Arold followed the personal attendants of the Duke of Abel to the direction of the Duke's tent, and along the way saw the soldiers covering their bodies with coarse woolen blankets and coarse linen, hiding from the rain in the woods, seeing here Arold was a little worried, once the cold and flu were a fatal disease in this era, thinking about it, Arold came to the tent of the Duke of Abel, and the chaplains in the tent were still praying sincerely, at this time the Duke of Abel was sitting on a wooden chair, slightly closing his eyes, The rosary was twisted in his hand, and the cross on the rosary swayed with his movements.

"Lord Duke, Lord Count Mecklenburg is here." Duke Abel's personal attendant hurriedly reported to the duke.

"Oh, Arrod, you're here, let's go down for everyone else." Duke Abel opened his eyes and saw Arold standing in front of him, and quickly stood up and said to the others, the chaplains of the army bent down and bowed to the Duke and retreated, while the personal attendants stood outside the tent waiting for the Duke's orders.

"Honorable Duke, I wonder what you are calling me for at this time?" Curiously, Arold asked Duke Abel that if it was a pre-military meeting, he should at least wait until the next day to gather the other vassals to discuss together, rather than find himself when the rain was pouring down.

"Arrode, would you like a glass of wine?" When the others had walked out, the Duke of Abel did not immediately consult with Arrod, but went to the side, picked up the flask, and poured himself and Arrod a glass of wine, all silverware used by the duke. Before drinking, he also picked up a white animal horn on the plate and stirred it separately, this is the so-called unicorn horn, in the Middle Ages, it was widely believed that it could detoxify, in fact, Arold knew very well that there was no such thing as a unicorn in reality, it was clearly a fake carved by charlatans from animal bones.

"Thank you, Lord Duke, there is nothing better than drinking in this weather." Arold gladly accepted the wine from the duke, and the two nobles sat down, both the duke and the count had their own baggage carts, so that in the tent the Duke of Abel was like his own bedroom, with a wooden bed and several wooden chairs, and a large table. The iron candlesticks and various furnishings on the table were also brought from Fort Mason. The Duke of Abel's wilderness march was still as simple as in Fort Mason, and Arold's tent was much simpler, moving empty wine barrels into the tent when the seats were not enough, which was also the relationship between Arold's habit of simplicity and efficiency.

"There is no one else here now, only members of the Herman family. So you don't need to be restrained, Arold. Duke Abel smiled at Arrod.

"Of course, Lord Duke. Princess Josie and I are very happy as newlyweds. It is also proud to be a member of the Herman family. Arold wondered why Duke Abel had suddenly said these words to himself, and he followed the duke's words.

"That's good. I have always valued you, when Count Lausitz was in power, it was the help of the Wendell family that enabled me to sustain myself to this day, without the support of you and your family, I really can't imagine what the end would be, maybe Count Lausitz expelled from the Duchy of Mason, and become an outlaw in various courts among the kingdoms. The Duke of Abel seemed to have a lot of feelings today, and he looked at the rain curtain outside the tent curtain, took a sip of the wine in his glass, and recalled the days when he was careful under the pressure of the Count of Lauzitz.

"But after all, Lord Duke, you are the first in line to the throne, and it is your God's right to be able to hold power." Arold was also dissatisfied and wary of the reason why Duke Abel took power but forgave Count Lauzitz after he took power, and knew in his heart that this was just a balancing weight to suppress his own power, and since ancient times, treating the heroes he supported was an end, of course Arold would not think that after marrying the sister of Duke Ebel, he would really become a confidant, and the more he was in a high position, the more cautious he been.

"It is true that it is God's choice that I can inherit the title of duke, but I have many concerns when I have just become a duke and nobles, so I need a real victory, only in order to establish my prestige in the Duchy of Mason, Arold is the time to eliminate the Count of Lauzitz." Duke Abel said to Arrod.

"Eliminate Count Lautzitz?" Arrod suddenly realized in his heart, it turned out that this was the purpose of the Duke of Ebel, when he saw the strong combat effectiveness of the German mercenary group, and after the attack on Fort Schleisug suffered a setback, the Duke moved the idea of letting himself help him achieve a victory, indeed if the Duke of Abel can win the Fort of Schleisug successfully, then it is a great improvement to the authority of the Duke himself, in the Middle Ages the ruler won the favor of nothing more than launching an expansion war, obtaining a large amount of land and vassals to directly, This is why Duke Abel agreed to Arrod's request for rescue, but at first he wanted to easily defeat the Vikings, but now it would be best if he could take a piece of territory.

