The Last Frontier of Fire and Sword

　　 The surrender document of the Smolensk Parliament was finally delivered to the desk of City Lord Feodor Obukhović. The old nobleman who was appointed by King Kazimierz himself and had high hopes looked at the signature page on the surrender document, and was almost crying.

　　 "I can't do it, I can't do it." Feodor Obukhović cried.

　　 The city owner knew very well how the fall of this famous city would affect the Republic.

Tsarist Russia will go straight in and invade the Werner and Mazoshev regions where the republic has not yet been hit by war. The republic will be in danger of fighting on the two fronts; and Tsarist Russia will open up contact with the Zaporozhye Cossack rebels, the rebels The strength of the king will be greatly enhanced, and the counterinsurgency of the king and the leaders in Ukraine will end in failure.

　　 He didn't want to bear the infamy of the sinners of the Republic, so he didn't go to the meeting of surrender.

Speaker Szchenko (Szchenko is the nominal second person in the city of Smolensk, so the task of submitting the surrender document to Fyodor was handed over to him by the Parliament). See that Fyodor is still the case today Indecisive, so angry that he wanted to rush up to hold his hand and "help" him bookmark the text. But he still held back, because he considered himself a civilized person, since he is a civilized person, he must handle everything in a civilized way. Otherwise, what is the difference with the mud-legged Cossacks.

"Fyodor," Speaker Szchenko said in a mellow tone, "Of course I understand your feelings. But as the lord of Smolensk, who else will make sacrifices for the lives of the people in the city if you don't make sacrifices? And in order to take care of your mood, we didn't even force you to attend the meeting. And you said that as long as the decision is made by the parliament, you will sign it."

　　 "But, but." Feodor's face flushed. He did say such things, but at that time he didn't think it would be so difficult to sign his name.

"Dear Szchenko," Feodor firmly grasped the hands of Speaker Szchenko with a silver cane, and pleaded: "Dear Szchenko. You are the Speaker of the Smolensk Council, and you have the right to The document is signed. Please, sign for me."

　　 Feodor is unwilling to sign this word, how could Szchenko be willing. Although he had made up his mind to take refuge in Tsarist Russia, the war between the Republic and Tsarist Russia had just begun. Smolensk has fallen because of major generals, but who can guarantee that the army of the Republic will not come back in the future? If there is such a day, what I signed today will be the best evidence of crime tomorrow. So the character should be signed by the guy in front of you.

　　Szchenko desperately tried to get rid of Feodor and grabbed his hands, but he was a civil official after all, and he was also a dozen years older than Feodor. He struggled several times without success.

　　 In desperation, Szchenko had to pound the ground with a silver cane. The sound of the stick hitting the ground finally calmed Feodor.

"Fyodor," Szchenko said loudly, "Do you think you have any use besides signing now? We leave the matter of signing the surrender document to you, and that's all for your own good. If it weren't for your stubbornness To be the enemy of the Almighty Tsar, so many brave soldiers of the Tsar will suffer so long in the ice and snow? Will so many people die? Tell you the truth, Prince Alexei originally wanted you to sit on the pillar ."

　　Speaking of this, Speaker Szchenko paused on purpose. Sure enough, City Lord Feodor showed an expression of fear.

Szchenko continued to flicker and said: "I have said all the good things in front of the prince. I told him that although you Fyodor Obukhović was stubborn at the beginning, you have now experienced the unpredictable nature of the almighty tsar and your prince. Wei. You are willing to repent and surrender. His Excellency the Prince has forgiven you and forgiven your life. You are not signing now. Didn’t you deliberately deceive the Prince’s Excellency!"

　　 At the end, Szchenko suddenly raised his tone.

　　 "I, I." Sure enough, Fyodor was speechless by Szchenko's words. He was arguing, but he didn't know where to start.

"Besides, you don't think about yourself but also for your daughter. If you are treated as a war criminal and taken to Daizhu, what will happen to your daughter Helena? Who will protect her? She is so young Pretty."

