Escape in the forest.

The Valan soldiers were divided into three groups, Giovanni led about three hundred men, Joey with more than one hundred and fifty men, and one Valan warrior with more than a hundred.

The three troops agreed on a meeting place and ran in different directions to the forest.

Now that it was impossible to fight, he had to flee to the Ryazan River valley in hope in order to board the pioneer fleet. The Valan soldiers discarded a lot of armor and weapons along the way, which seemed distressing, but there was nothing to be done, and it was extremely difficult to walk through the forest in full armor. I followed Giovanni's troops, and we judged our direction by observing the position of a mountain. We have been marching towards the north for half a day, and all we have to do at this time is to approach the Ryazan River to the southeast. The forests along the Ryazan River are extremely dense and inhabited, and although there used to be many trading posts here in Ivangorod, most of them are deserted, and there are no people living in the surrounding settlements.

Some of the more badly wounded Valan soldiers were quickly abandoned, and Giovanni's soldiers gave them a crossbow with good arrows, and settled them in the bushes, so that they could give the soldiers of Little East Lake a final blow when Kalinin pursued them. A soldier with his belly cut open and a strip of cloth tied to his belly said with a smile that the crossbow bolt would not be able to shoot the old loach at once, but he could pull out the intestines and strangle Kalinin. When the wounded soldiers were abandoned, the Varan soldiers would say a brief goodbye to them and then hurried out on the road without saying a word. If the living cannot escape, then the sacrifice of these wounded soldiers is in vain, which is inexcusable. So there is no time for a long goodbye.

The smell of rotting wood was not unpleasant, but the air was filled with water. It's boring. In the densest part of the woods, the sun is barely visible. After we had been on the run for a while, we couldn't make out the direction and the mountain was out of sight. We could only rely on the Valan soldiers, who were familiar with the local terrain, to advance in the general direction. There were many lost or absconding soldiers along the way, and when we came across a small stream and stopped, there were only about 260 people around. The banks of the stream were trampled in disarray, and Kalinin's soldiers, as long as they were not blind, could detect our tracks. We hurriedly drank the water, filled the kettle, and immediately hit the road. Occasionally, branches fall from the sky. Making a noise would also make the Valan soldiers think that their pursuers were approaching. On a higher ground, a Varan soldier climbed to the top of a tree with a rope around the trunk of a tree, and after sliding down, he said that he saw a white river in the woods in the distance, which we guessed was the Ryazan. This observation made us think that we were too far south, so we turned to the northeast.

On the way, we came across a village. The residents spotted us in advance, and by the time we arrived, some of the huts had hanging pots with water boiling, but they were nowhere to be seen. We ransacked this small village. A small amount of bread and venison was obtained, a few arrows were found, and then he headed east again. At nightfall. We heard a trumpet in the distance, but after that. We didn't hear anything anymore, not knowing it was a Valanite squad. Or Kalinin's pursuers. We ended up curling up under a long rock for the night.

During the night, more than thirty Valan soldiers fled, taking their armor and weapons with them, as well as stealing a lot of food. Giovanni didn't say anything, fed the rest of the soldiers, and moved on. Once again, our course to the east was out of order, and we heard the sound of the water half an hour earlier, and then we ran head-on into the Ryazan. The dazzling light made us realize that we had been walking in the forest all morning, the sun had risen to its highest, and a few Kalinin cavalry were slowly advancing on the river beach. The Valan soldiers immediately tried to outflank them from both sides, but the cavalry immediately spotted us, blowing their horns and fleeing separately on both sides. In vain we fired a burst of arrows and watched them flee. Kalinin decided not to return to the forest, but to make a quick advance along the riverbank.

An hour later, we were confronted by a group of Valans, who said that Joey's soldiers were surrounded by a group of soldiers from the city of Little East Lake near the riverbank, and that they had escaped only twenty or so, and that there were still sixty or seventy people besieged in front of them.

Giovanni asked them why they were close to the riverbank.

"Didn't you come here too?" The Varan soldiers had no energy to explain their route at this time, and they were no longer respectful to the Prince.

Giovanni sent the Varan soldiers forward quickly. Half an hour later, we found a battlefield still scorching on the riverbank: more than 200 soldiers from Little East Lake City had forced more than 40 Valan soldiers to the top of an abandoned dock, where the stone walls became Joey's last barrier. Giovanni ordered the charge, and the Valan soldiers rushed towards the soldiers of Little East Lake City with a weak cry. The soldiers did not expect the Wallan soldiers to appear behind them, and they panicked for a moment, and while their commander ordered the soldiers to turn around to meet the enemy, Joey also led the soldiers to rush out. After more than ten minutes of fighting, we killed more than 30 soldiers of Xiaodonghu City, half of the remaining soldiers of Xiaodonghu City broke away from their ranks and fled along the river beach, while the rest slowly retreated into the dense forest in formation. We executed the wounded soldiers of Little East Lake City, looted their food and water, and then the two teams of Valan soldiers merged into one and continued their march below the riverbank.

