The Last Frontier of Fire and Sword

　　 More than three hours later, the servant of the castle came to report that the lunch was over. Prince Alexei went to the castle under the guidance of Count Anzumov. The generals and high-ranking officers of Tsarist Russia followed closely, and the nobles of Smolensk also swarmed and followed.

　　 Franco was invited to the castle for a banquet. The mercenaries went out of the city under the leadership of the lower-level officers. According to the agreement, they would be arranged in Rudnia, the camp where Prince Alexei once stationed, and the families of the mercenaries would also go with them.

　　 Feodor and Franco followed Prince Alexei to the hall of the castle, where a banquet had already been set. On the four long tables in the center of the hall are all kinds of silver utensils. Feodor recognized some of them almost at a glance. They were family items he had brought to Smolensk. But now they have become the spoils of Tsarist Russia.

　　 There are mountains of pork, beef, and grilled fish on each table. The glasses are filled with vodka, honey and wine, and the whole house exudes the aroma of wine.

　　 Prince Alexei was seated at the long table at hand, two Russian generals sat on the left and right, and Vasily Zolotarenko sat in the fourth position.

　　 Tsarist Russia and Zaporozhye officers were placed at the second long table.

　　 And the famous Smolensk nobles and Franco such as Anzumov and Shchenko were arranged on the third table.

　　 Feodor is only on the long table at the end. Most of the people sitting on this long table were people who were not even qualified to see themselves before. Seated beside him was Oleg, the former Smolensk officer in the Cossacks did not choose to join Tsarist Russia, but joined Vasily Zolotarenko’s forces, which also allowed him to escape. After the complaint by Shichenko and others.

　　 The banquet has just begun. One by one, the officers of the coalition army cut large pieces of meat from the plates and chewed them gluttonously.

　　 During the war, life in the city was difficult, and the coalition forces outside the city were also particularly difficult. Although the grain and grass of various villages and towns have been scrapped in the early stage, these are only a drop in the bucket for 450,000 people. After all the food and grass that were carried and looted were eaten, the coalition forces had to rely on the limited food and grass that was transported from Moscow thousands of miles away.

　　 Anzumov, Shichenko, and others are self-contained as aristocrats, eating and drinking with sips. They had just surrendered, and there was no one who knew each other in Tsarist Russia, so they had no choice but to say nothing.

　　 Feodor stared at the wine glass in his hand. This wine glass is tattooed with the coat of arms of the Obukhović family, which is obviously his family's property. But now it has become someone else's spoils, and when he thinks of this, Feodor is not only sad, but also tears.

　　 "Hey, old man. Why don't you drink it? This is a celebration wine." Seeing Feodor lowered his eyes in tears, Oleg took the wine glass and touched it.

　　 "Here, I respect you, you can't help but finish it. You are also a great hero." Oleg said loudly.

　　Allied army officers burst into laughter. The sound of laughter shook the walls of the castle.

　　 "Drink, drink, drink." The officers booed loudly.

　　 Under such circumstances, how dare Feodor not drink it? He resisted the tears of humiliation, closed his eyes and drank the wine in the glass.

　　 Oleg also killed the wine in his glass. He placed the wine glass heavily on the table, and all the nearby dinner plates flew up.

　　 "How about it, old man, is this wine good? Do you see the color of this wine? It is made with your blood. I will drink more of this wine in the future."

　　 Oleg's words caused another round of applause.

　　Prince Alexei also noticed the noise below, but he just glanced at it and drank again. After a few glasses of vodka, the prince was interested in speaking.

　　 "Come, to the health of His Majesty the Tsar."

　　 "A toast to his glory and longevity." The officers and the Smolensk nobles babbled. Among them, the nobles clamored hard.

The prince 　　 brought the three generals to the officers' side again, holding a wine glass.

　　 On behalf of the czar, he thanked the officers for their heroic fighting.

　　 "Loyalty is your strongest armor." The prince said, which again caused a burst of cheers from the Tsarist Russian officers.

　　 "Captain Vasily Zolotarenko, it's a pity that your Bao Honglian Captain is not there. I want to have another drink with him." Prince Alexei turned around and said to Vasily.

