Eagle's Glory

Of course, in this ruthless battle, many corpses with different expressions were left behind. The god of death accepted these new sacrifices with a smile, and urged the people who fought and fought to provide him with new tributes as soon as possible.

Many of the soldiers who died in the last attack were still lying in the open space and trenches because the corpses left behind could not be restrained. However, the people who lost their lives in this battle provided new nourishment for the earth.They lay down on the ground, leaving shocking spots on the ground.

Although the weather has turned cold after autumn, if you let it go, I believe that these people will rot in a short time, and the smell of corpses will permeate the entire battlefield...

Egron and Edmund Dantès, standing on the high ground, saw the whole battle in detail.

Although both of them had already anticipated the outcome of this attack, after actually witnessing this scene, both of them couldn't help being speechless for a moment.

Edmond Dantès knew that according to His Majesty's will, they must take Messolonghi as soon as possible, and several attacks have proved that they cannot do this in frontal attacks.

So all hope is on him.

"We paid dearly," he hissed.

"This is the price that must be paid to lead to victory." Aigron corrected the other party's statement, "That's what fighting is like-if you want to win, you have to be willing to spend your life. If we can win, then what we lost All costs can be adequately compensated."

That's what Aigron thought, so even though he knew that he would return without success, he still ordered his subordinates to launch an attack without any hesitation or guilt in his heart-because he knew that as a commander, if he If you are merciful and indecisive, more people will die in the end.

Of course, he also knows that there is a limit to all of this.

Humans are sentient beings rather than machines. Once they are motivated by passion, they can perform unimaginable feats, but equally, once discouraged, people will be more cowardly than sheep.

Now that he keeps letting his subordinates attack, he is damaging his morale.

Because of the prestige he had accumulated before, the officers and soldiers under his command are still carrying out his orders without complaint. Even though they know that the hope of winning is slim, they are still charging for him.

But if there is still no hope after a period of time, then the morale will definitely weaken, or even directly slacken——

This is the reason why the Turkish army besieged Messolonghi fortress for a long time before but failed without success.

There is no doubt that under his command, his army has high morale and is much more cohesive than the Turks, but once it enters the endless war of attrition, no matter how high the morale is, the troops will gradually lose their strength. Lose confidence and sink into laxity.

Egron must find a way to win the battle before that day comes—or, as he and his men promised, retreat back to Naphpaktos with his army and suffer the bitter consequences of failure.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Edmond Dantès suddenly covered his face as if he felt ashamed in his heart, as if he was too ashamed to be looked at directly by him again. "If I could have acted faster, we wouldn't have paid such a price!"

Aegron was slightly surprised by his words.

After a while, he understood.

Edmund regarded the death of these soldiers as the result of his own incompetence.

"You don't have to blame yourself." He said calmly, comforting the other party, "You have done a good job, at least meeting the expectations in my heart, if there is any responsibility, the responsibility is on me. I made all the plans , and brought you all here, and I drove them to death, and if there is a judgment in heaven, I will gladly accept it, but before that, I will lead you to victory—we must win.”

"We must win!" Edmond Dantès repeated loudly.

Although Aigron put all the responsibilities on his own shoulders, Edmund silently made up his mind in his heart, if he messed up everything, let His Majesty return without success, and let so many dead warriors sacrifice their lives in vain, Then he would shoot himself in the head and make up for his mistakes with his life.

Follow the young man, travel to Greece as his agent, and then fight with him all the way... In Edmond Dantès' heart, he no longer knows himself as an ignorant sailor, He is the Count of Monte Cristo, a nobleman enshrined by His Majesty, a man who deserves to repay his trust with courage and blood.

It is better to die gladly with honor than to live with shame.

Of course, Aigron didn't know his favorite's state of mind at the moment, but from Edmund's eyes, he had already noticed how firm the other's will was.

That's all he wants to see.

"Don't rush to act, remember that we only have one chance, and we must ensure success. Although there will always be casualties, we can afford these costs at present... I will not force you to start right away, you have enough time." Just because you know the other party How firm his determination was, so instead he was intentionally venting pressure on Edmund.

"boom!"

At this moment, the cannon, which had been silent for a long time, fired again.

