"One month and thirteen days, Shumlia, Prokuple and Niš." Giovanni rubbed his rising hairline and looked at the map with a sad face, "A hill fort that doesn't even have a city wall ...... All...... Shame on you...... In the future, what face will the Phoenix Legion have to go out and say that it is the most elite legion in the empire! ”

Angelo impatiently blew away the dust that had accumulated on the table, and for him, who had become a human spirit, it was obvious that there were many layers of meaning in Giovanni's complaints. However, the results of the Holy See are here, and there is nothing to say. The two corps are still in the stage of repair, and a steady stream of reinforcements and supplies are being transported to Shumlia through the open roads in the Kosovo region. In order to prevent the rebels from intercepting the raid supply lines again, Giovanni and Angelo had to send more men.

"If you want to take Shumlia, you can only use some unconventional means." After a few moments, Angelo clenched her fists and locked her gaze back on Giovanni, as if asking for his consent.

Giovanni looked at Angelo blankly, saying that he didn't know anything about Angelo's plan. The two themselves didn't have any tacit understanding, and in the end, Angelo still impatiently confided with him: "If there is no problem with the city defense map and this sand table from the secret sentinel, there is only one river flowing through the city of Shumlia, which should also be the most important source of water for Shumlia." Most likely, they will take water directly from the river......"

"Poison?" Giovanni's face was full of astonishment, and his tone was full of doubt, "General Angelo, the people of Shumlia must know the importance of this water source better than us, and now that we have been surrounding people under the noses of others for more than half a month, they must be quite careful in taking water, and try to use water sources that we can't directly touch. No...... General Angelo, let's say that, we will eventually have to control Serbia in the end. The ultimate goal of counterinsurgency is to prevent the recurrence of rebellion. Poisoning is a method that can also cause harm to civilians in the city. Their resistance to the rule of the Empire has risen, and this time we will take Smederevo directly, remove the head of the rebel leader, and drill out the second and third! ”

"What we should do as commanders is to achieve the greatest gains on the battlefield in the shortest possible time and ultimately win the war. How to rule this area should be something that Constantine and His Majesty John should consider...... Unless this place is in our hands in the future, I suggest the most convenient method. Angelo was quite dismissive of Giovanni's integrity, and for an old aristocrat like him, profit should be the only thing worth exploring, "Rather than wasting more food, grass and supplies here, it is better to think of more ways." ”

The city of Shumuria is well built and well organized. With the central urban area as a horizontal axis, it is distributed in the north and south according to the direction of the mountain. The residences of the aristocracy and the bureaucracy were built in the north, at the highest point of the ridgeline, and in the middle were terraced rice fields common in some Balkan mountain regions, and the population was not large. Finally, the southernmost part, directly across the besieged camp and the ramparts, is the core of the commercial and civilian accumulation area, which is crossed by the Shimlia River from east to west. If you have to make such a relatively immoral move, the feasibility is actually very high, even if the current rebel leaders repeatedly reaffirm that water is definitely not something that can be avoided in a few words. Besides, if the Shimlia River is poisoned, who can guarantee that the groundwater will not be contaminated, even if the city's inhabitants only use well water?

Giovanni stroked the cross on his chest and shook his head: "In the Hamidi Hill Fort before, their discipline has been well demonstrated, maybe they will not drink it anymore after they perceive that the water source has been manipulated. Fraud, arson, poisoning...... This means...... It's not that the rebel leaders of Serbia have never fought before, not to mention that now with external intervention, the city defense force of Shumlia is probably comparable to that of Nišburg, and it is basically impossible for us to attack the city and capture it so lightly......"

"You don't have much to do with the so-called German king sitting on the throne, do you?" Angelo smiled calmly suddenly.

Giovanni replied no, and waited silently for Angelo's next words.

The king of the Germans today is Archduke Frederick von Habsburg of Austria.

"Although he was not officially crowned emperor of the so-called Holy Roman Empire, it was a sure thing."

Angelo grabbed a handful of sand from the ground with her left hand, then a few rocks with her right hand, and asked Giovanni to stretch out his hands.

"And then."

"What do you mean?" Giovanni was puzzled.

"The pile of sand is the empire in the hands of Frederick, and the stones are the empire in the hands of His Majesty Constantine. Even if Frederick III could be crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, what could he do in the face of a German Empire that had fallen apart? As long as the Eastern Empire can survive, it will become an existence that the entire European continent fears. Hungary's current alliance with the Eastern Empire is unbreakable. Perhaps in the future we will be able to tie up with Muscovy. In this way, as the eastern barrier of the German Empire, do you think Frederick will be able to sleep these days? Angelo patted the dust off his hands, "I'm afraid he thought that the Eastern Empire could also be choked when he was eating grilled lamb chops recently." In the future, sooner or later the contradictions between Hungary and the German Empire will erupt, and when the time comes, the Eastern Empire will inevitably be involved. This counterinsurgency was actually a game between Hunyadi and Frederick, and also a game between our allies and the German Empire. Serbia is just a pawn on the table. ”

Giovanni looked at the passing sand in his hands, thoughtful.

"Let's put it this way, Serbia will never be a core area of interest for the empire in the future, and if the empire intends to strengthen its rule after the rebellion, it is likely that it will only appoint a reliable governor to govern and collect taxes on its behalf. The life-and-death war of the empire would only break out in Asia Minor, only against the Ottomans. In other words, as long as the empire defeated the Ottomans and did not break out in large-scale internal rebellions, the empire would be ...... for a long time Become invincible! Angelo smiled slightly, "General Giovanni, do you think now that there is any problem with poisoning the Shumlia River?" ”

"God forgive...... Hold on to it......" Giovannion dropped the sand from his hand, "listen to you, Angelo. I hope that the people here will not turn us into devils and curse us at home every day. ”

"It's all for the Empire, Giovanni."

Now that he is tied to the interests of the royal family, Angelo's psychological burden will only be lighter than Giovanni's.

After all, the sky is falling, and there is Valleo on top. The biggest advantage of working with the royal family is that you can protect yourself and your family to the greatest extent.