The Monastery of San Sebarón in Calibo still stands alone on a cliff, and the years of wind and rain have made this ancient monastery look even more vicissitudes.

The Calibo were not surprised by the sudden arrival of the Aragonese army, in fact, because of the inconvenient transportation and remote location, many of the Calibo did not even know that the Sicilian throne had changed, so although the sudden appearance of the Aragon army caused all kinds of suspicion among the locals, they did not know what it meant.

The arrival of about 6,000 Aragonese troops brought the small coastal town of Caribo to life, with women coming out of their homes and watching curiously at the soldiers passing by the streets, while men stared warily at the Aragonese who might cause them trouble.

According to the plan, the Aragonese army was to wait for the fleet to return to blockade the sea before launching an attack on Palermo, and the purpose of this was to give the wavering elements of the coalition a chance.

At the same time as the army was being sent, Ferdinand began his diplomatic mediation, and after sending a series of emissaries to lobby the countries of the trade alliance, Ferdinand believed that the alliance would soon fall apart.

So the Aragonese army did not march north immediately after the landing, but remained in Caribo for the time being, waiting for the return of the fleet.

Apparently unable to provide shelter for the sudden surplus of troops, the Aragonese had to set up camp outside the city after requisitioning many houses.

The commander of the expeditionary force chose his residence in the monastery, which was high enough to have a bird's-eye view of the city, and although the commander did not need to look at it himself, it would be a consolation if he could see the fleet from the sea early on.

The abbot of the Abbey of St. Sebaaron was a man of few words, and even in the face of the esteemed nobles of Aragon, the abbot who had always been a shallow man only showed his face when they first met, and then disappeared as if it had never existed.

So far, the Aragonese have been moving very well, and the landing at Caribo was something that the coalition did not expect, and now the coalition forces can only completely retreat to the city of Palermo in order to hold their stronghold in Sicily, which gives the Aragonese plenty of opportunities.

Although the coalition occupation of Sicily was not long, the declaration of the unification of Sicily by the Queen of Naples clearly had a great impact on Sicily's ownership.

This was not even just a problem on the battlefield, even if the coalition forces could be driven out of Sicily soon, but the ensuing troubles were indisputable, so at this time, taking advantage of the fact that the coalition forces did not dare to leave Palermo easily, it became another task for the Aragonese army to quickly reassert its possession of the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea by force throughout Sicily.

Even to the Aragonese people, this may be more troublesome than defeating the coalition forces.

The Monastery of St. Sebalong's is still so deserted and slightly eerie that you often can't hear anything other than footsteps when you walk inside.

It's a suffocatingly quiet world, and for those who are used to the hustle and bustle outside, spending a short time here can go crazy.

Count Don Sanchod walked slowly in the corridors of the monastery, and as the commander of the expeditionary force, he knew that his task was more to deal with the problems of post-war Sicily.

The annoying Flomenza is gone, and it is believed that the Sicilian governor will never be seen again.

Count Don Santchud knew that he would be the next governor of Sicily, so now he was thinking not about how to defeat the enemy, but what to do next.

This Sicilian change seems to have made Ferdinand determined, although he changed the palace minister who ruled in Sicily instead of him to the governor, but he still adopted a relatively tolerant strategy towards the local nobleman Ferdinand, but the Neapolitan invasion made him realize that there were a number of local forces in Sicily that would cause him trouble, which made Ferdinand have to reconsider how to solve these problems.

These troubles will be settled by the Count Don Sanchod for the King, who, as a trusted retainer, is well placed to undertake this mission.

A figure in the distance swayed, and the count was somewhat surprised to find the abbot coming, this was the second time he had seen the abbot since he lived in the monastery of St. Sebalon.

According to the mayor of Caripo, the abbot came to San Sebaron more than a year ago, and he replaced the old abbot who seemed to have suffered an emergency and was suddenly called to become the new abbot of San Sebaron.

"God bless you, Count." The abbot, who always surrounded himself in an overly wide dark monastic robe, greeted Count Don Sanchod, who came across from him, and after making him kiss his hand, the abbot did not continue forward, but stood down and took the initiative to chat with the earl, "I notice that your army seems to be here for a while, and I hope this will not disturb the peace of the Kalibo." ”

"Please rest assured, Lord Dean, Kalibo is also the king's domain, and our soldiers will not come here without nonsense." Count Don Thornchud replied respectfully, and although the monastery of Saint-Sebalong was located in the middle of nowhere, the respect for the Church still made the Count cautious.

"I hope so, Count, that the respect for the Church is now becoming less and less, just as in Palermo, where it is so bad."

