It had been almost four hours since Bazaev's emissary had left, and it was said that he had a fast horse, and even if he had to talk to the Hitaros for a while, it should not take so much time to go back and forth. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThis made the Heilman suspicious, and he wondered if the Hitaros might have deceived him. Therefore, Bazaev left his tent and went to the tent where Penthos was housed to find out. He didn't go directly into the tent, but quietly walked around to the side of the tent's backlight and cut a small hole with a dagger to peek.

He was somewhat surprised by what caught the eyes of the Heilman man, and although he only saw the old man's back, he clearly saw the tin goblet that the other man was holding high. Penthos recited something in a loud voice, and when he reached the place where the interest was high, the old man even danced with his hands. His wife sat on the sidelines, smiling at his performance, answering a sentence or two for him from time to time.

Bazaev called the interpreter and asked what the Hitaros was reading. Although the Reynoske-born translator could understand the everyday Hitarusian language, Penthos recited things beyond his knowledge, and the intricate and ornate rhetoric quickly turned the translator's head into a mess.

"It's all nonsense, and as far as I know, it's probably a line from a play by the Hitarus." The interpreter replied after understanding as much as he could.

"What's that?" Bazaev didn't have the concept of "drama" in his head at all.

"Ah, something like a troubadour telling a story." The interpreter explained.

"Do the people of Hitarus like these things for their pastime?"

"They like to watch these plays in their free time or at festivals, and it is said that there are competitions in this area, and if they perform well, they can get prize money or something."

"What peaceful fellows." Bazaev had no interest in continuing to learn about the play, so he turned to the front of the tent and called out to the guards guarding the door, asking them what they had observed.

"Sir, nothing out of the ordinary, the old man began to drink the wine he had brought with him a short time after he entered, and began to mutter strange words." Here's how the guards replied.

"Continue to be vigilant." After Bazaev gave this command, he went straight into the tent.

When he entered, he happened to see Thalassa put on an olive branch laurel for her husband, and the dressed Penthos was flushed, apparently having drunk a lot.

"Ah, honorable commander, has your messenger brought you good news?"

"Not yet, that's what I'm asking you about, my messenger has been gone for too long, what the hell are you doing, I don't have the patience to wait any longer." The translator did the translation for the two of them.

"Don't worry, Commander," Penthos burped, "you don't know the temperament of our Hitaros, so-called democracy is so procrastinating and inefficient, and the more people involved in any decision, the easier it is to be delayed. ”

"This is really not a good system, it seems that you will need a strict and majestic lord to govern you in the future." Bazaev said.

"I think so too, even the gods on Mount Olympus don't need a Zeus to rule them."

When Bazaev heard this, his face inadvertently showed a look of disdain. Penthos seemed to be a little drunk, not noticing the Heilman's disdain for him. The old man asked his wife to pour him a full glass of wine again, and stepped forward to put his arm on Bazaev's shoulder, and persuaded him to come and have a drink. The Herman impatiently broke free from the old man and knocked his glass to the ground. Penthos looked at the wine poured on the ground, and showed a look of regret.

Bazaev stepped out of the tent and instructed the herald to send another messenger to urge the previous men. In particular, they were instructed to resolutely force the Menians to make a hasty decision to surrender. He then ordered the vanguard to be ready to move at any time, and sent heralds to urge the follow-up troops to follow quickly. Although Bazaev was a little impatient, after seeing Penthos's performance just now, he still had considerable expectations for Menia's surrender, so he did not rush into action.

After about half an hour, the second messenger sent by Bazaev turned back. This messenger brought good news to the Renoskes - the Menians had officially decided to become their allies. It is said that the reason why the two sides have been tossing for so long is because of the problem of wording. The Renoskes initially insisted on using the word "surrender", but the Menians resolutely resisted, and the two sides stalemate there for almost two hours. Eventually, the Reynolds envoy was able to adapt and agreed to change the wording to "form an alliance".

Bazaev had Penthos brought over to tell him the news in person. However, out of caution, he asked the second messenger something to say.

