Whether Alexander actually possessed the power of prophecy is unknown, but the Venetians did appear as suspected.

The morning of May 3rd was cool, and the early summer breeze was still slightly cool from the dense jungle.

The early birds have already flown out of their nests to feed, and the woods are full of the peaceful smell of birds and flowers.

On a slightly rising slope not far east of the town of Oral, the Genoese camp also sounded the first drums of the day, and the camp grew lively.

The officers began to take roll calls, which must be done every morning, for no one knew if there would be a coward who deserted in the middle of the night, or a guy who had been holding back too long to run into town at night to fool around.

The corruption of mercenaries is well known, and this corruption can sometimes even determine the fate of an army.

Just two years ago, when Charles VIII swept across the peninsula with his invincible army, he could never have imagined that one of the culprits that ultimately led to the defeat of his army was syphilis, which was rampant in his army.

The romance of the French, or simply debauchery, caused Charles VIII to suffer greatly, and this did not frighten the others.

Those mercenaries went around looking for women as usual, and they always ganged up and never left alone, so that once an outbreak broke out in many places, syphilis was rampant, and even many nobles were not spared.

The sound of dots rang out on the slope, so that no one noticed the two black dots running from a distance, and it was not until they were approaching that the sentry spotted them.

The Genoese scouts turned pale, not running but frightened.

When the two men were brought to the camp commander, it took a long time for the scouts, who were nervous and gasping, to shout urgently: "Venetians, it's Venetians, there are a lot of them!" ”

The commander's eyes were a little gloomy, he didn't know how the two scouts could be stupid enough to use an unprofessional word like "a lot" to describe the enemy, although he also guessed that it was probably because of the large number of enemies that made them so abnormal, but the commander still picked up the cup holding cold water from the table next to him and splashed it.

The scout was splashed awake at once, and one of them shook the water droplets on his head and hurriedly said: "Sir, the Venetians are coming, and we see the cavalry in front and a part of the infantry in the back, the specific number is about 10,000 people. ”

"10,000 men," the commander's expressionless face was a little unnatural, he knew that even with Alexander's army, there were less than 10,000 on his side, and this was only a rough guess of the number of troops after scouting, "How far are they from here?" ”

"About five fathomos or more, we took a shortcut back, but we didn't dare to pass through the forest, because the forest seemed to have their people too." The scout thought for a moment, "We don't know how many they are in the forest, but it's a lot. ”

The commander finally panicked, he only had 1,000 people now, which meant that he could face ten, or even ten times more enemies, which made him unable to calm down anymore.

He ordered him to prepare his horses, beckoned the scouts to follow him to the town, and gave the order for the whole army to be on guard.

I don't know who spread the news of the Venetian army's pressure on the border, the atmosphere in the camp instantly became tense, the soldiers hurriedly packed their things, these mercenaries who like to carry all their money and money are bulging on their bodies, they look like a large group of funny fat people, but their faces are very gloomy, or numb, years of killing have made many of them completely give up their vision of the future, for the mercenaries, Every night a woman's warm body is a more effective salvation than prayer and wishing.

Calgino got up early, so when the forward commander arrived, he was seen sweating profusely wielding his sword.

Calgino's sword was a two-handed sword typical of northerners, a weapon a little too rough for a nobleman who grew up in a city known for its elegance, but Calgino's sword was quite outstretched, and as the heavy sword flipped alternately in his hands, the sharp blade of the sword slashed in the air with a whistling flash.

If Alexander had watched this scene here, he might have thought that this Callgino was quite similar to Sophia in terms of interest.

"My lord, the Venetian is here."

Seeing Cardino, the mood of the originally nervous commander gradually calmed down, and the experience of following the commander to win many victories made him suddenly feel that the Venetians were not so terrible.

"How many?" Kargino didn't stop, he asked as he swung his heavy sword.

"There is a Venetian army of about 10,000 men marching at us five miles away, and they have found that there must be Venetians in the forest, but the number is not very clear."

Cardino stopped, he walked to the sink and lifted the bucket full of water above his head and splashed it down, instantly drenching his body like a waterfall.

"That Cambrai is right," Calgino said, looking southeast of the town, "and he probably had placed the camp so far away because he had guessed that the Venetians would come." ”

"That Cambrai is a coward," said one of the attendants beside him, wiping Calgino's body playfully, "and he probably had the idea of running away as soon as he saw the Venetians, and immediately changed the rear team to the front team." ”

A few Genoese people laughed next to them, Calgino's calmness made the nervousness they had initially feel at hearing the arrival of the Venetians fade away, and the squire's jokes made them laugh with a rare relief before the battle.

Kargino didn't smile, he picked up a short sword from the shelf next to him and played with it in his hand, frowning slightly thoughtfully.

"The Venetians will attack from our front."

As soon as Cargino began to talk to himself, the surroundings immediately fell silent, and his men knew that Calgino was using his vast experience in warfare to speculate on their enemies, and perhaps soon he would give the order, followed by their life-and-death struggle with the Venetians.

"There are more of them than ours, and if I am not mistaken, perhaps twice as many as ours, or 15,000 men," Cargino naturally ignored Alexander, "If they are not trying to expel us, but to destroy us, then the only way for the Venetians is to send an army directly through the jungle to go around behind us." ”

Speaking of this, Cardino suddenly raised his head, and he looked at the subordinates waiting on the side and gave an order: "Gather the whole army immediately, we may be in trouble." ”

Kargino's words made several people nervous for a moment, and they remembered that their commanders rarely had such gaffes, and each time it often meant that the situation was imminent.

