Chapter 735 Prisoner Robbery
..—The Prime Minister has an order, everyone behind you should follow closely! Bandits and thieves often appear in this mountainous area, which kept my eyes peeled! "
Beside the road, a pot-bellied baron riding on a dark brown plains horse held the reins in one hand and put his other hand on his round waist.
He scolded the group of temporarily recruited farmers and refugees hanging on his tail.
However, no one paid attention to the orders of the pot-bellied baron. They just lowered their heads and walked forward slowly.
Seeing these low-status guys pretending to be deaf and mute, not taking him seriously at all, the pot-bellied baron suddenly became angry. He shouted at these untouchables, "Are you deaf?"
Still no one paid attention to him.
"Okay, you bastards, how dare you not take me seriously~" After saying that, the pot-bellied baron raised his riding crop and whipped it at a thin peasant soldier in front of him who was carrying luggage and had his back bent!
"Ah!"
With the sound of a whip hitting flesh, the thin peasant soldier let out a wail. He glanced back at the fat, aristocratic officer in front of him, and quickly trotted to catch up with the team in front.
When the others saw this, they trotted away like frightened lambs~
Seeing these homeless farmers fleeing under his power, the pot-bellied baron pinched his chin covering his neck and shouted, "Huh! You bunch of untouchables, if I don't show you some color, you don't know how powerful I am." After that, he raised his riding crop again and whipped it at an old man~
Near a deserted valley in the southeastern mountainous area of Sauronburg, a team of hundreds of people walked proudly on the rugged mountain road.
The uneven road made the escort team, which had been bumpy for several days, exhausted.
Since leaving Milan, this group of thirty palace soldiers and more than a hundred temporarily recruited peasant refugees have been marching along the northward business road for five days.
Last night, the team rested in a market town. Early this morning, the palace baron who led the team hurriedly gathered the team to set off again, causing this group of ordinary civilians who had never traveled long distances to complain. If it weren't for the generous reward promised by the palace, they would not have joined the team of escorting prisoners.
Looking at the way these untouchables were escaping one after another, the pot-bellied baron put away his riding whip with satisfaction, and led a few of his men to rush towards the front of the team·
Just in front of the team, the Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace took the lead, riding on horseback and walking forward accompanied by a leading baron.
The five or six soldiers who followed the palace prime minister looked tired. They braced themselves and followed the palace noble in the scorching sun, glancing at the surrounding wheat fields and dilapidated houses from time to time.
The leading baron, who was half a horse's head behind and following the palace prime minister, wiped the sweat from his forehead. He thought that he would be able to reach Solonborg before dark and complete the escort mission. He couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the Prime Minister of the Palace constantly wiping the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief, the Baron took off the water bag hanging on the saddle and handed it over, "Prime Minister, drink some water to quench your thirst."
The Prime Minister of the Palace turned his head, picked up the water bag and took two gulps. The deep chill in his heart made his dry and smoking throat immediately feel better.
"Look, what kind of errand did I take on? A dignified Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace actually took on the errand of escorting prisoners~" After saying that, the Prime Minister turned back and glanced at the prison car in the middle of the team. The prisoners huddled in it lay motionless.
"Tell your soldiers to pay close attention to the prisoner in the prison car, but don't let him die. At least let him breathe before arriving at Solenberg."
"Don't worry, Mr. Palace Minister, I have already ordered him to go down." To arrive at Sauron Castle?"
"Go back to the Prime Minister, we will definitely arrive before dark." The baron replied confidently, "Yes~" The Prime Minister of the Palace nodded with satisfaction and continued: "My order, everyone, be alert and pay attention to the surrounding situation. We are about to arrive at the destination, but we can't make any more trouble."
"Yes, Your Majesty the Palace Minister."
Speak, the leading baron turned his horse's head and ran towards the back~
Looking at the escort team composed of farmers and refugees falling behind him, the palace prime minister sighed heavily and helplessly: " I really didn’t expect that a palace prime minister like me, who went north to negotiate peace, would be reduced to such a state~"
As the powerful second-in-command in the Lombardy palace, my current travel specifications are indeed inconsistent with my status as a palace prime minister.
Before leaving, at the repeated request of the palace prime minister, the Duke of Lombardy agreed to let him take away twenty palace soldiers. The remaining personnel are all temporarily recruited, and their combat strength is basically negligible. In order to ensure his own safety, the palace prime minister also mobilized some of his own private soldiers to fill the escort team to ensure his own safety.
In addition to the baron who led the army arranged by the palace, the prime minister of the palace specially arranged his own nephew by his side and ordered him to gather some people to follow him northward.
