After bidding farewell to the Pope, Karl first led his entire army to Urbino, where he used the surrendered troops to annihilate the rebel forces that were stubbornly resisting. Then, he personally led his army to individually execute the Papal States nobles who had colluded in the rebellion. At the same time, he dispatched troops to various districts to search for scattered remnants of the rebel army, and, incidentally, widely publicized the glorious deeds of the Pope personally quelling the rebellion.
Duke advanced triumphantly, effortlessly capturing all of Venice's land west of Treviso. In Treviso, Duke encountered organized and large-scale resistance because most of the nobles who had fled Venice but had not yet left the country were gathered there, possessing private armies, provisions, and strong fortresses to defend themselves.
The Field Army's main force suffered hundreds of casualties, and the four thousand Venetian surrendered soldiers taken in outside Ferrara lost nearly half, yet they still failed to take the city. If not for the overwhelming military presence, such a casualty rate among the surrendered soldiers would have long caused a mutiny. Even so, the surrendered soldiers continued to flee in small groups.
Duke didn't care about using surrendered soldiers to attack the city, but if all the surrendered soldiers died in Treviso, no one would dare to surrender to him in future battles.
Duke was also puzzled as to why the Venetian nobles in Treviso had such strong resistance. Logically, Venice had already been utterly defeated, and holding out had no meaning. He had also clearly promised that as long as they opened the city and surrendered, those who wanted to leave would not be stopped, and those who wanted to stay would not be held accountable later. However, the only response he received was gunfire.
In truth, this was thanks to Wyatt. Dozens of Venetian noble families were wiped out overnight. Regardless of the reason, such a massacre was overly cruel and clearly demonstrated the Papal States' attitude towards these local powers.
More importantly, the network of local Venetian nobles was inextricably linked; few were not related in some way. Among the many nobles who were wiped out, there were quite a few relatives and friends of these nobles in Treviso.
The result was that a large portion of them became staunch resistors, while those unwilling to resist or wishing to preserve their strength had already fled.
Just as Duke was hesitating whether to launch an all-out assault on the city at all costs, Giovanni's navy happened to return with troops. Upon learning that Duke had already reached Treviso, he immediately conscripted several thousand men locally in Venice to supplement manpower, and set out with all warships and over ten thousand people, including surrendered soldiers and slaves, and all warships, to rendezvous with Duke in Treviso.
Duke and Giovanni briefly exchanged information, agreed on a plan, and immediately implemented it. Duke ordered all his troops to board the ships in full view of the Treviso defenders.
After the fleet sailed out of Treviso's sight, the warships carrying Duke's troops and the surrendered soldiers and slaves quickly sailed west to drop them off in the distance, then returned to the main fleet blockading Treviso.
Hundreds of Papal States warships sailed into the Piave River and lined up, raining down cannonballs that created numerous craters and cracks on the city walls, and ignited raging fires within the city. The defenders on the city walls suffered heavy losses, and several supply depots within the city were also set ablaze, causing immediate chaos inside the city.
With such a massive display, the Treviso defenders were convinced that the Papal States had focused their main attack here and were about to launch a general assault. Thus, they moved most of their manpower to the southeast city wall to fill gaps, repair walls, and put out fires.
Just then, Duke, reinforced by the surrendered soldiers and slaves left by Giovanni, launched a surprise attack from the northwest towards the city wall, committing all his forces to the battle at once.
The Treviso defenders, who had expected Duke to attack from the sea, were suddenly faced with his appearance from the northwest and frantically tried to recall the defenders they had just deployed to the southeast city wall.
But it was too late. This time, Duke's offensive was far more ferocious than before. He had received troop reinforcements, committed his entire army, and the northwest direction already had less than half the defenders, making its defense much weaker than before.
Duke's army successfully scaled the city walls, opened the city gates, and tens of thousands of troops poured into the city. All Venetians carrying weapons were slaughtered. Some Venetian nobles leading resistance at this point wished to surrender, but there was no longer any opportunity to do so, and without exception, they were forced to valiantly die in this siege.
After a brief rest, Duke and Giovanni once again divided their forces. Duke took the land route to attack Friuli, Venice's last city connected by land, while Giovanni attacked Istria from the sea, which was separated by Austrian territory.
