When Polis, the commander of the capital garrison, woke up again in the dim light of day, he felt difficulty breathing, his mouth and nose were stagnant, and his lungs were filled with a burning feeling; his whole body was sore and numb from the bones, and his eyelids were numb. It's so heavy and sticky that it's impossible to break free.
It wasn't until someone fed Polis some liquid into his mouth that the moist feeling made his exhausted body gradually become active. Then Polis opened his eyes and saw the deputy company of his Legion Guard. Chief Cambroner was struggling to hold a helmet.
The moment he saw the opponent with his head bandaged, the final defeat suddenly emerged in Polis's mind. It started with the Grand Gascon Regiment, which was ordered to engage the enemy; amidst the shouts and curses in their hometown dialect, they actually mixed with the enemies who were fighting with swords and guns.
Then, these hometown soldiers, who had been given great expectations by Polis, turned around and pounced on the unprepared friendly forces. In a blink of an eye, they dispersed the Pyrenees Frontier Volunteers who were responsible for the response; they then rushed towards the left wing and started the attack When the capital garrison collapsed...
In the end, only the Legion Guard Company desperately escorted Polis out of the encirclement, and was almost completely lost under the continuous pursuit of the enemy's light cavalry. Therefore, Polis's last memory was the moment when the mount he was changing to lost strength and he was thrown off the horse.
But the undeniable reality is that he has been completely defeated; not only did he ruin the most elite troops of the capital garrison, but he also ruined the last hope of the Burgundian dynasty. He failed to live up to the training and expectations of Grand Master Aramis, and also failed to live up to the important mission entrusted by His Majesty King John.
Although there are still some local troops and old, weak and wounded soldiers of the Ninth Corps in the fortresses such as Durdan on the southern line. But it was already irresistible, the enemy forces from the north and south were encircling and attacking. Not to mention, even the Gascon soldiers from his hometown turned their backs on him.
I don't know when, these township party troops who had been given great hope and trust by him were infiltrated by fellow villagers from the enemy camp. At this time, Polis is like those tragic figures in historical legends who are at the end of their rope, just waiting for the moment when the end finally comes.
Finally, after Polis regained some energy and strength, he managed to stand up; only then did he realize that he was in the ruins under an ancient aqueduct. The twenty or thirty guard soldiers scattered everywhere, leaning or sitting, were all the subordinates who could be seen.
Polis wanted to open his mouth to give them some encouragement and encouragement; however, his thirsty throat could only squeeze out some hoarse murmurs, but instead made him vomit some dried blood clots from his mouth and nose; and then he felt the obvious saltiness. The smell was fishy, and it turned out that what Cambrona gave him to drink was actually horse blood.
But no matter what, this small episode also allowed Polis to cheer up and cheer up a little from the depression that filled his body and mind. At least even when he reaches the end of his rope, he still has these people who will never give up and follow him. At least his efforts are not meaningless.
Next, he will consider how to lead these subordinates and find a new way out and prospects. For example, abandoning this overly conspicuous military uniform, dressing up like a common exile in the capital area, waiting for an opportunity to return to the vicinity of Seine City, and then trying to find a way to contact the Grand Master.
At least Polis firmly believes in one thing. Compared with His Majesty King John, who will inevitably die for his country; this great mentor with an ancient identity and mysterious background, who has participated in and manipulated many major events in the kingdom behind the scenes, will never be easily lost because of this. life, or other unexpected situations.
In this way, he might also be able to try to escape to the northern border of the kingdom, and look for opportunities to raise a new team among the large and small Dutch vassals of the kingdom, based on these subordinates in the name of mercenaries. But then, his expression darkened again.
Because Polis thought of Nana, whom he had not been able to get in touch with so far, and of Joseph who was still in the capital, as well as the ladies of the royal court who brought him all kinds of novel senses, and the person who, although they had no real relationship, seemed like His mother is usually a lady who can patiently listen to what he has to say.
At this time, the short bugle sound suddenly occurred to Boris outside, which woke Polis out of his brief memory; he couldn't help but reached out to hold the saber, but only touched the empty leather sheath. The soldiers present who were supposed to stand up to fight still remained indifferently.
In an instant, Polis suddenly understood something; he suddenly turned his head and looked at Cambroner, the deputy company commander of his guard. Even though his whole body was covered with mud and blood, Combrona still kept a clean and neat mustache, but he gave him a helpless and unusually wry smile.
"I'm sorry, legion commander. After being surrounded here, everyone can no longer support it." "And their only request is to ensure your personal health and integrity... As long as you go out , everything will be understood naturally.”
Afterwards, Polis, who was being helped out of the elevated canal where he was looking after the ruins of the house, saw the familiar cross-eagle war flag with a white background standing on the edge of the sparse forest; Among the costumed knights, there was the little figure in military uniform.
