The assassination of the Dauphin de France in the woodlands was not as good as Louis Jr. had imagined, and more than two hundred lives could have been saved - the same thing that happened three hundred years later in Sarajevo, not far away, caused a great war that engulfed the whole world, and which also led to the expulsion, imprisonment and execution of the people of the Savoie Valley, and where he could not see, many more people paid for the accident, even if they knew nothing.

These highland herders were completely desperate, and after they lost their cattle and sheep, tents, and the power to go into exile, they had to sell themselves for themselves and their families for a very low price - all they could hope for was that after the war was over, the surviving victors would be rewarded with a return that could even make up for their previous losses - unbeknownst to them, the same thought of the Ottoman slave soldiers not far from them.

These slave soldiers were also fresh and cheap, after the tactics of the fortified wall were adopted by the generals of the coalition army, Ahmet's Ottoman army did encounter some trouble, the first thing was food, 250,000 people could empty a city in a day, Ahmad's original plan was to extort and loot a part of the cities he passed by, but after this idea was shattered, the army of the vassal and client states immediately felt the pressure of food, in order to appease the hungry hyenas, the Grand Vizier Ahmed allowed them to plunder at will- Although the cities they had to pass through were empty, there were other villages and towns nearby. In the past, if these villages and towns were willing to offer food, women, gold and silver, the Grand Vizier would ensure that they would not be harmed, but now, Ahmet had to shift the pressure on himself to the former, and of course, he did not hesitate to make this decision, which were all Christian villages.

Even in Istanbul, Christians were allowed to keep their faith and not have to follow the complicated rules and regulations that the Ottoman Turks had to follow, but they were treated as slaves to the land with no respect because they had to pay heavy taxes. This was true in Ottoman Turkey, and even more so in enemy land, and it must be said that there is something to lament about it, that is, the Great Vizier Ahmet suffered great losses.

For according to tradition, if a village or a city surrenders to the Grand Vizier, all its assets are the Grand Vizier's, and although this asset also has a part of the Sultan, it is better than now, when Ahmet has nothing to offer—a huge tent was erected on the hill, and the tent of the Grand Vizier was only slightly inferior to that of the Sultan, and it occupied almost the entire hill, and was divided into several rooms with hanging silk curtains, which were used as dormitories, There are even toilets in the meeting rooms, and all the places are covered with sumptuous silk carpets and fine furnishings.

At Ahmet's hand was a small round table, on which silver jugs filled with honey-mixed milk, silver platters with sweet snacks, and musicians with tambourines, pan flutes, and recorders sat on the edge of the tent, who were members of the prestigious Ottoman Turkish military band, but who served the Grand Vizier and other high-ranking officers when there was no war.

A corner of the tent was opened, and from here you could see the mighty and rows of tents, like a winding cowhide river, as far as the eye could see, and the slave soldiers were imprisoned in the open enclosure like cattle and sheep - they were bare-skinned, no different from cattle and sheep, which were supposed to be the property of the Grand Vizier, but Ahmed immediately renounced this right as soon as he sensed the intentions of the Catholic coalition.

His decision was timely, and Azap, who had the largest number of troops, was immediately quiet, and those men were easily satisfied, a slave, a coin, or a piece of oily meat, and a bottle of wine. Although Ahmet had to lose a considerable amount of income based on numbers, it was nothing compared to his head - in Ottoman Turkey, a sultan who was defeated in a war would not be able to keep his throne and his life, not to mention that Ahmet was only a Grand Vizier after all, and although Muhammad IV was willing to listen to his father's teachings, it was difficult to speak to him.

Ahmed looked at the soldiers like ants, his heart filled with sorrow, and he realized that not only might he not be able to achieve the victory that Mohammed IV had hoped for, but he might even have to remain here forever as a nameless skeleton.

——————

No one knew the worries of the Grand Vizier, not even the members of the Mutfirica cavalry regiment or the Janissary legion, let alone the lowest Azap.

Of course, even if these Azap knew, would they have any superfluous ideas, these infantry were originally used by the major armies of the Ottoman Turks to consume the enemy's strength, and they came from complex and humble backgrounds - a large part of them were Turkmen from Anatolia, as well as civilians from the border provinces - Twenty to thirty families had to send a male soldier and provide him with food and equipment, which of course was usually only enough to go to the conscription site, and some volunteer infantry, all of whom were Christians or converted Christians, and their salaries were paid by their villages, not by the army—then one might wonder why they had to join the army? Going back to the previous question, the answer was the same, they needed money from the war to meet the increasing taxes.

