The May day finally drove away the steep spring cold, like a well-behaved girlfriend when in love, giving people a warm cluster and comfortable warmth.

The abundant spring between the heavens and the earth is becoming more and more vibrant, and the eyes are full of thick green, as if God accidentally adjusted the colors in the paint box to make the forests and meadows so lush.

The freshly sown fields under Neustadt Castle, the sprouting green shoots that are the color of grass but not in the distance, with the longing and expectations of the farmers for a year, desperately thriving under the moisture of the sun and rain, but I could not see any joy on my face.

The frowning brows were like an unbreakable death rope, staring worriedly into the distance.

The bull stood with me, and all of them were silent with serious expressions.

"There's another trench to dig over there, the deeper the better."

I pointed to the open spaces in the distance that were stacked on top of each other and told the bull, who listened attentively: "Connecting it with the trenches on the flanks will make our line more three-dimensional, and the enemy's cavalry will not be able to assault too much." ”

"I made a note of it, my lord." The bull nodded, narrowing his eyes to roughly gauge the width of the clearing, his hands were not enough, and he might not be able to meet the deadline.

"In addition, the city should also have more sand and gravel and dirt, so that once the enemy attacks with fire, it can quickly extinguish the fire."

I pinched my chin and thought further: "The main tower on this side is too low, it must be re-strengthened and expanded, the enemy is likely to attack from this side, how can the archers be arranged in such a narrow space?" ”

Just as the bull was about to answer, Yaroslav pressed his shoulder and replied: "I will assign some men to help the bull rebuild the wall on this side, no problem." ”

I was satisfied, and it was very gratifying to see that there was a concerted effort between my subordinates, and that the relationship between Yaroslav and the bull was no longer as tense as it had been at the beginning, and that they were beginning to try to accept each other gradually.

"How is the evacuation of the people, how many have been evacuated in the past few days, and how many are still there?"

I set my eyes on the dense shanty town on the other side of the castle, where the attached Lyutich and other Slavic tribes lived, and the living quarters that used to be full of smoke and people went to the empty houses, as if the eyes were looking at the sky calmly, although Yaroslav believed that moving the people at such a time was tantamount to sending fat sheep into the mouth of the tiger, which was equivalent to pushing them to the unknown point of no return, but the consequences of staying in the castle were well known to everyone, and ordinary people may not even have a chance to live, Yaroslav finally argued in vain, having an answer in his mind, and silently chose to obey orders.

"There are too many things in bottles and cans, and they are dragged to the house, so the speed is naturally not too fast."

Luo Luo shook his head and said that the situation was not optimistic: "As of today, nearly 100 households have been moved, barely reaching five or six hundred people, and there has been no report of being attacked by the enemy." ”

Hearing Luo Luo's words, I fell into contemplation again, I thought that I had some strategy in the war, how could I have experienced dozens of battles, but I had never encountered such a dragon to see the head and the tail of the unfathomable opponent, he was like a ball of invisible and untouchable poisonous gas, obviously feeling difficult to breathe, but could not grasp a trace, tortured the dead alive, since the brutal killing of the scouts of Nijmegen has not been heard, like a boulder sinking into the sea, without the slightest wave.

"Invisible enemy, where are you?" I muttered to myself, my fingers against the wall digging deep into the wood, leaving hideous marks.

When the news of the scouts being ambushed by the enemy came again, I was snorting and digging with a few attendants to help dig the earth, and the mud was all over my face, and the soldiers saw that the Duke was personally involved in the labor, and they joined in with great enthusiasm, which made the work efficiency of the day particularly high, and the trench quickly took shape.

The herald found me in the spade-wielding crowd, sprang down, and whispered in Rollo's ear for a moment, who waved his hand at him and motioned for himself to do so.

I stopped what I was doing, and I had a vague feeling that something was going to happen.

"What's wrong?" I asked, rubbing mud on my robe.

"The scout was ambushed by the enemy again, and the whole army was annihilated, and this time there was not even a corpse left."

Rollo clasped his hands together and said to me in the lowest possible voice, "We are surrounded by soldiers who are working in full swing, and if the news leaks out, it will have a very bad effect on morale.

"How many people died, and where?" I pursed my lips and asked calmly.

"A scout squad, twenty men, not far from the castle, twenty miles away by the river, on the road to Hanover." Rollo gave a detailed report on what he had learned, and I listened as I walked, leaving the crowded work site.

"At such a close distance, and in two directions from the last accident, the strength of the enemy is more and more frightening." I lowered my eyes and stared at the ground with a flickering restlessness, a small grass stubbornly emerged from the ground that had been trampled back and forth, stretching its green branches and leaves to enjoy life.

