Myers immediately softened, realizing the abruptness of his words, and sat back timidly, sweating on his nervous forehead, afraid that the murderous knights around him would dismember him into a pile of minced flesh in a matter of minutes.

Brouten patted the back of his companion's hand, and without showing reproach, stood up and apologized to me: "My friend has been driven mad by the war for several days, so he is somewhat nervous, and the verbal offense hopes that the Earl will forgive him for his ignorance and abruptness. With that, he stared at Leonardo, as if begging him to stand up and say something.

I glanced at the old fellow, and saw him quietly sipping the wine, as if he was deaf to what had just happened, which made Brautten anxious, and he laughed and clinked glasses to resolve the conflict, but no one responded, and he was stunned in embarrassment.

I was secretly proud in my heart that the old guy's negotiation skills were as superb as those so-called experts in later generations, and he deliberately kept silent to exert invisible pressure on the other party and regain the initiative in the negotiations.

"I have a compromise."

Leonardo put down his glass and finally stood up to break the oppressive coldness.

"You take half of your wealth in Utrecht, give it to the Flanders, and then sacrifice some shops, and let them grab it, and during this time, the Count of Nijmegen will protect your absolute safety, and in return for your surrender, you will be allowed to set up a merchant house in Nijmegen's sphere of influence to do business at will, and be exempted from taxes for two years, this is our last concession, whether it is successful or not, Nijmegen will be attacked tomorrow morning, and your life and death will hang by a thread, think carefully and then make an answer!"

Leonardo secretly waved his hand at me and beckoned everyone in the room to come out of the tent, leaving only the merchants of Utrecht, feeling the pressure in the empty tent where people walked away.

If a person can often see the sky close to the wee hours of the morning, then that person is either diligent or doing some kind of stealing and stealing for a living.

It's a shame that I fall into the latter category......

At this time, the sky was indescribably black, as if someone had overturned the palette, mixed all the colors together, and painted the black without seeing the five fingers, the moon was far away, the small one was like a sesame seed, and the dim light could not even illuminate the sky around him.

All the stars are gone, and only the Morning Star is still holding its post at the end of the skyline, reminding all the desperate that a bright dawn is coming.

I hid in the grass not far from the walls of Utrecht, completely hidden among the tall grass, even in the thick armor, I could still feel the faint chill seeping from the surface, the cold air in the early morning, stimulating the cerebral cortex to subconsciously full of energy, as if I had just chewed a mint.

I watched the fading bonfire on the city wall, leaving only a few black shadows whose faces could not be seen clearly, staggering around like a wooden marionette, almost controlled by the god of sleep, and the chirping of small insects sounded among the blades of grass, and then disappeared into invisibility mixed with the sound of the wind.

"It seems that the intelligence of the merchants of Utrecht is quite accurate, this wall is really a hole in the defense, there have been no changes of guard for half a night, and there are only a few soldiers standing guard, but we have not found it in the first few investigations, which is really a dereliction of duty in my intelligence work."

Kohler leaned beside me and whispered in a low voice, his hot breath tickling my ears and almost not laughing.

"Wait and see, it's still early, and who knows what will happen in a few moments."

I reminded him not to be impatient, for there were still a few half-awake guards on the city wall, and the horn to tell the news was hung around the neck of a man, so that if he was to be scolded, he would be ruined.

"They haven't moved yet, keep an eye on the signal."

I instructed Kohler to keep an eye on the signal that no one could be sure whether the merchants of Utrecht were spies sent from the city to lure us into a monstrous trap that had been prepared long ago, until the dust had settled.

I don't know how long later, the morning star gradually disappeared into the dark night sky, the moon lazily hid behind the clouds, the heaven and the earth were finally completely ruled by darkness, only the distant horizon, there was a little bit of blue shimmer, like an unwilling force to try to erupt, the last hour before dawn with the proud temperament of the queen came, the birds and beasts of the night also converged their whereabouts, returned to their respective nests to sleep peacefully.

"Look, my lord!"

Kohler's voice penetrated into my wonderful dreams, pulling my consciousness back to reality, I rubbed my sleepy eyes, and looked in the direction of Kohler's finger in a daze, and instantly I had a spirit, and a lantern appeared on the city wall, which was very abrupt and conspicuous in the darkness, and signaled to us that someone was controlling its light.

"Are you sure it's a signal from the merchants?"

