"What a damn day!"

The back of the horse's tongue was drenched with sweat, and the fermented alcohol mixed with bad breath rushed at me in all directions.

"The weather in the south is really unbearable, it should be spring or not, autumn should not be autumn, cold and hot and cold."

His later complaints gradually died down in my daze world, thinking about the winter when I first came to Italy, the cold wave hit the blizzard, and people couldn't stretch out their hands, so who do I talk to?

"Tsk, you can sleep quickly, or the commander of the army will arrest you and go to stand guard, and you are a new soldier again, don't blame me for not reminding me."

The horse's tongue was casually resting on the saddle, one second it was still chattering, the next second it was snoring, I couldn't help but sigh, how can this loud decibel megaphone make people sleep.

Forget it, it's better to close your eyes and recuperate, I was just about to fold my clothes and lie down, when the short commander's hellish demon voice came suddenly:

"That...... Who, what is the Locke, yes, yes, it's you, the Duke's personal soldier, that's right, you stand on the first shift, this is our rule. ”

He instructed him as a matter of course, the veteran oil bullied the rookie, the bad style inherited from ancient times, I looked forward to looking at the soldier next to the commander who was about to sleep, hoping that the latter could say a word, but the girl covered her face, and instantly snored and thundered, grandma's, all of them were too deceitful.

Under the gaze of the commander, whose lethality exceeded 10,000 volts, I scrambled to my feet.

"Go over there, have a good view, wake everyone up after the sun sets in the west for a moment."

Yo, it's even worse, it's really a rookie who is obedient: "By the way, watch the horses, they graze behind the forest." ”

The place he designated to stand guard was obviously making things difficult for me, it was a rock jutting out of the cliff, facing the main road often walked by pedestrians, and it was indeed a good position to lookout, but there was no shelter from the direct sunlight and no complaints, so far from the forest where they slept, what was the situation that made me shout out my voice, with the gloating whispers of the soldiers, I resolutely walked towards the mountain rock.

"Wait for me, I'll kill you!"

I gritted my teeth and crushed the dry shale in my hand, this kind of thousand-folded stone is very suitable for venting anger, the noise in the forest slowly calmed down, the sleepy people finally fell asleep, the afternoon birdsong and insects also subsided, the heaven and earth were shrouded in a drowsy atmosphere, peaceful and unspeakable, I yawned, my eyes wandered, the world became a narrow slit, and then ......

"Wake up, bastard, is that how you stand guard!"

The commander's roar was like a bolt of lightning piercing the night sky, and I woke up with a large face distorted by anger.

"Look at the good things you've done, Lord Soldier!"

His splash of spat quickly occupied the other corners of my vision, and I looked to both sides in a daze, and when I woke up from the ends of my hair to my bones, the soldiers who had been sleeping all over the ground were running around chasing the horses, and Reyeke looked down the mountain with a blue face, and a pair of cavalry came up, and the red horned flags fluttered fiercely.

Why, can't you sleep when you're sleepy? I complained in my heart, but I couldn't say anything, so I could only swallow my anger and pretend to be a wooden man, and I was scolded for this kind of thing, and angry people hate being shouted and refuted the most.

"Bastard, if you lose a warhorse, see how I clean you up!" The commander stamped his feet hatefully and led the men to meet the rushing cavalry.

It was the Normans' own heralds, who brought news of ******, and Rejek stood motionless with his back to us, and anyone with a discerning eye could see the low pressure of the aura around him.

"Nine times out of ten it's bad news, could it be that the Burgundians have called?" The horse's tongue tugged at my sleeve and leaned in.

I didn't have time to worry about other people's affairs, and the commander who counted the number of horses was what really worried me, and I glanced at his uncertain face out of the corner of my eye, and I was worried in my heart.

"If the horse is really lost, will Reyek stop him from dismantling me?" The answer is no, so I can only ask for more blessings.

The herald and Rejek exchanged words for a long time, and hurriedly mounted their horses and left, when the Norman baron turned around, and the warriors immediately surrounded him with concern.

"Brothers, there's something."

His tone was as calm and firm as usual, but it was enough to grab everyone's attention.

"The Duke's convoy was attacked by unknown armed men on the way, the enemy is numerous and extremely cruel, and his life and death are uncertain!"

