A few white clouds drifted across the clear sky, and the morning was cool and pleasant as it was about to enter early summer, and the wind blew in through the wide cuffs and puffed up the sleeves.

Jisha stood on the shore of a blue lake, a large area of cyan reeds swaying in the wind on the lake not far in front of her, and from time to time a few water ducks would fly up from the reeds, struggling to step on the water surface with flippers and flap their wings into the sky.

The scenery was beautiful, but she had not come to relax, she looked back to the distant shore, where some cavalry were busy running back and forth in the clearing between the shore of the lake and the trees farther behind.

The royal grenadiers of Naples did not have much cavalry, according to Josha's description according to Alexander's description and the actual situation of the Kingdom of Naples, she did not attach great importance to the role of cavalry like the Duchy of Romagna-Tuscany, and did not spend a lot of money to build dragoons like Wallachia, and the Neapolitan grenadiers were more musket infantry who were not very mobile but paid great attention to coordination.

This is not to say, however, that Naples did not have cavalry, but rather that there was a small but elite light cavalry force, and their task was not to confront the enemy on the battlefield, but to scout and harass behind enemy lines, and perhaps to take part in the pursuit of the enemy near the end of the battle if necessary, but head-to-head confrontation was clearly not their strong point.

In addition to the Royal Grenadier Regiment as the Queen's direct subordinate regiment, the Neapolitan Regiment and the Cosenza Regiment also participated in this unexpected landing battle.

Like the Roman and Lysian armies, the Neapolitan and even Wallachian armies were gradually changing towards a new way of organizing, and although this change could not be achieved overnight, at least compared to the armies of other countries today, the armies of Alexander's Empire were undergoing some unprecedented attempts at change.

The cavalry would be brought to the lake because it had actually crossed the boundary that had been tacitly crossed by the three sides.

The Sicilian army marched north along the east bank of the Covones River from Málaga and was so fast that in two days the forward force had reached the vicinity of the city of Comona, not far from Bingolora, but the Sicilian army did not take advantage of the situation to cross the river, but established a defensive line on the east bank of the river to protect the Corvones and the Henier River on the left and right flanks respectively.

This somewhat relieved both the coalition and Gonzalo, but unlike the Andalusian nobility, Gonzalo did not send people to contact the Sicilian army.

His attitude seemed more like a blind eye to the sudden appearance of the "enemy", which somewhat made the Sicilian officers feel a little apprehensive.

Gonzalo, Sicilian officers are no strangers, this man's performance in the Italian war was deeply imprinted in the minds of almost all Neapolitans, so even if today's Sicilian army is completely different from the original, but when it comes to this famous Castilian general, most of those officers from Naples can't help but feel a trace of fear in their hearts.

She knew very well what her men were thinking, and she always remembered that Alexander had mentioned more than once that Gonzalo might cause him trouble in the future.

So she didn't relax at all about this man, she first asked the Sicilian army to do what to do was to build a defensive line, not to prepare for an attack, and at the same time she was ready for an unprecedented hard battle.

Gonçalo was not idle, and he quickly built fortifications on the north bank of the Guadaville River, and then established a line of defense along the river from Bingolola to Bingobermo in the upper reaches of the river.

In this way, around the city of Seville, the three armies formed a rather strange triangular confrontation posture.

It is now clear that both the Castilian and Sicilians see the capture of Seville as the key to mastering the south of Castile, and for Gonzalo it was of extraordinary significance.

If he can succeed in capturing Sevilla, then he has a bargaining chip with anyone.

If he fails, what awaits him may be a dismal exit after being dismissed, or it may be a worse ending.

This battle is not easy to fight, Jisha told herself secretly in her heart.

In fact, not only the Sicilian officers, but also Jossa herself was secretly nervous about fighting that Gonzalo.

So procrastination is good for Gonzalo, but it's also undesirable for Khosa.

A cavalryman came running quickly, and not far from the queen the soldier jumped off his horse and reported in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, the Andalusians are gathering their army across the lake, and it seems that there are about 300 men. ”

"Your Majesty, you should get out of here right away." Hearing the scout's report, the attendants, who were always worried, immediately dissuaded her, and the queen insisted on leading her cavalry across the Corvenes River to the eastern shore of the Two Sisters Lake, which was already very close to Seville, and was so close to the positions of the noble coalition that they could even reach the positions of the noble coalition forces by wading through the shallowest water that connected them.

