Caesar had been standing in the middle of the room for some time, looking at the busy figure of the young painter named Raphael not far ahead, and he was somewhat expecting what his portrait would look like.

Since Michelangelo left for Florence, Raphael has become the most promising and anticipated new master in Rome, and although he is still young and has not yet been imprisoned, he is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant geniuses of his time.

In fact, Caesar had already seen Raphael's skills two years ago, and his "Baptism of the Duchess of Estelles" not only made him famous, but also made many people really recognize his extraordinary talent, even Pope Alexander VI was willing to pay for one of his paintings.

In addition to his extraordinary talents, the young painter also had a very pleasing look for women and men, at least Caesar had heard that Julia Farne admired the young master, and not only did she provide him with a new studio, but also asked him to paint for his 25th birthday.

For the sake of this painting, it is said that Giulia Farne left Raphael in his palace late each time.

Caesar didn't care much if there was any affair between Julia Farner and the young painter, and he understood Julia very well, after all, his father was too old to satisfy a young woman like Julia, so Caesar would not be surprised if she found a lover.

What worried Caesar was Alexander VI, and when he returned to Rome, he saw that his father, who he hadn't seen for a few months, seemed to be aging again, which made Caesar feel a sense of crisis.

He knew that his family's ability to still dominate Rome today was entirely due to Alexander VI, and that if the Pope suddenly fell, it would be a fatal blow to the Borgia family.

Therefore, upon his return to Rome, he immediately announced the re-establishment of the Papal Army, and at the same time declared the Roman Tescian army stationed in Rome to be undesirable and protected foreign forces.

In order to get enough support, he took the initiative to travel around Rome, visiting nobles and even enemies whom he had previously disdained.

In front of those people, Caesar did not have the arrogance and arrogance of the past, but tried to persuade those people in various ways.

This came as a surprise to many people, apparently after this period of setbacks, Caesar became much calmer than before, and at the same time he always maintained that slightly cunning cleverness, which made many Roman nobles think that maybe this time Caesar could bring them some surprises and surprises.

At least when it came to dealing with the Roman army stationed in Rome, his actions were quite remarkable to many.

While announcing the expulsion of the Roman Tescian army, Caesar did not rush to confront his army, which had just been formed and was not only small in number but also obviously inferior in weapons and equipment to the enemy, but adopted a rather ingenious way to get another man to come forward to solve the problem.

This man was Julia Farne's widowed aunt's future husband, Skop Farne, the current commander of the Roman city's defenses.

As the nominal commander of the army in Rome, Skop naturally had natural power, so Caesar was the first to visit him after returning to Rome.

He hoped that Skop would become a representative of the two families of Borgia and Farne to show their alliance again, so that he could prove that the Farnes still supported Alexander VI.

Caesar apparently made the right choice this time, and Skop quickly accepted Caesar's suggestion, issuing an ultimatum to the Roman army in the name of the Roman defender, and announcing the blockade of the army's barracks from the outside world.

After several days of confrontation, the stalemate ended with the withdrawal of the Roman army from the city of Rome.

This swelled Caesar's prestige, and Alexander VI, though he did not publicly express his support for the expulsion, said enough that he would give Caesar a golden-hilated sword in public, symbolizing the supreme military commander who guarded the city of Rome.

At this point, Caesar did not officially declare war on Rome-Thesia, but his strong hostility was already very obvious, and with the final declaration of war against Rome-Thesia, Caesar's intentions were finally fully revealed to the world.

It's just that Caesar didn't expect that so many countries would join the Holy Alliance next, and what he didn't expect was that the Queen Regent of Naples would march to Rome.

Caesar's thoughts were interrupted by a man entering the room, and he frowned secretly, but then looked relaxed again.

Ever since the proclamation of the Anti-French Alliance, Caesar had felt tremendous pressure, and he felt a deep sense of urgency knowing that the city-states would be a force to be reckoned with once united.

However, in front of the others, he must look like he is in control to reassure people, but secretly he has entrusted Skop with the opportunity of the anti-French alliance to deal with Louis XII, and spare no effort to quickly expand the Papal army.

For this purpose, at his repeated requests, Alexander VI used the reserves of the gold Ladia coins issued by the Holy See.

After pouring large sums of money into it, the Papal Army had begun to take shape in a short time.

"Caesar, don't you want to go and see your army?"

Skop, who walked into the room, looked at Raphael and raised his eyebrows slightly, of course he knew about the affairs between the young painter and Julia Farne, and because of this, when Caesar came to visit him, he also specifically mentioned that he hoped that he would not let outsiders misunderstand because of some small accidents within the family.

