Gonzalo looked at the woman who was packing her clothes not far away, he lay lazily on the edge of the bed and took a sip of wine, then closed his eyes a little tiredly.

A little old, that's Gonzalo's thoughts on his body now.

Now 46 years old, he is no longer the sturdy, energetic young man during the Reconquista, he has participated in too many battles, rich war experience and noble identity are exchanged for large and small scars on his body, which makes him sometimes have to fight with the pain in the middle of the night, so he needs to drink a lot of alcohol to relieve pain, and the trouble that drinking brings to him is not only to make the body more and more loaded, but also his temper is becoming worse and worse because of the stimulation of alcohol.

Gonzalo was an outstanding soldier, but he was not the kind of man who could only show his talents on the battlefield, but when he arrived at the court, he became a fool at the mercy of others, he could move smoothly among the nobles, and at the same time he was very sensitive to the changing direction of the wind in the court.

It's just that Gonzalo's greater desire was to build a strong army, and the Reconquista tempered him, while the Italian war gave him a new understanding of war.

For the past two years, he has been preparing for, and closely following, the wars that are taking place on the continent, including the conflict between Alexandria and the Genoese, and the rumors of the Battle of Bucharest, which have recently reached the Iberian Peninsula.

From those battles, Gonzalo was even more certain that he was right, that firearms had become more important than ever in today's wars, and that they might even one day become decisive weapons on the battlefield.

And with the widespread use of firearms in warfare, new tactics, new ideas, and new experiences will gradually take shape, all of which are unprecedented, at least Gonzalo can be sure that none of the ancestors before their time can really provide a sufficient reference for how to build a firearms force.

This would be a troublesome task, because there was nothing to learn from, and I didn't know how to avoid the mistakes that might just be low-level and ordinary, but which had to be proven with blood and life on the battlefield.

Gonzalo didn't care about the cost, but he did care about the problems that failure might bring him.

The first is that he had promised the queen that he would build a strong army for her to rival any European power, and he did not want to disappoint the queen who had always appreciated and trusted him because of his mistakes, and secondly, although Gonzalo had always been obsessed with military affairs, he was not just a reckless soldier, he was keenly aware of the disturbing turmoil that had occurred in the court of the two kings, and at the same time felt an undercurrent against him.

Because of the queen's appreciation, Gonzalo has always been the darling of the Castilian court, and Ferdinand's trust makes him seem to be the biggest favorite in front of the two kings, but Gonzalo knows that things are not so simple.

Although the conflict between Castile and Aragon was suppressed by the marriage of two kings, this did not mean that there was no conflict between the two countries.

The Castilians, in particular, feared that they might be annexed by Aragon in the future, as opposition had never disappeared since the marriage of the two kings, and now that their children had grown up to marry, opposition to the union of the two countries remained strong.

Gonzalo was a man trusted by both kings, and it was inevitable that he would enjoy a double double rebirth while also suffering double slander and hostility.

Some Castilians saw him as a betrayal of their country, while others saw the prospect of letting such an outsider take control of Aragon's army in jeopardy, and both sides were squeezing him out and trying to woo the powerful man to become part of their camp.

The queen was apparently aware of the trouble, so when her husband proposed to appoint Gonzalo as commander of the expedition to Italy for a second time, Queen Isabella immediately agreed to it, and she also obtained from her husband Gonzalo a power to collect the costs of war freely, which meant that Gonzalo could legally plunder as long as he paid a share of the proceeds to the king.

The advantage of this seems to be that Gonzalo can only use his role in warfare, but the queen's purpose is to send Gonzalo to distant Europe to avoid the limelight and avoid those who have been staring at him.

Gonzalo knew the queen's heart very well, and he was very grateful for the queen's love, but he also knew that there was only so much the queen could help him, and those who had been watching him at home might not stop after he left Iberia.

So he had to shut them up in Europe with constant wars and revelations, he had to show them that he cared more about how to win and get more loot, that he was going to play the role of a reckless man who was obsessed with the battlefield and had no interest in politics, otherwise they would not be so easy to deal with once they felt that he was interested in intrigue in the court.

