June is a beautiful season, but it is also the season of parting.

Although Sophia expressed her reluctance again and again, the day of separation was inevitable.

When a specially made and comfortable carriage came to greet her, Sophia hugged Alexander's neck tightly with grief in her heart, and she strangled him with both hands, so hard that she almost suffocated Alexander.

Her body also kept clinging to Alexander, as if to make the two of them rub together at this moment.

"Don't worry, I'll rush to your side when the child is born," Alexander comforted softly, seeing Sophia's already sad face, not only did not show relief but a trace of anger floated when he heard this, Alexander immediately understood where the "mistake" of his words was, "But don't worry, I went to see you because I missed you, not just for the child, and you should know that it will always be the first place in my mind." ”

Sophia seemed to want to laugh when she heard this, but when she thought of still having to separate, she let out an unwilling snort.

Alexander stroked Sophia's hair gently, tugging at her bun a little hard to make her head tilt back, and Alexander leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

"Be obedient, remember to discuss things with Bodpaed and them, and send me a letter if you need help." Alexander also felt unspeakable fear, if Sophia had to face the hardships of life before, now she had to face something she had never experienced before, and the hardships of being a gypsy were completely negligible compared to the intrigues and power struggles she was about to face.

Although he was reluctant to do so, the time of parting came, and a trumpet sounded from the road in the distance, and as several fast horses came rushing towards them, Alexander looked up at Nashan who was running from far and near.

Nashan looked at Alexander with complicated eyes, speaking of which he actually didn't like his son-in-law very much, in Nashan's opinion, Alexander was not the best destination that Sophia could choose, and of course he would not be willing to let Sophia wander around with a gypsy to endure hardships, but in Nashan's mind, he felt that a small piece of land, a comfortable small castle, and a country nobleman who was not very rich but could be very loyal and honest was Sophia's best choice.

But now, Nashan didn't know if Sophia's path was right, but at least he knew that everything was up to him now, so when he saw Alexander, he didn't even know what mood to use to face the young man and woman.

"Help me take care of her, Nashan." Alexander took two steps forward and said to Nashan, who had jumped off his horse and walked in front of him, "I am very uneasy. ”

"Then you shouldn't leave her like this, she's pregnant now," Nashan said angrily, and then looked at Sophia, who was depressed, and he lovingly took her over and let her lean on his shoulder, "Don't worry, she is my daughter, pregnant with my grandson, I will take care of her." ”

Alexander nodded slightly, he wanted to say something more, but he felt a little choked in his throat, and he couldn't make a sound for a while.

Eventually, Alexander walked to the carriage and opened the door, where he hugged Sophia again and then carefully picked her up and put her in the car.

"I'll go see you when our baby is born," Alexander kissed away the tears on Sophia's cheek, "remember what I said to you, we will never be separated again one day." ”

"Ah~ah!"

Sophia let out two low shouts, and she held Alexander's hand tightly until Nashan beside the carriage gave a warning, and then the horse stepped forward slowly.

"Hunters!"

Busako, who was standing not far away, gave the order, and the hunter raised his saber in the air at the same time, the tip of the knife pointed obliquely, and the cold light shone.

The Wallachian procession began to set off slowly, and they drew a long black line along the road, which looked like a slowly wriggling black snake from a distance.

After all, the way back to Wallachia from Venice is still a long one.

Alexander watched as the Wallachian contingent faded into the horizon before heading back with the men, but not to Venice, but to his military camp outside the city.

The Montina barracks was set up on the hills of Durt, not too far from Venice.

It is a very high hilly area in the north of the city of Venice, over which there is a road that leads to the west, and after about 20 fathoma, the road turns south, where there is a small but famous city called Ferrara.

According to Alexander's orders, the vanguard of Montina's army had already set out along this main road half a day in advance, and in this army of nearly 8,000 men, because of nearly half of the Balkans, Alexander had to temporarily reorganize his army, and while expanding the Balkans from one regiment to two, he ordered enough middle and lower rank officers from each regiment to be drawn from each regiment to supplement the newly established Greek legion.

Alexander's vision was simple and clear, and in terms of the establishment of the cities from which they came, Pisa, Genoa, Montina, and the two Balkan regiments formed the backbone of the entire army, and this army, which totaled less than 6,000 men, together with the Agri regiment formed with the spearmen and musketeers of the Agri phalanx as the core, constituted the most important fighting force of the entire Montina army. In Alexander's view, this army, while it may be difficult to use it against the French or a well-trained and outnumbered opponent like Gonzalo's, was more than enough for the armies of the other Italian city-states.