"Na..." In an instant, Polis, who was still weak in energy and blood, felt that all the blood in his body rushed to his forehead; everything he had worked hard and struggled for over the years seemed to have turned into nothing at this moment. A big joke filled with gray and bleak colors.
When Boris was extremely excited and wanted to rush forward to question the other party, his body suddenly stopped again. Because, a blade that sneaked up from behind was piercing through his chest; and one of the accompanying guards said in a tone that was unfamiliar to him: "The betrayer must die."
Polis, who seemed to understand something again, could only feel full of grief, indignation, unwillingness and infinite regret. Amidst the screams and shouts, he fell down from the edge of the bridge pier as heavy as a stone... At the same time, a large-scale manhunt was underway in Seine City.
Although King John, the owner of the Burgundian dynasty, and more of his royal family members have disappeared in Ganquan Palace. However, many of the relevant court officials, members of the Imperial Council, and the old and new nobles in the city were unable to escape easily after the city was breached.
Therefore, groups of richly dressed men and women were violently broken into the splendid and luxurious mansions by groups of blue-shirted soldiers; they were dragged out crying and screaming, and then escorted to wander the streets; It has become the most lively scene in Seine City nowadays.
It also caused the large and small churches, monasteries and nunneries that were used as temporary detention places to become overcrowded for a while. In sharp contrast, there are large and small citizen blocks located in the outer ring area and Xiacheng area, separated by military checkpoints and patrols.
Under the greetings of temporarily recruited clergy and citizen representatives, porridge-making sheds were set up at the entrances and exits of these blocks; special emergency/biscuit dry food from the south, plus various kinds of beans, oats, rye and other grains that could be collected , cooked with salted fish into a hodgepodge.
Then, these thick soups with sporadic oily flowers were boiled and distributed by the spoonfuls to the citizens/civilians and poor people who came with their families to receive food; then, they went to the registration clerk nearby. , incidentally completed the most basic neighborhood household registration clearing and registration work.
Occasionally, some of them were gang members or criminals with criminal offenses, who were identified and arrested on the spot, causing a lot of uproar. At the same time, some people who lacked identification and had no guarantees from multiple neighbors were taken away.
In the midst of this commotion, the fugitive important officials of the dynasty, former members of the Royal Council, the Secretary-General of the Finance Committee, the Undersecretary to the Chancellor of Finance, senior members of the House of Honors, the Duke of Curzon, and Traveler Charles were also present. In the inconspicuous building, he looked nervously at the chaotic streets.
In fact, he had already smelled a bad smell more than half a year before the Free Army attacked Seine City, and secretly arranged multiple safe houses/shelters between the lower city and the left and right banks, as well as to deal with The cover identity for the inspection was a genuine product from the household registration office of the city hall.
Even the identity record and description of the homeowner's appearance are as close as possible to him and his family members. Therefore, he was able to put on makeup and escape from his mansion as soon as the Free Army began to attack the city, and hid here with his wife and servants.
Therefore, on the surface at this moment, he is just a citizen who has some relationship with an official of the Building Department of the city hall and relies on the business of agency building leasing, with a small amount of savings and a wealthy family. The family servants he brought naturally became relatives and tenants.
Relying on these manpower, they not only resisted the attacks and robberies from gangsters from nearby neighborhoods who initially tried to break in; they also relied on taking in many elderly, weak, women and children from the neighborhood who had fled here, and were able to deal with them several times. Representatives from the neighborhood door-to-door inquiries and inspections,
However, when the neighborhood representatives came to mobilize the young and middle-aged people in the family, as well as all the old and weak who could walk, to go to the intersection to receive the daily ration of food, the pretense he tried so hard to maintain almost became unsustainable. Because his wife Charlotte actually wanted to take the opportunity to go out.
Then, his de facto lover and public secretary Marie, the daughter of the Marquis Léolan who was almost sent to a convent, showed signs of retching again, suspected of being pregnant. Then when he concealed himself in front of Charlotte, he attracted the attention of a nun who was being taken in and was willing to help.
And Aunt Agnes, whom he had tried hard to protect from getting married, was also unable to stop at this time; the change in environment actually caused a fever, and she could only be temporarily isolated on the top floor. But what worries him more is another lover, Lola de Beauvin.
The daughter of a banker who conspired with him to indirectly murder her biological father, Baron Beauvain, categorically rejected his secret proposal for a refuge; instead, she returned to the family manor outside the city with her nominal husband and a personal escort. Go inside. I don’t know what the situation is now.
In addition, his lover Laura, who was sent to the south to give birth, and his sister and their children, who were entrusted to him to take care of before leaving, also lost contact for several days during the transfer process in the city. This series of troubles were like huge rocks, building up in his heart all the time.
This once handsome and handsome young nobleman had a few gray hairs appear in a short period of time, and became more and more vicissitudes of life...
