“…Conquer the fortress in ten days?” Paul muttered silently after opening the secret letter. "What should we do~"
Looking at the sad look on the leader of the Viscount's face, the confidant knight who was standing aside hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Lord Viscount, is there a letter from the palace?"
Paul casually handed the secret letter to the knight.
"Conquer the fortress in ten days? This~" The knight expressed the same emotion. The reason for this is that the Lombard army's attack on the garrison at the mouth of the valley was repeatedly frustrated, and the enemy's skin was not even hurt.
"It seems that the Duke is determined to add the valley to the territory of Lombardy." Paul was in a depressed mood and had a headache about the decision made by the palace.
I thought that with my five hundred iron troops, it would be easy to capture a small valley, but I never thought that dozens of people had been killed or injured in the small fortress at the entrance of the valley alone. They attacked five or six times in succession, but couldn't find a breakthrough.
"Sir Viscount, those guys in the palace who only talk about things all day long have no idea what's going on here. If we follow their orders, I'm afraid all of us will be~"
"Shut up!" Paul turned around and shouted at the knight, "Do you know what you are talking about?"
"Sir Viscount, I..." The knight still complained about Paul because of the palace's order.
"Okay, don't let me hear these words a second time. If word gets out, I won't even be able to protect you."
"Yes, Lord Viscount." The knight looked around and lowered his head before replying.
Paul walked back and forth in the tent, thinking about ways to defeat the enemy. In recent days, the Lombard army used every method they could think of, but the result was only one - a hasty retreat. Due to the narrow road at the valley entrance, siege equipment could not be deployed at all. In addition, only one ladder can be built on the fortress wall, and no more than five or six people can stand near the fortress at a time. The Lombard army used this fueling tactic to attack continuously, with little effect. Until now, the lives and deaths of several Lombard soldiers who were squeezed into the rapids by their companions due to the narrow road are still unknown.
On the other hand, the garrison on one side of the fortress relied on the strong and unusually strong stone structure of the outer wall to resist, and only seven or eight people could easily hold it. After a long attack, only two soldiers in the fortress garrison were injured by arrows, but they were not fatal.
After several unsuccessful attacks on the fortress, Paul also tried to sneak around the enemy's rear from both sides of the valley to attack. But what he didn't expect was that the dense forests on both sides looked easy to pass through. In fact, there were many cliffs and cliffs, mountain streams and streams, the terrain was complicated, and venomous snakes and beasts appeared from time to time in the mountains, making it impossible to win by surprise.
Hunted to the point of being stubborn, the clever leader Viscount tried to bribe the garrison soldiers with money. Unexpectedly, the enemy asked the archers to release arrows without saying anything. The Lombard officers who went to negotiate had to return in despair.
In the next few days, the Lombards continued to confront the garrison at the mouth of the valley. But unlike the armed confrontation, the Lombards began shouting and cursing in Burgundian within a stone's throw of the Taniguchi Fortress, and used all kinds of obscene words in turn, hoping to anger the defenders and make them come out for a decisive battle...
"You cowards, if you can, don't hide in the fortress. Come out and fight us openly~"
"You bunch of bastards are not worthy of fighting with us at all..."
… ...
…"These bastards scolded me so much that my ears are getting calluses~"
At noon, Bury, who was half lying on the wooden board in the small room inside the fortress, was tossing and turning, being disturbed by the yelling and cursing of the Lombards outside and unable to sleep. Berry stood up and came to Hans on the bed on the other side, pushing Hans who was also in a daze with his eyes open.
"Hans, why don't you go talk to Chief Colin and let me take a few people out to teach those bastards who have been yelling outside all day long."
Hans pushed away Bury's hand on his body and said: "How many times have I told you, Chief Colin has repeatedly told you that no matter how provocative the enemy is, you cannot go out to fight. You, just stay here and don't go out to cause any trouble. Otherwise, you will wait for the punishment of the earl~"
Hans sighed lightly, regretting that he had been fined for a year and demoted by Art.
"Forget it, I won't go." After that, Berry climbed onto his bed and lay down, wrapped in a felt blanket and fell asleep.
For several days, the soldiers stationed at the fortress did not see the Lombards attack again. Gradually, the yelling and cursing changed from five or six times a day to twice a day. In the end, the Lombard soldiers who came to provoke them simply sat under the trees to enjoy the coolness, drink wine and gamble on beans, and then all retreated when the time was up. The attention was no longer on the fortress garrison.
Although the enemy did not see any movement, the soldiers in the garrison still observed the situation outside every day and did not dare to relax at all, in case the Lombards suddenly made a counterattack. Officers and soldiers on duty are all stationed in the fortress barracks. Once the enemy attacks, they will immediately organize defense.
While the Duke of Lombardy was looking forward to good news from the front, he waited for the special envoy of the Duke of Swabia...
...
"...Swabian envoy? What is he doing here again!" Early in the morning, the messenger came to report that the special envoy of the Duke of Swabia requested to see him. The Duke of Lombardy asked sleepily after hearing this.