In order to carry out the intention of the exhausted enemy, even after the battle, the shelling continued, but because the attack had just suffered a setback, the momentum was obviously weakened.

Amidst the rumble of cannons, Aigron had to increase his volume, "All you recruit are warriors, I am willing to pay the warriors enough, tell them, if the operation is successful, I will give each of them three A reward of ten thousand francs!"

Egron believed in the principle that there must be a brave man under a heavy reward, so he offered a huge reward—now the citizens of France only earn a few hundred francs a year, and a soldier’s annual salary is much lower. Thirty thousand francs is a huge sum of money that is enough to provide them with food and clothing for the rest of their lives.

However, Aigron quickly realized that such an operation was extremely dangerous. Even if it succeeded, most of the death squads would probably not be able to live to receive the bounty from him.

So after a pause, Aigron added, "In addition, you can tell them that they can designate a beneficiary, whether it is a family member or a lover, no matter what country they are from. Once they succeed, even if they have lost At the cost of my life, I will definitely hand over the bounty to those designated beneficiaries, I swear to God!"

Seeing such a generous promise from the young man, Edmund Dantès also nodded inwardly.

The Greeks he chose already had the blessing of national hatred and family hatred. If the temptation of money is added at this time, they will definitely give up their lives even more.

The sacrifice spirit of the warriors is admirable, but just because they sacrificed voluntarily, they should not forget the rewards they deserve.

"Okay, Your Majesty, I will definitely convey your words to them." He immediately held his head high and assured the young man, "I believe this will definitely make them serve you more bravely."

"That's all I can do, and I can only leave everything else to you." Egron patted Edmund Dantès on the shoulder, "Edmond, the reward I offered is not It's not just for your subordinates, as the leader of the action, you should also get that share-I promise you, if you live up to the expectations of the whole army and win the victory for me, then I will let you You become the Marquis of Monte Cristo..."

"No, Your Majesty!" Edmund Dantès shook his head without thinking, and rejected Aigron's proposal, "I don't need your reward."

"Why?" Aegron was a little puzzled by his reaction.

"You have given me enough." Edmond Dantès stared at the young man in front of him, and then said with emotion, "You gave me a life and let me leave Chateau d'If; you gave me I have a knighthood, let me have a title that is enough to boast; and most importantly, you gave me the dignity of being a human being again, let me know that I am a person who is qualified to decide my own destiny, not a person who is at the mercy of others Clown... Except for my adoptive father, Father Faria, you are the only one who believes that I will become a great weapon. You trust me and entrust me with important tasks. For me, this is not so much as sending me, but rather You said it was to let me find my place in the world. For me, the moment you made me the Count of Monte Cristo, I owed a great debt of kindness. I am just repaying this debt. Please Don't give me new grace before I pay off!"

Aigron was a little moved by Edmund Dantès' words full of sincerity, and deep down in his heart he was even a little ashamed.

He knew that he didn't deserve the other party's tears of gratitude—because he didn't blindly grant such trust and grace without knowing anything about Edmund Dantès.

But, how can everything be explained to him clearly?

Since he wants to, so be it.

After a while, he regained his energy.

"Okay, but I hope this is the last time you refuse my grace. Remember, even modestly refusing a favor is disrespectful to me." So he nodded and ended the conversation between the two, "Take care of yourself , Edmund, we still have too many turbulent waves in the future that we need to overcome together.”

"I will, Your Majesty."　　

190, the bottom line and the truce

"I will, Your Majesty."

Edmund Dantès generously made a promise to the young man.

He really wanted to do everything possible to save his life—however, his purpose was not to covet future rewards, but to continue to accomplish great things with the young man, so that his life, which had fallen to the bottom of the valley for a while, could achieve a brilliant and splendid result.

The reason why Aigron said what he said just now was not to perform any political performances and win over the other party. He sincerely hoped that the Count of Monte Cristo could continue to follow him and move towards his destined legendary ending.

Although he had saved Edmond Dantès' life, deep down in his heart, he had sincere respect for this courageous and resourceful protagonist of the novel.

Although the two are in a master-slave relationship, during this period of interaction, they have developed some close friendships with each other—and Aigron, who has lacked interpersonal communication since childhood, has almost never had real friends.

