A few thousand garrisons of Shumlia, under the personal command of Duke Tolinka, successfully completed a breakout battle.

The encirclement of Somnia by the two corps was itself rather loose, and combined with the rugged terrain, the defenders of Somnia, under the cover of artillery and a rain of arrows, finally withdrew from Somnia before reinforcements from the frontal besieging troops arrived.

"Orderly pursuit, first enter the plains of Prokupure. Don't stay in Shumlia! ”

The Phoenix Legion and the Holy See Guard immediately assembled and quickly advanced towards Prokuprie, and Shumlia was now a dead city.

"Giovanni, how many defenders are there in Prokupli?"

"It all depends on how much aid Austria has given to Serbia. When storming the walls of Shumlia a few days ago, it was already clear that the composition of the Serbian rebels was not at all the peasant rebel army they propagated. The defenders on the walls were mostly well-trained, combat-ready, and adept at the use of all kinds of weapons...... And as you can see, they have artillery at their disposal, which the real peasant rebels of Fort Hamidi did not have before. Giovanni rode his armored horse and walked with Angelo on the left side of the queue. The trails here are quite muddy, leaving traces of the march of the Shumlian garrison. But with the experience of the Shumlia woodland, Giovanni did not let his troops pursue, "Now we are facing the enemy, most likely the regular troops of Austria or mercenaries, with muskets and artillery. The wide plain terrain outside the city of Prokupree is quite suitable for large-scale troops...... If the Serbian rebels have amassed a large number of troops, it is very likely that they will choose to kill us by surprise in Prokuplie! ”

"My brother, if we can't even be sure of the number of defenders...... We can't besiege the city so much until Hunya mentions it......" Angelo observed the surrounding mountains on horseback. After passing the city of Shumlia, the woods gradually thinned out, and the boulevard had a better view. Judging from the traces, the defenders of Shumliya were in a rather haste, and it is unlikely that they would have arranged an ambush, "and it is likely that they had already made their way to Prokupleje to join the defenders there." But everyone knows that Prokupree is not a fortified city to defend......"

With all these concerns convincing, the Holy See Guard and the Phoenix Legion marched more slowly, and more and more sentinels and scouts were dispatched.

Prokupree is not monolithic, and for the defenders, it is not just the walls that need to be defended. The city of Prokuple, in addition to facing the plains on three sides, is backed on a not so steep mountain, Mount Berich. The army could even make a surprise attack on the rear of the entire city after climbing to the top of Mount Berich. As a result, Prokuputle's defenders had to dedicate part of their forces to strengthen the defense of the hilltop.

"Further, the army will enter the Great Plains of Prokupure." Giovanni raised his fist above his head with one hand, signaling the army to pause its advance, "So far, according to the information gathered by the outpost, the walls of Prokuprie, including the ridge defense line of Mount Berich, have been equipped with artillery, and the fighting power of the rebels has moved far beyond the rabble of Fort Hamidi. Although we do not yet have specific information on the number of defenders, it is certain that the defenders of Prokuple have joined up with the army that broke through from Shumlia, and it is a conservative estimate...... At least three thousand five hundred. ”

The siege camp was temporarily established in the core of the plain outside the city of Prokupule, and the two legions did not immediately encircle the walls.

"General Angelo, a good news or a bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"

"I only hear bad news."

"Then I'll tell you the good news first." Giovanni casually threw a letter on the table, "Blessed with the news, Hunyadi and his Hungarian army have been lost for so long, and there is finally some news. The entire legion is probably a week away from Prokuprore, and it should be safest for us to start a siege of Prokupure after the legion has been reconciled. After the army is integrated, the siege should also be twice as effective with half the effort. ”

Angelo was not actually expecting Hunyati's help, and since such siege methods had been used, the reputation of the Romans had been ruined among the Serb population, and Angelo was more likely to wield his creativity with impunity. After glancing at the letter and putting it down, he asked, "What about the bad news?" ”

"Bad news...... It's almost winter. Now that I do the math, it looks like there is still more than half a month. But...... Before the start of the year, the Empire didn't have much food to supply us for this not-so-distant expedition. Giovanni deliberately withdrew a few boring knights of the guard before saying this, presumably for this matter, "at most until the end of November." Or if we reduce the amount of each meal. In order not to affect the morale of the army, this matter had to be secretly talked about behind closed doors...... Almost every rebel city we captured left us with surplus supplies. It should be a matter of time before the supply of grain and grass is cut off. ”

"The empire is already poor like this?" Angelo's brow instantly twisted into a ball. Everyone understands that it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and after the food is cut off, no matter how you command, you will be finished in front of the rebels.

"In the eyes of Westerners, they already think that the empire has come out of its most dangerous moment, and even that the empire is re-endangering them. Now the so-called generosity of the same sect in the West has been canceled. Speaking of which, the Venetians still leave no stone unturned. Giovanni sighed and said, "But there is nothing wrong with the judgment of those guys, it's just that Sofia, Skopje, Kastoria and other regions are newly conquered lands, and it will take a few years to regain productivity and food production." At that time, we should be able to completely wean ourselves off foreign aid. ”

"So...... Before we put down the rebellion, we didn't even solve the most basic food and grass problems? ”

"We didn't know that the Habsburgs would intervene in the middle before we went out." Giovanni opened the temporary wooden bookshelf and searched up and down twice before pulling out a hidden treasurer's food storage report from the innermost, "We'll have to deal with this matter ourselves." I hope that Hunyadi's army will divide us a little more, otherwise, we will inevitably fall into the embarrassing situation of being exposed to the enemy in the face of the enemy's withdrawal from Serbia, Hungary and Albania because of the problem of food and grass. ”

Lewen