Gonzalo looked carefully at the reports the scouts had brought him back.

Some of these reports are unrelated, some are contradictory, but when they are put together, they all prove one thing.

The Roman Tescian army was trying to advance from southern Serbia in the direction of the lower Guadaville River.

In this way, Gonzalo, who was already wary of the Sicilians, realized that something was wrong.

It is not normal for the Sicilians to even abandon the occupation of the southern part of Serbia and move downstream to the Guadaville River, especially since this is a rare opportunity for the Sicilians.

While the other generals were overjoyed to capture Seville, Gonzalo sensed the crisis.

The Sicilian army's failure to spread out too much in order to capture the city gave Gonzalo a hint of danger.

He guessed that it should have been Alexander's idea.

This was not to underestimate the queen, but to consider that for the queen, the occupation of Seville was actually more in line with her purpose as queen.

But as a battlefield commander, Gonzalo felt that it was obviously a good decision.

The Castilian army was now spread throughout the northern part of Seville, which reduced the number of troops that Gonzalo could directly mobilize for a while, and even fewer who could engage in the war against the Sicilians.

So Gonzalo thought it strange, after all, for the Sicilian army, if they preferred to give up the capture of cities and booty for a while, then they must have a greater goal.

And this goal can only be to take advantage of the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the Castilian army.

But now that the Sicilians were uncharacteristically not taking the initiative to attack, Gonzalo could not help but consider what else could make Alexander and even the queen give up another chance.

Gonzalo's speculation didn't take much time, and just two days later, as a boat sailed from Jerez de la Flotra at the mouth of the sea into the Guadaville River, he finally learned the reason for the sudden unusual behavior of the Sicilian army.

At the beginning of April, an ocean-going ship coming from the north docked at the river terminal in Jerez de la Flotra.

This merchant ship, which claimed to have come from France, brought with it many specialties from the north, including a very thick cotton cloth, which was sought after by the merchants in the port.

Although France was now at war, this did not affect the exchange of merchants, and Barriadotus did not prohibit the French from going ashore, so the merchant ship was not in trouble.

Another reason is that the owner of the boat is said to be a Genoese, so after a careful investigation found nothing unusual, the local city guards stopped paying attention to the ship.

A few days later, the shipwrights, who had sold their goods, bought some Andalusian specialties and left Jerez de la Lotra in a hurry.

This is a very common thing, and for a seaport that has always been busy, no one will remember the ship except that there is a record in the port records that the ship has been there, and that the tax collector of each month is probably interested in having made such a transaction.

Even the tax collector doesn't care too much about this, after all, seeing the chaos in Andalusia right now, he doesn't know who he will pay for the tax in the future.

It's just that the people of Jerez de la Flora never imagined that two weeks later, they would welcome a group of unexpected guests.

After the Battle of the Azores, the Castilian navy, having suffered a defeat, had to retreat to the coastal port of Sanlucar-della Valmeda, located in Andalusia near the Atlantic coast.

It is a coastal port on the banks of the Guadavile River, which is located on the banks of the Guadavile River, making it a natural harbor suitable for the Grand Fleet.

It was also the only place that was not controlled by the rebels of the Andalusian nobility.

Because of the same need for support from the sea, Don Bavi acquiesced to the Castilian fleet still using their ports in Andalusia.

The fleet, on the other hand, turned a blind eye to the transport of supplies that supported the rebellion of the Andalusian nobility.

This wonderful relationship was partly due to the fact that the fleet did need ports on the Atlantic coast, but also because of the general dissatisfaction of the Castilian navy with Ferdinand.

Ferdinand initially refused to support Columbus's expedition to the Atlantic on the grounds of huge funds, but after the subsequent discovery of a new colony, the Aragonese took advantage of the colonial trade that followed.

This led many in the Castilian navy to believe that Ferdinand's rejection of Columbus may not have been without the intention of monopolizing the results of the expedition in the future.

It was only because of Isabella's insistence that the adventure of the Atlantic was completed by Castile, not the Aragonese.

The defeat at the Battle of the Azores forced the Castilian fleet to retreat to its home port, repair damaged ships, and prepare for revenge.

In the period that followed, those officers of the Castilian Navy did only two things a day.

Cursing the Portuguese, and mocking the Aragonese.

The Admirals of the Castile Navy were furious at the defeat of the Portuguese at sea, and they could not imagine that they would lose at the hands of the Portuguese, whom they had always looked down upon.

This made the Admirals of Castile, who considered themselves the most powerful fleet in the world, ashamed, but helpless.

However, they soon found themselves in a much better mood, for the Aragonese fleet had suffered no better than them in the Mediterranean, and they had been defeated by a group of pirates, which made the Castilian feel that they were not the worst.

While waiting for the ship to be repaired, the Castilian people did not sit idle, and they actively discussed the reasons for the defeat at sea, trying to learn a lesson and look for an opportunity to fight the Portuguese again.

During this time, they also heard about the famous pirate Blackbeard who later joined in the naval battle and led to their defeat.

This made them feel that they were no different from the Aragonese at once, but compared to hearing that the Aragonese had decided to avoid the Hayreddin for the time being, the Castilian officers were still eager to engage the enemy again, and to be ashamed.

And we also heard that the Portuguese fleet had returned to their seaport in Lisbon.

This made the Castilians realize that perhaps it would not be long before they would meet the Portuguese again at sea.

They think this because although the home ports of both sides are on the same coastline, according to the habit that has been developed for a long time, naval warfare is all fought at sea.

Putting the fleet in a grand position to fight the enemy is the pride of the navy, and it is also the most romantic and passionate dream of those who pursue adventures at sea.

They had even roughly planned to go north along the coastline and then head straight for Lisbon, forcing the Portuguese fleet to face it head-on.

