Temple Sword

Chapter 202 Black Red Flag

"I am Janos Babonik, the governor of Slavonia and Croatia, thanks to the wishes of King Charles," the man proudly introduced, "Why did you bring the army into my territory?"

"The king's old seal is no longer valid," Miklos said coldly, omitting all decency, not even an introduction, "so you are nothing now, Janos Babonik.

You have failed to fulfill the duties entrusted to you by the king. On behalf of His Majesty the King, I inform you that from now on, I am the governor of Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia. I have come to ask you to surrender. "

"I have paid enough tribute to King Charles," Janos blushed with anger and humiliation, "I am not an enemy of the royal family. I have proved my loyalty many times. It was the king who made me the governor of the southern provinces." Governor's."

"In the past 23 years, the king has conferred as many positions as there are stars in the sky," Miklos said with a gruff laugh. The ashes and dust of the age.

The bloody battle of more than 20 years is about to come to an end, and the kingdom will bid farewell to the difficult era and usher in a prosperous age." He lowered his ominous voice, making both Lakfei and Antar's backs tingle, "and this new In this era, there is no room for useless garbage.Choose, surrender, or perish..."

"If I surrender, what good will it do me?" Janos Babonik asked angrily, "I have worked hard for the Southern Province all my life, and I have dedicated myself to the people here! But now you want me to Give up all this? And then? Is it the same future as Muladen that greets me?"

"If you surrender, His Majesty will retain your noble status, and you can continue to be the lord of your manor. If you can prove your loyalty, you may be able to retain a small flag team." Miklos said indifferently , "The king doesn't think you are his enemy, he just thinks you are not capable of the duties of the governor, understand?"

"And you obviously think you're up to the title yourself."

"Of course." A cold light flashed in Miklos' eyes. "Here are my conditions: You have one hour to surrender and to ensure the safe passage of my troops across this bridge.

Afterwards, you will announce loudly in the camp that you will resign your governorship and will submit to the king's wishes to accept the new Croat-Slavonian governor, which is me, as your lord.

And the joint army headed by you will also join our team and continue to march south. What is your answer? "

At this time, Janos Babonik was not only flushed with anger, but also trembling all over.He even thought of drawing his sword on the spot to defend his honor, but he couldn't do that, he had to respect the meaning of the white flag.

He wanted to respond forcefully to Miklos Guttklade, but he was overwhelmed by the venom of anger and couldn't think of any meaningful words.

But his horse seemed to have an answer. It raised its tail and pulled a large pile of dung in the middle of the bridge. Janos immediately laughed when he saw it.

"I think my horse has spoken my mind," he said with relief, "and here is my answer."

"I warn you, don't tempt me with your ignorance," Miklos threatened. "You don't know what I can do when I'm angry."

"You can try it!" Janos Babonik ended the conversation, "but I also have a suggestion: whoever dares to cross the river, we will kill him!"

Having said that, he turned his horse's head and returned to the camp with his entourage.

"Well," Lakfe said after Janos left, "It seems that a war is inevitable."

"This is exactly what we need, and I will be disappointed if we don't fight a single battle," Miklos said. "I have promised my men glory and spoils, and they don't want to walk in some garden.

I just want them to die knowing why we're smashing them and they've seen you now and know you're really in my army, but what they don't know is that there are two thousand more of you Cavalry in the forest. "

"I just don't know how you plan to defeat them, General." Lakfey said with a frown.

"We'll figure it out soon," Miklos promised. "Let's go back to the camp, maybe someone who can help us is already there waiting for us."

Miklos turned his horse first, and Istvan followed, but Antar remained motionless for a moment in the middle of the narrow stone bridge.

Lakfe always attributes Lily Knight's silence and sullen expression to his own presence, since his former companions have not spoken to him at all since that night in Zagreb last fall, and even the blind can see It can be seen that the man still harbors unquenchable anger towards him.

But the wordless somberness of the Lily Knight this time was not due to the short Knight Sekai, from the center of the bridge he could clearly see the entire army of Janos Babonik, the 2000-man army arrayed in formed a wide semi-circle, the left flank of which consisted of about two hundred motley infantry.

Antal had never met the 200, but he knew who they were.

He knew that they were all mercenaries who did all kinds of evil, and he knew that their leader was a tall and burly man, and he could see him walking in front of the pitched tent.

He knew that the red-lined banner on a black background that flew over their camp was their standard, and he knew that no matter how the battle was won or lost, none of them would live to see the end.

-

"Please forgive me, my lord," when the conversation between the leaders of the two armies ended and the deprived governor returned to his gorgeous noble tent, the commander who had just accompanied him also followed in, "I have something to say .”

