CH 369

Chapter 369 – Chrysanthemum War II (10)

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The cavalrymen carried out the order they were given faithfully as they pursued the escapees half-assedly.

Of course, it was half-assed from our perspective, but the prisoners had to run barefoot. To them, even cavalrymen that were approaching slowly were like the embodiment of fear itself. According to the report from the cavalry captain, the prisoners ran like hell.

“Your Highness, we have confirmed the prisoners entering Piacenza.”

The report was given by Baroness Juliana de Blanc. Her complexion looked haggard since she had just returned from pursuing the prisoners throughout the night.

“We shot arrows at them to make it seem as if we were truly chasing them. The unlucky ones got hit and collapsed. The guards of Piacenza witnessed that clearly as well, so it is unlikely that they will be suspected as spies.

“Good work, Baroness. You may get some rest.”

The Baroness gave her gratitude before leaving the office.

I asked a question once the Baroness had left.

“Laura, why did you intentionally give the prisoners to the Grand Duke? The prisoners know the real state of our army. This is no different than giving him free information.”

“This is to lure the Grand Duke of Florence in.”

Lure him in?

Laura nodded.

“The Grand Duke has most likely been holding his suspicions about our strategy until now.”

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“……I cannot make heads or tails of this.”

The Grand Duke of Florence furrowed his pale forehead. His furrowed face was somehow elegant as well. The regiment commanders that were gathered around silently stared at their supreme commander.

“Why do they insist on sending their scouts? At most, they only send groups of a hundred. At this point, this is like they are throwing us an endless supply of appetizers.”

The regiment commanders turned and gave each other troubled looks.

Currently, their army had back-to-back victories. However, the reason they couldn’t be happy about their victories was due to the fact that the enemy kept sending a small number of troops.

The number of troops ranged from fifty at the lowest and two hundred at the highest. Adding to this, after only exchanging a few strikes of the blade, they would quickly run away. These clashes felt more like encounters than actual battles. This was why it would be embarrassing to say that they won.

“I believe they may be trying to make us lower our guard by letting us obtain continuous victories, but…….”

“But this is too obvious to be considered a strategy…….”

“Yes, that is correct.”

The regiment commanders also looked troubled.

Continuously granting the opposition small victories results in them coming to the belief that their opponent is actually weak. This causes them to become complacent, and they are attacked at that moment.

This was a basic and typical tactic.

The only way for this tactic to work is for the ‘small victories’ to be of at least a certain size. None of them were idiots who would lower their guards after defeating a hundred scouts. At the very least, Grand Duke Cosimo de Medici wasn’t that foolish.

One of the regiment commanders spoke up.

“The enemy is afraid that we will join forces with Milano. The enemy is not powerful enough for us to go out of our way to join forces, I believe this is the impression they are trying to make us have.”

“Men, then that means that they are treating us as fools.”

“…….”

This was what bothered them.

The Grand Duke of Florence didn’t have a high opinion of Laura de Farnese. Nonetheless, the same didn’t go for those under her. She had the renowned mercenaries of Helvetica lined up next to her. One of those regiments had a history of over 200 years.

There is no way that the captains of this legendary group wouldn’t have given Laura de Farnese some advice. They would have told her that a trick of this degree would not be effective.

“Could it be that the supreme commander of the imperial army is even more foolish than we had anticipated? Is she truly someone who disregards the counsel of her subordinates……?”

“Haha.”

The regiment commanders chuckled. If she were that irrevocably foolish, then she would not have been able to defeat Brittany. Therefore, the enemy most likely has another motive. The Grand Duke shrugged his shoulders. What he had said earlier was a joke.

“It seems that the imperial army wishes for us to act rashly. However, we need not fall into their trap. Let us fortify our defense in Piacenza by erecting wooden fences.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Two days went by.

The soldiers were given plenty of rest. The Grand Duke of Florence was thinking about attacking Pavia soon. At that moment, the Grand Duke’s attendant entered his office.

“Loyalty unto eternal glory. I have a report.”

“Mm.”

The Grand Duke sat at his table and nodded.

A person of a lower position speaking to a person of a higher position first and the fact that they entered without knocking went against etiquette; however, the Grand Duke had forbidden all the cumbersome decorum in his army.