　　 "The situation in Ukraine is urgent. Bao Hong will go back to help the warchief against the Polish army. But when the prince enters Ukraine, you will still have a drink with Bao Hong."

　　Although he knew that what Vasily Zolotarenko said was not true, Alexey nodded in agreement.

　　Prince Alexei went to the Smolensk aristocratic seat again.

　　 "Long live Romanov! Long live the Tsar!" The prince toasted.

　　 "Long live! Long live! Long live!" The nobles not only shouted long live three times, but also stood up to show their respect for the czar who had never met.

"His Royal Highness, I think..." Speaker Szchenko wanted to move forward and say a few words with Prince Alexei, but Prince Alexei ignored him, and went straight to Franco. .

　　 "You are a very good soldier. Work for me, right? You will get supreme honor and reward." The prince threw an olive branch to Franco.

　　 "His Royal Highness, who works for is an important matter for the entire mercenary group. I have no right to decide alone." Franco tactfully refused.

　　 "Three-year contract, forty taylors per person a month, double the officers." The prince's words were concise and made a condition that no one could refuse.

　　 In all honesty, this is already an extremely generous treatment. Even the treatment of several well-known German teams in the Republic is nothing more than this. But those are all teams made up of veterans who have participated in the Thirty Years War, not a mercenary group that can only be rebuilt like this for four to five years. Prince Alexei can see such a price, which shows that he values ​​himself.

　　 "Your Excellency Prince, we are just an ordinary mercenary group." Franco smiled bitterly.

"The captured wing cavalry officer said," Prince Alexei said: "If your mercenary regiment went out with him that day, he will surely be able to break through the Cossacks. And your defensive performance is consistent with that. Today’s performance is absolutely worthy of such treatment."

　　 "Who was the captured officer?" Franco asked.

　　 "Doronin. When we captured him, she had been shot three times and was dying." Vasily Zolotarenko interrupted. He laid the car array there. The chariot formation was a weapon against the winged cavalry. What's more, the winged cavalry at that time was just an exhausted remnant with interception in the front and chasing after it. The whole army was wiped out within a few rounds.

　　 Franco was silent, and he knew that Doronin was like this at the last moment. And the phrase "If your mercenary group was with him out of the city that day, he will definitely be able to break through the Cossack's car array." It made Franco more painful. If you were...

　　 Franco shook his head, he forced his thoughts back. Then he said to Prince Alexei: "I'm sorry, my contract with the Republic of Poland expires in three months. Therefore, my people and I cannot serve Tsarist Russia and your Royal Highness."

　　 As soon as Franco's voice fell, a trace of murder flashed across Yakov's face.

　　 Unlike Prince Alexei who values ​​military honor, Yakov is a politician general. He does not value honor and only value practical interests. In his opinion, Franco obviously refused to be used by Tsarist Russia. Then it is not a friend or an enemy, and the enemy is the safest to die.

　　 More than one person had the same idea as Yakov. They all looked at Franco with murderous eyes after Franco had said this.

　　 Franco looked at the prince, and the prince also looked at Franco. The eyes of the two people seemed to shoot sparks in the air.

　　 "You are my captive now." Prince Alexei said for a while.

　　 "Yes." Franco admitted.

　　 "So based on what you just said, I can kill you."

"good."

　　 "Do you have anything else to say?" The prince had already put his hand on the handle of the Leknife. In fact, there is no need for the prince to do it himself, as long as a look or hint, there are countless warriors in the hall to serve him.

　　 "I want to ask why His Royal Highness the Prince offered such a high price to my mercenary group." Franco asked.

　　 "Didn't the prince just say it? I appreciate your talent." A guy behind the prince who wanted to please the prince said to Franco. After speaking, he smiled flatteringly at Prince Alexei.

　　 But Prince Alexei didn't say a word to the answer of this good deed. He bowed his head and thought for a while before spitting out the two words "loyal".

