Aloxia walked through the dense forest, and from time to time there were bursts of dense footsteps in the waist-high dense grass, Aloxia looked behind her, and saw a young man in the distance riding on the back of a donkey while swaying back and forth while concentrating on writing something on the wooden board hanging around his neck, his mouth whispered from time to time, as if he was silently reading what was written, because he was so focused that when Aloxia opened his mouth to warn, his head had hit a thick branch that came out horizontally.

The young man tumbled and fell off the donkey's back, and the plank hanging from his neck flew into the grass and disappeared, and for a moment laughter rang out in the woods.

"I can't believe he's the brother of the legendary knight Rakush."

"A hairy young man who only spends all day with a pen."

Maybe no one really has malicious intentions, but many people obviously don't think much of Omo.

The Rakouch brothers had been in Helva's army for some time, and were very pleased with the arrival of the legendary knight, knowing that he was not good at commanding battles, and as for the kind of means that Alexander had proposed to him to bring down the Ottomans as he could, Herva was trying his best to do it, but he was secretly anxious about how long he could hold out.

Hurva's arrival at LaKush gave hope to Helva, a man who seemed to be a cunning warrior by nature, who tended to spot the weaknesses of the Ottomans' defenses and was keenly aware of which were the real prey and which were the bait that lured them into a trap.

Especially after they skillfully and smoothly attacked several Ottoman supply convoys carrying important supplies according to Rakush's plan, Herva felt that it was okay to hand over the command of the army to this man.

As for Rakush's younger brother Omo, Herva made him a secretary of the army, and to Helva's surprise, this Omo was actually a student at the University of Prague.

It's just that for Helva today, a top student at Prague University is obviously not as useful as a soldier who can fight in battle, and to others, the younger brother of the legendary knight Kulash is actually a nerd who can't even use a sword, which makes them even more surprised.

However, although he always laughed at Omo from time to time, in fact, not only did no one really despise him, on the contrary, in the kind of seeming laughter, people looked at Omo with a little awe in their eyes.

These peasants, who did not even know the alphabet, could not help but have a natural look up to learned people, who seemed to them to be going to do great things one day, at least since the arrival of this young man named Omo, and the mess of logistics of His Royal Highness the Duke has gradually become more and more organized.

This allowed the Kulash brothers to establish a high level of prestige in Helva's army in a short period of time, but an important reason why even some nobles respected the pair of brothers of modest birth was because of Aloxia.

Aloxia became much more silent when she returned to Helva, and rumors of her running away and missing had spread at first, but then slowly faded.

Helva was a little disappointed in Alosia, he felt that this niece did not have a sense of responsibility as a member of the Duke of Zagreb's family at all, but fortunately, at least she didn't find that Morco, and she didn't have time to do anything to make everyone lose face, so Herva finally decided to forgive her niece for her recklessness, as for Alosia's departure may affect him to find a suitable husband for her in the future, Herva felt that it was not very important after thinking about it for a long time.

This is because with the invasion of the Ottomans, the entire Balkan aristocracy has been greatly damaged, some entire families have died in battle, some have become vassals of the Ottomans, and more nobles have to go into exile because of the arrival of pagans, the Balkans at this time are full of turmoil and chaos, because of this turmoil, not only the barriers between the noble caste have been broken, but even the solid boundaries between nobles and commoners have begun to shake.

"I heard that in Moravia, Grand Duke Stefan personally promoted a few commoners to nobles." During the break, Kulash held up the flask and said vaguely to the brother who had come to him for dinner, "This is a big deal, you must know that in the past, even the Grand Duke had no right to be promoted to a nobleman." ”

"yes, everything is different now," Omo nodded, and he pressed his hand to the still aching head of Kulash, "Maybe you can go to the Senate in the future." ”

"Senate," Kulash leaned on a half-stake and poured wine into his mouth, "maybe, if I don't die, maybe one day I will be qualified to put on a red robe and stand with those great nobles, I think this is also the greatest honor of my life, but you are not like Omo, you are destined to become a big man." ”