The abbot's seemingly unintentional words aroused the interest of Count Don Thorntyud, who immediately asked: "Why, Lord Abbot, have you ever spent time in Palermo and Naples?" ”

"It was there for a while," said the abbot's voice, which seemed to be a little erratic, and he and the Count walked slowly through the courtyard, "I have seen with my own eyes the tragic appearance of the Bishop of Palermo being dragged out of his room by the savage soldiers, who were naked, and who did not even give him a garment to cover his shame, which was an insult to the Church and to God. ”

Count Don Thornchud drew a cross silently without opening his mouth, and he had a hunch that the abbot did not seem to be speaking to him casually about these things.

"What happened in Palermo is still a nightmare when I think about it, and it's all because of one person."

The Count knew that the abbot had already reached the point, and he waited quietly to hear the answer.

Sure enough, the abbot continued: "Alexandre Giuliante Cambrai, a little man of his time. ”

"Duke of Thesia?" Count Don Sanchod, who was a little surprised, asked in a low voice that the king had told him about the duke before he came to Sicily, and in fact if it were not for the man who was now within reach, Ferdinand would have sent someone to arrest him and throw him into prison.

"Everything that happened on that bloody night in Palermo had something to do with that man, even the death of the palace minister of Gomez had something to do with him, and now the result of all this has been fulfilled in the case of the Queen of Naples, who is a half-brother and sister with her, isn't he?"

The abbot looked at the thoughtful Count and said in a low voice, "In fact that Cambray is a very strange man, no one knows what his origin is, no one knows who his father is, his mother George Anne is tight-lipped about his origins, and no one who knows the details of his father seems to be willing to tell the truth. ”

Count Don Thornchud looked at the abbot with some strange curiosity, and though he was curious about the subject, he did not quite understand why the abbot was so keen on it.

As if sensing the Count's doubts, the abbot nodded slightly to Count Don Thorntyud, and then walked slowly in the direction of his room, leaving only the Count looking at his back and groaning thoughtfully.

The news of the arrival of the Aragon army at Caribo brought a wave of turmoil to Palermo, and many of the locals who had been active after the arrival of the Neapolitans began to become uneasy, some of them were anxious to explain to others that they were only forced to do so, while others approached the generals they knew well and quietly asked them if they would leave Sicily and, if so, if they could take them with them.

Jossa sensed the unease in the city of Palermo, but she didn't seem to take it to heart.

She ordered the Neapolitan army to defend the important areas of Palermo, and ordered the coalition fleet to sail out of port.

The coalition generals were taken by surprise by his decision, and at a time when many people thought that the fleet was their only way out, it was undoubtedly a self-defeating way to let the fleet leave Palermo at this time.

The coalition generals eagerly approached Jisha and wanted her to change her mind, but in exchange for a stern reprimand from Jisha: "Maybe this is indeed a self-defeating retreat for us, but why haven't you thought that the Aragonese are not taking the same risks as us, or have you never thought that the Aragonese would react like this to our occupation of Sicily?" ”

"But Your Majesty, the Aragonese came too quickly, yes, too quickly, and we were not at all prepared for it."

One of the generals replied with some uneasiness, and the others looked at the queen with apprehension.

"So you are cowardly because of this," Zhisa pursed her lips slightly, her gaze swept over the generals in front of her, and there was undisguised contempt in her expression, "Didn't you expect the Aragonese to come so quickly, it just means that they are also unprepared, I sent the fleet to the sea to intercept the ships that transported the Aragonese army, and when you think that I have cut off the retreat, I have also cut off the retreat of the Aragonese, since we are destined to fight the Aragonese in Sicily, Then I will never back down because of timidity. ”

Ji Sha finally stood up, even if she straightened her waist, she still looked petite and graceful in front of those burly soldiers, but her expression made those generals involuntarily bow their heads in front of her.

At this moment, it occurred to them that it was not only a queen standing in front of them, but also the commander who had led the coalition to defeat the powerful French army in Italy and forced the king of France to sign a treaty.

"The Aragonese may want to wait for their fleet, but I. Having set foot on Sicilian soil, they do not have the right to choose how to fight, so I have decided not to wait for the arrival of the enemy, but to take the initiative and fight a decisive battle with the Aragonese. ”

As soon as Jisha's voice fell, everyone couldn't help but be surprised.

Many people's faces have changed color, and they look at each other, and they all see surprise and uneasiness in each other's eyes.

In the eyes of many in the coalition forces, a strong defense against the enemy in Palermo was the best option, because even if they failed in the end, they could hand over the city as a bargaining chip.

But if they leave Palermo and go deep into the interior of Sicily, it means that they will have to throw everything into it without reservation.

Success is lucrative, but failure comes at a price that you may not be able to bear.

The generals looked at each other, hoping that someone would object, and that they would have enough excuses to ask even the slightest question

But soon everyone realized that no one wanted to do it, and more subtly, they saw in the eyes of others that they wanted others to stand up as they did.

