In April, the Guadaville River becomes turbulent and turbulent with the arrival of the spring floods, mixed with a large amount of sediment brought from the upper reaches, and the river becomes turbid and turbulent.

Gonzalo stood on the shore and looked at the tumbling river and furrowed his brow, the situation before him worried him a lot, or even the initial failure and setback of the expedition to Italy did not worry him as much as he did now.

Gonzalo was very pleased when he heard that the Seville had sent cavalry that seemed to be preparing to attack a Sicilian army deep into the vicinity of the city of Seville, and he judged that it should be the best opportunity for the two sides to cause a possible conflict, so he sent his army to wait, hoping to get some oil and water.

However, he was disappointed that his troops had indeed eliminated a large number of Sevillian cavalry, which was a great blow to the already poor aristocratic coalition, but the Sicilians surprised him by not joining the battle, let alone taking the opportunity to fight back, but instead allowing their troops who had crossed the Corvones to retreat to the other side of the river.

The Sicilian army's actions were unexpected by both sides, and what happened next was something Gonzalo did not expect.

A mercenary force of about 10,000 people suddenly arrived in Seville, and these mercenaries, who were said to be composed of Catalans, soon became Don Bavi's trump card in the hands of Don Bavi, and the Andalusian nobles were also greatly motivated by the arrival of these reinforcements, and Seville, which seemed to be within reach, became a little difficult to deal with for various reasons.

Although he always gives people the impression of arrogance and arrogance, Gonzalo is not a reckless person, and even many times he has experienced more than most people, especially on the battlefield, he can often find some clues that others have not yet noticed earlier than others, and then can quickly seize the fleeting opportunity, it is this keen observation that made him achieve an enviable record in the Italian war, and it is also his flexible mind, He realized early on the significance of forming a new army that was completely different from the previous army.

Although he preferred to show his talents on the battlefield, Gonzalo was not the kind of person who was completely ignorant of court intrigues, otherwise he would rather be infamous and hated by Ferdinand, and would have dressed himself up as an unruly prodigal soldier and a playboy like a bad boy spoiled by Isabella, who just wanted to be away from court right and wrong and devote all his energy to the military technology he loved, but now it seems that things in the world are always unsatisfactory.

Ferdinand sent him an order in which he was forced to take Seville as soon as possible, and at the same time to expel the Sicilians from Castile, of course, if possible, the best outcome would be to destroy the invading Sicilian army in the Iberian Peninsula at the same time, and it would be perfect if he could force the usurping Queen of Sicily to surrender the throne in defeat.

This order does not seem to be harsh, after all, the number of invading troops in Sicily is small, and the Castilian army is fighting on its own, so there is no need to worry about the strength or the source of troops, not to mention that they are still facing the new army of Gonzalo, which is known as a model army, and as for the coalition army of the Andalusian nobility, there is almost no need to consider their threat from the current situation.

So Ferdinand's demands are not high, or it can be said to be reasonable, after all, the advantage is on the side of the Castilians in every way.

But Gonzalo, as the supreme commander of the front, was not so optimistic, the sudden intervention of the Sicilians forced him to reconsider how to arrange his troops, and Gonzalo, the queen of Sicily, did not despise Gonzalo at all, although he was not in Italy, but he had been following the movements on the Italian battlefield, from Siena to San Girragnano, Gonzalo noticed a lot of things that surprised him, these large and small battles gave him a new understanding of the Neapolitan army that he originally looked down on, And the conquest of Sicily made him even more impressed by the bold and meticulous actions of the Sicilian queen.

When the Sicilian army was deployed in the middle of the Corvones and Henier rivers, and then confronted the Castilians across the Guadaville River, Gonzalo had the strange idea that the queen seemed to be deliberately luring himself into attacking her, and it was precisely because of this idea that he refused the request of his generals to attack immediately, and instead ordered his troops to build fortifications on the north bank of the Guadaville River, waiting for an opportunity.

Now the situation in Seville has also changed, and the situation on the battlefield has become complicated, but Ferdinand asked him to take the initiative to attack at this time, which made Gonzalo feel as if he was suddenly restrained.

Gonzalo did not like this feeling, and he hoped that he would be free on the battlefield, at least that the army would be mobilized according to his intentions and not according to the needs of the king of some small country far away in Barrialidod, which would certainly make the situation on the battlefield very bad.

In addition, he had been keeping a close eye on the Portuguese.

Gonzalo knew that Alexander was now in Lisbon, and that he had never despised the young man, and now regarded him as his formidable enemy.

There was a more important reason why Gonzalo did not immediately attack the Sicilian army, he did not know whether it was Alexander's arrangement, but whether it was planned or not, if he fought with the Sicilians, then he would probably be trapped in Andalusia, and the Portuguese would probably take the opportunity to attack.

