Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 923

Episode 923: The Imperial March 2 – Assault return, running on the ground. (11)

Even though the ‘partitioning’ was somewhat over, the envoys from each country continued to sit in the conference hall and continue their war of words.

It was a tedious battle that was later evaluated as a ‘desperate struggle to avoid stigmatization.’

For them to engage in such a boring battle was extremely unusual in the way of thinking at the time.

Of course, even during this period, it was natural to seek justification for starting a war.

But this was literally just a formality. Negotiations often broke down as soon as they started, and wars broke out because of that breakdown.

And when the war that took place in this way became sluggish or the outcome became unclear, the parties ran to the Pope and insisted that they were right. And the Pope coordinated the two sides appropriately and proposed a mediation plan.

In most cases, a mediation plan that satisfies both parties was not successful. However, both sides had to accept the mediation proposal.

-If you refuse, you will be excommunicated.

Although it was inferior to the past, the Pope’s ‘excommunication’ was fatal.

It was an open secret that the Pope and his close associates were able to receive significant bribes during this process.

However, all of this was impossible at this meeting.

The first thing was that foreign powers were arguing over Italy’s internal problems.

Here, it was the empire that gained the first and greatest justification.

-It is right for Italians to decide the fate of Italy. It is not right for foreign countries to intervene carelessly!

-The same goes for our empire. If the Italians decide for themselves through peaceful means, the Empire will accept it!

As soon as they arrived in Florence, the empire was the first to obtain both indulgence and justification due to the incense statement hung on the embassy wall.

Second, the Pope lost his qualifications as a mediator.

It was because of the Papal States in Italy. About a quarter of the entire territory of Italy, excluding Sicily, was the Papal States. The problem was that the area was one of the most fertile regions in Italy.

No matter how devout Italians were, there was no way they could just ignore this part. Likewise, there was no way the Pope would just put it out there. Ultimately, the Pope’s representative also had to participate in the meeting as a stakeholder.

The last thing that was predicted was that this war would not end easily.

Looking at the current situation, it was simple.

Imperial Florence Switzerland VS. Papal States of the Kingdom of Naples, Spain, France.

And other city-states in Portugal and Italy were watching.

The biggest problem in this situation was how many troops could be maintained and for how long.

As Switzerland, famous for its mercenaries, joined the empire, all other countries had difficulty supplying troops.

Fortunately, the Habsburgs had the Landsknecht, a mercenary group that was born in the Swabia region and was gradually becoming famous.

And because of this landsknecht, the calculations became complicated.

Aside from the Imperial Union, the country with the strongest military power was France. However, the problem was that the main force of the French army was the standing army. Since they were recruiting citizens rather than mercenaries, there were limits to finances for salary payment and veterans policy.

If the war was prolonged, the Habsburgs, who had an easier time mobilizing troops, would have a higher chance of becoming the final victor.

In other words, from France’s point of view, there was a high possibility that it would be ‘like throwing porridge and giving it to a dog.’

Spain also had a headache.

The problem was that there was no land route from Spain to Italy. In order for the Spanish army to move by land, it had to pass through French territory.

It was an area where numerous border disputes took place between Spain and France.

No matter how much they worked together, there was no chance that France would open its borders for the Spanish army.

In that case, the troops had to be transported by sea, and the imperial navy encamped in Livorno and Prince Henry’s Port could not ignore this.

Pressure was being put on Portugal to resolve this issue, but Portugal was just paying attention.

The situation in the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples was not all that good.

The risk of an internal uprising was increasing.

Both the Borgia family of Pope Alexander VI and the Trastamara dynasty of the Kingdom of Naples had their roots in Spain.

Many of the Italian cardinals and residents of the Papal States had a close opinion of the Pope due to his origins.

If the war slowed down and the burden they had to shoulder increased significantly, it was very likely that the residents of the Papal States would use this as an excuse to rise up.

The same was true for the Kingdom of Naples. The current king, Ferdinand I, had a history of suppressing several rebellions by nobles who rebelled against him.

In order to keep these nobles in check, preferential treatment was given to free citizens of the city and urban nobles to keep the feudal nobles in check.

However, when the cause of ‘Italy for the Italians’ was added to the harmful effects of a long-term war, there was a high possibility that the city’s nobles would turn their backs.

In other words, everyone expected that if the Empire and Florence alliance could not be clearly suppressed in the beginning, a long-term war would enter.

And the common thought of everyone except the Empire was that the Empire would be the most advantageous in a long-term war. It was thanks to Switzerland that Switzerland showed what happens when an empire makes the right decision, releases money, and runs its factories.

“But there is no way to avoid war…”

In the end, a tedious war of words ensued to find a scapegoat who would endure until the very end and overturn the stigma.