"I don't need soldiers right now."

Caesar waved his hand a little annoyedly, the number of papal troops quickly armed with Ladia gold coins issued by the Holy See was quite impressive, and at least in just one week, there was an army of about 4,000 men.

But in contrast to the rapidly organized army, Caesar now troubled him by the lack of enough officers.

His guard had already been assigned to the troops, but he knew that they might be loyal, but most of them were only qualified soldiers and were not up to command, which put him in great trouble.

This is also the reason why when he heard that the Neapolitan army was advancing towards Rome, he could not respond quickly.

Caesar did not believe the rumors that the Neapolitan queen had fought and even defeated the Ottoman army, which he thought were not only exaggerated, but may have been concocted to slap the queen in the first place.

However, he could not help but admit that the Neapolitan army was a formidable enemy, after all, even the original French were defeated and driven out of Naples by them, so Caesar did not dare to take this enemy lightly.

"I need officers, we must recruit enough experienced officers," Caesar habitually brushed the long hair hanging down his forehead, touched the edge of the silver mask on his face, his hand paused, and then said to Skop with some helplessness, "I can pay enough soldiers, but if there is a lack of officers, then maybe we will not have a good time on the battlefield." ”

"That's true, the soldiers need more than enough training now, and I've seen the training of the Roman-Thesians, and they really pay more attention to that than any army we know."

Skop nodded in agreement, looking at Caesar's vaguely anxious look, he thought for a moment and then said, "Maybe we can have another way, but it may take a lot of money." ”

"Money is not a problem," Caesar said at once, "and if the money is not used at this time, it may be left to lie in the vault forever, but what is the solution?" ”

"It's the University of Bologna," Skop explained to Caesar, "you know there are a lot of famous scholars there who teach all kinds of knowledge, but during this time they also started to train soldiers, and some soldiers are getting all kinds of education there, and it's not the same as before, those soldiers can be said to be very talented, and they have to learn a lot of things that mercenaries wouldn't have come into contact with before, and I think if you try to recruit some officers at the University of Bologni, it should still be possible. But you also know that the teachers at that university are not so easy to deal with, and you have to pay a lot of money to get your students to drop their studies and join your army. ”

"There is such a thing, isn't this a military school for the children of the nobility of Alexander's era?" Caesar asked with some surprise, "It seems that a lot has happened during my absence from Rome, but it is indeed a good thing, and as for the price you said, dear Skop, as I said before, the gold coins in the Vatican treasury have been sleeping for too long." ”

Speaking of this, Caesar smiled slightly: "Speaking of which, the only thing that Kambray did to my satisfaction was to encourage my father to issue the gold Ladia, but he would never have imagined that all that he did would eventually become my trophy." ”

Seeing that Caesar finally showed a relaxed smile, Skop nodded slowly with an indifferent expression: "You are right, after all, there are too many things in this world that are unexpected." ”

On April 27, 1501, an army came to the city of Bologna.

The commander of this army brought with him the orders of Cardinal Massimo, which, despite his reluctance, the Bologna magistrate had to order that the army be prepared with a place where they could live, and that they should be provided with sufficient rations.

Fortunately, the Roman Tescian army, which was said to have been stationed in Rome before, was quite similar to the 6th Roman Tescian Regiment now stationed in Bologna, and the first thing they did after entering the camp was to start the cleaning in an almost harsh way, and after carrying out the truckloads of garbage, the army began to purge frantically.

This made the Bolognese official who had been ordered to prepare the house for them feel incredulous, especially when he saw that they had wiped the floor with water and hemp to almost make a human figure, and the official couldn't help but shake his head in annoyance.

"It's not an army, it's a bunch of dandies," the officer told them, "if these people are always so exquisite, they won't live long on the battlefield." ”

The officials said this when they reported to the political officials when they returned, but it had nothing to do with them, and the only thing that worried them was whether the arrival of the army would cause the Vatican to be dissatisfied.

The news that Caesar had expelled the Roman army had reached Bologna, which made the Bolognese worry about the situation.

If Caesar really decided to make enemies of the Duke of Ronathasia, then Bologna's position would undoubtedly be awkward, since the Cathedral of Massimo, as the Metropolitan of Romagna, was located in Bologna.

And it is well known that this cardinal was the agent of the Duke of Rome Thesia in the Vatican.

Also interested in the entry of the Roman garrison into Bologna was Paulo Busaco, the current Roman commander of the Tertesian garrison in Bologna.

Busaco's luck was not very good during this time, whether it was the firmness of Ofraj or Gompati's position in the Roman Tescian army, or the emergence of Nicola Jo Macioni, who seemed to be gradually leaving him behind.