The Castilian officers had repeatedly studied all the problems and questions that might arise in the course of the operation, and they came to the conclusion that if they were given time, once the fleet had rested, they could attack Portugal and wait for revenge.

It's just that God has given them a lot, but he hasn't given them time.

On the second day of the siege of Seville, some local fishermen from Jerez de la Flora went to sea before dawn.

Although the war in Seville was fierce, it was too far away for these ordinary fishermen, who only wanted to get a good harvest by going to sea every day, and for this they got up early and greedy for darkness, and some of them even tried to go to the depths of the ocean far from the coast, just to be able to catch more nets.

Surprisingly, first one and then several other boats that went to the open sea to fish did not return on time.

This made the companions who were waiting for them to return to shore together in the offshore area notice something unusual.

The fishermen, who had agreed to spend the night at sea, began to shout for a return to shore because of their anxiety, and no one wanted to stay at sea even if the owner promised to pay him something.

The fishing boats, which had finally been negotiated, turned around, and they wanted to return to shore as soon as possible while the night was not very dark, because they did not know what was happening in the open sea, which made them even more uneasy.

Just as they turned the bow of the ship to leave, someone accidentally saw a flickering light from the dark sea.

The light appears and disappears, like monsters hidden at the bottom of the ocean, sometimes surfacing and sometimes diving.

This frightened the fishermen, who cried out to God and rowed to the shore, but perhaps too frightened, felt that the light seemed to be chasing after them, and getting closer and closer.

Even on the pitch-black sea, you can still faintly see the tall and gloomy black shadows reflected in the bright light.

The shadows swayed and swayed on the surface of the sea, but they were clearly closing in on them.

By this time, the fishermen knew that it was not a sea monster, but a huge sailing ship.

It was only the first time they had seen such a large number of ships, and it seemed that the shaky black shadows were more than enough to count the number of ships.

And then some people just thought. It should be said that they have also seen it before.

It was Castile's fleet, only it was during the day. So it didn't feel so eerie.

It's just that the fishermen know that the Castilian fleet is now resting in the docks of Sanlúcar de la Valmeda, so what such a huge fleet is, just think about it.

The terrified fishermen rowed desperately to escape to shore, but the huge warship behind them was obviously much faster than them.

Piercing through the dark waters, the sails were puffed up by the wind blowing from the sea, and even though they were getting closer to the shore, the fleet had no intention of lowering the sails and slowing down.

At the forefront was a large ship with a very different appearance from the Portuguese warship, the huge Caravel warship of this ship exposed a whole row of pitch-black gun doors on both sides of the ship, at this time all the gun door guards have been propped up, one by one the guns were pushed out of the gun door, and the terrifying gun muzzle was facing the sea.

"I didn't expect us to be back so soon," said a dirty sailor, pausing as he raised the bottle to his mouth, and then threw the empty bottle into the sea, "I want to go ashore as soon as possible, my wine is gone." ”

"We've been going to sea too often, and we'll have to work again after we've been ashore for a long time," muttered the other sailor, too, with some dissatisfaction, as he struggled to hold the pile of cargo in front of him with a rope, and said to his companion, "if the chief won't let me go ashore to sleep with a woman this time, I'll quit." ”

"Forget it, don't let Blackbeard hear this, or he'll tie you up and sink you into the sea, he's done a lot of this before, I've seen him throw a whole boatload of rebels into the sea to feed the sharks."

The intimidation frightened the complaining sailor, but he couldn't help but lower his voice and muttered, "We're pirates, but look at what we're doing now, I've almost forgotten what robbery is like." ”

"Then you can only make a small fuss and grab a small amount of money in your life," James sneered, who was standing behind the sailor, and he pushed away the frightened man in front of him, and yelled at the sailors on deck, "Listen to you slackers, I didn't bring you here to listen to your complaints, get ready as soon as possible, we're going to have a big fight!" ”

The sailors immediately shouted loudly, and though they complained, they knew that Blackbeard was a man of great ability, and that he had made a fortune with them before, but that the things he had recently promised would have been a small fight if they had been fulfilled.

"Looks like they really believe what you say we can make a place for ourselves in the future," Rosacea scoffed as he followed James, "but I wonder if I really become the noble lord we robbed before, it might make me feel uncomfortable." ”

James stopped and turned around suddenly, he looked around and tried to lower his voice to warn rosacea: "Listen, I'm the leader, I'm the one who brought you rich, and I gave you this chance, if you are not satisfied with anything, you can tell me after this battle, at that time you are willing to stay or leave as you please, but now you must listen to me, or as they say, I will tie you up and throw you into the sea, understand?" ”

Rosacea nodded ugly, he knew that Blackbeard did what he said he would, and he knew all the horrible things he had done.

"But I still hate what I'm doing."

Looking at James's back, Rosacea muttered something in a low voice, and quickly followed.

The fleeing fishing boats were soon overtaken, but neither the pirates nor the Portuguese cared about them.

The fishermen could only struggle to keep themselves away from the terrible beasts that could be crushed to their bones at the slightest touch, and the fishermen couldn't help but feel cold and frightened at the looming cannons on the boats.

On the shore, the lighthouse on the coast finally noticed something strange on the sea, but it was too late.

The Portuguese fleet, which was supposed to be unfamiliar with the coastal vicinity, quickly approached the coast on the Sanlucar-de la Valmeda side of the Guadaville River, relying on the information heard by the merchant ship that had been detected earlier.

When they heard the news and prepared to go to sea to meet the enemy, the Castilian fleet was shocked to find that the Portuguese had blocked the entrance to the open sea.

"That's it."

As the day dawned, looking at the mouth of the river, which was already faintly visible, James said to his men, "Now it's time to report the good news to the Duke." ”