Between the village of Twin Chapels and the valley of the Coa, a river separates the Portuguese and Castilian lands on both sides of the river.

The Coa River flows from south to north through the border between the two countries and then joins the Douro River in the north of Castile.

The high terrain of the Koa River valley makes the water downstream extremely turbulent, and most of the banks of the Koa River are not suitable for ferrying, except for a few specific waterfronts.

Such terrain is very popular with the defenders in war, and the attacking side is not so happy.

Now Gonzalo looked a little sullen, and looking at the water that was rolling all the way north on the river, Gonzalo felt that God no longer seemed to favor him.

The reckless attack of the Portuguese caused them a great problem, and the Portuguese army that invaded Castile territory was met by the prepared Gonzalo, who used a powerful network of fortifications and muskets to lose nearly 600 men in a single day.

This was almost devastating for the Portuguese army, but the subsequent counterattack by the Castilian army was made worse until they finally fled back to a halt across the Coa River, with the Portuguese losing nearly 1,400 men in total.

Such a crushing defeat caused an uproar among all the Portuguese, including Manuel, and even the victory over the Castilian navy at sea could not shake them out of the fear of defeat.

Gonzalo, who pursued the victory, tried to force his way across the Coa, but the river's terrain caused him to suffer the same setbacks as the Portuguese.

Gonzalo had to abandon his plans for a major attack for the time being, while the threat posed by the French from the north forced him to take a defensive position against the Portuguese.

According to Gonzalo's original plan, he had already made the decision to go north and then west, and if it wasn't for the Portuguese who suddenly went crazy and launched the attack first, he would have rushed to the northern battlefield in advance.

In Gonzalo's view, the Portuguese were nothing to fear, and it was the movements of the French that really caught the eye.

Despite being wanted by the French in Italy, Gonzalo was well aware that the strength of this continental power should not be underestimated, so his plan was to concentrate all his forces on the French army, which had just crossed the Eboro River and had not yet gained a foothold, while guarding against the Portuguese.

Then turn around and have a good fight with Manuel.

It was only the active attack of the Portuguese that disrupted his plans, since the place of the Portuguese invasion was not very far from Valgliaridod, and in order to relieve this, the danger that could threaten the capital, Gonzalo had to engage the Portuguese first.

It's just that although he hit his opponent hard, it also delayed his time to mobilize his troops.

The French army that crossed the Eboro River quickly advanced towards Burgos, a major northern city in Castile, while a French army advanced rapidly along the Ebolo River to the upper west, with the intention of meeting the Portuguese northwest of Castile and then facing the Spaniards.

And that's exactly what Gonzalo didn't want to see.

Gonzalo was a military man through and through, but that didn't mean he was all that strange to court tricks.

He had also heard of the ambiguous relationship between the nobility of the northwestern part of Castile and the Portuguese for many years, and Gonzalo knew very well that if the Portuguese and French were allowed to join forces in the northwest, and then cut off the connection between Castile and the northwestern regions of Galicia and Astorea, then the two places were likely to change greatly over time.

So Gonzalo decided that he must not allow this intention of the enemy to succeed.

Having the upper hand, Gonzalo ordered the construction of fortifications and temporary fortresses on the east bank of the Coa, and after ordering the few places where the river could be crossed should be tightly cordoned off and leaving enough troops to defend the banks, Gonzalo immediately led his troops to the north to meet the French.

The French attack was sudden, as the defenders of Castile were almost immediately crushed, and the French knights could finally show their prowess once again.

From the Ebolo River to the vicinity of Burgos, the French advanced south almost without stopping, and the defenders of Burgos, although very tenacious, only held out for a short two days before abandoning the city.

When the French flag flew at the head of Burgos, Gonzalo had just left from Coa and the east bank, and he had little time and even fewer troops in his hands.

Although the Castilian army fought valiantly, the situation changed so suddenly that for a time the whole of northern Castile seemed precarious, and unfavorable news reached Barriaridud one after another.

Gonzalo was worried about the situation, and although he did train an army that he was confident in, he had taken it south to quell the noble rebels of Andalusia, so that without the trump card of the new army, which he called the Model Army, he could only gather all the troops he could mobilize to resist the invading French army.

The fall of Burgese was a big shock to the Castillians, no less than the Portuguese were shocked by the loss of the attack.

Burgos is the most important town in the north of Castile, and more importantly, it is known as the granary of the north of Castile.

The Pyrenees blocked the road to France, but here the mountains created a vast plain with fertile soil and abundant water.

Just as Valencia was the granary of Aragon, the plains near Burgos provided Castile with an abundance of grain.

Because of this, Burgos had a very important position in Castile, and in the past, the French had never tried to threaten the land because of the Pyrenees.

But suddenly everything seemed to change overnight, the French occupied Burges, and at the same time they quickly sent small forces to raid the countryside, and it was clear that the French knew that the Castilians would not rest on their laurels, and they were ready to meet them here.

The steady stream of troops sent from France seemed to indicate that the French king might not have retreated from Iberia so easily this time, perhaps he had only wanted to intervene in the dispute between the two countries to reap the benefits, but with the fall of Burges, the intentions of the French began to change.

By the time Gonzalo arrived in Burgos, the French had just brought all the grain they could to loot into the city, leaving Gonzalo with villages that had just been looted and empty granaries.

The French were well aware that they were now deep in enemy territory, so they plundered the area without mercy, without the slightest fear that it might provoke anger and revolt from the locals.

Gonzalo's arrival delighted the locals, who had long been known for his exploits on the continent, especially since his defeat of the French had convinced them that the general would soon be able to drive the hated French back to their homeland.

