"Waiting quietly... just waiting..."
The old duke turned around and stared into the distance again, his low voice, he didn't know whether he was talking to the girl or talking to himself, after a while, he didn't turn around, just turned his back to the man behind him. Young people, said solemnly: "Could it be that you really plan to wait here and do nothing?"
"I've done all the things the teacher told me, I've done enough, and even a little more." The girl's voice was smiling. At this moment, her smile, such a calm and calm smile, But it seemed to have a cruel and cold taste, only to hear her say slowly: "The teacher once told me something."
"what?"
"The teacher said: In this world, everyone has their own role, everyone has their own duty, do your own duty well, do what you should do, don't do less, but don't do more. , that's it." The girl shrugged her shoulders, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly: "I'm just a weak woman, I can't carry it on my shoulders, and I can't carry it with my hands. Now the city is full of chaos, what else can I do? I can only be careful. I'm hiding in your mansion, and I'm just trying to survive, waiting for all this to pass."
The Duke smiled and said in a low voice: "Don't do less, don't do more, just do your part... Hmph, that guy, always likes to say these kind of nonsense, which is annoying - but the most annoying thing is , but these words are all reasonable."
He raised his hand: "Okay, you stay at my house, I promise, even if the city is turned over, the rebels will never come to my house to harass me. In my life, the old man will always have Some of them are powerful. Those little guys, no matter how daring they are, they are not easy to make mistakes in front of me."
The girl nodded, she touched her face lightly, and only then did she sigh: "Such a cold wind blows people's faces into wood, Lord Duke, I'll go down and rest now."
She turned and left, with Via on the side, and gave the duke a deep look, as if he was hesitating to say anything, the old duke glanced at Via, and finally said: "If something really happened... I will try my best to protect Adrie. Ke's life is over, it's just that guy's temperament, you should know better than me, I'm afraid that if the country really falls, he won't survive."
Via gritted his teeth: "Who cares about his life or death."
It's just that even though she said that, there was still a flash of gratitude in her purple eyes, and then she turned around and walked into the room with the girl.
"Father!"
At this time, Roddy finally spoke, his face was eager to try, looked at the old duke, and clenched his fists: "Are we really doing nothing?! The family has been blessed by the country, and this moment is..."
"Enough." The Duke shook his head, his voice was a little tired, he turned around, looked at his son, his face was majestic, but there was a trace of love in his eyes, and he whispered: "These truths, my old man is better than you. More clearly. Be loyal to the country, observe the death festival... These things are not said with your mouth, really at that moment, my old man knows what to do, but now, you stay at home honestly for me, I don't want to order anymore Got you tied up and locked in the cellar."
"But!!"
The old duke finally turned around and took two steps, his eyes were firmly on Roddy, and he said slowly, word by word: "You don't understand what I'm going to do! I don't expect you to understand now! I just tell You, at this time, compared to fighting the rebels, my old man has more important things to do! It is far more valuable for me to continue to live than to fight and kill a few rebels!"
※※※
The seaport area has been completely occupied by rebels.
The Fleet of the Landis, and the Royal Fleet of the Byzantine Empire originally stationed in the harbour had left the port urgently on the day the city was destroyed.
There were originally some navy soldiers in the port area, and some did not have time to leave with the fleet, and resisted until the last moment.
When the rebels captured the harbor area, they encountered some resistance, especially the arrow towers in the harbor. Those towers were originally used to deal with the enemy at sea. The remaining defenders huddled in the arrow towers of the dock, and the rebels had to One by one, these arrow tower strongholds were knocked out.
There is also a large amount of materials accumulated in the warehouse of the dock, many of which were transported by the Landis people through the sea transportation line. After obtaining such a large amount of materials, a small-scale battle even started within the rebels. , several rebels almost fought over the ownership of these materials, and in the end it was Hughes who came out to fight and finally stopped this infighting.
After capturing most of Osgilia's urban areas, the generals, officers, soldiers, and almost everyone within the rebel army made a small fortune and looted enough benefits. The pockets of these rebels are stuffed with looted money, and they don't want to keep fighting. The army has lost its will to fight, and almost everyone only thinks about how to make a fortune and how to enjoy the wealth they loot.
