Kalinin's six Valan's guards followed me closely.

I only took Crucedel and the pioneer. When Crusedel heard that he was going to the city, he asked for a pot of liquor and a lamb chop, and the pioneers, when he heard that he was going to the city, asked for a reed pen and a piece of Salander paper.

Before setting out, I polished one of my daggers with a coarse cloth and tucked a dagger into each boot. I waited an hour before Crusedel and the Pioneer came to my tent. The pioneer's face tightened, but he didn't say a word. Crusedle looked expressionless, but muttered, 'This is a stupid idea'.

After the Valan Guard met us, he began to brief me on the situation inside the siege. The Valankov is full of caves dug by Kalinin, but each time it is discovered, the Valanians seal the caverns and then pour feces into them, suffocating the attackers inside. The powder keg blasted several gaps, and the Valan soldiers quickly removed every stone and beam they could find in the city to plug the gaps. On one occasion, Kalinin sent an illegitimate son to persuade Giovanni to surrender, but the parliamentary soldiers, believing that Kalinin was going to sign a secret treaty, immediately launched an attack, and the enraged defenders of Valan smashed the bastard's head on the wall. The Valans were very well defended on the city walls, and their proximity to the walls often attracted several groups of soldiers to come and watch closely, and the Valans dismantled almost all the wood in the city and made a large number of throwing spears, which would make people unable to fight as long as one of them pierced the body, and finally bleed to death.

As luck would have it today, the clouds in the sky were thick, and the moon was just a dim shadow on the clouds.

"It's going to rain tomorrow." One of the Varan Guards looked up and said. "It might be safer to approach the walls when it's raining. It will be difficult for the council soldiers to spot you. ”

"It's just as hard for people in the city to spot," the pioneer said. "When the time comes, I can't see what is going on here, so I throw javelins and spears indiscriminately. We're done. ”

"That's right." Said the Valan Guard.

At the height of the night, we were ready to leave the camp.

Alexei looked at me from afar as I left the camp, but never said a word to me. He wore a high neck guard, but the armor on his body was simple, and his sword hung diagonally from his waist. After we left, he turned around and went in the direction of the Kalinin tent. I betrayed the Romanovs, and probably the most unforgivable of me was Alexei.

We slipped out of one of the fences. Quietly bypassing the watchtower closest to the Valankov wall, on which three soldiers from the small East Lake City gathered around to grill a piece of meat, as we passed through the ground, the three men seemed to notice that something was wrong, but they did not go down to the watchtower to check, nor did they raise the alarm.

Then we waded through a swamp. The swamp was newly formed, and Kalinin dug a moat from Varykov in one attack, although this moat only encircled less than half of Varykov. But it still caused a lot of inconvenience to Kalinin's offensive. The water of the moat could not flow out of this depression, and a large stinky mudflat was formed here.

Varankov's walls grew taller and taller, and the pitch-black walls lay like charred bones in the dim shadow of the moon.

It's close enough. I pulled out a Varan wooden flute from my bosom. When answering the sentinel, Giovanni told me how to use this thing to identify my own people in the dark.

I blew - 'Listen'.

Then three muffled notes were blown in succession – 'Valan'.

This was followed by a sound that mimicked the crow's voice – 'We are on one side'.

We waited for a while, but we didn't hear a response. Just when I was about to blow a second sound. Someone in the distance above the city wall began to talk, and the voice was muffled. I don't know if they heard the Varan flute.

At this moment, in our rear. At the edge of the swamp, a burst of noise erupted, "Damn, there's a Valan soldier ahead!" "I see them!" "The Varans are sneaking out of the city, alert!"

A shadowy patrol immediately approached us, it was a group of council soldiers, we don't know which prince it was, but they must have mistaken us for the Valan soldiers of the city.

The six Valan Guards were silent for almost a moment, then nodded in mutual understanding.

The leader of the Valan Guard glanced at his men, took off his helmet, and used his knife to remove the emblem of the small East Lake City on it. Five of his men silently did so. Then, to my horror, the Valan soldiers used their daggers to quickly cut several deep blood marks on their faces at the same time.

"Take care. Victor. "The leader of the Valan Guards said to me.

He looked up at the thick clouds and said in a tone that bordered on a sigh, "It's going to rain tomorrow." ”

The patrol began to fire arrows at us, and the arrows landed on us with a screeching sound.