Gonzalo pondered and drank, he didn't think he was overthinking, as could be seen from the actions of the palace lady who had come with him on the same boat.

Madame of the Palace's maiden family was a prominent nobleman of Castile, and although she may not be as favored as Gonzalo, she was respected for her long history.

But suddenly, the family began to be unlucky as if they had lost their luck, first the important members of the family fell out of favor in the court, and then they were accused of being involved in a conspiracy against the kings, and it all came so quickly that they did not know who was going to deal with them, and they were overwhelmed by the successive blows, and many were sent to prison.

And that's not the worst of it, the bad thing is that many people have been implicated, and some have even been taken directly to the Inquisition.

In Iberia, where the Ascension meant, it was well known, and the Inquisition was one of the most terrible places in the peninsula, which had been so frenzied by centuries of conquest with the pagan Moors, that even the Vatican emissaries were uneasy.

Even nobles, once they are sent to the Inquisition, few can come out unharmed, or no matter who they are, once they enter here, it means a change of fate, even if they are lucky enough to come out alive, but in the future, they will gradually collapse under all kinds of pressure.

Madame Gongçalo made all kinds of explicit hints along the way, but Gonzalo did not respond to the clever one, he knew that if he made even a little promise at this time, it might make Madame Miyasu misunderstand, and more importantly, it would make many people mistakenly think that this was a signal that he was going to participate in this cruel competition.

This is what he has always tried to avoid, and it is also what the queen does not want to see, which is why Gonzalo will come to Sicily with his troops at this time, and what he needs now is a war.

And as far as he knew, he was going to fight a formidable foe soon.

The French commander in Naples was the famous Charlon, and Gonzalo still had some impressions of this man.

In Gonzalo's mind, Sharloon was not a true knight, and perhaps he was brave on the battlefield, but his two positions as commander of the occupation army, rather than following the king to the enemy in the field, were enough for Gonzalo to classify him as a politician rather than a soldier.

However, Gonzalo did not intend to take this man lightly, especially now that the situation in Naples is very delicate, and he felt the need to take every change seriously.

What Alexander was doing in Naples now Gonzalo already knew, and from the moment he discussed the role of future firearms on the battlefield with him at his own residence in Rome, Gonzalo knew that the young man had a keen eye that his contemporaries did not have, and that they had gone into business together, and now Gonzalo did not care at all about the benefits he could get at court and fight with others for a rich territory, all of which was a benefit and a kick in that man's business.

But the most important thing is the series of victories that Alexander set on the battlefield.

Gonzalo was surprised to discover that while he was training an army in Iberia that he had thought was only an experiment, Alexander had turned the ideas they had debated into practical experience on the battlefield, and although some of them were completely different from what they had envisioned, Gonzalo was not surprised, for he himself had discovered that some of the things he had discussed were not in line with reality. He believed that Alexander would also be surprised when the new tactics he created were used to match the combination of hot and cold weapons on the battlefield.

According to Ferdinand's orders at the beginning, Gonzalo's task was to declare that he would not recognize the current king of Naples after arriving in Naples, and then depose the Neapolitan royal family, while he wanted to make a brief peace with the French, and what to do next was up to Ferdinand and Louis XII in Iberia.

However, the royal family of Naples unexpectedly retreated to Biliselli, and completely abandoned the city to the French, so that when the Aragon army arrived in Naples, it was inevitable that the French would clash with the French for control of the city of Naples.

To Gonzalo's surprise, he learned that the Queen of Naples had declared war on Sicily because Flomenza had arrested and imprisoned her uncle.

In this way, not only was Ferdinand's previous plan to take advantage of the Neapolitans' request for help to send troops to invade the Kingdom of Naples had already been led to an unknown direction before it began, but what was even more troublesome was that the originally simple divide and conquer was developing towards a three-way melee.

Gonzalo still hadn't realized that it was all Alexander's plan, or that even if he knew, it didn't mean much to him.

