The Family - Mario Puzo [116]
Her informers, well paid but not loyal, brought her word that Cesare was leading the army to conquer her cities. She in turn sent a gift to the Pope—a black shroud from a corpse who had died of the plague, which she twisted tight and placed in a hollowed-out cane. When Alexander opened her gift, she hoped, the sickness would befall him, and he would give up his plans for this conquest. But under torture her informers informed on her, and so while they were put to death, the Pope was saved.
Cesare’s plan was first to take Imola, then Forli. As the papal army neared Imola, Cesare marshaled his troops, moved the artillery forward, and used the light cavalry and infantry as a barrier. Then he rode ahead with a special battalion of armed soldiers.
But his preparation was unnecessary, for as he approached, the gates of the city swung open and a worried group of citizens rushed forward. In an attempt to spare themselves and their city from being sacked, robbed, and pillaged by the papal army, they quickly surrendered.
Caterina Sforza, because of her well-known cruelty and ferociousness, was not a popular or beloved ruler. Her subjects had nothing to gain by fighting for her. On the first day two French lancers discovered a local carpenter who had been wronged by Caterina, and wanted his revenge. He asked to meet with Cesare. Hoping to spare himself, he eagerly pointed out the weakest points in the structure of the castle walls.
But there was a small fortress inside the city, and its commander, Dion Naldi, was a true soldier. Now he called out from the rooftop, “We will fight!”
And so Cesare’s army prepared for a siege.
Vito Vitelli, the Italian commander, moved his cannons to the front line, readied his troops, and began to bombard the castle walls with continuous shots. Realizing his peril, Dion Naldi called a truce, and announced that if help hadn’t arrived within three days he would surrender the city.
Knowing that negotiation would save both money and lives, Cesare set up camp, and for three days they waited.
No help came. Naldi, a skilled officer from a famous fighting family, also bore a grudge, and so he threw down his guns and dismissed his men. He would have fought till his death if he felt some loyalty to his ruler; but even now, as he stood in defense of her castle, Caterina Sforza held his wife and children hostage in the citadel at Forli. Naldi surrendered Imola, on one condition: that he himself could join Cesare and the papal forces when they rode into Forli.
Therefore Cesare Borgia accomplished the first goal of his campaign without losing a man . . . or facing Caterina Sforza.
Forli held Caterina’s principal fortress, and it was there that Cesare would have to face the She-Wolf herself. The son of the Pope was younger and had much less experience than the ferocious Caterina and so he approached the gates with some caution. But once again the gates swung open, and a crowd of citizens rushed out to announce their surrender.
Atop the ramparts of the castle, Caterina Sforza stood dressed in full armor, wielding a sword with one hand and holding a falcon on the other. All along the rooftops her archers stood, their arrows set, their bows poised.
The moment Caterina saw her citizens with Cesare she became enraged, and shouted to her soldiers, “Shoot the citizens! Shoot the lily-livered cowards who abandon our good city!”
Arrows flew like flocks of birds, and her subjects fell at Cesare’s feet.
“My God,” Cesare said, turning to Vitelli. “The woman is mad. She is slaying her own people.”
One of her commanders shouted from a tower window