"The big man in the court of Belgrade?" Remembering what his brother had said before, Omo smiled and then asked a little helplessly, "Have you heard about Count Sander?" ”

"I hear," Kulash sighed, "that fool must hold on to Belgrade, and end up dying in battle, and it would have been much better if he had left the city as early as the duke." ”

"So I don't have a chance to be a big man in the court," Omo sat beside his brother and threw broken wood into the fire boredly, "I am the second son, and I can only get a small piece of land from you in the future, so if you really want me to live a better life, I will get more rewards from the duke." ”

Kulash laughed, not very concerned about the reputation of being regarded as a legend, but he had always been proud to have a brother who was more knowledgeable than anyone else.

"Actually, there's a chance," Kulash said with a wink of his eyes and a low voice, "if you can be Miss Aloxia's husband, things will be much easier." ”

"No, Kulash, she doesn't like me," Omo shook his head in denial, then said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "I can see that she seems to like you more." ”

"Oh, what nonsense are you talking about, that young lady may be a princess in the future, how can she fall in love with me as a person, she should love you. Look at yourself Omo, young and handsome, and unlearned by anyone, and the Duke's men are now very jealous of you. ”

Kulash waved his hand in disapproval, his strength was so great that he seemed to be shaking something off.

Seeing his brother's somewhat impatient appearance, Omo was slightly stunned, and then sighed silently.

That's the way it was, I don't know when the rumors of an ambiguous relationship between the Kulash brothers and Alosia began to circulate among Helva's army, and all kinds of speculations about the strange relationship between the three men finally reached Helva, but strangely this time Hurva did not get angry, but used a kind of imaginative silence to make the truth of this rumor even more confusing.

As for Aloxia herself, she doesn't know who she likes right now.

Morko's shadow had become so blurred that sometimes even she wondered what had made her and Morco so in love in the first place, and now she didn't know what to say about her relationship with the brothers.

A brave and legendary knight, and a young student with a lot of erudition and talent that many people admired, including her, both intrigued and fascinated by Aloxia.

Alosia was sometimes annoyed, and she even wondered what to do if Morco returned, but the question only made her feel more confused.

However, this annoyance of Alocya's own soon became insignificant with the arrival of bad news.

After holding out for almost 2 months, the city fell with the tragic death of Count Sander of Belgrade, and the last resistance in the mountains southeast of Belgrade, the Mineral Valley Monastery, finally surrendered.

The monastery was built many years ago by a group of hermit monks deep in the mountains, and its terrain and sturdy architecture make it an excellent place for escape and defense.

After the death of Count Sander, a group of Belgradens who broke out fled into the mountains and hid in the monastery for their last resistance, and after holding out for so long, the Monastery of the Mineral Valley finally surrendered.

This meant that the Ottoman army, which had been used to lay siege Belgrade, had been completely freed to reinforce the siege of Bucharest by the Sultan's main force.

"Things are going bad."

When he heard the news, Kulash let out a helpless sigh, he actually knew the strength of the Ottomans better than anyone else, and because of this he was not optimistic about Count Sander's attempt to defend Belgrade from the beginning.

"Rowa? It's time to act. ”

Helva, who was also frustrated by the news, suddenly spoke, and the duke, who had been quite proud of the effective harassment and destruction of the occupied territories during this time, became pessimistic again, especially when he heard that the Ottoman army of nearly 20,000 men besieging Belgrade was about to reinforce the sultan, and Helva seemed to have seen the end of Bucharest. “”

"Before, Roa? He may hesitate, but now I think he is probably more anxious than anyone else to invade Hungary," Herva said faintly, staring at the flickering flame on the table, "Bucharest can't be saved, and invading Hungary now may be able to gain more benefits in the future when negotiating." ”

"That's right, that Rowa? Indeed, he's a greedy guy. Kulash was also a little discouraged, he knew how to fight the enemy, but the current situation only made him feel the irresistible strength of the Ottomans again: "Maybe we should retreat to Hungary at once, or wait until Rova?" 's army completely entered Hungary, and perhaps our retreat was cut off. ”

Kuraš's suggestion was immediately agreed by Helva, although he knew that if he left Croatia this time, he might never return. Invading Hungary, their situation will also become much more difficult, and they may even face the possibility of becoming a bargaining chip in the future negotiations between Hungary and the Ottomans, but now the priority is how to get rid of the possibility of being invaded by Roy as soon as possible? The Bosnian army cut off the back road from danger.

