ALL NOVEL
Chapter 66: A Quick Assault on Venice
Based on Governor-General Giraud’s estimates, she should still have ample time to seek reinforcements.
Humans weren’t made of metal; even the fiercest army required rest. After destroying so many Venetian colonies, the Khitans ought to take some time off to organize the occupied territories.
And if the Khitans wanted to attack Venice by land, they would have to pass through many countries and cities, and those countries and cities might not be willing to grant them passage.
So, what Giraud was more concerned about was the Genoese colluding with the Khitan Caesar to ferry his cavalrymen to Italy.
When she learned that the Khitan Caesar had gone after the Ottomains after conquering Crete, her heart was put at ease.
It’ll take him at least half a year to clear away the remnant Ottomain powers in Anatolia. That should be more than enough time for me to go around finding reinforcement.
But shortly after she returned to Venice after convincing the Holy Romain Empire to support them, she heard a piece of horrifying news.
Shu Yichao had finished conquering Anatolia and was now moving up the Balkans, heading straight for Venice! He had already marched across the Holy Romain Empire and Transylvania before the two countries even had time to react!
“They aren’t bothering to request permission for their troops to pass?” Giraud was stupefied. “They are offending two powerful countries at once!!!”
This maneuver sounded utterly ridiculous to her.
“Aren’t they worried that those two countries might cut their path of retreat and annihilate their forces?”
Regardless of how smart Shu Yichao’s move was, she had no choice but to confront the truth that the Khitans were about to arrive at Venice.
“Gather our forces! Prepare to defend our city!” Giraud ordered with clenched jaws. “This is Venice, Khitan Caesar! It isn’t a place where your cavalrymen can wreak havoc. Come, if you desire death so much! Our people will resist you to the dying breath!”
Now that she had calmed down from the initial fright, Giraud started to see the silver lining of the situation.
No matter how she looked at it, the Khitan Caesar’s maneuver was brainless.
First and foremost, the Khitans might have a fearsome reputation, but their cavalrymen numbered in the thousands at most. It was still a terrifying force to deal with; a normal city wouldn’t have stood a chance against their high mobility, valiance, and tenacity.
However, they were up against Venice, the famous Water City.
Venice was a unique city where bridges and canals replaced streets and alleys, and boats replaced carriages. Cavalrymen charging through the city would just plunge headfirst into the water, and footsoldiers didn’t have room to put up any reliable formation.
In this city, seamen shone much more than land troops, and over their long years of living here, most Venetians had become adept at swimming and steering boats.
This was going to be a battle for Venice’s survival, so all civilians who were able to fight would be mobilized. Conscription was practiced in Venice, as their city only had 200,000 people. Sometimes, they had to mobilize all adults to battle to protect their dominant position in the sea.
And thanks to the massive wealth they had accrued, they were able to equip their soldiers with superior armor and metal crossbows.
These conditions made Venice a uniquely difficult city to deal with.
Even veteran troops would struggle to take down a normal city, but the Khitan Caesar was hoping to take down Water City Venice and its massive army with his thousand cavalrymen without any logistical support…
Did the Khitan Caesar’s head get kicked by an ass?
Other than turf superiority, Venice also had advantage in terms of allies too.
The Khitan Caesar and his troops had offended all the countries they had encountered in their military campaign. In particular, they had marched through the Holy Romain Empire, the dominant power in Europe, without requesting permission beforehand.
Surely the Holy Romain Empire would get even with them over that.
Not to mention, she had practically sold her country to the Holy Romain Empire for their support, so the latter wouldn’t sit still and watch as Venice was destroyed.
The moment the Khitan Caesar suffers the slightest setback, all forces will rally together to bring him down.
Governor-General Giraud excitedly paced around her study room.
And this season…
“A typhoon is coming.”
Even if you have a perfect battle record, Khitan Caesar, what can you do against the wrath of the Sea God? Adriana’s Bride of the Sea is blessed by the Sea God. You won’t be able to get the better of us that easily!
This is a battle we can win, and the odds are on our side!
If we defeat the Khitan Caesar, the Scourge of God, wouldn’t that make us the people who eradicated the Scourge? This glory will pave my way to greatness. By then, let’s see who dares to defy me in the Senate!
My words shall go unchallenged in Venice!
In exchange for the Holy Romain Empire’s support, she had promised that Venice would become a duchy under their rule. If she played her cards well, she could become the Doge of Venice in the future.
“Hu! Hu!” Governor-General Giraud took two deep breaths before she sat down to revise the situation to see if she had overlooked anything.
“It looks like the only ones I need to be worried about after the typhoon are Genoa and Milan, the two cities that have offered their support to the Khitans…”
Her guess was surprisingly on the mark.
…
“Great Caesar!”
“Esteemed conqueror!”
“The Eastern Priest King!”
The Genoese warmly welcomed the arrival of Shu Yichao’s troops. They had initially wailed in regret when they heard that the Khitan Caesar had turned his attention toward cleaning up the Ottomains.
Great Caesar, why are you not advancing northward? Our people have been looking forward to your arrival! You must be unaware how hateful the Venetians are!
Just pummeling them isn’t enough. We should dice them into pieces, make patties out of their minced meat, fry them in sizzling oil, and gobble them down whole!
While the Genoese were lamenting the wasted opportunity, the Khitan Caesar suddenly turned his attention back northward, and this time, he was determined to push his way through. Those who stood in his way were eliminated without mercy.
It was rumored that the Khitan Caesar even declared that ‘Venice must be vanquished!’.
Aiyo, Khitan Caesar, you can’t be more right! Your words resonate in our hearts!
Thus, Genoa resumed their preparations, raising money, gathering rations, and organizing their fleet. They were ready to support the Khitans in their bid to destroy Venice.
It was just that the Khitans traveled too fast; the Genoese couldn’t keep track of their location. But today, they finally managed to catch the Khitans!
“Caesar,” Sophia said, “the Genoese have prepared thirty transportation ships, along with money and rations, to transport us to Italy.”
She secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
Thank the Lord. Shu Yichao’s maneuvers are reckless, but it’s a good thing that Venice has its fair share of enemies. If we take the Genoese's boat to Italy and coordinate our troops together with Milan and Genoa, we should be able to resolve our logistics issues.
Yet…
“There are ships?” Shu Yichao’s eyes lit up. “That’s wonderful! We can attack Venice straight!”
“…Ah?” Sophia was flabbergasted.
She just felt resigned at this point. Each time she thought that he couldn’t get any madder, he always found a way to prove her wrong.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” Shu Yichao asked with a smile.
“…” Sophia’s face reddened before turning away, not daring to face him.
【H-H-H-H-H-HOST?!】
System 12345 felt as if it was struck by lightning.
It was busy studying what was on the screen when a ravishing face suddenly popped out, causing it to nearly short circuit.
【W-woah, s-so pretty!】
It was mesmerized by the person on the screen.
【Hold on, let me take a look. My host, where are you right now?】
【Ah, it’s Venice. Are you traveling around right now? That is a good place to travel to.】
System 12345 was slightly dazed as it said those words.
【Give me a moment, hostie. I’ll find a tourist map for you… These are the few spots that you absolutely have to visit when touring Venice!】