Walking through the reckless jungle of giant trees, I breathed in the refreshing fresh air, and at the same time sighed with great interest about the ecological protection of the Middle Ages, which is really good, this kind of wood that can be used as a ship directly by cutting a hole in the middle is definitely the wealth of the wood company to break the head, and there will be no sawdust left, although the quaint lifestyle of the Middle Ages is backward, but it is absolutely close to nature.

Schweik Castle is like a standing reef in the midst of the surging green waves, tenacious and strong, yet at one with its surroundings, hidden among the jungle cypresses.

This is a typical Eastern European castle, without the neatly cut stones of Western Europe, all of which are made of local materials, built on gently undulating mounds in the valley basin, and the waist thick wood is sharpened into the soil at both ends, and then the two layers of wooden rows are filled with solid sand and gravel, forming a fortress with defensive ability, which can hold out for a long time when the enemy does not have heavy siege weapons.

"There is Schweik Castle, perched on a small mound by the river overlooking the valley of this unknown river, and the nearest farmstead is three miles away." Kohler rode with me to an open terrace and stared at the castle on the other side.

"As you can see, the castle is not large, there seems to be no well inside, and it is completely dependent on the river outside the city for its water, and now that the climate is sweltering, it is the right time to attack by fire."

I squinted my eyes and raised my head to feel the slightly hot wind that swept across the sky, and after a moment of silence before I said to Kohler, "Before the real battle begins, I want to talk to the fat white man......"

"Huh?"

Kohler didn't understand what kind of medicine was sold in his gourd, but he was used to all my weird ideas, so he continued to ask, "Then start the siege now?" ”

"Don't worry, take a break, the sun is in full bloom."

I looked at the sky with my pergola in my hands, the sun had just crept into the sky, and the scorching light was baking everything in the world without hesitation, and to attack at this time would be tantamount to suicide, but it would have done the Poles a favor.

"Go and chop some twigs to make catapults, you can use them during the siege."

After a comfortable lunch break in the shade of my tent, I dressed up in good spirits, the flag bearer took the lead with the Nijmegen Wyvern Banner in high spirits, the herald blew the horn of attack, and the soldiers marched slowly and with firm steps.

Schweik Castle, which noticed the situation from afar, immediately reacted, and soldiers began to appear on the city in a hurry to prepare for defense, archers with feathered arrows on their backs were in position to attack, and the soldiers who were fetching water by the river outside the city threw away their buckets in a panic and ran back to the city with a roll, the heavy wooden gate slowly closed behind him, and the red and white mountain eagle battle flag representing Prince Mieshko was raised.

"The little guy is really hiding here, I haven't seen him for so long, and I don't know if he has lost a little weight." I held on to my tightened belt and took a deep breath to get used to the tightness, adding a belt before I went out to prevent the wound from being ripped open again during the fight.

Our soldiers had already waded through the river, which had barely reached their calves, to a small clearing in front of the castle, where the Polish archers at the head of the city had shot feathered arrows and nailed them to the ground, warning us not to go any further.

The bulls rode around to restrain the formation, the Nijmegen soldiers spread out in an orderly manner, at the front were the infantry pushing the shields tied with fine wood, the pikemen stood behind them, protruding their spears through the gaps in the wooden signs, the archers were at the back of the whole line, they were sticking their feathered arrows in their quivers on the ground, waiting for the order to attack, the few knights and squires were arranged on the two flanks of the position, ready to outflank the enemy's rear, mercenaries and ordinary infantry were mixed together, They will be the main striking force in the upcoming siege and will be the first to be attacked.

"Raise the white flag!"

I unfastened the belt of my helmet and carried it in my arms, and with a few squires, I hurried my horse to the castle gate.

Raising the white flag was a common rule in the Middle Ages, indicating that each side should not carry weapons or maliciously attack the other in order to avoid war before the war, and that neither side should carry weapons or maliciously attack the other, so that they would be regarded as murderers and despicable villains who violated the spirit of fairness and justice, and would no longer be favored by God.

It took a long time for the gates of Schweik to open, and a group of men and horses ran briskly, led by the knights who had not met for a long time, the white fat man Mieszko, who had been arrogant and slammed into his horse after seeing his opponent's face, making the surrounding followers inexplicable, and also pulling the reins of the horses one after another, raising a cloud of dust.

"It seems that the after-effects you left him on are not light, my lord."

Kohler leaned over to me and smiled, "He grabbed the reins and almost strangled his mount." ”

"I am very sorry for the young soul of a thriving young man, and may God bless poor Prince Mieszko."