Gonzalo wasn't interested in the politics of the court, but that didn't mean he didn't have a long-term vision.

The threat posed to Castile by the Portuguese and French was obvious, and a rash war with the Sicilies at this time was likely to have unintended and dangerous consequences.

"It's all really well planned." Sitting on the other side of the river, Gonzalo threw a stone into the river, listening to a muffled sound of "tom", the stone made a splash on the river, Gonzalo shook his head with some envy.

The results of the scouts' reconnaissance from the vicinity of the Sicilian camp also made Gonzalo more vigilant.

According to the scouts, the Sicilians had built their fortifications on the other side of the Guadaville River, as if they were waiting for him to attack, rather than just to guard against his attack while he was resting.

"Settle everything here?" Gonzalo's mind flashed through the thought, and he was vaguely excited, not because he longed for war, but because of the onslaught of what might be a fierce battle.

He found himself feeling this way in years, and although he had fought the Ottomans in Crete, who were equally sophisticated in their weapons, he had not felt this way at the time.

A formidable enemy.

This was Gonzalo's idea of the Sicilian army today, or at least the people in command of it.

Gonzalo beckoned to a retinue in the distance, telling him to take out Ferdinand's orders that he had with him, and he was going to look at them again.

"I think it's a good time to attack, I'm making the final push with the Portuguese, I don't know what the outcome will be, but I think everything will be answered soon, and attacking at this time can give the Portuguese a very strong warning, in fact, if you can take Sevilla before all this, maybe the situation will be different, but even now it's not too late, you just need to prove yourself with a win that you work harder."

Looking at the wording of the order, Gonzalo touched his beard under his chin and smiled.

Although the order was still condescending compared to the past, Gonzalo clearly felt Ferdinand's embarrassment.

It is not yet known whether the Portuguese will attack at this time, but he can be sure that the negotiations between the two sides will not go so well.

This can be seen from Ferdinand's desire to deter the Portuguese by quelling the rebellion in Andalusia.

As for Manuel, Gonzalo believed that he, like Ferdinand, was just a fox at court and not a jackal on the battlefield, so unless it was Alexander who led the Portuguese army in an attack on Castile, Gonzalo was not worried about what kind of threat the others might pose.

It's just that it seems to him that this is clearly impossible.

If he hadn't publicly declared himself the prince of Castile, Gonzalo might have feared that Alexander would take advantage of his rebellion in the south to send troops from Portugal, but now he certainly wouldn't have made such a move that would have attracted criticism for himself.

So why did Ferdinand ask so desperately to attack the Sicilians?

Gonzalo pondered with some confusion, because he didn't know much about the current situation at the court of Barrialidodes, and he couldn't understand Ferdinand's intentions for a while.

He didn't know that if Alexander was here, he could easily guess what Ferdinand wanted to do.

The envoy to Vienna had been gone for a long time, and Ferdinand believed that this time was enough for the Emperor to be ready to mobilize his army, and perhaps even now that the Austrian army had entered northern Italy, after all, because of the belonging of Lombardy and Milan, the Austrians had always kept an army in northern Italy, albeit a small number, ready to fight.

Now the Queen of Sicily landed in Iberia with her troops, which may seem like a risky but rewarding feat, and it is probably because of this contrary that the Sicilians are willing to follow their queen.

But what if Italy was attacked by the Austrians at this time?

And even if the Austrian army took advantage of the situation to capture Naples because of the expedition of the main army of Naples?

Such an idea was enough to make Ferdinand anxious to drag the Sicilians on the Iberian expedition to the peninsula, even if Gonzalo was not ready.

"Send men across the river to give the Sicilians a final warning," Gonzalo said, twindling his beard with his fingers, "and give them two days to withdraw, or we will attack." ”

The entourage who heard the order looked at Gonzalo with some surprise, as close associates of course they knew what was written in the king's letter.

And they also knew that an immediate attack on the Sicilian army was obviously contrary to the current situation in Andalusia, and it was precisely because of this Gonzalo that he seemed preoccupied.

But now the general suddenly asked the Sicilians to withdraw their troops, which clearly conflicted greatly with the king's intentions.

Seeing the surprised look on the entourage's face, Gonzalo let out a "snort" in his nose: "Do you think the Sicilians will withdraw their troops because of my warning?" ”

"Of course not, my lord, but why did you disobey the king's orders, you did not attack according to the orders and contacted the queen," the attendant asked with some concern, "which would make Ferdinand think that you were in collusion with the Sicilians." ”

"Do you think that if I do what he commands, I will not arouse his suspicion?" Gonzalo asked amusefully, "Among the charges against me, there are even the charges against me for bringing back a large number of treasures and famous paintings from Naples without permission, but everyone knows whose pockets most of those things went into." ”

The entourage stood a little uneasy and listened, he knew that the general had an arrogant character, but the way he was now still made the entourage feel terrified in the bottom of his heart.

