Entering the neutral area, I pulled the reins of the horse and walked slowly, stretched out my right palm to show that I had no malicious intent, and the Polish guards guarding the road trotted over to help me hold the war horse, and at this moment suddenly a burst of excitement jumped from the spine to the scalp.

I reminded myself: Guan Erye, who went to the meeting alone, is not so easy to emulate, and Grand Duke Mieshko brought more than 20 younger brothers to support the field, in case of a hidden ambush knife and axe to break the cup, he will not even have a piece of scum left.

Passing through the infantry phalanx at the forefront of the Poles, I came to the agreed place of this negotiation with half fright and half calm, the main formation commanded by Grand Duke Mieszko, the two heavy guards cavalry banners that had been stationed on the left and right, had suffered heavy losses in yesterday's battle, and had withdrawn from the offensive sequence, and now the guards were replaced by two light cavalry banner teams that had been raised, and the equipment and fineness were too different.

The attendant who led the horse served me down, and the other attendant had already bowed down and waited beside me to prepare for guidance, I tightened the tether on the top of the bear fur coat, intentionally or unintentionally scanned the Polish troop deployment with the corner of my eye, and silently calculated the approximate number of people in my heart.

The old man standing there must have been none other than the famous Grand Duchy Mieszko, the founder of the Polish state and the papal apologetic knight of high hopes, the father of Bolesław and Miyeszko.

The tyrant who dared to block the Emperor in Prague and teach me a harsh lesson was now looking at me from top to bottom with his eyes squinted, like a county department store, glancing at the old salesman in the countryside with a critical eye, making you feel uncomfortable.

The eldest duke was dressed in heavy chain mail in the Eastern Roman style, the nose guard of the conical helmet was torn aside by him, the edges of the sunken eye sockets were wrinkled like shrunken apples, and the thick bones supported the still majestic figure.

Even the bull is not far behind, the ruddy skin reflects the brilliance of the whole person to look energetic, most of the old people of their age, most of them have already become the relief of the sarcophagus of the church cemetery with a dull expression, or the skin and bones lying alone on the sickbed waiting for the death to come, for a dry old man in his sixties and a half body into the ground, it is absolutely rare to go to Rongma in person, especially after reading the vicissitudes of the world, he exudes an awe-inspiring majesty that is difficult to approach, and I immediately shortened a cut of the score. It was like a primary school student who went home with a zero-score exam paper, cowering in fear.

The two of us finally stood face to face, and as soon as our eyes met, sparks flew everywhere, there were too many things that could only be understood and unspeakable, and I didn't have enough energy, so I lowered my eyes first to dodge, and my burned brain was scorched.

The attendant was asked not to come closer than ten paces, and the old duke did not ask me to untie my sword as required for the usual meeting, but he himself held on to his belt, and did not carry any weapons, and looked at his opponent confidently, and a playful smile on the corner of his mouth, as if to see my weak heart:

"I didn't expect you to be so young, my lord, and dare to come to my camp with only one attendant to negotiate, by the way, a very beautiful coat."

I hurriedly nodded my head in acknowledgment, and reluctantly squeezed out a smile that I thought was decent, "Thank you for the compliment, it is my honor to meet you in person, and at the same time I regret yesterday's battle, and pray that God will bless the fallen on both sides, they are heroes worthy of remembrance." ”

"You wouldn't have guessed how I almost choked on the ale when I heard about the negotiations."

Grand Duke Mieszko calls you directly, and perhaps I don't deserve that honorific title yet, and he walked past me with his hands behind his back, staring at the little castle of Neustadt with its flags unfurled.

"Looks like you had the upper hand yesterday, didn't you?"

I turned around and stopped next to his shoulder, I didn't expect to look at my castle so clearly from here, the whole battlefield situation was clear at a glance, there was a gilded incense burner in the corner of the pergola, faintly burning unknown incense, so that the edge of this smoke-filled blood cave, there was a faint sense of Zen, it seems that His Royal Highness not only learned the iron blood of the Eastern Romans, but also indulged in their pleasure and comfort, and even this simple temporary camp was quite elegantly arranged.

"The victor has only received a second invitation to the Grim Reaper."

I deliberately sold a pass to foreshadow my next words: "I want to make an armistice with you, and for this I am willing to pay whatever price you offer, and I will not repent, under the witness of God." ”

"Truce?"

The eldest man breathed a long sigh of relief, after all, the years are not forgiving, and war is more like a test of life for him.

"You defeated my two sons, kidnapped my daughters, burned down my capital, slaughtered my elite, and now you have to dig the wall under my nose inch by inch, if the identities are reversed, are you willing to give up such an opportunity to kill the enemy once and for all?"

