The closer I got to Rome, the harder it was for me to contain my excitement, and though the messenger sent back to Nijmegen was still silent, the joy of victory was enough to distract a considerable part of my attention, and I was like a fisherman slowly closing his nets, and the heavy harvest allowed me to forget the terrible storms with joy.

"There are even greater difficulties waiting for you in Rome, proud Randy." I wrapped the reins around my hand and tapped my mount lightly, urging it to catch up with a group of cavalrymen who had just run past.

The sound of horses' hooves from far and near, interrupted my joy and news, Rome? I listened intently to the rhythm of the horses' hooves hammering the ground, until a red-faced, red-eared herald burst into view.

"My lord, an urgent report from the scouts ahead!" He pulled a crumpled roll of parchment from his bosom, the edges of which were folded in half soaked with sweat.

A bad premonition came to me, and I slowly unfolded the letter, which was only a short line of words:

If you encounter an ambush on the road, please be prepared quickly.

"Squire!" My high-pitched voice startled the horses unnaturally, and then Bills hurried along with the squire named Nimes.

"Your Excellency?"

"Order the whole army to stop advancing!"

I unconsciously tightened the reins and squeezed my mount uncomfortable, and it snorted angrily in displeasure, but my mind was not at all.

"Order the infantry to form a formation on the spot, and keep an eye on the priests in the carriage, especially those in red robes."

"Yes, sir!"

"How's it going?"

I looked at Rollo, who was so tired that he couldn't breathe, poured a whole bag of water down his throat, and then rolled up his sleeves and wiped the corners of his mouth with water droplets.

"There is an enemy army blocking the valley twenty miles ahead."

Luo Luo patted his head with palpitations, as if he wanted to delete all the bad memories.

"I've never seen an army like that, my lord, it's a real army, neat, serious, thousands of people like one, the new guard of Nijmegen that you have personally trained."

Speaking of this, he carefully observed my face to see that there was no change, and then continued: "Even the new guards may be difficult to match them, and in the valleys on both sides I even found the archers that only Saracens have. ”

"Cavalry archers?"

I think back to the mighty pagan army I encountered at the Battle of Reggio Calabria, with a turban wrapped in the tenacity of forbearance and the untraceable mystery.

"Didn't the enemy raise the flag? Can you judge their identity from the flag? ”

"I don't know that flag, but I'm sure it wasn't used by the Frankish nobles, could it be a Saracen?"

He hesitated to state his judgment, and then immediately rejected it: "No, it can't be, some of them don't look like Saracens, I've seen heretics, and the difference between the two is very great. ”

"Is it ......?"

A name popped into mind, their presence in Italy was both strong and marginal, but no one dared to ignore it, and on the eve of Milan's departure, Duke Richard had mentioned more than once that he wanted me to be careful with this group.

"What does the other party's flag look like?"

"A very special eagle flag, full of scarlet flags of this color." Rollo described the size of the eagle logo.

"It's the Romans."

Those Greek bastards who couldn't stay idle, I cursed in my heart: "It's the Romans who are garrisoning in the south of the peninsula, and they want to take advantage of the chaos to pick peaches." ”

"Romans?"

Rollo was surprised by the name he heard: "Hide behind a shield like a turtle egg?" Their soldiers have no glory to speak of. ”

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, especially Western Rome, which was wiped out by the invading barbarians* and became a billowing dust scattered in history, the glory and prosperity of this ancient empire fell apart.

The barbarian states built on the ruins relied more on the bravery and crowd tactics of the warriors of the tribal era, who worshipped strong personal strength and well-armed knights, while the Romans' tight phalanxes and orderly legions were ridiculed by the self-confident barbarian warriors.

Hiding behind a shield like a turtle was a disparagement of the Romans by the mainstream, but the proud Frankish aristocracy forgot that the remnants of half of the empire were still standing in the face of the flood of Eastern barbarians, and even the great Charlemagne and Otto the Great failed to take advantage of the battle against the Eastern Romans.

I couldn't help but shake my head slightly with Rollo's contemptuous attitude, a small squire from a peasant background despised the army of the Eastern Romans so much, and the other noble knights who had been pampered since childhood could only be more empty-eyed.