“We have received a report that a revolt has started in Pavia, Your Highness.”

“A revolt?”

The Grand Duke’s quill pen stopped. He was in the middle of writing a report to send to the royal family, but he could instinctively tell that the news he had just received was far more important than his regular reports.

“Give a detailed report.”

“The civilians that were captured as prisoners in Pavia had carried out a large-scale escape. Five minutes ago, seven civilians arrived at our camp.”

“I will hear the rest of the report as we move. Take me to them.”

The Grand Duke of Florence sprung up. He put his mantle on himself as he moved with rushed steps. His mantle was red which was the color that represented the Medici Family.

“Are you certain they are civilians? There is a high chance that they are spies.”

“The imperial guards chased them all the way here.”

“Hm. What are the chances that the pursuit itself was staged?”

“They shot arrows. There were originally nine civilians trying to escape, but two of them were shot down. We quickly sent soldiers from our side to chase the pursuing imperial soldiers away.”

The Grand Duke nodded his head.

The soldiers and attendants that had been walking the halls courteously stepped aside the moment they saw the Grand Duke approaching. A path was opened as the individuals who stepped to the side bowed their heads politely. The Grand Duke’s red mantle fluttered as it swept over the floor. He had worn this mantle for so long that the edge of it was dirty and frayed.

“Call for Sir Durres. Have him use a lie-detecting spell to verify their identities.”

“Sir Durres has already been informed and is on his way.”

“Very good.”

The two individuals walked out into the front garden. There were civilians gathered here who looked utterly terrible. They were seated on the chairs the servants had brought and were sobbing. The soldiers around them had complicated looks on their faces.

They all stood up the moment they saw the Grand Duke. Among them, a mage wearing a navy blue robe walked forward with short and quick steps.

“Loyalty unto eternal glory.”

“It appears that you have been working hard since early dawn. Have you finished checking them?”

“Yes, Your Highness. They are, without a doubt, citizens of Pavia.”

The old mage leaned in to whisper.

“They say that approximately three hundred civilians attempted to escape.”

“There are only seven before me.”

“……Which means they were pursued that intensely. Your Highness, I ask that you comfort these poor souls. Pavia has become hell and the mercenaries are as cruel as fiends. They have all lost their wives and daughters.”

The Grand Duke placed his hand on his forehead.

“……We will interrogate them later tonight. For now, give my guests warm meals and comfortable places to rest.”

“O benevolent Medici.”

The mage shook his head.

“Although they are not very potent, I have provided them with potions that should help recover their vitality. I dare to say. As long as they are aware of the enemy’s current military power and equipment, I suggest that we immediately get this information from them and prepare measures.”

The Grand Duke muttered back with an impassive tone.

“Are you saying that we should immediately interrogate the individuals who had escaped from Pavia?”

“If the information they provide means that we can defeat our enemy, Your Highness. That will not only comfort them greatly, but they will also be avenged.”

“…….”

The Grand Duke slowly nodded his head. It was almost as if he was nodding to convince himself.

The interrogation was carried out carefully while in the presence of the young Grand Duke. This was not an interrogation of prisoners, but a questioning of fellow countrymen after receiving their consent. The civilians would answer with tears after the attendant respectfully asked them a question.

“There were three soldiers in my home. They violated my daughter since the first night…… My son and I tried to stop them, but it was of no use……. They even went to invite the soldiers residing next door…… with even the neighbor’s daughter…….”

“Bastards!”

The commanding officers that gathered over time could not hold back their anger as they shouted.

The Grand Duke and the Sardinian soldiers gradually became more at a loss for words as they listened to what the imperial soldiers had been doing for ‘fun’. Pavia was quite literally hell. Murder, rape, and arson were carried out on whims.

“Those madmen started to destroy the city last night! They didn’t care if it was a home or the city rampart, they—.”

“Wait.”

The Grand Duke of Florence raised his right hand.

“The enemy destroyed the ramparts?”

“Y-Yes. They burned and destroyed everything in their sight.”

“…….”

The Grand Duke furrowed his brows as if something were bothering him. He mumbled to himself shortly after.

“……I see. So that explains it.”

“Your Highness?”

“Politely take these men to the guest rooms.”

The Grand Duke then assembled the regiment commanders.

