Chapter 478 Landing on Sardinia

June was quite calm in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Because of the war, there was less trade here. As a result, Sardinia's foreign trade also decreased.

Sardinia produces wine, cheese, honey, sardines and grain, and needs a lot of exchange to obtain other daily necessities. The main trading countries are Genoa, France and Aragon. But soon he will welcome new trading partners.

Stanitsa set out from Rome with most of the troops, boarded the temporarily recruited ships and the fleet of Naples, and set off for Sardinia. Along the way, he was reviewing the geographical situation of Sardinia.

Sardinia is high in the north and low in the south. The plains in the south are the main population gathering area. Cagliari is the main city on the island, and Aragon's defense force is basically here. Olbia in the north is their target.

Olbia is the main port in northern Sardinia, and its defense is sparse, because Aragon believes that the other party's main target is either Corsica or Cagliari, and the defense against the north is relaxed. This also gave Stanitsa an opportunity.

"Sir, Olbia is ahead."

The adjutant's words pulled him out of his imagination. He was about to start fighting. He hoped that everything would go well.

Today, Olbia was as peaceful as ever for the local residents. The sea breeze, fishing, market, and prayer were all so peaceful. Hearing that the Roman city in the east was occupied by heretics, they prayed to the church every day, hoping that God would punish them.

"Look, there's a ship!"

The children playing on the beach were the first to see a ship appear on the distant horizon. The fishermen were also happy. At this moment, they thought the other party was a trading ship, thinking of taking some things from home to exchange for something else, so that they didn't have to go to the town hundreds of kilometers away to exchange.

Not long after, the second ship appeared in front of them, followed by the third and fourth ships. At this time, the fishermen felt something was wrong. They were not a place with abundant products. Why were there so many ships?

One of them who came back from studying outside saw the double-headed eagle on the ship and knew that a disaster was coming. He quickly asked someone to ring the bell in the center of the town to warn that the enemy was coming.

The arrival of the Roman army caused the residents to flee. Originally, the locals were devout Catholics. Under the propaganda of the priests, Rome was said to be the same as Satan. So when they learned that the Roman army was coming, they ran away. As for the local defense force, there was no defense at all. With these people, they might have sent military merits to the other side.

The ship docked at the shore, and the soldiers landed with cannons and various weapons. Stanisha was also shocked that they came up without resistance. It was okay to resist symbolically. What was this?

Those soldiers also complained, why was there no one, and they wanted to earn military merits. So they had to plunder this town.

In this era, don't mention the three major disciplines and eight points of attention. You have to let the soldiers see the benefits. Allowing soldiers to plunder is one of them. However, the Roman army has a special accounting officer. Each person needs to hand over about one-third of the looted property to the empire, which can also make up for some military expenditures.

But obviously they came to the wrong place. Olbia is a poor place. The 3,000 troops brought in only a little food, cheese, salted fish and a small amount of wine after scraping for a long time, but it is better than nothing. These things are used as military rations.

"My lord, there might be someone here."

Stanisa saw the church and monastery in the center, "Come, let me see if you are slacking off."

The crowd cheered and pushed the cannon over directly. They skillfully loaded, ignited, and fired. With just one shot, the door of the church was blown open. The soldiers rushed in, and there were priests and some civilians hiding inside.

"Brothers, charge!!!"

The Roman soldiers filed in, and it was useless for these priests to throw all kinds of things forward. Soon a carnival for Roman soldiers began. They looted everything in the church, even the silver-plated candlesticks, and those priests and civilians were tied up as coolies. Not long after, the monastery was broken and looted there.

After taking Olbia without blood, Stanisha marched non-stop to the surrounding villages. The local village chief was very sensible and surrendered directly. He took out his own food. Seeing that the other party was so obedient, Stanisha did not make it too difficult. He hurried to the small town of Posada in the south and sent someone back to Rome to tell his father that he had successfully landed.

The news of the Roman army landing had spread far away, but Cagliari in the south was still peaceful because the horse racing festival was being held there. In addition, the two places were too far apart, so it took a while for the news to reach here. However, in the north and the mountains in the east, the news of the arrival of the Roman army was like a gust of wind. Villages and towns either decided to surrender or flee with their families. No one was willing to resist.

However, the news of the Roman army's dispatch could not be hidden from the eyes of Genoese merchants, because there had never been a trading fleet that could exceed fifty ships, and there were warships from Naples among them. This must be a Roman army.

The news spread faster and faster. Genoa knew it, and soon Milan would know it, followed by other countries. There was no hope to keep it secret. This time the troops were mainly to catch Castile and Aragon off guard. As long as Sardinia was taken, Barcelona would be right in front of them.

The remaining troops in Rome also started to move. The troops that had already arrived in Dalmatia moved towards Pisa via the Via Emilia. The remaining conscripted troops also moved after training, with their destinations being Ruthenia, Dalmatia and Syria.

At this time, representatives of various countries were still meeting in Munich to celebrate the future, but the border areas were afraid. The other side was preparing to silence them. The number of troops had never been so large. Especially those small countries in northern Italy, they all wanted to run away. But people can leave, but places cannot. Except for citizens with assets, poor people without money can only stay here.

Although Florence and Milan did not participate in the representative meeting, their families colluded and sent secret letters back and forth in northern Italy. Even the former mortal enemy families could unite to fight the enemy when they saw Rome coming, which shows the role of Rome in promoting unity in Italy.

Although the financial resources of several Italian families are not as good as before, their local influence is still there, and the local people also support them to expel Rome. The Obici family reached an agreement with Giovanni Medici to exchange half of the banking business for his support for the great cause of expelling Rome. The letters from other countries were also written in this way. As long as Rome could be expelled, the remaining heritage would belong to these families, and Italy would be able to return to that beautiful era.