* * *

“…Based on the situation so far, this is how we envision the front lines of the future war.”

A five-day adjournment was declared in response to the request of envoys who were tired of the boring war of words.

The incense and Lorenzo de’ Medici ambassadors and thieves of the imperial army gathered in the embassy conference room, and finally, the highest ranking commanders of the Florentine and Swiss armies were gathered to receive reports on how war would proceed if a war broke out.

“Hmm…”

After listening to the explanation carefully, Hyang looked back at Yu Eung-bu.

“To summarize, a two-front battle cannot be avoided.”

“That’s right.”

“This has become a boring situation.”

“That’s right. The best would be for uprisings and revolts to occur in the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples to the south, loosening the southern front. Then, I think it would be best to clear the south as quickly as possible and move up to the north.”

Everyone except Hyang nodded at Yu Eung-bu’s words. However, the scent could not help but frown.

‘Something feels uncomfortable…’

Thanks to being a military fanatic, Hyang had a lot of knowledge related to war history, but he couldn’t shake off an inexplicable feeling of discomfort and a very unpleasant feeling.

Because of this, Hyang looked at the map on the wall and the report in his hand several times with a frown on his face.

Seeing Hyang’s behavior like that, the others began to become more and more anxious.

‘what? I think it’s the most standard and stable strategy?’

‘what? ‘What did I miss?’

The scent that had made others anxious shook its head lightly and clicked its tongue.

“Tsk!”

‘evil!’

As soon as the scent hit their tongues, the others screamed inwardly. Anyway, Hyang, who was looking at the report and map again, asked Yu Eung-bu.

“Why south?”

“yes?”

“Why did you want to clear the southern front first?”

“As you have seen in the report, the main force of the armies of the Pope and the Kingdom of Naples are still soldiers and knights armed with spears and swords.”

“Are you sure this is the most recent information?”

“That is not true.”

“If I were the monarch of Spain, I would have sent weapons to the Kingdom of Naples first. And the newly appointed Pope must have been well aware of what was going on in the world, so he would have brought in a large number of guns and artillery. And…”

Hyang talked about what made her feel uncomfortable.

-Considering the time it took Florence to prepare for the unification of Italy, it is quite possible that the main weapons of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples changed.

-Funny enough, there is a problem with the geographic information we have. As for the northern area, we are faithfully prepared, but in the south, both quality and quantity are lacking.

-It is literally a wishful thinking that an uprising will occur in the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. There is absolutely no possibility that it will happen.

-Our imperial navy controls the route from Prince Henry Port to Livorno, but it does not control the entire Mediterranean Sea. If Spain and France use Sicily, they can use the Kingdom of Naples to create a trap.

-In other words, if we attack from the south in this situation, we could fall into a trap.

“…This is why I think ‘Southern Front First’ is a bit dangerous.”

Everyone present became serious at Hyang’s point.

‘If you think so… indeed…’

‘The strategy was developed from a sufficiently conservative perspective, but why?’

Hyang continued speaking while looking at the expressions full of reflection and doubt.

“Of course, I understand why that strategy was developed. ‘Take care of difficult enemies later and deal with easy enemies first.’. The same goes for geographic information. Since powerful armies like France and the Habsburgs were in the north and close to Florence, they had no choice but to be careful. The Papal States in the south had a very weak military, and the Kingdom of Naples had been in disarray due to a rebellion not long ago. But that doesn’t mean it’s too dangerous to move south. Proper geographic information is lacking, and the sea is especially problematic. The sea is our strong wall, but it can also cause us any trouble. Hmm….”

Hyang paused for a moment and got up from his seat and walked in front of the map.

“Hmm…”

Hyang, who was looking at the map and thinking deeply about something, looked back at Yu Eung-bu.

“How about organizing things from the north?”

“You mean coming from the north?”

“I see.”

Hyang’s plan was like this.

-The best route from Naples to Florence is through Rome. Therefore, we focus on defense by setting up defense lines in appropriate places.

-In the meantime, concentrate your efforts to annex northern Italian cities.

– During this merger process, gather troops from the city you merged first and attack the next city.

-Once you clear out Northern Italy, you can use the Alps to block the path of France and Habsburg.

-Afterwards, troops mobilized from northern Italian cities would be used as the main force to clear the southern part.

The scent described up to this point continued with a wry smile.

“The cause is ‘the cause of Italian unification,’ but there are other purposes as well. “It exhausts those who are dissatisfied with Florence.”

“Ah…”

The participants were speechless at Hyang’s words, which were so heartless. In particular, Lorenzo de’ Medici looked very shocked.

‘What my grandfather said was true!’

When Cosimo de Medici was alive, he said this about fragrance:

-He may be a wise and great monarch, but he is just as heartless!