The expeditionary force escaped from Diego's sight in a very short time, and although the Sevian interests and the army of the Kingdom of Spain sent a large number of scout detachments, they did not show any value from a military point of view, and the infidel army was still operating in southern Iberia, farms, villages, docks, bazaars, and poorly defended towns, which was a real disaster, and the whole kingdom, from His Majesty and ministers to civilian slaves, never imagined that this would happen, The news brought back by the scouts became more terrible and the whole country fell into panic, the nobles abandoned the Villa de la Flora and fled to Madrid, and the commoners fled their homes to the north. The unscrupulous invasions, burnings, looting, massacres of the destroyers of Seville, in broad daylight and with the watchful eye of Our Lady and the Son, no one can avoid it – not even churches and monasteries.

Diego's desk was already piled up with a large number of reports and papers, and the matter was beyond his ability, although not so long ago he was still conceited and high-spirited, because of his status, his army had long exceeded 18,000 men, most of them were 'well-equipped' cavalry, but these did not give him any effective support, and his plan had been humiliated early on.

There was a soft sound of the door being slammed outside, and before he could spit out his inquiry, the big door was pushed open, and an officer walked in, and the guards at the door of the door showed a helpless expression towards Diego.

"Madrid! - I'm Ann, you can call me Andres"

Diego looked at Andreas suspiciously, like all the other noble officers, the man who called himself Andres was about forty years old, neatly dressed, his sword and medals were polished and shining, he took off his wide-brimmed hat, and bowed slightly to Diego with a reserved expression, "I'm from Madrid, where is your father, Your Highness!" ”

Diego immediately waved at the guard, motioning for him to close the gate. By this time, he had already been convinced of the identity of the person who had come - there were not many people in the entire kingdom who knew that Diego was the secret of His Majesty's 'illegal' child.

"You may be seated, Mr. Andres!" Diego frowned, "I don't have much time, so ...... So I hope you understand that now is not the time to talk about hounds and 'chicken' tails – I mean, get to the point as soon as possible! ”

"Of course, Your Highness...... That's what I'm here for, Lord Diego! Andreas pulled out an oil-paper-wrapped document from his bosom, "This is the letter of appointment signed by His Majesty the King!" ”

"What?!"

"I'm sorry, but the central point of this document is about the invasion of Seville, the kingdom has decided to form a southern crusade army, and I, Lieutenant General Andres, will be the commander of this army!" Andres 'revealed' a trace of apologetic 'look', to be honest, the identity of the person in front of him is indeed a bit special, if it is not necessary, he does not want to leave a bad impression on him.

"I understand!" Diego nodded, "So I'm relieved?!" ”

"Oh! I don't want you to understand it that way! Andreas smiled bitterly, "His Majesty just meant ...... Of course, I personally think that you can still have some command, and we are only giving you a little guidance! ”

"Thank you!" Diego obviously felt the sincerity of the other party, and he softened his expression, "I don't know if General Andreas has any good advice - frankly speaking, in the past period of time, I have taken some actions against the enemy army, including reconnaissance, search, writing letters to send envoys to challenge and even large-scale cavalry encirclement, etc., but this eastern army is very cunning and combative, and we can't catch them!" ”

"I know that!" Andreas walked straight over and sat down in Diego's original position, and it was only at this time that his face seemed to have some majesty, and his tone gradually became serious, "Mr. Diego, do you know the identity of the enemy army on the other side?!" Their mission, purpose, the latter, something else?! ”

Diego was stunned and frowned, "I don't know - but I don't think it matters now, you know?" Seville, the pearl of Iberia, has been reduced to ruins, hundreds of thousands of nobles and commoners have been slaughtered by them, so no matter who they are, even if it is God's punishment, Spain must fight them to the end! ”

What a kid. Andreas smiled bitterly in his heart, but with a serious expression on his face, he nodded, "That's right!" But......," he said, turning his head to the window, said slowly, "I did some work while you were directing the cavalry to encircle them—not to 'deal' with the ladies at the court, of course, but to investigate the identities and backgrounds of these men, and why or what they were here for!" …… Wait, and so on! ”

Diego was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Did you find anything then?!" ”