　　 In order to completely succumb to Feodor, Szchenko threatened Feodor with Helena.

　　 This trick really worked, and Helena became the last straw to crush Feodor. Although the matter between Helena and Catherine made Feodor annoyed, he even wanted to sever his father-daughter relationship with her at one time. But after all, blood is thicker than water, and Fyodor, the father, still loves his daughter. Seeing that his daughter's safety would be endangered if he did not sign, Feodor finally succumbed.

　　 Feodor picked up the quill tremblingly. Due to the pressure in his heart, he did not even notice that the nib of the quill was not dipped in ink when signing the document.

　　 Szchenko snatched the quill pen, the old speaker vigorously inserted the quill pen into the ink bottle, and then handed it to Feodor.

　　 This time, Feodor successfully signed the document.

　　Szchenko took the surrender paper with satisfaction. He picked up a bottle of fine sand and poured it on the place where Feodor signed the name. After the sand absorbed the excess ink, he blew it gently. Then he picked up the paperwork and walked out of Feodor's office contentedly.

　　 "Oh, yes. Feodor, Prince Alexei will lead an army into the city tomorrow. You are also preparing to move out of the castle today." As the door closed, Szchenko reminded Feodor.

　　 Feodor lay down on the office chair, tears of humiliation gushing out of his eyes.

　　 At this time, the office door was opened again.

　　 "Who?" Feodor asked.

　　 "It's me, Lord Santo." The person who opened the door said.

　　 "It's Franco, what else can you do?" Feodor heard that it was Franco's voice.

　　 "Sir, I saw Speaker Szchenko go downstairs with a document. Is there anything wrong with him?"

　　 "What is he here for? Would you not know? Do you want to humiliate me?" Feodor thought that Franco had also attended the meeting, and now he asked knowingly, so he said angrily.

　　 "I really don't know. Lord City Lord." Franco said.

　　 "You didn't go to the meeting?"

"I do not have."

　　 Perhaps he heard the sincerity and non-hypocrisy in Franco's words, and Feodor told Franco about Szchenko's purpose and documents.

　　 "Now the war is over for us. Congratulations, Captain Franco. You survived the war." Finally, Feodor concluded.

　　 "No, the war is not over yet." Franco's voice didn't have a trace of the joy that he had survived~www.NovelMTL.com~ On the contrary, the mercenary head was full of unwillingness.

　　 "Oh?" Feodor asked strangely.

"My lord, you signed the surrender document under coercion. This is illegal and invalid. My mercenary and I are loyal to the Republic and you, not to the Smolensk Council, as long as you are willing Continue to resist, and we will follow you." Franco said excitedly. This attitude is completely different from Franco, who is calm and obedient in peace days.

　　As a soldier, Franco was naturally disgusted with surrender and betrayal. He believes that this behavior of the parliament is completely disregarding the interests of the king and the republic. Yes, he Franco is a mercenary, and he does things with money. But it doesn't mean that he doesn't love this land. For the Republic, everyone in his original mercenary group was sacrificed, leaving him alone.

　　 "You, you mean!" Feodor was stunned by Franco's thoughts. He even wanted to continue the war with the mercenary regiment of hundreds of people.

　　 "Yes, Lord of the City. We can guard the castle. This castle is a very strong fortress with plenty of ammunition and food. We can guard for a few more months. We can continue to wait for the king's reinforcements."

　　 Feodor was stunned by Franco's bold thoughts. He looked at Franco like a lunatic. On the issue of surrender, Fyodor and Szchenko are actually the same kind of people-they both lost the will to continue fighting, but neither of them wanted to bear the responsibility of surrendering.

　　 And Franco wanted to fight to the end.

　　 Feodor was speechless in horror. Franco had read the true thoughts of his boss from Feodor's expression. What's the point of having such a boss, even if you have a passion for it! Franco shook his head disappointedly. He stopped talking, turned and walked out of the office.