Yaroslav, the bull and others gathered in the hall of the castle, and the atmosphere was dull, as if some indescribable pressure was on everyone's back, I can't remember the first time I unconsciously raised the empty wine glass to my mouth, and finally decided to speak:

"This is the situation, and bringing everyone here is to discuss what we should do next." I spread my hands at the henchmen in the room, and for the first time I didn't even have an idea about myself.

"If I want to say that we just spread it out and start when we encounter the enemy, it is better than nesting here and suffering from the nest."

The impatient bull slapped the table and couldn't wait to say what he thought: "Instead of being disintegrated by the enemy little by little, it is better to find a chance to fight!" ”

"No, it's like a duel with someone blindfolded, the opponent's position has not been found first, and he will be punched several times first, the enemy is in the dark and I am in the light, and the loss is certain."

Yaroslav did not have the slightest scruple about the normal relationship with the bull, and raised his objection out of public selflessness: "I support the approach of the Duke, and continue to stay in the castle and wait for the enemy to appear, but there is one thing, we must not move the people and let them all enter the city, after all, we do not understand the strength of the enemy, and it is always good to have more people to help." ”

"Our castle is too small to fit so many people."

I shook my head, in fact, I didn't want to gather everyone to defend against the enemy, such a chance of victory could be greater, but the accumulation of knowledge based on the thousands of years ahead of this era made me more worried.

"The beginning of spring turns warm, cold and hot alternately, coupled with the dense number of personnel, it is easy to cause uncontrollable infectious diseases if they are not handled well, and the defense of the city will be dragged down, which will greatly reduce the combat effectiveness."

Jensen sat in an inconspicuous corner and kept silent, born with a reckless and deep inferiority, so that he was silent and rarely participated in the discussion, my gaze crossed the cover of the tall bodies of several people in the bull, and found Jensen who was contemplating, the latter looked up and found me looking at him, blinking in surprise, and slurding his speech: "Actually...... I have an idea, it's all the same method when I used to mix in the mountains and forests. ”

"Speak!" I smiled and encouraged him, and the bulls turned their faces to stare at Jensen who was slowly standing up, and in this moment of cluelessness, everyone needed to grasp any straw that might save their lives.

"Organize the people into the army, rely on the moat to set up their own camp outside the city, echo the castle from afar, and form a three-dimensional and complete defense system." Jensen gestured with his hand as he spoke, for fear that someone would not understand what he was trying to say.

"This will not only give full play to the advantages of being outnumbered, but will also create problems for the enemy to surround us."

Not bad, there are cards everywhere, a typical fortress warfare idea, to put it bluntly, it is to use the Liudiqi people as cannon fodder, and first break a few teeth of the enemy.

"Very well, just lay it out according to your ideas."

I nodded at him in satisfaction, and Yaroslav sat noncommittal, he clearly understood the idea behind the fortress battle, but the lesser of two powers was not necessarily a bad idea.

"My lord, here they are!"

Luo Luo suddenly pushed the door in a panic, there was no usual rules at all, and after meeting my reproachful gaze, he lowered his head weakly, and paused before saying: "A knight has appeared at the edge of the forest, and it is not yet possible to determine his identity. ”

Before he could finish speaking, I hurried up to the city, where many soldiers who had rushed over with the news were whispering, and when I saw the Duke in person, they all bowed and stepped aside, and I covered the glorious sunset with my hands, and stared at the immobile knight on horseback, who unfurled a banner embroidered with a white mountain eagle, and held his head proudly high.

I gasped, and an icy chill was clearly heard on my scalp: "Poles ......"

I didn't close my eyes all night, I tried to open my eyes wide, but I burst into tears in the wind, I guess my appearance at the moment must be like a red-eyed rabbit, looking haggard and scary.

The Polish knight at the edge of the forest on the opposite side was long gone, but he stuck the battle flag in his hand into the ground, and the white mountain eagle soared on the scarlet background, as if it had a soul, and spread its wings high before my eyes all night, and I even suspected that I had a terrifying chirp in my ears, and the penetrating sound hit my chest again and again, disrupting the rhythm of my heartbeat.

"Your Excellency, you have been standing for too long, eat something and rest."

Rollo caught my slippery cloak from behind, put it back on his shoulder, and whispered:

"You've been standing motionless all night, your body and bones will be unbearable, and the enemy will report to the herald."

"You don't understand, this is called boiling God."

I blinked my eyelid with great effort, and it was so dry that I couldn't even close my eyelids, and it was as astringent as a piece of sandpaper.

"A vicious battle is inevitable, it will take time, first adjust the spirit to the best state, I want to see with my own eyes who is hiding behind the scenes, so the mystery is the real person."