Hastings smiled, but no matter what Char said, he didn't answer.

The caravan went all the way east, first to the south, and then to the east. Although it is not a war zone along the way, it is also a place of warlords, and the more you go to the southeast, the more tense the atmosphere becomes, and the towns you pass along the way, the armies of those local warlords, are more and more tightly guarded. It's just that although the inventory is strict, it still doesn't cause any real obstruction to this caravan.

That Ade's father quietly explained to Char: "If there is a big chaos today, if these warlord governors in various places want to continue to divide their territory, they will need the support of those chambers of commerce on the mainland, at least, those strategic reserves such as military materials, equipment, grain and grass, if there is no help from these big chambers of commerce in the world, it will never be possible, so these warlord governors in various places, although they are harsh, but if they encounter the teams of these first-class large merchant groups, they dare not embarrass others too much." ”

After a pause, he laughed in a low voice: "So if we small families want to survive in this troubled world, we can only rely on these big business groups, pay some money to buy roads, and ask for peace." ”

After walking for about ten more days, this day had already entered the eastern part of the Byzantine Empire, and came to the important town of the Kovist Military Region in the eastern part of the empire, but this time, the caravan finally encountered the iron plate. Even if the leader of the chamber of commerce at the top came forward, the other party refused to buy it.

I saw that the team stopped, just in front of it, but it was a small city, this small city is between two hillsides, but it is a "corner city", the city is built in the gap between the mountains, from a distance, it seems to be a checkpoint.

The team stopped outside the city, only to see that the city gate was half open and half closed, and the soldiers above and below the city were all fully armed, as if they were facing a great enemy, and the leader of the merchant group in front of them negotiated with the military management under the city gate for a long time, but the other party only shook his head again and again. I saw that the leader stuffed a bag of heavy things into the officer's hand, and the officer, although his face was a little better, he still shook his head, and although his attitude was much kinder, he still refused to let go.

Even if the leader of the caravan pointed to the banner of his own business and said something soft and hard, the other party's attitude remained the same.

Char and the others were watching the excitement in the back, and after watching for a while, they saw Daddy Ade squeezing back from the front, sweating hotly, and shaking his head with a sigh: "Damn, it's so unlucky! Good things are said all over the place, and it is useless to stuff money...... It seems that this time it is not good to go out, but I am afraid that I will have to pay a lot of money. ”

When Char heard this, he and Hastings glanced at each other, and they both read a trace of surprise in each other's eyes.

Fight?

What kind of battle can be fought here?

※※※You must know that this is the eastern part of the empire, and it is still not far from the eastern frontier of the empire, which can be regarded as the only "peaceful land" in the entire Byzantine Empire.

In the eastern part of the empire, where did the war come from?

It is far from the dìdū osgilia in the south. The battle for Dìdū in Osgilia did not affect this area at all.

And the invasion of Odin in the north is far from hitting this place.

Later, the Great Southern Rebellion, the Duke of Minas went south to quell the rebellion, which was also far to the south.

In the eastern part of the empire, there are only a few second-rate warlord party governors of small and small military districts entrenched here, and the power is not big or small, but it is only a part of raising a cry in the red sè round table.

Several warlord forces in the vicinity are all parties of the Red Sè Round Table, and they don't have any big hatred for each other, especially in today's season, and they know that everyone can only survive if they are together...... Who fights with whom?

Char and Hasting, one is the number one powerful man in the empire today, and the other is the number one general of the enemy country who has been plotting against the Byzantine Empire for half his life, and they are naturally well aware of the current situation.

It stands to reason that there should never be any war in the east.

At this moment, the caravan had stopped, and the merchants behind the team saw that the road was blocked, and they all sent their men to inquire about the news, and that Daddy Ade was no exception. After a while, the person who was listening in front came back to report, and when Dad Ade heard it, his face was as pale as paper, and he kept beating his chest and sighing, his face was crying and mourning, and he couldn't stop shouting: "It's a loss, this time it's a loss!"

You must know that he staked half of his family property on this trade trip, all of which were put on these truckloads of goods, and even the travel expenses plus the goods book, plus the insurance money for joining the caravan, is already a huge burden - if he arrives in the holy city safely, the transaction is profitable, and he will naturally make a lot of money, but now he is blocked halfway, and he must not go forward, if he turns back to Kalan City, then the freight and the insurance money of the partner are naturally all thrown into the water, and so many truckloads of goods are in his hands, where to digest them?

