He swallowed hard, looking like he wanted to say something, but in the end he couldn't resist the incomparably strong temptation: "...... My lord, is this really for me? ”

"No!" Brunzy had a natural expression on his face: "This belongs to the lucky guy just now." ”

He then changed his words: "But as long as you are willing to cooperate, I guarantee that the next nineteen people will receive a slightly smaller reward, but not much worse than him." ”

The white officer with the diamond in his hand couldn't wait to ask, "If I obey your orders, I can get one of these diamonds too?" ”

"It's just one of them." Stormtooth blinked, and he looked like a seductive monster: "Gold, silver, pretty, land, slaves...... Everything you need. ”

The words "pretty" immediately had a special effect among all white POWs. Their faces changed, and they made no secret of their overt greed.

A few minutes later, Stormtooth was able to get the other nineteen guides.

……

The early morning sun didn't make Tazwell feel like he had returned from the dark abyss, but it made him feel that the situation was strange and uncontrollable.

According to the "Mutual Defense Contract" signed by the major kingdoms hundreds of years ago, the number of garrisons in Kamui Fortress was 200,000.

Note that by "garrison" we mean the elite troops, i.e., the regular army, selected and dispatched by the kingdoms.

Whether it is a fortress or a pass, if you want to be stationed all year round, you must have enough people. In addition to officers and enlisted men, there was a considerable number of auxiliaries. In the Five Kingdoms and the Holy See, the "sapper" is a very special existence. They are not soldiers in the true sense of the word, but a labor force that exists as a reserve.

Cooks, tailors, weapons maintainers, masons, pig shepherds, shepherds and stablemen, carpenters, blacksmiths, ...... All this falls under the category of "sappers". Because of the special location of the fortress and the heavy responsibilities of the troops stationed there, no matter what occupation can only be men, there are no women.

The Mutual Defense Treaty was rigorously enforced in the first three decades. All the kingdoms and the Holy See did not slack off in the matter of supplying the garrison to meet the needs of the garrison. At that time, the soldiers stationed at Kamui Fortress could be described as "happy". They can enjoy the highest quality flour, sausages, cured meats, cheeses and wine, and they can also get three times the salary of ordinary soldiers (those left behind in the country).

As time goes by, the situation changes. The northern giants have never left the Lock Dragon Pass, and no matter whether the war is won or lost, they will only hide behind the high walls like quails. Although he won the war with the help of the Patronus on several occasions, he only chased him to the periphery of Kamui Fortress and stopped. Over time, the attitudes of the kingdoms and the Holy See towards the garrisons of the fortress also changed. They no longer sent their most elite troops, and their daily supplies were reduced. Of course, the reduction is not large, at least it can feed the garrison of the fortress.

Brown bread mixed with sawdust and cinders, cured meats are almost all leftovers, and sausages often contain inexplicable miscellaneous stuff (such as thread balls, wood thorns, metal chips, hair from humans or livestock, bone slag, and gravel). Cheese and butter are in diminish, and fresh vegetables and fruits are long gone...... As a last resort, successive fortress commanders had to dig up the land inside the walls and plant it themselves.

Twenty years ago, alcohol became a luxury. The previous "summer supply" consisted of large quantities of beer and dried fruit, while the "winter supply" consisted of spirits. Today, the beer supply is only five percent of what it used to be. Walnuts, gooseberries, raisins, dried apples and the like simply disappeared from the supply list. The share of spirits supplied in the winter has also been cut in half, and although the list is labeled "corn whiskey", it is actually of a rather poor quality and is blended with at least a third of the water.

No one is born a masochist. As a result of the drastic decline in salary, the quality of the soldiers in the Shenwei Fortress has deteriorated year by year. Except for the poor ghosts who really can't get along in the country, no one wants to come to such a place to suffer and suffer. The "200,000 garrison" is only a figure on the surface, and the actual number of troops has been repeatedly reduced. There were deserters almost every day, and there was a serious shortage of replenishment personnel for each transport in the rear. By the time of the commander of Tadsville, the actual garrison of the fortress (regular army) was only 120,000, and there were more than 70,000 auxiliaries.

