In late January, the southeastern hills of Provence enter the coldest time of the year. 77dus

The Lombards finally couldn't hold on.

Not only because the firewood in Solburg was depleted, and even the wooden houses in the city were demolished to be used as firewood, but also because the defenders outside the city had been given a relatively sufficient amount of food and baggage.

After the first batch of 6,500 pounds of emergency rations was transported to the garrison camp of the Eastern Legion, the city of Aosta overcame the obstruction of snow and successively transported several batches of grain and baggage to the outside of Solburg by sleigh carts.

Viscount Geoffrey's wish to spend the winter in Vilno had been frustrated, and since it was impossible to attack Vilno south before spring came, he simply survived the winter with the Lombards outside Solburg, at least the eastern legions besieging the city had food supplies and sufficient firewood, and would not endure the risk of freezing and starvation.

The besiegers are not in a hurry, but the defenders cannot sit still.

Since January, the Lombards in Thorburg have gone out of the city three times to harass the Eastern Legion, but the Eastern Legion has a larger number of soldiers, and several sneak attacks by the Lombards have not been able to take advantage.

In the city of Thorburg, the cold weather has already claimed the lives of more than 20 people. There was a shortage of firewood in the city, and the defenders had used all the planks and sticks they could find in the city to make fires for cooking, the attic and bell tower of the church in the north of the city had been torn down to split firewood, and the wooden fence that was the third line of defense of Thorburg had been secretly removed by the insanely cold Lombard soldiers to use it as heating fuel.

Every day, the Lombard soldiers struggled to get firewood and turn the mountains of grain in the warehouses into cooked food that would fill the soldiers' stomachs.

The most pitiful thing is those wounded soldiers, ordinary soldiers can ignore the reprimand of the officer, go around tearing down the wall and fence to get some firewood to keep warm, but these wounded soldiers can only lie in the cold and biting stone house to endure the cold, the city is extremely short of firewood, and there is not much cooked food that can be made, so the only hot soup and hot porridge are coaxed away by the sturdy soldiers, and when it is the turn of the wounded soldiers, they can only drink a sip of cold clear soup and wheat paste......

The commanders of the Lombard garrison were caught in the fiercest quarrel since the defense of the city. During these few months of hard fighting, the Lombards gradually divided into three camps.

The majority of the number is the breakout faction. They are the pillars of the Lombard army, and they have some soldiers in their hands to maintain their combat strength, they think that defending the city will die, it is better to break through with elite soldiers while there is still a breath to break through and kill, even if they temporarily lose Solburg, as long as they retain their strength, they can take it back sooner or later in the future. However, they thought that even if they abandoned the city, they could not leave empty-handed, and they must return to Vilno with the heads of some enemies, only in this way can they pay for the crime of losing the city as much as possible.

The higher ranks in the military are the Stickers. Most of them were barons and knights of the banner, who thought that it was undignified to abandon the city and flee, and that they were likely to face severe punishment from the court after abandoning the city, and they had already learned through the carrier pigeons flying from Vilno that the situation around Solburg was not as severe as the enemy said, and that Vilno had told them that they would send troops to relieve the siege after winter, so they were determined to hold Solburg. Anyway, as high-ranking nobles, they don't have to worry about not having cooked food, a full stomach and charcoal fire to keep warm.

The weakest are the capitulationists. Most of them were Lombard civilian mercenaries, who had been gathered from all over the Duchy of Lombardy in order to plunder the great ideals of plundering the wealth of Provence. As the third class of the human race after slave servitude, they enjoyed the hardest battles and the cheapest pay. The siege must be at the forefront, and the fortification must stand at the top, and when it comes time to divide the spoils, they will have to fall behind, with the most wounded soldiers and the least profits.

Since the firewood in the city was burned, these civilian mercenaries have rarely enjoyed the warmth of the bonfire, and the only privileges in the city have been forcibly seized by the elite of the noble lords, who can only ask for some leftovers from the "old soldiers". In the face of the cold air that invaded the bone marrow and the empty stomach, looking at the partners around them who fell to the ground one by one, these people did not want to go out of the city to break through the siege and fight, let alone stick to the dead city and wait for death, they wanted to rush out of the city immediately and kneel on the ground to knock a few times to the enemy soldiers outside the city, and then saliva took the freshly roasted wild boar leg from the enemy and desperately bit and swallowed it...... However, these people did not dare to speak their minds.

The two factions competed to see each other, and the coldest January passed like this.

At the beginning of February, the commanders of the Lombard garrisons in the city of Thorborg finally came up with a result: instead of holding the isolated city or forcing a breakthrough, they abandoned the city and returned south after consulting with the enemy.

The Lombards really couldn't hold on, and the soldiers in the city had already begun to mutiny, and if they held on, they wouldn't have to attack the city with the enemy, and they would kill all their own people.

