The return of the fallen king

Chapter 69: After the battle

Conradin was walking to its tent after the battle by passing through the camp, which was deserted because all of the soldiers had been taking whatever they could from the battlefield and had been scavenging the corpses of the fallen Milanese forces. Nothing felt better for a soldier after a hard-fought victory than to pillage and take all the money they could find . The looting had ceased, and the fight had concluded with a brilliant win for the Ghibellines and a horrifying defeat for the Milanese, who had not only lost the battle but also suffered a humiliating and devastating loss. They deserved to savor the spoils of their rightful victory; after all, they had put their lives in danger for Conradin and for his cause, and for that they were rewarded handsomely.

Along with taking control of the enemy's weapons, the soldiers also took control of the carts being pushed along the army's path. The carts, on the other hand, were not abandoned to the mercy of the soldiers but were instead seized by the generals. They discovered grain, bread, some dried meat, wine, and, to the surprise of the generals, gold, which was most likely handed to the troops to buy sustenance during the expedition or to have as a tribute to Charles. The letter seized from the dead body of the enemy general, however, piqued Conradin's curiosity.

'I wonder what it is about, Conradin wondered before opening the letters and reading it

*Dear King Charles

May God bless you, your family, and your holy cause.

I wish that this letter finds you in good health; alongside it, you should also have received 4,000 troops to be used as you like, along with a gift in gold given by our respected republic as a token of friendship.

I hope that these troops will be well used for the complete annihilation of the devil's spawn's armies and his heretical allies. I was hoping to be present alongside you in your holy campaign, but unfortunately, matters at home prevented me from joining you in this crusade.

I want to inform you also that we have received news of the formation of a new league called the Lombard League, whose objective is to preserve the interests of the other communes and their freedom from any External threats. We were to hope that you could join us so as to further cement our alliances between Your noble majesty and the pious communes of Italy.

Finally, I was to write my utmost hope that alongside these gifts of mine, you would accept more funds to be given to your cause; unfortunately, to do so, I would need to put my republic in debt. Nonetheless,if you were to reward us for our piety with the land of either the heretical communes of Verona or Pavia, we would most certainly do everything to bring more gold to your coffers.

Signed Mastino della Scala*

This was the second-best news that Conradin received this day, and his internal glee led him to smile as wide as he could, prompting Galvano to wonder about the information held in the letter. Seeing the confused faces of his loyal retainer, Conradin put the letter in Galvano's hands and waited for him to read it. After a few minutes, the same happy smile was also shared by Galvano.

''This is good news, your majesty''. Galvano said to Conradin while giving him back the letter:

''Indeed it is Galvano, and with this, we have proof that the coalition of Charles will be as much divided as it could be. Apparently, Charles rise to power in Florence was met with diffidence by the other communes, prompting them to form an alliance against 'external threats', of which probably Charles is considered to be part of .''

Conradin knew that this would allow him to make use of this division by planting even more seeds of discord in the multicultural army. After all, as a good and nearly bald ancient general said, 'Divide et Impera' which translates to 'Divide and Conquer' , tells us that it is much easier to subdue a foe if he has internal discords, which would limit the effectiveness of his army and power.

After this shared smile between them, Conradin turned around and ordered his servants to inform the cook that tonight there would be a feast for the common soldier and to not spare food since today was a day to feast on. As for the generals, they would have a more private feast inside their tent; however, this was for later into the evening because, for now, Conradin wanted to wash off the blood from the battle. He had in fact taken a liking to having a bath since, afterward, he would feel good and clean both physically and morally.

During the evening before the feast, Conradin was in his tent reminiscing about the day's battle and the tactics used. This was a flaw of Conradin; as he was in fact too much of a thinker and would numerous times wonder if he could have done something better and the consequences that it would have had if he had behaved in another way. While Conradin was in his own world, he was however woken up by someone calling to him, ''Your Majesty, may I enter? ''From the voice, Conradin understood it was Galvano, and after adjusting himself to look more presentable, he allowed him to enter his tent.

