Night was about to end, and the morning sun had not yet risen. The gates of Verona were wide open, and the city's more than eight thousand defenders almost all poured out, carrying no heavy weapons or supplies, all lightly equipped and moving swiftly.
After dozens of covert investigations and inquiries throughout the night, the information gathered was completely consistent with what the envoy had said. Only then did Othello completely believe that the envoy sent by Claudio was telling the truth, and finally made up his mind to take the initiative to attack.
As the army marched rapidly, Othello continuously dispatched scouts to go back and forth to report and understand the latest situation in Ferrara.
However, what Othello did not know was that as soon as the army began to leave the city, the Papal States scouts who were monitoring outside the city immediately reported separately to Claudio, Cortez, inside and outside Ferrara, and Duke, who was stationed in the Bologna mountains.
Upon receiving the news, Claudio in Ferrara immediately strengthened the guard over the surrendered Venetian soldiers and the blockade of all city gates, assembling all remaining soldiers along the city wall facing Cortez's regiment, yet still telling the soldiers nothing and prohibiting them from talking.
Cortez outside Ferrara also maintained extreme secrecy, so much so that all the soldiers thought Claudio had truly rebelled, and curses were constant within the camp. If Cortez had not declared that the order received was to hold out for reinforcements, the soldiers would have wished to rush into Ferrara immediately and tear Claudio to pieces.
Upon learning that Othello's army had moved out, Cortez first feigned ignorance. Only when one-third of the journey remained did he suddenly order the abandonment of all artillery and supplies and an urgent retreat to the south. Several officers stepped forward to object and were immediately dismissed by Capello, and other officers dared not say more.
Claudio took the opportunity to send troops out of the city to "capture" Cortez's weapons and supplies, then redeployed all the artillery on the city wall. Only when Cortez's regiment was out of range did he symbolically fire a few shots.
When they were still ten kilometers from Ferrara, Othello received a report from a scout: "General, that regiment outside Ferrara should have received the news and fled south, abandoning their weapons and supplies."
"What? Did Claudio in the city make any moves? Did he just watch them escape?" Othello was both surprised and delighted. A Papal States regiment fleeing in such haste, not even bothering with their weapons and supplies, showed that they were truly afraid.
"The city sent people out to transport everything left by that regiment into the city. After deploying them on the city wall, they fired a few shots in the direction of that regiment's retreat, and then there was no further movement," the scout reported truthfully.
"Did they hit anything?" Othello asked, concerned.
"This…" the scout stammered, "The distance was too great, and there was cover, so I couldn't see clearly."
Capello, who was standing by, carefully reminded him: "General, forgive my frankness, but could we have been used by Claudio? They have now obtained all the artillery, but they did not pursue the fleeing Papal States army. If they don't let us into the city, there's nothing we can do about them."
Othello denied it without hesitation: "Absolutely impossible! I know this. The soldiers under Claudio are all reserves; they have a certain combat effectiveness in defending the city. But if they were in the field, even with an overwhelming equipment advantage, they would be vulnerable against regular troops.
Claudio must also know this. Their primary goal at present is not to annihilate the enemy. The key to victory currently lies in Rome, so they did not rashly pursue.
As for keeping us out of the city, that's even more impossible. We now have the same enemy, which is the Pope's army. By not letting Duke's army into the city and seizing all their weapons and supplies, Claudio has completely offended the Pope's side and absolutely cannot remain neutral. And if they want their uprising to succeed, they will never refuse our help."
Capello listened to Othello's analysis, thought it over carefully, and found it indeed made sense. He said with admiration: "General is wise. So what should we do next? Should we continue to Ferrara and rendezvous with Claudio, or pursue the fleeing regiment?"
"Of course, we first go to rendezvous with Claudio. We don't even know where to pursue that regiment. I think although Claudio did not pursue that regiment, he should have sent people to keep an eye on their movements from afar. How to pursue them will be decided after we rendezvous.
Claudio is following Lorenzo in this uprising, and his troops and the situation within Ferrara might not be very stable, with the danger of being overthrown at any time. Our top priority is to assist him in stabilizing Ferrara and consolidating the gains. As for that fleeing regiment, letting it run is no big deal."
After a pause, Claudio continued: "Here's the plan: I will take all the cavalry and go ahead to reach Ferrara as quickly as possible. The infantry is entrusted to you; follow up as quickly as you can."
At the same time, Duke's returning army had already rendezvoused with Cortez's retreating army on the plain east of Ferrara, resting while inquiring about Claudio's movements.
Having left the infantry behind and taking only two thousand cavalry, Othello's speed of advance greatly increased, reaching Ferrara in a flash. Duke, having received the news, also immediately led his army towards Ferrara.
"General Claudio, how is the situation in the city?"
Even though he had already concluded that Claudio and he were in the same boat, seeing hundreds of dark cannon muzzles on the city wall, Othello still felt a strange sense of fear and couldn't help but probe.
"Very good! It must be that the regiment outside the city, having discovered your arrival, was so scared that they fled without firing a single shot. A large amount of supplies and hundreds of intact cannons could not be taken away and were all captured by us." Claudio welcomed him warmly, completely unaware of any problem, and at the same time ordered the city gates opened.
Othello's heart tightened, and he suddenly understood why he felt afraid: even if there wasn't time to take the weapons and supplies, how could that regiment leave everything perfectly intact for the enemy? Could it be that…
If the scout who reported back had told him that everything Claudio had captured was intact, he should have been suspicious then.
"Since the besieging enemy army has been scared away, and the weapons and supplies have been captured by your forces, our purpose for this trip has been achieved, and we will not bother you further. It is not appropriate for us to interfere too much in the internal disputes of the Papal States. We wish you success." Realizing that something was wrong, Othello tried to slip away, making a casual excuse.
"General, traces of a large army have been found east of Ferrara!" A scout's loud voice poured cold water on Othello.
Othello finally confirmed that he had fallen into a trap. He was both afraid and angry, wishing he could cut down this scout on the spot. Why shout so loudly? Everyone on the city wall heard it; how could he retreat now!
Although he didn't know what went wrong, Claudio saw that Othello wanted to run and still put on a strong performance, trying to stall Othello for a moment longer: "Oh no! It must be that the regiment that just fled has brought reinforcements from somewhere and is counterattacking. General, please enter the city quickly!"