Chapter 434 Attacking Rome (I)

The attack from the Papal States was really as Peter had envisioned. The so-called pilgrim army was scared away by their artillery before they even got close. However, their monks were still very tenacious in their fighting spirit and kept blocking them, which greatly slowed down their speed.

"This is your first time to participate in the war. I hope you won't let me down."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. We have been training for so many years just for this day. Please watch it."

The commander of the new army, Tualuschi, vowed to Peter that they would definitely make this group of rabble disappear into thin air.

Since the King of Naples had opened the Strait of Messina, the Roman fleet soon arrived in the western Mediterranean. And with the protection of the Naples fleet along the way, relying on the opponent's supplies, they soon landed in Fiumicino in the Papal States.

The Papal Army could not resist their attack and could only retreat, and quickly asked the Pope for help and sent reinforcements, otherwise Rome would not be safe.

This place is very close to Rome, so Gregory XII soon learned the news. He quickly called a meeting of cardinals, but when they arrived at the chapel, some of them did not come. Later, he learned that they had gone out to gather the army.

"God will punish these people. They are so scared that they ran away. They are really unworthy of their position."

The Pope angrily rebuked these people for being afraid of death and asked how they became cardinals? But, aren't all the bishops now bought? The money from selling the holy positions is very large, and they do their best to squeeze them after buying the positions and quickly earn the money back. Moreover, most of the people who are in power are hooligans. How can the Catholic Church be good if this continues?

Forget it. At the moment of life and death, we have to rely on the help of the bishops. Those who have money will contribute money, and those who have strength will contribute strength. At least we have to pay money to stabilize the morale of the army.

However, when it comes to the stage of paying money, the bishops, including the Pope, are short of money. On the one hand, they don't want to invest in a war that has no chance of winning, and on the other hand, their property has suffered heavy losses in the last sack of Rome. After all the hard work of smelting the monastery's gold containers and selling indulgences and priesthood restoration, it's impossible to give money now.

So everyone gave a symbolic amount, 100 florins for this one, 500 florins for that one, and the pope gave the most, 1,000 florins. In the end, the money collected was not even 10,000 florins, which was really miserable.

Seeing that they could only collect this much money, they tacitly carried out another thing: running away. Rome was no longer viable, and they had to run away quickly. Fortunately, they learned to be smart and transferred their property outside the city, which only needed to be moved.

So when many residents of Rome were defending the holy city on the city wall, those bishops ran out of the city in the name of looking for reinforcements and prepared to flee to Florence. Gregory stayed in Rome because of his status, but he wrote a letter to Peter in his own name, hoping that the other party would withdraw his troops.

The army led by Duke Gion of Argau has already launched an attack on the remaining land of the Papal States. The fanatical believers used their lives to stop it, but it only delayed the fall of the town by two days. Except for the border of Naples, the other borders of the Papal States were being eroded.

"Your Highness, the letter from the Bishop of Rome."

Peter put it aside without even reading it. This matter is no longer something he, the Pope of one-third of the world, can control. If he runs now, he can still survive.

"Are there any movements from other countries?"

"The Palatinate, Cologne, Bavaria and other countries have declared that they will form an army. The army of Salzburg and Austria is preparing to enter from Milan. Burgundy also wants to attack, but it is blocked by the Duke of Orleans and the Duke of Normandy."

John wanted France to send troops, but the Duke of Orleans opposed it. After all, there is still one in Avignon, and it is just right to drive away the Romans and establish him. The Duke of Normandy persuaded the other party in the tone of a loyal minister that the main enemy of France is England at present, and he will solve other problems after solving him.

John couldn't find any rebuttal to such a high-sounding reason. It seemed that he could only delay. Even if the reinforcements of the Holy Roman Empire could enter the Apennine Peninsula through Milan, Romagna in the middle would still be a problem. It would take time to conquer it.

The Roman army would not give the other side a chance to breathe, and would directly attack from multiple sides. The army of the Papal States was exhausted.

No one could stop Peter from entering Rome. Just ten days after summoning the army, Gregory XII took advantage of the night to escape Rome with his confidants and took refuge in Florence. They directly left more than 300,000 subjects of the Papal States and 20,000 civilians and monks who defended the Holy City to face the artillery fire of the Roman army alone.

"Ah, Rome, do you miss me?"

Peter said, looking at the city wall, but if Rome spoke, she would definitely say no, the damage he brought was no less than the invasion of the barbarians. The last injury has not been recovered, and now it comes again, he really can't stand the damage.

But Peter didn't know this. The only thing he knew was that the residents of Rome would not welcome them. A large-scale immigration was needed. And Rome was too dilapidated. Didn't the Pope repair it?

Peter ordered the army to launch an artillery attack, while the infantry approached the moat in an orderly manner under the cover of chariots. Compared with the siege warfare of ordinary troops, the siege warfare of the new army was different. When the infantry approached the moat, they did not fill the river with soil, nor did they rush to cross the river to climb the city. Instead, they relied on the equipment in their hands to build a ladder bridge.

"What is this?" The defenders on the top of the city hid in the corner and looked outside the city, braving the danger of artillery fire. They watched the Roman army outside the city put together a series of ladders, and then formed a structure like a wooden bridge. Then these things were directly built on the moat, just like building blocks to build a ready-made wooden bridge. These wooden bridges are extremely reliable in terms of width and solidity.

Seeing the Roman army coming, the defenders on the top of the city fought back desperately. Not only were the cannons on the city roaring, but even the rockets and pounding stones of the infantry were thrown down desperately, with the purpose of destroying the ladder bridge they built on the moat to prevent them from approaching the city wall.

But the Roman army attacking outside the city had been prepared. When the defenders poked their heads out of the city, the Roman army, which had been prepared for a long time, immediately began to counterattack. Amidst the bursts of artillery and gunfire, the other side suffered great losses. However, under the order of the generals, the defenders continued to advance and did not retreat at all. Three of the five ladder bridges that had just been built were destroyed at once, and two more were about to follow suit.

Most of these defenders came from religious orders such as the Benedictines, Cistercians, and Franciscans. They were very loyal to Catholicism, and many of them had military experience. When they learned that the Romanian army was coming, they hurried to Rome from France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Aragon, hoping to defend the holy city.