It may be a bit abrupt to call you that, dear Barondi, for I know you are not going to hold me the kind of affection I have for you......"

In the vault, Barondi took out a box from the hidden wall of the box, and after making sure that the seals of the box were intact, he used a knife to cut open the entire seal of the box and take out a few letters from inside.

The letters had already been opened, and several of them were slightly damaged from repeated reading.

She picked up one from it and opened it casually, looking at the contents on it, Barondi's expression showed a complex expression mixed with anger and helplessness.

“…… We all already know Alexander's general plan, and the reason why we didn't go into too much detail was because we took into account the possibility of all sorts of unexpected things......"

The letter was written by Josha, and Barondi, as she said, could not like this sister-in-law, and if she had been unhappy because she had influenced Alexander too much, now it was purely out of the jealousy of a woman.

It's just that as Zha said at the beginning of the showdown, there is probably no one who knows Alexander as well as she does, and no one can help him so much.

Even Barondi, as a duchess, can't.

This made Barendi very annoyed for a while, and even wrote to Lucrezia to vent her dissatisfaction.

It's just that the Duchess of Pisa, who was involved for no reason, was inexplicable.

Lucrezia didn't understand where she had provoked Barendi, and looking at Barendi's tone in the letter, "You are a little useful except in the bedroom, why don't you know how to fight elsewhere", the Duchess of Pisa was also annoyed for a while.

"I have left enough troops to defend Naples, and a little more numerous, for the next battle of the Po," he wrote in the letter, "according to our calculations, the largest number of troops will be committed in Lombardy, and it will be the one that will decide the fate ......of all of us."

Seeing this, Barondi's expression gradually became serious, although it was not the first time she had read this letter, she could still feel the solemnity of Jisha when she wrote these contents.

"With the number of troops that Rome Thesia and Naples can mobilize, I expect that we will probably throw about 10,000~12,000 men into Lombardy at one time, which is also the largest force we have been able to mobilize so far."

In her letters, she wrote in great detail, and unlike Alexander, who only made rough plans and plans, she arranged the steps in a detailed way.

"Don't worry about supplies, whether it's Naples or the whole south, they will spare no effort to support this operation, and even after entering Lombardy, we can get help in some places."

"The French will be our allies in this operation, but we should not trust them too much either, and their relationship with us will depend entirely on two aspects, one is who Milan ends up in and the other is whether the war in Iberia is going well."

Barondi stood here frowning slightly, she was a little worried about Alexander, who had been in Iberia for more than a year, especially if Alexander, who had finally revealed his identity completely, would be safe and sound.

So when she learned that Jisha had boldly led the Sicilian army on an expedition to Iberia, she couldn't tell whether she should be happy or worried.

"The Venetians may take extreme actions, they cannot tolerate the Rovere family becoming the Duke of Milan, because it means that Genoa's influence will penetrate deep into central Lombardy, and even if the Rovere family declares their secession from Genoa, it is obviously acceptable."

Seeing this, Barendi couldn't help but rub her forehead, which was a little painful.

She knew that Jossa was right, and Constantine's over-attachment to the Duke of Milan had actually hindered Roman Thesia's mediation in Lombardy at this time.

Perhaps it might have been better to dissuade Konstantin from giving up that illusory right, which Barendi had thought about more than once.

Although she knew that this was definitely unacceptable to the old Rovere father and son, she confirmed that she really considered whether to make this suggestion to her father when necessary.

But the letter from Tsusha made her hesitate again.

"The Duke of Ferrara's claim to Milan is very important to us, it is the strongest excuse for us to intervene in the affairs of Lombardy at any time, and if this war takes longer than we anticipate, then having such a strong claim will allow us to intervene in this area at any time."

Barondi rubbed her forehead again with some annoyance, she was a little glad that it was a wise choice not to match Konstantin and Zhisa in the first place, otherwise she probably didn't know how the Rovelle family was sold.

But what made her pay more attention was the Po River plan.

According to the prior arrangement, the Eastern Army under the command of Ofleiyi entered the Po River line earlier than Gompati's Western Army.

They built a few simple small wharves on the south bank of the Po River in a few places where the river was gentle.

At the same time, Ofleiyi ordered the collection of ships from all the villages along the coast.

This action certainly aroused the vigilance of the Venetians, who, fearing that the Roman-Thesians might take advantage of the Lombard chaos to infiltrate the Veneto region, had arranged for a sizable army on the north bank of the Po River long before Leonardo Rowette wrote a warning letter to the Veneto.

However, Ofleiil did not seem to care about the reaction of the Venetians, and he continued to make preparations on the south bank for the possibility of crossing the river at any time, which made the Venetians nervous for a while unable to sleep.

After 12 April, Gompati's sudden advance into Lombardy attracted everyone's attention, and when they realized that the Roman army might take advantage of the opportunity to attack Milan, the Venetians finally could not hold back and issued a warning.

But by this time, the Venetians also realized that maybe they had been fooled.

