Chapter 287 The Peace Messenger of Genoa
George was immediately frightened because the person who was dragged out smelled a filthy smell. The mercenary leader was so frightened that he peed. This...
The clerk next to him was also shocked by Peter's words, I am hell, how terrible must it be to say such a thing. It seems that Central Europe will be in trouble again.
After dragging him away, Peter sat down, gasping for air. At this time, his heart was still pounding, but fortunately the other party was frightened.
This attack was actually a gamble. Although he could defeat the opponent on the battlefield, in order to win, he did not say not to use sneak attacks.
This time 15,000 people were wiped out, 10,000 casualties, 4,000 captured, and 1,000 missing. Rome lost 1,200 people. In addition, the weapons and food in the camp were owned by Rome and could be used for a period of time.
In addition to this, Peter also received another good news: Trieste surrendered.
It turned out that last night's battle also attracted the mayor of Trieste. He and the defenders watched the fire on the city wall all night. After asking for news in the morning and learning that Rome had won, they sent people to Peter's place. It means surrender. He who knows the current affairs is a hero.
"This is a smart one." Peter would not make it difficult for them to convert. As long as they converted to the Orthodox Church, plundering or anything like that would not happen.
The Roman army took over the city, and Peter strictly controlled the behavior of the soldiers. Although it still disturbed the people, it was acceptable. The local Catholic church was confiscated and converted into an Orthodox church. The priest was busy being baptized these days and had no time to do anything else.
Other armies are coming here one after another, and so are the artillery units. In this case, take Koper.
At the same time, the mayor of Trieste, in order to please His Highness, handed over the plan issued by the Doge of Venice to Peter. This bold plan to attack Constantinople fell into Peter's hands.
"Are all the people in Venice stupid, or is there another insider in Constantinople?"
Peter couldn't help but laugh when he looked at this plan. Such a plan was either forced into a hurry or had an insider. It is better to report to the emperor quickly.
The small city of Koper also surrendered a few days later. Although Venice was good to them, it was still important to save their lives.
News of the annihilation of the allied forces soon spread to the city of Venice, which was more than a hundred kilometers away from the battlefield. Members of the Parliament fainted when they heard the news, and the Governor almost drove away. These armies were formed with the help of their alliance, and they were just gone. The reputation of Italian mercenaries was swept into the trash by Rome.
The only thing that comforted them was that there were still 10,000 people who were spared from being killed because they went south to deal with Naples. The current alliance is still capable of fighting.
However, due to the losses of Trieste and Koper, Venice, as the leader of the alliance, ordered the army to return to defend Venice. This made Boniface IX furious. He sent people to the city of Venice to accuse Venice of changing laws at will regardless of the safety of the Pope. He also said that he would excommunicate the Governor of Venice.
Although the alliance has expanded, there have been more and more internal fights. Florence and Bologna demanded peace talks between Venice and Rome, and even threatened to withdraw from the alliance; Milan and the Papal States were more firm. Austria had been beaten and did not dare to send any more troops. Bavaria and the Palatinate still needed time, but they did not rule out hypocrisy. The possibility of returning home with just one move.
Therefore, you have to rely on yourself for everything.
----Dividing line----
The Alliance military's morale is unstable, and some countries can no longer support it. Francesco, the envoy of the Republic of Genoa, has arrived in Constantinople to prepare for private peace talks.
During this period, Genoa was on the verge of national subjugation. Financial bankruptcy, naval failure, and a sharp decline in trade were all forcing Genoa to make peace with Rome. In addition, France, the suzerain country, also feels unreliable. How about trying to join Rome?
"Servant of Genoa, you have met the supreme Roman Emperor. Your fame makes the whole world tremble."
Francesco's extremely flattering words were very helpful to Mircea. After all, Genoa was quite willing to die at first. It seemed that they had to cut off their lifeline to be honest.
"Rome welcomes the arrival of Genoa. As we all know, the two countries are currently at war. I hope your arrival will bring news of peace."
"Yes, Your Majesty, Genoa offers you peace and blessings. Genoa has already thought about it. Galata is the land of the empire. It is reasonable and legal for you to take it back. Our country's rejection of your country's good intentions at the beginning was unscrupulous. In some cases with ulterior motives With the push of people, our country was forced to declare war on your country. But this was not our country’s original intention, it was some government personnel of our country bought by Venice who joined in.”
Francesco directly poured dirty water on Venice and took all the responsibility from Genoa. Mircea was also shocked by Genoa's sophistry. Are these commercial city-states quite shameless?
Mircea would not let them go easily. How could it be possible to exit intact? He said directly: "In this case, do you want to coexist friendly with the empire?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, our country is willing to return all the territory in the Aegean Sea to the Empire. The merchants of the Republic are also willing to give up those preferential policies and completely obey the laws of the Empire. They will also provide 400,000 florins as compensation."
It's a waste of money. Genoa is back to before liberation. All the trading stations were abandoned, which meant that all their efforts over hundreds of years were in vain.
"If this is your sincerity, then you can go back. Go back and tell the governor that the imperial army will crush Genoa until it is like Carthage."
Francesco was frightened. This was different from what was in the script. Shouldn't it be that the emperor happily accepted the conditions and signed a peace treaty? What's up? This is it.
"Your Majesty, the Republic is willing to increase the amount to 600,000 florins. All we want is an armistice between the two countries."
"I told you to go back and tell the governor that I am going to crush Genoa."
"Your Majesty, Genoa is willing to increase the number to 1 million, and is willing to respect the imperial order."
Francesco said what he thought was the bottom line, and now Mircea would agree. The result seems to be counterproductive.
Mircea was angry, and he issued an order to the envoy below: "It seems that you don't know what I mean, drive him away, go back and tell that governor of yours, the empire will destroy Genoa like Carthage." , let them escape as soon as possible."
Francesco was "invited" out by the guards, but he still refused to give up and told Mircea a big news as he was dragged away.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I know a very important piece of information about Venice."
Mircea was unmoved.
"Venice is preparing ships to attack Constantinople."
This sentence made Mircea stop walking, and Francesco, seeing hope, told everything he knew.
"I didn't know about this originally, but a friend of mine in Venice works in the local council. He got an order to recruit merchant ships and sailors from all over the country a few days ago, and then got a resolution to attack Constantinople from a parliamentarian. . They are trying to imitate what happened 200 years ago."
Francesco almost shouted. Originally, if he had signed a peace treaty directly, he planned to give the emperor a hint, but who would have thought that Mircea would not follow the routine and could only say this as the last magic weapon. He was just gambling. , bet Mircea believed the news. It seemed like he was going to succeed.