As the night passed, the gunfire in the city became more and more sparse. Tartsville was puzzled by this. In his experience, the attacker will only increase the speed and increase the intensity of the attack in order to take the fortress in the shortest possible time.

After all, this place is just sandwiched between the Lock Dragon Pass and the Southern Kingdom. From Tartsville's eyes, it is not difficult to see that the northern giants have really made a good move. They just seized the critical point in time, as long as they captured the fortress before the main force of the Kingdom Coalition Army got the news and sent reinforcements, then the huge Northern Expedition Combined Army would be equivalent to being locked in a cage, and the next outcome would be defeat.

It's actually risky!

Tartsville knew very well that as long as he firmly held the fortress of Kamui, all the attacking giants would turn into prey.

He had been ready to fight to the death since last night.

As a result, Tartsville could not comprehend the increasingly sparse sound of gunfire.

This is a matter of two things: either the Northern Giant has taken all the fortified areas except for the main building where he is stationed, or the Northern Giant has been repelled by the defenders of the fort.

Either way, it seems unlikely to Tartsville.

Let's talk about the latter first———— he knows very well what kind of people are under him. The quality of the soldiers at Kamui Fortress is far less than what it used to be. Let these people hide behind the city walls and fire at the enemy outside through the firing holes, of course, no problem. But if they want to take the initiative to attack like the Warriors, it will be difficult. That would require a large number of officers to lead in the front, and no less than 500 overseers to supervise in the rear.

So, does this mean that the giants have the upper hand and are in control of the battle?

No matter how weak the defenders of the fortress were, they would not be so weak that they would be mostly annihilated by the giants in one night. Truth be told, the giant's attack this time shocked Tartsville! He had never imagined that the Northern Giant would possess guns and cannons that were far more powerful than the hot weapons he was using. Looking at the sun rising little by little on the ground level in the distance, his confidence was constantly eroded, and only doubts and horrors remained.

I was racking my brain to think when I suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps outside. Then the adjutant pushed open the door and broke in, he ran out of breath, his face was covered with sweat, and he lowered his voice angrily before he got closer: "My lord, it's not good, the pipe below can't release water!" ”

Tazwell's mouth opened wide and he abruptly stood up from his chair.

The main building is sturdy, and the underground warehouse is stocked with large quantities of grain. The designers foresaw early on what could happen in the event of a war, and they buried the aqueduct in the ground, connected to the well on the west side of the fort. In this way, even if Kamui Fortress is invaded by foreign enemies and even occupies most of the ground buildings, as long as you hold on to the main building and similar areas around it, you can still ensure that you have enough water and food to hold out until reinforcements arrive.

Tartsville knows better than anyone what a terrible disaster a water outage can be, and he knows what it means to say "pipes don't let water out."

Without water, the soldiers will be in chaos without a fight. It will take no more than three days at most, and when their endurance reaches the limit, they will take the initiative to surrender.

There are two reasons why the pipes could not release water: either the well was damaged by the northern giants, or the giants discovered the water pipes buried in the ground and cut them.

In Tartsville's view, the first scenario is unlikely. Giants are also human beings, and as long as they are human, they have to drink water. Although there is abundant groundwater around Kamui Fortress, it is not easy to extract. What's more, the Northern Giants' deliberate attack on the Kamui Fortress was not a simple military operation. Its purpose is obvious, it must be to block the way back to the south of the kingdom's coalition forces. So the probability of the giant destroying the well is almost zero.

Then only the second, and most logical, inference remains———— the giant destroyed the water pipeline.

Tartsville felt his hands and feet cold, and his heart was filled with rage like never before, and he wanted to kill people to vent his anger. The topography and structural drawings of the fortress are highly classified, and no one with any authority or position has no idea which buildings are connected to the dense underground water distribution network. The giants were able to do this in a short period of time, either they planted their hands early and even bought off the moles in the fortress, or the officers who were captured in the battle chose to cooperate with the giants and betray their compatriots in order to survive.