He was not a top merchant in the first place, but he was a wealthy merchant in Kalan City, and although he was rich, he could not be called rich.

If this trip loses, counting the investment in the early stage, there is still time to be delayed, and I am afraid that I will go bankrupt.

Dad Ade was crying here, Char immediately jumped down, grabbed Dad Ade's men and inquired a few words, just about the war, the soldiers of the city defense at the front checkpoint would not say much, but they knew that the city defense blocked the road, and the others couldn't get any valuable news.

The caravan stopped on the main road, and then someone came over and invited Daddy Ade to talk. It turned out that the big chamber of commerce that was the leader of the caravan invited the merchants who were partners in the team to discuss countermeasures. Daddy Ade's head was sweaty, but when he came back, his face became more and more ugly.

I heard him say that this checkpoint has been completely closed, and the leader of the caravan has communicated with many parties, and a lot of money has been stuffed, and some relationships have been pulled, but the other party does not dare to let them pass anyway. Although the leading officers of the customs defense are also greedy for money, it is a matter of military orders, and if something goes wrong, it is a big crime to lose their heads. Although money is lovely, if you don't have a head, you will naturally not be blessed to enjoy it.

Although the caravan was frustrated, it was fortunate that it was not completely disappointed, such a caravan was formed, not to say that it would be dispersed, and everyone still planned to make further efforts. It's not so simple to ask them to give up so easily. Although there was no way for a while, everyone had to stay here and wait for news.

Fortunately, the officers of the defending army were bought, and although they were not allowed to let them go, they could spend money to sell some food and drinking water in the city.

Everyone waited on this road for the time being, and it was said that the leading figure of the chamber of commerce had sent an urgent envoy to invite some powerful people to come forward.

In this way, the caravan waited outside the city defense for a day, and at night, hundreds of people stayed on the side of the road outside the city, fortunately, everyone was traveling and trading, and it was common for people to sleep in the open air, and at night the caravan was surrounded in a circle, and then camped, just seeing that the city was in front of them, but they could not enter the city, they could only drink cold wind and eat cold dry food outside the city, and everyone was resentful in their hearts.

Early the next morning, several merchants sent people to the city gate to find the defenders to grind their mouths, and even if they were not allowed to let them go, at least they had to inquire about more valuable news.

The defenders of the city defense finally stopped talking so tightly, and under the attack of those merchants' silver bullets, they finally relented and confided a lot of news, and then these news came to the caravan, so that Char couldn't help but be stunned when he heard it, and then his face couldn't help but become strange.

It turns out that the war in this place is real, and there is really a battle to be fought!

And the side of the war is still an old friend that Char is very familiar with.

※※※ The caravan stayed here for another day, and at night, it was still ready to camp as usual, but it was dark, and suddenly people felt a vibration on the ground, these caravans who were used to going out of the far gate were all experienced, and when they heard it, everyone suddenly became sè, and there were even those mercenary warriors, who quickly jumped up and whistled and called out to their companions, and quickly commanded the sè people to retreat into the circle formed by the carriage, and some of the samurai were already lying on the ground, their ears were close to the ground, and they raised their faces and said loudly: "To the south, a large group of cavalry! Not to mention two or three thousand cavalry!"

The mercenaries were right, and the caravan hid in the enclosure, and some of the young men took out their weapons from their carts - and when they were out, they would not fail to prepare except for the hired mercenaries. This caravan has hundreds of people, and if there is an emergency, those who can do it can make up more than two hundred.

Not long after it got dark, on the road in the south direction, you could still vaguely see a piece of dust flying, covering the sky.

Everyone in the caravan has changed, even those mercenaries who are used to licking blood, they are all awe-inspiring.

The dust swept from the road in the distance, Huo Ran was a cavalry!

That is, it was the chūn season, and it had just rained a few days ago, and the roads were not as dry as in autumn, so the cavalry came all the way, and the dust could not be seen until they got closer. If it's autumn, I'm afraid that this dust can be seen from afar.

That cavalry came from afar, the speed didn't seem to be very fast, just maintained a uniform speed of marching, Char is a familiar expert with soldiers, obviously the generals of this army deliberately left horsepower, and when they got closer, they could also see that the other party's cavalry was on the march, and the queue was very neat, and it was clearly a jīng sharp appearance, the kind of third-rate warlord governor like a local tyrant in the countryside, he could never afford to raise a cavalry of this appearance.