"We must be vigilant and must not underestimate the enemy."

I gave the order in a serious manner, and although several of them did not understand why the Duke suddenly became serious, those who knew my temper knew that once I used this tone, it meant that I was prepared to take it seriously.

"Spread out scouts to prevent the enemy from sneaking up on our flanks."

"Yes!"

The sound of the galloping hooves of several heralds faded away, and Rollo's face could not be found to be nervous at the beginning, it seems that the Romans did not have much forbidden fighting in the hearts of the Franks.

Terrible consciousness, I am worried about everyone's overly light on the enemy, the enemy seems to have the upper hand for the time being, both in terms of quality and quantity, I really don't know where the confidence of these knights who are not well lined up in a charging formation come from.

"Why are the Romans here? The mountainous region between Bologna and Florence, which was not their usual sphere of influence, had Rome fallen into their hands? ”

I speculated with great concern that after losing contact with Leonardo's intelligence system, I could only learn about the real-time military situation through the scouts I dispatched, and I was completely unable to grasp the development of the situation in other regions.

I was not at ease and adjusted the arrangement again, the knights with the strongest combat effectiveness were placed on the front line of the whole team, the weaker rebels were placed in the narrow valley behind the knights, the servant armies of the city-states who could hardly fight a hard battle were lined up in several phalanxes in turn, the Basel people with strong resistance to attack were split into two to form our flanks, and finally the knights directly under Nijmegen pressed the formation to protect the baggage and prisoners.

"Unless the Romans grow wings and fly over the mountains to our rear, they will also pay a certain price in the attack." I knew that I had to hold my cards, and before the real negotiation began, both sides would have to get to know each other's strengths better.

Time passed minute by minute, the clouds in the sky gathered and scattered, scattered and gathered, the breeze in the valley stirred the leaves to make a pleasant rustling sound, and the war horses who felt the tense atmosphere before the big war waited for a long time, and finally could not endure the painful restraint of the reins, and raised their necks as if to get rid of the control of their masters.

I pushed my helmet towards my head, and the sweat that had congealed on my scalp immediately condensed into droplets, running down my forehead and down my neck.

"It's really calm......" I gently stroked the mount's mane to soothe its restlessness, and the heat came from my palms.

"Haven't the scouts come back yet? Send a few more riders to look for it, but it's all heated and evaporated? ”

I shouted a little impatiently, and before I could finish speaking, three or four horsemen rushed out of the ranks and quickly disappeared at the turn of the mountain road, and Bills, who was carrying a spear next to me, stared at the suddenly angry adult at a loss.

A pot-bellied knight threw his spear to his squire, rudely ripped open his collar to breathe, and whined loudly:

"If you want me to say that instead of waiting here stupidly, we might as well rush over and kill them, the Romans can't stretch their forces in the valley, God forbid, we might be able to catch them off guard!" It was as if he were a baron from Hanover, his chainmail didn't seem to fit well, his stomach was like a sausage pouring from a root, and his simple and crude intelligence was as idiotic as his country accent.

I glanced at him coldly, not in the mood to explain my thoughts, and this kind of self-righteous fool has seen it a lot, so I don't make a fuss anymore.

Knight bag to fight the world? In the face of a strict legion with discipline and organizational restraint is nothing more than scum, because the Romans are both familiar and strange opponents, so I must be cautious.

"The herald is back!" I don't know which one of the sharp eyes shouted, and sure enough, there were two horses accompanying him out of the jungle, and he looked very embarrassed.

I was surrounded by squires to meet him, and Bills helped to hold the reins of the horses running ahead, and the herald, who had made everyone wait for them, hurriedly reported: "There is a cavalry coming this way, about fifty or sixty people, even men and horses wrapped in armor, galloping up and shaking the mountains, it is terrible! ”

"Even men and horses are wrapped in armor? It may be the Romans' holy armor cavalry, but they are too few in number to look like they are coming for a sneak attack. ”

I pinched my chin and muttered: "In any case, we must not let our guard down, order the whole army to be ready for battle, and let the archers shoot the horns as soon as the enemy shows up, so as to prevent the cunning Romans from playing any tricks, Rollo, you take people to the back, and be careful not to let the opponent retreat." ”

The men who had received the order returned to their posts, and the sound of swords unsheathed and arrows wound was heard in the middle of the formation, and the knights were ready with their spears in their hands.

