Section 160 Persuasion

There are countless ways to kill a human, but if you put them in order of cruelty, the stake type is definitely the first of them.

Essien looked at the corpse in front of him. Once arrogant, arrogant, and invincible, Bairheim is now a miserable corpse. Bairheim was naked at the moment. A sharpened wooden stick was stuck in the ground, and the sharp end of the stick pierced through Baierheim's lower body, and his mouth peeked through Baierheim's entire body. Pierced by the stick, Byerheim's mouth was wide open and looked like he was screaming.

It was a cry of pain, despair and terror. Even a man like Essien, a man who had seen blood and death, a man who thought he was hard-hearted, couldn't help but feel a chill down his back.

If it was to say that the execution of Bairheim was expected by Essien, this matter had long been expected. But I can't believe that little girl would give such an order...... It was unbelievable that the little girl could stand aside, witness the whole process of this cruel and bloody process, watch the captives cry and struggle in front of them, and then be mercilessly pierced through the guts by the stake, in extreme pain until death...... Unbelievable that's something a little girl would do!

What kind of blood is flowing on this little girl's body? Why didn't she feel this at all when she was her personal guard in the past? At that time, I thought she was just an ordinary little girl.

Essien had a vague sense that if he didn't convince Skadera to help, he would be doomed...... Probably the same as Bairheim.

This is also a very clear statement. The little queen has made it clear that she and Byron are inseparable, and there is no possibility of reconciliation. If there were any lobbyists in the past who tried to resolve this "contradiction", now they also know how to keep their mouths shut.

"Essien, it's almost time, if you delay any longer, the corpse will rot. Clio reminded him that Essien had just recovered from his nightmarish state.

He couldn't help but think of Byron, and he didn't know what Byron would look like now. According to the time reckoning, Byron has probably figured out Essien's actions by now. But now he can probably only yell and thunder. It's a pity, if anger is useful, then what do you want the army for?

In fact, the death of Byrheim was not so much a blow to Byron's forces as a blow to Byron's feelings. Even if he died, Byron would not fall into the realm of being cut off from his descendants. Because Byron actually had descendants - Essien knew that Byrheim had been married and had two (or three?) children.

It's a pity that those children may not be able to reach adulthood. Because of the burning of the warehouse in Fornoros, Byron's fatal wound was directly caused......

"Essien!" Clio shouted. "We don't have much time. First of all, we have to find a way to get some lime!"

"I'm sorry," Essien came back to his senses. "I'm distracted. ”

As far as the army is concerned, neither Ashrufat nor the little queen has any trouble. Essien easily chose five hundred well-equipped soldiers. This small force set out from the besieged camp in the city of Fornoros and followed the main road north. Within a few days, they were under the two border castles.

This was originally Byron's predetermined battlefield, and it was also the place where he had an absolute advantage. Unfortunately, the little queen didn't play according to his cards, so Byron had two fortified castles but no chance to play a role. At this moment, the defenders of the castle used a resolute tactic to confront the king's army according to Byron's previous arrangement. The garrisons of the two castles combined numbered six or seven thousand, while the little queen's troops under the city were only four thousand. But the little queen used these 4,000 men to immobilize the garrisons of Byron's two castles.

On that point alone, Byron was really not a soldier—but there was a consensus on that.

Essien soon secured himself a chance to negotiate. Having said that, it's easy, just hold the white flag and get closer, and those defenders can easily let a few "messengers" in. This is also a characteristic of civil wars, where the warring parties, except for those at the top who have a life-and-death relationship, the hatred between the middle and lower classes is actually very weak. Switching sides or something, at the highest level, is a betrayal, but in private it is easy to get everyone's understanding.

This is the same castle that Essien had stayed at before, where Byron had stopped for several days on the way to evacuate Eagle Falcon, regrouping his ranks and hosting a feast to boost his morale. For this reason, both Esin and Clio knew the commander of the castle's garrison, a middle-aged officer in his fifties, whose name was Tren. According to Essien, Tren is the kind of commander who is very common and mediocre. He held this position not because of his extraordinary talent, but because he had served Byron for many years and was considered loyal and reliable, so he was promoted to lieutenant general and put in charge of this important place.

Because of this, when Essien and Cleo entered the castle, they were not prisoners, but were received as guests. They left their weapons with their retinue, and met Tren in the castle's reception room.

"Essien, I didn't expect you to defect to the little queen. Tren didn't show much resentment for Essien's actions. "What are you doing here, are you here to convince me to surrender?" he said, with a malicious expression.

