558 Peloponnese Peninsula

The war banner of the red lion reached the gulf of Corinth for the very first time.

Julian watched his front with no expressions underneath that helm he is wearing, while his engineer corps prepared their boats and logs building up a temporary passage to the city of Patras.

There is a much shorter way to bypass this gulf, that is through the natural passage south of Athens but there is a problem with that, as the Caesar is not at war with the Duchy of Athena yet, there is no legitimate excuse or cause belli to attack it either as it is an imperial tributary, though not a very faithful one, and thus it is not very polite for Julian to march six thousand armed men through the Duchy's territories, which might be interpreted as something bad and cause some diplomatic turmoil.

There is a fortress, shielding a small village behind Julian's back, but surely that fortress is incapable of shielding the troopers who are attempting to cross the river now.