"General Giovanni Giustiniani, General Publius."

Fort Pristina, Kosovo. As the closest fortress to the empire, the most convenient supply, and relatively well-fortified fortress in Kosovo, the Phoenix Legion chose this temporary station. Giovanni sent a large number of sentinels to obtain information as soon as he officially entered the station, but no important news has returned so far.

On the fourth day of Pristina's station, Giovanni waited for the vanguard of the Holy See. also waited for an unfamiliar face.

Angelo Alfonso Tocco, accompanied by two guards, entered the central hall of the fortress. Angelo had heard about Publius' defection to Giovanni, so he wasn't too surprised to see the former prefect here. On the contrary, he still had a lot of respect for Publius.

"General Angelo, I've been waiting for you for a long time." A future colleague after all, Giovanni knew little about Angelo's temperament, but at least at first glance he was a rather easy-going person.

"Any information on this rebellion?" Angelo took off his shirt and helmet and handed it to the attendant beside him, "All the way from Constantinople, I don't see a little desolation. ”

"How so...... In the four days that the Phoenix Legion has been stationed here, there has been no attack, and the surrounding villages have been fairly peaceful. I have already sent out the Sentinels, and the initial focus is on the Kosovo gold mines and the Serbian hinterland, but there are many mountains in Serbia, so the efficiency of the Sentinels should not be so fast. ”

"No attacks?" Angelo wrinkled his eyebrows, shifted his gaze to the side window, observed for a moment and said, "If Serbia really starts a big rebellion, the rebels should have no reason to give up Fort Pristina to us, which can not only directly contain the Pritina Heights and Fort Hamidi, but also serve as the most important supply point for counterinsurgency." It is almost straightforward to conclude that this was definitely not a peasant rebellion. How much storm can be set off by the union of all these serfs in the Serbian region? They were able to make sense of what they were doing, and they took the initiative to give up these important fortresses to keep us going...... General Giovanni, in this case, we need to be rational. ”

Giovanni didn't know how well Angelo was able to command a frontal battle, but what Giovanni could confirm was that Angelo was more experienced than him in dealing with such a rebellion.

"In any case, Kosovo is the most important area of Serbia for the empire, and no matter how flexible the rebels are, we must at least guarantee absolute security here."

Once the army marched into the Serbian hinterland, the supply lines would be risky due to Serbia's rugged mountainous terrain, and the grain routes would likely be cut off by the rebels if they were unfamiliar with the terrain. In the case of a large-scale army, the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced due to the lack of food. Therefore, Kosovo, as the gateway to Serbia, must be firmly in our hands.

"General Giovanni...... If Fort Pristina is safe for the time being, we can push our line towards Fort Hamidi. Angelo seems to have kept the important areas of Serbia in mind, and instead of looking at the map, he focused his attention on the Phoenix Legion table, which Giovanni had put aside.

"After the investigation is completely over, we can move forward. The rebels have so easily ceded the first line of defense, presumably in order to lure us forward. Until the situation is clear, we still try not to act rashly. The terrain of Serbia was not suitable for the rapid advance of the Great Army. After all...... Not everyone can push through the mountains like that madman of Jerj. Giovanni paused, then said the second half of the sentence, "As for the main attack of Fort Hamidi......

"All right, General Giovanni. The Phoenix Legion's class mix is indeed more suitable for field battles than sieges, and as long as you can protect our flanks, Fort Hamidi should not be too difficult. ”

Fort Hamidi was not strictly a fortress, but a hill fort built on a hill. Some of the castle walls are still made of logs, and such a castle does not rely on the city walls, but on the complex terrain of the mountain roads.

Siege weapons are impossible to deploy in such a place, and the only way to siege a city is to storm the walls. And because of the dense forests in the mountains, the army is likely to be threatened by fire. Not only will siege weapons be restricted, but the safety of the besieging camp will also be difficult to guarantee. In this kind of mountain attack, attacking the camp is a very common means of counterattack by the defenders of the city. Small groups of troops can take advantage of mountain passes and woods to make detours and harass siege camps.

If there was a real tug-of-war on the walls, the war would often have dragged on for five days or more. Tactically, this is the last thing Angelo wants to see.

……

It was two days before the sentinels returned to Fort Pristina.

The news that the sentinels had returned made Giovanni and Angelo feel even more strange.

The first is the Kosovo gold mine. At this time, the gold mine was already empty. Both the miners of the Empire and Albania, as well as the guards responsible for keeping the gold mines safe, are all missing. But based on the details left at the site, there must have been a large-scale armed conflict in the vicinity of the gold mine. In addition to the guards defending the gold mines, it is likely that the miners working in the mines have been kidnapped or interned, and now that the rebels have launched an offensive, it is likely that other Serbian officials, tax collectors, and garrisons will also be killed.

In addition to this, there were also large rebel garrisons in the Prindina Heights and Fort Hamidi. Fort Hamidi, in particular, had reached at least two thousand defenders under the sentry of the Sentinels. The number of defenders on the Pritina Heights is unknown, but above the Pritona Heights, the rebels can advance and retreat with ease. Once the empire pursues it, it is possible to be ambushed. If the Empire launches an attack on Fort Hamidi, it must always be on guard against the rebels in the Pritina Heights. This is also the first place that the Phoenix Legion needs to pay attention to.

"This arrangement doesn't look like a peasant rebel. Trade space for time...... Not only did it keep us from moving lightly, but it also cut off an important source of income for us. We do not yet know the specifics of the core region of Serbia, and if this is the case in Kosovo, Hungary and Albania will face rebels that will be even more difficult to deal with. Is it really just the Serbian aristocracy that sits behind the rebels? ”

"General Giovanni, while we think about this, let's get the army out of the way. Drag on, and the size of the rebels will only grow. ”