July in Tuscany is a very beautiful season, although some hot but not very poisonous sun holds a huge parasol on the head, this somewhat steaming umbrella will be covered until the low of August, and then the weather will gradually cool, and in September, the fields here will be painted with a magnificent layer of golden ears of wheat, when the whole of Tuscany will be dazzling.

Now, walking on this plain, you can see patches of green fields.

The road to Montina, though lightly groomed, was still rough and difficult, which made Alexander miss the straight roads a little, but he knew not to say that he didn't have the ability to build such a road, and even if he had, he wouldn't do it, because it would be a waste of resources.

Alexander could understand the need for the ancient Romans to try to build a vast network of communications that would make it easier for Roman legions to be present in the provinces that were ready to move, but he also knew that the Romans would have done so at best, and that if they were to invest more money and manpower to build those roads into the city of Rome, whoever made such a suggestion would be ridiculed as insane.

Alexander needed a road that would allow his army to pass through and facilitate the gradual prosperity of commerce, and although it seemed uncomfortable to walk on it now, he was satisfied with the large grasses that were taller than a man on the side of the road.

Montina's army marched much faster than any other army, or at least in the present day, at a rate high enough to be among the best in all of Europe, largely due to the almost forced and hypnotic training of the soldiers.

Rhythmic music can make people instinctively resonate, and the result of involuntarily following the rhythm of every step can make people ignore the trouble caused by fatigue to the body, and the appropriate acceleration of the rhythm can make the army also unconsciously speed up the march, and this acceleration can last for a long time.

The farther march required the usual training, and Alexander heard of the new recruits' curses for being taken to Montina every day and then being driven around the castle, and that many were even secretly discussing the opportunity to teach the veterans who had trained them like crazy.

They were the old Agri soldiers that Ofrai had selected to train recruits, these were of course trusted and experienced in combat, and each of them had participated in every battle Alexander had fought in when he came out of Agri, and only such soldiers could make those recruits dare not disobey their orders even if they hated it unspeakably.

Alexander was going to train these veterans, some of whom were not yet 20 years old, but their qualifications and experience were enough to be called "uncle" in the ranks, and this title was about to replace the formal titles in the ranks.

And at this time, there was an "uncle" by Alexander's side.

This is a bare man with no hair on the top of his head on the left side, he is not very old, he should not be more than 30 years old, because the top of his head looks hideous because he was almost stripped off half of his scalp in the battle of Orar Town, and he is one of the most terrifying training officers in the minds of many recruits.

The recruits called him Uncle Danfu, but Alexander knew it wasn't his name, but the sailor from Pisa didn't want anyone to know what his original name was.

"Can the army be faster?" Alexander asked.

"I think we can hurry up," said Uncle Danfu, an answer that the recruits would immediately scold when they heard it, "and they ran faster than this when they were in Montina, and one of them once hung a few pieces of meat on them, and chased them after a few hungry dogs. ”

The corners of Alexander's mouth moved, he already knew a little bit about how these people trained those recruits, it would certainly not be a very pleasant thing, but as long as nothing went wrong, he didn't want to care.

Just think about how difficult, if not cruel, the process of quickly training a group of farmers from the mountains into qualified soldiers is.

Alexander would not be naïve enough to think that disciplined armies were armed with supposedly lofty ideals and convictions, and at least in this age or a century or two later, brutal and almost impersonal training and promises of bounty after victory were always the only way to get a well-trained and obedient army.

"Then let the front team speed up," Alexander ordered the herald on the other side, and then he turned to look at Uncle Danford, "Have you thought about it?" ”

"My lord, do you want me to study?" Danford pushed the helmet on his head, because of the scar on his head, his hat always seemed to be tilted to the side, which made him look even more ruffian, "To be honest, I don't know if it's a good thing, you know, I'll only sail boats and fight." ”

"It's not just you, all of you, I mean you 'uncles', you have to learn, of course, after this battle," Alexander looked at the front of the group, "I heard that in the future, the war will no longer rely on you to wield a two-handed sword that is heavier than others, you should see that the two-handed sword is not so useful in front of the musket." ”

"But you have to admit that your two-handed sword is still very powerful, and in Orar, you have seen me cut off the head of a Milanese knight's horse with a single sword."

Speaking of his pride, Dan Fu habitually put his hand into the helmet and touched the scarred and uneven top of his head, only when he saw Alexander looking at him, he secretly pouted and nodded.

