Chapter 621 Fake Surrender
-Guys, look relaxed, don’t be so nervous, everything is going according to plan, just follow my eyes when the time comes. "The leading messenger turned to give instructions to his subordinates behind him, rubbing the sheepskin bag beside him with his right hand. The group of people behind him gradually removed their hands from the hilt of their swords.
Two days ago, a secret order transferred him and a dozen of his men from an inconspicuous mansion in the west of Milan to the north.
At that time, the meritorious Count Balian of Provence was launching a massive offensive. The western front was defeated all the way, and the situation was dangerous.
The Duke of Lombardy led his troops to attack the Praetorian Guards' camp several times, but all returned equally, making it difficult to find any weaknesses in his opponents. The military situation is urgent, the situation is not optimistic, and it is difficult to find a way to defeat the enemy. The Duke of Lombardy thought carefully and decided to start with the commander and high-ranking officers of the Guards Corps. Once he succeeded, he could break the current deadlock.
At this moment, Deadpool, whom he spent a huge amount of money and a lot of energy to train, immediately came to his mind.
It is better to say that they are a group of servants who are loyal to the Duke of Lombardy. These people went through layers of cruel and almost perverted screening from the Lombard Army, and in the end only a dozen people remained. And the leading "messenger" is the core figure of this group - Roman, a hereditary viscount.
As a military honorary, Roman received military education from his father's professors since he was a child. As the son of a nobleman and the eldest son in the family, his family has great expectations for him. Roman lived up to expectations and made great contributions in many battles of Lombardy's external expansion. He was awarded medals by the Duke of Lombardy many times.
With these honors, coupled with his good combat prowess and the support of his family background, Roman naturally entered the shadow army behind the Duke of Lombardy and became the first commander.
The Deadpool team only accepts the dispatch of the Duke of Lombardy and is only responsible to the Duke of Lombardy. Unless there is a major mission, he will never appear on the battlefield easily. On weekdays, this team is stationed at the mansion west of Milan and trains every day. Its main task is not to protect the personal safety of the Duke of Lombardy, but to complete a strategic task of great importance to the principality.
·Every member is proficient in swordsmanship, crossbows, mounted archery, disguise, poisoning, assassination, etc., and their combat power is extremely strong. The killer Assassin raised by the Dean family in Thorne, who had been enemies of Art before, was not at the same level as these people.
At this time of national crisis, the Duke of Lombardy had no choice but to draw out this sharp blade: "Sir, since we are talking about peace, why didn't your lord the Duke come here in person, but just sent you here? This would be too disrespectful of me."
Flanders took the lead.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty the Marquis, this is indeed rude on our part. But please listen to my explanation. Because my Lord the Duke is a little ill and is inconvenient to leave the camp for peace talks, he sent me here. The entire Southern Continent knows that the Lord of the Burgundy Kingdom, Mr. Rand is broad-minded and will not lose his temper over such a trivial matter."
Roman deftly resolved the etiquette dispute with a few words in fluent Common Tongue. He also praised Flanders and blocked his criticism.
Flender smiled slightly, actually somewhat appreciating the blond, blue-eyed, handsome and well-spoken young man in front of him.
“Young man,” Flanders continued, “Although you have a mouth that is good at praising others, I would rather the person standing in front of me is a brave and fearless warrior, rather than a guy who only knows how to flatter. Could it be that the Lombard army is full of smooth-talkers like you? Human?"
Hahaha"
"Yes."
"Yes!"
There were bursts of ridicule from the high-ranking officers following Flanders. The horse under him neighed from time to time, moving back and forth behind Flanders and his personal guards, waiting for the owner to whip the horse and charge forward.
The sarcasm and ridicule from the other side made Roman's horse a little restless, constantly pulling on the reins and running back and forth.
"Easy, old man. Relax." Roman held the reins with his left hand and gently stroked the mane on the horse's back with his right hand, trying to calm the horse beneath him.
After a while, one person and one horse arrived at the previous location. Although the other party's contempt made him slightly embarrassed, he quickly changed the subject.
"My distinguished Lord Marquis, I have indeed come here for peace talks. We are currently fighting on two fronts, with numerous casualties and casualties, and the people are in dire straits. If the fighting continues, Lombardy may cease to exist. For the sake of the overall situation, the Duke decided to cease war and negotiate with Burgundy, and the two sides will reconcile."
"Reconciliation?" Flanders asked sternly, with a serious expression. He had already expected such a result. But he had no intention of accepting the offer immediately.
“That day, Lombardy declared war without declaring it, and sent troops to directly attack the southern valley of Burgundy. If our soldiers had not resisted desperately, I would have been the one suing for peace today.”
"This, this must be a misunderstanding." Roman was speechless for a moment, and then hurriedly explained: "I can say with certainty that the attack on Burgundy was definitely not the intention of my Duke. This was planned by Walder Burley, and the palace did not know about it. If it hadn't been for that greedy guy who hid it from the Duke. Your Excellency planned this incident, and we will not end up at this point. Because of this incident, Your Majesty the Duke has deprived Walder Burley of his title, taken back all his territories, and put him in prison. In order to express our apology, Your Lordship the Duke is willing to hand over Walder Burley to your disposal."