Viscount Von Billen, who has always been full of tricks, has no choice but to compromise.

So on the first Friday of February, Jeffrey, the commander of the Eastern Army, received a letter from the city, in which the commander of the defenders of Solburg, Viscount von Billon, claimed that they were willing to abandon the city because they had run out of firewood in Solburg and were no longer able to cook and heat......

Outside the northern city, the garrison camp of the Eastern Corps commanded the camp tent.

Jeffrey stood up and wrapped himself in a bearskin, and asked the adjutant of the legion who came in to report, "Abandon the city?" The Lombards only said that abandoning the city was not surrender? ”

"Yes, Legionnaire, the Lombard letter only says that they want to abandon the city, and does not mention a word of surrender." The adjutant presented the letter to Viscount Geoffrey with both hands.

Jeffrey took the letter and studied it carefully for a while, with a relaxed face on the ground, "It's good to abandon the city!" If the Lombards claim to have surrendered, I am afraid that there will be deception. However, the Lombards are very cunning, and we must not be careless, and order all the soldiers of the legion to be on guard to prevent the Lombards from attacking the camp. ”

"Yes! But Commander, shall we send someone to talk to the Lombards about abandoning the city and defending it? ”

"No, no, we won't go into the city, let the Lombard defenders send someone out of the city to talk this time." Jeffrey remembered the clerk who had been killed when he first arrived in Thorburg.

The Lombards agreed to Viscount Geoffrey's request, and sent a leading baron with a few retinues out of the northern city of Thollburg, to the open space between the two armies to negotiate the abandonment of the city to take over the defense.

The Lombards proposed that the commander of the garrison, Viscount von Billon, would lead his army to withdraw from the southern city of Solburg, and that the defenders in the city were willing to leave behind 150,000 gold and silver treasures as money to buy the road, and left behind a dozen wounded soldiers for the eastern legions to kill and take the lead.

In exchange, the Eastern Army had to lift the siege of the southern city, let the Lombards safely retreat south to Vilno, and promise not to pursue the returning Lombards.

Jeffrey largely agreed to the Lombards' demands, but he raised the money for the road to 300,000 fennigs, and the number of wounded soldiers left behind increased to thirty.

In the end, after a whole afternoon of negotiations, the two armies finally reached a basic consensus - the Lombards left behind 250,000 gold and silver treasures plundered by Fenni and 20 "incurable" wounded soldiers in exchange for an unimpeded road to the south.

The Lombards were scheduled to withdraw from Solburg after breakfast on the morning of the second day after the negotiations......

However, at this time, in the hall of the lords of Solburg City, several main commanders of the Lombard defenders were plotting a trick in the secret room.

The change of events stemmed from the fact that in the evening, when it was getting dark, a team of several hundred men in the eastern legion outside the northern city quietly left the camp and disappeared into the night.

Of course, the men of the Eastern Legion walked in secrecy, but the Lombards who were guarding outside the city were keenly aware that the number of bonfires in the camp outside the city was nearly half less tonight, and the commander of the sentry reported the news to the commander of the defending army.

This sudden news made the treacherous commander of the Thorburg garrison, Von Bylun, immediately decide to abandon the original plan to abandon the city.

In the secret room, Viscount Feng Bileron's fine plate armor glowed jet black under the candlelight, and his eagle-like eyes were embedded in the deep sunken eye sockets, but his emaciated body gave people an extraordinarily calm feeling. He knocked on the wooden table in front of him and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, the number of bonfires that passed through the enemy camp outside the northern city has been determined, and half of the soldiers have left the camp tonight. If my guess is correct, the enemy troops who have come out of the camp must have set up an ambush somewhere on our way back to the south, waiting for us. ”

"My lord, these bastards don't keep their word! He had already said that he would accept our money and let us go, but he actually tried to ambush us. If you want me to say that we should not hold out, we will tear down all the wooden fences of the inner city and use them as firewood, and we will always hold on for another ten or so days, and maybe Wilno will send troops to rescue us at some point. A Adamantialist officer said.

"Hold on for ten days? What happens after ten days? The enemy already knows that we can't hold out, and if we miss this opportunity, and the enemy won't let us out of the city smoothly, do you have to wait for all our soldiers to mutiny? To be able to leave safely is already God's favor for us again. A capitulationist officer retorted.

"My lord, if you want me to say that you don't have to be afraid of their ambush at all, you can't survive anyway, so you just fight with those mongrels, and someone can always break through." A breakout faction voiced its opinion.

Then you and I started arguing.

"Shut up and think with your pig brains, isn't there a better plan?" Feng Bilun snorted softly, and everyone in the room instantly fell silent.

"My lord, what better way do you have it?" An officer asked.

