"I still don't understand something, please make it clear, Lord Duke."

Seeing that I was in a good mood, the swordfish cautiously asked, "Is this what you want to see if our indiscriminate attacks are likely to cause heavy losses to coastal and transoceanic trade, and even worse, to cause merchants to abandon these routes?" ”

"My purpose is to make money, and I certainly don't want what you say to happen."

As the boat turned across the bend, it was shaken by the oncoming rapids, and I held on to the side of the boat to steady myself, staring at the sparkling water in the distance.

"But I'm not the kind of little guy who just wants to make some money, my goal is to unify all the trade on the sea, to manipulate the economic levers of the entire continent, and whoever dares to resist the authority of Nijmegen will be killed without starting a war."

"There is also a very important point that you forget, although businessmen are timid, but more obsessed with the pursuit of high profits, the more difficult the transoceanic trade, the greater the profits, you don't have to worry about this, there will be many money fans who are not afraid of death, rushing to send you business ......"

As soon as I finished speaking, the pirate in charge of the reconnaissance suddenly raised the alarm, and saw him put his hands in his mouth and learn to call, while the others quickly dropped the anchor or plunged their spears into the sand of the riverbed, and stopped the ship in its place, all of them taking up their arms and staring nervously in the direction from which the danger came.

"What happened?" My cat leaned down to the swordfish that was squinting at the enemy and asked.

"Someone on the shore, it's a Pole." The swordfish replied in a suppressed voice.

Our journey was peaceful, except for the occasional scattered dwellings on both sides of the river, and the animals that occasionally ran to the river to drink, there were few living creatures, and the only time we encountered a large group of people was when we met a few merchants on pack horses in the gentle shallows of the river, and when they saw the pirate's ships in the distance, they screamed in terror and fled in all directions, and they did not even have time to take the goods on horseback.

Of course, what they were trafficking in was really worthless, and the pirates picked and took some pickled jerky and went on their way with disdain on their faces.

"If it weren't for the fresher cured meats, we wouldn't have looked at this bit of junk." Fearing that they would be looked down upon, the Swordfish repeatedly stressed to me their principle of robbery, claiming that pirates also follow certain standards.

Swordfish's men were well acquainted with the rivers of Poland, and we carefully avoided all the densely populated castles and towns, not even the slightly more populated villages, and chose desolate and uninhabited areas.

The towering trees on both sides of the river are close together, like soldiers under review, covering the entire sky, and there is a thick layer of fallen leaves on the riverbed, and the water surface is clean enough to see to the end.

We boarded the boat on the edge of the Oder, made our way cautiously along the deep waters, and then, under the nose of the heavily garrisoned Koschen Castle, quietly turned into the Varta River at night, and zigzagged along the secluded river into a wide tributary, crossing a few small lakes as gentle as mirrors, and Gniezno was already in sight.

"A few more bends, and tomorrow you will see the little shrine inhabited by the pagan gods on the Gnieznolech mountain." The swordfish's leading man pointed in one direction and said to me.

"How can there be Polish knights here?" The swordfish stared at his men, his tone already tinged with a hint of anger.

"Chief, there has been no problem with this route, the nobles will never come here even if they are hunting, and they are fully clothed and armored." The reprimanded subordinates were obviously panicked, and hurriedly explained to the leader, for fear that they would die because of this mistake, it seems that Swordfish usually manages his huge pirate organization with a tough hand, and does not use harsh punishments.

"Trust me! God can testify! ”

Looking at the pirate guide, who had just been calm and serious, instantly turned into a little sheep like a frightened bird, I couldn't help but want to laugh, but it was a bit too heartless to ruin the atmosphere on such an occasion, so I swallowed the smile that squeezed into my throat, and I cleared my throat and said:

"These people don't look like they're hunting, and they won't be high-level knights from the analysis of their attire, they must just be some family knights who are responsible for the protection of the big nobles, the other party has a few richly decorated carriages, there are many curtains on them, and there must be female dependents among them who are so comfortably arranged, and the female dependents who can be protected by knights must be prominent, and the number of people watching them is not much, let's rush up and take each other down, maybe we can get some useful confessions, after all, it is better than a blind man like this."

After listening to my words, the swordfish touched his chin and pursed his lips to think about it for a long time, and stretched out his hands at me at a loss: "My lord, let's take a boat to the enemy's shore, and when we rush over, they will find that the situation is not good, they will already get on their horses and run away, and they can't catch up, so they will startle the snake and expose themselves, and when the Poles in the city realize the siege, we don't even have a place to escape." ”

"It's time to even scare the snake now, not to mention you forgot, I'm the one with the most ghost ideas in the whole of Germany, and there are still ways to deal with this little enemy." I smiled and looked at the puzzled expression of the swordfish, and confidently sold it before I made my plan with confidence.