What people didn't expect was that Gonzalo, after visiting the front line to observe the French defenses, ordered the troops not to attack for the time being.

Gonzalo's decision angered many people, except for some nobles who tactfully asked him when he would attack, and many more wrote to Barriedot, asking the queen to put pressure on him.

However, the reply sent by Isabella was: "General Gonzalo is my most trusted and respected soldier, and his feats on the battlefield are obvious to all, so I support his decision." ”

The Queen's support kept those who were talking about it silent, and Gonzalo was not idle at this time.

After observing the French defenses, he realized that the French seemed to be preparing for a protracted war, and after they captured Burges, they did not continue to expand in the game, but immediately strengthened the city's defenses, and it was obvious that they wanted to stay in Burges for a long time.

Noticing this, Gonzalo decided to lure the French out of the city, and the victory in the defensive position at the Coa River made Gonzalo realize the great advantage of firearms in relying on field fortifications, and he decided to repeat the feat in Burges.

In addition, his current army also made him worry about whether he would be able to take on the task of besieging the city, and although he had asked the queen for permission to move the model army in the south to the north quickly, it was clear that the situation of the war would not allow him to delay so long.

Gonzalo hoped to lure the French out of the city, and then use the long-range power of fortifications and firearms to deplete French forces in the field.

For this purpose, he chose a vineyard as the envisioned position.

Gonzalo did not know that his decision was the same as that of the Papal army of Caesar, and they even chose the vineyard as their position.

In winter, the vineyards are lonely, the large bare grape trellises are sparsely dotted with yellowed and shriveled leaves, and from a high place the whole vineyard is located at one end of a flat land, and behind the vineyard is a small town, which is a semicircle high in the east and low in the west, just in the period when the vineyard is faintly surrounded.

In front of the vineyard is a slightly low-lying open field, and some of the depressions that have just rained recently have shallow pits that have not yet dried up, and the wet mud will flood the feet when you step on it.

However, it was an ideal battle, especially for the French, who had the advantage of artillery, and although they did not carry heavy artillery, some light artillery could easily hit the enemy in such terrain.

So when they heard that Gonzalo had placed his troops near the vineyards, the French generals were surprised and delighted, and they considered whether they should take the opportunity to teach the arrogant Castilian soldier a lesson, but before they could come up with a result, Gonzalo had already made a decision for them.

A French army that had gone out of the city to raid was unfortunately surrounded by the Castilian army.

After a bitter battle, the French army was annihilated, and Gonzalo simply ordered a gallows to be erected, and then all the captured French soldiers, from noble officers to ordinary soldiers and servants, were hanged on the gallows by the roadside.

The stiff corpses of the French soldiers shook in the cold wind, and the terrible scene frightened the French people who saw it.

Gonzalo's move completely angered the French generals, and there was no longer any need to discuss whether they should send troops or not, and the French army poured out of the city of Burges, and pressed towards the Castrilian positions in a position of two teams, on the left and right.

Gonzalo was somewhat surprised by this arrangement of the French, who knew that they seemed to have sensed his intention to bring the French into the middle of the town, in order to annihilate them from the positions placed on either side of the vineyards.

However, this did not discourage Gonzalo, and although the French seemed to be much more cunning, he believed that after the first battle, the French would still have to be arranged according to his intentions.

Sure enough, the French troops at the end of the open field were first hit hard by Castilian firearms from the vineyards.

The Castilian musketeers hid behind simple fortifications made of stone walls and grape frames, and kept shooting at the French soldiers, although it was more a matter of luck than skill to hit such a distance, but there were always unlucky people who fell to the ground screaming after a stalemate between the two sides, and finally broke the deadlock as the French could not stand it for a while.

The first to attack were the French knights, who, with their heavy armor and battering ram-like impact, rushed into the Castilian formation in front of the vineyard after a sudden run.

Although some people were shot, the almost extreme protection of the heavy cavalry still played a role, the bullets clanged on the armor, and the scene of sparks made the Castilian people tremble, and even when the French rushed into formation, the Castilian spearmen only stabbed a few French cavalry who rushed to the front, and then the Castilian people were knocked open by the French cavalry that followed.

The Castilians began to retreat, and although they were able to maintain their formation, the two threatened phalanxes had to slowly retreat deeper into the vineyards as the French approached.

The French did not attack immediately, they stopped in the middle of the open field to rest, while they pushed their proud guns to the front of the position, and after a slow preparation, 12 guns began to fire stone projectiles with great destructive power at the town and the vineyards in front of them.

The stone walls were smashed, and the large grape trellises bounced and rolled on the ground, and the Castilian musketeers, who had been hiding in the vineyards, were forced to retreat further.

The French generals couldn't help but laugh smugly when they were torn out of pieces, sometimes hit the wooden house where the winter grapes were stored, and even smell the sweet and sour smell.

He gave the order to the French troops at the other end, and two French troops surrounded the outer perimeter of the vineyard from both sides at the same time.

The intention of the French generals was simple: to drive the Castians out of the vineyards with artillery, and at the same time to attack from both sides to force the Castilians to withdraw from the positions they had prepared to attack, so that the enemy would either flee the battlefield or obediently engage in an unassuming engagement.

Looking at the approaching French army, Gonzalo, who was standing on a high ground in the town, also let out a smug laugh.

"The French were defeated." He said this to the officers around him.

"The French are defeated," said Alexander, meanwhile, on a high slope far from the open field, looking at the battlefield in the open field, and then he pulled the reins of his horse and turned and walked toward the city of Burgos.

Nine Heavenly God Emperors