Giovanni once again has a new appreciation for Angelo's sordid imagination.

The walls of Shimlia in front of them were more like a fortress, sandwiched between two mountains, blocking the road to the city. This section of the wall was so narrow that even if the Phoenix Legion and the Holy See had a million men, they would have to resort to siege but not attack to slowly wear down the defenders' will to defend.

But in this way, the Serbian rebels achieved the goal of exchanging space for time. But when Giovanni heard that Angelo was preparing to create a plague artificially, it was as if his heart was beating a beat.

"What do you mean?"

"Black Death."

Angelo uttered a noun rather calmly. A term that once made the world tremble, and the shadows dissipated less than a hundred years. It was the outbreak of the Black Death that completely swept away the majesty of God. It can be said that a widespread plague also destroyed the deep-rooted control of religion over human thought, and the germ of the Renaissance and the Reformation originated here.

The tide of the Great Plague of the Middle Ages did reced, leaving behind a single body of bones and claiming a third of the population of Europe. But the Black Death did not completely dissipate, and to be precise, bubonic plague still broke out on a small scale everywhere. But after the baptism of the Great Plague Wave, they have more or less their own means of resistance. Large-scale hospitals have been created, measures to isolate patients have been improved, and with the government's deliberate guidance, bubonic plague has lost its exaggerated lethality.

After Venice's first quarantine laws were copied by other countries, the pandemic has not yet seen a similar large-scale spread. Of course, since the last time John used the "rat attack method" to occupy Eagle Rock Fort, he has also promulgated and emphasized the "rodent extermination law" on more than one occasion, and even rewarded citizens with financial, status, and even court honorary titles for their success in catching rats. Although the vast majority of the citizens of the empire still did not understand why the co-ruler emperor would consider rats and fleas to be the root cause of the disease, with John's accumulated prestige among the people, it was true that the empire was rarely affected by bubonic plague after the law was enacted.

It's just that little doesn't mean nothing.

After the Great Plague of Athens, Thebes, Constantinople, and Epirus each had a specially established plague shelter to accommodate only any patient who was contaminated or suspected of being infected with various plague diseases, including bubonic plague and leprosy. Those who did not report to the local government would be severely punished by the laws of the Empire.

These three shelters were founded by John, of course, with the intention of controlling the spread of the disease. And without an order from an Imperial official above the Governor, no one could take a single patient from the heavily guarded containment center.

"I said something mysteriously shut up in your wooden cage with an open window, and you dare to bring the Black Dead patient to the barracks? Are you crazy? If the disease spreads inside and outside the camp, we can bury people on the spot! Giovanni forcibly suppressed the urge to punch Angelo, "These are the only two main battle legions in the Empire!" Annihilated by the Black Death! Do you know what that means? And, after the plague spreads in the city, what is the point of us gaining control of the city? We can't garrison our troops here, and we can't use this as a supply point...... Wait, where did you find this guy? ”

"It's only been a few days since I arrived from Epirus." Angelo's deep pupils shone with a burning light, "General Giovanni, you still imagine the war too simple. Fight and strategize...... Yes, this is war, but war is undoubtedly dark and cruel, we will plunder, we will oppress, we will slaughter! If we want to take Prokuple before winter, we have to take Shumliya in the remaining half a month, which is the only goal. As for this person...... It was personally instructed by His Majesty John and His Royal Highness the Princess, who authorized us to put down the Serbian rebellion by any means and as quickly as possible. I am responsible for execution, as well as obedience. ”

"Your Majesty?"

"Sometimes, those two teenagers are much more sober than you, Giovanni. They know better what the empire needs, no matter how vicious, no matter how inferior, no matter how heroic the county's means, they only serve the empire. Everything for the Empire is not just a random slogan in your mouth! All we need to do is give everything to the Empire. Angelo reached out and pressed Giovanni's shoulder, "Your command skills are respectable, General Giovanni, but only for the sake of the Empire, I want you to be more unscrupulous." ”

"They will also be citizens of the empire in the future, and we have brought a plague to them? It is only the rebels who have enemies against us, not innocent people......"

"People are never innocent. Giovanni. Angelo closed his eyes and waved his hand, motioning for a few of his cronies in the tent to carry out his plan.

Giovanni's lips moved, but in the end he didn't stop Angelo.

"Your attitude is completely different from when you first faced Her Highness Sophia and Her Majesty John in Constantinople a few months ago."

"Take it easy, Giovanni. The Toko family doesn't decide who makes decisions on the throne about who gives everything to the empire. ”

Giovanni also knew that according to the conventional siege method, Shumlia was a trench that could not be crossed in a short time.

"They get support from the population, they get the troops, they get the income, they get the equipment. The populace gave them everything, and without the populace, the leaders of the rebels had nothing. Angelo laughed, "When we unscrew Brankovich's head, we will look back and you will see that any decision we made today to win the war was the right one." In fact, your mercy is not worth much at the moment. ”

……

"If you have a decision that has been arranged, when the banquet has officially begun, you can discuss it in detail with His Majesty the High Constantine, my dear Count of Ulrich." Sophia withdrew her hand and politely rejected Ulrich's self-proclaimed aristocratic courtesy. Perhaps it was a newcomer who did not know Sophia's character, and Ulrich was quite shocked by Sophia's move.

If the Earl of Ulrich had come to speak for Laszlo V the Younger, Sophia would have been able to guess the outcome of the banquet tonight. Hunyadi and Irri held power in Hungary and Bohemia, respectively, and it was almost impossible for Laszló V, who had nothing to do with the Empire, to seek the support of the Empire and turn the Empire against Hungary.

Ulrich coughed twice to hide his embarrassment, and then followed in Sophia's footsteps, one after the other, into the main banquet hall.