Diet Speaker: Duke Otto's question on the matter of the crisis with Milan reveals that the Kaiser's report on the events of 2002 was regrettably incomplete.

The sequence of events was as follows. The Imperial navy of the western Mediterranean spotted a Milanese army embarked on a fleet anchored in the straits beween Corsica and Sardinia. The navy and Bavarian Household Army were based in the frontier settlement of Marseilles, quite far from the vulnerable Italian heartlands by land.

Given the Duke's refusal to continue negotiations with Milan, the decision was made to strike quickly and implement his edict to the letter by landing the BHA on Corsica. It was hoped this move would induce the Milanese to also disembark from their anchorage off southern Corsica and defend their homelands.

However, after landing the BHA, our navy found it would be able to catch the Milanese fleet unawares. The chance of sinking their army at sea was too tempting to resist. Unfortunately, the cowards fled after their defeat. What was not anticipated was that they would flee northwards, right next to Genoa.

The Duke asks why the Milanese fleet was not pursued and the BHA not landed near where the Milanese were anchored? I hope he can now understand that the BHA fleet was landed near where the Milanese were anchored - that is to say, in Corsica. The immediate threat to Italy only emerged later when the Milanese armada fled north after their defeat at sea. The Imperial fleet was not able to pursue because it is impossible to sail from Marseilles to Genoa, via the straits between Corsica and Sardinia, in the relevant time frame.