Someone poured a basin of water over my head, and I woke up shivering in the cold

I heard a noise, I opened my eyes, and a man with a painted face crouched in front of me, and when he saw me wake up, he shouted to a person next to me, I wanted to move my arms, but I felt that I had been tied to my wrists, and my feet were also urinated when I was unconscious, and now my legs were wet with these damn savages, and I felt a pain in my head, and my right eye was a little unopen, and it hurt to see anything

One man carried me on his shoulders, and only then did I see what the loud noise around me was: a whole army was marching around me

The barbarians formed a simple queue of five people, stretching forward and backward to the point where I could not see it, and I wanted to turn my head to look at the soldiers behind me, but I was slapped in the face, and what the man was shouting in his mouth, I could not understand

The equipment of these men was very poor, not unlike what I saw at first sight: few of them had swords, most of them used heavy axes, some had two throwing axes pinned to their backs or waists, and pike darts and throwing spears were also their weapons, and these throwing weapons could be used as short guns when fighting at close range

These barbarians are accustomed to foot fighting, they ride horses mainly to facilitate movement, when they arrive at the battlefield, they will dismount and line up their shields are kite shields, I thought they didn't have shields, but I knew as soon as I looked at the coat of arms on the shield, on which were drawn a rotating triangular line, which was the Berkes supporting them, I knew that these people's throwing weapons were particularly powerful, their throwing axes could break ordinary shields, and their pike and spears could pierce them, and these pike and spears were equipped with barbs, After piercing the human body, it is difficult to pull out, and after piercing the shield, you only need to step on the spear shaft sharply to pull the shield down, at this time, the enemy's body is exposed, and throwing an axe at such a close distance rarely misses

However, the barbarians also have their shortcomings, their protection is too weak, they are likely to have only one helmet from head to toe, most of their bodies are wrapped in animal skins, and they may be okay to deal with swords and spears, but against sword stabs and spear stabs, it is almost the same as no resistance, these barbarians are always arranged on the flanks, to attack, or to be placed in front, together with the archers to form a long-range attack force, when the enemy approaches, a dense burst of javelins, and then retreat to the end of the line

I was thrown to the ground, and I fell so hard that I looked up to see Joey and the other two horsemen tied back to back

Ten minutes ago, my horse was tripped by two ambushed savages with a straight rope, my body was thrown forward, the stirrup of my left foot broke free, but the right foot did not, my whole body was pulled by my right foot, slid to the side I grabbed the horsemane, fortunately it fell to the left and fell to the ground, I was not pressed I broke free from the stirrup of my right foot, but still fell to the ground

When I was about to stand up, several savages with flail came rushing over, and they struck me several times on the back and neck, and the upper part of my neck was well protected, and I was not too badly injured, but my helmet had been thrown off, and I guess it was the blow on my head that made me faint, and I didn't faint for long, and I was woken up by someone splashing water

An old man in linen came up to me, he had a small box around his waist, he held my eyelids, pulled it down, and then patted me in the face, and he muttered to himself, and then he left me alone, and then, he checked on Joey and the others, and he smiled and pointed at what Joey had said to others

This time they were not speaking the words of the barbarians, but a dialect of the Riverlands, but with a great deal of Saranite in it

I listened carefully for a long time, and finally caught a word, "slave"

I struggled and asked Joey, "What about the two of them?" ”

"Dead," Joy said

The other horseman's face was swollen, and he said, "Dead."

The old man pulled out a roll of parchment and wrote something down on it

"What are they going to do?" I asked Joey

"We're slaves, Victor," said Joey, "and see who can afford it."

I was only a few dozen miles away from Bai Dan, and Giovanni or the Count could be there, and I only had to go to anyone, and I would be safe, but at this moment, I was caught, and the two merchants came over at this time, and there was no one to watch over them at all

"How come they weren't sold?" I asked Joey

"They say they can pay the ransom," said Joey, "and their guilds and business are clear, and the barbarians have no reason to put their money away, right?" ”

"We can too," I said to Joey, "the Ivangelodes Council"

"The guy who was caught by the Burkes in the Riverlands last time hasn't been ransomed yet, and it's probably all rotting in the ground."