"Okay, my lord, I'll listen to you, but I'm a stupid person, and I can't learn the skills of a captain."

"Even Ofreil only wanted to be a sculptor in the first place," Alexander smiled slightly, he didn't know what Ofleuil's future would be like if he hadn't followed him, maybe he would have spent his whole life on Agri's farm, maybe he would have become a good carver as he said, but he knew that none of this should be what Ofleil wanted.

Offrey has an innate rigor, which allows him to take a wooden board and a charcoal pen with him to record everything he passes, and his keen observation of the terrain allows him to constantly consider whether his environment is beneficial.

These habits made him a rare staff officer, and many battles also gave him the ability to take charge on his own.

The main thing is that Oflair is still very young, which gives him more shape to the future.

If nothing else, Ofleiyi will become Alexander's chief of staff in the future, and these veterans he selects will become important junior non-commissioned officers in Alexander's future army.

Alexander was not short of men who could stand on his own, for his army had not yet reached that size, but what he needed now was a junior non-commissioned officer who could stabilize the bottom of the army for him, which was why he was determined to send these 'uncles' to school after this unexpected conflict with the Genoese had passed.

"How sure do you think we are if we encounter the Genoese in the wilderness?"

Alexander finally asked the question he was most concerned about.

How well the soldiers are trained, only people like Danfu can give a real answer.

"The Genoese are very powerful, we have trained with them," Danfu's face sank slightly, "My lord, I have to say that many of our soldiers have not seen blood, at least they are not comparable to us." ”

Alexander nodded, he knew who Danfu was referring to 'we', and that included the Agri veterans, including the Bohemians, including the sailors recruited from Pisa, and himself.

"We need them," Alexander said to his men, "and I know that it will be difficult for them to fight the Genoese, but now that we have no choice, I am sure that Cardino will not let go of this good opportunity, so he must be coming towards us, and he will intercept us before we enter Montina." ”

"That's right," Dan Fu said in a low voice, as an uncle, he didn't care about how to fight or who to fight with except for the dozens of men he usually trained and brought under his control, and now Alexander's words still made him a little confused about what was going on on the battlefield, but he at least knew Alexander's intention to call him.

"Please rest assured, my lord, we will take care of those subordinates," the corners of Danfu's mouth curled, and a cruel smile appeared inadvertently, "It's a pity that this is not on the ship, otherwise I have a better way to make them obedient." ”

Looking at Dan Fu's appearance, Alexander suddenly seemed to have an image of wearing a black turban, wearing a big shoulder, holding a scimitar in his hand, and wearing a black eye patch on one side of his eyes, which made him start to wonder what Dan Fu was doing at sea before.

Even if the Montina army that crossed the North Arno River increased its advance, it still could not rush to Montina at once, because except for the Bohemians, who could come and go like the wind, the whole army could not march in such a uniform manner, which naturally delayed the speed of the whole army.

What's more, there were also the 5 guns and ammunition of Gompati in the ranks.

This greatly limited the speed of the march, and in the early morning of July 12, when the sky had just broken and there was still silence in the camp of Montina's army, a hurried sound of horses' hoofs broke the silence of the dawn, and hurried across the still somewhat dark plain, towards the direction of the camp.

The soldiers on guard heard the sound from afar, but they could only discern the direction and number of people coming from the sound of hooves, and they clenched their weapons with some nervousness, and just as one of the musketeers was ready to fire desperately and report to the camp at the same time, a familiar whistle came from the opposite side.

"It's a bohemia, a scout sent out." The other sentry stopped his companion just in time, rubbing his eyes as best he could, so that he could see the faint shadow that was already very close.

The Bohemians rushed past the guards almost non-stop, and with the sound of hooves, there was an immediate commotion in the camp.

Alexander was waking up in a dream that the Vatican's currency was running rampant throughout Europe, but as more and more people used his gold coins, he noticed that something was changing.

Alexander laughed in his dream, and he said to himself that only he knew how it all happened, and that only he knew that it was a huge hoax from the beginning.

It was at this time that Alexander was woken up by Busako, and when he opened his eyes in a somewhat dazed way, he saw that Busako had a strange look.

He didn't know that Busaco had misunderstood what he was doing in his dream, and the news from the Bohemian scouts immediately caught his attention.

Despite his expectations, Alexander let out a soft curse when he heard that Cardgino's army had appeared less than 20 miles away from him.

