Of the towns along the lower Ebro River, Gawell is not a big place, or if it weren't for the fact that the town has something called Metsenconte dondible, many people would not think of it.

Or if it weren't for the fact that this small town is the closest town to the Ebro River in the upper reaches of Zaragoza, not many people would remember this place.

There is a very smooth road from Gawell to Zaragoza, which is due to the remnants left by the Moorish rule in the early years.

At that time, the Moors built a temple in Gahel, and then Moors often went there to pray, and over time a fairly smooth road was built.

It was this relatively smooth path that allowed Ferdinand to reach the front line sooner than he had expected, which he had thought would be able to stop the enemy invasion in time, but now for Ferdinand, this path was the key to ensuring that he could hold Zaragoza.

The king's arrival in Gawell late at night did not attract much attention, and Ferdinand acquiesced in the guard's attempt to put away the king's flag, but he sent men to search for the lost generals as soon as he arrived at Gawell.

As if instinctively, the Aragonese people regarded Gawell as a temporary refuge, and most of the Aragonese soldiers arrived at Gawell one after another, except for the scattered soldiers who didn't know where to run at night because they got lost.

All of a sudden, the town was filled with people like headless flies.

The soldiers were bumping and shouting in the night, and the nervousness and anxiety of the defeat turned into a bad temper that led to fights and brawls, and in some places even deaths.

This situation annoyed Ferdinand, but he was at a loss for a while, until the officers had their whereabouts, and some of them had even come directly to the king, that the situation improved somewhat.

Some of the Aragonese generals began to restrain their troops, and they simply reorganized the assembled soldiers, albeit only roughly assigning them to a few men they could find, but at least by daybreak, the Aragonese army finally looked less disorganized.

Ferdinand spent the whole night anxious, fearing that the enemy might take advantage of the victory, and although the night gave him time to breathe, it would be difficult for him to hold the city of Garwell if the enemy attacked after dawn.

Recently, he has been able to pin all his hopes on reinforcements from Zaragoza, and he only hopes that he can hold out in Gaaldo for a while, and as soon as Zaragoza's reinforcements arrive, the form will change somewhat.

More importantly, he did not believe that the coalition forces could advance so endlessly, that the extension of the supply line would make the coalition army unhappy, and that if it were not for the rebellion in Valencia, Ferdinand would even be willing to let the enemy go deep into Aragon.

Not only would the coalition have to leave the upper Ebro River, but he would also have a chance to take advantage of it.

But now he can't take that risk.

He was worried that if the Castilians cut off Zaragoza's connection with the outside world, it would be very detrimental to the counterinsurgency in Valencia, and he had to keep abreast of the movements there, and let the entire kingdom of Aragon know that he was not yet facing the siege of the capital.

"Your Majesty, I must remind you that this is probably what the Duke of Rome Thessia wants you to do," and upon learning that Ferdinand had ordered Gael to defend to the death, one of the generals had to disagree, "The Duke must have guessed your decision, so he knows that you cannot tolerate the siege of Zaragoza, and if that is the case, it will be dangerous for us to defend Gael." ”

Ferdinand did not explain much about the general's reminder, believing that the nobles were still loyal to him, but they either did not think as much as he did, or they feared another crushing defeat here, so they hoped to be able to defend themselves against the enemy with the strong walls of Zaragoza.

"I've made a decision, and you just have to do what you tell him to do," Ferdinand said to his generals in a rare tone of not very politeness, his expression slightly tired, which made him look a little older, and the corners of his eyes that had been used to take care of pearl powder were wrinkled from the overnight rush, "I have thought too much, and I am sure that Zaragoza will not let me down." ”

"This war will be lost." As he walked out of Ferdinand's temporary house, a general said to his friend with a melancholy face, "Our king doesn't know who he's fighting against, I mean he doesn't know our enemies yet, but we've seen it." ”

"Maybe Zaragoza will be able to send reinforcements in time, and if that happens, maybe the situation will not get worse," the knight replied, looking at the disorganized soldiers in the street in the distance, and couldn't help but doubt his optimism, "at least then we had more troops than them, didn't we?" ”

In response to his companion's rhetorical question, the general let out a long sigh: "I hope you're right, but trust me, as long as there is a beginning on the battlefield, bad things will always appear one after another, I hope we won't be so unlucky this time." ”

…………………………

When the boat touched the quay rock, Tiego's body swayed.

After half a month, he returned to Valencia again.

And this time, he has no intention of leaving again.