Essien looked at Clio, who cleared his throat. "Actually, General Tren," Clio said, drawing Tren's gaze to himself. "We're here to give you a chance. ”

"What kind of opportunity?"

"An opportunity to avoid ruining miè. Clio replied. "Do you want to be martyred for Byron?"

"I really don't see that. Tren said with a sneer. "I've heard that the little queen defeated Duke Byron in a field battle, but that doesn't mean much. Fornoros' defense is impregnable, I know that very well, and it's a little too early to say that the winner will be lost. ”

"It's a shame you're the only one who thinks so, like our Lord Locks. ”

"Locks?" Tren knew that Locks was Byron's greatest vassal. He also ...... Betrayed?"

"Betrayal, why do you use that word?" asked Cleo, with an innocent expression.

"He was a vassal of Byron, and his family was ...... back when the Byronic family was still royal."

"But Byron is no longer royal. Cleo interrupted. "There is only one royal family in the whole of Gruny, and the royal family is called Makremiz. As for Byron," he said in a calm and powerful tone. "I have long sworn allegiance to the Makremiz family. ”

"This ......"

"In this whole relationship, there is only one person who betrays, and that is Byron. I have to say this, General Trun, if you think that Byron is right in what he did, then now you should immediately lower your flag and surrender. Because Byron can betray the Queen, it means that you can follow his example. If you think what Byron did was wrong, then ...... His mistake shouldn't affect your right position, right?"

Tren was momentarily speechless. This is the power of kingship, and logically, since Byron betrayed his oath of allegiance, he naturally has no position to demand that others be loyal to it.

"I don't want to talk about this. Tren said. "I've served the Duke for decades, and it's a good situation, and I don't want to change that. Other than that, I don't believe the little queen can win. ”

"You're right, everybody wants to be on the winner's side. Clio agreed, "I couldn't agree more. As for the former point...... Are you really content with your current situation? I heard one thing, you are the commander here...... It's been more than 10 years, hasn't it?"

At this moment, Clio's eyes were fixed on Tren's face. From the other party's expression, he caught a trace of clues.

"Dear General Tren, I think you might be able to get an idea of why we changed sides. "Cleo told Essien what had happened before. He recounts, in a skillful and provocative tone, how Essien took risks, how hard, and how he did everything possible to carry out the reconnaissance mission, and then only got Byron's "well done" phrase at the meeting. Of course, he added numerous additional materials to the story to inspire Tren's identity.

“...... So, you see, after something like this, we both decided that Duke Byron was really not worth following. You just talked about winning and losing...... Even if Byron wins, what's in it for us?"

It must be said that these words had a considerable impact.

"Lord Duke is not generous enough," Tren did show an empathetic expression. "But that's not a reason for my betrayal. The outcome of this war is undecided......"

He paused, as Clio made a gesture.

"Do you really think it's undecided, General Tren?," he said, "and let me give you a proof of your resolve." Something is in my entourage, please wait. ”

Tren didn't know what was going on for a moment. Clio got up to leave, and after a short moment, he returned to the reception room, holding a large box in his hand.

"That's my proof. Clio placed the box on the table, opened it, and showed the contents to Tren.

"This ...... This one...... Barheim?" Tren was shocked.

Inside the box was the head of Bairheim. Tren had been under Barheim for so long (when Byron was away, Barheim was in charge of everything in the territory), so he would never admit that he would be mistaken.

For a person like Tren, ordinary reasoning, stimulation or anything is not enough. If you want him to be truly shaken, it must be a heavy blow to the head.

"It's ...... What's going on?" he looked up, his eyes visibly panicked. Byrheim was Byron's eldest son, heir, and an important figure after Byron. If he dies, then it means......

"I don't want to explain anything more, but after reading this, you probably understand what's going on. Clio replied. "I just want to state this objective fact to you...... The outcome has been known for a long time, at least it is basically decided. ”

"The city of Fornoros has fallen, and what about the Duke?" Tren could only get such an explanation.

"Byron was alive, or rather alive when we left. As for now......" Clio replied. "I don't know. Maybe he's still alive. But no matter how tenacious his vitality is, the days left are numbered. ”

Tren had a look of disbelief on his face, his face full of confusion. Seeing this irrefutable evidence, his faith collapsed at once. He had thought that the impregnable city of Fornoros would be captured at once? No, Byron was not dead, so it was not completely captured. By the way, Byron has retreated into the inner city...... But since the outer city can't resist it, how many days can the inner city hold out? He knows very well the defensive layout of the city, not to mention that there is not much food in the inner city. "How could it be ......"