Gallico's faith in the South secures nothing.
Duchess Rubina's belief in her son's martial talent was also like that.
The young Duke of Pisano, newly appointed commander-in-chief, led an army of 7,000 men, including those newly provided by the King, on a campaign.
“Shoot!”
It was a surprise attack in the middle of the night.
A volley of burning longbows flew between the tents and palisade pitched on the plain, and the enemy troops hastily formed their battle formations in confusion.
The heavy knights that Gallico boasted were a unit specialized in attack, and when they were put in a defensive position, they were unable to utilize their strengths.
But Duke Cesare's luck ended there.
“Your Highness! The left wing of our army has been annihilated.”
The left wing of the ambitiously pushed Etruscan army was made up of light cavalry drawn from various places.
He thought they would be able to respond quickly in a melee because they were light, so he sent them to the vanguard, but they were just as weak.
And Gallico's infantry was a much better trained and disciplined force than the Etruscans had thought.
They easily held off the Etruscan light cavalry that charged from the left, using the tent as cover.
“The situation on the right is not good!”
The right-wing of the Etruscan army, which had been crushed in two waves, was made up of the most reliable of the capital's guard cavalry.
The rushing heavy cavalry cannot be stopped by infantry or the like.
However, Cesare's lack of talent and inexperience contributed to the defeat.
The right and left wings should have gone into the offensive in perfect sync like cogwheels without any time gap, but the right wing's deployment was delayed, and they entered the battlefield only after the left wing was annihilated.
“The center is collapsing!”
Gallico's 6,000 infantrymen successively blocked the left and right wings of the Etruscan army, buying time for the heavy knights to advance.
Finally, the Montpellier cavalry, which had reorganized their ranks and appeared, blew away the Etruscan infantry brigade that had been waiting to surround the Gallico camp in a crescent shape and deal with it like a reed.
“Your Highness, you must take refuge...”
The last of the Etruscan kingdom's assembled soldiers were falling before Cesare's eyes.
It was an evaporation rate like snowflakes melting under the sun as if they had never existed.
The adjutant urged him again.
“Your Highness! You must get out immediately!”
If the commander-in-chief is captured, things will get worse.
When Cesare hesitated to give the order to retreat, his adjutant shouted instead.
“Escort the Commander-in-Chief!”
Cesare, who was more devoted to his health than anyone else, was unable to leave the battlefield because he knew this deep down.
What was collapsing before his eyes was not only the Etruscans' last hope but also his own future position.
“Clear the way! South, south!”
The adjutant grabbed Cesare's black horse's reins and hurried him on his way, ready to kick him instead.
Cesare was forced to follow the wide, straight road leading south that his adjutant had cleared, and he looked back at the battlefield on the northern plains several times.
News of the crushing defeat in the Battle of the Savoyard Plains quickly spread throughout San Carlo.
“Did you hear? Duke Cesare was defeated!”
“What happens to us now?”
“Don’t worry, the Royal Guard is still intact. Do you think those barbarians will invade San Carlo?”
While the commoners and lower nobles who were unaware of the situation remained relatively confident, those who did know were unable to hide their graveness at the news of the defeat of the Duke of Pisano, or rather, the Etruscan commander-in-chief.
“...That must have been the last force.”
“In the South, no further mobilization is possible because of the great plague.”
Raphael de Baldesar sat in the drawing room of Ariadne de Mare, whom he had not seen in a long time, and moistened his lips with warm tea.
Tea leaves were now a luxury that was becoming increasingly difficult to find in the capital, as the Black Death had severely restricted the movement of goods.
“What does His Majesty the King intend to do?”
“...Well, Father doesn’t really say anything. I wonder if he doesn’t say anything because he has to keep it a secret from me, or if he has no other way and has nothing to say. Only Father knows.”
The latter. Ariadne laughed heartily. Raphael questioned.
“It seems that Palazzo Carlo’s only hope is His Holiness Louis. Have you heard anything from him?”
This time it was Ariadne's turn to give an equally hopeless and dreamless answer.
“You know, His Majesty the King has refused to support the Crusade. Unless there is some grand offer, Pope Louis would not now offer to mediate on behalf of the Etruscan kingdom.”
Raphael smiled bitterly.
“Yes. The King refused to sponsor him.”
He added in a mumble. It was a confession that only close friends could share.
“To his own son. He's being too harsh.”
Ariadne's face darkened noticeably when she heard that story. While Raphael was biting his tongue at his own slip of the tongue, she asked cautiously.
“Hey... have you heard any news about Alfonso?”
Ariadne had not received a single letter from Alfonso since he left for the kingdom of Gallico.
Nothing had changed even after the Prince ran away to Yesak. After confirming his feelings, they had not even spoken for four or five months.
Raphael suppressed his expression so that his complicated feelings would not show on his face. He was honestly glad that Ariadne had not heard from Alfonso.
