As the line was advancing, one of the soldiers tripped over his nervous feet, which immediately drew a loud shout from the Overseer standing on the side.

Looking at the non-commissioned officer's eyes as if he were looking at a dead man, the soldier hurried two quick steps to keep up with the group.

Because of this small accident, the entire horizontal front appeared like a zigzag wave like a corrugated board on the surface of the water.

Ji Sha stood on a high place and looked at this scene and shook her head slightly: "Our soldiers still need to be trained. ”

"They're too nervous, Your Majesty," whispered a staff officer, "and it's Gonzalo Salvador de Córdoba on the other side, after all." ”

The first time she had heard someone call Gonzalo by her full name, she looked back at the staff attendant with some strange surprise.

"Your Majesty, I served in General Gonzalo's army," the staff officer made no secret of his reverence for Gonzalo, "he was a true soldier, I mean he was able to seize opportunities on the battlefield better than anyone else. ”

Gonzalo's undisguised admiration didn't make him angry, and she smiled and looked back at the command camp looming behind the enemy position on the opposite side, knowing that Gonzalo was probably looking at this side like she did.

"The Castilians over there are moving!" Not far away, a non-commissioned officer in charge of observation suddenly shouted.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing.

The flag waved, and a neat phalanx on the left side of the Castilian Front was slowly advancing.

In the light of the rising sun, the Castilian marching ranks were majestic, and the light of the armor even gave the entire formation a dazzling glow.

Unlike the rest of the troops, the team was almost always draped in short sky-blue cloaks, with rows of soldiers' capes connected by a vague pattern on the shoulders of a patch of intricate patterns.

At the front of the procession, led by a priest, several soldiers slowly advanced in the protection of a large cross.

At the same time, from the Castilian position, bursts of cheers resounded through the sky with the appearance of that phalanx force.

"What's that?"

Seeing many Castilian soldiers praying to the cross inlaid with countless bouquets, and some even fell to their knees on the battlefield, Jossa gestured to the cross.

"Look at the cross, it looks like the Holy Cross of Guadalupe," said the staff officer who had been an errand boy under Gonzalo a little nervously, "if it is really the Holy Cross of Guadalupe, then this unit is the Holy Army of Careses." ”

"Isn't it amazing?" Jisha asked casually.

"They are the armed holy army of the Cathedral of Guadalupe, and since their establishment they have fought in almost all the wars of the Reconquista."

Amid the cheers of the Castilians, the Caretses Legion gradually formed a large phalanx in front of the formation.

However, this aspect did not face the Sicilian army head-on, but used one of its corners as the vanguard of the charge.

The sharp horns of that phalanx were guarded by several tall spear-wielding soldiers, their long-handled axes forming a terrifyingly sharp jungle.

On either side of the sharp corners, the two phalanxes that swept backwards were flanked by rows of soldiers with long-handled weapons.

"They are, prismatic arrays?"

Jisha frowned slightly as she looked at the enemy, but she didn't expect that the enemy in front of her didn't seem to be just a bunch of simple-minded fanatics.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is the experience they have gained from fighting the Moors, so that they will be as safe as possible from attacks from the front," explained the staff officer, "and once they break through into the enemy formation, they can give full play to the power of the flanks of the formation and tear a hole in the enemy's line." ”

Seeing that Jisha nodded lightly and did not speak, the staff officer continued: "They are very brave, and when they engage the Moors, they often deliberately get deep in the enemy's formation, and if the enemy forces close in the center in order to surround them, they will fall for their plan, because then other friendly troops can take the opportunity to attack the enemy's flank. ”

"Do they do that often?"

"The Caretses Holy Army is very religious and ...... Crazy. ”

The staff officer thought about it, and chose this more appropriate adjective.

The priest sang the final requiem aloud with a thick Bible in his hand, and he was celebrating battle mass for the soldiers who were about to die on both sides.

The chanting passed through the clearing to the side of the Sicilian army, and many soldiers knelt down in prayer, and at this moment the front line of the battlefield suddenly became quiet.

She made a cross on her chest and kissed one of the pendants that hung on her chest.

The pendant was a cross made of gold, but in the middle was a clasp that could be opened.

When you open the buckle, you can see that there is a small strand of red hair hidden inside, which is a little secret of Jisha.

Then she stared unblinkingly at the protruding diamond-shaped phalanx between the two armies in the distance.

"It seems to be very powerful," Tsusha looked interested in her eyes, and then she gave the order to the question next to her, "Then let's see how good they are, and order the artillery, after the prayer, to scatter freely at the protruding enemy army." ”

The herald heard the order and immediately left, and Jisha smiled at the people around her, "Remember everyone, we respect every opponent who deserves respect, but they have to pay a price. ”

He himself was moved when the last trill, which was almost perfect, burst out of his throat.

He felt that it was the most commendable sermon of his career, and just as he was still savoring the sensation of the trill, a shrill whistling roared over his head.