　　 Yes, it was Franco's loyalty that really moved Prince Alexei. Prince Alexei, a brave warrior with a hundred steps through the Yang, and unparalleled riding and shooting, wants as much as he wants. But the prince knew that most of these people were willing to be loyal to him, because he was the uncle of the czar and the prince with supreme power. If one day I am nothing, everything built on the power sand tower will also fall apart. What Alexei expects is a servant who will never abandon and share weal and woe.

　　 And the performance of Franco and his men's **** Feodor today just proved that they are the kind of men the prince hopes for. That's why Prince Alexei expects their allegiance so much.

"Yes, loyal." Franco agreed: "His Royal Highness appreciates us because he sees that I and my subordinates are persistent to Lord Feodor. But if we are now because of your high-ranking officials. If the unexpired employment agreement is torn up, the loyalty that His Royal Highness expects will no longer exist. Those who don’t know the truth will also think that your army is a place to hide the filthy gangsters who do not have the spirit of contract. ."

　　 After finishing speaking, Franco put his hands behind him, posing as if he was at his disposal.

"I can lock you all up, just like I did with Feodor. You will be locked up for three months, and you should have no excuses when your contract expires." Prince Alexei looked at Franco's eyes. Convey this meaning.

　　 "Yes, you can do this." Franco also replied with his eyes.

　　 Prince Alexei can of course do this, but the consequence of doing so can only be that people who have obtained Franco will not be truly convinced by Franco.

　　 Stay or not. Alexei was really tangled inside. But after all, he is the kind of old-school soldier whose honor surpasses everything, just like to Vasili and Baohong, even if something happens in the middle, he will not change his promise. Since he had announced in the city hall that he could leave by himself if he did not want to stay, then this applies to everyone.

　　 "I'm going to fight Laziviu soon. You must stay here for three months before you can leave, and in the next three months, you promise not to fight with us." Prince Alexei said.

　　 Yanush Laziviu’s army was actually on the road, and the Smolensk nobles secretly said in unison in surprise. They are both regretful and afraid now. I regret that I surrendered so early. I thought that the news of the reinforcements was just a scam by Prince Alexei to trick Doronin out of the city. I didn’t expect it to be true; I was afraid that if Yanush Raziviu defeated the tsar. What kind of fate would the Russian army suffer? Yanush was notoriously ruthless to traitors.

　　 The sway of the Smolensk nobleman, General Yakov, was also watching. He secretly was annoyed by Prince Alexei’s remarks, but the remedy had to be remedied. He hurriedly promised that the great tsar had already commanded an army of 30,000 to deal with Yanush, and the opponent had only less than 20,000, which was nothing terrible.

　　 Prince Alexei was indifferent to the "cause" he had caused, just waiting for Franco's guarantee~www.NovelMTL.com~I promise. "Franco said.

　　 "Okay." Prince Alexei drank the glass of wine.

　　 Franco also drank all the wine in his glass.

　　 Now that the prince has made a decision, the others have nothing to say.

　　 The banquet continues. Count Anzumov walked to Fyodor and said with a smile:

　　 "Hey, you, the mercenary captain, are really personal."

　　 "No, I regret that I should have listened to you people. If I had listened to Franco in the first place, it would be fine." Feodor said with a glance at Count Anzumov.

　　 "At the beginning? What at the beginning? What did Captain Franco say?" Hearing Feodor's words, Anzumov's eyes kept rolling. He intuitively felt that this was useful information.

　　 Feodor does not answer.

　　 "Old friend, why are you angry with me? Everyone agrees to surrender, what can I do?" Count Anzumov sighed almost as if he was also a victim. He quietly pulled Feodor aside.

　　 "I still have one mind with the Republic." He whispered in Fyodor's ear, "I'm just imagining and conspiring with the people in Szchenko."

　　 "Really?" Fyodor's eyes lit up when Count Anzumov said.

　　 "Of course, how can I say that we are also going to be in-laws, how could I lie to you." Anzumov continued to bewildered.

　　 Feodor nodded.

　　 "So, if Captain Franco really had any way of defending the city, I wouldn't be fooled by those traitors."

　　 "Oh, Captain Franco originally persuaded me to stick to the castle for a few months. He said that the army of the Grand Prince (Yanush) must have been on the road." The credulous Feodor said everything.