"Yes, a lot, and not good!" General Andreas let out a long breath, "I found a few captains who had been involved in the trade in the East, and got some very important information from them-" He waved his hand, pushing away the large pile of paper reports on the table, spreading out the map on the table, "Mr. Diego, look, this is Europe, well, we Spain are in this corner," he moved his fingers, drawing a large arc, "And this is Southeast Asia—upwards, this is China!" He looked up and stared at Diego intensely, "Do you see what I mean?!" ”

"China's ...... Pirate?! Or the army?! ”

"It's the army! And the most 'elite' national army - I'm sure! Andreas nodded firmly, "We got some bits and pieces from the mouths of those captains, and then 'spent' a lot of time to research and analyze, and put this information together, and probably figured out the fact that the invasion and destruction of Seville was a long-planned, 'fine' and deliberate war operation by a powerful country!" His eyelids jumped, and he gritted his teeth, "And it's shameless, without the slightest honor, like a 'woman' scolding the street!" ”

Diego took a deep breath and sat down, "Please speak slowly!" Be specific! ”

"The general thing is that China, the silk country that Caesar praised, was invaded by a barbarian nation about forty years ago, and as a result the civilization was destroyed and devastated, just as the Moors did to us, and then Chinese continued to fight, and finally they succeeded, and about a few years ago, the barbarian tribe suffered a devastating 'sex', and the rebels recaptured their capital, and re-established a regime called 'Han'......"

"Sorry to bother!" Diego couldn't help but interrupt his tirade, "But what does this have to do with us?!" ”

"It has a lot to do with it!" General Andreas was very well trained, and he was not angry at all because of Diego's interruption, "The enemy army that is currently invading Spain is exactly the name of the 'Han Army'!" ”

"Oh?! ......" Diego angrily stood up and yelled, "So, why are they going to war with Spain?!" ”

"Because of revenge!" Andreas shook his head and said heavily, "Do you know about Luzon?" - It's the place in Southeast Asia where spices are there?! ”

"Of course, it is one of the overseas territories of the kingdom, protected by the great Kingdom of Spain!"

"Unfortunately, what I do know is that about a year ago, the governor of Luzon whom we appointed, the pig man, led His Majesty's army and slaughtered about 25,000 to 30,000 Chinese—of course, the 'natives' who resisted civilization and attacked the kingdom's army!"

The news was not surprising, Diego looked at him coldly, he had guessed this beforehand, and now it was clearly fulfilled.

Andreas sighed, "Of course, I know that this responsibility probably shouldn't be borne by the pig, because several of his predecessors have done the same before, but the truth is so ruthless - before I came, a clipper ship bound for Luzon had already departed, and in addition to the envoy to Beijing, there was a written document to hang the pig!" ”

"Envoy?!" Diego said angrily, "Compromise with the invaders? Why?! ”

"It's not a compromise, or a declaration of war, or something else," Lieutenant General Andreas shook his head and patiently explained, "Mr. Diego, I don't know how you feel about the political situation in China that I just explained to you?!" ”

Diego shook his head and pointed to the ruins outside the window, "I know they destroyed Spain, what else can we think about other than giving them revenge and war?!" ”

What a young man!! Andreas smiled bitterly, "I have already explained to you just now that the current Chinese government is a new regime that has just defeated the invaders and established on the ruins," he shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, "What does this mean?!" - This is a young nation, like a baby, open its eyes and look around curiously, looking for friendship and enemies, they are strong and powerful, eager to expand their influence, desperate to expand their power! - Do you understand?! ”

"I don't understand?!" Diego looked at him suspiciously, "What the hell are you talking about?" Our General! ”

"At present, we know now that this regime has a well-trained, well-equipped, and war-hardened army, but their people have not yet fully adapted and accepted her, and she now wants all Chinese to feel her power, she wants to show her influence, she wants to show force, so that her people can understand that she can protect them, warm them, and thus gain their support!" Andres leaned back in his chair, "So she has found an enemy, and that is us, the Kingdom of Spain!" ”

"So what?!" Diego couldn't contain his emotions anymore and yelled at the general, "They destroyed Seville!" ”

"I know," General Andreas said solemnly, "that's what I'm here for, so we have to understand the ins and outs, stay calm, analyze the situation, understand the enemy, find the enemy, and defeat the enemy for Spain!!" ”

"But what you just meant seemed to mean that we were about to compromise!!"