Before the Pioneers and Cruzedel and I could react, the six Valan Guards drew their swords and quickly turned around and climbed out of the mudflats.

After going ashore, the six men erupted into a loud roar: "Long live the Principality of Valan!" "A desperate assault was launched towards the parliamentary patrol on the opposite side.

Six soldiers were using their own deaths to mislead the people on the city walls into believing that it was the soldiers of the Duchy of Valan who were under the walls.

There was no time to wait, we could only take advantage of the temporary doubts on the wall and immediately approach the wall. Once the Valan soldiers on the walls questioned their officers, they would know that we could not have slipped out of the city.

We passed through the fence and wooden stakes and within a minute we were under the walls of Vrankov.

"Let's go up!" I shouted at the empty walls.

"! Hurry up. ”

Someone was asking each other, their voices were muffled, someone was scolding, 'What kind of guy is this, stupid enough to die.' ’

Far away, the few Valan guards who were dying were still fighting the patrol, and we were running out of time. The patrol consisted of more than thirty people. Those Valan Guardians don't stand a chance at all.

"Hurry up!" I roared again.

Finally, a rope fell. A Valan, whose face was half covered by a helmet, shouted at us. "One at a time!"

I climbed the slowest and let Cruzedale go up first. He grabbed the rope. Climbed up briskly like a monkey.

The fighting behind me had slowly subsided, and the patrols blew their horns as they fought, and when I looked back, I saw that the camps were shaking with torches in almost every direction. The pioneer was the second to climb the rope, and when he was halfway up, his hand slipped, and he fell down a bit, and then climbed up with all his might.

By this time, the battle sound of the Valan Guardian had completely disappeared. The patrol approached the muddy ground and fired arrows at my back. I made a loop around the rope from my neck and back. Tie a knot, "Pull me up!" ”

I grabbed the rope and climbed a few times, and the arrows pierced into the wall on either side of me, and the sound of arrows rang in my ears.

Then, I felt a strong pull, and my whole body rose rapidly. As I was being pulled down the battlements, a varan-sturdy soldier with round eyes grabbed me by the collar and pulled me in. There were seven Valan soldiers, all of whom were peering through the cracks in the battlements at the noisy patrol outside. Several of them were bent over. We were also held down on our heads, and soon, we were pulled off the walls.

The Valan soldier who was holding me slapped me, "Who the fuck are you?!" Who let you go down! ”

He slapped him very hard. I felt a tooth being knocked loose and the tooth cut through my mouth. I vomited a mouthful of blood and tried to stand up. But I was grabbed by the ear by a Varan soldier who put his mouth to my head and shouted, "You guys are from that fucking battalion." Those who leave the city are summarily executed, haven't you heard! ”

Cruzedale was pinned to the ground. There was no resistance, and neither did the pioneers.

The sound of running came from far and near.

"What's going on?" They took the lead and said, "I've heard of people going out of town. ”

The Varan soldiers beside me pulled me up and told me to look up at the man who had come.

The leader was dressed in Western-style armor and had no helmet, and the armor shimmered brightly in the firelight. Varan soldiers, regardless of the circumstances, had to wipe their armor twice a day, and were not allowed to be assisted by servants. In addition to the Valan soldiers, the only people who could carry out this requirement were probably the cavalry of the Berks and the heavy cavalry of Swadia.

I know him: this is Joy the Burke in Giovanni's barracks. I helped him write a letter to his family.

"You''" he seemed to recognize me as well.

"I'm Victor, Joey." Pushing away the Varan soldiers beside him, "I want to see Giovanni." ”

An hour later, the three of us were taken to Giovanni's fortress. Giovanni was really different, his fortress was built from a converted wine cellar, and the whole thing was underground. When they were in the Valan barracks, the Valan soldiers liked to convert the catacombs into taverns, and their hobby has not changed until now. If others didn't know where I came from, Joey certainly would, and he knew that I wasn't a defender of the city at all, but an outsider. He didn't give any explanation to the Varan's soldiers, just told them to blindfold the three of us, tie our hands with ropes, and drag us stumbling down the streets of Varankov.

