When Carlo heard that Alexander was going to see him, he was happy, or a little too excited.

The Agri had begun to be very different, this Carlo could feel it, and it was getting stronger and stronger.

He still remembered that when he first came out of the mountains of Agri, he and his companions were not only shabby to look at, but even suspected that they were simply a group of people called Hanako.

For the Agri, what they needed most was not victory and honor, not even money, but a decent pair of thick boots.

Moreover, the Agri people at that time did not take the ideals of the lord seriously, or although the soldiers were recruited after obtaining the land, in fact they were no different from those mercenaries.

But now the Agri had changed, and the soldiers had begun to refer to Alexander as "our lord", and the difference between this simple title and "my lord" was so obvious that Carlo felt that if the lord ordered them to go to war at this time, they would be much more active than the old Genoese soldiers.

In addition to this, the Agri no longer had to be glad to have a pair of thick boots, and even the strange-looking outfit they wore when they left Rome made the Agri proud as they walked through the streets of Rome.

Of course, this made Carlo happy, especially as the captain of the Agri, and after wearing the uniform that was different from any other army, and more luxurious than any other soldier, he felt as if he was really about to reach the peak of his life.

However, now Carlo is also a little troubled, and he begins to feel that he is becoming more and more unable to keep up with the Lord's footsteps.

Ever since the arrival of the annoying Gompati, he had felt the danger deeply, and during the Battle of Oral, Carlo felt as if he had gradually become a herald, and he did not play an important role in the whole battle except for constantly delivering orders to the adults.

It may have been useful to lead the cavalry to intercept the Milanese who were trying to weave a detour, but compared to Gompati's artillery, Carlo felt that he was a complete foil.

The idea that he might have to step aside one day made Carlo a little flustered, so he became more active and enthusiastic when training soldiers, hoping to let adults know that he was still useful.

But even so, Carlo still felt a lot of pressure, the training of the soldiers had changed from the one he was familiar with before, although the pikemen in the phalanx had not been canceled and even strengthened with some Genoese, but the training of the musketeers had become a little difficult for Carlo to keep up with.

From the simplest holding of a gun to the loading and alternation after shooting, Alexander suddenly gave Carlo a very detailed training protocol one day, and some of the instructions on it made Carlo dizzy, and even he had to read it carefully a few times before he slowly understood.

And the opening paragraph of the ordinance also made Carlo feel a little inexplicable.

"Uniform movements can make soldiers blend into the whole, and clean and neat uniforms can make people feel more belonging, and handsomeness is also a means to increase the pride of your soldiers."

Carlo didn't understand the meaning of the somewhat inherently unfinished words at first, but it wasn't until the day after he entered Montina that he understood.

According to Alexander's orders, all soldiers were required to keep their uniforms neat and tidy when not fighting, and violators were punished with both a whip and a fine.

When this order was given, Carlo looked at the dirty military uniform on his body and was stunned for a while, he didn't understand what the lord thought, if he could understand the strengthening of training, but in the 'little thing' of whether the military uniform was neat or not, he felt that Alexander really made a big fuss.

There are more and more things that he can't understand, and Caro's sense of crisis is getting deeper and deeper, and he can only keep reminding himself to figure out the things that make him feel confused as soon as possible, otherwise he may really have to stand aside one day.

Looking at Carlo, who was slightly excited to walk into the 'vault', Alexander smiled slightly.

He understands that Carlo now has some self-endangered thoughts, which is not difficult to understand, just like doing business, most of the partners will not be very high at the beginning, and when the business is getting bigger and bigger, it will naturally introduce some more capable talents, which is actually a very unhappy thing for those "veterans", many of them will be gradually eliminated because they can't keep up with the changes.

This is what Carlo is like today, for this hunter who came out of the Agri Mountains, he can either catch up with Alexander, or gradually squeeze out of his current position by better talents later, and finally become a pure second-rate cavalry officer.

"How's our soldiers training?" Alexander asked casually, knowing that during this time Carlo was still very active in training soldiers.

"My lord, I think we should expand our army," Carlo said with some excitement, "or we should send people back to Agri to recruit some more, you know that the Agri are very brave, and there are many Genoese in the phalanx now, but it is not called the Agri phalanx." ”

Alexander nodded, he knew that what Carlo said made a lot of sense.

He decided to name it the Agri phalanx, because he wanted to use the brave and fierce character of the Agri people to build an army that has always had a unique style.

If his army must expand with change, then the Agri are his last guarantee as the trump card in his hands, and must be the most reliable backbone of his army.

With a few battles, the Agri have slowly become a qualified army, but the inevitable casualties are gradually eroding the seeds of this hard-won army.

Now it seems that expanding the size and number of Agri's soldiers has really become a top priority.

However, Alexander also knew that Carlo had his own selfish motives in making this suggestion.