“You know that the Prince has left for Yesak, right?”
The story that the Prince had fled to Yesac with the Crusaders was still a secret known only among the high-ranking nobles of the capital.
It was unclear how long it could be hidden.
Because if the Gallico army marched south and came all the way to the capital, questions would certainly arise about the safety of the heir to the throne in Gallico territory.
But for some reason, Leo III kept his mouth shut and issued a gag order.
“I just heard that much.”
Paradoxically, Raphael felt a little relieved by Ariadne's answer. He was currently fighting against his ugly inner self.
He felt a mixture of the desire for Ariadne not to know the news about Alfonso and the guilt of not telling her even though he knew about it himself as a friend of Alfonso and Ariadne.
The weight on his heart was slightly lifted by the knowledge that she already knew.
“I haven’t heard anything since then. I heard that His Majesty the King was upset because Alfonso didn’t contact him separately.”
Ariadne's expression darkened even further.
“Nothing... It can’t be anything. If he can’t even contact his father...”
“The sea is wide and the road is long, so wouldn’t it be even more difficult to spread the news?”
Raphael comforted Ariadne with a pretended cheerfulness.
“Don’t worry too much. He’ll be fine.”
“...Why aren’t he back yet?”
If Ariadne had been in Alfonso's position, she would have returned home as soon as she had crossed the Gallico border and escaped Philip's clutches.
She had no idea that he would be trapped in Yesak while trying to find a way for Alfonso to return.
Because if it were Leo III, he would have dispatched the fastest galleys first.
“...Well.”
Raphael also knew that Leo III was not providing Prince Alfonso with separate military funds, but since Alfonso's letter requesting ships was in the hands of Archduke Odes of the Kingdom of Gallico, the details of Alfonso's situation were unknown to anyone in the Etruscan kingdom.
“Maybe you want to specialize in the ‘temple.’ Don’t boys always have such dreams?”
Raised by the faithful Queen Marguerite, young Alfonso always aspired to become a 'Knight Prince' in the Jesuit tradition.
A desirable monarch who wins wars receives the loyalty of his feudal lords, distributes the spoils fairly, and looks after the lives of his people.
Raphael, who had spent a lot of time with Alfonso since childhood, knew this fact well.
“However, there is talk that His Majesty the King is postponing the financial support to be sent to the Prince.”
"Yes?"
Ariadne was astonished. Alfonso, who had gone with the Gallico delegation, could not have prepared to go to Yesak separately.
If you wanted to procure everything locally, it would all be gold. And what if your home country doesn't even provide financial support?
“I heard that Duchess Rubina whispered something to His Majesty the King, but I don’t know the exact details. My father has advised me once or twice, but now there is chaos because of the Gallico army, and the Black Death is spreading...”
“Oh my God...”
How much trouble must there be... Ariadne's expression became distorted. Seeing her emotionally shaken, Raphael hurriedly changed the subject.
“By the way, Cardinal de Mare family, do you plan to remain in San Carlo?”
"Yes?"
“Because of the Gallico army’s southward advance. Now the only Etruscan force left is the Metropolitan Guard. If they were to siege San Carlo, things would be very difficult.”
'The siege of San Carlo' was a way of putting things in a more roundabout way. San Carlo was a bustling commercial city, not a defensive city. If Gallico's army invaded, it would likely fall, and if the largest city on the central continent fell to the army... there would be looting and arson, and the women would likely suffer badly.
“We are considering whether we should evacuate to the south.”
Raphael's family had discussed a plan where only the Marquis Baldessar, who had to take care of state affairs, would remain in the capital, while the rest of the family would leave the Etruscan north under Raphael's leadership.
“...But the South is also suffering from an epidemic.”
“Yes. If you go south to avoid the army and catch the Black Death, what kind of foolish thing would that be?”
The Marquis Baldessar was a capital nobleman, which was extremely rare among high-ranking nobles. This was because he did not have his own large estate in the provinces and his base was in the capital.
Naturally, he was in a position where he could not leave the capital under the pretext of taking care of his rural estate.
“Did you have any separate discussions with Cardinal de Mare?”
Ariadne frowned.
The Gallico kingdom of the previous life returned satisfied after receiving the province of Gaeta back, so Gallico troops never came down to the central region.
Naturally, Cardinal de Mare and his family did not move from their base and the relative safety of San Carlo.
"...Well, we haven’t thought of any other method yet.”
“The target of Gallico’s army was probably San Carlo.”
Raphael spoke in a serious voice.
“We can tell by looking at the path it takes south.”
To the eyes of the top graduate in military science from the University of Padua, the intentions of Gallico's great army seemed like a letter written on paper.
“Everyone is at ease, wondering if it will work out, but they are setting goals and moving forward.”
And Raphael de Baldessar's prophecy soon became reality.