"You're a Burke, think of a way," I said to Joey, "these barbarians are fighting for the Burkes."

Joey's expression suddenly turned cold, and the two Wikibians next to him watched his reaction curiously, and Joey said, "I'm fighting for the Wikipicians right now"

Joey, he'd been to Riverlands, didn't he know about Giovanni's deal with the Burkes? Why didn't he say it? Wouldn't it be nice to talk to these bearskin hats and let them know that we are at least not enemies?

The old man finished recording at this time, he explained a few words to the barbarian soldiers, and then left me, and called out to the two merchants to save us, but the two men just looked at us gloomily, and did not care about us at all, and followed the soldiers The barbarians will help these people to send messengers to contact their families and guilds, and after obtaining the ransom, they will be released

Someone had a rope on my wrist, and with a jerk I was on my feet, and I was tied behind Joey, and behind me were the two horsemen, and we were tied to a horse and staggered along

Joey looked back and smiled and said, "The most valuable is tethered to the front, and I'm the first, so I'm the most valuable"

There were two grunts from behind, "you"

White Dan Port, inside the castle

The Count of Kalinin stood at a table and looked at the furniture in the baron's bedroom, all in a Berke-like tone, and it was said that the baron was completely Burke, and that the wife of a groom had to spread a piece of silk on top of the haystack and apply almond oil to his body

As soon as these people left the city, they scattered and fled, completely ignoring the rules of battle, they divided into several groups, and fled in all directions along different routes, which surprised the soldiers who had assembled to prepare for battle, but these people did not have much chance

The Vecchian cavalry was originally scattered around, as soon as they heard the news that someone had broken through the castle, these cavalrymen drew their sabers and patrolled along the avenues around the castle A prisoner is a sum of money, whether it is his family to pay a ransom, or sell it to the Salanders as slaves, it is a large amount of income After the war begins, the slave traders will begin to go to the battlefield, and the slaves must be caught as soon as possible, so that they can get a good price, and after there are more slaves in the future, the slaves will be worthless, and there is another way, It was to hand over the captives to the slave traders, give them a commission, and wait until the war was over to bring them back, and the captives' families would give them a good price

Until dawn, the whole field was going on sporadic battles and arrests, and the baron was very clever, and he took advantage of the fact that his soldiers were out of the city, under the cover of night, and quietly took a few men to the lake with a raft on their backs, and in the cracks of the lake ice, these people began to row towards the small East Lake City

This act aroused the great hatred of his soldiers, and as soon as several of them were captured, they immediately defected, confessed the baron's whereabouts, and the count sent crossbowmen to search along the shore of the lake, and at last the baron's crossbowmen, who had recently appeared stuck in the middle of a few ice floes, released a burst of arrows, and the baron untied his white cloak and surrendered

It took quite a while to get that guy back

There were still more than a dozen soldiers who escaped that night, I don't know if these people were deliberately let go and let them go back to Xiaodonghu City to publicize lethal weapons, which was also a huge blow to the enemy's morale Most of the garrison soldiers surrendered immediately as soon as they were attacked, these people were originally surrounding farmers or mercenaries, they had no reason to fight to the death like the baron, not to mention that the baron also fled, they had no reason to resist

The casualties on the count's side were much smaller: seven infantry were lightly wounded, and one cavalryman was broken by the darkness of the night

This is a small casualty that is impossible in the previous siege warfare, the earl's excited face is easy to gather soldiers, but it is difficult to conquer cities and fortresses, if a large number of such terrible weapons can easily make the defenders of the city sacrifice the city, then at that time, the expansion will become very easy

The Count summoned the Creelians, and the Creelians looked at the Count proudly, and the Count's efforts concealed his joy, "This kind of thing is not as good as you say"

"I helped you take the fortress," the Creelians noted

"It was the soldiers who defended the city that gave it up themselves," said the Count, "because they did not know at all that your thumping weapon was not very damaged in the walls, and that trebuchets could make such breaches that they would not give up the city in the future, and I checked their warehouses, and they had a reserve of stones and mortar that could repair the entire wall, and the victory was not because your weapons were good, but because your enemies were too timid."

