บท 97: As fast as the waves
On a ship, a man sat with a worried expression on his face. He was looking up at the sky, wishing the ship could travel quicker than it was. Anxiety and impatience may have been the man's main sensations while he waited and hoped for the ship to move faster, indicating that he had something he wanted or needed to go to as quickly as possible, or that he was under time pressure to finish a task.
The man was recalling how, five days before, a peasant insurrection erupted in Messina. The insurrection had been put down, and the city had been obliged to pay a large quantity of money as compensation in exchange for not forfeiting their lives (the frenchs did this during the Italian wars of the 15th century)
The man vividly remembered the citizens' screams, yells, and the hammering on the door. Many city residents were slain in the conflict, with any remaining residents opting to lay down their weapons and surrender in order to avert additional bloodshed. The destruction of the city undoubtedly created a perplexing scenario because it was unclear who had participated in the insurrection. As there were no clear indicators of who had broken off and who had not, when they fled, they destroyed any evidence of their participation, allowing the French garrison to exploit the situation and demand further payment from the city since they could not point out who had participated in the rebellion.
Obviously, a messenger was dispatched to the new capital of the reign, Naples; however, that messenger was not the man we are narrating about.
If the fact that there was a mutiny in a city that could have exploded out of control and was luckily put down wasn't bad enough, even worse news was about to be delivered to Naple It was evident that the insurrection in Messina was not an isolated incident, as similar incidents had occurred in several other cities across Sicily. Only the highly garrisoned cities of Messina and Palermo remained outside of the rebels' hands, thanks to the strong and loyal presence of French troopsthere . The fact that the insurgency has expanded throughout the island indicates that the situation is with much more serious and out of control than had previously been thought and that additional actions might need to be taken to quell the unrest.
The courier sighed a sigh of relief when he sighted the outskirts of Naples after hours of sailing. He was relieved to be almost at the conclusion of his duty, having navigated his way through the violent seas and terrible weather, and held his breath every second as the ship reached the port and came to a stop.
After a lengthy voyage at sea, the messenger was delighted to be back on land and jumped from the ship onto the beach., feeling the sensation of solid ground beneath his feet again. After days of rocking back and forth on the seas, it felt wonderful to finally have stable footing once more. However, the messenger knew that this was no time for celebrating or jesting, and he quickly set off to deliver his message.
The envoy started running towards city hall, pausing just briefly to inform the guards that he was a messenger bearing an important message for the general. He was taken into the hall by the knights, who were ready to present him to the general after displaying the letter and being relieved of his weapon. As he hastened to deliver his message, the messenger's heart was pumping with excitement and nervousness.
As he got closer and closer to the central hall, he saw a man in his late twenties or early thirties ahead of him. The man was dressed magnificently, displaying his armor for all to see and carrying a medium-length sword on his hip, exuding an aura of might.
Count Bertrant of Baux was the man in question. Following King Charles' conquest of Sicily, he was enfeoffed the country of Avellino and the baronies of Calvi, Padula, Francoise, and Riardo, making him one of the strongest and greatest lords in the newly founded reign. Bertrant was a close friend of the king and was tasked with protecting the south from any incursions against his newly founded dominion, but things did not appear to be going well for him.
The general Bernard de Baux fixed his gaze on the messenger and spoke urgently. "What is it, messenger?" he inquired, not having time to engage in frivolous conversation. After bowing the messenger spoke in haste .
''The island of Sicily rebelled, your lordship. All over the island, people formed up mobs and conquered most of the island through arms; the garrison either surrendered or died trying to fight them off; only Palermo and Messina managed to resist them ''
He was nervous as he did understand that things were not going well for the French, but deep down he was sure that things would improve for after all they were frenchs , and they had defeated the sicilians once before.
General Bernard de Baux replied to the messenger, "Very well, I have received the news, you are dismissed " He then addressed the knights present and directed them to show the messenger to his room, where he might rest. The messenger, followed by the knights, was led from the hall to the guest room, where he would spend the night. After escorting the messenger to his quarters, the general invited his close knight, Godfrey, for a private discussion of the matter.
Bernarnt accompanied by his close knight Godfrey, who had a history of loyalty to his count master, left the room .
Godfrey stayed mute as he observed his liege pondering the news, unsure of what he could do to help
''So the island is in insurrection, with only Palermo and Messina still faithful to us. It goes without saying that I shall move my army there to quell the revolt '' Said the count as he expressed the obvious
''My lordship our fleet has been destroyed by the Genoese how will you arrive to the island ?'' asked the knight
After few seconds of thinking the count replied '' We'll have to go via the strait and use civilian ships.From there we will reach Messina , which will certainly open its doors for us . From there We'll make quick work of the rebel once we arrive, as they will be incapable of stopping my 8,000 soldiers. The rebels are primarily peasants who will be unable to provide our warriors with proper combat. Of course, they could just stay in their cities; however, when they realize that they won't have anything to eat the following year since their land will be stripped naked, we'll see what they do. If I am lucky, after I make short work of two or three towns, the rest of the island will surrender as they will not be able to amass much support from their boy king, who is dealing with his highness up north. (look at comments)
''I believe that your plan is a well thought one , your lordship; the peasants will have no choice but to surrender, or else the next season they will have nothing to eat apart from grass and sand. Do I send a messenger to the other army present in the region?'' Godfrey stated before asking his lord for instruction,
''Of course, do that; we will need the whole army to face them '' .
In order to relieve the region from the logistical burden of sustaining 8,000 men, the army was divided by king Charles into four armies of 2,000, which were divided in the north of the kingdom, so that the burden of feeding 8,000 soldiers would be shared between the four regions, making it more reasonable.
''I obey your lordship ''the knight stated before bowing and leaving the room in order to do what he was tasked with. He did not find any mistake in his lord's thinking and believed that the plan he extended to him was a good one as from what they knew they were to simply be fighting some peasants.
And they're thinking was not wrong, for they assumed that since the elitè army of Conrad was in the north,which it was, in this rebellion only peasants were participating, and in some way they were right, however, they were to soon discover that this rebellion was not led by a sheep but by a wolf.
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