“…… Conquer the fortress in ten days? "Paul's mouth was silent after opening the secret letter." How can this be good~"

Seeing that the Viscount of the leading soldiers had a sad face, the henchman knight who was standing on the side hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Lord Viscount, is there a letter from the palace?" ”

Paul handed the secret letter to the knight.

"Conquer the fortress in ten days? This~" The knight uttered the same emotion. The reason for this is that the Lombard army attacked the garrison of Taniguchi and suffered repeated setbacks, and even the enemy's fur was not injured.

"It seems that the Duke is determined to include the valley in Lombardy." Paul was depressed and had a headache over the decisions made by the court.

I thought that with my 500 iron army, it would be easy to take a small valley, but I never thought that the small fortress at the mouth of the valley alone had killed and injured dozens of people. They attacked five or six times in succession, but they couldn't find a breakthrough.

"Lord Viscount, the group of guys in the palace who only know about the paper all day long don't know the situation here, if we obey their orders, I'm afraid all of us~"

"Shut up!" Paul turned to stop the knight, "Do you know what you're talking about?" ”

"Lord Viscount, I~" The knight still complained for Paul for the order of the court.

"Alright, don't let me hear these words a second time. If it gets out, even I won't be able to protect you. ”

"Yes, Lord Viscount." The knight glanced around and bowed his head in reply.

Paul walked up and down in the tent, thinking of a way to break the enemy. In recent days, the Lombard army has used all the methods it can think of, but there is only one result - a hasty retreat. Due to the narrowness of the road at the mouth of the valley, the siege equipment could not be deployed at all. In addition, only a ladder could be built on the wall of the fortress, and no more than five or six people could stand near the fortress at a time. The Lombard army used this refueling tactic to attack non-stop, with little success. Until now, the fate of several Lombard soldiers who had been squeezed into the rapids by their companions because of the narrow roads was unknown.

On the other hand, the garrison on the side of the fortress relied on the sturdy and unusually stone structure of the outer wall to resist dangerously, and only seven or eight men were needed to easily defend it. After a long attack, only two soldiers of the fortress garrison were wounded by arrows, but they were not fatal.

After several failed attempts to attack the fortress, Paul also tried to sneak up on the enemy's rear from both sides of the valley. But what he didn't expect was that the dense forests on both sides looked not difficult to pass, in fact, there were many cliffs inside, mountain streams and streams were all over, the terrain was complicated, and the mountain poisoned snakes and beasts appeared from time to time, so it was impossible to win with surprise attacks.

It didn't work, and the nimble Viscount tried to buy the soldiers of the garrison with money. Unexpectedly, the enemy didn't say a word, and directly asked the archers to release their arrows. The Lombard officers who went to negotiate had to go home in disgrace.

For the next few days, the Lombards confronted the garrison of Taniguchi Fortress. But instead of fighting by force, the Lombards began to shout in Burgundian at the tip of the valley fortress, and all kinds of foul language took turns to provoke the defenders and make them come out for a decisive battle......

"You cowards, don't cower in the fortress if you have the ability, come out and fight with us openly~"

"You bastards, you don't deserve to fight us......"

…………

...... "This group of mongrels scolds my ears calloused~"

At noon, Burry, who was half-lying on the planks of the hut on the inside of the fortress, tossed and turned, was disturbed by the shouting of the Lombards outside. Burry got up and walked over to Hans on the other side of the bed, and nudged Hans, who was also in a daze.

"Hans, why don't you go talk to Chief Colin, and let me take a few people out and teach you a lesson about the bastards who have been yelling and scolding all day."

Hans pushed away Burry's hand on his body and said, "How many times have I told you, Chief Colin has repeatedly explained that no matter how provocative the enemy is, he can't go out to meet him. You, just stay here honestly, and don't go out and make a mess again. Otherwise, you will wait for the punishment of the Earl~"

Hans sighed, regretting that he had been fined and demoted by Art for a year.

"This~ Forget it, don't go." So saying, Burry climbed into his bed and lay down, wrapped in a felt blanket and slept.

For several days, the soldiers stationed at the fortress did not see the Lombards attacking again. Gradually, the shouting and scolding changed from five or six times a day to twice a day. In the end, the Lombard soldiers who came to provoke simply sat under the tree to drink and gamble on beans, and when the time came, they all withdrew. Attention was already completely off the fortress garrison.

Although there was no movement of the enemy, the soldiers of the garrison continued to observe the situation outside every day, and did not dare to relax in the slightest, so as not to be afraid that the Lombards would suddenly kill them. Officers and soldiers on duty were stationed in the barracks of the fortress and immediately organized a defense in the event of an attack by the enemy.

Just as the Duke of Lombardy was expecting good news from the front, he waited for the Duke of Swabia's envoy......

…………

“…… Swabian envoys? What is he doing again! "Early in the morning, the herald arrived, and the envoy of the Duke of Swabia asked to be seen. The Duke of Lombardy asked sleepily after hearing this.

