New World colony, inside the Valstad Expeditionary Force barracks.

The officers and soldiers were drinking and partying, it was the New Year's Day bonfire dinner of 1709, and time flew by, and before you knew it, the expeditionary force had spent seven months in this strange land.

The empress's reinforcements brought the total strength of the expeditionary force to 30,000, and they all joined in the New Year's celebrations.

The commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, Marquis Dalí Einfurt, was not very excited, he was left alone in the command tent, drinking alone.

In the eyes of others, the expedition he led was undoubtedly a great success, not only helping the local Valstad settlers, but also successfully forming an alliance with the indigenous tribe "Red Mountain Eagles" to thwart the fierce offensive of the Sylvinian colonial army.

Koli couldn't be happier.

Now that his son William Jr. is almost 5 years old, he wants to pick up his son, kiss his white and tender little face hard, and embrace his beautiful wife into his arms......

He looked around in disappointment, only the old tent around him, everything seemed so cold and lonely, and the family he thought about day and night was thousands of miles away.

After being away from home for seven months, the husband and wife can only rely on letters, because the letters need to cross the ocean, the communication efficiency is extremely low, and the messages received are more than a month ago, and sometimes the postal ship will be intercepted by enemy ships, so that the letters sink into the ocean.

Dali clutched a letter he had recently received, the paper of which had become crumpled from repeated reading.

In the letter, the wife said that she had moved to the capital with her servants and enrolled in a girls' school to study medical care, and it seemed that she had always remembered the incident she had mentioned, and that Jane Ning did not like the luxurious life of a noble lady, and always wanted to do something for others.

Reading this letter again, Dalí's face was filled with a happy expression, Jian Ning had not changed at all, the extravagance of the aristocratic circle had not degraded her, she maintained her original intention, she was still the simple and kind sister back then, always thinking about others first in everything, having a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for, it was a blessing for me to be able to marry her.

"Your Excellency, the enemy envoy has brought news." The squire's words interrupted his thoughts.

Dalí folded the letter and carefully placed it in the envelope, locking it in a private safe next to it.

"What's the news?"

The squire said, "The commander-in-chief of the Sylvinian colonial army has asked to meet with you tomorrow at noon, and the location is John's Farmhouse, which is not far away. ”

"Okay, I promised to meet with him, and prepare a battalion of grenadiers to be responsible for the defense, and in my absence, Chief of Staff Gavin will lead the command, and Deputy Commander Poigny will be in charge of other affairs."

"Okay, my lord, I'll reply to them."

The attendant was about to step out of the tent when he was stopped by Dali, "Wait a minute! ”

"What other orders do you have? My lord. ”

"Do you remember how many years you followed me? Captain Marin. ”

"It's been more than 6 years, my lord, when you were in the 153rd Infantry Battalion, when you were the battalion commander, I was a soldier under your command."

Dalí nodded: "Time is the test of human nature, you are a loyal and brave soldier, Captain Marin, I have always trusted you, so this expedition specially summoned you to join my squire internal guard team." ”

Captain Marin looked quite moved, he slammed his heel hard, and gave a standard military salute: "Your trust is my greatest honor!" Elector! ”

"I have something to ask you for," said Dali, stroking the personal safe beside him, "it contains my personal letters and belongings, as well as my newly written suicide note, and if I am unfortunate enough to die, please pass this little safe to my wife, and tell her that the mechanical lock code on it is the birthday of my son William Jr." ”

Faced with such an important entrustment, Captain Marin seemed a little hesitant: "I don't understand a little, sir...... You can entrust this important matter to General Gavin or General Poigni......"

"I trust them a lot, but they're so close to me that they're very impulsive, and if I die in battle, they're going to go crazy and desperate to get revenge on me, I mean...... The three of us are likely to die on the battlefield at the same time, so this errand can only be left to the calm people, and you are the first choice. ”

"I accept your entrustment, my lordship, and you can trust me completely."

The next day, Commander-in-Chief Darley led the negotiators of the expeditionary force to the appointment, and as agreed, went to the nearby John's Farmhouse.

The identity of the enemy's commander-in-chief has always been in doubt, and Dalí has long wanted to see who this mysterious opponent is, and in order to find out the identity of the other party, Dalí even risked his life to come to the meeting.

After entering the negotiation room, there was a young aristocratic man sitting across the negotiation table, and the mystery was revealed: this person was the eldest son of Emperor Sylvinia - Prince Rudolf Habsberg, the current commander-in-chief of the Sylvinian colonial army.

Dalí sat down and first said some polite words: "Your Majesty Prince Rudolph, it is really admirable that you have come to the New World to command the battle in person without fear of hardships and dangers, and it is my honor to fight with such a noble commander as you. ”

"Thank you for the compliment, Elector Dali Einfurt, you don't need to be modest, your name is also very loud, thank you for being here, let's stop saying those high-sounding polite words, and be honest with each other, how about it?"

"Alright then, I'll get straight to the point!" Dali coughed and cleared his throat:

"Your Majesty, Prince Rudolph, I suggest that your colonial army withdraw to its colonial area and stop its aggression on our Varstad colony, and that I can spare yourself for your previous aggression and strive to bring about the signing of an armistice between our two empires."

Prince Rudolph smiled and replied, "Do you think it is possible?" You and I should both know that the dispute in this colony is just a small fight, and your empress's behavior of unifying the peninsula is undoubtedly a hornet's nest, and now the major powers are wary of the Valstad Empire, because the rise of new forces is often accompanied by wars of conquest, and sooner or later the countries will form a second coalition to conquer the Valstad Peninsula itself, and join forces to get rid of this powerful hidden danger, and your defeat is only a matter of time. ”

"Are you intimidating me? His Majesty the Prince. ”

"I'm trying to advise you to understand the current affairs, surrender early, and don't let more people die because of the war, which is good for everyone."

Dalí shrugged: "Persuade me to surrender?" But now it is we who have the advantage, in the last battle, the colonial army under your command was defeated by us, have you forgotten so quickly? ”

Prince Rudolph looked a little annoyed: "Don't think you've won, Marquis Dalí, you've just played a little clever trick and allied yourself with those brainless barbarians, and they led the way around the flank of our army, I won't make the same mistake next time!" And now I've doubled my strength! ”

"I've read the intelligence, your colonial army has received a lot of reinforcements, and so are we, I'm a little puzzled, Your Majesty the Prince, since the two armies are so incompatible, and the next big battle is difficult to avoid, what are you inviting me here to talk about?"

Dali keenly noticed that Prince Rudolph's blue eyes tried to look at him, and he immediately understood it, and said to the generals and guards beside him:

"Let's all step aside, I have some personal matters to discuss with His Majesty the Prince."

Prince Rudolph also ordered his entourage to retreat outside the house, leaving the two of them alone at the negotiating table.