"Who told you the news?"

"It's the previous messenger."

"Who else was with him when you saw him with your own eyes?"

"I saw him with my own eyes, and listened to what he said to me, and there was only one guide with him."

"How far away the guide was from him when he spoke to you."

"He came up to me to talk, and the guide just stayed away."

"What about others, then?"

"Now that he saw me, he turned back and urged the Hitarus to prepare for the formal ceremonies."

"Do you want to have a ceremony? These Hitaros are a nuisance. ”

At this time, the guards informed Penthos of the arrival.

"Congratulations, my commander, your men have told me the good news." Penthos shouted loudly as soon as he entered the tent.

Bazaev frowned, he began to hate this old man Hitaros more and more. Penthos drank red and had a slightly exaggerated smile on his face. At this time, the old man still did not forget to prepare wine. He proposed to Bazaev that everyone have a toast to celebrate this happy occasion. The Heilman was not a prohibitionist, although he had been skeptical that he would be able to take over Menia without blood. But after what happened just now, Bazaev's heart finally let go of most of it. He could not refuse the old man's offer, so he took the tin goblet and drank it with Penthos. When the Hitaros urged him to drink again, Bazaev refused, and he called for his own troops to prepare his horses and prepare to immediately lead a large army to Menia.

Penthos took his leave with a little regret, and when the old man came out of the tent, he saw his wife waiting there. Penthos stepped forward to support his wife's trembling body and comforted her softly.

The baggage forces of the Renosk people also caught up with Bazaev at this time, and the consolidation of the ranks caused them to delay a little longer. But now Bazaev didn't care too much about this loss of time, he wanted to lead a well-organized army into Menia, and give the Menians a little color.

As the Renosk people were about to stop and set off, Bazaev was amazed to see Penthos coming to his horse dressed with a crown of flowers on his head and a scepter in his hand.

"Let the old man lead the way." With that, Penthos pulled his carriage from the side.

"Then you're in for you." Bazaev thought it was not bad.

Penthos drove his carriage ahead of the army, holding the reins in one hand, and Tarazar snuggled up to him. It was an old horse pulling the cart, and its temperament had been tempered by the years, so it took little effort for Penthos to instruct it.

However, after a few minutes, Bazaev began to regret that he had just gotten carried away. The speed of the whole team was overwhelmed by the old man like a snail crawling, which made several of Bazaev's guards yawn. The Heilman felt the need to warn the elders of Menia to speed up, so they sent an interpreter to speak. After a few more minutes, Pentheus's speed did not improve significantly. Bazaev couldn't hold back any longer, so he personally drove forward.

"Respected Elder, please hurry up, we don't want to spend the night outside the city today, and you also want to reunite with your family as soon as possible." Bazaev still tried to use a polite tone.

"Okay, okay, I will." Penthos said, giving his animal a whip and urging it to hurry.

Seeing this, Bazaev could not say anything more, and he followed the old man's carriage for a while, and found that it was too whimsical for him to expect the old horse to gallop. The Heilmans then summoned several of their guards and ordered them to keep an eye on the Penthos and his wife. He let the spies, who were already familiar with the nearby roads, lead the way, and led the army to leave the Penthos and his wife behind and march towards Menia at the normal pace of the march.

After a two-hour march, Bazaev led his headquarters to a place only 3 fats away from Menia, where they could already see the towers of the city. At the same time, they also saw a temporary curtain erected by the Menians here, presumably where the so-called "alliance ceremony" was arranged.

As he drew closer to the curtain, Bazaev suddenly became alert. He did not see his messenger come up to meet him, though he could clearly see a dozen old Menians in full costume sitting in the veil. It was eerily quiet, except for the sound of the wind passing through the wilderness at this time of year. This made the cunning Heilman suspicious, fearing that the Menians had led him into a trap. Therefore, he did not dare to continue his approach easily, so he sent several soldiers to ride over to find out the truth.