At this moment, these coalition generals thought of not only the extraordinary command skills that Jisha had shown in the Italian war, but more of the image she had already made on the Ladia gold coin.

Khosha Kosenza Astamara was a wise queen in the eyes of the commoners and a commander in the eyes of the soldiers, but in the eyes of the merchants of the trade alliances, she represented endless wealth.

They will not forget that it was also in the face of the French, when almost everyone was not optimistic about the disadvantages of the trade alliance, the queen created a miracle that no one could have imagined before, and the subsequent huge Ladian currency wave in France made everyone involved make a lot of money.

For a time, France even became the feast that was torn and devoured by countless people, and all this was the masterpiece of this beautiful young queen in front of her.

Since she was able to overcome and even tear off a piece of fat from the French in that unfavorable situation, what about today?

Such thoughts are slowly brewing in the hearts of everyone, and at the same time, looking at the other people, their eyes are flashing with a calculating light, no one wants more people to share the benefits, this is a good time to find a way to kick the others out.

The room instantly became eerie, everyone expected the others to make stupid decisions, but in the end they found that no one seemed to want to be a fool in the eyes of others.

There was a hint of pride in her eyes, and when others thought she was complacent about becoming the queen of Sicily, she was in fact meeting with all the allied generals in private, and she made all kinds of promises to them, the key is that she made everyone aware of her strong confidence in keeping Sicily.

"Follow me, you will get the riches you have always dreamed of, and Sicily will open its arms to all of you," Zhisa looked beyond the people in front of him into the distance "The Ottomans have taken control of the eastern Mediterranean, Venice has lost all the islands they have occupied overseas, and Portugal and Castile are at war for the new colonies in the Atlantic, are you willing to give up this last chance to control the western Mediterranean?" ”

The eyes of the coalition generals became hot, they knew that what Jisha said was right, the Mediterranean Sea is now undergoing earth-shaking changes, as the maritime overlord Venice is facing strong pressure from the Ottomans, and the development of the trade alliance that has penetrated deep into the interior of Europe in the Mediterranean has also encountered the first bottleneck, at this time, if it cannot smoothly expand its control over the Mediterranean region, then the trade alliance will not be able to continue to expand.

This is a big test for all members of the trade alliance, if they cannot break through this shackle, the trade union will be imprisoned on the west coast of the Mediterranean, and it will be difficult to continue to grow strong.

"It's going to start a big war." A general muttered to himself staring at the elaborately painted tiles at his feet, who had been a textile merchant in a small coastal town, and coincidentally became an agent of the Trade League in the port of Manfredonia, not far from his homeland, and with his early military experience, he became the commander of the Manfrednian army in the coalition.

"But it can make us rich, doesn't it?" Although the voice of the other person next to him was very low, he couldn't hide the excitement in his heart: "We have defeated the French, but they are much more numerous than the Aragonese, isn't that enough?" ”

"But Aragonese's fleet ......" someone retorted uneasily, and although he immediately regretted seeing the encouraging look in the eyes of others, the general continued, "Our ships may be able to drive away the ships carrying the Aragonese army, but their fleet is not something we can deal with, so if we can't solve this threat, even if we defeat them on the island, we will be at a disadvantage in the end." ”

"You're right, Aragonese's fleet is indeed a great threat," the generals' originally high mood couldn't help but be slightly low, looking at their worried looks, Asha suddenly smiled on her slightly majestic face, "But what if I can guarantee that the Aragonese fleet can't threaten Sicily, or at least they can't blockade the entire Sicilian coast, what do you think?" ”

The generals looked at him in disbelief, they knew very well what he meant, if they could really stop the Aragonese from blockading the entire Sicilian coast, then the trade alliance could continue to provide great help to Sicily, and it was impossible for Aragon to compete with the entire huge trade alliance in the long term of attrition.

Moreover, the rapid support of Sicily from all parts of Italy was much shorter than that of the Aragonese on an expedition, and even from Reggio Carebrea, the southernmost point of Italy, to Messina was separated by a strait less than 1 fatari wide at its narrowest point.

"Ferdinand may have thought he could intimidate me, but he forgot that I was the queen of Sicily." "I will declare to the Vatican that I have my dominion over Sicily, and what I need you to do is to make the old men of the Holy See face up to my statement with a victory." ”

Listening to the Queen's undisguised display of her ambitions for Sicily, the Allied generals could not help but feel their hearts throbbing, and they knew that they seemed to see the Queen of Naples who appeared on the battlefield before the decisive battle with the French army.

That time she won her own victory, and it also heralded the rise of the Kingdom of Naples.

And this time, what she wants to prove is that she is qualified to be the ruler of Sicily.

At the end of December, the coalition forces took the initiative to attack Caripo, and at the same time, the Wallachian army marched out of Messina and marched into Calibo.