Varankov, this place is all too familiar to me: Lucasino's house, Kalinin's prince's mansion, Tom's brothel. At that time, Tom was still a servant of the Romanov family, and he was doing things in the city. There was an old Valan man who asked me to go to his dungeon to pick a prisoner, and I chose a Burke girl, thinking that I would be able to get some valuable information. What is that Burke girl doing now with Tom? Is it the proprietress of a brothel, or the lady of a convent? It's really nonsense, why can these two identities be confused once Tom is involved. There was also a Miseta here, who met me in the garden at night. Here I had my first duel in my life, being beaten like a dog by a Varan kid. By the way, there is also the old man Kugit, who likes to drink mare's milk wine and is good at making bows. How did Misetla get from here to Little East Lake City? I was in a hurry last time, and I didn't have time to ask her in a hurry.

Along the way, although I couldn't see, I stumbled. But there were countless thoughts rushing into my head.

Varankov.

As the black cloth in front of my eyes was torn off, I saw Giovanni on the upper body. He had a wound on his shoulder. A woman with dry hair is helping him bandage.

"Hey, little loach." Giovanni grinned in pain. Still turning his head, he instructed the soldiers beside him, "Untie these three people." Collect their weapons, and let Victor keep them. ”

Joey found a stool and sat down, and poured himself a bowl of wine to drink.

After a few Valan soldiers untied us, they threw all the weapons they had collected into a basket, and Giovanni told them to go away, and the Valan soldiers left the room without saying a word.

The only people I knew here were Joey and Giovanni, and there were a few faces I hadn't seen. I don't know if he was born in the Waran military camp or if he was a locally promoted soldier.

"The old loach sent you?" Giovanni asked me bluntly.

"I'm coming myself." I replied to Giovanni, "He almost killed me because of this." ”

"I don't understand what is going on today." Giovanni gently patted the woman's hand after the woman had bandaged his wounds, and then asked me, "I first heard that someone ran out of the city to die, and then asked Joey to see which battalion of fools it was, and he brought you back?" Don't you have the pestilence? I thought you were dead. ”

"It's not dead." This seems to be what Victoria said.

"Oh." Giovanni replied, "And you went back to Romanlov's house like a little girl?" ”

"Nope. I found my family. ”

". found his own family, don't find a girl to toss at home every day, why do you come to this ghost place. ”

"I just think it's a hell of a place. I must come, I hope you can change places. ”

Joey stopped drinking, and the other Valans stopped talking. Looking at me silently, Giovanni's face suddenly became solemn.

"I guessed you were going to assassinate me. I've guessed you're going to come and ask me if there's any treasure to dig up when I'm dead, and I've guessed if you've got a good friend in the city to pick up. Giovanni said with a frown. I didn't expect you to come to persuade you to surrender? ”

"I'm not here to persuade you to surrender. I want you to exchange Varankov for the Principality of Valan. ”

Giovanni stood up, and almost every Valanite showed a look of fear for a moment. Although Giovanni was thin, he was tall and looked amazing at this time.

"Go on."

I took a breath and repeated what I had said to Kalinin. Among them, there is something I didn't tell Kalinin.

"If you can get to Creel, your men will probably be cut in half, or even more. But it doesn't matter, Giovanni, you can get supplements. Now Creel was in turmoil, black slaves had occupied many inland cities and forts, and they had coerced and co-opted many Creelian soldiers. These men did not fight in unison, and the only leader was the young son of an old chief. If there's any enemy to face, it's him. He was trying to defuse the conflict with the Creelians, and I even heard that he was converting. Now the Creelians are scattered, they do not ask for mercy from the ruler, they only ask for the ruler to bring peace. The little chief could not swallow all the Creel city-states in the interior, and the cities under his rule were in shambles. His purpose was clear, to occupy the Creel cities in the frontier region and restore rule over the oases. For a long time, he didn't have much conflict with you. Where he can't swallow, you can go, and I have estimated that each Creel town can provide you with more than thirty soldiers, and a village can have more than ten. You only need to occupy a medium-sized town with small towns and villages attached to it to get a few hundred people to replenish it. There are quite a few such towns in Creel. ”

