Located on the Avenue de la Vineyard, the Theatre Olimpico is a small but historic theatre dating back to Roman times.

This is Vicenza, a city north of Veneto and the northernmost important stronghold of the Venetian sphere of influence.

Rondoba Barbarig is now in the Olympic Theatre.

The people of Vicenza were not satisfied with his requisitioning of this long-established theater as a temporary headquarters, but looking at his subordinates, both local officials and angry residents wisely chose to remain silent.

It's been 2 days since Rondoba Barbareg led his army to Vicenza.

It's not that he doesn't want to fight the Romantesians, it's just that his situation doesn't allow him to do it right away.

The Venetian government gave him an army of 6,000 men, but in reality he had to deal with an enemy far more powerful in both men and equipment.

Rondoba Barbarig knew that the real purpose of the House of Lords was nothing more than to take advantage of the chaos in Milan, which was also the method that the Venetians had always used.

Only this time it was clear that this method did not work, and the Roman Tescian army was different from the other enemies they were already familiar with, and despite having dealt with the new principality, Kolonoba Barbareg felt that neither his original uncle, nor Leonardo Rowlet, nor even the entire Venetian royal court, did not really know their opponent.

At least in the opinion of Rondoba Barbarig, the fact that the Romantesians were not in a hurry to take Milan, which was already within reach, but were about to win such a great victory, suddenly turned to trouble him, and that alone the Romantesians were different from their previous enemies.

Whether it was the king or the emperor of France, they did not hesitate to fight for a Milan, and all of them saw the capture of the city as the only means of showing their strength, but the actions of the Romantesians seemed to tell them that they were doing stupidly.

Rondoba Barbareg also knew that he would be ridiculed if he said this to others, but he had a vague sense that the style of the Roman Tescian army seemed to be quietly changing the way of warfare that had been the only goal for centuries.

That is the real means of victory by killing and injuring the enemy's living forces.

But even with this, Korondoba Barbarig still had no choice, Venice gave him 6,000 men, which he needed to defend the entire vast area of Veneto, and what annoyed him even more was that Leonardo Rowlet also wrote letters from time to time to intervene in his actions.

In fact, Londoba Barbareg had very few troops at his disposal, and his only hope was to gather the troops scattered and defended as soon as possible, and then defeat or inflict heavy damage on one of them before the enemy's eastern and western legions could converge.

There might also be an opportunity to force the Roman-Thecian army to withdraw from the Veneto region.

As for the retreat to Vicenza, where the enemy might threaten Venice, Rondoba Barbarig did not see such a possibility.

The Roman Thesians may have had a formidable army, but if they wanted to invade Venice, they would have to fight naval battles.

And Rondoba Barbarig still had a lot of confidence in the Venetian navy.

Rondoba Barbareg believes that Vicenza is an ideal location.

The city's unique location in the Valenona Valley made it difficult to defend and the Venetians had established a stronghold in Vicenza to fight against the Gothic barbarians from the north.

In addition, although the city is far away from Venice, it is conveniently accessible, and if the Roman Tertesian army really does not have the strength to attack Venice, then he can quickly attack from here, attack the enemy's back, and then flank the front and rear with the Venetian defenders to defeat the enemy.

Another important reason is that Vicenza is the place where the Barbaregue family arose in their early years, where their ancestors served for a long time and gradually became a famous noble family in Venice.

This is why Rondoba Barbareg dared to requisition the Olympia Theater as his command.

So far, Rondoba Barbarig's plan has gone well.

He had regrouped an army of about 2,000 men in two days, and he was now desperate to know the status of the main force defending the Mincho River.

On the night before, his men had already rushed to the Mincho River with orders, and according to the instructions of Rondoba Barbarig, the main force was to quickly retreat to Vicenza and join his forces after holding back the enemy's western corps on the west bank of the Mincho River.

At that time, he had about 5,000 men at his disposal, and Rondoba Barbarig believed that with these forces and the defenders of Venice, he could deal a fatal blow to the lone army of Eastern Roman Thesia.

A figure flashed not far away, and Rondolba Barbaregg, who was thinking about the current situation, noticed the man who looked not too young.

He recognized this man as an actor, who was a celebrity in Vicenza because he had been performing in the theater for many years.

And he remembered that his uncle, Barbareg the Elder, seemed to have liked this man's performances before, and every time he returned to Vicenza, he would invite him to his villa.

The man, apparently seeing Rondoba Barbareg as well, bowed to him from a distance, but before he could straighten up, a man suddenly came from behind him and knocked him to the ground.

But the man who caused the trouble did not stop or apologize in the slightest, and he rushed to Rondoba Barbareg almost without stopping.

"My lord, the Roman Thesians are attacking Venice!"

"What?" Little Babareg was stunned, and when he heard a more detailed report from his subordinates, he couldn't help but let out an excited low roar, "Great." ”

"Your Excellency?"