Then, behind him, there was the terrible sound of something falling to the ground and what seemed to be being torn apart.

A terrible scream was heard behind him, and the priest slowly turned his head to see a terrible gap in the broken limbs and flesh and bones of the originally neatly formed army of Careses.

Just with the first shot, the prismatic array of the Careses Holy Army was hit by a solid shell that was almost flat fired.

Another cannonball whistled, but this time it didn't seem to be aiming, and the cannonball landed on the ground not far in front of the shape, and then bounced forward.

After smashing two more shallow craters into the ground, the shells grazed the edge of the left corner of the formation, taking away some parts of the bodies that had belonged to several soldiers, and splashing blood all over the soldiers next to them.

There was a commotion in the formation of the Careses Holy Army, and the soldiers looked at each other in fear with their weapons clenched, and many began to pray loudly.

The priest let out a high-pitched cry, stood in front of the Holy Cross of Guadalupe with his Bible held in his hands high, and walked forward with firm steps.

The sight affected the soldiers behind them, who calmed down and dragged their dead and wounded companions aside, and the Kareses Army formation began to move forward after the priest.

Like a sudden splash of calm waters, the entire Castilian front began to move.

"That pastor was so brave." Omo stood on a high vantage point and looked at the enemy formation below, and what he saw made him not only admire the priest's actions.

"That's because he knew that no one would use him and the cross as a target," said Kulash, who was standing next to him on horseback just as tall as Omo, "and if he had been in Moldova, he would have lost his life a long time ago." ”

"This is not a fight against infidels, brother," Omo reminded, "and the queen will not give such cruel orders. ”

Hearing his brother's words, Kulash fell silent, his legs parted, and his ass fell on the horse's back.

Then he looked up to his brother on a high place and asked, "I said, Omo, are you still happy to be on an errand with the queen?" ”

"Very well," replied Omo, casually observing the enemy in the distance, "the queen appreciates me." ”

"Then be on an errand," Kulash muttered in a low voice, "Our family depends on you, you are so smart that you will decide to be better than me in the future, but ......"

"What are you going to say, Kulash?"

Finally noticing the strangeness in his brother's tone, Omo looked at Kurush.

"I'm just reminding you," Kulash looked at his brother with a puzzled expression, "don't just make decisions for the queen, that's not a good subordinate." ”

Before he could speak, Omo caught his attention from a few distant cannon shots, and he immediately looked up into the distance.

Immediately, Kulash saw the disbelief on his brother's face.

Sensing that something might have happened, Kulashmali jumped onto his horse, and his mouth opened.

In front of the positions of the two sides, a few plumes of smoke were rising from the formation of the Careses Holy Army, and the entire Careses Holy Army formation was like a piece of cheese that had just been smashed with a hammer and was full of potholes.

It's just that the smashed places are not spilling out of yellow milk, but bright red flesh.

But this is not really surprising, to the surprise of everyone on the battlefield, the Holy Cross of Guadalupe, which used to be at the front of the queue, is gone.

In front of the procession, only a vague piece of flesh that could barely be seen as a human stump was scattered on the ground, and the Holy Cross of Guadalupe, which had once thrilled the morale of the Castilian soldiers, was no longer visible.

"Queen's ......"

Omo looked at his brother next to him in a daze.

"That's why I said you, just be a good errand." Kulash said in a quiet tone, then looked around, "Looks like there's going to be a bad fight ahead." ”

In the Sicilian command camp, when several shells fell in the enemy formation at the same time, and one of them smashed the people and crosses protecting the cross in front of them into flowers, and then bounced into the crowd behind, there was a moment of deathly silence.

Everyone looked blankly and uneasily at the station, and in the distance there was already a frantic shout from the artillery commander.

She slowly turned her head to look in the direction of the artillery position, and when she saw the artillery commander who was riding a horse and rushing towards her side, she silently turned her head back to look at the enemy position.

"Your Majesty~"

Still far away, the shouts of the artillery commander had already been heard, and the face of the artillery commander became indescribably ugly at the sight of the complicated eyes that people threw at him.

"Return to your position," Jossa kept her eyes fixed on the distance, noticing that the Castilian army, though seemingly halted slightly by the accident of the Caretses and the Holy Cross of Guadalupe, quickly resumed its advance under the Commander's leadership.

This made Ji Sha can't help but have a new understanding of the enemy.

"It's all just a prologue, and the real battle begins."

Picking up the command staff on the small table beside her, she asked the artillery commander who was still standing uneasy, "Who is in charge of you now?" ”

"It's my deputy, Your Majesty, please listen to my explanation......"

Shosha flicked her command staff in the air, interrupting the anxious-looking commander.