I reverently drew a cross on my chest, causing Kohler to laugh: "And, of course, the more poor Archduke, whose son has been harmed by me. ”

Prince Mieszko reined in his horse and circled around the same place several times, and then he came back to his senses and remembered his mission, the soldiers on both sides were watching intently, and the face of Poland was not very good-looking, so he could only come over hard, stretched out his right palm and rushed out, reluctantly squeezed out a smile and said: "God bless my friend from Germany, I am Prince Mieszko of Poland, what made you make the decision to attack?" ”

I sneered disdainfully in my heart, but solemnly stretched out my right palm and replied: "God bless your Polish friends, we are here to take revenge on you, to drive the Slavs across the Elbe border to invade, if Poland does not stop attacking Germany, God's warriors will continue to attack until you bow your heads and admit defeat, I swear to the Most High Lord!" ”

"The Slavic tribes are acting completely autonomously and have nothing to do with Poland, so please don't speculate on German friends." The fat white man was foaming at the mouth with a weak heart, and turned his eyes to find some more adequate arguments for himself.

"However, your Emperor Your Majesty did not keep the promise made to us by the first emperor, but as a great country, he went back on his word!" As soon as he finished speaking, the Polish soldiers in the castle booed, and Mieszko was emboldened and looked at me with a triumphant face.

"Pure nonsense!" Ya is strong in this words, and dares to play with me, and it ignites my small universe when it lands.

"His Majesty the Emperor has always kept the treaty, and has planned the most reasonable strategy day and night in order to better fulfill his promises, and his diligence and love for the people can be seen from this, which can be assured of God, that his envoy has only just set out on his way, and received the news of the joint invasion of Bohemia by the Polishes and Magyars, and the Slavs have crossed the border under your intrigues, and Poland is the one who breaks the treaty, the villain!"

Seeing that I was really angry, Mieshko couldn't help but be a little shorter in terms of momentum, and I couldn't speak for a long time, I hooked the corners of my mouth and looked playfully at the white fat man who looked like a junior who was blackmailed by a bad senior in the upper class, and the latter was already sweating profusely on his forehead, and he was so cramped and uneasy that he was numb.

"Prince Mieszko, please take a step to speak." I pinched my horse's belly and took the first step towards the ranks of the Poles.

Mieshko looked left and right to see that no one could do it for him, who called himself a prince, and reluctantly slowly stepped forward, just hurriedly glanced at me and lowered my head, I continued to approach him, and finally let the two of them come together: "Long time no see, white fat man." ”

"Hehe, I miss you too, Lord Randy." Mieszko replied with a snort, and behind his lukewarm tone was a bottomless resentment, and the days with me were the nightmare of his life.

"I've heard that you've been canonized as a duke, and it's really impressive."

"You make fun of me, I wouldn't have climbed so fast without the care of your friends at the German court."

I stroked the beard from my chin, decided not to go around in circles, leaned into his ear and whispered, "Did you hear about Gniezno?" You should be able to guess that I did it, and now it has been burned to the ground, not even a piece of wood is left, and Figura is also in my hands, I believe that the Grand Duke will be guilty of incompetence in the prison country when he hears this, right? Who will gloat? Prince Bolesław? Let me think about it, the most favored youngest son broke the heart of the old father, and from now on he will not be able to get the throne, and the ruthless brother will even more persecute him, God, please have mercy on this innocent little son, if you want to punish, please condemn me......"

"You're a complete asshole!" The fat white man's face trembled with anger, and his voice was suppressed into a thin bass.

"I won't let you go, I promise God!"

I put my hand around his shoulder, but Mieshko shook him off, and put my arm back on it with a smile: "God's punishment is too late, it is better for me to show you the way now, as for how to choose, it depends on how determined you are to ascend to the top, or continue to live a life of compromise." ”

The white fat man stared at me with wide eyes, full of distrust and horror, and stayed for a long time before replying, "Say it, I'll listen." ”

"I heard that your brother was ordered by the Grand Duke to lead the army back to support, why don't we join forces to kill him, how about it?"

I squinted my eyes and slowly approached: "You just have to trick him into my encirclement, and the rest will be left alone, trust me, you will get the news of his death in the near future." ”

Mieshko pursed his lips silently, as if there was a fierce ideological struggle, I was confidently waiting for the answer on the side, in fact, the answer had long been tacit, his struggle at the moment was more to condemn his conscience in the future, to find a step that could go down, everyone understood that in the face of absolute power, family affection is just a funeral object that is not worth mentioning, not to mention brothers who have not had a good feeling for each other since childhood.

"What do you want me to do?" Mieszko wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and asked me through gritted teeth.

"Now you just need to go back and do the things in front of you well, this battle still has to be fought."

I put my helmet back on my head and fastened my belt with my chin: "You can find a chance to escape after the battle begins, I have already said hello, and the soldiers of Nijmegen will not embarrass you." As for what we agreed on, there will naturally be my people to contact at that time, don't worry, have you forgotten how Gniezno was breached from the inside? Whoever I want to find, I can find it at the ends of the earth, unless God takes him away. ”

The white fat man nodded busily, he was completely stupid by me, and he just wanted to stay away from the monster in front of him as soon as possible, and never see him again in this life.

The two of us raised our right hands and blessed each other, turned our horses' heads and led our squires back to their positions, and all the soldiers were shocked by the sight, and the commanders kept shouting orders to keep in formation, because they understood that war was inevitable.

(End of chapter)