According to the estimation of the enemy's strength, even with the support of Naples, the maximum number of troops that Rome Thescia can wage war is only about 15,000.

It can be said that this is already an all-out country, and everyone is happy when it is victorious, but if it fails, the young Duchy of Rome and Thesia may collapse in an instant.

So the Venetians didn't think the duke would be so crazy.

This idea was also evidenced by the Venetian emissaries in Vienna.

The Viennese court described the young duke as "brave and resolute, but also very cautious".

Such a somewhat contradictory assessment actually shows that the Duke of Rome Thesia, although very difficult to deal with, was not stupid enough to be desperate.

As for going to war with Austria and Venice at the same time, it would be foolish to anyone.

Especially after the Roman-Thesians marched rapidly towards Milan, the Venetians suddenly realized that Offleiil would put on a posture on the south bank of the Po River with such fanfare that he might cross the river at any time, in order to firmly attract the Venetian forces in order to capture Milan.

The Venetian army moved almost at the same time as the Doge issued an ultimatum.

Taking advantage of the fact that it had already been deployed in the eastern part of Lombardy, this army of about 3,000 men quickly advanced westward, faintly threatening the security of the entire right side of King's Roman Tescian army, which was already approaching Pavia.

Five days later, on a rainy afternoon, several Venetian soldiers, dressed in robes woven with broad leaves, were patrolling along a path not far from the shore.

The trail is already a bit difficult to walk, and when it rains, it becomes even more muddy, and if you slip and fall, you may roll down the slope of the river and be transferred into the river.

Therefore, the soldiers carefully watched their feet, lest they lose their lives if they were not careful.

This is the lower reaches of the Po River, which is wider and has a greater water potential.

Although the rain was not heavy, the weather was enough to make the waves on the river much higher than usual.

Sometimes you can even see the river overflowing into some of the low-lying depressions on the shore.

Not far ahead, there is a village and town that straddles both sides of the Po River, and this place called Beira is the last inland town through which the Po River flows into the Adriatic Sea, and then the Po River will form a vast and fertile delta.

Abundant water and fertile land make the Po Delta a source of food for almost the entire Veneto region.

The town of Bella originally had a wooden bridge connecting the two banks, but the Venetians had hastily dismantled the wooden bridge for fear of the invasion of the Roman Tescian army.

Only a few stone pillars on the reef in the center of the river stand alone.

Of course, it was very uncomfortable to patrol in such weather, walking on slippery roads with deep feet and shallow feet, icy muddy water had poured into the boots, and the soles of the feet were painful with fine stone particles.

One of the soldiers at the front took a breath as he watched the town of Bella looming in the distance, and he felt that the weather was much colder than before, which made him think about going to the town to buy a glass of wine to warm up after the patrol was over.

Several blurry figures appeared in front of them, and the patrolman squinted his eyes vigorously and wiped the rain from his face.

"Who is it?"

A companion leaned over and asked.

"Maybe it's the villagers of Beira Town, maybe we can ask them for some wine to warm up, the weather has been getting worse and worse in the past few years, and it's almost so cold in May."

The soldier in the lead answered and walked forward to meet the men.

"The people of Bellatown," muttered his companion a little strangely, "what are they doing when it's raining?" ”

As he spoke, the soldiers greeted the figures.

The two sides got closer and closer, and gradually the Venetian soldiers sensed that something was wrong.

The people on the other side were a lot more than they thought, and there were many shadows, and the figures that came out of the rain curtain one after another.

The patrol stopped, somewhat surprised, and looked at the figures that had suddenly appeared in front of them.

Finally, the soldiers at the front let out a difficult moan: "Roman-Thesians, they are Roman-Thesians!" ”

By the time he arrived, his voice had turned to a scream of fear.

In the rain curtain opposite, a dark shadow suddenly appeared, and these shadows were much taller and burlier than those figures.

Sensing the danger, the Venetians turned to flee, but were overtaken by the cavalry who suddenly burst out of the rain, and as the blades cut through the falling rain, a scarlet blood poured out with the spring rain.

The eastern legions of Roman Thesia, suddenly, in a weather that the Venetians had never expected, suddenly crossed the lower Po River from the direction of Bella and invaded towards the Veneto region.

On a trembling pontoon bridge, Ofleiyi walked cautiously.

Earlier, he had seen a pack horse pulling a cart accidentally step on an empty plank because of the horse's stumbling hooves, and as a result, his leg bones were immediately broken, and all the supplies he was pulling fell into the river.

The rain was getting a little heavier.

This made Ofleiyi secretly rejoice.

When the plan to cross the river was decided, it was already expected that the Venetians would strengthen the defense line north of the Po River, so Ofleuil was carrying out all kinds of feints almost all the time.

From the army moving along the banks of the Po River east of Parma, to collecting a large number of ferries along the way to force their way across the Po River from upstream, all this was done to disguise the movement downstream.

From the moment the decision was made to erect a pontoon bridge from the town of Beira on a day in bad weather, Ofleiil did not sleep well.