It was only because he didn't want to embarrass everyone that Tiego didn't let his family go ashore, and he put them in the reef fort temporarily, but he had already made up his mind that he didn't want to go back to his hometown in Parma.

A man who is always reluctant to leave his hometown is not productive, and his father taught him this way many years ago, which is why Tiego will leave home and go outside.

Only this time he simply took all his family away from Parma, because for him, he would either enter the future unified kingdom capital in glory and become a prominent upstart, or go into exile in a foreign land, and no matter what the final outcome was, the only thing that was certain was that he would never return to his homeland.

On the shore, Maria de Luna watched with a blank face as Thiego landed with the help of the servant, and then turned and walked slowly along the dock alone.

Tiego followed, walking slowly side by side with her.

"You brought your family out?"

"I have sent someone to greet you in advance," said Tiego, looking at Maria de Luna's still expressionless face, and he said helplessly, "they won't meet you, I'll put them somewhere else." ”

Maria de Luna glanced at Tiego, and then asked in a tone that sounded calm but involuntarily aggravated: "What are you going to do in the future, I mean to whom are you going to be allegiant?" ”

Hearing this question from the Duchess, Tiego stopped, looked at Maria de Luna with some wariness, and after a while asked tentatively, "Madame, have you done something without permission?" ”

Seeing that Maria de Luna seemed to be about to argue, Thiegor did not wait for her to speak, and continued: "Madame, I know you as well as you know me, so take my advice and do not have any unrealistic ideas, for then you will find yourself in a very awkward position." ”

"I just want to do something for my son, who is the Duke of Gandino, and the only heir to the Borgia family today, then he has the right to be the master of Valencia."

Tiego looked at Maria de Luna with some surprise but as if she had already thought of helplessness, and although she had vaguely guessed what she had done, Tiego could not help but feel annoyed when she admitted it herself: "Madam, I don't think you have yet understood who you and I are doing things for, and maybe you think it is no different from the tricks you used to play, but I will tell you that you are wrong! ”

Maria de Luna looked at Tiego in bewilderment, she really couldn't understand why this man was so persistent or even stubborn, she didn't believe that he was purely loyal, especially after what he had done to her, Maria de Luna thought even more that the man in front of her could not resist the temptation of wealth and power.

"Are you afraid of them, but I have to forget that they need you just as much now, so you can make a deal to them, and you deserve it," said Maria de Luna, still unrelenting, "help me get Valencia for my son, and we can be your backing to give you more support, and if you want, I can even give you an heir who is more worthy of your status." ”

Tiego's breathing grew heavier, he knew what Maria de Luna's promise meant, and it was tempting.

For a moment he thought it was really a good suggestion, whether it was the support of the future Duke of Valencia or the presence of an heir of noble blood.

But soon Tiego came to his senses from that wonderful fantasy, and pondered for a moment what to say, before he took Maria de Luna's face and looked her in the eyes and said earnestly: "Listen to me, ma'am, this suggestion of yours is too tempting, so I warn you not to try to do it for real, neither to me nor to anyone else, or you will regret it." ”

With that, he lowered his head and kissed Maria de Luna's lips in a manner that bordered on punishment.

When Tiego met Ofleiuil, the young chief of staff was staring at the glass in front of him.

Beside him, a young woman dressed like a maid looked at the young general with a tray in her arms and a look on her face expectantly.

"This is a real Cypriot wine, treasured in my father's cellar," the young woman recommended earnestly, and there was even a hint of an amused smile on her lips, as she had never seen such a shy person, and felt more curious than she wanted to tempt the young man, "Surely if you could attend the banquet at my house this evening......

"I'm sorry Miss, he may not be going anywhere," Tyego said in time to relieve Ofleiuil, and in a few words he sent away the somewhat disappointed young woman, and then looked at the slightly embarrassed young general with amusement, "As long as you nod, there will be a large number of women who are willing to be your mistresses." ”

"Then Ashley will kill me," said Ofrey hurriedly, and then hastened to discern "I mean it's immoral." ”

Tiego pursed his lips, he didn't expect that the rumor that the chief of staff of the Roman Thescian army was afraid of his wife was actually true, but it was obviously none of his business: "I wonder if we can hold Valencia?" ”

"Are you asking me to tell the truth?" Offrey's rather relaxed tone relieved Tyego, but Ofleyi said, "Of course I can't keep it." ”

Thiegor looked at Ofleiyi in a daze, wondering if he was joking.

But he was disappointed, and he already knew the answer from Oflei's expression.

