeaux in twenty days, we must return to the ship and leave the port. ”

"Henry of Navarre is recruiting troops to go to war in the north, he may take the city of Cahor, only four hundred miles from us, let us pray now—do not meet him."

Chen Jiujing watched with satisfaction as Carlos read out the battle plan to everyone, and then clapped his hands, and some of his subordinates offered wine, raised their glasses to everyone, and said: "This is the response of Chen Shuai of the Oriental Military Office of the Ming Empire and King Philip of Habsburg Spain to the chatter of French pirates harassing the Caribbean...... I wish you all a full return! ”

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