"Lord Duke, the Swabian envoy said he was here for the last time."

"What happened last time?" The Duke of Lombardy thought silently in his heart, touching his chin and beard searching his mind for the last time the Duke of Swabia came to discuss. "Is it difficult~"

"Bring him here, and let him wait in the hall." A moment later, the Duke of Lombardy commanded.

"Yes, Lord Duke."

After breakfast, the Duke of Lombardy slowly walked into the palace reception hall with the "support" of the servants.

"Lord Duke~" The Swabian envoy, who had been waiting for a long time and was already a little impatient, saw the Duke of Lombard walk into the hall and hurriedly stepped forward.

Ahem~

The Duke of Lombardy coughed twice and beat his chest.

"Envoy, please take a seat~" The Duke of Lombardy stretched out his hand to signal the Swabian envoy to take a seat, and he walked to the large leather chair at the head of the hall.

"Lord Duke, you are~" In my memory, the last time the Swabian envoy saw the Duke of Lombardy was not so sick.

"Don't mention it, I caught a cold a few days ago. People are old and can't stand the toss~" While speaking, the Duke of Lombardy coughed a few times in succession. The servant hurriedly brought the cask containing phlegm to the Duke of Lombardy.

Listening to the sound of the Duke of Lombardy's spitting, the Swabian envoy turned his head to the side and felt a pang of nausea.

It was only after a moment that the Duke of Lombardy relented. "Why did the envoy come?"

"I wonder if the Duke remembers the last time I came to discuss with you?" The Swabian envoy got straight to the point.

"What happened last time?"

The Duke of Lombardy touched his head, trying to remember what he had left behind.

"It seems that the Duke has forgotten, so let me tell you."

"Okay, then there's the Rao envoy." The Duke of Lombardy set his eyes on the somewhat disgruntled guy in front of him.

"I have previously come to consult with you on behalf of the Duke of Swabia that Swabia is willing to fight the Princedom of Burgundy with the Lombard first. I wonder if the Duke still remembers this? ”

The Duke of Lombardy nodded slightly, "It seems that there is such a thing, you look at my brain, I don't remember it now." What you told me yesterday, I may have forgotten it after sleeping~" The Duke of Lombardy turned around and glanced at the servant beside him, a little helpless.

Of course, the Swabian envoy was not a fool and would definitely not be fooled by the fact that the Duke of Lombard pretended to be deaf and dumb. But he was not allowed to show any dissatisfaction on other people's turf, so he had to nod his head in reply.

"That's right, seeing that you haven't expressed your stance on that matter for so long, my lord has sent me here to hear what you think******* Duke of Bardy sighed lightly and said, "You have also seen that I have been a little sick recently, and I am really weak. Otherwise, can you go back and tell your lord, the duke, and when I get a little better, can I send someone to contact you?" The Duke of Lombardy tried to dismiss the guy in front of him.

"This~" The Swabian envoy looked embarrassed and continued, "I'm afraid I won't be able to make a deal when I go back." My lord has been waiting for your news, if he hadn't heard that the Lombard army was attacking the valley south of the Marquis of Burgundy, he wouldn't have sent me in such a hurry~" The Swabian envoy stated the true purpose of the trip.

A few days earlier, the Duke of Swabian had been surprised by the news of the "invasion" of the Lombard army into the southern borders of the Princedom of Burgundy. At first, he didn't believe the news. Because if Lombardy wanted to attack the Princedom of Burgundy, it was impossible to enter the Princedom of Burgundy except by means of Provence and Swabia. Provence and Lombardy have been rivals for many years, and they will not allow the Lombard army to enter their territory. And no Lombards have been found in Swabian.

In order to find out the truth of this news, the Duke of Swabia sent people to inquire everywhere and learned that the Lombard army had "clashed" with the army of the counts in the south of the southern border of the Marquis of Burgundy in the southern part of the valley where the Princes of Burgundy met with Provence and the third kingdom of Lombard.

The Duke of Swabia, who learned the truth, was furious and annoyed by the fact that the Duke of Lombardy had broken his promise. In this way, he is very likely to lose this powerful ally who attacked the Princedom of Burgundy. Now, the Duke of Lombardy is attacking the southern border of the Princedom of Burgundy without concealing himself, and his purpose is obvious: Lombardy wants to occupy the Nameless Valley, and then go north to annex the Princedom of Burgundy.

The Duke of Swabia, who had always coveted the territory of the Princedom of Burgundy, certainly did not give up. So he sent an envoy to Lombardy again, in addition to warning Lombardy not to try to swallow the Burgundian princes in one gulp, but still pinned his hopes on uniting with Lombardy to conquer the Burgundian princes.

The Duke of Lombard was definitely a careerist, and if he could swallow the Marquis of Burgundy in one gulp, there would be nothing else to do. That's what he had in mind. But now, the Duke of Swabia somehow learned about his attack on the Marquis of Burgundy, which made him a little embarrassed.

But the Duke of Lombardy, who has always been cunning and cunning, has already thought of a countermeasure......