"How long can we hold water?" Tartsville didn't get angry, he quickly adjusted his mind and calmly asked the question.

Getting angry now won't help, it will only make the situation worse.

"A lot of the soldiers' water bottles are empty. There is no reserve water, not at all. The adjutant's face was pale, he understood the seriousness of the matter, and although there was an element of prevarication in his words, what he said was true: "This has never happened before, and the grain warehouse next to the underground water tank, where a lot of flour is stored, needs to be ventilated and dry. ”

"Immediately send someone to contact the nearby defenders to see how many people are still alive, and find out the situation by the way." Tazwell made the decision almost immediately: "Let the soldiers check their weapons and equipment and wait for orders." ”

The adjutant looked at him with fear and asked cautiously, "My lord, do you want to break through?" ”

Tartsville didn't answer directly: "Let's find out first." ”

……

At noon, the scouts who had been sent out gradually returned, and the information gathered from all sides was summarized, and the problems in front of Tazwell became clear.

Just as he was about to make his final decision, the adjutant came in again to report ———— someone outside waving a white flag and asking to see the commander of the fortress.

Soon, the seeker was led into the room by the adjutant and came to Tartsville.

"What's your name? From which unit? Looking at the second lieutenant officer standing in front of him, Tadswell felt a wave of disgust for no reason. At such times, he can still walk from a distance with a white flag, and there is no doubt that he is a shameful surrenderer.

"My name is Toruń, and I belong to the Plantagenet Kingdom Fortress Special Legion." He seemed to be in good spirits, kept his head up, and maintained the necessary etiquette despite some arrogance: "I have brought a letter of surrender from the Commander of the Giants. ”

"What did you say?" A hint of surprise flashed in Tartsville's eyes, and he put away his previous contempt and disdain: "Persuasion? ”

For a long time, the white people thought that the northern giants were barbaric and ignorant, with little ability to express themselves.

Toren pulled a roll of paper from his waist pocket and respectfully handed it to Tartsville. The latter took it and unfolded it, looking at the standard letters and words on the paper, his expression began to grow in surprise and then solemnity.

There were no mistakes in the spelling or grammar of the words, and he wrote extremely fluently, especially between letters, surpassing even many officers known to Tartsville, let alone low-level civilians who had never received an education.

"You wrote this?" With questions in his head, Tazwell felt like he had found the answer. He raised his eyelids, looked at Toruń standing in front of him, and sneered, "I didn't expect you to understand the language of giants. Second Lieutenant, it looks like you've been thinking about being one of them for a long time. ”

Toruń didn't get angry, he calmly explained, "You misunderstood. The letter was written by the Commander of the Giants. I was standing next to him when he wrote. ”

Tartsville didn't believe it at all, he tore the letter to shreds in a few strokes, threw it at Torun with all his might, and sneered in the messy white confetti: "Do you think I'm an idiot who doesn't understand anything? The hatred between the giants and us can never be quenched, how can they learn our language? Unless ......"

"Holy Lord, I really didn't lie." Toren interrupted Tartsville. He spread his hands and looked innocent: "This is a special period, your decision is directly related to the life and death of many people, is it necessary for me to deceive you on such an inconsequential small issue?" ”

The words are very straightforward, and the reasoning is simple and easy to understand. Tazwell was slightly stunned, and then fell into an indescribable, stormy psychological frenzy.

He had to admit that the second lieutenant had a point, and he couldn't argue with it for a while.

"The giants want me to surrender......" Thoughts quickly raced through Tazwell's mind: "What are their conditions?" ”

Toruń was blunt: "You have two choices: first, immediately lay down your arms and surrender. Revered Lord Tyrant Tooth will allow you to receive a reward equal to your status. ”

Tartsville followed the rhythm of his speech and asked questions: "For example. ”

Toren took out the reward he had received from his pocket, the huge diamond, and shook it in front of Tartsville's eyes: "This is just one of many rewards. ”

Despite Tazwell's best efforts to control his emotions, the muscles in the corners of his eyes twitched slightly.

He knew better than Toruń what the diamond was worth.