He knew that Cardino had made up his mind to intercept him in the middle of the road, and it was clear that the Genoese were so impressed by the defense of Montina's army that he didn't even think of making a tentative attack on Montina's castle.

On the contrary, Cargino apparently believed that Alexander, who was in a hurry to return to Montina, was his prey.

Defeating Alexander in the field and then forcing him to relinquish Château Montina is the best solution at the moment.

Cardino was fast, at least the way from departure to occupation to stop Alexander's path was completed in one day.

This made Alexander wary, he knew that although this distance and speed were nothing to Montina's army, the Genoese were able to react so quickly, which showed that Cardino was indeed an unusual opponent.

Alexander has never despised Kargino, especially after experiencing the Battle of Oral, Kargino's keen grasp of the fighter also left a deep impression on him, as for this person to spend money to buy the results of the battle in order to obtain honor, perhaps in the eyes of others This is a very shameful move, but Alexander feels that this person obviously has a rare flexibility and sharpness.

"Less than 20 francs?"

Alexander pondered for a moment, and took out a map of Tuscany from his bag, which was drawn by Ofleil after asking the passing merchants to provide him with the terrain, although the accuracy of such a map was debatable, but at least at this time it was already rare.

"This is it."

A Bohemian drew a circle in one place on the map, and although the circle seemed a bit large, Alexander already had a rough idea of Calgino's location.

"This is indeed the road leading to Montina," said Gompati, after taking a closer look, to Alexander, "this is the flattest of places, and if we do not pass through it we will have to pass through the whole mountainous area to the east, but then our losses will be great." ”

Alexander shook his head slightly, knowing that the losses Gompati was referring to his artillery.

Alexandria knew that the mountains were completely inaccessible to artillery, and even the Bohemian horses had difficulty passing through, and all the baggage carried by the troops had to be abandoned.

But it wasn't that that was really important, but it was only after crossing the mountains that the troops could turn west, and at this point, it was very likely that Cargino would take advantage of the terrain to shift their positions and continue to intercept their way.

"This is probably the advantage of the so-called inside combat."

Alexander thought to himself that he was not a military expert, and he was not very familiar with this pure military technique except for some vague concepts.

However, although he was unfamiliar, he also knew that Calgino's advantage in the terrain forced him to either make a desperate detour, but even then he could still be intercepted again, or accept a battle with Calgino on this plain.

It is clear that Cargino had chosen this place as a battlefield to fight him deliberately.

It was about a day's journey from Montina, which ensured that he wouldn't be flanked from behind when attacking Alexander.

Cargino may even have planned to wait until Alexander's army had been defeated, and then have time to turn back to meet the reinforcements of Montina who might come to meet him.

In this way, he could defeat the enemy one by one while avoiding the offensive and defensive battles that Montina's army was best at, which gave him a headache.

"Fighting on the inside." Alexander muttered to himself again.

"My lord, perhaps we can go on the defensive," Gompati suggested, "and Oflaiyi will surely come to our rescue, and then we can be flanked on both sides." ”

"Kargino also knows that Ofleiyi will come to our aid, what do you think will happen if we defend in place?"

"Then he'll have a chance to defeat Ofleiyi first, and then turn around against us." Gompati sighed helplessly, he knew that his suggestion would obviously not be adopted, which made him a little annoyed, "This guy is really difficult to deal with." ”

"Kargino is a real soldier," Alexander also sighed slightly, this is the most difficult opponent he has encountered so far, this man even gives him the illusion that he is not fighting an opponent of his current age, "Gompati, our only hope now is that your artillery is as useful as you say, and the speed that is characteristic of our Montina army." ”

Alexander's words lifted the faces of the officers around him, and they knew that Alexander was not referring to himself, but to the army of Ofleuil, who was far away in Montina.

Cargino chose the battlefield with the day's itinerary in mind according to the speed of the march of his Genoese troops, and what was the speed of the march of Montina's army?

Alexander looked at the map again, and the plain between the mountains and his army caught his attention.

"This is it," Alexander's finger tapped on the map, "If I were Cardino, I would choose this battlefield." ”

Looking at that place and reminiscing a little, Gompati frowned slightly, and now he finally understood why Alexander had told him that his artillery was a hope of victory.

It's a very open plain, and it can be said that it is a good place to be born as a battlefield.

It's just that for Montina's army, this may be a paradise born from fire, or a hell to sink into.

"Order," Alexander looked up at the sun that had risen in the east, "ready to fight!" ”