There is still not much progress in the offensive of the palace, and even the first gate to the palace castle has not been broken.
Hughes and Salvador once went to Hagia Sophia to meet the leaders of the church, but unfortunately, the church still showed enough cunning and sloppy nature that the rebels could not get any hope from the church.
Hughes understood that unless his own people cut off the emperor's head with their own hands, the Byzantine Empire was completely dead, and the church would take a stand. Until then, those goddamn sticks can stay out of the way.
But he couldn't make the slightest gesture of persecution towards the church - even during the war, the emperor did not dare to persecute the church. Because everyone knows that this church has the most terrifying force on the continent: the magician!
No one will provoke the church, the angered church, once the church announces that the magician will join the war, no one can afford the consequences.
Hughes just tentatively put forward his own request: he hoped to issue an announcement in the name of the Pope, announcing the dethronement of the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, and declaring that the emperor's identity was illegal. But after this request was rejected, he had to give up his efforts, and even ordered a group of people to maintain order around the church to prevent the robbery soldiers in the city from looting and looting red eyes from harassing the church.
At this time, no one wants to offend the church.
On the other hand, unable to effectively command various rebels to participate in the attack on the palace, Hughes had to retreat. He can only do his best to ask the rebels from all walks of life to allocate part of their forces as much as possible to consolidate the garrison of the harbor area.
After occupying the seaport area, after paying a certain price and clearing the remaining defenders, the rebels immediately occupied the arrow towers along the coast, and stationed soldiers according to Hughes' request, and carried out a large number of them from the dock warehouse. Equipment such as crossbows were added to these fortifications along the coast. To this end, Hughes had to make some concessions. He gave up his share of the large amount of materials in the warehouse of the harbor terminal to satisfy the greed of other rebels. In exchange, the defense of the harbor area finally let Hughes have a little Take it easy.
After realizing that he might have made a big mistake and missed a good opportunity, Hughes immediately realized his situation: if the palace cannot be settled as soon as possible and the overall situation is set, then the Landis people will surely counterattack from the sea. The Lantiss need to take advantage of the war, so they will send reinforcements, which is almost certain!
No matter what, he must complete the attack on the palace before the Landis people land! As long as his own blade cuts off the emperor's head, then the situation is completely settled! Those Landis people had to give up participating in the war, and they could sit down and talk to the Landis people slowly about the conditions for retreating.
Just when the time came to the fourth day of breaking the city, Hughes finally waited for the news from the sea.
The fourth day of the broken city... The Arc de Triomphe is still fighting bloody battles. This time is already a day away from the three days that Adrick promised when he was boosting his morale.
However, the soldiers of the Arc de Triomphe were still fighting bloody battles. The tightly guarded camps and the city walls on both sides of the city gate still resisted the rebels rushing on both sides.
The army responsible for attacking the Arc de Triomphe was still El Salvador's army. El Salvador knew his situation very well. He did not preserve his strength like other rebels. After four days of bloody fighting, both sides were exhausted. El Salvador even sent his own personal guards to the Arc de Triomphe again and again.
Adrick dragged his wounded body into battle to boost his morale. He fought again and again, and at the same time used shouts to boost morale countless times. Although three days have passed, the morale of his subordinates has not collapsed. In particular, a counterattack was used to knock the rebels out of the street. Because the leader of the rebels, El Salvador, was too far ahead because he was on the front line, he was almost killed by the counterattacking imperial army among the rebels. This record greatly encouraged the defenders. Army morale.
The Arc de Triomphe is still firmly in the hands of the defenders. El Salvador has really tried his best. He can't imagine why such a small group of defenders can still have such a tenacious determination to resist after the entire city has fallen.
The streets were full of corpses. After days of bloody battles, neither side had any chance to breathe. The corpses could only be left on the battlefield in the streets. The rebels and the defenders were all mixed up, and there were still some places. , the traces of the burning fire are still clear.
The rebels had tried to attack with fire, but a heavy snowfall at night made the plan fail.
