"Broke a nail, destroyed a horseshoe, destroyed a horseshoe, broke a war horse, broke a war horse, fell a king, fell a king, lost a country!"


    Pedro always thought that this was just a fable to persuade people to pay attention to details, but he didn''t expect that such a story actually happened, and it happened to yanush raziveu.


    In the battle more than a month ago, although the mihau cavalry killed out from behind the prince''s army, which surprised Prince yanush, the commander quickly adjusted his strategy and tried to break through the right-wing defense line of the alliance before the strange soldiers of the alliance broke through their own defense line, so as to change the unfavorable situation.


    Pedro didn''t know how the other mercenary teams performed, but he was proud to say that his mercenary regiment blocked the attack of the left-wing Colonel yezh haretsky and won time for the implementation of the prince''s strategy.


    But at this time of fate, yanush raziweu fell from his horse and the prince''s army lost its commander. This sudden accident led to the complete defeat of the prince''s army. All the teams fled, and the mercenary regiment led by themselves had to retreat in the direction of Werner. In this process, Colonel Jerzy halletsky, an old enemy of the mercenary regiment, stubbornly bit the mercenary regiment. The Colonel led his subordinates all the way from the battlefield to the capital of Werner. When the mercenary regiment retreated to tikeqing''s castle with Werner''s defenders and routs gathered by longzinsky, Jerzy halletsky and several allied forces surrounded the castle.


    Fierce fighting and continuous retreat caused heavy losses to the mercenary regiment. Almost all the cannons and carriages were lost on the battlefield, and there were less than 300 left in the remnants of the mercenary regiment that retreated to tikchin with Pedro. Fortunately, the military controllers of the mercenary regiment survived, otherwise Pedro really couldn''t explain to Chechen.


    "Alas!"


    With this in mind, Pedro sighed again. He looked out of the castle. There were countless flames like stars outside the castle. It was the camp where the Allied forces were stationed. At a glance, it was endless. For more than a month, the Allied forces seemed not in a hurry to attack the city. They surrounded tikeqing, but they rarely attacked the city except shelling. It seems that they are waiting for the food in the castle to surrender.


    "Soon."


    Pedro bit the hard black bread. This is the military grain distributed two days ago, which is doped with at least a quarter of sawdust, but even such food is not sufficient. Many mercenaries began to complain. Some mercenaries have begun to discuss tying yanush to the allies in exchange for the forgiveness of commander sapega.


    He glanced inside the castle again. Tikchin is a small castle, which was used as a vacation for members of the raziweu family before. All it has is only one wall, but the main building is very high, with towers and spires. Now, in the dark night, only one window is still lit, that is Prince yanush''s bedroom. Now, only the prince''s room can afford candles.


    Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps under the dark stairs of the city wall.


    "Who?" asked Pedro, gripping the micalay musket in his hand.


    "It''s me, captain."


    Pedro heard fedot''s voice. He relaxed his grip on the gun.


    Fedot gradually entered the light. There was a man behind him. Pedro fixed his eyes and saw that it was sarben, Prince yanush''s royal doctor.


    "What''s going on?" asked Pedro with a frown.


    Salburn looked in bad spirits - although he was wearing thick clothes, his shoulders were shaking and his facial muscles were twitching.


    "I was patrolling the castle and found salburn cornered by zeppesh. The villain grabbed him by the throat," fedot said.


    "That villain," said Pedro, spitting under the wall.


    Zepesh has become the enemy of the mercenary regiment since Chechen had to run away. But this guy is also cunning. I don''t know what way he went. He won yanush''s trust and was arranged to take over Victor''s infantry team. Of course, Pedro was extremely dissatisfied with this. He spoke to Prince yanush several times about the unreliability of zepesh, but yanush ignored him.


    Pedro saw a cold sweat on salburn''s face. He took out a dirty handkerchief and handed it to salburn.


    "Thank you." salburn was not too dirty. He took the handkerchief and wiped his face carefully.


    When salburn finished, Pedro asked, "why is that tsepesh bothering you?"


    Salben looked around and saw that there was no one except fedot. He approached Pedro and said, "you and captain Chechen saved me. I shouldn''t hide it from you. Zepesh came to me for Prince yanush''s injury."


    "Didn''t you say the prince didn''t fall heavily?" Pedro asked anxiously after listening to salben.


    Yanushma lost his front foot and accidentally fell off his horse. This is what the prince said to the mercenaries. And on the day after retreating to tikchin, Prince yanush independently inspected the city wall to let everyone dispel speculation about his injury. Is there any secret?


    The reason why Pedro is still so determined to play for Prince yanush is that he believes that yanush raziwiu, backed by the Swedes, will not fail. Even if he fails, the Swedes will help him make a comeback. But if yanushi had an accident, then when yanushi had no male heir, the Swedes would certainly not support a dead man, and they and the mercenary regiment would lose their allegiance.


    After several struggles, salburn decided to tell Pedro the truth:


    "Pedro, my friend. In fact, Prince yanushi didn''t fall off his horse accidentally because of a slip of the horse. He has always been in poor health. The wounds left during the war with czar Russia have been torturing him. Originally, I prescribed medicine for him. He can recover as long as he has peace of mind. But he has been forgetting to eat and sleep for his career for more than half a year, so that his injury is not serious The prince fainted once when Jan sobesky rebelled, and was saved by luck. Unexpectedly, this time... "


    Pedro got it. Tsepesh''s threat to salben and his understanding of Prince yanush''s injury must be a measure of whether he should abandon the prince and surrender to the allies. He is such a snob.


