Several Aragonese soldiers, with sturdy sticks tied to ropes on their chests, staggered forward on the sand.

Not far behind them, in the shallow water on the shore, a Caravel ship with all its sails down was moving slowly.

With a burst of orders, the soldiers finally stopped, threw away their ropes, sat on the ground, gasping for breath, while they secretly cursed the Castilian who had called them coolies.

"They're definitely scolding me, and I can bet anybody," Gonzalo said to the lieutenant standing nearby, and seeing the noncommittal quirky smile on his adjutant face, Gonzalo touched his pronounced big chin and continued, "I bet you're scolding me too, and the bet is on those vineyards in my territory." ”

The adjutant had that inconspicuous smile on his face again, and then followed Gonzalo down the soft ladder to the dinghy beside the boat: "Your Excellency, you know that I can completely deny your speculation in order to gain your vineyard and lose my reputation. ”

"So you are indeed scolding me," Gonzalo muttered under his breath, "I now wonder how many people do not want to obey my orders, because we may have to fight the infidels next." ”

"I can assure you that all soldiers will not hesitate to rush at the enemy's command, and it is the responsibility of each of us to be devout Christians."

"I absolutely believe this, but that still doesn't stop you from scolding me, right?" Gonzalo asked, and seeing the lieutenant smile with that strange "you know" smile again, Gonzalo couldn't help but shake his head, "I have promised all of you that this will be a rare opportunity, you should know that Crete has amassed a lot of wealth over the years, and I assure you that everyone will get much more than you can imagine." ”

"But after all, this is not with the king's permission," said the lieutenant, and said in a low voice in Gonzalo's ear, "I must warn you, my lord, that although there is no objection to your help to the Venetians, the king seems to be very unhappy that you have not been able to land in Naples as soon as possible, and it is no secret to many officers, and if you do not quell these unfavorable rumors as soon as possible, I fear that someone may come forward and refuse your orders." ”

"Thank you, my friend," Gonzalo casually patted the lieutenant's shoulder with his hand while looking at the seemingly calm shore, "how many people are there on this island?" ”

"About less than 2,000," replied one of the guides, "there had been more before, but when the Ottomans came, many of them fled back to Venice in fright." ”

"But didn't the Ottomans already occupy the land on the other side before," Gonzalo looked northeast in the distance, for the weather was fine, and he could faintly see the hazy coastline of the Greek coast in the distance, "They are so close to the island of Kythera, haven't they ever come to harass the people on the island before?" ”

"Your Excellency, you are asking," said the guide, with a little pride, "although there were not many soldiers stationed on the island before, but we had enough fleet to drive the Ottomans away, and the Ottoman troops who occupied Greece could only threaten us on land, but when they got to the water, they had few boats, and we were not afraid of them." ”

Speaking of this, the guide shook his head helplessly: "But that was before, I heard that the Ottomans were defeated in Bucharest, and we thought that maybe even Greece could be recovered, but then the Ottoman fleet came, and the last of our fleets were sent to Crete, and now the people on the island are scared to death, because I don't know when the Ottomans came." ”

Gonzalo nodded silently, he glanced at the lieutenant next to him, and patted him on the shoulder: "Let's go to Kythira first and then go directly to Crete, believe me that this is definitely a trip that you will not regret, what I promised you will come true, and maybe even more." ”

The lieutenant pursed his lips slightly, knowing full well that the commander was so confident only because he was not only Isabella's favorite, but also the commander who had defeated the French, and King Ferdinand had to tolerate his arrogance again and again in order to deal with Louis XII, who was obviously more difficult than Charles VIII.

The wealth of Crete did attract soldiers who were eager to gain wealth through war, but they only changed the objectives of their march and even the enemies they were fighting with, which made Gonzalo's officers inevitably hesitate.

"Believe me, the Ottoman fleet will not be met with us so easily, for their enemies are Venetians, and we will only have to drive away the infidels who have ascended Crete," Gonzalo explained to his lieutenant, "and then everything there will be ours, and even if possible we will drive the Ottomans from the vicinity of Crete and drive them back across the Mediterranean, and then I believe that our king will only reward and thank us for planting his flag on Crete for us." ”

The lieutenant looked at Gonzalo silently, then bowed slightly to him.

Gonzalo's promise was a no-brainer, and though it wasn't as easy as he had suggested, the battles with the Ottomans along the way proved his words when the Aragonese army replenished its port from Venice on the island of Kythera and marched on Crete.

Contrary to what the guide said, the Venetians had a very powerful fleet in Kythira, which was also one of the main forces used by the Venetians to defend against the Ottoman navy, although the Ottomans had landed in Crete, but the Venetians obviously did not want to give up this extremely important sea base for them, so they did their best to organize several fleets to prepare for a decisive battle with the Ottomans at sea.

The appearance of this fleet made Gonzalo's last fears disappear, and he joined up with the Venetians and, after a short rest, marched for Crete.

On 9 November, the Aragonese army, under the cover of the Venetian fleet, landed at Cape Spant, southwest of Crete.

At this point, the battle for Crete, with the combined forces of Venice and Aragon on the one hand, and the Ottomans who landed northeast of Crete on the side, began.

Alexander sat in the strange wooden house of the Count of Mordillo, it was already cold in November, and the cold wind coming from under the planks was uncomfortable, but this inconvenience was nothing compared to the information brought by the man he was about to see.