While these men were showing their importance in their respective districts and borders by commanding their respective armies, Busaco spent his days in Bologna doing nothing with repeated training of troops.

However, with Caesar's return, Busacus became excited, especially when he heard that Caesar had actually expelled the Roman Thecian garrison, and Busako immediately gave orders to his army to prepare for battle.

Then watching the Roman garrison arrive in Bologna, Busac's mind couldn't help but move.

In Alexander's army, Busacco's 6th Bologna Regiment was the only regiment with only half the strength at the time of its creation, which made Busacco very unhappy for a while.

With the occupation of Bologna in the Second Romagna War on the orders of Barentia, Busacco faced the dilemma of being slowly distanced from the elite of Alexander's army due to his own lack of troops.

Busako did not want to see his army reduced to a mere city defense in the end, and he hoped to become a general on a par with Gompati and Oflaiyi.

Now the arrival of the Roman Thescian garrison seemed to give Busacco a hope.

However, Busako did not expect that before he could report his thoughts to Barentia in Montina, a battle that he did not expect would come ahead of schedule.

On 2 May, the Neapolitan army approached the city of Rome and set up positions on the famous Mont de Rocadispas outside the city.

Because of the division of troops in Pisa, the Neapolitan army that marched on Rome was about 3,000 people, which made Caesar nervous and slightly relieved.

However, despite this, he did not underestimate the enemy, and after determining the number of Neapolitan troops, while ordering the Papal army to defend the city against the Neapolitan attack, at the suggestion of Caesar, Alexander VI sent someone to invite Maria, the former queen of Naples, to the Sistine Chapel.

After some haggling, Queen Maria left the city of Rome under the protection of a group of guards and went to the Neapolitan camp on the Rocadipas Hill to try to convince Josa.

This was the first time that Jossa met Maria after becoming the regent of Naples, but this meeting was destined to end unhappily, and in the face of Maria's persuasion, Jossa replied with only one sentence: "Rome either fights or surrenders." ”

When Mary brought back this reply, Caesar was silent for a long time.

He knew that his army was not in a good situation right now, but the unexpectedly small number of troops gave him hope.

With 4,000 against less than 3,000, can't you still win?

The thought gradually made Caesar's heart restless, and at the same time, the arrival of another piece of news that lifted his spirits made him determined.

The French army, led by Boweken, Count of Proswan, repelled the newly arrived Neapolitan army outside the city of Pisa, and then laid siege to Pisa!

Faced with this news that shook everyone, Caesar finally made up his mind.

In the early morning of May 5, as the cool morning breeze blew across the top of Rocadispas, two Neapolitan soldiers patrolling the hillside facing the city of Rome suddenly saw a procession slowly moving in the distance.

The soldiers immediately rushed back to the camp to report the situation.

Hearing this, she left her tent, for it was morning, and her golden-like hair was not tied up in a headdress but casually draped over her shoulders, and a black cloak full of embroidered patterns fluttered slowly with the morning breeze, revealing a faintly shiny reflection of her armor.

At the sight of the Queen, the Neapolitan generals had an almost fanatical look in their eyes.

The army was built on the core of her troops during her expedition to the Balkans, and most of these officers had seen the queen in battle.

But at that time she was still a countess, and now she is their queen.

Now that their queen is wearing armor again, it means that she will once again go to battle with them and fight side by side.

"Is Caesar going to fight me at the foot of Rocca Lipas?"

Jisha was not surprised to ask her officers.

"Apparently so, Your Majesty," said one officer, looking down the hillside in the distance, "presumably in Caesar's opinion, our army is not as numerous as his is a rare opportunity. ”

"And that stupid Lucrezia actually lost the battle," Jossa whispered to herself in an inaudible voice, and when the news of Pisa's defeat came, she had already guessed that it might irritate Caesar, she looked at the officers, and smiled at them, "In that case, let us meet Caesar outside Rome." ”

As soon as Jisha's words fell, suddenly, a singing voice came from the bottom of the hillside.

People looked over with some surprise, and saw that at this time the rows of soldiers had moved down the hillside, and at the same time the familiar singing voice was also drifting in the wind:

"Soldiers, prepare to move forward~

Behold, the armor of the Ottomans is distinct,

Their feathers are so beautiful that I can't help but want to pluck them,

Oh ~ Grenadier, the Queen is there, let's pay tribute to her,

Let's get honors,

Oh ~ grenadiers, the Ottomans are there, let's pounce on the enemy.

Let's pick up the victory~"