Crown Prince Jean Solon, accompanied by General Schmidt, inspected the troops.

He patiently explained to the residents why the army had demolished their door panels, and promised to pay double the price in the future.

When all this is done, night has fallen, and only a little heat during the day is quickly gone.

Every now and then there was a gunshot or two from the head of the city, something that everyone had become accustomed to, and there was no nervousness.

Exhausted, Jean returned to his lodgings.

It is a small two-storey building that was originally a shop. After being requisitioned by the army, the upstairs was where Jean rested, and the downstairs was converted into a small living room. While on the road, Jean didn't want to make himself too comfortable, and he gave up the best house in the city to the wounded.

Sure enough, the door panel was gone, and a thick cloth felt hung there to keep out the wind.

Jean sat down on an old couch and tried to relax as much as he could. The guards thoughtfully brought tea, and Admiral Schmidt, who followed in, grabbed the first cup.

"Michael, aren't you afraid that your mouth will be burned and you won't be able to speak again?" said Jean dissatisfied.

"Tea should be drunk while it is hot. Schmidt didn't care about Jean's subtext, "Tea is a good thing, relieving fatigue and fatigue, and it is said to be extremely beneficial for an old man like me." I should have written to Count Connelly, asking him to give me a ton of tea, for I have heard that he is now mixing well, at least better than you and me. ”

Tea is also indispensable in the army's logistics procurement list, although it is now becoming more and more popular, but only senior officers in the army will have a small ration, and the grade of tea is average.

And Jean's tea here is a high-class commodity, because it was brought from the Holy City by his lieutenant.

"Michael, what do you think of the battle?" asked Jean.

"Your Highness, my point of view has always been clear, and that is to attack! But now we have been trapped here for four months, and although it is remarkable in a military sense, we have successfully resisted the attack of several times the enemy, who has suffered at least five times more casualties. But our morale is also very low, and I'm afraid we won't make it to March. "In a week's time, whether we like it or not, we will have to give the order to save food, which will be another great blow to morale." ”

"Yes, today I inspected the army, and I can see that the soldiers are in a very bad mood. Jean nodded, "It's not that they're war-weary, they're not war-afraid, but they have a fire in their hearts." Perhaps they are laughing at the fact that my war strategy cannot change the fact that they have been besieged for a long time, and that they are losing confidence. ”

"No one laughs at you, Your Highness. Schmidt said, "Your Highness, you have done well enough, I dare say that every soldier in the city of Gangdia is willing to die for you!"

"No, my Admiral, I want everyone to survive if I can. Some of them had just become fathers and had not yet had time to look at their children before they went into battle, and many more were so young that they had not even touched a girl's hand. ”

Jean continued: "My patience has run out. ”

"Your Highness, are you ready to break out?" Schmidt looked at Jean with a very surprised look.

In fact, the admiral is known for his tough attack, and he has always disdained defense, but it's a miracle that he was able to keep himself under control this time.

"We are tired, our opponents are even more tired, and they must be struggling to get supplies from their captures. I noticed that the Assyrian soldiers who died under our walls had very little ammunition on their bodies, and some were even barefoot. Although these people are accustomed to snow and ice, being barefoot indicates that they have run out of supplies. Jean said, "So I need you to be ready to break through." ”

"I'll do it right away!" Schmidt was about to get up, when Jean stopped him and said:

"There's no need to be so urgent, finish this cup of tea and leave. Give you two days to make a careful plan for the staff not to run around and not to throw off our arms and retreat to the Ossella River, the former is tantamount to suicide, and the latter is a joke of our efforts to stay here for four months. ”

"The biggest regret now is that we don't know anything about the outside of the city. Schmidt said, "Your Highness, if there were only us in the Pasella steppe, we would be alone and at great risk. It would be nice if we could know the location of the rest of our army. ”

"Michael, that's only known when we go out of town. Jean was surprised, "You don't want to break through, do you?"

"No, Your Highness, your personal safety is more important than anything else, and I must guarantee your safety no matter what. Schmidt said, "It is better for us to send a capable force to break through at night, if this force succeeds, they may be able to contact our army on the periphery, and we can even organize a big counterattack because of this! ”

"That's a big deal. Jean nodded, "Just make a plan based on your opinion." ”

Jean discussed with Schmidt for a long time, drank a stomach of tea, looked at his pocket watch and saw that it was already 11 o'clock in the night, Schmidt took his leave, and by the way, took a good pot of tea while Jean was not paying attention.

After a brief wash, Jean lay down on the bed tired. At night, the temperature dropped to about -15 degrees Celsius, which was very cold.

Because he knew about the door panel, Jean didn't let the orderly burn the fireplace to keep warm, and he wrapped himself in the quilt for a long time before he felt better.

The night breeze outside the house was blowing, and the occasional gunfire could be heard from the top of the city, which made it seem very quiet in the middle of the night.

Quiet late nights are always good for thinking. Jean thought about his birth, thought of his birth mother, thought of his first love.

It was the happiest time for me.

He misses his mother, the only woman who gave him spiritual comfort after her death.

But then everything changed, he and his father became a pair of enemies, and anything he did seemed childish and ridiculous to his father's eyes.

In his heart, how he longed for his father's praise even in private.

But this has become his own luxury, and the palace where he was born is just a temporary place for him to stay, like a passerby.

Thinking about these thoughts, Jean fell into a groggy sleep.

He had a strange dream in which his father, who was dying, held his hand as he lay dying, confessed to himself, and begged for his forgiveness. However, his younger brother ascended to the throne surrounded by ministers, and everyone looked at him......

Jean woke up from his dream, and in a trance, a familiar voice shouted at the bedside: "Your Highness, wake up, there is a situation!"

His guard shoved Jean a little roughly, and Gene came to his senses when he heard the sound of heavy gunfire outside.

"Are the barbarians doing a night raid again?" asked Jean in a deep voice.

"No, Your Highness, it's outside the city, on the outskirts of the enemy army. Listen......" said the guard, with a beaming face, "there is clearly a battle in the rear of the enemy army!"

Jean immediately discerned it, and sure enough, the sound of gunfire was a little far away, and he quickly put on his military coat. At this moment the adjutant of General Schmidt ran out of breath and shouted downstairs:

"Your Highness, there has been an accident, and the Admiral has asked you to go to the eastern wall. ”