The Hermes Brigade's mission was to seize Mount San Calogero, then continue north. It did not need to attack Sciacca.
Orlando had a staff officer deliver the priest's intelligence to the siege camp. Then he climbed to the summit of Mount San Calogero to survey the terrain, marking villages, forests, and other features on his map.
As he studied the plain to the northeast, he could not help cursing:
"So that's it. The great estate owners dammed the river and diverted the water into their own irrigation channels. No wonder there's no water at the river mouth."
Sugarcane and cotton grew near the river, while wheat occupied the areas farther from its banks. The winter wheat harvest was already over, leaving broad stretches of bare fields cracked by the scorching sun.
The uniform landscape of the plain proved that all this land belonged to estate owners.
Had it belonged to villagers, it would have been divided into countless narrow strips scattered everywhere, like a vast mosaic puzzle: some fields planted with winter wheat, others with spring-sown crops such as barley and oats.
Sicily Island was larger than the Peloponnese and its terrain flatter, yet its population was smaller.
Orlando thought that once the war ended, the higher-ups would follow established practice and award these estates to the troops in the form of land certificates.
Provided, of course, that the emperor incorporated Sicily Island into his realm.
During Orlando's conversation with the priest earlier, the man had clearly displayed a conflicted attitude: he wanted the Eastern Roman Empire to fight, but did not want its people to remain in Italy for long.
If the empire reclaimed Sicily, it might face opposition from the Holy See.
If it did not, the Central Administration would have no land certificates to reward the troops