Although both the family and his rivals believed that he would rely on the trust of the two kings and the great influence of the army to play a role in the court, in fact, Gonzalo had always wanted to be a pure soldier.

So for him, although the current situation in Naples is a bit constrained, as long as he continues to do what Ferdinand has arranged, there is no major problem.

There weren't many things that could really make Gonzalo care, and the Ottomans' actions in the Mediterranean were clearly one of them.

Gonzalo had already heard about the Venetian envoys and, unlike Flomenza, was concerned about the movements of the Ottomans at sea.

It's just that it's not up to him to decide whether to go to war with the Ottoman Empire, all he has to do now is to finish his rest in Sicily as soon as possible, and then send troops to Naples.

It's just that Gonzalo's idea was shaken by an invitation.

Gonzalo was a little surprised by Camus's invitation, he had heard of this old man, especially his experience of participating in the Hundred Years' War, which had made Gonzalo very interested in his youth.

However, the current Camus is not only in the eyes of Gonzalo, but also an old slippery head who has completely lost his sense of honor.

So when he received the invitation, Gonzalo refused in his heart until he saw a map sent to him by Camus.

It was a geographical map of the possible landing of the Ottomans in various places on the western shore of the Mediterranean, and all the ports that could be invaded by the Ottoman army were prominently marked, and the different colors indicated the possibility of attack.

Sicily did not seem to be the main Ottoman invasion, but looking at the cities on the map along the Italian coast that were clearly marked, Gonzalo realized that Sicily, which seemed to be on the sidelines, was facing a great crisis.

Because of this, he accepted a visit from Camus.

Camusi's banquet invited Gonzalo alone, and after his family had taken their leave after the dinner, the only two guests were left in the room.

Camus asked the servant to push him closer to Gonzalo, which led Gonzalo to guess that this was probably the beginning of the real conversation tonight.

Sure enough, Camus's words confirmed his conjecture.

"The Ottomans suffered a defeat in Bucharest, but this was only one of their two fists to be dealt a heavy blow, the Ottomans had a strong navy, and if Venice was defeated, what would await Sicily," Camusri asked Gonzalo, "I am almost 90 years old, this age is too much for a person to live, and I do not want to see the last thing I want in my lifetime, Sicily has been ruled by pagans for a long time, I don't want to see the Ottoman flag on this land again, then I will die. ”

Listening to Camusi's vague tone, half listening and half guessing, Gonzalo couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

It seemed not quite normal for reason to tell him that the old man would suddenly act like a hero who had bravely resisted the infidels, after all, all the "deeds" of his slick life had been heard even at the Castilian court.

So his generous statement now seems somewhat abrupt and unreasonable.

But despite this thought, Gonzalo knew very well in his heart that Camusi was not right.

Venice was Sicily's defense against the Ottomans, and if the Venetian navy suffered a devastating annihilation, Sicily would inevitably face the Ottoman invasion head-on.

"That map is just a little guess, maybe nothing will happen, but maybe that's just the beginning," Camus said slowly, "so what do you think, Captain?" ”

Gonzalo groaned slightly, then suddenly asked, "Archon, I just want to know who drew that map for you. ”

Hearing Gonzalo's inquiry, Camusrie not only did not get angry at the obvious question, but let out a vague laugh that seemed to be amused, with a wheezing.

"Do you want to see that man, Captain?" Camus looked at Gonzalo with a mischievous look, then he shook his head and said, "Not now, but you can rest assured that you may meet soon, and I don't know if it will be at the court or on the battlefield." ”

In mid-September 1199, the Ottoman fleet crossed the middle line of maritime power, which had always been a tacit agreement between the two sides, and launched an attack on the Venetian colony in the Aegean Sea.

At the same time, an Ottoman fleet landed at Cape Erasag, northeast of Crete, and established a bridgehead to attack Crete.

For a time, the sails of warships flying with crescent moon flags on the Mediterranean Sea were like a forest, covering the sky and the sun!