Conradin believed that Galvano was here to report the casualties of his side alongside the loot that was taken after the battle, and sure enough, when he saw that his retainer entered alongside a vellum he knew he was right.

''Your Majesty, I am here to report on the battle's aftermath. Galvano said to Conradin as he handed him the vellum, 'Mh, we lost 98 knights and 260 footmen in total, between death and major injuries, while 43 knights and 89 footmen were lightly injured and will most likely be on their feet to fight again in the next battle. We lost 358 troops in total;well it could have been worse, it is a good result .' Conradin reflected after reading the news, prompting him to question Galvano about the Milanese casualties.

''Actually, your majesty, I do not have a clear count of that, but from the looks of it, they must have suffered at least 8 time our casualties. I am sure that no reinforcement will arrive to Charles since the ones who have escaped will not be able to unite themselves into a proper unit; it is more probable that they will become bandits or will try to find their way home.'' Galvano responded while giving Conradin a slightly satisfied smile.

''Do we have any notable detainees?" Conradin inquired, hoping to obtain some meaningful noble: ''Unfortunately, no your majesty, also I have to report we have captured 540 enemy units. What are we supposed to do with them?'' Galvano inquired, forcing Conradin to consider their fate: 'Mh, I'm not sure I'd gain anything by keeping them alive because I'd just be wasting food. Conradin also considered freeing them in order to convince the Italian communes that he was not their enemy, but after a few seconds, he dismissed the idea because it would never reach the ears of the other Italian communes, as it would almost certainly be cracked down on by the Milanese as soon as they got the hints of Conradin's plan.

''Just execute them.'' Conradin responded after a few seconds, subsequently going back to the report to check the total booty of the army. The army had acquired 230 warhorses, 800 swords, 1500 arrows, 2700 spears, 1200 shields, and 500 chainmail in total. Also, the troops seized 60,000 denarii from the wagons, an immense sum raised by Mastino della Scala as a gift for Charles.

Conradin would receive half of the booty because he was the one who had brought the strong cavalry that formed most of the army and thus his words carried more weight. It was already nice of him to take only half of the whole bounty as he could have taken much more, so for that no one would dare to challenge him about it.

Before going to the private feast for his generals, Conradin wanted to make a speech to his men just before their nights of drinking and eating started.

As such, after dressing himself, he left the tent in order to appeal to his men. While walking, he witnessed the euphoria of his men after the battle, and after a few minutes, he finally reached the center of the camp, where he mounted his horse and signaled the men, who were waiting for him, for their attention.

Silence dominated in the camp, apparently, the men respected Conradin's words a lot, especially after his joining the fray. The soldiers were waiting for Conradin, and when they saw him, they surrounded him, all eager to hear the speech that he would deliver before they began to feast and drink, as they deserved it after their hard work and after their victory.

''My brave soldiers, this day is a day to remember, for me, for you, for everyone here, even those in the heavens. This is the day on which we completed the first step toward bringing justice to this world. This battle here is not the end of our voyage but just the start. We managed to deliver a good blow to our enemy, even if it was not a deadly one it is always a blow nonetheless.I am proud of everyone of you and also thankful, for you are the ones that can make my dream possible. I want you to know that I never forget when someone does me a favor, for I always like to pay it back threefold. As such, I swear that by the end of this campaign, you will be as rich as one man can get. Take this day as proof of what I saw and said, and remember it for when you will be rewarded.

IN THE FUTURE WE MAY FIGHT, DIE OR WIN, BUT TODAY WE DRINK AND FEAST.''

The soldiers cheered Conradin, and they gave praise to him for bringing them a great victory. They then began to feast on the loot that they had rightfully earned, drinking from the wine casks that they had emptied from the enemy carts. It was a great celebration, and it was well deserved for the soldiers, for they were hungry and tired after the battle, and they deserved to celebrate the hard-earned victory with a great feast. They would eat and drink their fill to their heart's content. It was a good night for the Ghibelline soldiers as they rejoiced in their great victory with their hands full of loot.

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