"Then let him continue to command," said Tsusa, her eyes fixed on the Castilian army in the middle of the plain, "As the chief officer, your task is to carry out orders firmly, but you have disappointed me. ”

As she spoke, she no longer paid attention to the artillery officer standing aside with a panicked expression, but raised her command staff and whispered softly to herself: "Here we go." ”

Alexander gently stroked the horse's back, and under the taut skin, he could feel the strong beating pulse of the mount, and the horse seemed to be equally excited by the temporary tension of the great battle.

"Steady, steady."

Alexander bent down and whispered softly in his mount's ear.

Schell rubbed his saber hard against the saddle, his fingers stroking the sharp blade, his eyes shining with excitement.

Starting from the right flank of the Sicilians, the approaching Castilian army launched an attack on the Sicilian army.

The shells first fell not far in front of the Sicilian queue, smashing up large areas of earth.

Without waiting for the smoke to fall, the ensuing solid shells rolled and fell fiercely into the ranks of the Sicilian army.

In the face of the oncoming black shadow, a soldier didn't even have time to close his eyes when half of his body was blown off by a flying cannonball.

The cannonball, wrapped in pieces of flesh, continued forward, and after breaking the legs of another soldier, it bounced back against a rock, and plowed a bloody strip through the crowd before finally rolling on the ground to a halt.

And at this time, other places on the front were also attacked by Castilian artillery fire.

"Fire! Fire! Fire! ”

The Castillan artillery officer standing near a cannon kept shouting, his collar ripped open, and only a pair of eyes and yellowed teeth could be seen on his smoky face.

A pungent cloud of smoke blew in the wind, and the officer fanned indiscriminately, although his eyes hurt from the smoke, but he still stared at the formation of Sicily in the distance.

"It's a pity that the depth of their formation is too thin, otherwise the lethality would have been greater," the officer complained with some annoyance, and then he shouted to push the artillery behind as far as possible to the front, "Queue up, hurry, I'm going to open a way for our soldiers with shells." ”

The gunners and auxiliaries who heard the order immediately got to work in a hurry, dragging the guns loaded on the heavy gun wagons forward, and then shouting to turn the guns around.

Others began to use shovels to tamp the ground and build artillery embankments in preparation for the placement of gun emplacements.

Gonzalo stood in front of the woods, his eyes roaming the entire battlefield, and although the two sides had so far only fired at each other through artillery, he sensed a looming threat from the enemy on the opposite side.

His hand was placed on the side of his thigh and patted gently, and when he saw this action, the attendants who were familiar with his habits couldn't help but look serious.

"What is that Cambrai going to do?"

Gonzalo muttered softly to himself in a tone that no one else could hear, his gaze as he had crossed the open ground between the two sides and was approaching the enemy's phalanx.

The left wing was less than 300 paces away from the nearest Sicilian, and Gonzalo's eyes narrowed slightly.

The enemy on the opposite side had already raised their muskets, but Gonzalo was not worried, as the oncoming enemy was no more numerous than his troops.

Gunfire rang out, and it was the first real firefight after the start of the Battle of Leo!

To Gonzalo's surprise, however, it was not the enemy in the front who fired first, but the left flank in the queue closer to the rear.

And the moment the gunshot rang out, Gonzalo's eyes narrowed instantly, and his cheeks couldn't help but tremble slightly.

Neat! Dense!

What's more, as the smoke of gunfire erupted, Gonzalo was shocked to find that the enemy's fire covered almost his entire phalanx.

Even in the back, Gonzalo could see that by the time the first round of gunfire rang out, a group of soldiers in the phalanx had already fallen.

This made the advancing phalanx even stagnant!

However, immediately after that, the phalanx began to approach the enemy under the shouting command of the officer, and at the same time, rows of gunfire also sounded in the phalanx.

Gonzalo looked at the phalanx with a solemn expression, although it was not his model army, but it was also the elite of the Castilian army.

If it had been in the past, after seeing that the formation was still in disarray after suffering such heavy losses, Gonzalo would have thought that this phalanx had gained the upper hand in the battle with the enemy.

For as soon as the enemy is within range of his musketeers, he can quickly force the enemy into disarray with the combination of weapons from near and far.

But now Gonzalo couldn't jump to conclusions so quickly.

The fierce roar of several artillery pieces shook the battlefield, and as the shells fell in the formation of the enemy army, several striking gaps were immediately smashed into the not deep front.

The Sicilian Front looked a little shaken.

Gonzalo breathed a sigh of relief.

Just now, for some reason, it seemed that he felt an indescribable depression that made him unable to breathe.

At that moment, Gonzalo saw a scene that made his heart tighten suddenly.

The Sicilian soldiers in the back rows of several lines walked forward quickly, filling the gap that had just been smashed by the shells, while the whole line continued to move forward slowly but surely to the beat of war drums.

Finally, the Sicilians stopped.

Raise your gun, aim, listen to orders, shoot!

The roar of muskets in the hands of the infantry of the battle line began to resound across the battlefield.

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