The river was wide, and it was at night, so the musketeers, although they shot in rows, only served as a deterrent, and even when they kept firing, the battle on the other side was still going on.

The Bohemians and the few remaining Agris gathered as best they could to resist the enemy, while the long-haired man stood on the shore and shouted loudly at the vague back of Alexander, who had climbed the riverbank.

"Send someone to meet us."

As soon as he stepped on the ground on the opposite bank, Alexander shouted a command to Caro, and then just as he was about to turn around and look back, his feet suddenly went limp, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

This immediately caused panic among the people around him, and when Alexander was lifted up, they found that his feet were bloody, and that there was a broken branch on the top of his left foot.

"Get our people back," Alexander urged again, and only then did he feel a pain in his feet, but he just had him bandaged, and sat on the ground staring at the other side where there was a burst of shouts of killing, "They know what to do, and they will be able to hold out until we go back to save them." ”

"My lord, I will go and save them, now you have to listen to me, go back quickly or your feet will get frostbitten." Carlo admonished, then grabbed a musket and shouted to some of the soldiers who had already descended into the river to move on, shouting the order "Cross the river, cross the river!" along the river. ”

The soldiers began to advance along the steep bank of the river to the opposite bank, and at this time, the Bohemians, who had been surrounded on the opposite bank, desperately rushed to the bank of the river, ready to join their companions.

"Perimo," the short man ran up to the long-haired man at some point, "we need to get out of here." ”

"Just go, just let that Gombray go?" The long-haired man asked unwillingly.

"We have to go, or it might be trouble," the short man grabbed the arm of the man named Perimo, "Don't forget that we're not here to fight." ”

The long-haired man exhaled violently and looked at the other side again, in fact, he also knew that he had failed, and looking at the enemies who were running across the ice towards the riverbank, he also knew that the situation might not be good.

"Let's go, there's always a chance." The short man tugged at him, "Bring us with you, don't forget that the adults are still waiting for our news." ”

The Bohemians, who were desperately resisting, suddenly found that the pressure in front of them suddenly relaxed, and with the sound of whistles, the attacking enemies retreated one after another, and some of them even took the opportunity to launch a counterattack against the enemy who had not had time to escape and fell alone.

The enemies seemed to be familiar with the area, and as soon as they decided to flee, they scattered and ran into the dark woods, and then burrowed into the woods and were never seen again.

The Bohemians, who had suffered heavy losses, pushed their tired bodies and could only watch their backs and curse loudly, but they had no strength to catch up again.

When they heard the cries of their companions behind them, these people, who were covered in blood and were almost not spared from their injuries, could no longer hold on, some sat down slowly, and some suddenly collapsed, and never moved again.

This sudden attack inflicted heavy losses on Alexander, with more than half of the 60 guards who crossed the river bank wounded, all the Agri musketeers killed, 31 Bohemians seriously wounded, and the rest all slightly wounded.

A sneak attack killed nearly a sixth of his men, which made Alexander completely angry while deploring the casualties!

When his men brought a wounded enemy who had not had time to escape, Alexander, whose feet had been re-cleaned and bandaged, sat in the living room of the village chief's house, looking at the trembling captives across from him with a gloomy expression.

Obviously, this man also knew that the cruel and terrible fate awaited him, but he still seemed to want to fight for himself, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Alexander raised his hand to stop him.

"Caro, how did you find me?" Alexander asked in a low voice, and only then did he have time to ask Carlo, "Where were you before?" ”

"I didn't find you, my lord, I found something strange," Carlo looked at the captive, "I was going to follow these guys to find out where their ambush was, but I didn't expect that the men I followed didn't join their companions at all, and by the time I realized that they had led me too far and were about to go back, I couldn't find you." Carlo said with a look on his face, after all, he was a little too greedy this time, he had heard about the battle that took place on the shore of Lake Braccano, which made him feel even more feverish on his face, "This is my responsibility, I originally thought that I could go directly to their base camp, please forgive me for getting a little carried away, sir." ”

"We're all getting carried away," Alexander whispered, feeling the pain in his feet, "We've been too leisurely these days, and this is a lesson for us, so go on." ”