“Leave it to me? Is this your sincerity in peace talks?” Flanders almost lost his patience. After all, the longer the delay, the more detrimental it will be to the war situation.
"No, no, no, this is just one of the things." Roman explained immediately. "In view of the current situation, it will not benefit anyone if the two sides continue to fight. Therefore, the Duke proposed that as long as Buriandi's soldiers withdraw from Lombardy, he is willing to pay 10,000 pounds of gold in exchange for an armistice between the two countries." After one expedition, you can get 10,000 pounds of gold. This is definitely a very profitable business.
The Lombard envoy's words caused a commotion as soon as he finished speaking. The temptation of money seemed to be difficult to resist. The Guards soldiers holding spears and swords all opened their eyes wide, looking left and right, with expressions of disbelief on their faces. For these soldiers who sacrificed their lives to gain wealth and land, this was an absolutely astronomical figure. Everyone knows that Lombardy is rich, but after this battle, they never imagined that it was so rich.
Looking at the reaction of the Burgundy soldiers, Roman slightly raised the corner of his mouth. But when his eyes fell on Flanders again, the other person's calm face and deep eyes told him that Flanders wanted more than that.
After a moment, Flanders finally spoke.
"Ten thousand pounds of gold? Is the vast land in the north of Lombardy worth just ten thousand pounds of gold?" Flanders finally opened up his ambitions.
"How did I hear that when Lavati bought the city's autonomy, he gave Duke Witote more than just these ten thousand pounds of gold. Are the castles, towns and large tracts of land in the north not worth a Lavati? Don't forget, I still have the city of Santia in my hands." There was a hint of threat in Flanders' tone.
Looking at the greedy monarch opposite, Roman did not show any surprise. Fortunately, the Lombard court had already prepared countermeasures.
"Dear Lord Marquis, you are right. The territory in the north of Lombardy is certainly more precious than ten thousand pounds of gold. "But Duke Witote is a generous man. Not only did he decide to give you ten thousand pounds of gold, he also planned to give you two counties, seven castles and fifteen villages bordering Burgundy to express his feelings." Roman looked sincere and his tone was very gentle. Then he slowly untied the sheepskin bag slung on the horse's back and gently took out the wooden box inside.
"Look, this is the map that the Duke ordered people to work on overnight." Roman raised the wooden box in his hand high"
The first ray of sunlight in the morning appeared on a gentle slope not far from the southeast. The transpiration of water vapor forms a gentle mist, which slowly moves towards the golden forest blown by the morning breeze.
At the end of October, the temperature in the Po River Plain dropped sharply. The wheat fields scattered on the plain were black and yellow, and birds were jumping around in twos and threes, picking up the wheat grains left in the fields.
The forest is turning yellow, and the dark gray trees indicate that winter is coming. At this time, this place has become a paradise for squirrels. Ripe fruits fall to the ground, providing free food to these hard-working guys. Their tiny claws dart back and forth among the dry leaves, making a rustling sound. The acorns and pine nuts that fell on the ground became their favorite food. In order to store rations for the winter, they stuffed their entire mouths with as much food as possible, and then returned to their nests contentedly.
The forest is particularly peaceful in the golden autumn. Brown bears have found places to hibernate, elk barely make a sound,
Timber wolves are walking briskly, and other small animals that lack food have migrated to other places~
Falled tree trunks and tangled branches can be faintly seen in the forest. Scattered footprints and abandoned firewood tell everything that happened here!
A huge sound broke the tranquility here, and a dry branch snapped~
"Stop!"
The voice of an uninvited guest came from the depths of the jungle. Before the Lombard envoy finished speaking, the gloom on Flanders' face was swept away.
As an army commander, he enjoys fighting on the battlefield. But as a monarch, the ruler of the Burangdi Kingdom, he preferred to fight without bloodshed.
But after thinking about it for a while, Flanders regained his rationality and his face turned gloomy. Years of battlefield killing experience have told him countless times - never trust anyone.
But in order to understand the trick of the Duke of Lombardy, he had no choice but to continue: "Then, Sir, please bring me the map to have a look." Flanders then spread his broad right hand and motioned for the envoy to come forward.
"Your Majesty, be careful!" The Iron Guard Captain on the side stepped forward to dissuade him. "The other party's purpose is unknown, I'm afraid~"
"Are you afraid that I will be killed?" Flanders had a calm face and a loud voice.
The Captain of the Iron Guard lowered his head and said nothing, glancing at the Lombard envoy and his three followers who were already riding towards this side.
“Just a dozen or so people here want to kill me, Flanders Otto, and I’m afraid even God won’t agree.” Flanders turned his head and glanced at the Iron Guard Captain.
While turning around, Roman winked at the guys beside him, then looked back at the already dazzling sun in the southeast, and slowly clenched his right hand behind his back into a fist. After receiving the signal, the other attendants who stayed on the horse immediately tightened their reins and stretched their right hands into the large sheepskin bag beside them.