A heavy snowfall gave Adric's people some respite, at least the rebels' fire attack plan failed. And the heavy snow made the defenders who had been without water for two days finally got some drinking water.
The soldiers hurry up and use the concentrated ice and snow to boil and melt in a large pot, and then carefully put this limited amount of water into the hands of each soldier.
"Keep going!! We have persisted until now! From now on, every hour, the Landis people may be killed from the sea! We are already waiting for the dawn!! For the empire! War!!!"
Adrick raised his knife and shouted. He had said this many times in the past few days, but now, no matter how hard he tried, his voice could not be as full as the days before. His breath was a little weak. Yesterday During the fierce battle, he was stabbed in the chest. Although most of his strength was blocked by the armor, the opponent who slashed him was a rebel general, and the power of vindictiveness still caused damage to his body. Adric He suspected that his chest rib might be broken, but he could only force it. He is now the only sustenance of the entire army, and he must not show the slightest weakness!
Maybe the next moment, the Lantis people will come.
Almost everyone has this idea in their hearts. Although some people have begun to doubt and shake in their hearts, at this moment, they have no other choice but to believe in this idea!
On the fourth day, the defenders of the Arc de Triomphe, encouraged by General Adric, repelled eleven charges of the rebels, and it was not until sunset that the rebels finally retreated for a moment.
In the barracks, there was no one who could stand. The rebels had just retreated, and almost everyone sat directly on the ground. Both the generals and the soldiers were panting in embarrassment. Only the doctors who came up behind were nervous. He ran back and forth under the wailing and cries of the wounded soldiers, and seized the rare time to rescue the wounded soldiers.
After four days of fierce fighting, there were originally nearly 8,000 defenders, and there were less than 3,000 left. Adrick knew in his heart that with the strength left in his hand, it was absolutely impossible to persist until the sunset of tomorrow.
Maybe... Today, it's people like me who will see the sunset for the last time in my life.
Less than 3,000 defenders, everyone was wounded, everyone was exhausted, and most of them had not slept for three days. Fatigue, wounded soldiers, hunger and thirst, and fear of death were all tormenting them. will.
Some soldiers were so tired that they vomited blood, and the archers could no longer draw their bows. Some archers had their fingers cut to pieces by the bowstrings, and some could not even lift their arms.
The last sunset... maybe.
When the sun went down, including Adric, everyone couldn't help but look westward, watching the sun set, and the afterglow of the setting sun disappeared little by little at the end of the sky...
"grown ups."
An officer limped to Adric's side. The armor on his body was no longer recognizable from its original color. His shoulders were chopped open, blood was blurred, and only three fingers were left on one hand, wrapped in gauze. became a group.
The officer stood beside Adrick, then bent down deeply: "It is my greatest honor to fight alongside you!"
With the first one, officers gathered one by one to Adric's side. Everyone saluted Adric, and then looked at their commander in silence.
Adrick took a deep breath, and at this point, he found that he could no longer say anything to boost morale - at this moment, everyone knew that they had really reached the point of exhaustion. At this time, it would seem ridiculous to say those generous words that boost morale.
"thanks!"
The general also paid a solemn salute, and then Adric took a deep breath: "I have nothing else to say... I am proud of you, everyone! You are all true soldiers of the Empire, heroes. I can't promise you anything else, I can only say... I will fight with you... I will die with you when the last moment comes!"
No one spoke, everyone looked at Adrick silently, and there was not a trace of shaking in everyone's eyes.
Adrick burst into tears, and then he took a deep breath: "Blow the trumpet! Blow the trumpet! Let the palace hear us! Let them know that we are still fighting! We will continue to fight!"
The soldiers who were blowing the trumpet were already exhausted, but at this moment, under the order of Adric, several officers came out more and more, took the horn, stood in a row, and blew the horn!
The mighty and majestic imperial triumphant trumpet sounded, and at this sunset, with the last rays of the sunset, echoing in this ancient city, the generous tone, at this moment, seemed to carry a kind of The tragedy that cannot be described in words!
The horn sounded again and again, until the afterglow of the sun finally disappeared completely!