Feng Bilun narrowed his eyes and analyzed: "Since the enemy army outside the city has quietly transferred the main force to the south to set up an ambush, there must only be a small number of soldiers and miscellaneous servants and civilians in their camp now. That is to say, now the enemy camp >>

The troops are not sufficient~"

"But could it be that the sentries were mistaken, or that there weren't too many campfires burning in the enemy camp tonight, or that the enemy had set a trap?" Intrigue was much more used, and the Lombards were always fond of speculating about the existence of traps in the actions of their enemies.

"I am also a little worried about the intentions of the enemy, and judging from the various tricks used by the enemy army against us since the siege, it cannot be ruled out that there is a conspiracy in this." Von Bylon also had some troubles.

"Either way, it's a great fighter and can't be missed."

"Order, tomorrow two hours earlier than usual to light a fire and cook, so that the soldiers can eat and drink enough, polish their weapons and armor, and be on call at any time." Feng Bylon ordered the deputy commander.

"Tomorrow morning, we will observe the smoke rising from the breakfast of the enemy camp outside the city, and reconfirm the number of enemy troops. If the enemy camp is really empty, we will fight through the north gate, sneak attack the enemy camp, grab the firewood and supplies, and quickly return to Solburg, with the firewood and supplies, we can continue to hold on and wait for reinforcements. ”

"Yes!!" The officers were excited.

South of Fort Thor, in the outpost garrison camp, a herald arrives at Arte's tent with a letter from Viscount Geoffrey, the commander of the legion.

"What? The Legionnaire is going to set up an ambush on the way back south of the Lombards? Art asked in surprise, the news was too sudden.

"Where did the Lombards come from? Why don't we have any news at all? Art asked.

The herald briefly told Art about the intention of the Lombards to abandon the city and return to the south during the day, and the ambush carefully set up by Viscount Geoffrey.

"The Lombards still can't hold on." The Lombards were relieved that they could evacuate Art.

Just breathed a sigh of relief, Art suddenly felt that something was wrong there, hugged his head and thought for a long time, raised his head in surprise and asked, "How many people did the legion commander take?" How many soldiers remained in the camp? ”

"The commander of the regiment was also worried about the Lombards' deception, so for the sake of safety, he only brought the first company, the bow and crossbow team, and a small number of cavalry of more than 300 people to the south to set up an ambush, and nearly 400 people remained in the camp, plus the miscellaneous soldiers and the merchants and civilians accompanying the army, a total of about 600 people." The herald replied.

"It is precisely because of the lack of manpower that the legion commander ordered you to take the outpost to the preset location to participate in the ambush." The herald added.

"Were you discovered by the Lombards when you left?" Art was still not at ease, he always felt that the Lombards were not so easy to deceive.

"No, we came out of the camp in the dark when it was getting dark, and the Lombards could not see it." The herald replied.

"Hmm~" Art touched his chin in thought.

"Odogans, if you were Lombards, would you have found the outskirts of the city sneaking out?" Art asked the two officers beside him.

"My lord, the legion commander took advantage of the night to lead the troops out of the camp quietly, and he walked around the dense forest, and the defenders in the city have no outpost points, so they should not be discovered." Otto replied.

"What do you think, Sergeant Major?" Art turned his gaze to Angus.

Angus frowned and thought for a while, then replied, "I don't think I will either, unless~"

"Unless what?"

"Unless the enemy is sensitive enough to detect unusual behavior inside the camp, such as being too quiet or suddenly increasing the perimeter guard."

"No, the commander of the regiment ordered the camp to go as usual, and did not increase the vigilance." The herald replied.

Art suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked urgently, "Did the legion commander let the number of bonfires in the camp go on as usual?"

The herald suddenly woke up, "It's not good, the legion commander didn't arrange this matter, the time for the Lombards to abandon the city was too tight, and the legion commander was in a hurry to deploy an ambush, so he didn't have time to consider this detail." ”

"Lord Arte, the Lombards shouldn't be so alert, right?" The herald said.

"Other army commanders may not care about this kind of detail, but that old guy Von Billen may not care."

"Isn't the army commander's ambush plan impossible to implement?"

"What I'm worried about now is not the Legion Commander's ambush plan, I'm worried about the safety of the Legion camp!" Art was a little anxious.

"No, the legion commander left more than 400 people in the camp, even if the Lombards attack the camp, they can't take advantage."

"The elite of the legion has been transferred, and if the enemy attacks desperately, the result is unpredictable. You immediately report to the commander of the legion and ask him to quickly lead his troops back to the camp, ambushing the Lombards in the south is just to add to the military merits, if the Lombards counterattack the camp, it will be a failure. ”

"Lord Art, are you still going to set up an ambush?"

"I'm not going, I'll immediately take the outpost back to the camp."

"Odo, Sergeant Major, order the outpost to immediately prepare their weapons and armor and set off immediately!"

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Chapter 200: One hundred thousand urgent