"What!"

"Damn it!"

"Let me kill those bastards!"

This news is a heavy bomb, thrown into a pool of spring water, and it exploded in an instant.

"The adults who stayed behind have sent orders from ****** for us to launch a search to find the whereabouts of the Duke."

Reyek crossed his waist, his tall figure casting a long shadow.

"Now let's start working in pairs and go to the following locations."

He called out everyone's names one by one, and skillfully arranged the location of the mission, without blinking his eyes, and not saying anything else, just this memory and familiarity with his own fighters were enough to be admirable.

"Pollock, Old Watts!"

Reyeke called my name, wait, who is the other one?

I looked left and right in confusion, and the horse's tongue lazily raised his hand in reply.

Watts?

I didn't expect this guy to have a name, and the meaning is good!

"You two go to Pulm, where the army is in charge of monitoring the situation of the Nijmegen near Turin and contacting their commanders."

Rejek took out a very narrow roll of parchment, and covered it with a lacquered seal with the duke's coat of arms: "Give him this order as soon as possible, understand?" ”

Old Watts grabbed the parchment roll in front of me, and the regimental bar tuanba stuffed it into the placket, and patted his chest with confidence: "I promise to complete the task, my lord, but after giving this to the garrison commander, the two of us, you know this guy is always in the way." ”

He lowered his voice and pointed cautiously at me, "Where should we two go?" Stay in Pulham, or go back to ******, or, go back to the Duke? ”

"Whatever you want, just come back alive."

Reyek had already mounted his horse when he answered, and he stared at me with too many signals in his eyes that he knew each other.

The horse's tongue squeezed his eyebrows: "Gotcha! ”

I have nothing to complain about the absurd behavior of old Watts as his own captain, but I can't bear it if he does it every once in a while.

"Hey, Stone Man, Pollock!"

He raised his voice and put on the appearance of a chief: "Go to the front to reconnoitre, I'm waiting for you here." ”

Investigation? A bare yellow sand avenue, but anyone with good eyesight can see from beginning to end, and there are only two of us, is there a need to investigate? I angrily threw the freshly filled kettle to him, and coldly expressed my dissatisfaction:

"Lord Reyeck wants us to go as fast as possible, at your rate, the road will not be overgrown with grass in the spring of next year, and the kettle will fill it for you, don't order me again, understand?"

"Tsk, rookies will die quickly if they don't obey."

He grimaced like a three-year-old: "You can't stand up and pee when I can cut people!" ”

Bored! I smiled disgustedly, and drove my horse after old Vac, who knew the path to Turin well and must learn proper patience before reaching his destination.

The closer you get to Turin, the more wooded the road becomes:

"Turn the corner ahead and you'll see the old watermill from Pulham."

The horse's tongue continued to babble all the way: "That thing is broken and bad, it's been used for hundreds of years, tsk." ”

He picked his finger and gestured to the shape of the waterwheel: "It's a thing left by the Romans again, tsk, if only they were still around, how many treasures would have to be grabbed." ”

He clenched his fists wistfully, and his bandit temperament was fully revealed.

"Hmm!" I frantically coped with it, and the horse suddenly stopped in alarm.

"What's wrong? What's wrong! Old Watts asked in a panic.

"I'm afraid I'm in trouble......" A soldier who blended himself in with the scenery beside the road stood in the middle of the road, and on either side of him, more and more soldiers surrounded the two of us.

The horse's tongue was completely frightened, and I reined in the horse, trying to stabilize my uneasy emotions.

"Who are you?" The leading soldier shouted.

Who are we? It was a tricky question, and I looked at old Watts and couldn't find a suitable answer.

"Are you...... Lord Duke? ”

The warrior at the head craned his neck and looked at me carefully, as if he recognized me, and asked hesitantly, "Is that you?" ”

"Lord Duke?"

Old Watts stood in front of me and explained in a panic: "No, no, we are not the Duke, you admit that you are wrong. ”

He stared at him warily, thinking that I had been mistaken for the Duke of Normandy, and that he was afraid that he would suffer from it, since there was still a state of war between Nijmegen and Normandy.