"The scenery here is very good," said Tsusha, who did not seem to listen to the advice of the staff attendant at all, and said with great interest, pointing to the small island that happened to be located in the shallows between the two sisters' lakes, "If you build a villa there, it must be a pleasure to escape the heat in this season." ”

"Your Majesty~"

The staff attendant shouted with an ugly face, and when he saw that Jisha turned his head and looked at him with that kind of innocent and unexpected eyes, the attendant couldn't help but turn red, and he could only look at Omo who had never spoken with a look of dissatisfaction with asking for help, and he was somewhat annoyed by this Balkan who was quite trusted by the queen, but who refused to dissuade the queen at this time.

Sensing the already unhappy eyes of the staff attendant, Omo smiled and whispered: "Don't worry, Your Majesty knows what to do, and if there is really danger, she will not joke with her safety." ”

The staff attendant smiled helplessly, although he knew that Omo was right, but maybe it was because he cared too much about the queen, so he always couldn't help but worry about her, but maybe it would make the queen feel bored after a long time.

The Balkan man next to him is so clever that people sometimes ignore his presence when they don't need him, but he knows when to speak.

"Omo, how much time do you think it will take to storm Seville?" Jisha asked suddenly.

"Your Majesty, it may not be very difficult for us to face those Andalusian troops alone, but Gonzalo ......"

Omo didn't continue, knowing that the queen understood what he meant.

The situation was now too delicate, with the armies of the three sides facing each other at the Guadaville River, and the fear that either side might be flanked by the other two, was why Gonzalo did not act rashly even though he had the advantage on the battlefield.

It's just that this stalemate has to be broken, and the invasion of Seville is the goal that both the Castilian and Sicilian armies will achieve, and everyone knows this, so the only question is when and who will attack first.

The Andalusian nobles were obviously well aware of the situation, so many of them quietly wrote letters to people on both sides, hoping to either get asylum or be allowed to leave the place, and some even wanted to talk to both sides, just to see who could bid higher.

As for Gonzalo's failure to send anyone to contact her, she was well aware that with Alexander's public declaration of his claim to the throne of Castile, there was no way back between him and Ferdinand, just as she had no way out with Ferdinand.

In this way, Gonzalo, who has a heavy army, has obviously become an important player for several parties to compete for, and it can be said that Gonzalo's announcement of support will play an important role in whether or not the Iberian Peninsula can be successfully unified in the future.

So it's not surprising that Gonzalo would put on a cold lookout at this time.

Another scout rode his horse, and before he could jump off his horse, the soldier was already shouting urgently: "Your Majesty, the cavalry of the Andalusians is rounding the north side of the lake, and they seem to be attacking from our flank. ”

The look of the staff attendant changed again, if the Andalusian cavalry really detoured from the north to cut off the retreat to the east, then their only way out was to retreat south.

The terrain to the south of the Two Sisters Lake is complicated, and although it is not difficult for cavalry to pass through, if they are attacked from behind, they are likely to suffer losses because they cannot evacuate in time.

If it weren't for the queen, perhaps they wouldn't have feared the Andalusian cavalry, but now they couldn't take any chances.

For the Sicilians, Josa is no longer the Countess who can willfully fight the Ottoman army outside Bucharest with only a few hundred newly built grenadier companies, she now needs to shoulder the mission and involve too many people with huge interests, if Alexander is the symbol of the future "Alexander's Empire" to the outside world, then Josa is the silk thread that maintains the empire through the trade alliance, The two men became the backbone and core of the largest interest group in Europe in the early 16th century.

"Your Majesty, you must leave at once!" The staff attendant shouted desperately to Jisha, and the look on his face was even a little hideous.

"Oh." This time she didn't object, she just frowned as if she was a little surprised and looked to the north, but the two sisters lake was really a bit big, and she obviously couldn't see what was going on over there.

The cavalrymen who were waiting on the shore quickly mounted their horses, in fact, they had already prepared, the flints on the muskets had not been removed, and some had already stuffed projectiles into the barrels of their guns in advance, and tamped them with strips, and now at the sound of the order, some of the cavalrymen who had been waiting for a long time galloped northward first, while other companions also quickly loaded their muskets.

Instead of wearing the inconvenient armor today, she wore a convenient riding skirt with a row of holsters on each side of her saddle with three special mounted guns stuck side by side.

By this time she had already turned over her horse, and she bent slightly to draw a long-handled short-barreled riding rifle from her holster and fiddle with it, as if she had muttered something strangely and softly.

Gunshots rang out in the distance, and although it was only a brief one or two, it had already made the people around Jisha nervous.

Even Omo, who had always known how to speak, couldn't help but reach out and grasp the scimitar at his waist, and he glanced at the staff attendant next to him, and quietly glanced at him.

With a slight nod, the squire turned his horse and came to Josa's side, and just as he was thinking about whether to immediately pull the queen's mount and turn around and run, Jesa suddenly shook his head at him.

