Chapter 65: Poland's Road Party Down

  Little Zigmond's words brought a burst of laughter from the cavalry escort.

  "Silence! You rustic bumpkin dare insult us Romans!"

  One of the guards could no longer bear it, and our side of over thirty people completely separated from the four hundred or so Zigmond cavalry due to this scolding.

  Little Zigmond's expression was one of surprise, with a hint of incredulity. I think he couldn't understand how we crippled Romans dared not to show him respect, considering they were the local snakes here.

  I galloped my horse to block the way between Little Zigmond and his tense guards, remaining silent for a long time.

  "Hand over that person and come apologize, otherwise don't blame us for having nothing to discuss!" Little Zigmond's attitude was very arrogant.

  "What makes you think that the Roman army will hand over a Roman soldier, what makes you think that the Roman army will hand over a Roman woman, and finally what makes you think that the Roman army will give up land belonging to Rome?"

  At this time, I felt a slight vibration on the ground.

  "Are we not strong enough?"

  "Are you guys too stupid?"

  "Or perhaps we're just not ruthless enough?"

  The guards heard my threatening words and pressed down on their pistols, coldly scanning the surroundings.

  "You dare to threaten me?" Little Zigmond burst out laughing in extreme anger.

  "Yes, just us."

  A long, mournful sound of a military bugle came from afar, the imperial cavalry had arrived.

  The sound of hooves echoed, smoke and dust billowed, under the sunlight, the imperial eagle flag fluttered in the wind, cavalry poured out from behind us to our left like a tidal wave. And on our right rear flank, my cuirassier regiment Atalandi also appeared, under the raised regimental eagle flag, the shiny cuirassiers' breastplates sparkled with dazzling light, row after row, three rows...

  The eagle flag points the way, advancing irresistibly, mighty steeds galloping in unison, creating a deafening roar that shakes the earth as they devour every inch of land beneath their feet.

  Little Zigmond looked at me with two wide eyes, and I teased: "Do you dare to say these words to the Russians once?"

  On the flank of Little Zsigmond's cavalry, another group of horsemen, no smaller in number than theirs, was moving to block their retreat. The disorganized crowd panicked and looked at Little Zsigmond again, who stared straight-eyed at the constantly emerging horsemen with a very bad face.

  "You short-arses' affected tones are nothing compared to the terrifying army of fierce Russians! Only we can fight against the Russians!"

  With a cold smile, I said: "It seems you don't dare. Listen, it's not important who the master of this land was in the past, but from now on, this is Roman territory."

  "Your land? Ha! This is the domain of our House Zygmont! We, the Zygmonts, were already established here long before you Romans set foot in this place!"

  "That is to say, the Zygmont family does not recognize this as Roman territory."

  "That's right, what can you do about it!"

  Little Zigmond's attitude remained unchanged, but even if his attitude had changed, it would have been unable to change the decision I had already made.

  I gave a hand signal to the cavalry behind me, preparing them for shooting. I shrugged my shoulders: "Nothing, we will just do one more thing... flatten the Zygmont's house, and then this place is Roman territory."

  I pulled out the flintlock pistol, raised my hand, and in the instant when little Zigmond's eyes flashed with incredulity, I pulled the trigger. The Ukrainian nobleman's head from top to bottom was blown off by a bullet, his horse startled, dragging the beheaded little Zigmond away, I looked at that group of stunned cavalrymen.

  A burst of gunfire erupted behind him, and the cavalrymen fell off their horses one after another. The frightened horses scattered in all directions.

  "Kill!!!"

  Among the three options of turning around to escape, keeping still and charging forward against that group of bandits who were caught off guard, I chose the latter. I had no way out, retreating would give these bandits the courage to fight back, while staying still would block the charge of the heavy cavalry behind me, only by launching a charge could we shock the enemy with one blow and completely crush their morale!

  He drew out his horse sword, its sharp blade flashing in the light.

  A distance of over thirty meters is enough for us to drive our horses and launch a charge!

  The guards behind him also raised their sabers, and I felt their anger!

  The insulted anger filled these Romans who had grown up in the Roman Empire since childhood with indignation!

  "Long live Rome!!!"