Although it was clear that the matter was happening right in front of me, I still didn't dare to rush into action, those cunning businessmen might have made some deals, and then double-faced and three-sided in the middle to estimate the maximum benefits, and they would not easily do a loss-making business.

Kohler understood my fears, and now that Nijmegen's forces could no longer withstand any more blows, and he had to seize the opportunity to win with one blow, he patted the hook hanging from his waist and said to me: "Either I will take a few men up to find out the truth, and if all goes well, I will open the gate from the inside and enlarge the army to enter." ”

I looked down and thought for a moment, the hook on Kohler's waist was a specially made tool for the blacksmiths, which could be tied to the hands and feet with ropes, and used to climb up the gaps in the city wall, suitable for a small number of elite sneak attacks, so it was only equipped with a dozen agile soldiers.

"Go quickly, go back quickly, if it's a trap, retreat immediately, we will meet you under the city, don't fight hard, save your life!"

I was worried that Kohler would try to open the city gate even if something went wrong, so I hurriedly explained to him in a commanding tone: "I can bring these people out as I want, and I will feel distressed if I hurt any of you, so I must think carefully before making a decision." ”

Kohler nodded solemnly, looked sideways at the lantern that was still flickering, and waved his hand to his men, and a dozen people quickly ran to the city wall in the night, disappearing into the corner.

When I heard the sound of climbing in the direction of the city wall, I ordered the bull to press a pair of archers to set off first, ready to meet within the range of the fire, and the rest of the soldiers also clenched their weapons and waited quietly by the city gate. The air also seemed to slip past on tiptoe, leaving no trace.

The lanterns on the city wall no longer shined, and the shadows of Kohler and his men jumped up the wall and disappeared before our eyes, and then the wind swallowed up all the sounds, so that we who waited anxiously with our ears pricked up could not catch anything.

Time stood still at this moment, frozen at a certain point as if it were frozen, and if it weren't for the sweat on Luo Luo's forehead next to me hitting the back of my hand, I would have even thought that I had been sucked into an unconscious space-time tunnel again.

"It's been too long......"

I said to myself impatiently that I had actually begun to play the drum nervously, and my back was covered with fine beads of sweat, and my clothes were sticky to my body when I moved lightly.

At this time, as if it had been brought to life, the gates broke the frozen time, first through the cracks the light of the fire that was getting closer and closer, then with an almost inaudible muffled scream, a few men hurriedly removed the corpses and the heavy latches, and finally the gate made an obscure twisting sound, and finally opened its shy arms to the impatient conqueror, and the softest part of Utrecht's sleep was revealed before his eyes.

"Your Excellency!"

Beneath the torch was Kohler's sweaty face, dusty from somewhere, with hooks tied around his feet, and he couldn't even speak in a hurry.

"Everything is safe inside, the merchants have gone to the castle where the Earl of Friesland is located, make sure that nothing goes wrong, hurry up and get in!"

The Flemish knights scrambled to enter the city in advance, fearing that our soldiers would take away their chances of making a fortune, and in the face of the sleeping city of Utrecht, they finally showed their greedy faces, and began to loot from house to house with their retinue, completely forgetting that the enemy's main force had not yet been destroyed.

When the soldiers all entered the city, the screams of the citizens were awakened from their dreams, the crisp sound of breaking through the doors, the sound of the fire burning and beeping, the sporadic clash of swords in the corners, and the terrible sound of arrows breaking through the air, so that Utrecht in the early hours of the morning was brought back to life with the rising sun, and the sun shone vigorously on the earth, and Utrecht had a new master, and every remnant of the previous dynasty was subjected to torture and suffering.

I rode on my war horse past a group of houses that had been burned to the ground, their owners squatting on the ground with their heads tied to ropes, children and women still had tears on their faces, the old people sighed and stared at the houses where their ancestors had lived for generations turned to ashes, and the adult men glared viciously at the Nijmegen soldiers who were guarding them, deliberately ignoring the Flemish knights, laughing and collecting the spoils that belonged to them, and their eyes were full of hatred and anger about to erupt, It makes this sweltering morning even more sweltering.

I didn't care about the fate of these men, so I hurried with a squad of cavalry to raise dust and ride through to the middle of the city, where the sporadic fighting continued, the seat of the castle of the Counts of Friesland.

Now there are still stubborn enemies, relying on the intricate corridors and rooms of the castle to fight, and for a time they have the upper hand, and the tug-of-war between the two sides is very fierce, and the number of casualties is rising in a straight line.

(End of chapter)