It is much faster than in the forest, but it is also more dangerous. We were met by a squad of thirty archers, who followed us not far away, sometimes pretending to charge, but when we formed a formation, they only let out a burst of arrows, and then retreated. We prangled with them for two hours, and when they finished shooting their arrows, they retreated upstream. They shot two of us soldiers dead and wounded more than a dozen, but the worst thing was that they had almost exhausted what little physical strength we had left. After the departure of the archers' squad. We were only two hundred and twenty men left, and a few Valan soldiers had lost their weapons. Blatantly fled into the forest.

My legs were numb and my calves were swollen. The boots are almost attached to the feet, and it is impossible to take them off at all. Along the way, exhausted soldiers fell to the ground and could not get up again, and there was no one to speak among the Valan soldiers. Little by little, we moved as if we were crawling on the ground. The sun went out above the treetops, and the sky turned a dark red, as if the sky was exhausted and blood flowed.

The night made us feel a little safer, and the Ryazan River flowed loudly and roared around us. The moonlight shattered on the surface of the river, and the Ryazan River resembled a long fish with shimmering scales.

When the moon rose to its highest point, we retreated into the forest. Resting under a tall tree, I had never felt so comfortable and comfortable sleeping on the mud floor, as if a pair of gentle hands had taken my head behind my back and made me melt into the earth.

No dream slipped into my head during the tired night, and it seemed that only a moment had passed, and I was awakened by the sun and the sound of trumpets at the same time.

"Chaser!"

"Chaser!"

"Chaser!"

I immediately got up and reached for the sword on my right hand. But there was nothing there, someone took advantage of the darkness to steal my sword! I pulled out the dagger from my boot and found Giovanni among the chaotic Varan soldiers, who were organizing the soldiers around him. Let them line up. Dozens of demoralized Valan soldiers fled Giovanni and fled deeper into the forest.

We barely gathered more than 180 people around us, and we had just stood in line. Some well-armed archers jumped out of the woods and shot at us. Quite a few of our soldiers were immediately shot and fell to the ground as we approached them. These archers blew their horns to tell their pursuers where we were. He slowly retreated into the depths of the forest. We immediately turned around and ran away from the riverbank. The archers followed us like demons, and every now and then one or two arrows grazed my side, and one of them grazed my ear, and when I reached out and touched it, I felt the blood of my hand, and the blood flowed down my neck to my shoulder. Filled with resentment, I hid behind a large tree and watched the backs of the Valan soldiers leave me.

After a while, I heard the sound of stomping on the branches, my heart beat faster, and I tried to lower the sound of my breathing, but I still felt a little uncontrollable. The footsteps were coming towards me, and I didn't know if he had noticed me. Then I saw an arrow appear to my left, followed by the bow and the hand holding the bow, and finally, an archer from the small East Lake City with a bow on his waist. He saw me when I saw his side face, and I glared at him condescendingly, and threw myself at him, and he let go of his strings and struck me with his bow. His bow hit my left arm, and the pain was so severe that I felt like my bones were broken. My dagger plunged into his neck, I was about to draw the dagger, a few more stabs, but he held down mine, blood gushed from his neck and mouth, he looked at me with horror and pleading in his eyes, I pulled his short sword from his waist, held it with both hands, and stabbed it slowly but firmly into his chest, I pressed my whole body against the hilt. Blood splattered on my chest, and he tried to bite me with his last strength, but when my sword pierced his chest, his strength was gone, the heat in his mouth subsided, and I smelled a foul odor coming from him. I wiped my nose and tried to pull the sword out, but the sword got stuck in his bones, and I only drew my dagger. At this moment, I heard shouts and running in the distance, and I quickly fled from here.

Half an hour later, I caught up with the Varan soldiers.

We no longer hesitated and fled out of the woods.

Here the river bends and bends to the north, and we are approached to the top of a bay, which is a dead end.

Trumpets and shouts in the woods came and went, and before long, the soldiers of Little East Lake City would rush out and annihilate us.

Several corpses floated down the upper reaches of the Ryazan River, which looked like parliamentary soldiers, could it be that the troops of the Valan warriors encountered parliamentary soldiers upstream?