But on the day of departure, the palace prime minister was surprised to find that except for a small number of temporary peasant soldiers who seemed to have some fighting ability, the rest were all elderly refugees. But the departure was imminent, and the palace prime minister didn't care so much anymore. The next day, he set off with his team, escorted the prisoners, and took several carriages of goods with him to the north.
But he would never have imagined that his negligence would almost cost him his life on the way to Solenberg"
"—Baron, they are coming!"
Looking at the escort team heading towards the north exit of the valley, a black-robed soldier in charge of surveillance quickly ran down the hillside and reported the enemy situation to the big-nosed Baron hiding at the entrance of the valley.
"Everyone, prepare!" The big-nosed Baron lowered his voice and gave the order to the ambush soldiers lying in the grass.
"You guys, go to the west hillside to ambush. The rest of you, stay with me on the east hillside. When they arrive here, block their retreat with huge rocks and shoot the soldiers in front. When I give the order, everyone will rush down for me, fight quickly, and rescue the Earl!"
"Yes!"
After a while, the group of black-robed soldiers who were ambushing here divided into two groups and entered their respective ambush locations. When the escort team was about to reach the exit of the valley, everyone from the palace prime minister to the spokesmen and grooms breathed a sigh of relief. Because leaving the valley means leaving the bumpy road. The rest of the journey is relatively easy.
At this time, the pot-bellied baron who had been following the prison car rushed forward and said to the palace prime minister: "Your Majesty Prime Minister, can we take a rest after leaving the valley?"
After marching in the mountains for most of the day, the pot-bellied baron could no longer bear the pain caused by his sore back.
The Prime Minister of the Palace looked at his unsatisfactory son and sighed: "That's fine. You can take a few people to explore the road ahead and find a suitable place to rest. We will arrive later."
"Follow your orders!" After saying that, the pot-bellied baron led a few of his men and hurried forward to a place less than a hundred steps away from the exit of the valley. The pot-bellied baron reined in the reins and glanced at the mountainside on both sides.
Not far away, a pair of sharp eyes like an eagle were also staring at him.
After a while, the baron with a big belly who didn't notice anything strange continued to move forward, quickly rushed out of the valley mouth with a few of his men, and rushed towards the plain in the distance.
Faced with this sudden change halfway up the mountain, the big-nosed Baron, who was preparing to ambush the escorting team, made an immediate decision and sent one of his men down the mountain quickly, following a few cavalrymen.
As soon as his men disappeared into the bushes, the escort team arrived at the mouth of the valley.
"Get ready!" The big-nosed Baron slowly raised his right hand, signaling to his men to prepare to push down the boulder in front of him. ‖ At this time, the Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace, who was walking in front of the team, was not aware of the impending disaster. When he looked at the empty plain outside the valley exit, he felt extremely comfortable.
However, when he looked up at the two hillsides again, the branches shaking violently at the top of the slopes frightened him and he quickly reined in the reins.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, be careful!" When the Prime Minister of the Palace stood there blankly, the leading baron who noticed the danger beside him immediately grabbed the reins in his hand and pulled the man and the horse behind him.
The other soldiers following the two men did not react in time and were smashed into puddles of flesh by the boulders flying straight down.
Seeing the scene in front of them, the conscripted peasant soldiers following the team were frightened. They dropped their weapons and ran behind them. -
"Hold on! Hold on!" After the leading baron helped the palace prime minister off his horse, he shouted at the fleeing peasant soldiers.
When the last boulder rolled down and hit the ground heavily, a cloud of dust was thrown up, instantly covering everyone's sight.
After a while, coughs could be heard from time to time in the dust-shrouded escort team.
"Protect the Prime Minister, watch the prison car!" Among the panicked crowd, the leading baron remained calm in the face of danger and began to organize a counterattack.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, an arrow with its tail feathers screaming passed by him and nailed into the chest of another soldier a few steps away from him.
Immediately afterwards, one, two, three... As a neighing sound came, seven or eight of the escorting soldiers had fallen down before they could react.
When the dust dispersed, the baron was shocked by the dozen or so men in black robes who had climbed over the boulder and appeared in front of the leading baron. Sword, shouted and slashed at the enemy who had already rushed over. When the other soldiers saw this, they drew their swords to meet the enemy, roaring and charging forward. However, after one round, the escort team had already killed and injured more than ten people, and the other side only had a black-robed soldier whose arm was cut off by the leading baron. As the most powerful leader in the team, the baron was stabbed in his left arm by the opponent and was bleeding profusely.
Looking at the unkind group of guys in front of him, the leading baron subconsciously glanced back at the palace prime minister huddled under the prison car, and shouted to the remaining soldiers: "Fight for the Lombards!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an arrow pierced his neck.—