His officers looked at little Babarig in bewilderment, he didn't understand why the adults reacted this way.

"It is impossible for the Roman-Thesians to threaten Venice, on the contrary they are firmly condemned to death in Westerre, and believe me by the time they realize that something is wrong, it will be too late."

Barbareg Jr. explained to his subordinates that the enemy would act as he had guessed, and the situation would develop step by step as he expected, which made Barbareg Jr. happy but a little worried that he might be ruined by the old men of Venice.

"Go and tell everyone that from now on I will not see any emissaries from Venice, and if asked, say that I am going to spy on the enemy's movements myself."

The corners of his officer's mouth trembled, but he finally obeyed the order.

The nasty lord of the House of Lords and the cunning Rowlet, who always promised what they liked to hear in order to curry favor with the House of Lords, regardless of the reality, must be thrown off as soon as possible.

It seems that he should still become a governor like his uncle in order to truly fulfill his ambitions.

Little Barbareg has set a goal for the rest of his life in the theater in Vicenza, and now all he has to do is make a big victory to make his reputation skyrocket, and then the family will naturally arrange for him what to do in the future.

Little Babareg pulled his mind back from the future and walked to the table in the middle of the room to look at the map.

This is a freehand map, whether it is the distance between the city fortresses and the actual geographical ratio, or those transportation arteries, the rivers and mountains seem "random", but it is rare to have such a map now.

Barbareg the Younger marked a line that represented the Mincio River, and although he wanted to invade the main Lombard army to stop the enemy's western legions, he did not want to fight a big battle with the Romans, on the banks of the Mincio.

His eyes were drawn to Milan, represented by a castle farther on the map, and he suddenly hoped that the French would take it, for he had a vague sense that the Romansians would not want to see that happen.

As long as their own forces meet, they can form a local advantage, defeat the enemy first, and the next Roman Thesian army will be much easier to deal with.

Little Barbareg told himself as he looked at Venice on the map, smiling sarcastically.

The Roman Thesians may have been overwhelmed by the fact that they were no match for the Venetian navy, but even that was enough to scare the lords of the House of Lords, and that's what he needed.

Only then will the Venetian know how important he is.

Of course, he wouldn't say this idea to anyone, but I believe Leonardo Rollette can still see his methods.

But even so, what can he do, it is precisely because of this that he avoided the envoy sent by Venice, and let those old men hurry for a while before he is sure of defeating the eastern army of Rome and Thesia.

Thinking so, little Babarig looked at the map again, and he began to wonder when and where to attack the enemy's eastern legion.

Offrey waited silently, taking a piece of bread in his hand that was already somewhat dry and hard, and then tearing off a piece of salted jerky in his other hand.

Soon the quartermaster brought him the answers he needed.

"Only 3 days of rations?" Offrey asked rhetorically, not surprised.

The Roman army of Thessia carried light rations suggested by Alexander, except for unusually firm bread and individual strips of jerky, the kind of cakes made with various preserves and fruit grains inside.

Such food is not perishable even in warm weather, if it is tightly wrapped, and every soldier carries at least two days' worth of this ration with him, except for the baggage squad.

It's just that now Oflaiyi's order has made it a little difficult for the quartermaster.

"Yes, my lord, we will distribute a maximum of 3 days' rations to each soldier, plus the one that the soldiers bring themselves, if you abandon the baggage team, you can only guarantee a maximum of 5 days, and then you can either collect it on the spot or ......"

"Hungry?" Oflaiyi asked.

"Or you choose to retreat." The quartermaster shrugged helplessly, he thought that the general might really be crazy, and actually asked him to prepare to burn everything except the necessary weapons and equipment.

After the quartermaster left, Ofleiil fell into silence, or rather a conflict.

He walked back and forth, sometimes stopping and clenching his fists excitedly, as if he had made up his mind, but then he immediately shook his head and continued to circle in place.

When Macheni came to see him, he saw exactly that.

"My lord, what shall we do?"

Maccheni stood aside and asked respectfully, he was no longer as emotional as before, because after calming down, he could not help but admit that Ofleuil's concerns were still very reasonable.

What if he was in the position he is now in Oflaiil?

What if he also bears the burden of a bad decision that could ruin the new state of the Duchy of Rome and Thesia?

Maccheni felt that he was not qualified to rebuke Oflei, but he was not qualified to do so now.