Factions have never disappeared, and even more so in the military.

Obviously, Carlo wanted to expand his 'Agri' faction and thus confront the 'Pisa Gang' led by Gompati.

However, between these two factions, there is also a group of centrists with more subtle identities, that is, although there are not many people, but they are like the defenders of Montina.

As Count of Montina, of course, these defenders should have belonged to Alexander, but Alexander knew that they had some inexplicable relationship with Bishop Tony Rovere.

Because of this, although Montina's defenders swore allegiance to Alexander on the day he arrived, he did not take this oath seriously.

Next, there are the Genoese reinforcements.

"This place is really not very peaceful, Carlo," Alexander asked Carlo to accompany him out of the 'vault', and then walked slowly along the long corridor, from the pillars at each end of the corridor you could see a corner of the castle below, "as you said, we must expand the size of the Agri phalanx, the Genoese will always have to go, and we will still have to rely on our own people when the time comes." ”

"You're right, my lord, we always have to rely on our own people," Carlo nodded vigorously, "If you allow me, I would like to go back to Agri myself to recruit soldiers." ”

Hearing Carlo's words, Alexander shook his head slightly, and seeing Carlo's disappointed look, Alexander whispered: "We may be going to leave soon, and I can't do without you in the next battle." ”

Alexander's words made Carlo look better, and then his face showed excitement, not only because the war had slowly tasted the sweetness of them, but also because only the battle had a chance to re-establish himself in Alexander's heart.

"Are you going to send troops?"

"The Duke of Gandino has sent a messenger for help," said Alexander, with a strange look in his eyes, "the Venetians cut off his retreat, and seemed to have seized the supply depot he had set up near the Chimone Mountains. ”

Caro's bearded lips opened slightly, he stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, and then asked carefully, "So, my lord, are we ...... Shouldn't we go to the rescue of Duke Gandino? ”

Alexander nodded, then said, "Yes, but we have to meet someone before then." ”

"See someone?" Carlo was a little strange, he didn't know who else in Montina needed to be seen by the Count in person.

Seeing Carlo's doubts, Alexander smiled slightly: "It's not convenient for a woman to come to the castle alone. Believe me, maybe this person can bring us a revolution. ”

Alexander wanted to meet the daughter of the craftsman Pomperny.

The girl's name was Ashley, a very ordinary-sounding name.

Seeing her slightly arrogant appearance, Alexander seemed to see a little bit of Sophia's shadow, which made him have a good impression of the girl for the first time.

Pomperney was wary of the lord's sudden visit to his home, especially after seeing Ofreiil.

"My daughter doesn't marry a soldier," Pomperney muttered as he customarily muttered, adding that "not even a military captain." ”

Looking at the stubbornness of the craftsman, Alexander wanted to tell him: "This young man you are ignoring now may one day become my chief of staff, and then you will not be able to climb high." ”

However, because he was not here to ask for a marriage in the first place, he simply ignored the ugly face of the craftsman.

"I need your daughter......" Seeing the sudden change in the craftsman's face, Alexander hastened to finish the following words, "she should serve me." ”

"Ashley? What talent can she have," Pompeni asked suspiciously, "she is angry with me except for singing all day, and I am wondering if I should marry her off as soon as possible," and at this point, he did not forget to glare at Oflaiyi viciously, "but he will not marry a soldier." ”

"I just need her singing," Alexander looked at the girl standing next to me, "I need her singing voice to command the army for me." ”

Pomperny looked at Alexander in amazement, so that people did not suspect at all that if it was not for the Earl in front of him, maybe he would have scolded and chased people away.

"I find her singing to be in a certain rhythm, you know, the kind of thing that makes it easy to hum a tune while walking," Alexander could only explain, he didn't know how to say it more clearly to Pomperney, or how he couldn't fully explain it himself, "so I needed her to teach my soldiers how to follow her tune." ”

Pomperney looked at Alexander in a daze, he knew that he didn't understand what the count was talking about, but it didn't seem to be as bad as he thought.

"Of course, your daughter will be paid a good sum."

This last sentence completely broke Pomperney's defenses, and he looked at the count, then at his daughter, and finally nodded silently.

"I'm going to follow her, though." Pomperny put forward the conditions.

"Absolutely." Alexander casually agreed, "You can follow her when she comes to the barracks, but you can't get in the way of her work." And you," Alexander looked at Ashley, who was both curious and nervous, "all I need to do is train me a batch of soldiers like you," and after a little thought, Alexander still used a more appropriate word. ”

Ashley's eyes gleamed with excitement and apprehension, and it was clear that Alexander's proposal had attracted her, but she was nervous and didn't know what to do.

As if seeing Ashley's scruples, Alexander turned his head and gestured to Oflaiyi next to him.

"If you have any questions, you can contact my marching captain, and I believe he will be able to give you a satisfactory answer."