Carlo sighed with a sigh of relief, and continued, "I met some fellows on the way to find you, and I heard from them about the battle at Lake Braccano, so I wanted to follow them again to find their camp, but I found that they were kidnapping a group of children from this village into the woods. ”

"Are you threatening them with the children of this village?" Alexander asked the captive opposite, and when he saw the trembling nod, he waved his hand, "Say what you know, I won't kill you." ”

"My lord, I don't know anything, I work for others with my captain," the man's tone was a little strange, but it sounded quite pleasant, like a nightingale that kept making a series of songs, but at this time his face was pale and his body trembled, and he was embarrassed no matter how he looked at it, "Please forgive me for not knowing anything, I only know that there are two people who have hired us, one of them is called Perimo, and the other is a short man, I know so much." ”

"You know that much, and then I lost nearly 40 people."

Alexander's voice was calm but his face was unusually ugly, he did blame Carlo in his heart, but at the same time he blamed himself, he knew that he was indeed a little carried away, although the beginning of Rome was difficult, but what happened next gave him a certain delusion, he knew that he was a little too indulged in the entanglement of Rome and the Neapolitan aristocracy, he gradually forgot that this was the end of the 15th century, an era that was still remembered for turmoil and war, I forgot that this is Italy, where there will be decades of non-stop war in the future.

How long will the Italian War last? 60 years or 70 years?

Some people live for a long time and will not see the end of this war from birth to death, while some families will spend three or even four generations in a row in this long war.

And now is just the beginning of this battlefield, and I am likely to spend my life in this long war like many people in the future, or if I get carried away as I am now, not only may I not have the opportunity to see the end of this battlefield at all, but I may even die quietly in this protracted war.

Just like now, if you die in battle, you will soon be forgotten, who will remember you? Maybe Sophia will be sad, but he can guarantee that even Nashan won't care too much about his life or death.

"Let him go," Alexander said, looking at the captive, and when he saw Carlo stunned, he continued, "strip him naked, and let him just walk out." ”

"Oh no," said the captive, with a look of horror on his face, "please don't do this, I'll freeze to death, please show mercy to you, Lord!" ”

"This is my mercy, and it's up to God to forgive you." Alexander closed his eyes, he felt very tired, his feet began to heat hot, he knew that he was still frostbitten.

The captives were taken out, and the sounds of struggle and begging for mercy could be heard outside, but soon silenced down, and after a while Carlo walked in.

"How?" Alexander asked.

"The guy ran into the woods, and our men are following him, and if he doesn't freeze to death halfway or let the wolves eat him, they'll lead us to his accomplices." Carlo reported in a low voice, and then he slowly knelt down with a little hesitation, "Please forgive me, sir, I know that all this is my fault, if it weren't for my greed, I should have reported it to you immediately, if that was the case, maybe we would have discovered their plot a long time ago, it was all my fault." ”

Carlo reached out to hug Alexander's feet and wanted to bow his head and kiss him, but he raised his hand to stop him.

"I said it was the fault of all of us, all of us," Alexander strengthened his tone, "you remember Carlo, those who died today, it was my carelessness that cost them their lives, it was your self-righteousness that harmed them, we owe them, so we must compensate them in our own way." ”

"Yes, my lord, I understand," Carlo buried his head in the ground and cried in a low voice, then he looked up at Alexander, "My lord, what should we do next, we have suffered so many casualties, do we want to move on?" ”

Alexander frowned slightly, he didn't expect that a seemingly ordinary mission to open the way would allow him to suffer such a heavy blow, which not only hit his morale, but even his confidence.

"Sure enough, no one is easy to deal with."

Alexander groaned that both Caesar and the Roveret family would choose him to cooperate because they valued the power in his hands, but now that he had lost so much, he didn't have to imagine how those people would change after hearing about his recent situation, and even Joanna might change their attitude towards him.

"How many more do we have?"

