Water Margin people

"If you are stubborn and betray the Lord, you will be punished by Him!"

Bernard pointed at the villagers and shouted.

"Haha, punishment! We've been punished enough. Do you think we're afraid?"

The leader laughed loudly. What was the point of talking about divine punishment now? They had suffered things that were more terrible than divine punishment.

"Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!"

Everyone in the village roared.

"Sir Bernard, I know this man. He is a knight from the Principality of Urbino. I think his name is Weiss!"

Suddenly one of the guards recognized the man who was commanding the villagers.

"He really is from the military!"

Bernard thought to himself that from the village's defensive arrangements and combat capabilities, he had guessed that these people had a commander.

"Weiss, you are a knight of the kingdom, a sword in the hands of the Lord, how dare you betray the Lord!"

Bernard shouted at Wes. He knew that the easiest way to take over the village was to take over Wes. As long as Wes surrendered, the village would be destroyed.

"Humph, Bernard, I know you, Saint Bernard! You no longer have a kingdom! When you were hiding in the Vatican, did you ever think about the lives of us? Now you actually have the nerve to come here!"

Weiss looked at Bernard and sneered, with murderous intent flashing in his eyes. When the Black Death first broke out, he led his men to fight against it, but the soldiers around him fell ill and died one after another, while the nobles of the kingdom closed the castle doors and didn't care about the lives of the people.

After the last of his men died of illness, Weiss became desperate. He prayed to all the gods he knew, hoping that the gods could save them, but the gods did not respond.

After that, Wes no longer believed in anything. He did not die, but regarded it as a curse, until he met Baldwin IV, the former King of Jerusalem and now the messenger of the Imperial Cult.

Under Baldwin IV's preaching, refugees and laborers gathered together, and the spread of the Black Death was curbed. At that moment he saw hope and held on to it tightly.

"kill!"

Bernard knew that he could not persuade Weiss to surrender, so he ordered the cavalry to charge directly. He had noticed that the cavalry on both wings were gathering together, so the fire failed and the village did not burn.

"Back to the door!"

Weiss commanded the civilians to retreat to the village gate. They still had the wall to rely on.

The battle lasted until dark, and Bernard did not lead his men into the village.

The guards fought half way but to no avail, their strength was almost exhausted, so they had to retreat to rest.

On the outskirts of the woods, Bernard and his cavalry set up camp, and they sat in groups around the fire.

"Lord Saint Bernard, this village is not easy to attack. We don't have siege equipment. Why don't we go back and bring some crossbows!"

A captain of the guards looked at Bernard and said that they had fought for a long time today and many people were injured, but in the end they did not set foot into the village.

“There’s no going back now!”

Bernard said that the Vatican had already been frightened by the Black Death. They had already left the city, and those people in the Vatican would not let them in again.

“I can’t go back!”

Everyone was shocked. They had not expected this situation. They thought they were just out to wipe out a wave of pagans.

"Master Saint Bernard, what shall we do?"

The panicked guards asked immediately.

"Let's go north to the Republic of Venice!"

Bernard pointed to the north, where the situation might be better, and he also asked the Empire to meet with Conrad III and ask the Empire to help eliminate the pagans.

"What about this village?"

Everyone pointed to the village in the distance.

"I will go and ask tomorrow. We are outnumbered now and it is difficult to attack. We will borrow some troops and then we can wipe them out!"

Bernard spoke up and said that he decided to let the pagan village go for now, gather some information and leave. It would not be too late to wipe out the pagans after he borrowed troops from the empire.

"Everyone have a good rest today!"

Bernard looked at everyone and spoke.

"Yes, my lord!"

The guards spoke one after another.

Early the next morning, Bernard led his army to the outside of the village. Inside the village, Weiss also led the villagers to wait in battle array.

"Weiss, come out and talk!"

Bernard shouted towards the village.

Weiss took a look at the situation outside, then walked out of the village wearing armor and holding a sword and shield.

"Weiss, but Baldwin IV is spreading a cult to you?"

Bernard asked, looking at Weiss.

"You can even call the Lord God's Envoy by his name!"

Weiss roared with murderous intent on his face.

"It looks like it is indeed Baldwin IV!"

Bernard confirmed that this was outside the village and Wes posed no threat to him.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"Where did Baldwin IV go? Tell me and I'll let you go for now!"

Bernard asked, looking at Weiss.

"I won't tell you. If you want to fight, then fight. It's nothing more than death! We are not afraid of death!"

Weiss looked at Bernard and yelled.

Bernard looked at the determined Wes and turned around and left with his men, heading north.

Weiss's face changed and he took a step forward and wanted to rush forward.

Bernard looked back at Wes at this time and smiled. Wes's reaction confirmed his guess that Baldwin IV did go north.

Weiss saw Bernard's smile and knew that his actions had been exposed, but he did not dare to move forward.

Bernard took his men away, leaving Wes with an anxious look on his face.

"Lord Weiss, what should we do? They are chasing the envoy of God!"

The villagers spoke anxiously, they had all heard the conversation just now.

"Quick, ride your horse and report the news first!"

Weiss pointed to a young man and said, this is a cavalryman who has fled and he is a very good rider.

"Yes!"

The cavalryman immediately ran into the village and rode away quickly on a horse.

The guards who were leaving moved slowly. Although they had rested for a night, those who were injured yesterday had not yet recovered.

"My Lord, where are we going? We have no idea where those pagans are!"

A cavalry captain spoke up.

"Don't worry, someone will show us the way."

Bernard said with a smile.

"Sir, there is a cavalryman heading north along the trail!"

Suddenly a guard came running to report.

"Look, there's someone leading the way."

Bernard laughed. Wes had rich combat experience and was indeed a tough guy, but people like him were usually not smart enough and would be fooled by a little trick.

The cavalrymen who were advancing rapidly along the path were apparently unaware that their whereabouts had been discovered.

Bernard followed the cavalry all the way out of the mountains and into the Republic of Venice.

"Baldwin IV has arrived in Venice?"

Bernard frowned slightly. Venice is a port city with many merchants. This kind of city is the first to be hit by the plague because there are too many people coming and going, and the plague will spread quickly.

"Sir, we can borrow troops from the Republic of Venice!"

The guards looked at Bernard and said that they had felt the shortage of numbers after the last war, and that they needed a large army and equipment to wipe out the pagans. (End of this chapter)