After saying that, Alexander did not wait for Pomperney to protest, and had already turned and walked out of Pomperney's house.

Pomperney was angry and wanted to chase him out, but was blocked by Oflaiil's hand.

"This must be your conspiracy," Pomperney glared angrily at the young soldier in front of him, "don't think that this will succeed, I advise you to die." ”

Offrey pursed his lips, he looked at Ashley, who was just smiling at the scene behind Pomperney, and waved her hand slightly.

"I am the captain of the marching army under Lord Earl, and my name is Jose Ofley."

Ashley's face was slightly flushed, I don't know if it was shy or excited, she lifted her skirt and wanted to salute, but she was a little embarrassed because of her hurry.

So she simply held the hems of her skirts in both hands, and nodded as Alfleiyi bowed.

"I'm the daughter of this old man in front of you, and my name is Ashley Pomperney."

After that, the two young men looked at each other, and for a moment the room was filled with a faint layer of warmth and romance, and at the same time, there was a complaint from the craftsman: "God, what kind of world is this!" ”

Inside the 'vault', Alexander looked carefully at what could barely be called a map, but it could only be described as a drawing, although there was no detailed terrain on it, and even some of the places marked as cities did not seem to be accurate.

At least Alexander felt that the distance between Montina and the Venetians was not as far as it seemed on the map.

From Montina to Realo, there is actually only a low-lying plain that is not very large.

On this stretch of road, which is about a dozen miles long, it is difficult to find a place that can be used as a barrier.

The reason why the combined forces of Venice and Milan did not easily cross this plain and march towards Montina was only because they feared that they would be attacked from both Genoa and the Papal army when the siege of the castle failed.

Now, Pittigliano's unusually active attack on Giovanni not only cut off the Papal army's supply and retreat, but also threatened Montina's security from the northeast and northeast, which made Alexander finally have to pay attention to the situation of the battle.

Looking at the map, Alexander was a little annoyed, or rather angry.

But his anger was not directed at Giovanni, Cargino or even Pitiliano, but at himself.

Perhaps it was the victory in the previous battle of Orar, and the achievement of taking advantage of the entanglement between the two sides to take advantage of Montina, Alexander couldn't help but feel a little fluttering.

Pittiliano's surprise attack woke Alexander up like a blow to the head, and looking at the lines of the two sides marked on the map with sheep's blood and ink, Alexander now really felt a little headache.

Although Giovanni and the Cargino front were almost cut in half by Pitilino because of a loophole, Pittiglino was not optimistic in the angle between their two sides.

On the other side, the Venetians, who had successfully cut off Giovanni's retreat, and Pitigilino were faintly encircling Montina.

As long as they could force Giovanni to retreat because of the lack of food, then what awaited Alexander was the fate of being completely surrounded by tens of thousands of enemies.

Looking at the bells and whistles on the table with different markers, Alexander couldn't help but rub his swollen forehead.

"Looks like I still have to save that brother-in-law." Alexander pondered helplessly in his heart.

If possible, he really didn't want to care about Giovanni, in addition to what Giovanni did to him in the first place, it was that he never forgot Giovanni's suspenseful death.

If nothing changes, Giovanni will only have a little more than a month at most, and then he will be found and dumped in the Tiber River.

And there have always been various rumors about his death, the most suspicious of which is precisely his own brother Caesar.

Helping the family is a tradition of the Borgia family. Alexander remembered what the attendant had said, and shook his head slightly.

"Looks like I'm really fit to be a Borgia family." Alexander's fingertips tapped lightly on the map, and finally made a slight swipe forward, creating an invisible link between Montina and Mount Chimone.

Alexander picked up the rattle on the table and shook it gently, and a servant immediately hurried in.

It was indeed a break-in, and seeing how he hurried open the door like a bull and rushed in, Alexander suddenly felt that Ulliu's arrival was simply too slow.

Were the Moors reluctant to leave Rome because of their extravagance?

Alexander pondered as he ordered the servant: "Go, Captain Gonzalo, find it." ”

The servant nodded vigorously, and then hurriedly turned away, which made Alexander shake his head secretly.

Although he knew that it was the arrival of the new master that made these people unaware, he still felt that compared to these people, Uliu was really a model among servants.

When not needed, the Moor always patiently and quietly guards a corner, and once the master needs it, he will appear in a place that is easy to find without even being summoned.

Alexander sometimes even wondered if Uliu had some special ability unknown to others, as he had discovered more than once that the Moors were always right where he was needed, without being obtrusive.

But now not only was Ulliu not around, but even the eloquent Massimo hadn't seen each other for a long time, and Alexander couldn't help but wonder what the two men were doing now.

Gompati came quickly, but seeing his ashen face, Alexander could guess what he was doing.

If you have to describe Gompati's feelings about the Château de Montina, it can only be described as amazement and regret.