Hurva immediately ordered to set off, and at this time he was not only worried that he might be killed by Roy? Cutting off the retreat, he was even more worried that the Ottoman named Eleup might take the opportunity to fight the Bosnian army that had already entered Hungary, and if that was the case, his life would be really difficult.

Hurva's fears were clearly not unfounded, and the day after the Bosnian army crossed the border between the two countries, the Governor of the occupation zone, Ilup, issued an order from Zagreb for all encirclement forces to advance north to intercept them.

For a time, the resistance army led by Herva was looming between the Bosnian and Ottoman armies.

Faced with this dangerous situation, Kulash finally became worried.

Previously, he had been able to move flexibly with this resistance army in the occupied territory because he had no worries, but now when they were faced with not only the Bosnians and Ottomans, but also the Hungarians, who might use them as bargaining chips, Kuraš became worried because of the precarious situation.

To make matters worse, the area in which they were active had become significantly smaller than before, forcing Herva to begin to think about retreating in the direction of Kaniola, which borders northwestern Croatia, if necessary.

It was only very soon that a blow to Helva was given a blow to the head.

Archduke Karl of Caniola accepted the Bosnian king Rwa? The conditions proposed, along with the promise of supplies to the Bosnian army, also allowed for the denial of entry to Kaniola to the Croatian repressors.

This news made Herva feel as if he was in a desperate situation surrounded by enemies.

"Perhaps we should go to Bucharest," Helva even made a suggestion that he would never have made before, and it was evident that at this time he was beginning to feel that the strong walls were more reliable, but as soon as he said this, he quickly rejected it, "No, no, that city is already doomed, and to go there is to die." ”

Herva said and looked at the map in front of him, and when he saw the large coastline on the map, the duke's heart couldn't help but move: "Dear Kulash, can you lead us safely to the sea, I mean through the whole mountainous area." ”

Herva pointed to the north-south mountains on the map, her eyes shining with hope.

"It's important, it's all about life and death." Herva said solemnly, "If we manage to escape from the Ottoman siege, I swear to reward you for your exploits." ”

"So where are you going, Your Highness?" Kulash didn't answer directly, but looked at the map, and when he saw the location of the duke's hand on the map, which seemed to be intentional or unintentional, Kuraš exhaled softly, "Your Highness, are you leaving Croatia?" ”

There was a flash of panic on Helva's face, but he quickly hid it.

"We have to avoid the Ottomans, but we are in a dangerous situation right now, and we can't trust anyone, not even the Hungarians, but we can go to Rome and ask for the Vatican's asylum." "We still have an army, and I'm sure the Vatican and the kings and nobles of the West will understand that if they don't help us, they themselves will be in danger, so we can go to Rome first, find someone there who can help us, and then come back." ”

Looking at Helva's excited expression, Kulash shook his head secretly.

He knew that Herva was scared and that he wanted to flee the land.

This annoyed Kulash, for he felt that he should have known what the duke would be like in the end, but he had gone to this man with all his hopes.

Kulash opened his mouth to say something, and at that moment, a commotion suddenly came from outside the tent, and Helva's face turned pale in an instant.

"The Ottomans are coming?!"

"No, Your Highness, we caught a spy," the two scouts walked in with a man with a hooded head on his head, "This man has been asking us everywhere, and then someone has told us the truth, but he has been clamoring to see you, Your Highness." ”

"Who is this man?" Helva asked, a little impatiently.

When the soldier ripped off the man's hood and pulled out the strip of cloth that was in his mouth, the terrified man immediately cried out: "Don't kill me, I have sent a letter for my lordship, I have spoken for the governor, I want to see the duke!" ”