Bernal stood on the terrace of the Doge's Palace, holding the corner of the imperial flag, with a superb view of Mexico City's expansive Plaza de Armas.

If it's daytime, look over the clock tower in the middle of the square and see the cathedral under construction on the opposite side.

However, the moon was high at this time, and Bernal could only see the guards patrolling the dark streets with torches in the distance.

This morning, the new nobleman in the northwest, near Taxco, and the plantation owner of the land, the man surnamed Sanchez, who had sent his stupid half-breed servant to Mexico City on a horse for the night.

The servant reported that a force of a dozen soldiers had broken into his plantation at the foot of the hill, killed a few slaves, burned two cotton fields, and robbed a paltry amount of tobacco.

That's why Sánchez wanted Bernal to hang the dozen or so soldiers in Taxco, a city that stood on a plateau.

Spain conquered the Aztec capital and sent explorers to search for gold throughout the New World, but found no gold in Taxco, but found large deposits of silver, zinc and copper there, and the influx of immigrants made it the first highland city in Central America to prosper on silver.

Taxco is only 17 leagues from Mexico City, or 200 miles away.

That stupid Sánchez didn't use his brain to think about it, why was there a rebellion so close to Mexico City?

The worse news came back at noon, and in the early hours of this morning, a rout of sixty-four half-blood legionnaires passed through Taxco again, this time with a clear goal, attacking a silver mine, killing twelve soldiers who were overseering the mine, controlling more than eight hundred Indian miners, pulling a full and a half tons of unprocessed silver ore in wagons, intending to go north.

The reason for this was that before they could leave Taxco, they were overtaken by another group of routs, one demanding an equal share of the silver mines, the other was unwilling, and the two sides hit it off when they saw the palatial Taxco, leaving the ore wagon and rallying the troops to sweep the six plantations outside the city.

Coincidentally, the bad news was not only the rout in the northwest of Mexico City, but also the news that had been received in the north a few days earlier, and that three of the four fortified garrisons remaining on the main road had retreated due to lack of troops and fear of the Indian tribes gathering troops since the Bernal regiment had retreated to the south.

One did not leave, and wanted to send a message to them that their squad of twenty-five men was gone, and the wooden tower had been torn down, leaving only an Indian mound piled up next to it.

Just now, the moon has risen in the sky, and Bernal has finally received completely conclusive and accurate information.

One of the main culprits responsible for the armies of the Northern Indian tribes amassing their troops, Herrera and his entire half-blood legion have been annihilated.

Bernal conclusively believed that the legion had been annihilated because six days had passed since the battle ended, and only three men had returned to Mexico City alive.

The three lucky ones were Gomez, the company commander who was almost killed by a mutiny after the company was defeated and was killed by a mutiny due to unpaid salaries to his subordinates, the barber of Gomez's company, and the loyal retinue of the company commander Gomez, who was also a cripple who was not used to it.

The wounds were slashed in the thighs by the Ming cavalry, and the lame people ran back like a Spanish ham that had been opened, and the able-bodied rout had not yet returned—this must not be coming back!

A lonely cigarette was spat out of Bernal's mouth and nose, and he swallowed a sip of wine from the Iberian Peninsula, stared at the crimson liquid in the glass, suddenly pursed his lips and fell out of the railing, turning to take a tattered-looking bottle of rum from the wine cabinet.

I bowed my head, poured it full, and didn't drink it, but just looked down, and the rum in the silver cup was a very deep amber color reflected in the torch, which made people unconsciously daze.

Until his shoulders are draped over a blanket of Ottoman craftsmanship.

Just as Bernal came from a prominent ducal family in Spain, his wife also came from a prominent background in the Kingdom of Bohemia under the Austrian Habsburgs, but the family's belief in Calvinism left her no voice in Spain.

The wife did not speak, Bernal sighed, still looking at the sparks of the patrol guards in the dark streets, and said: "I used to think that Almanza was a coward, but I am sorry, I seem to be wrong. ”

"Have you finished listening to the battle report?" The wife stood behind Bernal, took his wine glass and said: "You don't like to drink this - although it can make people happy, but the commander needs to have a clear head before the battle, I heard that the battle report only said that the Ming army appeared on the battlefield, so you pushed the door and left." ”

Bernal turned his head to look at his wife, drooped his eyelids and said: "Herrera is facing the white horse formation in Shandong, and the Ming army has appeared from behind the battlefield, so there is nothing to continue listening to." ”

"You should listen to it, they have a great discrepancy in the description of the strength of the Ming army, the captain said that there were seven or eight thousand people, and the entourage also said seven or eight thousand, but his barber explained that the army only gathered more than a thousand infantry behind it, no spears, no artillery, not even a Swedish phalanx."

Bernal chuckled and said, "That's impossible, Herrera is a mongrel, but his Peru can often resist the siege of thousands of Indians with a few hundred men, and hold out until the reinforcements feel that they have been crushed." ”

"His legion also has twenty knights and more than a hundred light cavalry, and without spears, they are not only unable to defend against the phalanx, but also against the cavalry, and a hundred light cavalry can kill hundreds of people."

His wife nodded: "That's true, the barber said that they had always had the advantage, and the cavalry once trampled on the Ming army line and dragged the knights until the Ming cavalry arrived...... The barber didn't know anything about the rest of the matter. ”

Bernal turned his head, clutching the corner of the imperial flag tightly in his hand, and with the deepest doubt in his eyes, he asked, "Would you rather trust the barber than the captain and his entourage?" ”

Later generations said that war is a problem of mathematics, but in fact mathematics cannot solve the whole problem of war.

War is a group of people who have their own ghosts, each holding the information they know to deduce the unknown, and making the next decision according to the unknown of the deduction.

As a legion commander who has been obedient to orders for a long time, Bernal has not yet fully mastered the ability to sift through the big picture, but he still has a wife who can solve puzzles.

"A defeated officer will exaggerate the enemy," said the wife, "but no one will be willing to reduce the size of the enemy he will defeat, unless the Ming army has six thousand cavalry...... Otherwise, I would prefer to believe the barber's words, the Ming army that attacked Bernal was an army of 1,200 infantry and 300 cavalry. ”

This number of cavalry is already a high proportion in the general army.

Bernal's eyes lit up as he listened to Madame's analysis, and that made sense.

"That's why the Ming army didn't follow the rout to attack Mexico City, they have limited forces!"