The Renosques entered the veil, and they were amazed at the sight of the elders of Menia, dressed in full costumes, with laurels on their heads, and holding scepters sitting motionless. Maybe these were just statues, one soldier thought to himself, reaching for one of the elders' beard and pinching the other's nose.

Of course, this is not a statue but a real person, and the old man who was hurt waved the scepter in his hand and smashed it into the soldier's head, and more than a dozen elders worked together to beat several Reynosk soldiers to the head. These soldiers did not expect that the "statue" in front of them suddenly came to life and launched an attack on them. They completely forgot that they had the upper hand in force, and they only ran out of the curtain, jumped on their horses, and fled.

Bazaev couldn't help but laugh at the sight before him, the only thing that reassured him was that the Menians didn't seem to have set up any ambush, and he felt as if he was overly worried. How could a loosely armed city-state set up an ambush that posed a threat to itself?

So the Heilman summoned his interpreter and asked him to bring some men with him to explain the situation to the angry old men.

A few minutes later, the interpreter rode back.

"What do those old men say?" Bazaev asked.

"They are indeed representatives of the Menenian Senate, and they have indeed come to prepare for the ceremony of alliance with us. However, they claim that they do not know you at all and cannot confirm that you are General Bazaev. The translator replied.

"It's not easy, why don't we let our messengers come out and identify them?" Bazaev thought the Menians were stupid.

"Uh...... Our messenger was so drunk that he could not even stand still, and was lying there sleeping. ”

"This bastard!" Bazaev scolded. However, this situation is also in line with the temperament of the Renoske and Heilmans, who are such a people who are so greedy for wine. Even in the modern era, the Reynosk region consumes the most edible alcohol in the world every year.

"So, how can they confirm our identity?"

"They said they would have to wait for Penthos to come and make sure, and they only trusted the old man now."

"What a bunch of troublesome fellows, herald, bring a few people to bring that old man of Menia to me, hurry!"

When the herald received the order, he led several winged Husa to gallop south. They did not keep Bazaev waiting, and after about half an hour, the Penthos and his wife were sent to Bazaev by the Winghus.

"Lord Penthos, please go and talk to them, and begin our alliance ceremony at once. My men and I are still waiting to get some rest after we are stationed in Menia. Although Bazaev's words were polite, he was actually impatient.

"Okay, please come with the old man." Penthos straightened out his crumpled robes and strode toward the curtain set up by the Menias. Bazaev left a part of the people behind, and he personally dismounted with his own personal army and walked over with the old man.

When the Menians saw Penthos again, several of the senators could not help but be excited, and hurried forward to greet him.

"Why haven't you left yet?!" Penthos asked softly in the Menian dialect, "Have the others been evacuated?" ”

"They've been out of the city for almost two hours, and we've got good stuff in the city."

"So, without further ado, let's play this scene to the end, stubborn old things." Penthos laughed.

"Your Excellency the General, the ceremony is not complicated, please take this laurel wreath and perform the indoctrination on the altar of Zeus with us, the alliance will be completed, and then let the army enter the city." Penthos turned to Bazaev and said this. The situation pleased the Heilman, who had expected a whole set of red tape for him to deal with.

When Penthos personally placed the laurel wreath on the heads of the Heilmans, the Renoskes cheered, meaning they didn't have to kill and capture another city. With a smile on his face, Bazaev followed the elders of Menia to perform the obeisance, which he thought was nothing more than pouring a glass of wine on a stone pile. But he still imitated the posture of Penthos, and slowly poured the wine over the altar.

When they had finished their rituals, the large army of the Renosk people also caught up. With a laurel crown on his head, Bazaev mounted his horse and led a whole army, led by the elders of Menia, into the city of Menia.

"Where are we going to camp? Why didn't we see any of the residents come out to greet us? "Bazaev was not completely carried away, he still noticed something unusual.

"We're going to camp in the amphitheater, which is the highest and most wide." "As for the residents, they're just not used to a foreign army coming in, and they're afraid to come out and join in the fun," Penthos explained to him. ”

Bazaev couldn't find fault with this answer, and being stationed on the commanding heights of the city would only make it easier for them to control the entire city. As for the residents who closed their homes, that was a normal reaction, but if they were welcomed by the melancholy, Bazaev was more likely to suspect that there was some conspiracy hidden in it.

