Just as the Ferdinand was about to attack, a white flag was raised on the Caesar, which left the Austria-Hungary navy stunned.

With the surrender of the Caesar, other ships also ceased resistance, and the battle for the Adriatic Sea was completely over, with control of the Adriatic Sea falling entirely into the hands of Austria-Hungary.

At this time, the Italian navy had already lost three main battleships. Since they had surrendered, the Austria-Hungary navy, which had just been deadly, began to rescue people from the sea.

The threat at sea was eliminated, and the fifty thousand troops that had long been prepared at the port of Trieste were about to set off. They would be transported with merchant ships to open a third front on Italy's east coast, capturing the eastern part of the Kingdom of Italy along with the Pope Country forces.

...

Inside the city of Venice.

The sound of gunfire was intermittent, and it was truly unbearable for the residents inside the city, as death could descend at any moment, all depending on luck.

At a supply point, the citizens of Venice were purchasing food and essential goods here in accordance with the city government's arrangements.

A few temporarily hired armed personnel were responsible for maintaining order.

"Mr. Aros, the price of this flour is too high! It's twice as expensive as yesterday."

"Just tell me if you want it or not! Now, due to the war, the whole city is short of food, plus the kingdom has tens of thousands of troops, where will the food come from? It's all requisitioned from the Venice area, and this grain is something we risked collecting from the countryside." Aros impatiently reprimanded the crowd.

"That's not right! Mr. Aros, this Pisa brand flour is not a product of Venice, was this also collected from the countryside of Venice?" a citizen pointed at the cheap flour imported from East Africa and asked.

"This was from previous stockpiles, only so much left."

"We are a port city at least in Venice, and the maritime routes aren't cut off, right? Ships were still moving in and out of the docks this morning, how could there be a food shortage?"

"There are ships, yes, but not grain ships. The sea is full of fighting now, and the enemy doesn't care what you are doing; they destroy anything they see, so only the brave dare to take a chance." Aros explained.

In reality, Aros was completely talking nonsense; Austria-Hungary had never blockaded the Adriatic Sea.

"Mr. Aros, can you make it cheaper? My factory has stopped working since the war broke out, and I haven't received a paycheck at all."

"Buy it or don't; if you don't, others will. During wartime, stockpiling some food is never a mistake."

"Mr. Aros! We are paying money, but why is this Pisa brand flour priced the same as other flours? It was the cheapest before!"

"There's a shortage on the market now; don't look at how Pisa was cheap before, it's in demand now. Besides, it's just flour! How different can the taste be? Maybe you just like it this way!" Aros explained.

Some people in the crowd were still dissatisfied, but Aros wouldn't put up with it. He pulled out a pen and crossed out the original price right in front of their eyes, raising it by another twenty percent.

Aros arrogantly said, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth; the whole city is short of supplies now and you are still picky. I'm now announcing that prices will increase once every half day. If you want to spend less, pay quickly, or you won't even have the chance to regret it later."

As soon as Aros said this, everyone forgot about it, recognizing that it was more important to grab a batch of food to stock up, and the more, the better.

Although the prices were very high for Venice residents, who knew how long this war would last.

Even though Aros's sales prices were high, they were really quite "conscientious" to the people of Venice. This wasn't because Aros was kind-hearted but because his competitors were worse. Aros wasn't a pure Italian grain merchant; he only got into this business last year when East Africa was heavily promoting cheap grain exports, which he saw as an opportunity. So he imported cheap East African grains in large quantities from Austria-Hungary and sold them in Italy.

Since the city lockdown resolution was passed at the city council meeting five days ago, the bigwigs of the city government had divided Venice and monopolized the interests of their own areas through their families and enterprises.

Aros's family was responsible for a western part of the city. Apart from their own enterprise workers and the Aros family's henchmen, all residents were managed in this area, and their freedom was restricted.

As for the discontent of the citizens, the bigwigs of Venice had already thought of a way to shift the blame, and the scapegoat was the highest commanding officer of the Italian Kingdom's army, General Raffaele Cadorna.

So they made announcements to the citizens of Venice: Due to the war, General Raffaele Cadorna declared a lockdown in the entire city, prohibiting residents from going out freely. They had to wait for military notifications or obtain a pass issued by the government to move around freely.

As to how to obtain a pass, one could apply at government outlets, but the process was very slow and had time restrictions. Is there a quick way to get the pass? Yes, one could pay to designated places to buy it, and upon payment, it would be issued immediately.

Without the pass, if found, one would be treated as a spy, either paying a fine or going for "re-education" for a month.

This naturally caused dissatisfaction among the citizens of Venice, but they pinned the blame on the Italian military, while they saw the city government as being "helpless" in the situation. After all, no matter how powerful the city government was, they couldn't oppose the will of General Raffaele Cadorna, who commanded tens of thousands of troops. All of this was orchestrated by General Raffaele Cadorna.

...

Florence.

Three days ago, the Austria-Hungary expeditionary force attacked here, but thanks to the walls and the hastily assembled troops, Emmanuel II's government awaited the arrival of reinforcements from the west. Seeing the situation was hopeless, Admiral Karl led the expeditionary force away.

However, after the Austria-Hungary expeditionary force's attack on Florence, now the entire Kingdom of Italy was in panic. Enemies appeared in the capital, which was a considerable blow to the whole of the Kingdom of Italy. Fortunately, the expeditionary force's numbers were small, and they had few heavy weapons, so they did not capture Florence. Otherwise, the war could have ended with Italy's defeat in advance.

Due to this matter, Emmanuel II now placed even greater importance on the defense of Florence. The newly dispatched border guards from the Italian-French border were responsible for the city's defense work; as for the border areas, since France was itself in trouble, there was no need for troops to guard it anymore.

And where did the Austria-Hungary expeditionary force go after failing to capture Florence?

The answer is the former Kingdom of Sardinia, the base of the Italian kingdom's royal family. Admiral Karl and his troops began to wreak havoc there, especially targeting factories and cities. The entire Kingdom of Sardinia was thrown into chaos by the Austria-Hungary expeditionary force. However, the Kingdom of Italy was powerless against them, also fearing that it might be a diversion tactic by the expeditionary force. What if they left Florence, only to launch another surprise attack once the troops moved away?