Giovanni's self-confidence did not rise for nothing. The Ottomans themselves did not have a strong grip on the Ionian Islands, and most of the islanders still respected the Orthodox faith and were proud of their Roman identity. Today's tactics of encircling the island are just to minimize attrition. The Imperial army and the defenders of the island are not at all on the same order of magnitude. It's just that the Phoenix Legion is directly under John, and for such a military operation against the emperor's order, Giovanni still has to ask John for instructions.

John's reply followed him aboard the Ebius Radiance. Thomas led the Morea fleet in a search off the Peloponnese in an attempt to find the remnants of Parthia, who had escaped. And John staying in Killini Harbor to see the gates, of course, will be a little boring. If the port officer with a few thousand people can't even look at the port, it is better to find a branch and hang it himself.

"Your Majesty?"

The sailors who were chatting and wandering on the deck, or busy cleaning, fell to their knees when they saw John hurry, but Giovanni and Francisco only bowed slightly.

"Can't you let go of the civilians on the island?" John's tone was somewhat casual, sacrifice in war was necessary, and as a ruler, the most important thing to consider was the interests of the country.

Of course, this interest is not just based on money and manpower. If the civilians of Kepharonia were to be abandoned, the ripple effect would be that the people of Epirus would also lose trust in the rulers of the Empire, which would be an invisible loss. All of this must be taken into account in the army's every move.

"Your Majesty, after all, they are not ordinary peasant soldiers, they are better in terms of training, morale and equipment, but on the other hand, they will only treat the civilians on the island more blackly."

John looked around and saw that the sentries standing outside the island camp looked mostly Norse, with a few Italian mercenaries in their faces. The weapons around his waist vary, but it seems difficult to find a single Turk.

"Although there is no direct evidence of Padeo's connection with Mehmed II, as one of the springboards to the Adriatic and into the South Aegean Sea, there is no problem in taking it as soon as possible."

"Is Your Majesty planning to have the army attack?"

John nodded at Giovanni before asking, "Whether to storm or not depends only on the actual benefits of assault and siege. General Giovanni, if you can control the losses of the Phoenix Legion at 30%, and the losses of the equipped soldiers at 1/5, then let it go. The opponent is a mercenary, and it is easy to retreat if there is a certain amount of losses. General Giovanni, are there any suitable tactics? ”

"The defenders of Kephalonia are very vigilant, and there are a large number of outposts on the coast, and these watchtowers have fire emplacements, which are smoked by wolf dung during the day and lit by firewood at night, and our fleet is under their surveillance whenever it moves along the coastline. The coastline of Kepharonia is not long, and thousands of people want to be completely prepared, as long as they are not too careless, there is no problem at all. Francisco said with some resentment, "Our assault will be much more risky in comparison." The bay was relatively good, the beach was relatively flat, and to land from other places, the only way to land from other places was to fill in with the lives of the light infantry to create a relatively safe open space on the shore, and then to use the landing ships to transport the hoplites to the island. ”

"Your Excellency Francisco, have you ever climbed a mountain?" Giovanni suddenly asked for no reason.

"New Rome is also the city of seven hills, what's so strange about walking outside of Constantinople and climbing a mountain?" Francisco wondered, "General Giovanni, isn't the fief that His Majesty Constantine gave you near Mount Onevia?" ”

"We walked around Kephalonya two days ago and found that the topography is still very characteristic." Giovanni brought Francisco and John into the cabin, and the sand table placed in the center was kneaded by him, and the terrain around Kephalonya had become very detailed, "Your Majesty, Kepharonia, except for a few low-lying bays or harbors, many other places are not unattainable cliffs, especially the western part of the island, there is a long series of not towering mountain walls. There was no port, and Parthio's army was relatively weakly defended. Here, it is likely to be our breakthrough. ”

"You mean...... Let our soldiers climb the island of Kephalonia along the walls of the island? ”

Giovanni nodded, and then turned his gaze to the unarmored scout infantry standing on the decks of the ships behind him, armed only with bows, crossbows, quivers, and swords. Their equipment may seem very poor, but in fact, this scout infantry has been in the ranks of light infantry since the formation of the Phoenix Legion a few years ago. After the Battle of Gombrigne, the survivors of the Light Infantry Regiment trained an infantry company for special combat purposes by Vasika of Wallachia. Because of the peculiarities of this company, Giovanni did not even perform a flag ceremony on them, so within the empire, there were only a handful of people who knew the true function of this scout company.

However, since the Battle of Gombrigne, almost all the wars experienced by the empire have been the stage of heavy infantry and heavy cavalry, and the light infantry has played the role of auxiliary and shooting cover. Not to mention the scout companies that usually don't wear armor at all. It's just trimming and training in an independent camp. This time, he brought the scout company because Giovanni foresaw the difficulty of landing on the island head-on.

"It shouldn't be too difficult for these guys."

Regarding the Phoenix Legion, John still delegated power to Giovanni most of the time. It was the first time he had heard of the existence of the Scout Company. However, these armies, which were used to fight in extremely special situations, gave John a special association. It's a bit of a surprise that Giovanni and Vasica were able to develop such a forward-thinking concept for special forces.

"Soldiers without armor?" Francisco was a little skeptical, "They climbed the ledge and clashed head-on with the defenders...... I'm not skeptical about their fighter skills, but the odds of winning should be pretty slim, right? ”

"Your Excellency Francisco, this company, according to General Vasica, was never designed to deal with a head-on conflict." Giovanni smiled mysteriously, "Your Majesty, I need to rent a dozen fishing boats, the smaller the better." ”

"There are a lot of Moreah, and that's not a problem."

"Next, we just need to wait for a moonless night before we can launch a storm on the island...... I only hope that the food stock of Patiano's mercenaries can resist for a few more days. ”

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