Once they all arrived, the Grand Duke promptly gave them a command.

“Men, we will march to Pavia immediately!”

The regiment commanders were startled by the sudden command.

“Your Highness, did you not tell us to reinforce our defenses a short while ago? We wish to know the reason for your sudden change of heart.”

“I figured out why the enemy has been sending small scouting parties.”

The Grand Duke was filled with certainty as he spoke.

A dark smile grew on his face.

“The enemy is trying to run away from being encircled!”

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“Why are we destroying the city we had worked so hard to capture? The Grand Duke will most likely question this the most.”

Laura raised the corners of her lips.

“Pavia is surrounded by fairly sturdy walls. If we defend against a siege from behind them, then we could easily fight off a large army of thirty or even fifty thousand soldiers, making them wonder why we would choose to destroy these very walls…….”

Laura tapped the side of her head.

“At that moment, the Grand Duke will recall something. He will remember that we had sent scouts at him continuously. Why did we send small groups of scouts at his army when they obviously cannot do any harm? And why are we destroying the walls now? The answer to these questions is…….”

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“Your Highness, what do you mean by being encircled?”

“We have been misunderstanding the situation. We have only been thinking about matters from our own perspective and never the perspective of our enemies.”

The Grand Duke pointed at the map.

“Currently, our army has not joined forces with Milano. This is because the Duke of Milano and I are in the middle of a dispute. However, there is no way that the enemy could possibly know about our turbulent situation.”

“…….”

“From their perspective, it must appear like they are receiving pressure from two sides. From both Milano and Piacenza. We are not two separate forces to them. Therefore, they must believe we are working together to encircle them! Adding to this, our manpower is also superior. How do you think the enemy would respond to this?”

“……! They would try to withdraw their forces, Your Highness!”

The Grand Duke nodded. His eyes were filled with certainty and rage.

“We were wrong. The imperial soldiers were not trying to stop us from joining forces with Milano. From their perspectives, we have already joined forces. Therefore, the best that they could do was to delay us for as long as possible.”

“I see. So that is why they sent small units to get in our way.”

The regiment commanders looked like they finally understood.

“Since they have already decided to withdraw, it would be a waste to let us take Pavia in all of its glory. They will try to destroy and burn it as much as possible so that we cannot use it.”

“Your Highness, then does that mean that the enemy are……?”

“Quite. They are getting prepared to carry out a strategic retreat.”

The Grand Duke clenched his fist.

“The enemy has two choices left! They can either take the fifteen thousand prisoners with them as they retreat, or they can slaughter them all first.”

“Would they go that far……?”

“It is more than possible for such vile men to think of those prisoners as being cumbersome.”

The regiment commanders remained in deep thought for a moment.

“Your Highness, if that is true, then we must go to Pavia posthaste.”

“Indeed. If they are retreating with the prisoners, then we must tear out their backs. If they are slaughtering the prisoners…… then killing fifteen thousand humans will be no easy task. It will take at least a few days. Faced with death, the civilians will struggle as much as possible.”

The Grand Duke slammed his fist on the table.

“Either way, the enemy troops will be in a state of disorder. This is our greatest opportunity! Pass down the order to your men! We will be marching to Pavia!”

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“We will abandon Pavia and retreat. That is the conclusion the Grand Duke will reach. The Grand Duke will then consider three courses of action.”

Laura continued her explanation in a whimsical tone.

“If we retreat with the prisoners, then they will use that opportunity to attack us while we are distracted trying to manage the prisoners. If we try to execute all the prisoners before retreating, then they will try to stop us beforehand. If we leave without the prisoners, then the Grand Duke will become a hero who liberated fifteen thousand innocent civilians. None of these cases are bad for the Grand Duke…….”

Laura pointed at a specific point on the map.

“We will put our all into intercepting the Grand Duke as he attempts to pursue us! There will be no second battle! The army led by the Grand Duke of Florence will be annihilated by tomorrow!”

I looked at Laura and smiled.

Laura had declared that she would turn Pavia into a hellscape, but Pavia wasn’t the only place that was going to be affected. The entire Kingdom of Sardinia was going to experience hell.

I predicted that the people of Sardinia will come to despise the name Laura de Farnese more than they do any of the Demon Lords…….