"Not bad! It's politics! Andreas said in a dull voice, shaking his head helplessly, "Lord Diego, I must inform you of some other things, such as: in the Mediterranean Sea and along the coast of Africa, there is a group of organized pirates, which are currently attacking our merchant ships frequently, slaughtering and injuring any merchant, sailor and ...... who have Spanish nationality."

"We're talking about those who ride horses! It's those on land!! ……”

"They're all in this together!" Andres slammed the table and said angrily, "Do you know that this is worse than their destruction of Seville, Spain is suffering a heavy blow!" ”

"What did you say?!" Diego was stunned.

"Well, I'll explain it to you," Andres thought for a moment, "and power comes from trust!" - Do you understand?! ”

“……”

"This means that because the nobles and the great merchants believed that His Majesty could bring them and Spain benefits, they respected His Majesty, obeyed his orders, and carried out all the instructions that came from the government!"

Diego nodded, "Of course! There's no doubt about it! ”

"This is the case with us at present, because of the sudden appearance of the enemy, the sudden heavy blow, and now our business in the Mediterranean, the Americas, Africa, and even the Indian Ocean has been sharply reduced, and people no longer trust the Spanish merchant ships, and dare not 'deal' with the Spanish captains, and the merchants are complaining;" Andreas said heavily, "In addition, the mainland has been invaded, and overnight, a large city has been destroyed by the invaders in full view, hundreds of thousands of people have died, and the nobles are brewing dissatisfaction!" ”

"But it's not Your Majesty's fault......"

"It doesn't matter!" Andres waved his hand impatiently, "The important thing is that they have pushed the blame over, and need a target of sufficient weight to bear, and—" he sighed, "and worse, our foreign 'diplomacy' work has failed, Portugal gloating, the Ottomans are rejoicing, France, the Netherlands, England are vying for our customers, and those savage Russians, hearing that a team of Chinese has come to Moscow; I swear to God that if we don't get out of this terrible situation as soon as possible, Spain's interests will be lost in a very short time - this is as bad as the Armada sinking in the English Channel, you understand?! ”

“……”

"This is politics, at home and abroad!" Andres repeated in an accentuated tone. The general shook his head, "Dear Lord Diego, our Majesty urgently needs to solve this difficult problem, or he will be in a very embarrassing situation!" ”

After a long silence, Diego raised his head with difficulty and muttered, "Is it ...... Are we going to surrender to the aggressor?! ”

"Of course not!" Lieutenant General Andreas immediately denied it, shook his head and said, "We have sent envoys to the Chinese, either to mediate, or to compromise, and even to give up Luzon Island to them, but at the same time we will definitely show our strength and let the Chinese understand that although Spain is no longer the first in Europe, it is still not something that can be insulted by anyone!" ”

Diego's spirit perked up, and General Andres continued, "We have to accomplish two goals in the shortest possible time, first, to gather all the ships on the sea and 'get' those sea fleas to go underwater, and second, to exterminate those thousands of murderous maniacs!" ”

"Good!" Diego straightened up, "I immediately order the army to be assembled!" ”

"Nope! Disband the army for the time being, and let them recuperate in the barracks! General Andreas waved his hand and said solemnly, "Lord Diego, I now issue the following order, please convey the prefect of the southern part of the kingdom:"

"First, immediately evacuate the crowd, 'get' all the peasants in the war zone to the city, and if they can't accommodate it, then requisition the noble castle and strengthen the city defenses;"

"Second, to clear the wilderness, to transfer and burn all wheat straw, and grass, and horse feed, and wheat, and flour, and smoked meat, and to destroy or all that may be eaten;"

"Thirdly, the destruction of farms, remote markets, ripening crops, orchards, the burning of remote villages, the destruction of all wild buildings that can be destroyed, and the poisoning of every well;"

"Fourthly, destroy all the bridges of the Guadalviki River, and during the blockade period, not a single piece of wood shall fall into the river without an order from the army - even if it is blown in by a strong wind, send someone to fish it up for me;" Fifth, a circular was issued to the area south of the Sierra Morena, ordering them to send a strong army to build bunkers, lookouts, and guard towers in front of the various valley passages, blocking all movement of people and goods!! ”

His eyebrows jumped, and he looked at Diego, "Now! - Go now! ”

Diego was convinced and stood up in salute, "I see, General!" ”