It took Manuel a while to recover from Barbara's 'flag-planting' declaration.
He pretended nothing had happened and returned to his room, then continued with his pre-planned schedule.
All the way, he frantically self-hypnotized, convincing himself that he would have good luck and wouldn't inexplicably 'get a bento box' because of such absurd remarks.
Upon reaching the inner city, Manuel gathered all the officers, solidified the tactics prepared earlier, and specifically instructed Isaac Arno, who was beside him, to somehow procure the amount of sugar Manuel requested.
When asked for the reason, he just mysteriously pointed to the arquebus and said, "I have my own ingenious use."
For the remainder of August, Kaffa City was busy preparing for the decisive battle, while the Genoa army outside the city was still plagued by disease and mud.
Regarding the upcoming decisive battle, the Genoa Generals, with the exception of Carlo Merlo, all believed they were sure to win: they had a numerical advantage in soldiers, excellent equipment, and naval support—how could they lose?
After several days, the day of the decisive battle finally arrived.
As for the location, according to the challenge, they would fight in the western suburbs of Kaffa.
Even in the early morning of early September, the mud left by the heavy rain showed no signs of easing, which made Carlo Merlo, riding on his warhorse, frown deeply.
To ensure he wouldn't 'overturn' because of this, he reduced the proportion of heavy cavalry and heavy infantry in the army, despite the mercenaries' protests, and kept 2,000 men as reserves rather than active combat soldiers, just in case.
His actions meant that even as the battle was about to begin, many 'taxi soldiers' were privately complaining about their General.
Just as some soldiers below were still complaining about the General, the Kaffa city gate slowly opened, and the Theodoro Army streamed out.
The Genoa taxi soldiers looked closely and found that both of their flanks were composed of strange soldiers holding what looked like small hand cannons, 'hollow iron tubes,' while the center was mainly spearmen and gunmen, with shield-bearers in the front row and archers and crossbowmen in the back.
Most importantly, there were no cavalry among these soldiers, and they had fewer armored soldiers than the Genoa army; even those who were armored mostly wore light armor, which couldn't compare to them at all.
This seemingly clumsy, poor-quality equipment made the Genoa soldiers burst into laughter, and even Carlo relaxed his guard.
He was now just waiting to see when the enemy's ridiculous formation would be ready, and then he would lead his more than 4,000 soldiers to charge and smash them in one fell swoop.
As for the 2,000 soldiers still awaiting orders, he would just let them watch the show from behind.
After a long time, some Genoa soldiers were yawning, and others were eager to relieve their abdominal cramps, all of them having relaxed.
At this point, which was in the morning, the Theodoro Army finally raised their banners, indicating they were ready for battle.
Carlo Merlo, who had long been impatient, eagerly ordered a charge.
Upon receiving the order, the Genoa soldiers immediately rushed towards the enemy formation with a roar.
But contrary to their expectations, the Theodoro Army did not charge at them; instead, they remained in formation at their original position.
This immediately gave Carlo a bad premonition, but the order had already been given, and he could not order a halt, so he had to continue one step at a time.
Soon, a group of soldiers fell, but not from the Theodoro side, but from the Genoa side.
The large line of taxi soldiers at the front of the Genoa army was hit by lead bullets fired from those 'iron tubes' in various parts of their bodies—some in the legs, some in the upper shoulder, some in the arms, some in the chest, and some directly in the face.
But no matter where they were hit, they lost the ability to continue moving forward.
These strange firearms, why didn't he think of them?
Carlo felt angry inside, but it was already too late.
He quickly ordered the cavalry in the army to immediately charge and smash the enemy's flanks, but due to the muddy roads, the luckier cavalry were slowed down, while the unluckier ones fell directly, getting a good mouthful of mud.
But whether lucky or unlucky, these cavalry replaced the heavy infantry from the front line and became new live targets.
This way, it was really possible to lose, Carlo felt cold sweat break out on his brow, and he immediately ordered the cavalry and infantry to stop charging and instead provide cover, letting Alberto lead the crossbowmen and artillery to fire at the enemy's flanks.
When Manuel noticed that the enemy was using long-range attacks and had sustained some casualties, he had the shield-bearers cover the flanks, and the light-armored infantry in the center began to advance into the enemy's formation.
Upon noticing the enemy's movements, Carlo couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Finally, the opponent was charging towards his side, which made him sneer and mock, "Oh, oh, oh, how reckless!
Instead of fleeing, they are charging towards us.
It seems the Theodoro Army's good luck has run out."
When the two sides engaged in close combat, General Carlo Merlo, who found that there was no absolute one-sided situation in favor of the Genoa army, finally became completely worried: "This isn't right.
Given the quality of our army, shouldn't the Theodoro Army collapse at the first touch when they encounter us?
Why do they still have such fighting power?"
In fact, the individual quality of the Theodoro soldiers had indeed improved, but this situation was more due to the plague suffered by the Genoa soldiers.
Under the influence of the previous large-scale epidemic, even with the doctor's treatment, or rather, thanks to the doctor's bloodletting therapy, many Genoa soldiers' physical condition had become quite weak.
Those who could originally hold a spear steadily with one hand were now trembling even when holding it with two hands.
Shortly after the infantry of both sides stalemated, many Genoa soldiers, due to exhaustion or abdominal pain, exposed weaknesses and were directly killed by the enemy taxi soldiers.
As more and more such Genoa soldiers appeared, the Genoa army's formation began to collapse.
At this point, Carlo finally became anxious.
He immediately ordered the messengers around him to go and ask the navy for naval support, and also ordered Deputy General Vargas, who was leading the 2,000 reserve troops: "Vargas, bring those 2,000 soldiers to support me immediately, quickly!"