  Before we could think twice, in the blink of an eye, we had rushed to the opposite side.

  Those four hundred cavalrymen who were used as a bargaining chip by Zsigmond were now leaderless, and when they saw our thirty-odd men launch a charge with such a small number of people, they chose to avoid us rather than block us in the first instance. The few who stood in our way were stunned into almost complete immobility, and it only took one slash to send their heads flying.

  But in an instant, more than 400 cavalrymen were cut through like thin paper, and we were lucky to have killed our way out without any damage.

  At this time, the first Cossacks to appear had already ridden around from the right flank.

  "About face!" After running out for more than a hundred meters, we turned the momentum of the team around and aimed our cavalry swords at the enemy's back again.

  Those mounted hunters soon blocked our way, and at a distance of over 50 meters, they raised their carbines, rested them on their arms, and fired at the motionless Zygmont's household cavalry.

  The old man's reforms of the cavalry were well implemented, if in the past, it is estimated that these hunting cavalry would have charged forward, now they first fired at the enemy, not only could intimidate the enemy, but also loosen the dense formation of the enemy for the breastplate cavalry about to launch a charge.

  Gunfire erupted, and not many people fell off their horses, but they became more scattered. In groups of a dozen or so, some tried to gallop away, while others shouted that they wanted to go back and fight to the death. Some even charged at the hunting cavalry. Amidst this chaotic situation, the cuirassiers launched a charge.

  Unlike the hasty charge launched by me and the Guardsmen, the Atirador Cavalry Regiment had some preparation and enough distance to adjust.

  There were four rows, each with ninety people, and the distance between two rows was forty meters. From the horses' slow trot to galloping, and then to thousands of hooves producing a deafening roar like thunder, all this happened in the time it took us to charge forward and turn around. In an instant, thousands of iron hooves stirred up clouds of dust.

  "For Rome!"

  A voice like thunder, the first of a blue-robed cuirassier shouted loudly, like a rolling iron tide swallowing up the Zygmont's cavalry.

  The first row of cuirassiers and the cavalry of the Zygmont's house collided heavily, the sharp sabers easily cut through the bodies of those Ukrainians, more people were trampled down by the rushing war horses and fell to the ground, many frightened horses ran wildly in all directions without being controlled by their riders.

  The cavalry of the Zsigmond house immediately fell into disarray, frightened by this sudden blow, and the troops that were already scattered in all directions became even more fragmented. At this time, the hunting hussars who were roaming around had already come up with their swords drawn.

  The saber is the best weapon in melee combat. The design of the imperial cavalry's sabers mainly played a powerful arc-shaped swing and slash from shoulder to elbow, with a length of approximately 82-84 cm, which is relatively long among various countries' sabers. The width of the entire blade is almost the same from head to tail, only narrowing at the front end and opening into a double-edged shape near the tip. However, the most important feature, also the excellence of saber design, lies in its hilt. The extension of the guard as a hand protector is not necessary to mention, but its unique feature is the introduction of the thumb ring design. The thumb ring is riveted at the tongue of the hilt, and when holding the steel knife for forceful slashing, the big thumb can add power through the thumb ring, making the striking action more accurate and powerful.

  These trained cavalrymen formed into small groups of three to five, cutting the cavalry that these earthworms had cherished and confused into countless scattered pieces.

  A bloody massacre began, but this was a battle with an outcome that had already been decided from the start.

  Another squadron of hussars did not join the battle due to the terrain, I sent them to blockade the castle of Zygmont's family, where people who saw this massacre fled in panic.

  Open the watch, twenty-one minutes later, the battle is over.

  Zygmund's household and his allied cavalrymen did not die out, but most of them surrendered. Our casualties were small, but more than a dozen cuirassiers who charged forward died.

  The cavalry was divided into five parts and surrounded the entire castle, with thousands of peasants being kept under guard.

  The mutilated body of Little Zsigmond was found thirty minutes later, his head severed and impaled on a long spear in a place where the flintlock guns could not reach.

  Inside the castle, an old man stuck his head out of the castle's watchtower window and gazed blankly at the chaotic battlefield, saying: "Why! We've already promised to become subjects of the Roman Empire! Why are they still attacking us?!"

