Post by France on Aug 31, 2011 16:28:59 GMT -5
February of 1495
As far as Francis was concerned, everything was set up for a great French victory. He had superior forces than those who would oppose him, greater numbers, and most importantly, a right to claim Naples. It could be argued that his king’s claim to the kingdom of Naples was weak at best, but France honestly could care less how distant the connection was that had helped convince Charles to launch the assault. It was a reason to gain more territory, which was good enough for Francis. If there was one thing most nations loved it was expanding their own spheres of influence and it could be said that few countries were as power-hungry as France these days. He didn’t honestly want to stop with conquering Naples either. No, why should he stop with Naples when he could easily conquer all of the Italian states? His boss lacked the justification to make such a move, but that didn’t bother Francis in the least from fantasizing about it.
For now though he was under orders to focus on one thing at a time. His main objective was to take Naples, something that he suspected would not take much force to accomplish. All the same, he had brought 25,000 armed men, plus a siege train and artillery in case the Italians decided to put up a fight. A quick decisive victory would be far better than a slow one. The longer the fighting went one, the greater the death count for his forces as well as his enemy’s. So he and his men had planned to charge through the Italian states as quickly and efficiently as possible and take Naples by storm.
Of course there were casualties along the way as they charged through the cities. What else could be expected? France himself continued to turn a blind eye to these brutal attacks from his forces though, neither stopping them or encouraging his men in their savagery. He was not personally as vicious or bloodthirsty as the majority of his armed forces seemed to be - he considered himself far too refined- but at the same time he figured that the fear they stirred up in their wake might be a powerful weapon against those who might consider trying to stop him. Let his men have their fun and cause their destruction. Besides, France himself was far too busy slashing people down when they go in his way from atop his fine white stallion to take note about just how violent some of his men were being to the Italian civilians. Namely the poor unfortunate women who were drug off kicking and screaming from time to time all for the mere enjoyment of his men.
There were some gorgeous women in some of these cities. Francis had to admit that. As sexual as he could be though, he didn’t really want to join in on taking advantage of them. Carnal pleasures were just so much more pleasurable when the feelings where not so one-sided. Plus, fancying himself more of a romantic, forcing affections on someone just did not feel right to him personally. He was a romantic knight, who would sweep the women off their feet and have them willingly follow him to bed.
After several days of the brutal advance, they had finally reached the city of Naples itself. Much to his amazement, the cocky French nation had been met with no resistance at all from the target city. His men had likewise been amazed by this, and at first all of them had been on edge as they had entered the muddy streets. They had finally been able to relax a little though after their successful siege. The people of Naples showed no sign of being a threat, and did not seem to dare fighting even as much as the Italians in the previous villages had. It had been nice, since no resistance had meant less bloodshed.
It had been months since that fateful capture though, and now France and his men were making a speedy retreat back north. For some bizarre reason that Francis could not understand, there had been some sort of a league formed against him. Or so he had heard. It was infuriating to both his boss and himself, since Charles so clearly had a valid claim on Naples that should not have been challenged at all. How dare some other nations come along and stick their noses in his business!
But alas, Charles did not want to end up cornered in Naples, so he had informed France that they were to leave some soldiers there and head north, back towards Lombardy. Hopefully they would have a safe and uneventful trip there, escaping the newly formed league. Francis hated the thought of just leaving the newly conquered Naples, but given the circumstances, he had to admit that they had little choice in the matter. His king had to come first, no matter how proud Francis had been to conquer Naples so quickly and efficiently.
And so they left quickly, France riding alongside his boss, followed by a precession of their armed forces. If all went well, they would make it back to safety without delay, but on the chance they encountered the league, Francis was fully prepared to fight along with his men to protect his king.
_________________________________
((Fixed it a bit. Let me know if this works better. This has been such a tricky one to plan out.))
As far as Francis was concerned, everything was set up for a great French victory. He had superior forces than those who would oppose him, greater numbers, and most importantly, a right to claim Naples. It could be argued that his king’s claim to the kingdom of Naples was weak at best, but France honestly could care less how distant the connection was that had helped convince Charles to launch the assault. It was a reason to gain more territory, which was good enough for Francis. If there was one thing most nations loved it was expanding their own spheres of influence and it could be said that few countries were as power-hungry as France these days. He didn’t honestly want to stop with conquering Naples either. No, why should he stop with Naples when he could easily conquer all of the Italian states? His boss lacked the justification to make such a move, but that didn’t bother Francis in the least from fantasizing about it.
For now though he was under orders to focus on one thing at a time. His main objective was to take Naples, something that he suspected would not take much force to accomplish. All the same, he had brought 25,000 armed men, plus a siege train and artillery in case the Italians decided to put up a fight. A quick decisive victory would be far better than a slow one. The longer the fighting went one, the greater the death count for his forces as well as his enemy’s. So he and his men had planned to charge through the Italian states as quickly and efficiently as possible and take Naples by storm.
Of course there were casualties along the way as they charged through the cities. What else could be expected? France himself continued to turn a blind eye to these brutal attacks from his forces though, neither stopping them or encouraging his men in their savagery. He was not personally as vicious or bloodthirsty as the majority of his armed forces seemed to be - he considered himself far too refined- but at the same time he figured that the fear they stirred up in their wake might be a powerful weapon against those who might consider trying to stop him. Let his men have their fun and cause their destruction. Besides, France himself was far too busy slashing people down when they go in his way from atop his fine white stallion to take note about just how violent some of his men were being to the Italian civilians. Namely the poor unfortunate women who were drug off kicking and screaming from time to time all for the mere enjoyment of his men.
There were some gorgeous women in some of these cities. Francis had to admit that. As sexual as he could be though, he didn’t really want to join in on taking advantage of them. Carnal pleasures were just so much more pleasurable when the feelings where not so one-sided. Plus, fancying himself more of a romantic, forcing affections on someone just did not feel right to him personally. He was a romantic knight, who would sweep the women off their feet and have them willingly follow him to bed.
After several days of the brutal advance, they had finally reached the city of Naples itself. Much to his amazement, the cocky French nation had been met with no resistance at all from the target city. His men had likewise been amazed by this, and at first all of them had been on edge as they had entered the muddy streets. They had finally been able to relax a little though after their successful siege. The people of Naples showed no sign of being a threat, and did not seem to dare fighting even as much as the Italians in the previous villages had. It had been nice, since no resistance had meant less bloodshed.
It had been months since that fateful capture though, and now France and his men were making a speedy retreat back north. For some bizarre reason that Francis could not understand, there had been some sort of a league formed against him. Or so he had heard. It was infuriating to both his boss and himself, since Charles so clearly had a valid claim on Naples that should not have been challenged at all. How dare some other nations come along and stick their noses in his business!
But alas, Charles did not want to end up cornered in Naples, so he had informed France that they were to leave some soldiers there and head north, back towards Lombardy. Hopefully they would have a safe and uneventful trip there, escaping the newly formed league. Francis hated the thought of just leaving the newly conquered Naples, but given the circumstances, he had to admit that they had little choice in the matter. His king had to come first, no matter how proud Francis had been to conquer Naples so quickly and efficiently.
And so they left quickly, France riding alongside his boss, followed by a precession of their armed forces. If all went well, they would make it back to safety without delay, but on the chance they encountered the league, Francis was fully prepared to fight along with his men to protect his king.
_________________________________
((Fixed it a bit. Let me know if this works better. This has been such a tricky one to plan out.))