"Okay, let's talk!" Janos Babonik grabbed a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.

"With all due respect, Your Excellency, but...why?"

"Why didn't I surrender?" The man looked at him angrily, "Why didn't I just kneel at Miklos Gutkled's feet and give him everything I have?
Because I'm a man, not some goddamn kid! He slammed his glass on the table, "I'm fighting for what's mine, and I've been loyal to the king all my life, I don't deserve it!" "

"But my lord, their army..."

"Half of them are worthless servants," Janos waved his hand. "They can fight no more than 3000 people. The bridge is very narrow, and we have the upper hand in the terrain,"

He insisted on his previous position, "We have a total of more than 100 people, and we can completely deal with them. As long as we persevere, God will bring us victory!"

"But, my lord," continued the commander, "if we do drive back the king's army this time, what shall we do afterwards? The trouble will only increase, and next time he will send 1 men The army is coming against us!"

"On the contrary, Commander," Janos tried to calm him down, "If we defeat the mighty Miklos Gutkled's army, I will defend my title of governor...

The king will find himself mistaken too, I am not a soft persimmon like Muradan Subis, damn it, I haven't seen forty winters yet!I am stronger than ever! "

His claim was more of a self-consoling lie, "As soon as Miklos' army is driven back to the north, I will send an envoy to Visegrad and get letters of appointment with new seals for us all!"

"Then what is your order?" The commander asked with a sigh, not hiding his disappointment at all.

"Get ready for battle!" snapped Janos Babonik, "and get ready for victory!"

-

As soon as Miklos returned to his main tent on the top of the northern hill, he summoned the commanders of his army.

In addition to Lakfi and Antar who have been following him, Janos Bornemisza, who was assigned to the mixed infantry and cavalry corps, also joined in, as well as the captain of Sopron and three leaders of the mercenary corps. commander.

These seven people led a total of more than 5000 soldiers. They all gathered in the hot and dark tent. Soon after, the scouts sent a few hours ago also returned.

Miklos watched with glee as the two of them pushed in a poorly dressed, bony old man who looked terrified.

"My lord general!" one of them announced triumphantly, "you are indeed right, the old shepherd said he knew the way..."

"What road?" Hearing the words, several people began to discuss in low voices, "What road are they talking about?"

"Come on, old man," the soldier who spoke just now pushed the old man in, "tell them what you just told us!"

The poor shepherd looked at the people around him in horror, as if he had been sent to purgatory and was about to be responsible for his sins.

Until then, the noblest aristocrat he had ever seen in his life was a local landowner, a fat, shabby-looking man in a linen shirt.But now he was surrounded by a group of heavily armed and vicious-looking fighters, and it was inevitable to panic.

"You don't have to be afraid," Miklos' rough voice made the old man flinch even more, "tell us what you know!"

Hearing this, the shepherd began to babble in a trembling voice, and half the people present could not understand a word, because the old man spoke Croatian with a strange Slavic accent.

"What is he talking about?" Miklos asked one of the scouts.

"He said that there is a shallow and narrow section of the river to the west, and it takes less than a quarter of a day to walk from here, and it can accommodate many people to cross the river at the same time," the man translated, "This section of the river is hard to find , because it is higher up, deep into the forest, and has a steep rock wall blocking the creek.

But he claimed he knew the exact location of the place and could skirt the rock to reach the channel, which he said was only knee-deep in water. "

"Excellent!" said Miklos. "Ask how many cavalry he can bring through there!"

Although the old man didn't speak Hungarian very well, he could understand it, so he answered without a translator.

"A thousand," said the scout, "a thousand cavalry will certainly do."

Miklos unfastened the purse from his girdle and gave it to the old man.

"I have two thousand cavalry," he said, "can you pass with two thousand cavalry?"

The panic in the shepherd's eyes disappeared as if by magic, and was replaced by a fascinated expression. He sometimes looked at the money bag in his hand, and sometimes looked at the man with a hideous face.

"Yes," he nodded excitedly, and said in Hungarian, somehow his gibberish seemed cured, "I can... take your... two thousand cavalry..."

"Very good, wait outside!" Miklos ordered to the old man and the two scouts, "Also, don't let me see you pushing him again! This man is the key to our victory."

The scouts bowed respectfully, and then sent the no longer poor shepherd out of the tent.

After they left, Miklos looked at his seven commanders with burning eyes.

"Okay, adults!" The creepy and unique smile flashed across his face again, "Now it's time to introduce the battle plan to you, listen carefully, I won't repeat it a second time!"

(End of this chapter)