The tide had turned, and the disparity in forces was immense. The Venetian defenders on both sides surrendered to the Papal States without any resistance.
At this point, of the entire Venice Republic, only Corfu and Crete, located far in the Greek region, had not fallen into the hands of the Papal States. Both of these locations are extremely far from the Papal States' mainland and very close to the Ottoman Empire, making encounters with the Ottoman Empire's navy likely. Whether to proceed with an attack still required consulting the Pope.
Busy with the aftermath of the Lorenzo rebellion, the successive good news made Augustus happy every day, as if he had been injected with a stimulant. When he saw Claudio's strategy of feigning rebellion to lure the enemy deep and annihilate them in one fell swoop, he praised it endlessly, already having better plans for Claudio in mind.
When the last good news from Venice arrived, Augustus suddenly became indecisive: continuing the offensive would add considerable risk, potentially complicating an already settled situation; but if Corfu and Crete were allowed to continue flying the Golden Lion flag, Venice would not be truly extinguished, and the legitimacy of the Papal States' newly acquired territories would be greatly diminished. Thus, a meeting was called in the Papal Palace.
It was rare for the Pope not to have made up his mind beforehand, and during the meeting, opinions varied widely. Some advocated striking while the iron was hot, others suggested negotiating with the two islands for their independence, and some even proposed giving these two islands to Spain, letting them take them themselves, at others' expense.
Halfway through the meeting, a bombshell announcement arrived, halting all discussions.
After the defeat in the Venetian naval battle, Pisani and Lavallette led the remnants to Crete. Pisani already had deep roots on Crete, with his family's power concentrated there.
Just yesterday, Pisani, citing poor performance in battle, murdered Lavallette and his confidants who had fled there with him, taking control of all warships and troops brought from Venice. He then used a pretext to thoroughly purge the local nobility, replacing them with his own family members and subordinates, thus gaining complete control of Crete.
Subsequently, Pisani declared himself Duke of Gandia, announced his secession from the Venice Republic, used his navy to control Corfu, and then surrendered to the Ottoman Empire.
The entire process was smooth, ruthless, and seasoned. It made Augustus wonder if this was still the same decrepit, one-eyed old man he had seen in Ferrara.
"I've fought the Ottoman Empire for most of my life, and I never thought in my old age I'd become a dog of the Ottoman Empire! I should have personally cut off his dog's head in Ferrara!" Dracula, uncharacteristically, cursed with anger.
In the eyes of a devout believer like Dracula, Pisani's actions were a great blasphemy against the Catholic faith and deserved damnation.
However, Augustus, as Pope, was not angry; instead, he was somewhat pleased. Seceding from Venice objectively caused the demise of the Venice Republic, saving him a lot of trouble, and could be considered Pisani's compromise with the Papal States. Surrendering to the Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, meant finding a powerful protector, making it indeed difficult for him to act rashly against him.
Not only that, Pisani's actions further solidified the Venice Republic's collusion with the Ottoman Empire, setting up an excellent target for all Catholic countries. The Papal States was already going to assist Austria in resisting the Ottoman Empire, so the diplomatic resistance to annexing Venice would naturally be much smaller.
"So be it," Augustus said, suppressing his smile, with a somewhat helpless tone. "We still need time to digest Venice's naval power; a hasty attack may not be beneficial. In any case, we are also about to join the struggle against the Ottoman Empire, so let's use this time to let the troops rest well. When the war with the Ottoman Empire begins, we can settle both old and new scores!"
"Issue an order to send administrative personnel and police to the newly occupied cities for takeover; send more than usual. After the handover is complete, the frontline troops can return, including Karl's National Defense Force. Faol, please finalize the personnel selection as soon as possible."
"It's already prepared, here's the list, Your Holiness," Faol said, handing over a list that had indeed been ready for some time.
In fact, Faol had prepared the list even before the war began, but he had continuously revised it afterward. Especially after the Lorenzo rebellion, nearly a third of the names on the previous list had been changed.
Augustus was slightly stunned, then broke into a wide smile: "Good, very good! You are always so thorough in your work, which puts my mind at ease!"