So from a personal point of view, Aigron doesn't want to lose this friend easily.

After the two took care of each other, Edmund Dantès left with great determination. Next, he will convey His Majesty's instructions to everyone in his team, letting them know that they can learn from His Majesty. How many gifts are there.

After sending the Count of Monte Cristo away, Aigron did not stay idle, and he came to the camp where his advisor, Major Hench, and others lived.

At this time, the major was also standing with his colleagues, as if they were discussing something. When they saw Aigron walking in, they immediately stopped talking and saluted the young man together.

Eggron returned the salute silently while looking at these people.

It seems that these Austrian officers are not in good condition, especially the major himself. Judging from the heavy eye circles on his face, his recent sleep quality should be very poor.

"Major, you don't seem to be sleeping well?" he asked Major Henchy.

"Rather, I am a little surprised that you look so calm and composed, Your Highness." Major Hench replied with a wry smile. Commander, you are still so calm, I am relieved."

Like other officers, Major Hench was also troubled by the Messolonghi Fortress, especially after several attacks had failed.

When Egron decided to attack Messolonghi at the beginning, although he hesitated in his heart, he did not object when he saw the young man insisting so much. Now that the whole army has suffered setbacks in the city, he has fainted in his heart. shaken.

However, he also knows that the more difficult the situation is, the more he must not show any wavering, otherwise the morale of the army will definitely be shaken, so seeing that Aigron is still so confident, he is relieved.

"Whether I am happy or depressed, the facts that have happened will not change, and worrying is meaningless, so I will not worry about it at all." Egron replied calmly, "The important thing is how to change the status quo."

As Aigron's confidant, Major Hench certainly knew of Aigron's plan, so he sent an inquiry. "So, how is the Count of Monte Cristo going?"

"The progress is quite good." Aigron replied, "He just told me that he has found his deputy, and the actual combat exercise will be carried out next."

"Great!" After hearing this answer, the major also breathed a sigh of relief. "I hope he acts as soon as possible, whether it is success or failure, at least we should get a result earlier."

In the Major's view, it would be best if all went well, but if a setback at Messolonghi had to come back without success, that would be a terrible but not a disastrous outcome.

The worst result would be to procrastinate, spending troops and morale in vain all the time, and finally consuming all the capital I had accumulated with great difficulty.

"I know, but the more this is the case, the less you can be in a hurry." Aigron shook his head, "But I still decided to give him a little more time. In any case, we must first ensure the success rate of the operation. During this period of time, frontal attacks and The shelling cannot stop, we must win no matter what!"

He has always been a gambler, and he dares to bet on other people's lives and even his own life, but he is not a madman with red eyes. He is only willing to show his cards when he is sure that he has a certain winning rate-if it is not the time , then we can only continue to wait.

"Well, your idea is also correct." Under his insistence, Major Hench also nodded in agreement, and then he changed the topic, "But in this case, I have a proposal."

"What proposal?" Aigron asked.

"You send envoys to Messolonghi to discuss with the commanders of the defenders about a temporary ceasefire on a certain day in order to reduce the number of dead in the battle line." The major finished in one breath.

Aigron looked at the major, and suddenly understood the other party's intentions.

On the one hand, if the dead are not restrained all the time, it will not only hurt the morale of the soldiers in the army, but also increase the risk of a plague outbreak, so it really needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.

On the other hand, during the time when the truce is restrained, there is no need to insist on attacking, which can reduce the casualties of the own army, and can also temporarily show weakness to paralyze the will of the defenders.

This is excellent advice in every way.

"That's a good idea." Aigron nodded, but immediately questioned, "However, how to choose the messenger? I'm not sure whether they will accept our conditions."

"I can't guarantee that they will accept it, but it's worth a try." The major replied, "First of all, I think they don't want to suffer from the plague, and secondly...you have a surname that is famous all over the world, even if you are your enemy , the other side will also listen to your words."

Having said this, he smiled again, "As for the candidates for the envoys, they should be the captives we captured during our march. They haven't had time to be sent to the Peloponnese...you can Pick two or three of them as emissaries, and bring your letter into the fort."