"Hmph," said the Creelian, "no matter what you say, you are not a good customer to give me the other half of the money first, whether it is a Salander or a Rhodok, you will not change it after you have agreed on the terms, even the Burks are more generous than you."

The Count looked curious, "Oh? Do you dare to equip the Burks with such weapons in large quantities? I guess this country will use this thing to annex you in the first place? And as far as I know," Tom had told him overnight, "Salander is the master of this weapon."

The Creelian's face turned pale, "Nonsense, we sold this kind of thing in large quantities to the Rhodoks, and we are not worried"

"Sell to the Rhodoks," the Count noted, "just so that they can contain the Salanders in the south and in the north, and our role is the same as that of the Rhodoks in the south, and we can help you contain the Berks For a small state like yours, it should be your tradition to help the weaker side in the midst of war?" ”

Maintaining balance and not allowing any one side to dominate is indeed the path chosen by a small country in the cracks

But this Creelian is a businessman first, then a politician, "I don't care about all this, what do you want to do?" ”

"Get all your friends, I need their explosives"

"Isn't my explosive barrel enough for you?" The Creelians were taken aback, and he wondered what the Count was going to do, "Even the walls of Little East Lake City are enough"

"It took you a few days to blow through the six-foot-thick wall, and among them, almost no one bothered that the walls of your small Donghu City were twice as thick, and their fierce fire oil, assault hooks, sickles, heavy hammers, and falling rocks are not something that your leather shed can block, I want you to prepare this kind of explosive barrel, and you will open a hole in Xiaodonghu City within two hours."

"This is impossible," said the Creelian, "that dose, to be piled as high as a city wall to be able to penetrate such a thick wall at once, and the walls of Little Donghu City can run cavalry on it, don't you know?" ”

"I know," said the Count, "but you should have a way, right?" ”

The Creelian looked at the Count and licked his lips, "Yes," the Creelian nodded, "I've never tried it, but I think I should be able to give it a try, but you can't ask someone else to rob me of my business."

"As long as you can do it well, I don't need to break the contract," said the Earl

At this time, Yuri walked in, and the Creelian bowed his head and retreated

"That guy got caught?" The Count asked Yuri

Yuri smiled thinly, "He's frozen on the ice, he's like a girl, the raft is full of dinars, and there are two beautiful maids, haha, they're both dressed as soldiers, and the stupid baron is going to row to Little East Lake City with those two little girls."

Kalinin was not interested in this, but just asked in passing, "How about the two little girls?" ”

"The soldiers are trying it," Yuri laughed, "the Varans just think they're a little thin."

The Count was amused by the strange aesthetic of the Valans, but his smile was soon put away, and he threw a piece of parchment on the table

"What is this?" Yuri asked curiously

"A report from the castle," said the Earl, "the Burkes did not make a move, but hired more than six hundred barbarians to come to the aid of the city of Little East Lake, forty days ago, and I reckon they were in the vicinity."

"We never knew," Yuri snapped

"No one knows," said the Count

"The baron asked for a 'decent surrender,'" Yuri explained his intentions, "I want you to preside"

"Go with Tom," said the Earl, "so that many people may know you."

"Tom?" Yuri frowned, a little unhappy that "he can't even do Mass"

"But he is much more useful than a priest who can only do Mass," the Count waved his hand firmly, "is there anything else?" ”

"It's gone," Yuri said, "It's gone, Father."

Outside the castle, as the baron and his party walked by dejectedly, the Valan soldiers thundered

The laughter of victory soared into the sky

..