The remaining Balkans, of about 2,000 men, were ordered by Alexander to create a new formation, the Greek Legion, which was significantly larger than any army of the present day.

Alexander would consider building a large army because he was inspired by Gonzalo.

Gonzalo's repeated studies of the Spanish phalanx, which taught him the future, developed a set of tactics in which hot and cold weapons complemented each other, and in this set of tactics, Gonzalo for the first time proposed the idea of using a thick formation to form powerful punches and smash the enemy's formation with a fierce means like a hammer.

Firm and unwavering, the future Spanish phalanx was like a huge hedgehog in motion, in front of such a huge phalanx of hundreds or even thousands, a huge array of strong formations formed by the combination of spears, swords, shields and sharp muskets, which once made the whole of Europe tremble before it.

Alexander didn't know when he would meet Gonzalo on the battlefield, he didn't want to be a stepping stone to Gonzalo's success, and he had a different view of the future of war.

How long the Italian war would last, Alexander did not want to bogged down in the near-never-ending strife of the Apennine Peninsula, da Gama's fleet was about to return, the door to the new world was slowly opened, and the Mediterranean Sea would soon be ridiculed as a bathtub for Europe, and the Mediterranean was too small compared to the vast Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, which almost connected to the sky.

And the first thing you have to do to face that boundless ocean is to go to the Iberian Peninsula!

Alexander needed a brave and ready to fight fast and heavy army, which would be a completely different army, and the soldiers of this army would have to be brave and fearless, because they would gradually abandon their previous tactics and equipment and appear on the European battlefield with a new look.

The Greek legion, which numbered nearly 2,000 men, was the key to realizing this vision.

This army was called the Greek Legion, not the Greek Regiment, because it had decided to break with the current way of forming a system based on the ancient Roman battle brigade.

A corps that is larger than any of today's armies on its own, while at the same time maintaining mobility, is a new force structure between a completely independent army and the largest army in the Grand Army, which may not attract much attention now, but will certainly cause a military revolution in the near future.

Alexander looked at the Balkans who were lazily leading their supplies to the quartermaster's shouting, and he smiled when he noticed the look of indignation on Bussako's face next to him.

"Busako, what do you think if I make you commander of the new Greek Legion?"

Alexander's sudden inquiry stunned Busako, and after thinking about it, he finally shook his head: "No, my lord, I don't think it's appropriate to do this." ”

"So who do you think is suitable to command this legion?" Alexander asked with interest.

"Gompati? Oflair's? Or someone else, but I really don't fit. After thinking about it, Busako shook his head regretfully, "My lord, I tried, I knew that I might be a good guard, but I was not suitable for me to command a large army, if I could, I would prefer to be a regimental commander rather than a regimental commander, it would be too difficult for me." ”

Alexander didn't say anything more, but a smile of relief appeared on his face, as Busako himself said, he was indeed more suited to be a soldier than a commander of a large army, and perhaps as the army grew in size in the future, he would one day eventually become a real commander of the army, but at least for now he was really not fit to command such a force that was obviously large enough to decide the fate of an entire army.

"Busako, I forgot to tell you that you are going to be the commander of the 2nd Balkan Regiment," Alexander said his plan, "you have to help me keep an eye on those guys who are messing around all day, you know that soon we will enter one of the richest regions in the world, I think you have seen how those Balkans envy Venice, but this time they will not have a chance to enter Venice, but then they will have a lot to face, so you have to control them." ”

"Yes, sir." Busako nodded in acknowledgement, and when Alexander turned to look at the ranks of soldiers in the distance, Busako finally let out a relaxed breath.

The long-awaited wish had finally come true, and Busako felt that even the scorching sun above his head was unbearable.

Of all the veterans who followed Alexander out of Agri, with the exception of the regrettable Carlo, many of them had become officers who could take charge of their own affairs, and the most dazzling of them was naturally Ofley, which made Busako a little jealous.

The battle against the Ottomans in Bucharest gave Busako hope, but despite his proud record that made everyone jealous, Alexander did not immediately reward him as he deserved.

However, Busako also knew that this was because the Count did not want to provoke the Ottomans too much, but in this way, he would inevitably suffer from gains and losses, but today he finally got his wish.