According to the horse's tongue, Pulem is a small village outside Turin, no more than ten miles away in a straight line, just choking the main road leading to the city, so it is convenient to monitor the movements of the troops stationed in Nijmegen, so it is normal to meet scouts from either side here.

"You don't know me anymore?"

I shook my head and shoulders to reveal a face common to battle-hardened veterans, with rough skin, messy stubble, short oily hair, and cynical lips.

"Two years ago, you saved our family."

Speaking of this, he was obviously emotional: "At that time, I was just a lowly serf, and the lord was a knight of Robert, and he wanted to kill my son because his horse did not break his leg, but fortunately, you appeared in time under the will of God to save him and save our whole family. ”

He became more and more agitated, his eyes were full of tears, he knelt on the ground and humbly kissed the tips of my boots, choked up and unable to speak.

"Is that you?"

I remembered the trembling serf, the withered, thin body, and the heavy burden of life crushed the spine of a man who should have been straight, and that incident was also impressive, and the bloody lordship war that followed gave me a vivid lesson in feudal power and duty, understanding what a feudal monarch should do, and what was a forbidden area that must not be interfered with.

"Soldier, what's your name?"

"Bent, Lord Duke, my name is Bent, a great name after I became a soldier, and the people in the village used to call me a chipmunk,"

The warrior looked up at me, tears leaving clear mud marks on his dirty face: "Thank God, I finally found you, the adults in the city have been in a hurry these days, Lord Kohler can't wait to go to the Normans in ******, and there are more and more deserters." ”

Seeing that my face changed slightly, he hurriedly explained: "It's all Swabian and Bavarian knights, and we don't have a single shit!" ”

When Bent spoke, the horse's tongue always maintained a shocked look, grinning and dumbfounded, because he really couldn't understand that the rookie who was casually bullied and willful by himself yesterday suddenly turned into a dignified duke, and the disparity in status and fear made him stammer.

"Gong ...... My lord, I ...... I ......" Old Watts went limp on his knees and almost fell to his knees.

I put my arm around his shoulder and jokingly patted the kettle on my waist: "Drink this pot of water seriously, you won't be able to drink the water that the duke himself has made in the future." ”

Turin first appeared on the map as a fortress of the southern Gauls, and the unique terrain advantage of the green water wrapped in the high mountainside allowed it to successfully prevent countless enemy attacks, like a fish bone stuck in the throat, choking the Romans.

"The conquest of Turin will be my first step in the conquest of power."

Caesar, who was full of ambition at the time, after finally taking the fortress with all his might, once expressed such feelings, and it also made the importance of Turin more and more obvious, so to speak, if Italy is compared to a boot, then this is its zipper.

The group stepped into the town outside the castle, the long period of war and martial law made the city's prosperous economy gradually decline, there were few people on the street, the empty houses on both sides seemed to be silently telling the drunken yesterday, the woman carrying the water led the child hurried by, afraid of us to avoid it.

"The people of the city...... I don't seem to like you guys very much? I asked Bent suspiciously, who trotted after the horse's butt.

"Alas, it's all a war, a group of people who come today to change a group tomorrow are tossing, the traders and young people are all gone, and there are some old residents who can't leave their homeland, most of them are still old, weak, sick and disabled."

He carried his spear and replied as he ran: "No matter how good the wheat is, if you cut the stubble too hard, you will have to stop the garden." ”

The castle where the garrison was located was an extension and extension of the Gaul fortress, and the foundation was so strong that no matter which direction the enemy attacked, he had to face the rammed earth walls, and there were few weak points, and the small square outside the city cleared a flat clearing, and although there was no movement, I could still see the yardage line marked by the edge, and the Nijmegen warriors had spread their favorite ball game beyond the country.

The sentinels spotted the returning scouts and blew the horn for a routine announcement, and a moment later the castle's iron gates slowly rose, and a group of warriors moved out of the doors.

"Welcome home, Lord Duke, everyone will be crazy with joy!"

Bent excitedly helped me to lead the horse, and walked into the doorway of the castle, and I couldn't help but smile at the familiar scene, the familiar crowd, and even the familiar smell of familiarity in the air.

The horse's tongue looked at me inexplicably, and there was a deep worry in his eyes.

(End of chapter)