Then, he added, "I have interrogated these captives in secret, and they are quite satisfied with how they have been treated after being captured, and they have heard that you have released captives in previous battles and never killed them." Or have abused captives, so I have a good impression of you, at least I admire you for insisting on morality."

"Really?" Aegron was a little surprised for a while.

He didn't expect that he would still be considered "upholding morality".

But he soon figured out why.

Since the outbreak of the War of Independence in Greece, the rebel army and the Turkish army that came to suppress it have been fighting for years, and they have already had a deep hatred between each other. While the two sides are fighting, their swords will inevitably fall on ordinary civilians.

There are countless incidents of Turkish soldiers killing and setting fire in Greece, and forcibly selling the locals as slaves; and the rebel army has also massacred the msl group many times.

This bloody massacre is not so much a struggle for independence and liberation as it has become a mass vendetta, and the hatred has accumulated deeper and deeper with massacres one after another, almost to the point where there are no communism. Dai Tian's point.

But in this situation where both sides were red-eyed, Egron, who joined the battlefield, had no ethnic hatred, so he was restrained instead.

He only kills and injures the enemy army during the battle, and after capturing the captives, he does not abuse them too much. He has even released captives on the battlefield, and he hardly uses force against civilians. It's just a breath of fresh air.

Of course, he also had his own considerations for doing this, not out of any kindness. In order not to get his hands dirty, he once planned to hand over all the captives to the Greeks—and Teresa, who stayed in Methone, went out. Out of compassion, he just handed over all the generals and kept most of the soldiers as captives to serve hard labor.

No matter what the reason is, so far, although he has been fighting with the Turkish army for a long time, he has a good reputation with the other side.

In the end, it's not that he has done so great and upright, but that when everyone's lower limit has been lowered, he who still maintains the basic lower limit is enough to be respected.

From this point of view, his words are indeed likely to be listened to by the other party.

"Okay, let's do this!" So Aigron nodded and agreed to the major's proposal.

After Eggron gave his order, his will was quickly carried out.

Soon, on the second day, several soldiers escorted the two selected prisoners out of the trench, and then walked carefully towards the wall of the bastion.

They held a huge white flag in their hands, indicating their status as military envoys.

As they approached the ditch in front of the bastion, sporadic shots were fired from the ramparts, but the shots died down quickly, apparently as the officers stopped the soldiers from firing.

Then, the group stopped in front of the trench, and then the two Turkish captives shouted in Turkish their identities and their request to forward the letter of His Excellency Bonaparte.

In the camp, Egron and his officers were also watching nervously, looking forward to the next development.

Fortunately, everything went as they wished. After a while of silence, several military envoys with white flags walked out from the sloping wall of the bastion, and then came to these people, and then they talked with the captives in Turkish After waiting for a while, after confirming their identities, they handed over to Aigron's soldiers and brought the captives back.

And their mission as envoys has been fulfilled—Aigron's letter will be brought into the hands of the fortress commander along with them.

This letter, Aigron specially had someone translate it into Turkish.

In this forwarded letter, Aigron was not stupid enough to persuade the defenders to surrender—he did not have much advantage in the current situation, and even persuading them to surrender would only be ignored, so he would rather not seek humiliation.

In the letter, he praised the courage and perseverance of the other party, and then briefly proposed that he hoped to have a day of truce the day after tomorrow in order to collect the remains, so as to prevent the sudden plague from causing great suffering to both sides.

Of course, at the end of the letter, Egron asserted his pride, declaring that he would march on and besiege Mesolonghion until it fell into his hands.

After the letter was sent into the fortress, the fortress fell into silence again, but only on the second day, several military envoys with white flags walked out of the bastion, and then crossed the open space between the two sides, came to the Among the front lines on Aigron's side.

Naturally, they received due courtesy, and the letter brought by the messenger was quickly delivered to Aegron.

Aigron immediately had the letter translated.

"Dear Duke Reichstedt

I don't think you have heard my name, but let me venture to tell you that my name is Ibrahim Mustafa Omar and I am an officer in the Turkish Army.

Your surname is so dazzling that until now, I still have full respect for you, and I also know that my name cannot be compared with yours.