He listened to incoming intelligence from all sides at all times.

When he heard that Gompati's western legion was attacking Pavia and that the Venetian army had entered the Lombardy region, Ofleuil knew it was time for him to strike.

As one of the first to follow Alexander, Ofleiyi was the pride and idol of the Agri, and even Busako, who had been the commander of the hunting guards, could not match him.

As chief of staff of the Roman army of Thesia, Ofleiil had planned several battles for Alexander.

Moreover, in Alexander's absence, he also commanded the Roman army of Thessia several times as a proxy of the duke in the army.

But both Ofreiil himself and those who are familiar with him know that he may have a shortcoming as a chief of staff, but as a general in his own right, there are some problems that are too prominent.

Oflaiyi, sometimes inevitably indecisive.

Because of this, when Alexander formulated the Lombard plan, he finally decided that Gompati, not Oflei, would be the commander of the Western Army.

For Milan and Lombardy as a whole, Alexander's instructions to Gompati were simple and straightforward.

"According to the situation at the time, it is up to them to decide whether to seize Milan or not, and as for the specific actions in Lombardy, they are aimed at maximizing the benefits of Rome and Thesia."

Such an order, which would have given the front-line commander the greatest freedom to choose specific tactics, would undoubtedly allow him to play an unexpected role.

But for Oflei, such an order may instead become an invisible shackle that binds him backwards.

Alexander liked Barenti's attitude of "letting real professionals do what they were familiar with."

This was fully proved true both in the Second Romagna War in Ferrara and in the confrontation with the French.

Alexander also knew his own men, so he sent Gompati, who was good at capturing fighters, to Lombardy, while Ofleiuil, who was somewhat conservative but always known for his stability, kept a close eye on the Po line.

Everyone knew that the Venetians were bound to intervene, but the timing of this intervention was extremely important.

Alexander needed a general who could keep an eye on the Po line at any time, and when the time was ripe, he would force his way across the Po River according to the plan he had made, cut off the retreat of the Venetian army that had sent troops to Lombardy, and then force the Venetians to recognize the situation.

This man, he chose Oflai.

Leonardo Rowlet, the viceroy of Venice, was the political enemy of the deceased Barbarig the Elder.

Unlike Barbaregg, who was cautious and never took risks, Leonardo Rowlet was a man of aggressive nature.

Alexander vaguely remembered that it was during his tenure that Venice lost its last overseas colonies, but this did not in any way affect his decision to take a hard line with the Ottomans.

It was for this reason that in the decades that followed, Venice and the Ottomans came to a halt, almost exhausting the enormous wealth accumulated over the centuries.

The gradual decline of Venice had a lot to do with the fact that they were constantly at war with the Ottomans, and Leonardo Rowlet was the one who set the tone for Venice's foreign policy decisions for decades to come.

This attitude of not being intimidated was naturally detrimental to Venice in the long run, but because it was related to Venice's overseas trade, Leonardo Rowlet was widely admired as soon as he took office.

Naturally, this led to his consistent assertion of a tough stance on other countries that prevailed in the Venetian aristocratic council.

Despite the opposition of those like former Secretary of State Nicolas Vonsha, Leonardo Rowlet pursued his policies with a strong line.

Alexander doesn't remember exactly what Leonardo Rollette did, but he was impressed by the man's hard-line attitude that has left a name in history.

Because of this, Alexander was convinced that the Venetians would intervene in Lombardy.

So all that Offleiil had to do on the Po line was to wait for the Lombard war to make it impossible for the Venetians to sit still.

Now, Alfleiil crossed the Po River with his army downstream, surprisingly appearing on the Po plain on the north bank of the Po River.

Now, Ofleiyi has two options in front of her.

One, it was the Eastern Corps that advanced upstream along the Po River to cut off the retreat of the Venetian army that had invaded Lombardy.

Then, while the Austrians had not yet arrived, they flanked Gompati from east to west and annihilated the Venetian army in one fell swoop.

The other option is to march directly to the Veneto, quickly invade the Veneto, and take advantage of the absence of the main force of the Venetian army to directly threaten the city of Venice.

Standing on the bank of the river, Offrey looked at the troops passing by the pontoon, feeling the icy damp moisture under his feet, and his eyes couldn't help but wander back and forth on the open map.

Beside him, Nicola Maceni waited patiently.

After making all kinds of illusions to confuse the enemy defending the upper reaches of the Po River, and then surprisingly bypassing the empty area of the enemy's defense, and crossing the river from the lower reaches, both the city of Venice and the supply lines of the Venetian army were now exposed to the Eastern Army.

Therefore, no matter where you choose to attack, it is very advantageous for the Eastern Army.

Looking at the map, Oflaiyi instinctively fell into hesitation.

After a few moments, he tapped his finger on the map and made a decision.

Nikolai Macheni looked at the map, and although he was slightly surprised, he nodded silently.

This time, Ofleiyi made a surprisingly positive decision.