"Find a place for my men to go ashore first, and then we will sneak up from the forest behind the enemy to block their retreat, and when we receive the signal that we are ready, you will swagger and kill the generals from the river, make as much noise as you can, try to attract the attention of the enemy, your number is small, the enemy may not escape, and when the two sides fight head-on, we will slam them from behind!"

"I see, we're the bait that we put down when we spearfish, and you're the harpoons waiting on the water!" The swordfish curled the corners of his mouth and gave me a knowing smile.

"But let's talk about it first, Lord Duke, you don't lack anything, I want the chain mail on these knights, as for those noble ladies......" Swordfish's smile became obscene, leaving the second half of the sentence for me to imagine for myself, this group of wolf-like pirates must have done some evil things to bully men and women.

"Let's get them first."

This swordfish still can't change the nature of a pirate, and he will go down in three sentences, it is really muddy and can't get on the wall, I shook my head, expressing my disappointment in his character.

"Send one of your men with me, so I can give you a signal when the time comes."

The anchor that held the hull of the ship was slowly lifted, and several pirates descended into the river, wading through chest-deep rapids to push the boat to the shore, and the soldiers on board were already ready, and as soon as they got closer, they jumped down and burrowed into the impermeable jungle, and the whole set of movements was clean and neat, worthy of the elite trained by the bull.

There was a muddy path in the woods, which was not very wide, leading to the beach where the Poles played, where the river widened and gently piled up the mud and sand it carried to the bend of the bank, forming a beautiful tidal flat, where the green reeds swayed in the wind, and in which many beautiful birds could not be named, and the shadows of the trees blocked the large clouds of sunlight, which must have attracted these nobles to enjoy it.

Near the edge of the woods were tethered to a few horses, and five tall knights sat or lay down, randomly finding a shady place to rest, helmets and weapons were put aside, probably thinking that the suburbs so close to Gniezno would not encounter danger, so they were all enjoying the fun of playing.

The nobleman's carriage stopped in the middle of the riverbank, and the curtains decorated around it were swayed by the breeze, and there was a faint fragrance of a woman slowly wafting away, and it went straight to the nose and eye, which made my group of fierce men who were accustomed to a life of iron and blood a little confused, and a few maids wearing pointed hats took out all kinds of well-made food from the carriage, and served them on plates to the master who was laughing and playing, and the remaining five knights took a brush to smooth the hair of their beloved rider by the river, and their movements were gentle as if they were caressing their lovers, The war horse lowered its head and nibbled on the tender green grass, snorting comfortably.

It was only then that I saw that the figure protected by the Polish knights was a woman, accompanied by a few diminutive gnomes, who from time to time made antics to amuse their masters, and the maids laid their food on the white tablecloths that lay flat on the floor, and the golden cups filled with precious wine gave off an enticing aroma.

The woman who was sitting on the thick velvet cushion and laughing like a silver bell was the master of everyone's service, and she had her back to the woods where we were hiding, so she couldn't see her face clearly, and she could only judge from the slender figure hidden under the long skirt that her age should not be too big, and it was likely that the new favorite of a big nobleman or a pampered aristocratic lady took her attendants to the suburbs to relax when she was tired of staying in the dreary castle.

"I can't imagine that it's still a little fresh who likes to sing the wind and make the moon." I snorted softly, squinting my eyes and waiting for the swordfish to strike first from the surface of the river.

"Listen, sir!"

A soldier patted me on the shoulder from behind, pointed in the direction of the Polish dinner and said, "Someone is singing......"

I pricked up my ears and searched carefully, and then I vaguely heard the singing, a little dwarf with his sharp voice, not knowing what he was singing, and then a few more dwarfs took out their instruments to accompany him, and the maids and knights who heard the singing put down their work and came over, and were infected by the cheerful atmosphere and danced to the music, and the hostess in the center stood up with the support of the maid, and was led by the attention of everyone to sing:

"Little house, it stands among the trees......"

"The sweetheart met silently,

"Holding hands and looking at each other, just to remember the face of the beautiful woman......

"You look forward to the eyes of the stars, as if they are full of endless thousands of words, and the **** of the blazing is ruthlessly burning, which makes people forget to linger;

"Your lithe figure is like the most graceful delphinium in the sky,

"The slender jade body is like a bright moon in the night......

"Let me be close and close, in the midst of your whispering gasps,

"Forget that there is no tomorrow in our love......"

(End of chapter)