Duchess Rubina's belief in her son's martial talent was also like that.
The young Duke of Pisano, newly appointed commander-in-chief, led an army of 7,000 men, including those newly provided by the King, on a campaign.
“Shoot!”
It was a surprise attack in the middle of the night.
A volley of burning longbows flew between the tents and palisade pitched on the plain, and the enemy troops hastily formed their battle formations in confusion.
The heavy knights that Gallico boasted were a unit specialized in attack, and when they were put in a defensive position, they were unable to utilize their strengths.
But Duke Cesare's luck ended there.
“Your Highness! The left wing of our army has been annihilated.”
The left wing of the ambitiously pushed Etruscan army was made up of light cavalry drawn from various places.
He thought they would be able to respond quickly in a melee because they were light, so he sent them to the vanguard, but they were just as weak.
And Gallico's infantry was a much better trained and disciplined force than the Etruscans had thought.
They easily held off the Etruscan light cavalry that charged from the left, using the tent as cover.
“The situation on the right is not good!”
The right-wing of the Etruscan army, which had been crushed in two waves, was made up of the most reliable of the capital's guard cavalry.
The rushing heavy cavalry cannot be stopped by infantry or the like.
However, Cesare's lack of talent and inexperience contributed to the defeat.
The right and left wings should have gone into the offensive in perfect sync like cogwheels without any time gap, but the right wing's deployment was delayed, and they entered the battlefield only after the left wing was annihilated.
“The center is collapsing!”
Gallico's 6,000 infantrymen successively blocked the left and right wings of the Etruscan army, buying time for the heavy knights to advance.
Finally, the Montpellier cavalry, which had reorganized their ranks and appeared, blew away the Etruscan infantry brigade that had been waiting to surround the Gallico camp in a crescent shape and deal with it like a reed.
“Your Highness, you must take refuge...”
The last of the Etruscan kingdom's assembled soldiers were falling before Cesare's eyes.
It was an evaporation rate like snowflakes melting under the sun as if they had never existed.
The adjutant urged him again.
“Your Highness! You must get out immediately!”
If the commander-in-chief is captured, things will get worse.
When Cesare hesitated to give the order to retreat, his adjutant shouted instead.
“Escort the Commander-in-Chief!”
Cesare, who was more devoted to his health than anyone else, was unable to leave the battlefield because he knew this deep down.
What was collapsing before his eyes was not only the Etruscans' last hope but also his own future position.
“Clear the way! South, south!”
The adjutant grabbed Cesare's black horse's reins and hurried him on his way, ready to kick him instead.
Cesare was forced to follow the wide, straight road leading south that his adjutant had cleared, and he looked back at the battlefield on the northern plains several times.
***
News of the crushing defeat in the Battle of the Savoyard Plains quickly spread throughout San Carlo.
“Did you hear? Duke Cesare was defeated!”
“What happens to us now?”
“Don’t worry, the Royal Guard is still intact. Do you think those barbarians will invade San Carlo?”
While the commoners and lower nobles who were unaware of the situation remained relatively confident, those who did know were unable to hide their graveness at the news of the defeat of the Duke of Pisano, or rather, the Etruscan commander-in-chief.
“...That must have been the last force.”
“In the South, no further mobilization is possible because of the great plague.”
Raphael de Baldesar sat in the drawing room of Ariadne de Mare, whom he had not seen in a long time, and moistened his lips with warm tea.
Tea leaves were now a luxury that was becoming increasingly difficult to find in the capital, as the Black Death had severely restricted the movement of goods.
“What does His Majesty the King intend to do?”
“...Well, Father doesn’t really say anything. I wonder if he doesn’t say anything because he has to keep it a secret from me, or if he has no other way and has nothing to say. Only Father knows.”
The latter. Ariadne laughed heartily. Raphael questioned.
“It seems that Palazzo Carlo’s only hope is His Holiness Louis. Have you heard anything from him?”
This time it was Ariadne's turn to give an equally hopeless and dreamless answer.
“You know, His Majesty the King has refused to support the Crusade. Unless there is some grand offer, Pope Louis would not now offer to mediate on behalf of the Etruscan kingdom.”
Raphael smiled bitterly.
“Yes. The King refused to sponsor him.”
He added in a mumble. It was a confession that only close friends could share.
“To his own son. He's being too harsh.”
Ariadne's face darkened noticeably when she heard that story. While Raphael was biting his tongue at his own slip of the tongue, she asked cautiously.
“Hey... have you heard any news about Alfonso?”
Ariadne had not received a single letter from Alfonso since he left for the kingdom of Gallico.
Nothing had changed even after the Prince ran away to Yesak. After confirming his feelings, they had not even spoken for four or five months.
Raphael suppressed his expression so that his complicated feelings would not show on his face. He was honestly glad that Ariadne had not heard from Alfonso.