In fact, when he knew that the Second Balkan Regiment had been formed, Busako's heart became nervous, and he thought carefully for a long time about who would be his competitor, and when he finally found that only he was the most suitable for both qualifications and trust, his heart became even more intense.

It was not without thought that Alexander might give the regiment to Gompati, but he soon dismissed the idea.

At Alexander's side, Gompati was undoubtedly as important as Ofleiuil, and if the commander of the new army was to be considered, Busako thought that the position of commander of the newly formed Greek corps seemed to be more suitable for Gompati.

And that's exactly how Alexander asked Gompati for advice.

"What do you think of you commanding a new legion?"

When he heard Alexander's inquiry, Gompati narrowed his eyes slightly and thought for a moment, and then sighed secretly helplessly, he had already heard what Alexander meant by this question, and it was clear that the Count did not think that he was suitable for this position, which would be a great temptation for all.

"I don't think I'm suitable, but I'd rather have an artillery of sufficient size as soon as possible, and allow me to suggest once again that this artillery must not be a simple vassal, but must form an independent force." Gompati took the opportunity to put forward his proposal again, although this idea of his has been opposed many times, and even many officers privately believe that he intends to use artillery to highlight his personal importance, but Gompati still insists on his own view almost stubbornly: "My lord, artillery must be used intensively in order to exert its true power, otherwise it will be completely useless once dispersed, so I always think that the attention you give to artillery is obviously not enough." ”

Alexander chuckled happily, he knew that Gompati was so chattering about the importance of trying to raise the artillery at this time, not only because he did have such thoughts, but more importantly, to show him that he didn't care too much about the position of commander of the regiment.

After all, if you count all the troops including the guards Montina and Pisa, the number of Montina's army is about 10,000 people, and a 2,000-strong army will be one-fifth of the entire Montina army.

Who should hold such a position?

The mood of the Venetians was mixed with the arrival and departure of Montina's army.

Although it was not long, the money bags of the Venetian merchants were suddenly bulging because of the arrival of the Montina people.

Jews are shrewd, but more often than not, they succeed not simply because of shrewdness, but because of more decisive decisions.

The day after settling the Venetians' lawsuit against them for a 16-year, interest-free loan to Alexander's army, the Jews sent the first guarantee of funds to the Chamber of Commerce of the Venetian merchants as collateral for the Montina army to obtain various supplies in advance.

This greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the merchants, and Alexander's subsequent assurances to the merchants that he would buy additional supplies drove the Venetians almost insane.

They began to loot for supplies for the Montina army, and when they learned the exact time of Montina's departure, almost all of them went crazy and joined the big purchase of all the blacksmiths, stables, and artillery foundries, and all the things they could use to the Montina.

Rich in money, stupid in people, this is the impression of the Venetians of Alexander and his army, because there was such a big business, that when some Balkan ruffians quietly ran out of the barracks and went into the nearby towns to loot, assault women, and even set the house on fire for fun, some Venetian merchants offered to compensate the local people who were hurt in order to settle the disputes that might arise.

This made many Venetians who heard the news love and hate Montina's army, their arrogance, and their tyranny.

Alexander responded to this by simply hanging the Venetians, but to the surprise of those who knew him well, he did not reprimand the commander of the Balkan regiment, Rona Pannoni, and did not say anything like "if you repeat it" at the time of execution.

And the explanation of the Balkan guard named Scheer next to him in a casual conversation made many people gradually understand the true attitude of adults.

"Raiding is not a good thing, of course, but it is a good way to ensure that an army has enough energy, after all, anything can happen in war, but this is only suitable for war and when attacking the enemy's land, such raiding is more of a blow and deterrent to the enemy, but raiding in peacetime is absolutely intolerable, because it is pure crime and not bravery."

After saying this, Alexander noticed what Schell seemed to hastily write in a rough notebook, saying that Schell was the only literate Balkan farmer Alexander had ever met, and that it was because he had been herding sheep for his uncle, who was a priest.

As for Alexander saying this to one of the guards beside him, it was also to let Schell spread his word, not only to let his soldiers understand his attitude towards this matter, but also to let them know that he was not opposed to some method of boosting morale.

But Alexander did not expect that these words of his would soon be known to another person when he returned to Italy, and then that man would introduce them into his own book called "The Monarch".

On June 14, 1499, Montina's army entered Ferrara, a very special day, because on this day, at the Château de Shenonceau in the Loire Valley of France, King Louis XII of France officially announced his second march into Italy!