"In addition to the seriously injured and those who need to stay and take care of them, we can take 352 people with us," Carlo whispered, the loss so heavy that he was a little short of breath when he told the number, and he said in a low voice, "Maybe we should punish the people of this village, they are accomplices." ”

"That's just an excuse for our own mistakes," Alexander shook his head slightly, "We all know that the real fault is that I didn't expect the enemy to sneak up on this village, and even if the anomaly has been discovered, I still ignore it." And you Carlo, you forgot your duty because you were blinded by your bravery. ”

Alexander slowly stood up, his feet touching the ground, and the pain and an unbearably unbearable tickling like an ant's bite made him take a deep breath to stand still.

"This is a lesson for Carlo," Alexander whispered, looking at Carlo bowing his head in shame, Alexander reached out and gently pressed it on his shoulder, "We should know what we are facing, those who died have taught us too many things, but these lessons are so terrible, just one time is enough, do you say?" ”

"Yes, my lord, this is terrible," Carlo said in a slightly trembling voice, and he raised his head to meet Alexander's gaze, "I just hope I won't disappoint you again." ”

Alexander nodded slightly, and he slowly walked to the door by the shoulders of Carlo, and when he opened the door, he saw the village chief standing outside the door in fear by the guards.

Alexander's gaze was calm, he just silently looked at the pale and frightened man in front of him, and then he waved his hand to the guard.

"We can't help it, we are forced, they take the children from the village," the village chief babbled, "they said you will definitely pass through here, and you will definitely stay and stay, we must do what they say......

"I remember you said that this village belongs to the church?" Alexander interrupted the village chief's argument.

"Yes, this is for the Church, and we serve the Church, for the Bishop here."

The village chief nodded as if he had grasped a straw, hoping that it would make the terrible young nobleman feel unscrupulous, but when he saw the look in Alexander's eyes, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Hang him."

Alexander's voice was calm, as if he was not at all deciding whether a man would live or die, and the village chief did not even understand the meaning of this for a moment, until two guards grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the house, and he finally realized what was going to happen.

The village chief shouted loudly, while his wife rushed forward frantically while crying, and hugged her husband tightly and refused to let go.

Enraged, the two Agri soldiers dragged the village chief out of the house with a merciless drag on the ground, one of them kicking the woman to the ground and then kicking her in the stomach.

Two Bohemian soldiers quickly hung a knotted body on a branch outside the house, and when the village chief was pushed and dragged under the tree, the villagers had already been driven around him.

The people looked at the scene with fear and horror, and when someone was about to muster up the courage to speak out, they looked at the tyrannical Bohemians and Agri, who finally made no sound.

"I believe in Christ Jesus and may God save my soul so that I will not fear death and hell," the village chief muttered incessantly, as he was mounted on a horse and trembled when the noose was hung around his neck, "May the Lord forgive my soul and forgive my sins." ”

"Your sins can only be forgiven with death," Alexander waved slightly.

With the whispers of the people around him and the heart-rending cries of the village chief's wife, the whipped horse jumped forward, and the village chief's feet suddenly hung in the air, and his body began to shake violently in the air, until finally it slowly slowed down and there was no more movement.

"Last night, I killed a lot of people," Alexander looked at the frightened and angry, but could only fear the silent villagers, "for whatever reason, you must be punished, and I will leave the soldiers who were wounded yesterday in this village to recuperate, you must ensure that they are taken care of in the best possible way, and when I come back I will see that my soldiers are all healthy, otherwise ......" Alexander looked at the crowd, "you will know how terrible the anger from the lord of Agri is." ”

Alexander's words terrified the villagers, and no one dared to make a sound at this time, except for the miserable cry of the village chief's wife, who was still wailing.

Looking at the cowering villagers, the eyes of the Agri soldiers showed contempt and contempt.

At this moment, they seemed to feel for the first time the difference between themselves, who were originally farmers, and these villagers, the difference between a shepherd and a lamb, between a hunter and a prey, between a party who controls life and death and a person who is mastered.

Looking at the villagers as well, Alexander's gaze turned to the distance outside the village, he didn't know who was plotting against him, but he had already decided to fight back.

Whoever it is, I will let you know that it is more terrible to wake up a beast than to hurt it.

Alexander swore in his heart.