The whole town of Oral was in an instant commotion, and the people were full of voices and neighing, and the townspeople immediately found that the whole town had suddenly turned into a large barracks, full of soldiers with weapons and rampage, as well as those officers who were gorgeously dressed but scolded loudly.

The bells and whistles on the mercenaries' hats dangled through the streets, spears and shields clashed, and then there was mutual abuse and bickering.

The slightly mournful sound of trumpets echoed over Oral, and the townspeople watched the Genoese hurrying in their indifference as they watched warily at every soldier who passed by, as if they were ready to steal something.

A soldier shouted past the door of a house, his eyes glancing at the woman standing at the door from time to time, which made the face of the man next to him look ugly, and he pulled the woman hard and walked towards the door, leaving only the laughter of the soldiers outside.

"Don't worry about you idiot, we're going to have a fight with the Venetians soon, and maybe tomorrow it's the Venetians who will ask you for food."

The soldier shouted at the door and raised his hand to make a cross on his chest.

"God willing, if I survive this time, I will definitely be the most devout believer, I will get rid of all my bad things and become a good person, it is better to find another woman to marry, and never do such an adventure again."

The soldier kept muttering to himself, and he followed his companions in front of him as he moved forward, first into a squad, then a squad, and when he and the other soldiers gathered on the main road of Oral town poured out of the town, the whole road was already crowded with groups of Genoese.

Calgino rode his horse and watched the army rolling past him, and a flash of excitement flashed across his face.

Although he has been on the battlefield for many years, Cargino has this kind of nervousness and excitement that is not easy for those around him to feel before every battle.

Cargino didn't know if it was fear, but the feeling made him more vigilant and alert, which made him often smell danger at critical moments, which made Cargino feel like he had been given a gift from God.

"My lord, what about that Cambrai?"

One of his men reminded him softly that while they had been sneering at Barondi's fiancé most of the time, now facing enemies who might have twice as many as themselves, the Genoese finally remembered the Agri, whom they had regarded as a mere drag from the beginning.

"Maybe let them protect our flanks," said the other man, hesitating slightly, and then shaking his head as if he thought his suggestion was a bit ridiculous, "I may have been mad to give my back to the peasants." ”

Calgino waved his hand slightly, he took a deep breath to calm his excitement slightly, and then after a while, a sharp edge flashed in his eyes.

"Outside the town, the Venetians may come sooner than we think."

Kargino gave the order as he watched the procession slowly advance along the main road.

For a moment, the shouts of the heralds were heard one after another in the distance on the street.

At the urging of the officers, the Genoese began to pick up speed, and the heavy crossbowmen panted past their companions, they needed to set up their formations before the others, and more importantly, these heavy crossbowmen were also tasked with guarding the road to the town of Oral.

"I will not entrust my safety to anyone else," Cargino said to his men, "and I would rather trust the indentured sailors than the Neapolitans, if I could." ”

Cargino's words caused a burst of laughter all around, and people knew who he was talking about, and there was nothing more notorious in Genoa than the contract sailors, and even the brokers who made money from selling these people did not want to have much contact with them.

Even though they were called sailors, no shipowner would treat them as real sailors, so much so that some ships will always find that there are fewer sailors who have signed a treaty before returning from a period of time at sea.

No one was interested in the whereabouts of these men, because the indentured sailors were originally outcasts because of their previous misdeeds, some of them were thieves and others were debtors, and the Genoese government summoned them and forced them to sign a contract, so that half of every copper coin they earned would go to the Genoese government until they had paid their debts or fines, and they could not be freed.

So when Cargino compared Alexander to a contract sailor, the Genoese couldn't help laughing.

While Calgino compared Alexander to the indentured sailors who seemed to him to be lowly, Alexander was standing on the roof of a house looking out east of the town.

The town of Oral is huge, which makes it a little difficult to observe, especially with the uneven rooftops, which can quickly dazzle people.

Because the roof is high, you can see the whole town in general.

The restlessness of the Genoese did not escape Alexander's attention, and thinking about the encounter with the Venetian scouts reported by his men, Alexander realized that Venice must have arrived.

The Agri had already entered their respective arranged areas as ordered, and the Genoese were a little dazed, they did not understand why they had not yet assembled in formation, but had completely disrupted and scattered the orders to enter the houses that had been expropriated before, and when they saw that the Agri had actually begun to demolish the houses under the command of Carlo, many Genoese had already regretted staying a little.

"Carlo, do you know what you're supposed to do?"

Alexander asked again that he needed everyone to understand their duties.

"Hold Oral!" Carlo replied loudly, he looked at Alexander nervously, I don't know why he felt that he seemed to be getting farther and farther away from the lord, Carlo understood that if this battle in Oral could not let the lord see that he was still useful enough, then not only might he not be able to keep up with the lord's footsteps, but he might not even be able to keep his current position.

After all, Gompati, who was called "The Butcher", was menacing, and if he didn't set his sights on Alexander's position as the chief officer, Carlo wouldn't believe it.

Alexander is very clear about Carlo's thoughts, but he doesn't break it, after all, whether he can continue to follow him depends on whether everyone can shoulder their responsibilities.

A hunter may be a captain in Agri, but in Rome he may only be a captain.

"How's Gompati?"

Alexander didn't want to hide the importance he attached to Gompati, especially now, when another scout brought him news that the Milanese cavalry had been spotted 2 miles away, Alexander couldn't help but look back at the terrace outside the town.

On May 3, 1497, under the skillful deployment of the Venetian general Pietigliino, the combined forces of Milan and Venice intercepted the troops of Genoa and the Counts of Montina who were trying to come to Montina's aid in the town of Orral, halfway to Montina.

The battle for Orar begins!