"That's right, as long as you return to Fort Mason with the victorious army after winning the victory, capture Count Lauzitz in one fell swoop, and confiscate his land, those nobles who have taken refuge in Count Lauzitz will not dare to move." Duke Abel moved closer to Arrod, and he leaned sideways to tell Arold his plan, purging one of the count's vassals was not a trivial matter, and if it was not handled properly, it would cause a backlash from other vassals, causing a war within the principality.

"Is that so?" Arold felt a little embarrassed in his heart, he seemed to be wrong to blame this Lord of Ebel, the reason why he forgave Count Lauzitz was because he was worried about the outbreak of civil war, and after a victory, the Duke's prestige increased, and the nobles would definitely not stand up for Count Lauzitz, this was a good time to kill Count Lauzitz.

"That's right, I've quietly ordered someone to secretly collect Count Lauzitz's crimes, but I haven't had the right opportunity, and I have to get Josie to safety before I can do this, and now I can finally carry out my plan." Duke Abel said to Arrod in his heart.

"Well, I'll do what the Duke asks, but I need the Duke to help me too." Arold gently shook the glass he was holding with his hand, the crimson wine at the bottom of the silver glass swaying, and he made a condition for the Duke of Able.

"Say it, as long as I can do it." Duke Abel said cheerfully to Arrod.

"The West Slavs on the Baltic coast to the east have always threatened the security of my territory, but my army is too small to destroy them, so after defeating the King of Denmark, I hope that the Duke can temporarily put the army under my command and let me go and exterminate those infidels." Arold said to the Duke of Abel.

"Will you deliver these four thousand troops into your hands?" Duke Abel hesitated slightly, among these armies, Duke Ebel's direct army had more than 1,500 people, and it was really risky for so many troops to be commanded by Arrod, but Duke Abel thought about it again, once he won the victory against the King of Denmark, then the prestige would be enough to suppress the nobles, even if Arold wanted to betray him, he only needed to give an order to those vassals and soldiers to disband themselves, so he nodded and said to Arrod, "Yes, However, the vassals should not take too long to mobilize their armies, otherwise they will disband their armies if they think they will be financially damaged. ”

"I see, I'll pay attention to this, just try to defeat the Vikings." Arold immediately agreed that sparse population was a common problem in all vassal states in the Middle Ages, and that an army of 4,000 men would be enough to conquer the territory of the Baltic coast, not to mention that if these Slavic pagan lands were not fought now, they would eventually be favored by other nobles.

"Then a toast to our consensus, and may God bless the success of our plans." The Duke of Abel was so pleased to have made a deal with Arold that he got up and took up the jug and poured Arold himself with wine, and the two men clinked glasses to each other in the candlelight, their shadows swaying in the tent.

When Arold returned to his tent, he called John Berg and Sir Ron to his tent to negotiate, and told them about the deal proposed by the Duke of Able, and when he heard the duke's deal, Arold's two henchmen looked at each other, and they thought that it was of course a good thing that Arold could take command of this army, but it was not easy to take Fort Schleisug in the shortest possible time, and the Viking warriors were all rock solid under the onslaught of Duke Able's direct troops, Even if the German mercenary regiment is disciplined and can fight well, it faces individual combat on the city wall, and the battle array cannot play a big role at all.

"Let's attack with fire, Lord Earl's fire-breathing monster car can burn the walls of Fort Shileisug, without the protection of the walls, those Viking warriors must not be our opponents." John Berg thought of Arold's monster car, the terrifying flames were so impressive that the Viking warriors would have panicked.

"This is a solution, but the strength of the Viking warriors is too strong, and if we attack it, our people will definitely suffer countless casualties." Ron frowned, crossed his arms and said, the strong combat power of the Viking warriors is indeed a problem, and the Mason people of the southerners are not opponents at all.

"I do have an idea, but this method must not be learned by other vassals." Arold knew that there was a way to weaken the power of the Viking warriors, but if this method was learned by others, it would be very disadvantageous to him, and he needed to prepare and implement it secretly and carefully. (To be continued......)