1635_ Cannon Law - Eric Flint [0]
Eric Flint &
Andrew Dennis
Advance Reader Copy
Unproofed
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
1635: The Cannon Law Copyright © 2006 by Eric Flint & Andrew Dennis
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
www.baen.com
ISBN 10: 1-4165-0938-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-4165-0938-7
Cover art by Tom Kidd
First printing, October 2006
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
tk
Pages by Joy Freeman (www.pagesbyjoy.com)
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication—t/k
Map of Italy
(t/k: from 1634: The Galileo Affair)
Map of Rome
(t/k: new map)
Books by Eric Flint
Ring of Fire series:
1632 by Eric Flint
1633 by Eric Flint & David Weber
Ring of Fire ed. by Eric Flint
1634: The Galileo Affair by Eric Flint & Andrew Dennis
Grantville Gazette ed. by Eric Flint
Grantville Gazette II ed. by Eric Flint
1634: The Ram Rebellion by Eric Flint with Virginia DeMarce et al.
1635: The Cannon Law with Andrew Dennis
Grantville Gazette III ed. by Eric Flint (forthcoming)
Joe's World series:
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Forward the Mage (with Richard Roach)
Mother of Demons
Crown of Slaves (with David Weber)
The Course of Empire (with K.D. Wentworth)
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& Dave Freer:
The Shadow of the Lion
This Rough Magic
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Rats, Bats & Vats
The Rats, The Bats & The Ugly
Pyramid Scheme
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The Tyrant
The Belisarius Series
with David Drake:
An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory
The Dance of Time
Edited with David Drake
& Jim Baen
The World Turned Upside Down
With Ryk E. Spoor:
Mountain Magic (with David Drake & Henry Kuttner)
Boundary
The Epic Struggle for Freedom and Justice Continues!
Sequel to the New York Times Bestseller
1634: The Galileo Affair
Part One
January 1635
Chapter 1
Naples
Don Vincente Jose-Maria Castro y Papas, Captain in His Most Catholic Majesty's Army in the Two Sicilies, tried sneering at the stack of paperwork and the books and ledgers of the company he commanded. It was of no use. The wretched things remained there, sneering back at him.
Somehow, the filthy business of bureaucracy was everywhere nowadays, and the profession of arms was no refuge. Especially not in a newly augmented tercio dragged from its depot and filled out by a small horde of militia men and new recruits. And especially not when the arms he was supposed to profess were light muskets.
Certainly, they were an excellent weapon, compared with arquebuses, and far more wieldy than the heavy muskets they were replacing—had replaced, in some armies. A damnably expensive one, compared with just about anything, which was the reason Don Vincente's company had gotten so few, thus far. But the exploits of Turenne had been noted in Madrid, and the weapons had been identified as central to the small morsels of pride he had salvaged from France's shame. The exploits of the Swede with the lighter weapons had also been noted.
In times past, Spanish soldiers were expected to buy their own arquebuses. But the rapid changes brought by the Americans who had arrived in the Ring of Fire had altered military practices as well—indeed, perhaps military practices more than anything.
And so, throughout the Spanish army, which remained the best equipped and organized fighting force west of the Turk, companies and tercios that would otherwise have been unable to afford such equipment were receiving unexpected bounties.
For which they were expected to account. In triplicate. On top of all the utter, utter crap that was catching up with them after three moves in as many months around Spain before they had, with