Success On All Fronts
The end of May brought joyous news as Sardinia fell to Neapolitan occupation. This freed up a much needed army that could be sent north. The archangel Michael eagerly left for the province, glad to see Sardinia added to Naples.
In the province of Mantua, an engineer of some repute shared ideas of how to better improve the fortifications in the province. Renato was more than glad to fully endorse the man in his efforts, granting him a small dividend and workforce to work on the fort in Mantua. The province would be that much more difficult to take away from Naples now.
Scouts up north reported diseased peasants rising up in Waldstatte and attacking the Swiss siege army. Unprepared for such an assault, the Swiss were forced to flee to Zurich. Any setback for Naples’ neighbours was a good one.
The army from Sardinia made it back to the mainland without incident. Apparently the Aragonese were more concerned with trapping the Neapolitan navy in port than stopping the army from moving freely across the water. When a tiny army was spotted in Treviso, the freed-up army was sent north to engage. The Venetians must not have been expecting an attack, since the army was dealt with easily enough, despite a much larger force stationed in Venice. The Austrians were also in Lienz, trying to retake the province, but they were not large enough to be a threat. Not wanting to provoke the Venetians, the army was ordered over into Sudtirol.
Liguria fell in the end of August, another bonus for the war effort. That army was sent over to Nice to continue harassing the Savoyards. A few days later, Malta fell as well. That army was sent over to Palermo to finish taking Sicily from Aragon. Realizing that Sicily would soon be in Naples’ hands, Renato knew that he’d have to build up the navy to ensure he could protect Naples’ Mediterranean islands. He made it his mission to do so. To fund this effort, Renato instituted a new war tax meant to last for two years. It was expected to bring in nearly three whole ducats more a month.
Naples’ endless victories did not end there. Lombardia fell in September, a crippling blow to the Milanese cause. Now they were reduced to a tiny province in the Alps riddled with rebels. With the army in Lombardia freed up, General Carlo Gori marched over into Piedmont to dispatch the small Savoyard force there. Such an attack was accomplished with ease, with only a few dozen horses injured in the attack.
Over in Venice, the Venetians were attempting to expel Austria from Lienz. The initial attack had not gone as planned as Austrian reinforcements showed up. Venice was crushed and their army forced to flee back to their capital.
Wanting to take full advantage of Venice’s weakness, General Gori marched across Naples to besiege Treviso. Attacking the province would trap Venice’s army in Venice. With armies nearby in Sudtiral and Graubünden, Gori knew he had possible reinforcements for if the enemy engaged him. The Austrian army in Lienz worried him a bit, but he’d wait to see what happened with them.
With the implementation of the war tax, funds were starting to fill up the treasury. Renato decided to use all those ducats to pay off one of Naples’ two loans. He did not want his nation in debt as he waged war against so many nations.