"If you don't want to kill me, let me run on my own, believe me, I've been able to ride a horse on my own since I was 9 years old." After saying this, she shook her horse's head, but instead of turning immediately, she still looked in the direction of the north, and at the same time her eyes flashed with doubt.

A few more shots rang out, this time from a direction farther east, and it was clear that the coalition cavalry was intending to continue deeper to cut off the Sicilian retreat to the east, and because of the large number of enemies, the Sicilian cavalry had not been able to stop them.

"Your Majesty should go."

This time it was Omo who spoke, he reached out and grabbed the reins of the horse in Jisha's hand, and snatched it a little brutally, he knew very well that even if he was so unreasonable at this time, he would not be punished, so he simply did not expect the hesitant staff attendant anymore, and did it himself.

"Let's go."

She knew very well that insisting on her own opinions and being blindly stubborn were two different things, and she stubbornly refused to listen to other people's opinions just to maintain the so-called face under the obvious misjudgment, which is not the character of a smart monarch, and on the battlefield, this kind of blind stubbornness may cost her life.

Even so, she was still a little surprised when she left, she didn't think she had misjudged before, but it was also true that the coalition was now attacking her guards.

Until he ran out under the protection of the cavalry for a long time, Jisha was still a little unwilling.

She was annoyed by her mistake, and although it was only one of her few mistakes, it still made her feel a little uncomfortable.

The retreating team was not in a hurry, the cavalry protected the queen all the way to the southeast, and although the Sicilians did not yet fully control both sides of the Covones, they had established a stronghold on the west side of the river, from where they could send the queen safely across the river.

A rush of gunfire came from behind him, and the gunfire was obviously much more intense than before, which surprised the entourage around Jisha a little.

The cavalry sent to intercept the Andalusians was not very numerous, and their task was really only to harass and induce the enemy to pursue, so there were not many of them, and they would not deliberately stop to fight the enemy, but the current gunfire seemed to indicate that a fierce battle was going on between the two sides.

"Stop!"

With a sudden order, she grabbed the reins to stop the horse, and then looked back to the north.

Although the gunfire was intermittent, it could be heard that from time to time there was a dull but neat salvo that suppressed all the sounds.

A smile gradually appeared on her face as she listened carefully to the sound of the gunshot, and then she suddenly turned her horse's head and clamped her legs around the horse's belly hard, and suddenly galloped away to the exclamations of her attendants.

"Keep up ~ keep up with the Queen!" The entourage shouted and chased after each other, and for a while the whole team was even a little confused.

Fortunately, she didn't go far, she urged her horse to a raised high ground not far away and stopped, looking at the clouds of smoke and dust that seemed to rise from time to time to the north, and she let out a childlike innocent laugh.

"Here they are." She turned back to the officers who had caught up with her, pointing to them in the distance.

"That's ......," the staff attendant looked at Omo with some uncertainty.

"The Castilian Army." Omo nodded affirmatively, he noticed the queen's approving looks, and saluted him slightly, "Your Majesty, you have obviously guessed all this. ”

Listening to this simple but direct compliment, Jisha said a little helplessly: "But I didn't expect that Gonzalo to be so calm." ”

"He probably didn't know you were here, or he might have sent his troops long ago," Omo pondered, "seeing the Andalusians attacking us, perhaps he would have liked the battle to be more intense." ”

"Of course he hopes, and maybe he wants us to attack Seville first," Jossa looked in the direction of the north, but by this time her attention was no longer on the coalition forces that were fighting hard with the royal army that had suddenly joined the battle, but on Bingolola further north.

Gonzalo had a royal army of about 4,700 men there, which was not very large, but it was a model army that he had personally trained.

"Your Majesty, if we are going to attack Seville, we must be wary of the Castilian army, and it is dangerous to throw too many troops into our flanks and expose our flanks to the Castilians," Omo frowned, unlike his brother Kuraš, who served in the Queen's army and had been promoted to commander-in-chief, he was a staff attendant, and his duty was to consider more than just the battlefield, and he had to make clear to the commander the dangers and hidden dangers that might arise, even if they were pure speculations. So which of your three regiments are you going to have to attack the city of Seville? ”

Looking at Omo's slightly worried look, Tsusha smiled slightly, she reached out and gathered her hair that had been slightly messy by the wind to her ears, and gradually turned her gaze to the silhouette of the city that was already faintly visible on the other side of the Two Sisters Lake.

"Fourth Regiment," said Jossa began, "believe me, the Battle of Seville is not the end of the Andalusian end, but the beginning of the future of Castile and Aragon. ”

In April 1503, the Model Army, led by Gonzalo, and the new army of the Kingdom of Sicily met under the city of Seville, and a battle for Andalusia was about to begin.