The outcome of this duel was like a wildfire burning on the prairie, and soon spread to all the nearby camps. Every soldier who witnessed the duel regarded it as a topic of conversation after drinking. Some soldiers were even offered five drinks in a row because of their wonderful descriptions. Even the Duke of Franconia, who is far away from here, has heard about it.
However, Winter and Lange, who had beaten each other black and blue, could only return to their dens to lick their wounds like injured cats. As for how the soldiers outside the camp described the battle with exaggeration, they had already Can't care anymore.
Winter had his own military priest, but Simon suspected that the priest's therapy would kill Winter, so he asked Fatty Hoffman to invite the doctor Arthur.
When Arthur was carefully checking Winter's injuries with the help of weak candlelight, the fat man slowly moved closer to Simon, for fear of disturbing Arthur's work. He lowered his voice and said in Simon's ear: "Little Klein asked a cavalryman to return to the camp and give us a message. The baggage train is still a day's journey from here."
"Very good," Simon nodded with satisfaction and responded in a low voice, "As agreed before, tomorrow afternoon, you will bring twenty fully armed soldiers to pick them up. I don't want another one like Lange. The bastards took away our supplies!"
"Okay, my lord."
Simon had long anticipated that there might be a shortage of supplies when he was stationed, so he sent Klein, ten militiamen, and two light cavalry with a carriage back to the territory to collect food a week ago. Facts have proved that little Klein can now stand alone.
At this time, Winter's painful cry brought Simon back from his thoughts.
He saw Arthur applying an unknown green herbal paste to Winter's injured forehead. The latter was obviously in pain, but after a while, a cool feeling came from Winter's forehead, which greatly relieved his pain. pain.
"My God, this is amazing," Winter looked at the green juice in the grinding bowl on the table next to him with some disbelief. "Simon, please forgive me for being rude, is your doctor a wizard?"
"I said that Arthur came from Rome, and he learned medical skills in Rome," Simon wanted to laugh, but he quickly replied, "The ancient Romans had many very effective medical methods and drugs, but it's a pity that But now most of it has been lost.”
"Your knowledge is really enviable." Winter felt that the wound on his forehead was no longer as painful as before, and his heart calmed down, so he praised Arthur gently.
"Thank you, my lord." Arthur responded, but his hands did not stop for a moment. He has always been a focused person.
Winter's priest stood nearby, feeling ignored. He could see that Winter liked Arthur's treatment method very much, which in his opinion was just a cover-up that treated the symptoms rather than the root cause.
So, the priest cleared his throat and said in what he thought was a deep and serious voice: "Your Excellency, Baron, I think this is just a black magic to hide your eyes. It can only relieve your temporary pain. I have never read anything like this in the Bible." Healing. If you want to keep your blood pure after death, be buried in sacred ground, and ascend to heaven, you have to release the contaminated blood from your body."
"Matt, please go out first, we will talk about this later." Winter felt uncomfortable when he heard the bloodletting. This all stems from his most fundamental dislike of this kind of behavior - once, his father fell ill overnight. Originally, he was conscious and could even give orders to the servants, but since the priest bled him, His father went from bad to worse, and finally passed away. The priest said that this was all because the devil possessed his body. Finally, he performed an exorcism ceremony on a dried corpse with blood drained out, and then he was buried in the church cemetery.
Winter had always had an intuition. He firmly believed that his father bled to death because he had seen similar physical changes after bloodletting on the battlefield. Until he got sick last time and experienced a bloodletting treatment himself, which made him more determined in his idea.
"May God bless you, Your Excellency. I'll come back later." The priest shook his head in disappointment and walked out of the tent. In fact, he did not have any evil intentions, but his ignorance and shallow medical knowledge combined with religion convinced him that bloodletting was the purest and most effective treatment method.
………………………
Lange's injury had not healed yet, but William, Count of Thuringia, came to the door angrily.
"Praise Christ, William," Lange's eye sockets were severely swollen. After hearing the announcement from the guard at the door, he could only squint and see a blurry figure striding in, and then sat down unceremoniously. "What brings you here?"
Earl William noticed that Lange was staring at him with narrowed eyes. When he heard Lange's greeting, his anger became even more intense.
"You plundered my village," William said like a volcano about to erupt, his eyes wide with anger, his brows furrowed, and his teeth gritted, "You shameful robber!"
Lange was not going to defend himself, because God had already given the answer in the duel. He chose to remain silent and listen to how Count Thuringia wanted to resolve this personal grudge.