"Your Majesty, the Swabian envoy said that he came here because of what happened last time."
“What happened last time?” The Duke of Lombardy thought to himself, stroking his chin beard and searching in his mind for the last time the Duke of Swabia came to discuss matters. "Is it possible~"
"Bring him here and let him wait in the hall." After a moment, the Duke of Lombardy ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke."
After breakfast, the Duke of Lombardy slowly walked into the palace reception hall with the "support" of his servants.
"Your Majesty the Duke~" The Swabian envoy, who had been waiting for a long time and was already a little impatient, saw the Duke of Lombardy walking into the hall and hurriedly stepped forward.
Cough~
The Duke of Lombardy pretended to cough twice and slapped his chest.
“Envoy, please take a seat~” The Duke of Lombardy extended his hand to signal the Swabian envoy to take a seat, and he walked towards the large leather chair at the head of the hall.
"Your Majesty, Duke, what are you doing~" In my memory, the last time the Swabian envoy saw the Duke of Lombardy, he did not look so sickly.
"Forget it, I caught a cold a few days ago. I'm old and can't stand the hardship~" As he spoke, the Duke of Lombardy coughed a few more times. The servant quickly brought the bucket of spit to the Duke of Lombardy.
Listening to the spitting sound of the Duke of Lombardy, the Swabian envoy turned his head to the side and felt nauseated.
After a while, the Duke of Lombardy finally regained his breath. "Why did the special envoy come?"
"I wonder if your lord, the Duke, still remembers the last time I came to discuss with you?" The Swabian envoy got straight to the point.
"What happened last time?"
The Duke of Lombardy touched his head, trying to remember what he had forgotten.
"It seems that the Duke has forgotten, then let me say it."
"Okay, then there is Special Envoy Lau." The Duke of Lombardy cast his eyes on the somewhat dissatisfied guy in front of him.
"I have come to discuss with you on behalf of the Duke of Swabia before. Swabia is willing to join the First Lombards in attacking the Kingdom of Burgundy. I wonder if the Duke still remembers this?"
Duke of Lombardy nodded slightly, "That seems to be the case. Look at my brain, I can't remember anything now. What you told me yesterday, I may have forgotten it after sleeping~" Duke of Lombardy turned around and glanced at the servant beside him, feeling helpless.
Of course, the Swabian envoy is not a fool, and he will definitely not be fooled just because the Duke of Lombardy pretends to be deaf and dumb. But he couldn't show any dissatisfaction on other people's territory, so he had no choice but to nod in response.
Seeing that you have not expressed your position on that matter for so long, my Lord Duke sent me here specially to hear your thoughts ***** Duke Bardi sighed softly and said: "You also saw it, I I have been feeling ill recently, and I am really helpless. Otherwise, you can go back and tell your lord, the Duke, and I will send someone to contact you when I feel better." The Duke of Lombardy tried to dismiss the guy in front of him.
"This~" the Swabian envoy continued with a look of embarrassment on his face, "I'm afraid it won't be easy for me to do business when I go back. My Lord Duke has been waiting for your news. If he hadn't heard that the Lombard army was attacking the southern valley of the Burgundy Kingdom, he wouldn't have sent me here in such a hurry~" The Swabian envoy told the real purpose of his trip.
A few days ago, the news that the Lombard army "invaded" the southern border of the Burgundian kingdom reached the ears of the Duke of Swabia, which surprised him. At first, he didn't believe the news. Because if Lombardy wanted to attack the Burgundy Kingdom, it would be impossible to enter the Burgundy Kingdom except through Provence and Swabia. Provence and Lombardy have been enemies for many years, and they will never let the Lombard army enter their territory. No trace of the Lombards has been found in Swabia.
In order to find out the authenticity of this news, the Duke of Swabia sent people to inquire around and learned that the Lombard army had a "conflict" with the army of the southern count of the Burgundy Kingdom in the southern part of the valley that had been uninhabited for hundreds of years at the junction of the Burgundy Kingdom and the third country of Provence and Lombardy.
The Duke of Swabia was furious when he learned the truth, and was greatly annoyed by the Duke of Lombardy's breach of trust. In this way, he is very likely to lose this powerful ally in attacking the Burgundian kingdom. Now, the Duke of Lombardy secretly attacks the southern border of the Burgundy Kingdom without telling him. His purpose is obvious. Lombardy wants to occupy the nameless valley, and then move north to monopolize the Burgundy Kingdom.
The Duke of Swabia, who has been coveting the territory of Burgundy, will certainly not give up. So he sent a special envoy to Lombardy again. In addition to warning Lombardy not to try to swallow up the Burgundy Kingdom in one go, he still hoped to unite Lombardy to conquer the Burgundy Kingdom.
The Duke of Lombardy is definitely a careerist. If he can swallow up the Burgundy Kingdom in one go, then there will be nothing wrong with others. This was his previous thought. But now, the Duke of Swabia somehow found out about his attack on the Burgundy Kingdom, which actually put him in a bit of a quandary.
But the always cunning Duke of Lombardy has already thought of a countermeasure...