"I think I know your answer."

Pretending to be helpless to spread out my hands, I also followed his example, holding on to my belt, and relaxing my fat belly that was strangled uncomfortably.

"As you can see, Nijmegen has only a small wooden castle, delicate like a child's toy made of mud, as if a drop of rain could smash it to pieces, and to be honest you moved faster than I could have imagined, and I would have presumed that it would have to be at least after the spring planting, so God punished my conceit and sent such a magnificent army."

"It's a pity that we couldn't reach a consensus, since the contradictions are irreconcilable, let's fight for our own glory, a wise man said that only the dead soul can get true peace, and I don't want to go into the coffin, listening to the priest's endless long-winded prayers, I will fight to the death!"

"Very good, this is exactly the answer I wanted, yesterday's battle was very enjoyable, re-stimulating a battle-hardened old knight, numbed by the sea of corpses and blood, come on, let's fight well, live up to the cry of the long sword in the sheath thirsting for blood."

The old neurotic suddenly clenched his fists excitedly, like the *** who had found a new link in his heavy armor, and rushed to the sky with the absolute soles of his feet on fire, which was inexplicable.

The air was suffocating as soon as a new battle broke out, and the Polish soldiers, who learned that the negotiations had broken down and the battle continued, frantically tapped their shields and cheered, in contrast to the deathly silence of Neustadt Castle.

When I rode back to the castle on my pony, the bulls and a few of them were already standing there waiting for them, and the excitement of the Polish military formation said everything, and the negotiations were very likely to break down, and the result of a siege of the city was basically non-negotiable, and the door to peace was closed, so everyone could only cheer up, continue to wait for help, and by the way hone the will to fight.

The bull ran over to help me hold the reins, the complicated expression on his face was indescribably tangled, there was excitement about the coming of the big battle, and there were also worries about the future prospects, but obviously the former was more ingredient, he helped me get off the horse, put his arm around and asked, "My lord, what is the result of the negotiation, are we going to do it?" ”

I stared at his appearance and nodded, which was an accurate answer for everyone: "It's a pity that I didn't bring back good news, Grand Duke Mieszko did not agree to negotiations, he vowed to raze Neustadt to the ground, today as a truce there will be no hostilities, and from tomorrow the Poles will resume their offensive." ”

"I knew that these Polish barbarians were not easy to get along with."

The bull spat on the ground disdainfully, hugged his shoulders and said contemptuously: "They want to fight, it seems that yesterday's heavy casualties have not been able to teach them a profound lesson, so let the tomahawks vent their anger in Nijmegen more!" ”

None of the others are as nervous as the bull, no matter how strong the enemy in front of them is, they dare to rush up and take care of the measurements, people can't die with a big scar on their necks, and eighteen years later they are a good man, and they are not afraid of heaven and earth.

Yaroslav showed great concern, interrupting the bull and calmly asking me: "My lord, do you think we still have the capital to hold on?" ”

I smiled faintly, full of wisdom to see through the vicissitudes of the world: "If I want to defend the city by myself, I'm afraid I can't hold on to it tomorrow at noon, let's defend the city together, hold on for three days at most, the situation in the city is clear to everyone, the food reserves are not available, the casualties of the fighters are serious, if the enemy forcibly advances at any cost, the thin walls of Neustadt will not be able to resist the onslaught in turn, and the fall is a sure thing, and it is only a matter of time now." ”

"We fought with the enemy, it's a big deal!"

The bull shook his fist excitedly and almost hit Jensen, who was standing next to him: "I'm willing to take the lead!" ”

"Stupid!"

I knocked him on the head, and the bull screamed in pain, rubbing his head aggrievedly, and I couldn't help but reward him with another burst in that little look.

"Qingshan is gone, where will I burn firewood in the future? Life and death are the worst results, have you forgotten what I taught you to fight in battle? ”

"But now that we are surrounded on all sides, and the reinforcements can't grow wings and fly over immediately, what else can we do?" Yaroslav couldn't see where my proud self-confidence came from, and he couldn't understand the meaning of going to the army, so he could only ask suspiciously.

"According to the best estimates, if everything goes well, except for the time of mobilization and assembly, even if the reinforcements from Nijmegen abandon their baggage and march forcibly, it will take at least fifteen days or so to enter Villatsen, and the time for the Duke of Hanover, which is closest to us, may be the same as Nijmegen, and His Majesty the Emperor is even more difficult to count on, if he moves quickly, he may be able to catch up with us to collect the corpses."

As I spoke, I took off my bearskin coat, which I had too late to unfasten, and threw it to Rollo and walked to the castle hall.

"Let the clerk prepare pen and paper, do you think that Lord Duke and I are just going to negotiate?"