"My army needs supplies. I could have transferred food from the village of Elberfeld, but now, there is so much poverty there and half the village is in ruins." Earl William crossed his elbows, which made him look more Feeling oppressed, he continued unceremoniously, "You have to solve the supply problem of my army within a week, and then pay the full cost of rebuilding the village."
Lange felt that he had suffered a big loss. The Earl of Thuringia was a typical military count. His army numbered at least three hundred people. He just robbed one of his villages, but he had to pay a greater price to feed these three people. The bellies of more than a hundred people.
But he had no room for bargaining.
"If you don't accept it, I will petition the king, and the compensation will be more than this." Earl William threatened Lange nakedly when he saw that Lange was unmoved.
Earl William's relationship with the king was so good that no one in the kingdom could doubt it. If he petitions the king, any fool knows who the king will favor, not to mention that Lange himself is the party at fault.
"As you wish," Langer closed his eyes in pain, and now he was like a fish on the chopping board, "I agree to all your conditions."
"I forgot to add," Earl William was as ruthless as the cold wind in December. Lange couldn't help but fall into the quagmire of fear, "The supplies I want are not simple wheat and sour wine. What I want is bread, Bacon, cheese and beer.”
"This is beyond what I can afford," Lange's voice trembled. "Even my private soldiers eat oats and beans."
"Shut up, Lange, the lying fraudster," William stood up, his burly figure standing like a mountain in front of Lange, "What I saw is different from what you said, outside your tent , even the serf soldiers eat the freshest barbecue, ha, I know that it is cut from the animals that belong to me. If my supplies are not delivered to my quartermaster in full and on time, you just wait Then describe before the king how God abandoned you the night before yesterday."
"I know." Looking at Earl William's back as he turned away, Lange's eyes quickly became cold, and his eyes were filled with unwillingness and anger.
"One day, you will pay for your arrogance today. And then, you will lie on the ground like a dog, kiss my toes, and beg me to be generous and spare your life." Lange He muttered quietly.
William's footsteps suddenly paused. Langer was like a mouse caught by a cat. He broke out in a cold sweat, thinking that his complaint was heard, but it was obvious that he was overthinking - William just wiped his forehead. The sweat disappeared from the sight of the tent door.
…………………………
The king is going to meet with the Magyar envoy today to see what proposals he brings. Although he did not have any hope for this group of unbelieving barbarians, he still summoned all the dukes to his camp.
Each duke can bring one of his own cronies with him. Duke Amadeus thought about it - Earl Lange and Baron Winter were injured, Earl Wolfe was hunting in the nearby woods, and the messenger said he could not find them. His people. Then, the most suitable candidate is Simon.
The king's garrison was deep in the forest, some distance from the river bank. Even if the Magyar cavalry broke through the infantry defense line on the bank, their advance would be greatly slowed down after entering the forest.
After entering the king's camp, Duke Amadeus and Simon dismounted at the same time and handed the reins to the king's stable boy.
Although this is the king's camp, its layout differs from other camps only by the fact that a circle of pointed wooden stakes to protect against cavalry is inserted around it.
The knights loyal to the king were well-equipped, and their tents clustered around the king's big tent like stars over the moon. It was said that these people were the king's personal guards. Everyone was highly skilled in martial arts and had fiefs bestowed upon them by the king. If they performed outstandingly on the battlefield, the king would also reward them with gold and silver.
After entering the king's big tent, the two people first saluted the king and were then led to their seats by the king's attendants.
Most of the other important people have arrived. Simon noticed that Count William of Thuringia didn't look good, and Duke Amadeus would quickly look away every time he made eye contact with William. Perhaps he also felt guilty for the sins committed by his vassal Lange. Be ashamed.
Prince Otto and Prince Tankermar sat beside the king. Their relationship was very bad and they did not even say a word to each other.
The Dukes discussed the next battle plan in low voices, until the guard at the door loudly announced the arrival of the Magyar envoy.
Then, the Magyar messenger came in from the tent door, followed by two companions, but their clothes were not as gorgeous as his.
The Magyar envoy wore an oil-polished leather hat with a pointed rim and a pointed rim. His long black hair was tied into braids that looked like centipedes. He has thick eyebrows and two thin mustaches like soft worms, which makes him look unusually shrewd.
He did not wear leather armor, only a green right-sided prairie robe with metal patterns and ironed edges. His prairie boots were special, with pointed tops and turned up.
His belt was very exquisite, but it was empty, not even a dagger, to show that he had no ill intentions in coming this time.
"Dear Heinrich, King of the Kingdom of Germany, my name is Gerca... On behalf of Archduke Arpad of the Kingdom of Hungary, I would like to send my greetings to you." After speaking in High German, he bowed slightly to the king to show respect.