Just as Reynosk's baggage troops had fully entered the city of Menia, a loud bang caught everyone's attention. The gates collapsed and were completely sealed by a pile of wood and stone. The rearguard units of the Reynolds army were held back outside the city. This accident did not alarm the people of Renosque at first, because Menia had only a small rampart. However, what happened next sent the entire army into a panic.

Bazaev was the first to notice because his mount slipped on the soles of his feet and nearly threw him off his horse. Then he smelled a scent, the smell of oil—oil everywhere on the ground.

"What's going on? Master Penthos, this can't be your after-show, right? "Bazaev realized that something was wrong.

When he saw Penthos turn to face him, he suddenly felt creepy. The old man's mouth, nostrils, and eyes were bleeding, but there was a strange smile on his face, as if he didn't feel pain at all. Thalassa tried his best to support her husband on the side, but Pentheus, as if he had infinite strength, gently shook off his wife and walked towards Bazaev.

"You ......"

"It's a pity, the effect of the medicine has been premature, the victory of this war must belong to Arcadia and Hitarus, and it is a pity not to see the victory of their homeland. I had heard that the Renosk people were addicted to alcohol, but I didn't expect that the enemy general was such a shrewd and self-controlled person, and your prudence saved your life. ”

"You mean, you poisoned all the wine you brought, and drank it yourself so that I wouldn't be suspicious?" Bazaev could not understand such a scheme, the cunning of the Heilmanns was based on the premise of sacrificing others to preserve themselves, and no one would have expected anyone to come up with the idea of sacrificing themselves and ending up together.

"Don't worry, tyrant's lackey, you've only had one drink, and it's not enough to kill you, at most it's just a few more days in bed. Hopefully, though, your men will be calm enough to get you out of here. You see, there's a fire. The old man calmly said these words, looked around, the city-state he loved, and fell down with blood in his mouth.

Tarasa hugged her husband in grief, clasped his hand tightly, and watched as he closed his eyes with a satisfied smile. The old woman glared angrily at the invader for a moment, then removed her brooch, stabbed her own throat with it, and fell on top of her husband.

By this time, the fire had spread throughout the city along with oil and other ignitions. Menia was a city built of mostly stone, so Bazaev ruled out the possibility of being attacked by fire, but this was not the case. The oil, alcohol, sulfur, and wooden furniture contributed by the residents were enough to turn the entire city into a volcano.

In fact, the fire was not fatal enough for the Reynolds army, but the sudden fall of the main general and the unexpected fire attack caused them to fall into chaos. The greatest loss to them from this chaos was the ignition of the baggage convoy, and the officers of the Reynosk Army were unable to control the situation. While the rearguard outside the city was in good order, the men and horses inside the city were completely out of control. Wailing and screaming, they scrambled to climb over the low walls and fled for their lives, losing more than half of their weapons and baggage. However, some of the angry officers of Renosque did not forget to stab the Menian senators who led them into the trap, and these old men who led the enemy into the trap and set the fire themselves were not spared.

Bazaev's guards were loyal, and they set up the commander of the poisonous attack, cut through the chaotic crowd, gathered several officers, and found a stretcher to send their commander out of the city safely. Bazaev's poisoning was not fatal, but he soon fell into a coma. An army of Menians rushed at them from outside the city. The Renoskes, who had temporarily lost their main general, did not consider that the opponent's combat strength was still far below them, and they frantically retreated 40 miles like a frightened bird before they were stationed outside the Spring Pass.

Then they spent a whole day gathering the fleeing army, and by the time they regrouped to occupy Menia, it was already June 8. And all they get is a charred, empty city. In the rout on 6 June, the Lenosk army lost about 400 men and 300 mules and horses. The loss of Menia is not well understood, but the bodies of the consul Penthos and his wife Thalassa, as well as 28 other senators, were rescued by Mentor and properly buried.