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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
The count carried out that tricky river crossing with immense effort and zeal. The wisdom of his thoughts led him to understand both that the Castilians were afraid of him and the strategy with which they were seeking to defeat him. At once he advanced with his vanguard towards a hilltop ahead of him, where there were positioned many more [Castilian] troops than those who remained behind on the banks of the river. The count headed towards them and forced them to abandon the hilltop. He then advanced to another hill, further ahead, on which there were many more troops than on the first one; again he forced them to abandon it against their will. He then headed for another hill beyond the second one; here there were so many troops that one could hardly estimate their number. After he had attacked these hills, everywhere there lay many dead and wounded.
While the count was on this third hill with his vanguard, resting from his arduous encounters, he looked back at his rearguard, which was behind his position, and saw that it was in dire straits, because the Castilian forces were attacking and harassing them. Forthwith, he commanded those around him to come to a halt, likewise halting his flag, till he had gathered up the rearguard and the baggage train. He went back to them at once, drove all the Castilians away and got the rearguard to advance.
At that point, Gil Fernandes of Elvas, whom we mentioned earlier, who was there with the flag and men from his own town, shouted to the count in a jocular fashion and loud enough for everyone to hear, ‘My lord, why did you desert us like that? Let me tell you that we got very anxious when you took so long to come back. If you’d taken any longer, you’d perhaps never have found us!’
The count gave no answer to this and returned to his vanguard, where he had left the flag. Further ahead of him, on a sort of ridge, he saw many Castilian troops, so many that it was a remarkable sight to behold.
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