"That Rondoba Barbarig," Ofleiil paused to look at Macioni, "what is he doing in Vicenza?" ”

"Obviously, he is ready to attack us," said Macioni helplessly, "and even if we take Westriere, it will not directly threaten Venice, and if we delay here too long, we may be caught in front and back by the Venetians." ”

"That's true, but what if we withdraw from Westerray?" Offrey suddenly became a little agitated and asked Maceni, "I mean, what if we defeat the Venetian defenders before they have time to join Barbarige?" ”

Macheni was stunned, he was obviously taken aback by the sudden idea that came to him, and then he began to circle like Oflei, and muttered to himself: "But how can we make sure that they do not meet, and the Venetians who invaded Lombardy, if they all rush back when we attack Barbarig, it will be a disaster for us." ”

"So I can't make up my mind," Ofleiyi clenched his fists in annoyance and reluctantly let go, "I have a way to deal with the Venetians, I plan to let each soldier bring enough rations, and then throw away everything except weapons and ammunition, so that we can raid Vicenza when the Venetians don't expect it, but I don't know what happens to Gompati's side, can he guarantee that the main force of the enemy will not enter the battle?" ”

Listening to Oflei's words, Maccheni opened his mouth but did not know what to say, and it was only then that he truly realized the fundamental difference between being a commander who only had to follow orders, and perhaps a commander whose decision would affect the fate of the entire army.

Gompati, can I count on you?

Oflaiyi asked again and again in his heart, he did not expect that one day he would be so strong in his hope that Gompati would be able to rely on him a little more.

The Battle of Pisa, the Second Romagna War, the War with France and the expeditions to the Balkans, although he did not participate, had long been heard of.

Again and again he remembered everything he knew about Gwangonpati, and gradually, his heart became more steady.

"Nikolai, this is probably the greatest risk of my life, and I swear I will never let myself do such a stupid thing again."

Oflaiyi's words let the similarly undecided Marcheni know what decision he had made.

"yes, that's right, it's a really stupid decision."

Because of the same nervousness, Maccheni even nodded involuntarily in agreement, and then he suddenly realized that it was too rude: "I'm sorry, my lord." ”

"Now go and prepare, while I haven't regretted it yet." Ofleigh urged Macheni as if he was genuinely afraid that he would regret it.

In this venture, which was clearly beyond his usual military habits, Ofleiil needed not only the support of Macheni, but also the important responsibility of the Pisa regiment under his command.

The defenders of Westre waited in fear for the attack of the Roman-Thesians, who had been in the town until the next day, and these dozens of hours were really like years for the defenders of Westerray.

It was only that the enemy on the opposite side had made no big moves after the previous fierce attack, and on the contrary, the enemy's seemingly defensive action in place made the defenders breathe a sigh of relief.

Eventually, the sky was getting darker, and the defenders were relaxed, and it was impossible for the enemy to attack at night, so that at least they could survive the night.

It was as if God was deliberately teasing them, and just as the defenders of Westrey were sleeping soundly, all of a sudden, an earth-shattering burst of cannon fire rang out throughout the town!

In an instant, the shells that fell in the darkness blew up the town, and the solid shells fell to the ground and smashed into a large crater, shaking the tiles of nearby houses and falling down with a clatter.

The splattered sharp rubble posed a threat more terrible than a cannonball, and it flew everywhere at the panicked people.

The sky was still dark, but the town of Westray was already full of fire, although it was not at all accurate in this darkness, but because of the disaster that no one knew if it would suddenly come, the town of Westray was panicked for a moment.

The defenders and locals were blindfolded by the sudden attack, and many of them ran desperately to the shore, jumping onto the boats that had already been prepared, and rowing them desperately to the shore in the middle of the night, regardless of whether they were safe on the water.

The general of the defenders stood on the dock at this time, and he looked desperately at the soldiers who had already disobeyed the command and ran past him, and then he stuck his sword in his hand on the wooden board next to him, and sat down on the cable pier.

"Let me wait for the Roman-Thesians to come, at least I hope I can take responsibility for my defeat with dignity."

The defending general refused his men's offer to leave, and instead stared at the town, which was being ravaged by shells.

I don't know when it started, the shelling slowly became sparse.

Until everything finally calmed down.

"It's finally over."

The defender muttered, believing that he would soon be able to see the enemy, so he carefully wiped his armor so that he did not look so embarrassed.

An oppressive silence had arrived, and the already devastated town of Westrie was still burning.

But strangely, after waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the enemy.

The defender stood up suspiciously and looked into the distance, and just as he wondered what the Romantesians were up to, an earth-shattering explosion suddenly sounded from the positions of the Romanesian army outside the town of Westre.

Then the outside of the town was covered in a raging fire.

All those who remained looked at each other, but they did not dare to look at what was happening.

The night was spent in fear by the people of Westerray.

When the Venetian army, returning on the second day, finally approached the camp of the Roman Thesian army cautiously, they were surprised to find that the entire camp was already empty, except for a ruin that had been deliberately burned and destroyed.

When this unexpected surprise reached Westerre, the whole town boiled instantly, and even after suffering so much damage the night before, the Venetians were overjoyed that the Roman army had finally retreated.

Only, where did the Roman Thesians go?

When this question was raised, the Venetian officers were stunned.

At this time, in the western army of Rome, which had withdrawn overnight and was rapidly advancing towards the north, Ofleiu was holding his command staff tightly and whispering: "Gompati, don't let me down. ”

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