"Even if Gompati is here, he is not sure that he will be able to hold Valencia, because Ferdinand will never tolerate the loss of Valencia," Ofleuil was not ashamed of not being able to do so, and said very seriously, "If I told you that I could hold it, it was only because of vanity, but I am a soldier, so I must tell you the truth." ”

"But I don't think you're that nervous, tell me if there's anything else you can do?" Tiego asked unwillingly.

"Isn't there some other way you have to do it?" "I'm a soldier, and I'm not interested in the tricks of the court, but I'm not stupid, so you'd better tell me the truth, or I won't be able to command this battle." ”

Tiego was silent, and after a long while, he finally shook his head helplessly: "We have some friends in Zaragoza, in fact, all this is arranged by the duke, but the nobles of Valencia want to ......"

"They want to be more reliant in the face of the new king in the future, don't they?" Ofrei's expression became serious, "Or do you think that Aragon and Castile will still be two very different countries in the future?" ”

"Of course I don't think so," Thiegor sat down and looked at Ofleiil, who for the first time thought that the soldier in front of him might be a good person to work with, "what are you going to do?" ”

"Tell me everything, my duty is to defend Valencia, and you will cooperate with the Duke to deal a fatal blow to Ferdinand."

Tiego nodded slightly, he felt that Alexander would not just choose to make Offleiil the Minister of War of Castile because of his performance in the army.

Loyalty was perhaps the more important reason why he was in the position he is today.

…………………………

At the mouth of a narrow alley, a horse-drawn carriage stopped.

A man wrapped in a thick robe hurriedly got out of the car and walked into the alley.

At the door of an inconspicuous tavern at the corner of the alley, there stood two lazy men who looked idle.

There are such people everywhere, so no one will look at them more.

The man walked between the two lazy men into the tavern, and the two men followed, one of them leading the man through the tavern to the back, while the other locked the door and stayed in the tavern.

In the secret room behind the secret door connected to the tavern and blocked by several barrels, the archbishop of Zaragoza, who had been waiting for a while, was finally relieved to see the man enter.

The man respectfully kissed the archbishop's hand, then looked at him with a look full of enthusiasm: "My lord, we have made all the preparations, and His Majesty the Pope has agreed that you will still retain irrefutable bishopric rights over the diocese of Aragon, so what about you?" ”

The muscles on the archbishop's face moved imperceptibly, he had been waiting for this answer for a long time, even if he had done so many things to secretly oppose Ferdinand, but as long as he didn't have a chance to stop until the last moment.

But now he knew that he couldn't stop, or that after getting the promise of Alexander VI, he felt that he had got what he wanted.

On the morning of that day, Ferdinand's attendants hurried back.

He also brought back bad news about the defeat of Rometown, which, although not yet fully spread, had already caused a seismic reaction at the court of Zaragoza.

It is believed that tomorrow, the whole Salah will know that the king has been defeated in the town of Rome, and then the whole city may be in chaos.

In fact, at this time, there were already nobles quietly making arrangements.

Although it had been a long time, people had heard too much from their ancestors about the famous sieges that Zaragoza had encountered in the early years, so quietly sending their families and possessions outside the city became the most urgent task for many nobles.

The archbishop was also anxious, fearing that before the Pope and his deal could be settled, the war might have already been resolved, and that in that case he would be much less weighted in the future.

As for Ferdinand's victory, of course he had thought about that, so even at this time he did not express any overly obvious attitude towards Valencia's declaration of papal patronage.

But now he felt it was time to clarify his attitude.

"You're just waiting here."

The archbishop gave such instructions to the visitor that he did not even have time to explain what he wanted to do before he hurried away, and it was only after getting into a car across the street that the archbishop could not help but hesitate a little.

Then he tapped the board with his cane and signaled for the driver to go.

Gawell's morning was a bit cold, and Ferdinand had to put on a thicker coat, and when he came out of the house, he was somewhat relieved to see some soldiers hastily carrying various tools and materials to fortify the walls.

Although Gawell did not have any strong fortifications, he could hold out for a while if he was purely defensive, and then the reinforcements from Zaragoza would arrive, and the situation would be reversed.

Ferdinand thought so, and the situation did go the way he envisioned.

The chief chamberlain had sent a letter back, and Zaragoza, though he had indeed been a little alarmed, had promised reinforcements at once.

"Just hold on for a few days, just a few days, and everything will change."

Ferdinand encouraged his generals and himself in this way, and he received reports that the coalition forces were marching towards Gawell.

Two days after the victory at the town of Rome, after a short break, the Cassie coalition advanced southeast along the Ebro River with the aim of capturing Gawell.

On October 19, 1502, the Battle of Garwell began.