  Apart from my thirty or so bodyguards, everyone else who had just arrived was bewildered, and for a moment many people's attention was caught.

  Is it right that by becoming subjects of the Empire we should be allowed to insult the Empire, insult our women and also give up our territory?

  What a joke, the Zygmont family is completely suicidal.

  "You killed my son, I will fight against you to the end! I want to make you never have a peaceful day on this land! I want to unite with the Russians! I want to kill you all together with the Russians and capture Constantinople!"

  The loud cries of the old man echoed through the empty castle grounds, if it were in the Middle Ages, we cavalrymen could only stare at Siegmund's castle with dry eyes, but now that the old man is hiding inside the castle, it's not our fault for being impolite.

  After sending out the liaison personnel, I waited for the time when Uncle Zimiszia sent help. I looked at the castle and called the assassin. It's possible that the bodyguard sent by Old Man is a genius who often fights with zero seconds: "How is your fighting ability?"

  "It depends on who you're talking about."

  I nodded in deep agreement, of course, you have to consider the object before making a judgment: "The most powerful kind of level."

  "The strongest level? I should be more than enough for you." Assassin smiled lightly.

  I was stunned: "Why would you think I'm the most formidable opponent?"

  "Because I think our battle in the future will be extremely intense. Fighting and whatnot is not even worth mentioning compared to that, so I need to make deep plans for the future to defeat you, after all, I am the defensive side in this fight."

  An hour later, an infantry battalion and a battery of artillery arrived in the afternoon. Six guns were placed: two eight-pounder infantry guns to the north at 400 meters distance, two four-pounders to the south at 300 meters distance, and two five-pounder howitzers were set up.

  Everyone minds their own business.

  "Right in front of us, local Polish nobleman Zygmunt conspired with the Russians to rebel against the country, and ordered the destruction of Zygmunt's family."

  The flash of cannons flickered on the plain along the Dnieper River, and thunderous roars followed one after another.

  The red-tiled roof of the tower, the round tower, Zygmont's castle is a traditional Eastern European-style castle. These are features, but soon these features will be gone. After the smoke clears, Zygmont's castle appears with several large holes, from which come out women's screams, children's crying, and the hissing of those snakes. The Zygmont family was powerless to fight back because they had no cannons, this was something that had been extracted from little Zygmont a long time ago, who at the time still wanted us to send them a few.

  What a bunch of idiots.

  After an hour of bombardment, Sigmund's castle was basically half-collapsed.

  Half an hour later, a fight broke out inside the castle.

  Before noon, the vipers from Zsigmond's house walked out, each carrying a head. These people were trapped in the castle, with no hope of survival, so they grabbed Zsigmond's whole family and killed old Zsigmond to come and plead guilty.

  Looking at those women kneeling on the ground and crying, and the blood of the Zigmond family, I only have one feeling: if I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place?

  "Kill all men…. I looked at the hateful eyes of those little kids who had been driven out, "regardless of age. As for women, keep them."

  The direct descendants of Zsigmond must be eradicated, but considering they have a large number of relatives and similar creatures, we should also take care of them. Those who came to help are the best guides and sources of manpower.

  I left Lyon to sort out the spoils of war in the castle ruins, and I went back to meet Uncle Zimiszczya and briefly told him everything that had happened. Given that Zygmunt's family is deeply rooted here, the army will be staying for a few days.

  The Road Party took us to surround and beat up people related to Zygmont's family.

  Almost half of the hussars were sent out, each infantry regiment with an artillery battery. They didn't even have dinner before starting to clear out, and throughout the night, the entire area around Zygmont's house for dozens of miles was filled with the sound of cannon fire.

  During this time, we didn't idle either. I was organizing the peasants, and Valens would take them to build fortifications. Uncle Zimisya issued an order to collect eggs, and the army went from door to door demanding them.

  We don't want eggs for eating, but for hurrying on our journey.

  Fortunately, since the Zygmont's family was exterminated, their goods were not in the castle but in several warehouses nearby, and just the eggs from their household satisfied the entire army's needs.

  These are just part of the local snake's wealth.