Among the forces of the Byzantine Empire at that time, there were very few who could raise cavalry of this size.

And when the cavalry ran closer, so that people could see their banners and costumes, it was even more surprising.

It was actually the attire of the Byzantine Empire's zhōngyāng army of the Qing Dynasty!

The cavalry is a pair or even three horses, which is a luxury. The cavalry attire is also the black-striped cavalry armor that can only be configured by the zhōngyāng army, the small shield of the left hand of the Qing Yi sè, the right hand of the rifle, and the saber that is often hung on the saddle.

The zhōngyāng army, which is the standard cavalry of the zhōngyāng army of the Byzantine Empire!

Seeing that in the eastern part of the empire, which was already controlled by the warlord party, such a large group of cavalry of the zhōngyāng army suddenly appeared, which immediately made everyone fall into shock.

And only there is no surprise on his face, but only a little weird, but it is our Uncle Char.

※※※ This cavalry is still far away, and the city defense has already frantically sounded the horn of Shejǐng, and the army on the city wall is nervously assembled.

And the caravan under the city has froze, at this moment they are only a few hundred meters away from the city wall, this distance is not close, it is not far away, it is impossible to enter the city, and it is impossible to leave.

If the two sides fight, this caravan will be the first to suffer!

Whether it was those merchants or those mercenaries, they had already understood this truth in an instant, many of them had turned pale, and only those mercenaries were still barely holding their weapons, but they obviously didn't have much of the original jīng gods.

The cavalry who came from afar also discovered such a strange procession under the city - such a caravan formed a circle with horse-drawn carriages under the city, which was naturally very eye-catching.

The cavalry team saw it from a distance, and soon there was a burst of military horns, Char naturally recognized it when he heard it, it was the order of the cavalry of the imperial zhōngyāng army to march, and after a while, the cavalry slowed down, stopped in the distance, and after regrouping, he looked at the caravan under the city with fierce eyes.

This scene was extremely strange, and I think this cavalry probably didn't expect such a strange situation.

They came to this city, but they didn't expect that there would be such a caravan stationed outside the city.

And here in the caravan, the leaders of half of the leading merchants have already fainted in fright, seeing that the cavalry stopped, but the leader of the chamber of commerce did not dare to let his subordinates make any reaction, this kind of thing is delicate, if there is any action on their own side that makes the other party misunderstand as hostility, then it is an act of suicide!

Don't look at yourself, there are still hundreds of young men with weapons here, but when you encounter this kind of regular zhōngyāng army cavalry, in case the other party uses your own knife, this kind of ragtag rabble meets professional jīng rui, and people can kill their own people in a moment!

Fortunately, the owner of this caravan, since the big chamber of commerce is a wealthy family holding the holy city's trade order flag, the leader who naturally sent out to lead the team is not a mediocre talent, and soon made the most correct response: send someone to hang his own business flag high. Then he opened the enclosure, rode out himself, and raised his hands high, signaling that he had no weapons, and rode towards the opposite cavalry team.

He also knew the rules, and when he was far away from the cavalry team, he took the initiative to turn over and dismount, and walked over with a rolling belt, and two cavalrymen came up and searched him up and down, and then took him up and down the line, and the leader of the caravan was brought to a big man who was heavily surrounded by the cavalry, and knelt down to tell something.

A moment later, he was released, and he waved his hands high at this place, and here in the caravan, the few leaders who stayed behind were relieved when they saw his gesture.

It's safe.

The cavalry came in a small detachment, and quickly forced the caravan to encircle, and let them drive the carriage away from the garrison quickly, away from the city defenses, while the cavalry team continued to supervise and not relax at all.

Char in the team saw it and smiled in a low voice: "It's okay, I didn't treat us as cannon fodder, and I still have a conscience." Looks like it's about to start. ”

Hastings listened, opened his eyes and glanced at the cavalry not far away, sneered, and then closed his eyes again to recuperate. He is the Odin Martial God, an invincible and famous general in the world, and I don't know how many Byzantine Empire's jīng sharp soldiers and horses have been destroyed, and among the Empire's zhōngyāng army, it can be said that except for the Rodria cavalry in the past, all the rest are defeated under his Hasting!

Although the cavalry of this zhōngyāng army is majestic, where will it be looked at by Hasting?

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