A middle-aged man dressed in a distinctly oriental style stood not far in front of Alexander, and the large Gutra-wrapped turban on his head made him look like a pagan from afar, but his appearance was typical of a European.

"Madame, let me greet you, sir." The man looked at Alexander curiously as he spoke, and he had the impression that the lady with great powers was a real stranger, but from the cautious attitude with which she had spoken of the earl, the middle-aged man could not help but be intrigued by what kind of peculiarities the earl had.

"Is Lady Connie alright?" Alexander asked.

It had been a few months since the Venice house, and Alexander was interested in what the elusive woman was doing now.

"Madame is now in the East, and believe me that it is more distant than you can imagine," said the messenger, "Madame is now in Persia." ”

Alexander nodded slightly, he already knew what Connieo was up to.

A recent meeting with Connieo in Venice led Alexander to the most important news for him, and when he heard that Pelotto Cadron was actually the son of Cem, the brother of Bayezet II, he immediately devised a plan that would never suffer him in any way.

Pelotto Cadron was the key to this plan, but more important was not the pawn that could compete with Bayezid II or his descendants for the Sultan's throne, because as far as Alexander knew, neither Bayezid II nor his son Selim I were an easy opponent to deal with, and Alexander was not optimistic about whether Cadron could inspire the Ottomans to betray the current Sultan from Jem's old army.

What he really focuses on is another person, a "little kid" with an extraordinary genius and even a legendary life experience.

Becoming a sect leader at the age of 12, re-emerging at the age of 13 after a devastating defeat, and establishing his own country at the age of 15 can only be described as a "demon" or a "miracle" in any era.

Ismaili I, a teenager who can only be described as incredible, a legendary figure who almost shook the Ottomans in the East.

In 1499, he was exactly 12 years old, the year he became the leader of the Sheikh of the Safavid sect.

"Madame wants guidance from you," said the messenger with some confusion, for in his mind Connie was a more scheming and wise and decisive woman than most men, and that she could easily move between those forces even in the male-dominated East, and she carried large sums of money from tribe to tribe and then to the next, and it was through this activity that she threaded a needle, She built up a vast network of contacts in the Far East, ruled by the Ottomans.

Connieo apparently pinned her hopes on Pelotto Caderon, and by persuading the old ministry of Cem to form an army against Bayezid II, she hoped that Caderon would be able to exert influence while she hoped that the Vatican would be effective.

"That may be possible, but don't expect too much," Alexander said noncommittally to the emissary's request for Conion, who seemed to him to be of some use, but too small compared to the miracle child, Ismaili I.

"But Madame has asked me to report to you about the Safavid Order," said the messenger a little helplessly, "we have seen the pagan order in Persia, who is not only poor but also scattered, and as for the young leader whom you brought to Madame's attention, it is like a child, and Madame is strange because of this, and she thinks that perhaps you should know more about what is happening in the East, for there is nothing to be said about the pagan child in comparison with more important things." ”

Alexander knew that Connie's more important thing was to use Cadron to win over Jem's old army, and although he couldn't help but admit that Connie's idea was not only correct, but it also seemed to be very useful now, but Alexander had a larger purpose.

"Madame has already contacted a lot of people, and they can definitely get the Ottomans in trouble." The messenger was confident, and in his opinion the young count was clearly incomparable to Lady Conneo in all respects: "If possible, perhaps we can build up a force in the Ottomans that is sufficient to rival Constantinople." ”

"If that's the case, maybe your lady will want to be the master of Constantinople next," Alexander easily shattered Conneo's ambitions, although he was cooperating, he had no doubt that if the woman had the chance, he would not mind using the power of the Ottomans to eradicate all her enemies, "You can go and tell your lady that I will not object to her plans, but what I let her do is equally important, and if she still wants to get enough help from me, then she will not forget what she promised me, It would be better to get in touch with the Safavid as soon as possible, and if I could build a relationship of mutual trust with their leader, I could provide her with all the help she needed for that purpose. ”

"But the Ismaili was only a child, and it is said that even some of the nobles of the sect seemed to question his inheritance, do you think that such a child is more important than an Ottoman prince?"

Looking at the emissary's puzzled face, Alexander hooked his finger at him slightly, asking him to come closer, and said, "I know it's not just your own suspicions, I think Connie must have been surprised why I was so interested in a pagan sect in Persia, and now I tell you that I would be interested in that kid because I know that he is much smarter than many of you, and that most of you may not have left home when you were his age, Or he is still ignorant and at the mercy of others, but this child has not only experienced the tragedy of his father's murder and his brother's life to protect him, but also has become a sufficiently armed leader at the age of 12, tell me what all of you have experienced at his age, and some of you may have had misfortunes, but I promise that none of you are as brave as him, and it is because of this that I am optimistic about him, so I sent him the weapons I promised him, Especially the firearms, believe me, and you will soon find that this is not only a completely worthwhile reward, but may even be much more than you think. ”

At about the same time, when two people were painting sweet and delicious flatbread for someone else in almost the same words, a brutal battle unfolded near the town of Tarot Valley, not far from Genoa, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.

When Louis XII ordered his men to attack the Montinnes in the town of Val Taro, the French army was confronted for the first time with the same terrible artillery bombardment that had always made them proud.

It was only at this point that the king of France remembered the phrase "this is an army like no other", which was repeatedly emphasized in Charlon's report.