"I have to let Ferdinand know who he is dealing with, and I am loyal to the Queen, not some coward who wants to steal the throne of Castile by means of marriage, so if he wants me to serve him, he must do it my way."

After saying that, Gonzalo got up from the stone, he stepped forward a few steps into the water, let the river water, which was still a little cold in this season, pour into the boot shaft, feeling the cold temperature, Gonzalo turned back and gave an order to his men behind him: "Get the battle brigades ready, maybe soon we will have a battle to fight." ”

While the army of the King of Castile was actively preparing for battle, the tense atmosphere before the war also hung over the Sicilian army camp on the opposite bank.

The feeling of suppressed qi cannot be soothed even by how many intense training sessions it takes, and when everyone meets the eyes of others, they actually see the same anxiety as themselves.

Gonzalo is like a great shadow hanging over the hearts of all Neapolitans.

Just think about how Charles VIII's French army was so easy to defeat the Neapolitan army and occupy Naples, but such an invincible French king was beaten by Gonzalo and had to abandon his army and flee back to France alone, you can imagine how terrible that Gonzalo was.

It was in Naples, and now in Castile, in Gonzalo's own country.

And his army was different from that time, and the model army of Gonzalo, at least the Sicilian officers, had heard of it for a long time.

Josha sensed the nervousness of her men, but she knew there was no way to do it, and even she was vaguely apprehensive about going head-to-head with Gonzalo.

Especially after receiving Gonzalo's ultimatum, for the first time, Zhosa lost sleep in the night before the war.

The April night was still a little cold, and she walked outside with a thick cloak.

She looked up at the endless stars in the dark night sky overhead, and suddenly felt an indescribable loneliness and melancholy.

From Bucharest to Sicily, before you know it, the original Countess of Cosenza has become the Queen of Sicily, and the beautiful and somewhat intelligent and arrogant aristocratic girl at that time has also become a famous military commander in Europe.

All this change is simply something that the most imaginative person would not have guessed.

So when did all this start to change?

It was after Alexander's appearance.

When this thought flashed through her mind, the corners of her lips couldn't help but tilt up slightly.

"There is no one in this world who knows and can help me as well as you, and I can't even imagine what I would do without you."

Thinking of these words in Alexander's letter, Zhisa felt a faint sense of pride.

In the middle of the night before the battle, Tsusha suddenly felt as if she had nothing left to do.

Barendi is now the Duchess of Romagna-Tuscany, and she should be content.

Lucrezia, she could have guarded her Pisa and the Duchy of Florence and become part of the future empire of Alexander.

As for Sophia, the thought of her made Josha shake her head, she would become a wayward queen of the East, and for a long time to come she would be driven by ambition to get caught up in all sorts of strife in the East, far from Western Europe.

Unless Alexander's call was called, she would probably spend the rest of her life in the Balkans.

In the end, only my brother and sister remained.

Thinking of this, Jisha couldn't help but laugh, but then she was hit by a wave of exhaustion.

The brother and sister have worked hard for several years, and the business has finally come to this point.

Decisive battle with Gonzalo, and after defeating the main Castilian army, he marched into Barrialidodes.

It was undoubtedly a pivotal battle, and even the outcome of the battle had a different meaning from the war that was being fought in Italy.

Even if the Austrians were defeated in battle, they could still have all kinds of room for manoeuvre, and even conclude an armistice with the Austrians if necessary.

Of course, that will inevitably face all kinds of harsh conditions, but it is not out of control.

But in Iberia it's different.

Defeat means the complete loss of everything before, and what awaits their brothers and sisters is bound to be a miserable end.

The starry sky above his head was lonely and cold, and the mysterious and dark sky seemed to have a terrible vortex trap at any time, swallowing the human body and soul together.

"Brother, where are you now......

Jisha muttered softly to herself, she felt unspeakably lonely at this moment.

A pair of powerful arms suddenly came from behind, and for a moment she instinctively wanted to pull out the short sword hidden under the skirt of her waist.

Until I heard a familiar voice whispering in my ear: "I'm here, I'm coming." ”

In April 1503, Alexander led about 300 Balkan hunters from the port of Lisbon and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the southern Spanish port of Jerez-de la Flote**.

They then changed boats and sailed up the Guadaville River, passing through the city of Seville a few fats south of Seville and, on 15 April, entering the Sicilian barracks.