In such a situation, the Grand Vizier allowed them to plunder like Ali Baba opening the door to the treasure trove of thieves, and the uneasiness caused by the wheat fields that had been harvested and burned early, the empty cities, and the deserted villages disappeared at once, and wherever you went, it was lively and joyful.

Their joy is built on Christian suffering.

The towns and villages, which thought they would not be affected, had little chance of resisting in the face of the Ottoman army, and they begged to see the Grand Vizier, but these people often broke their necks the fastest, and these Azap certainly did not want the Grand Vizier to change his mind.

And unlike the places the Ottomans had conquered, Ahmet did not need to drag down their slaves, and the women, children, and old men in the captives were all killed, leaving only behind

Young male ** subordinate.

These slaves were the first soldiers to collide with the Allied Highland herders and the surrounding Slovenes.

It was a cruel thing, because the war had nothing to do with the citizens and herders of Slovenia, but the battlefield was in their homeland, their wives and children were turned into fuel and food, their parents were killed like livestock, and they themselves became the "material" to fill the trenches and blades. They may have known each other, even drank and danced together, but now they can only rush to their subjects in unclothed clothes, some with sticks and farm tools, others with empty hands, some bold and naïve people still expecting the promised rewards of the adults, some can only kneel down and look at the sky and pray to God to save them, and there are not a few who turn back, but both the coalition and the Ottomans have warlords.

Louis the Petit, Dauphin of France, was not the commander of Ljubljana—even if it was only nominal, and he shivered with fear when he looked out of it through his binoculars.

It was a purgatory on earth, the battle in the woods kept him awake at night, the two hundred people pierced him so that he could not even rest the day, how many people were fighting and dying here? a thousand, three thousand, or ten thousand? He could not count, he knew that this was only the beginning, the coalition and the Ottoman armies had not even seen each other's faces, but so many had already died.

The encounter in the woods had already taught the crown prince that the real battle would not have any beginning, that the knights would not shout their names and titles, that they would not bow to each other, that the losers would not receive any praise and a solemn burial, and that he now knew that even the greatest and noblest wars against the infidels were filthy and rancid.

Contrary to what one might imagine, you don't hear many angry cries in these enslaved and forced people, who are almost silent, and when they are hit in the head with clubs, pierced in the chest with a pitchfork, and whose necks are broken by a flail, they let out a sigh and fall with their eyes wide open like cattle and sheep - from the binoculars, there are such people everywhere, they fall in the dust and shed tears.

"You must be thinking," said General Vauban suddenly, "that doesn't look like something your father would have done." ”

Little Louis shook his head slowly: "No, sir, if it were me, I would do the same." ”

Vauban glanced at the crown prince beside him with a little surprise, the crown prince has not been an adult for a long time, but his height and weight are not inferior to a real adult, but there is still a little childishness on his face: "Antoine, Barre and Gabriel are dead, sir, in the encounter not long ago. He choked up and said, "My father must know many more people than I do." ”

General Vauban nodded: "Yes, Your Highness, Your Majesty's memory is extremely outstanding, and he can remember many people who appear in front of him. He paused: "And after every battle, your father has to sign the pension list of the soldiers who died in battle, and although Lord Lois can handle this matter, he has persisted to this day." ”

"What does that feel like?" muttered the Crown Prince.

"I don't know, but Your Majesty must be very upset. General Vauban said.

"So for the sake of our soldiers," said Louis Jr., "we must give up our honour and morality." ”

"You are the Dauphin of the French, and your majesty is the King of the French," said Vaubon, "and your father said that as much as a king is hated by foreigners, he is loved by his own people." He took the binoculars from Little Louie's hand, "The battle won't end so soon, are you going to take a break?"

"That's what my father wants me to see. The crown prince looked out, and without the blessing of the telescope, he could not see the faces of the Slovenian people as clearly as before, but after losing the details, color took over almost all of his attention.

The sky was blue, the ground was a rough dark green, and the trenches were like criss-crossed stripes of black oil, and the ants were mixed together like gray streams, and they flowed here and there, filling the trenches with the ground little by little.