Annihilation.

As he watched the friendly cavalry being mercilessly exterminated from atop the ramparts, Marquis Bologna bit his lips.

“Will not even one man manage to return?”

‘We’ve lost a precious unit of horsemen because of one idiot acting out of line.’

With a grim face, the Marquis called on a messenger.

“Messenger!”

“Yes, Marquis! Did you call for me?”

“Behead the ones who opened the fort’s doors without my consent, and hoist their heads high on a pole for all to see!”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“And inform all the men once more – leaving this stronghold is absolutely forbidden until I give the word! If a man infringes this rule, his House shall be responsible even if he is killed in battle.”

“Yes, I shall deliver your words at once.”

The messenger broke into a sweat as he acceded to Marquis Bologna’s spine-chilling orders.

With that, Bologna clenched his teeth as he gazed beyond the fort’s walls, muttering under his breath.

“Four more days. Just four more days and I will pay this back a hundred-fold.”

***

“It is as if we are facing a turtle.”

For four days, Lieutenant-General Bison attacked the enemy without rest.

They did not only attack Fort Merano, but also went back and forth to Fort Bolzano and ceaselessly harassed both. A rain of arrows came showering down on the enemy’s positions regardless of whether it was day or night. As the walls of the strongholds were constructed...