"Don't rush to the seaside, it's full of Nords right now, and you can't beat them. Gil has at least three thousand men to fight this time, and you won't provoke anyone if you occupy Creelian land in the Northwest. As for the chief, if he can quickly convert and reconcile with Creel, you can join forces with him against the Nords. If he can't stop the chaos, then annex him, and it doesn't hurt to make him your vassal. He was my friend and a worthy chieftain, but it was not the Duchy of Valan that he was asked to establish. His black slaves weren't all in unison, and after their initial anger was over, they were still good soldiers as long as you treated them fairly. Moreover, in the various city-states. There are a lot of Wiki mercenaries, I don't know where they came from. These people are also good soldiers if they pay attention to recruitment. ”

Giovanni listened to it somewhat. Asked me a question, "How are you going to let us pass?" ”

"Give Valankov." I said to him, "Swear to withdraw from Eastern Wikia forever." ”

"You're an idiot, Victor." Giovanni said, "The day we leave Varankov, Kalinin will turn his face." He didn't believe what you said, and he sent you to disgust me. Your plan is whimsical. Unless you can get all my men to appear in Creel out of thin air, with a solid fortress by its side, which will allow us to recuperate for half a year. Otherwise. Haha, guess how many times Kalinin will attack me along the way? Fifty times, or a hundred times? ”

"But going to Creel is the only possibility for the survival of the Duchy of Valan!"

"Victor," Giovanni shook his head, "if the Duchy of Valan is destined to fall here, then when it falls, I will take its enemy, Kalinin, to hell with me." You are staying to fight. Or go out of the city to take refuge? ”

"You're a coward!" I scolded, "You'd rather the Duchy of Valan fall fall than bow down to it for a while!" ”

The Varan soldiers told me to shut up.

"You have no idea what the war has been, Victor." Giovanni took his seat. "Two-thirds of the civilians have died, and more than half of my soldiers have been lost. Today's Duchy of Valan can at least die a little more heroically. If I listened to your arrangement. I'm afraid we'll die like rats on the plains. The Principality of Valan is a dream, if it's time to wake up. Then wake up without hesitation, this is courage. Victor. ”

"If you can only dream, then what did you do when you first established the principality? Can't you walk anymore? Can't you ride a horse anymore? Or do you owe money to people outside, don't dare to go out of the city, and only dare to shrink in Varankov? If you don't admit defeat, you're a coward! ”

"Whatever you want. But my patience is not so good, if you scold again, I will throw you off the wall. ”

"You don't want to think about how to get to Creel! After you first went to Creel, would my suggestion work? ”

Giovanni was silent for a moment, "Why didn't I think about Creel the last time I marched?" But at that time Creel had not yet collapsed, and Salander did not appear in the situation you mentioned, and the plague was too violent. It was not for nothing that I chose to leave Creel. ”

"And now?" I asked him, "The opportunity has already appeared, why don't you take it?" ”

Giovanni said to me, "It's really good for Kalinin, but it's even better for him when I die." The Principality of Valan can go to Creel, and Kalinin can't support other puppets to go to Creel? The plan you are talking about will not be possible unless Kalinin dies. Kalinin will definitely not work with me. ”

"Then let him only work with you! Make it impossible for him to intercept you on the road, let the puppets he sent out be wiped out by you, and find a way! You just have to decide to go to Creel, and all the problems are not unsolvable!"

At this time, the pioneer, who had not spoken, spoke.

"Your Excellency."

"Something."

"Is it difficult for your troops to get to the shores of East Lake?"

"I can't go. Too far and I'll be wiped out. ”

"What about the Ryazan?"

"I can't go. Too far and I'll be crushed. ”

"At least a tributary of the Ryazan, this is always okay, right?"

Giovanni closed his eyes and thought for a moment, "Half of the men will die, all the cavalry will be lost, and then they will be wiped out on the banks of the river." Prince Valan smiled wryly, "If only there was an air battalion there that welcomed me, haha." Alright, Victor, go meet your friends, and then go out. I don't need to mention it, maybe I should die here. ”

The pioneer's mouth moved, but in the end he didn't speak again.

I felt a sense of extreme anger and powerlessness that Giovanni actually rejected my offer. He knew Kalinin so well that he would never believe him once.

A few of the Valans around me, who were still a little interested, stopped paying attention to me at this time.

No, I have to do my best to convince him that even if I cheat, I can't get Giovanni to give up, and if he does, he will bury the entire Duchy of Valan.

"Giovanni."

"Huh?"

"What if on a tributary of the Ryazan River, there happens to be an air battalion?" (To be continued......)