When he first saw the castle of Montina, Gompati began to explain to the people next to him in the tone of an expert how such a castle could be effectively defended and the enemy could be killed as much as possible.

Then he began to assert that in the face of such a castle, only powerful artillery could really threaten it, and at the same time, only equally powerful artillery could counter the threat from outside the city.

This caused the soldiers, who had been interested at first, to disperse in a hurry, leaving Gompati, who had been annoying for boasting about artillery all day long, to watch the castle and think about it alone.

As soon as he entered the castle of Montina, Gompati ran non-stop around the castle, and then began to work for the settlement of his artillery.

"Gompati, if I give you 600 men and all your artillery, how long can you resist?" Alexander asked bluntly, "Yes, defend this castle, but you may have many enemies." ”

Sensing that Alexander deliberately said "a lot" a little heavily, Gompati's sweaty face twitched slightly.

"My lord, I need enough weapons, you know that our artillery has actually been damaged a lot, and we have almost exhausted their lives in Orar before."

Noticing the anthropomorphic description of artillery in Gompati's tone, Alexander couldn't help but admire his persistence a little.

"All the weapons in this castle are yours," Alexander pointed to his feet, "and I'll add about 400 more to the original guards." ”

"That's 1,000 men," Gompati's face showed excitement, "My lord, I have to say that if I don't hold it for too long, I'm completely sure I'll be able to defend this castle." ”

"If you can defend against 10,000 enemies?"

Alexander's words made Gompati's originally red face stunned for a moment, and he loosened his throat vigorously before he asked a little out of tune: "My lord, I heard you right, you are talking about 10,000 people?" ”

"Yes, maybe more," Alexander said casually, "then tell me if you can hold this castle?" ”

For the first time, Gompati's face showed hesitation, he licked his tongue and his lips moved lightly, as if he was calculating something, and as if he was trying his best to convince himself, and then after a while his expression slowly calmed down.

"I can be an adult," Gompati looked out the window, a hint of heat in his eyes, "such a castle was born to prove to its enemies that it is impossible to conquer, and if I were to prove it, I think I would be honored." ”

Alexander nodded slightly, and then he seemed to say to Gompati and to himself, "I believe you can do it, so I give Montina to you." ”

Gompati bowed, and as he looked up, he suddenly felt a slight heaviness in his neck, knowing that it was because from now on he was faced with the responsibility of carrying a heavy burden.

On May 9, 1497, four days after entering the new castle of Montina, Alexander again rushed to the battlefield with his troops.

However, unlike before, Alexander left behind all the artillery, as he had told Gompati, and many of the wounded soldiers remained.

At the same time, as Ofleiyi had said before, he ordered his soldiers to carry only a few days' marching supplies.

"It was destined to be a quick battle," Alexander said to all the officers before he set off, "if the battle of Oral was about endurance, then this time it was about speed!" ”

Before leaving the castle, looking at the servants who were in a hurry, even a little nervous, preparing all kinds of things for themselves, Alexander couldn't help but think of Ulliu again.

Unbeknownst to Alexander, Ulius was thinking about him just as he was missing his Moorish servant.

It was only at this time that the quick-witted Moor was sighing with a sad face, and across from him, the equally listless monk was muttering to himself: "How is this like this, how is it like this......

Assemo said as he looked at a small bust on the table between the two.

The statue is made of marble, and it is easy to see that it is obviously the work of a famous artist, and from the knife-like edges and corners of the statue's face and the almost vivid eyes, Alexander would have been surprised to recognize that this was his statue if he was there.

"The one named Michelangelo," Massimo angrily stood up and walked over to the statue, if he could have smashed it to pieces, but he knew that if he did he would probably not see the sun in Rome the next day, "so what should the fool do now to show off his masterpiece in front of the three of them, is it really going to be auctioned in the largest market in the city of Rome, as they say, owned by the highest bidder?" ”

"I don't know," Ullius lifted his eyelids listlessly, "why don't you stop Miss Tsusha, haven't you always boasted of being well-informed and eloquent?" ”

"Then why don't you persuade the daughter of the Rovelle family, don't tell me that you are just messing around in Rome during this time, I know that you know more about the affairs of those noble families in Rome than anyone else."

For a while, the two of them glared angrily, but after a while, they finally sighed helplessly and sat down.

"What do you think he would do if he were in Rome now?" The Moorish asked in a low voice.

"I don't know," Massimo shook his head blankly, "I know I haven't encountered anything like this yet, three ......" The monk held out three fingers and shook them in front of his eyes, then licked his tongue, "I think if I were an adult, I would be glad that I was fighting outside." ”

"That's what you're saying," Uliu sat down helplessly, dragging his cheeks and looking at the vivid statue in front of him, muttering incessantly as Mahimo had done before, "Who would have thought it would be like this, who would have thought that it would ......"