We limped forward and I felt like my feet were worn out and bleeding.

Archers were firing arrows at us across the trees, and they landed on the river beach with an empty sound.

Then. I felt the ground tremble slightly.

When I turned back, I found a force of more than two hundred crossbowmen and infantry. This force was attacked in the morning. The assembly has been completed on the river, this time. They're going to give us a fatal blow.

Finished.

This thought came to my mind.

A showdown of arrows fell in front of us, and they shot so far that they had lost their power, so they approached us.

There were only more than one hundred and fifty Valan soldiers around me, and Giovanni and Joey had bloodied faces, but their expressions were calm at this time.

The Duchy of Valan, it seems, has finally come to its end.

There was a roar on the ground, it was the cavalry, coming from the rear of the pursuers.

Did Kalinin's cavalry arrive so soon?

I felt a huge wave of disappointment rush through my chest.

Woo~Woo~Woo~

The sound of the trumpet was as long as the elegy of the Duchy of Valan.

So much has been experienced. We've come so far, and the Duchy of Valan still can't escape the fate of destruction.

The Valan soldiers had already straightened up, and they were not even ready to form a formation to protect themselves, and with more than two hundred infantry, plus an unknown number of cavalry, we would not have much chance.

The roar of the horses' hooves grew louder and louder.

The sand and gravel on the ground shook and jumped.

The infantrymen who were chasing us began to look back frequently, and even dispersed in the direction of the forest, and they did not hide from the cavalry?

There was confusion among the infantrymen. Just as many bubbles suddenly burst out of the calm waters, many cavalry passed through the middle of the infantry.

I was stunned for a moment before I knew that the cavalry was attacking the infantry!

More and more cavalry appeared behind the pursuers, and rows and rows of cavalry overwhelmed the infantry. Kill these infantry with swords, knives, or spears. The cavalry drove one group of infantry into the water and trampled the others under their feet. In the blink of an eye, the menacing infantry brigade looked like a rag torn by the wind.

Whose cavalry is this?

The Valan soldiers were all looking at each other in bewilderment.

The cavalry routed the infantry, and the formation of the infantry melted like ointment under the heat--- and the pursuers of Xiaodonghu City fled for their lives.

This cavalry is dressed up by Vychians. But the hat is Western-style.

Their banner is a steppe wolf.

Catherine's army ?!

For a moment, such a horrified thought crossed my mind. But then. I knew it couldn't be, Catherine was in the same position as a hostage. How could there be hundreds of cavalry?

The cavalry, while I was in a daze, continued to attack the soldiers along the way, crushing the infantry and driving them into the woods.

The battle on the river beach soon subsided, and the cavalry took turns using their spears to kill the wounded soldiers of Little Donghu City, and then trampling them with the hooves of their horses, as if they had a deep hatred.

The battle finally ended when the last foot soldier died, and the knights erupted in cheers.

"Lepnin!" "Lepnin!" "Lepnin!"

These knights call the name of a family.

A boyar-looking man rode slowly towards us.

I know this man.

This is Nikolai. Lepnin.

The knight glanced at the remnants of the Duchy of Valan with a stone-like gaze, and he was identifying them one by one until he found me. Then he said to Giovanni and Joey, "Pioneer fleet, anchor at a position half a day's journey downstream, get out, Valans." ”

Then Nikolai set his sights on me.

"Victor."

I dropped my dagger and signaled that I was not hostile," said Nicolas. It's '''

Nikolai's face twitched, "My family's territory in the Riverlands has been passed down for four hundred years!" When will it be the turn of a western beggar to redraw its borders? What the Burkes dare not do, how can a little prince dare to do it? ”

"You are now a councillor of Ivangelodes?"

"The Council cannot have vassals. So I have pledged allegiance to the Lord of Denia in Parliament, and only this feudal lord is willing to defend my family's claim to the Riverlands. Half a month ago, your bachelor and Innocent have signed a letter to me. I already know about your family. Since you do not belong to the Romanovs, but to another noble family, then our agreement is still valid! At the same time, the bachelors of your family are very much in favor of you getting married as soon as possible. Nikolai waved his hand, and two of his subordinates brought a horse, "Viktor, the covenant between your family and my family is still valid, but the evil deeds of the Romanov family must be severely punished!" I abhor deception and perfunctory, Kalinin must pay! ”

"Victor, accompany me to Xiaodonghu City and participate in the siege." Nikolai leaned over and held out his hand to me, "Get Kaja out." ”

He pursed his lips firmly, squeezing out a few words word by word, "That's your fiancée." (To be continued.) )