    "How long will the prince live?" asked Pedro.


    Salburn stretched out three fingers.


    "Three days?"


    "Up to three days."


    "Does zeppesh know?"


    "Yes, he forced me to tell him."


    "Boom!"


    A flash of lightning lit up the pale faces of Pedro and salburn in the night sky.


    Lightning in the night sky also woke yanush raziwiu. He tried to get up from the bed, but found that his body was like being pressed by a kilogram of Boulder, while his hands were as soft as cotton.


    "Lonzinski, lonzinski!" yanush shouted, but the sound was like coming out of a leaking bellows.


    Hearing the prince''s cry, lonzinski came in from the bedroom door. He held a candlestick in his one hand, and the candle on it shone faintly on longzinsky''s face.


    The shortage of food in the castle also affected the strong man. Lonzinski''s cold and full cheeks had completely sunk in, and his uniform was as loose as a size larger.


    "My prince, what''s the matter with you?" lonzinski went to yanush, put the candlestick on the bedside table, and half knelt down.


    "Help me up," yanush said.


    Lonzinski lifted the prince''s body and put a pillow behind him.


    "What was the noise outside just now? Did the rebels attack the city again?" yanush asked. After half sitting up, he felt much more comfortable in his chest and his breathing was smooth.


    "Just now it was the sound of thunder. The rebels didn''t attack the city," longzinsky said.


    Yanush nodded.


    "Did any of the messengers I sent come back?" yanush asked again.


    After being besieged, yanush sent envoys to his cousin boguslav, King Carl X of Sweden, Frederick William elector, and even to czar Russia to ask for support.


    Lonzinski shook his head. More than a month later, none of the messengers sent came back.


    Yanush coughed heavily.


    Yanush closed his eyes. He did not understand how he had come to such a rebellious and helpless situation today.


    Once upon a time, yanush raziwiu''s name frightened all those who opposed him. Jan kazimiz refused to grant him a seat in the Senate because he was afraid of his influence, but even so, he had to hand over the military and political power of Lithuania to himself.


    At the dinner party of the raziweu family, there was no one less than a thousand nobles. Every invited nobleman was flattered and tried to squeeze himself in front of him just to say a word of flattery.


    In terms of wealth, even the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the king of France did not have their own money. The granaries of the raziweu family were full of grain, and the cellars of each manor were full of boxes of Taylor. Countless dukes, earls and members of Parliament are their debtors.


    He is the Savior and protector of Jews and Protestants. Those persecuted in other countries gathered at their feet. He allowed them to retain their faith and built churches and schools.


    But now, just more than half a year, they have changed together. I don''t have the power to respond. The nobles who once swore to serve me rebelled one by one, and all those left are villains who follow suit and lack ambition and talent; The raziwiu family can rival a country''s wealth. The manor and real estate are burned and plundered. Taylor in the Treasury is at the bottom. Even the salary and food of mercenaries are unsustainable. Jewish bankers who once regarded themselves as supreme began to avoid themselves.


    He failed, completely.


    This is a fact. Yanushi was unwilling to admit it and had to admit it.


    He once wanted to use the red cloth of the Republic to process a crown for himself to ascend the throne. Unexpectedly, the final one was the coat of death.


    "If I hadn''t taken that step..." yanushi thought again.


    He suddenly felt a little thirsty.


    "Lonzinski, bring me a bowl of honey water," said yanush.


    Longzinski was in a dilemma. There was no food in the castle. Where to get honey?


    At this time, there was another loud noise outside the window. It was neither gunfire nor thunder.


    Yanush suddenly opened his eyes again.


    "Longzinsky, what''s that sound?"


    Because the voice was very mixed, what longzinsky heard just now was not true. He went to the window to observe that the position of the castle gate was open, and a fire dragon composed of torches penetrated through the gate.


    "Your Highness!" longzinsky cried out sadly.


    Yanush turned his head with difficulty. He looked at longzinsky''s desperate face and understood everything.


    "Bogusslav! Bogusslav!"


    Yanush raziwiu shouted with his life.


    "It''s a good thing you didn''t come! At least our family has you after my death. Our raziwiu family!"


    These words seemed to exhaust all yanush''s strength. His body stood on the bed for a few times, his hands convulsed and convulsed, and finally did not move.


    Lonzinski walked gently to yanush''s side. He crossed the prince''s hands and put them on his abdomen.


    At this time, noisy footsteps came downstairs, and countless leather shoes and riding boots trampled on the wooden stairs.


    Lonzinski was indifferent. He stood quietly beside the prince''s body.


    The bedroom door was pushed open. Knights such as mihau and Jerzy haretsky broke in. Mihau looked at yanush, who was lying on the bed with no sound, and was at a loss for a moment, while yezh halletsky breathed a sigh of relief.


    In the Allied forces, mihau raziwiu, a fellow of Prince yanush, tried hard to save the prince''s life, and commander sapega held the same view - he believed that the living prince was more useful than the dead. Others, on the other hand, tried their best not to let yanush live any longer, because as long as he lived, they would have no peace. Before invading the castle, some great men had advised Colonel harlezki that they only wanted the dead prince.


    Originally, halletsky was still worried about how to do it in front of mihau, but now he doesn''t have to worry anymore.


    After a few minutes, mihau finally reacted. He took off his gloves and walked to the body of Prince yanush.


    Ronzinski stood in front of mihau.


    "I will not allow anyone to insult the prince''s body," lonzinski said firmly.


    "I won''t either," mihau said, looking into ronzinski''s eyes.


    He came to the prince''s body and gently closed yanush''s eyelids with his hand.