“You know that the Prince has left for Yesak, right?”
The story that the Prince had fled to Yesac with the Crusaders was still a secret known only among the high-ranking nobles of the capital.
It was unclear how long it could be hidden.
Because if the Gallico army marched south and came all the way to the capital, questions would certainly arise about the safety of the heir to the throne in Gallico territory.
But for some reason, Leo III kept his mouth shut and issued a gag order.
“I just heard that much.”
Paradoxically, Raphael felt a little relieved by Ariadne's answer. He was currently fighting against his ugly inner self.
He felt a mixture of the desire for Ariadne not to know the news about Alfonso and the guilt of not telling her even though he knew about it himself as a friend of Alfonso and Ariadne.
The weight on his heart was slightly lifted by the knowledge that she already knew.
“I haven’t heard anything since then. I heard that His Majesty the King was upset because Alfonso didn’t contact him separately.”
Ariadne's expression darkened even further.
“Nothing... It can’t be anything. If he can’t even contact his father...”
“The sea is wide and the road is long, so wouldn’t it be even more difficult to spread the news?”
Raphael comforted Ariadne with a pretended cheerfulness.
“Don’t worry too much. He’ll be fine.”
“...Why aren’t he back yet?”
If Ariadne had been in Alfonso's position, she would have returned home as soon as she had crossed the Gallico border and escaped Philip's clutches.
She had no idea that he would be trapped in Yesak while trying to find a way for Alfonso to return.
Because if it were Leo III, he would have dispatched the fastest galleys first.
“...Well.”
Raphael also knew that Leo III was not providing Prince Alfonso with separate military funds, but since Alfonso's letter requesting ships was in the hands of Archduke Odes of the Kingdom of Gallico, the details of Alfonso's situation were unknown to anyone in the Etruscan kingdom.
“Maybe you want to specialize in the ‘temple.’ Don’t boys always have such dreams?”
Raised by the faithful Queen Marguerite, young Alfonso always aspired to become a 'Knight Prince' in the Jesuit tradition.
A desirable monarch who wins wars receives the loyalty of his feudal lords, distributes the spoils fairly, and looks after the lives of his people.
Raphael, who had spent a lot of time with Alfonso since childhood, knew this fact well.
“However, there is talk that His Majesty the King is postponing the financial support to be sent to the Prince.”
"Yes?"
Ariadne was astonished. Alfonso, who had gone with the Gallico delegation, could not have prepared to go to Yesak separately.
If you wanted to procure everything locally, it would all be gold. And what if your home country doesn't even provide financial support?
“I heard that Duchess Rubina whispered something to His Majesty the King, but I don’t know the exact details. My father has advised me once or twice, but now there is chaos because of the Gallico army, and the Black Death is spreading...”
“Oh my God...”
How much trouble must there be... Ariadne's expression became distorted. Seeing her emotionally shaken, Raphael hurriedly changed the subject.
“By the way, Cardinal de Mare family, do you plan to remain in San Carlo?”
"Yes?"
“Because of the Gallico army’s southward advance. Now the only Etruscan force left is the Metropolitan Guard. If they were to siege San Carlo, things would be very difficult.”
'The siege of San Carlo' was a way of putting things in a more roundabout way. San Carlo was a bustling commercial city, not a defensive city. If Gallico's army invaded, it would likely fall, and if the largest city on the central continent fell to the army... there would be looting and arson, and the women would likely suffer badly.
“We are considering whether we should evacuate to the south.”
Raphael's family had discussed a plan where only the Marquis Baldessar, who had to take care of state affairs, would remain in the capital, while the rest of the family would leave the Etruscan north under Raphael's leadership.
“...But the South is also suffering from an epidemic.”
“Yes. If you go south to avoid the army and catch the Black Death, what kind of foolish thing would that be?”
The Marquis Baldessar was a capital nobleman, which was extremely rare among high-ranking nobles. This was because he did not have his own large estate in the provinces and his base was in the capital.
Naturally, he was in a position where he could not leave the capital under the pretext of taking care of his rural estate.
“Did you have any separate discussions with Cardinal de Mare?”
Ariadne frowned.
The Gallico kingdom of the previous life returned satisfied after receiving the province of Gaeta back, so Gallico troops never came down to the central region.
Naturally, Cardinal de Mare and his family did not move from their base and the relative safety of San Carlo.
"...Well, we haven’t thought of any other method yet.”
“The target of Gallico’s army was probably San Carlo.”
Raphael spoke in a serious voice.
“We can tell by looking at the path it takes south.”
To the eyes of the top graduate in military science from the University of Padua, the intentions of Gallico's great army seemed like a letter written on paper.
“Everyone is at ease, wondering if it will work out, but they are setting goals and moving forward.”
And Raphael de Baldessar's prophecy soon became reality.
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