"Good! So good! This is simply too good!" Augustus tore open the secret letter, and as soon as he read the beginning, he couldn't help but clap his hands and exclaim.
With the great war imminent, Augustus was too excited to sleep, but Karl, Duke, and Giovanni needed to rest and couldn't be kept awake. So, he found Dracula, who was idle anyway, to help him simulate the battle, studying from deep into the night until dawn.
Just now, Augustus received a secret letter from Stirile. The letter immediately cut to the chase, reporting the splendid achievements of the Assassins under Stirile: at the cost of only three casualties, all seventeen Venetian delegations sent to various countries for aid were annihilated, with over four hundred people perishing without a single survivor.
Such a casualty count was already equivalent to a small-scale battle, and what's more, the delegations and their guards, who were capable of representing Venice, no matter how much they were there to make up the numbers, their influence was incomparable to ordinary soldiers; some of them were even figures close to the center of power.
It could be said that before the two sides even officially clashed on the battlefield, Venice had already suffered heavy losses. More importantly, Venice, completely unaware of this, would never receive the aid it hoped for.
Normally, even if two countries went to war, there were rarely such blatant massacres of the opposing nobility. Even if Stirile and his Assassins didn't reveal their identities, anyone with a brain would know it must have been the Papal States that did it.
But this time, it was a war of annihilation. If they won, everything would be fine; if they lost, they would be finished either way. So, Augustus didn't care about such scruples and had given Stirile a kill-on-sight order from the very beginning, all to maximize their chances of victory.
"Your Holiness, is there some good news?" Seeing the Pope happy, Dracula also chuckled and said, "Let me guess, I bet Stirile succeeded."
"Smart! You guessed it right away. All the delegations Venice sent out are gone, the Venetians won't have any reinforcements!" Augustus replied, his eyes, however, completely unable to leave the secret letter.
Looking further down, Augustus discovered that Stirile had an unexpected gain: among the countries Venice sent to for aid, there were not only Venice's traditional allies and friends but also the Ottoman Empire.
Even more gratifying was that Stirile personally led the team to intercept the letters from the delegation heading to the Ottoman. Although slightly damaged, they were fully legible. Now, Venice's collusion with the Ottoman Empire could be said to be conclusively proven.
The secret letter was extremely simple and clear. Augustus quickly finished reading it and was very happy, but he still had some doubts in his heart. He looked up, meeting Dracula's questioning gaze.
"What are you sitting idly for? You come and take a look too." Saying this, Augustus handed the letter to Dracula.
Seeing the Pope's trust, Dracula didn't decline. He took the letter and meticulously browsed through it.
As Dracula read, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "I didn't realize Stirile was so capable! This is a great achievement!"
Augustus heard the unspoken meaning in Dracula's words and echoed, "Indeed, after the war is over, he must be handsomely rewarded. It's just that with his current identity, it's impossible to publicly honor him, which truly does him an injustice. Now his team is also growing, so we'll see if we can find a better public cover for them later."
Dracula pretended to be engrossed in reading the secret letter and did not respond. Such personnel arrangements were neither convenient for him to interject nor did he really know how to interject.
Looking further down, Dracula also showed an incredulous expression: "Venice, why would they think of seeking aid from the Ottoman Empire? Even if they were desperate, Venice wouldn't do something meaningless.
Could it be that they really have secret ties with the Ottoman Empire?"
Augustus nodded thoughtfully: "This is also what I can't understand. Even if the Venetians and the Ottoman Empire had long-standing ties, their relationship wouldn't be that close, would it? The Ottoman Empire is currently deeply mired in the Ottoman–Habsburg wars and the Ottoman–Polish wars and can barely take care of itself. How could it spare a hand to save Venice?"
Dracula pondered for a long time before slowly speaking: "It's hard to say. Our current coalition is assembled to resist the Ottoman and aid Austria, which is known to everyone. Even if we turn our guns to attack Venice first, it doesn't mean we won't attack the Ottoman later.
We are loudly proclaiming resistance against the Ottoman and aiding Austria to gather reinforcements. It's impossible, both emotionally and logically, for us to withdraw our troops after dealing with Venice. Even if it's just for show, we still have to fight the Ottoman Empire.
There must be sensible people within the Ottoman Empire. If the Venetian envoys are also eloquent, making the Ottoman Empire think that war is inevitable sooner or later and that they are in a 'lips and teeth' relationship (mutually dependent), the Ottoman Empire might temporarily set aside its current enemies, send out its navy to aid Venice, and it's quite possible.
After all, if the Ottoman Empire doesn't have a navy, Austria can't do anything to him. But if the Ottoman Empire's navy arrives in Venice before the fighting starts, we truly will have no way to deal with Venice and will only be able to hard-press Venice's fortresses and strongholds by land, heading north."
After listening to Dracula's analysis, Augustus's mind immediately cleared up, but he remained confident: "So that's it. However, even if the Ottoman Empire agrees to send reinforcements, they won't be able to arrive before we engage Venice, no matter how fast they are. As long as we take Venice before the Ottoman Empire's reinforcements arrive, the Ottoman Empire will have no recourse."
"That's true, but Venice surely expects to hold out until reinforcements arrive. If they can't even hold out for a morning, then there's no saving them. Do you remember when you first proposed the strategic concept? We were all greatly surprised, and our secrecy work was excellent; even a few ministers didn't know, so it's understandable that the Venetians wouldn't have thought of it."
Hearing Dracula's words, Augustus's thoughts opened up: "If they couldn't have thought of it, Venice would never have imagined that all the delegations they sent out would be intercepted halfway. According to their plan, the delegations would certainly reach Istanbul smoothly.
If the Ottoman Empire extended a helping hand, Venice would completely gain the upper hand in terms of power comparison; if the Ottoman Empire stood by and did nothing, it would indirectly prove that Venice and the Ottoman had no secret alliance. But now that the delegations have been intercepted, the Venetians have neither secured reinforcements nor escaped the charge of colluding with the Ottoman Empire."
"Your Holiness is wise!"
"Stirile said he intercepted letters from the Venetian delegation. Once the letters arrive, we'll see what Venice wrote in them; perhaps there will be some new discoveries."
Augustus paused, then waved his hand, pushing open the tent flap: "Let's not think about these things. The delegations have already been annihilated. The intercepted letters, if utilized well, will be icing on the cake; if not, they won't do much harm. The key is still to win this battle.
It's already dawn. The soldiers will be departing soon. Come, let's go see them off and boost their morale."