"Get ready." Adrick gritted his teeth and said solemnly: "They will definitely raid at night. Everyone! This may be our last battle! Everything...for the sake of the empire!"
"For the Empire!" All the officers straightened up.
Just when the final tune of the triumphal horn finally fell, the sound of the horn stopped abruptly, and the echo gradually disappeared...
Suddenly, in the distance, along with the sound of the wind, there was a slight movement, which made the muscles in the corners of Adric's eyes tremble!
He suddenly jumped onto a pile of boxes and looked nervously to the south.
With the sound of the wind, the distant sound came intermittently, and it was not clear, but it fell into Adric's ears, and it seemed like thunder at the moment! !
"Hot... trumpet... it's the trumpet..." Adric murmured to himself, his voice trembling, his eyes suddenly flickered, and he shouted loudly: "It's the bugle of the Landis! It's the Landis!! ! Bugle!!"
The trumpet sound was weak, but soon, it roared loudly, coming from the south, like a dull thunder, accompanied by the wind one after another.
In the distance, to the south, in the direction of the harbour...
I saw the rays of light rising into the sky one by one, rushing into the mid-air, bursting out quickly, and casting a ray of light!
"It's a signal from the sea! It's a signal from the sea! The signal fireworks from the Landisian battleship!!"
Adric suddenly swayed, feeling as if his whole body was full of strength, but at this moment, he was evacuated instead. He stared at the south sky with wide eyes. When the night had fallen, the fireworks of the signal were in the sky. It's so clear!
"It's here! Finally... it's here!!"
※※※
Under the night, the earth is still a silvery white.
The dense sound of hooves already looked tired and a little chaotic.
When the horse team passed through the wind and rushed into the city gate, Xia Ya finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When rushing into the city, under the support of the cavalry who greeted him, Xi Ya almost fell off his horse. When a few cavalrymen from Denzel City came up to pick him up, Xi Ya was already cold all over—the cold wind and ice and snow all the way. , so that Xia Ya can no longer hold on.
His body was numb, and he was almost carried into the garrison by the soldiers.
Although it was night, when Xia Ya came back, when he entered the city, news came, and all the officers and generals in Denzel City urgently gathered in the garrison.
Xia Ya didn't rest, he didn't even have time to change his clothes or drink a sip of water, he was immediately carried into the conference hall of the garrison mansion.
Below the old mad dog Green, almost all the senior generals of this small group under Xia Ya gathered here. Seeing Xia Ya's return, everyone was a little surprised, and Old Green was even more astonished.
"I don't have anything else to explain." Xia's lips turned blue, and he rejected a guard who was about to come up to throw a blanket over him. He walked to the front, stood in front of the coach's desk, and looked at everyone: "Now , everyone, listen to my orders!"
There was a commotion below, and everyone did not expect that the coach who had been away for a long time suddenly returned, and he would immediately give an order, and looking at his tone and expression, it was unexpectedly solemn and serious.
"All the army, enter the emergency preparations!" Although Xia Ya's voice was hoarse and tired, his tone was decisive!
"The First Corps, immediately enter combat readiness, I only give you two days, the ordnance will be distributed to every soldier! If there is not enough, go to Cato at the quarters! I know that the food reserves are insufficient, and from now on, enter the war Time! All the food is given priority to the army! I don't care what you do, I will get all the food you can get within two days! At least a reserve that can handle the 30-day war! Second Corps, Dan Ze One flag regiment left in Ercheng, one flag regiment in Mesta City, and all the others will be put into reserve equipment, ready to go out as the second echelon at any time! This order... do not disobey!"
An uproar!
Green was immediately furious, he seemed to be about to stare and ask something, but Xia Ya glared at him fiercely, Green saw the unprecedented seriousness and absoluteness in Xia Ya's eyes, he subconsciously closed his mouth, deeply He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said solemnly, "Where is our attack direction?"
"South! Manninger, Odin, Chixuejun!" Xia Ya looked at the people below coldly: "I know you have doubts in your heart! Keep these doubts, prepare for the battle first, and do what you should do. As for the explanation, you will get it! But not now! Remember your part! Do what you need to do, not less or more!"