Waiting, I hate waiting the most, it will strain your mind and patience, time seems to be deliberately animated, and then continue to use clues to tease the nerves, teasing the psychological bottom line of the waiter, the more anxious you are, the later the result often comes, the heavier the stone pressing on the chest, making it difficult to breathe slowly, nervous to the verge of collapse.

Time is the secret weapon that breaks down disguise, I licked my slightly dry lips, my mind jumped to some inexplicable corner, and the whole person had a kind of out-of-body hallucination.

"Your Excellency...... My lord! My lord! ”

Whose voice is this? I opened an eye slit in a daze, and my consciousness was still floating on the Heavenly Spirit Cover, and I couldn't pull back my body.

"Lord Duke, wake up, sir! God, what's wrong with you? "The voice of the call seems to have changed, but I still can't remember where I've heard it, is it a nightmare? I tried to move my fingers, only to realize that I couldn't command even the tiniest nerves.

"Wow!"

There was a clear roar in my ears, and my soul was instantly back in place, and I woke up violently, my senses working again, and my face was covered with wet droplets of water that were still dripping.

"Who splashed me with water just now?" The wet shirt clings to the chest, as if attached to the second layer of skin, and it is soft and sticky.

"It's me...... My lord, but I just want to wake you up, and I don't mean to trespass. ”

Rollo timidly raised his hand and replied, "The Romans have arrived, and are waiting for you there, and they want to see the supreme commander here, and the leader seems to be a knight, who carries a sword that only nobles can have." ”

I gave him an angry look, pointed to my embarrassed appearance and shouted, "Are you going to let me go to see the knights of the Romans like this?" Why don't you go get a towel! ”

The clever Bills pulled out a clean scarf as if he were juggling, which surprised and appreciated me, and he didn't know where to find out about my cleanliness habits that were different from those of other nobles, if it wasn't for someone to mention it, it would only mean that the child was smart enough and could be carefully crafted.

I nodded appreciatively at the Basel boy, who blushed embarrassedly, and Rollo took the scarf with a little embarrassment, his many years of loyal service would make a child feel more or less embarrassed.

"Your Excellency."

He held the knight's sword at his waist, as if it could give him strength.

"Shall we go now?"

——————————

The climate of the valley is changing rapidly, especially on the peninsula surrounded by the ocean, and the great creatures show the spirit of the vertical and horizontal eyes and the transformation of the clouds, the clouds in their hands are like soft plasticine, and they are randomly pinched into any shape he wants, and then accompanied by lightning and thunder or torrential rain according to the mood.

I stared at the sky as I watched the clouds disappear from one cloud to another, wondering how long it would take to rain, and what kind of soup chicken I would be doomed without rain gear.

"I've got time to invent an umbrella." I muttered and withdrew my gaze as I had arrived at the meeting place.

"Hehe, Romans!"

I can distinguish their identities from the special helmet shape of the other party at a glance, this kind of iron helmet with ear and neck protection can well protect the major artery in the back of the neck from being injured by flowing arrows, and the red feather helmet hangs down the back of the head and swaggers in the wind, which is absolutely rich oriental characteristics.

The long-awaited Romans also saw us, these holy cavalry stolen by the Poles, which can be called a rampaging weapon on the battlefield, galloping on the vast Near Eastern plateau and peaceful land, blocking the Persians, nomads and invaders from the depths of the Asian desert, completing impossible tasks again and again under God's protection, surrounding the Eastern Empire and continuing to stand majestically.

At the collar of their shirts, they wore thin edged chain mail with sleeves, and thick robe-style armor with padding on the outside, which was a new technique that the Romans learned from the conquered peoples of the East, which was both light and well protected, which could greatly reduce the weight of the cavalry and enhance the flexibility of battle.

With the exception of their eyes, their entire head was covered by an iron helmet and a chain mail cap about two or three layers thick, and their arms and lower legs were protected by armor made of thin pieces of iron, and the gaps between the armor plates were connected by chain mail