The Last Frontier of Fire and Sword

　　 On the outskirts of Smolensk, there is a valley called Siromak. There is a lake in the valley, which is small but rich in various fishes. Every year when the fish grow fat, the surrounding fishermen will come here to catch the fish, and then the caught fish will be transported to Smolensk for sale in baskets.

　　 But in winter, the lake freezes and it becomes a place off the beaten track. No one will be here at this time. But this winter, if any hunter who doesn't love his home came here to take a look, he would be stunned by the sight in front of him.

　　 Around this lake, there are countless wooden houses made of large oak slats. These wooden houses are not tall, on the contrary, they are surprisingly small, and the tallest is no more than one person above the ground.

　　The windows of these houses are also very small, wide on the outside and narrow on the inside, just like gun holes in a bunker. These various irregular buildings surround the lake, and there are no fewer than thousands of buildings. If it weren't for the light from the window and the smoke that leaked from it, it would be hard for you to believe that such a shabby and simple place would be a human dwelling.

　　 And this is the secret camp of the 10,000 Cossack army led by Vasily Zolotarenko.

　　 This army secretly moved to Smolensk Province a month ago and was stationed in Siromak. And there was no action for such a long time. On the one hand, the cold and the ground restricted the movement of the army; on the other hand, it was because Bogdan Khmelnitsky, the chief of the Ukrainian front line, had been ordering. They stood there, waiting for the army of Tsarist Russia.

　　 This time, the originally loose-disciplined Cossacks became even more idle. The Cossacks had a good drink, and the wooden huts that were originally used for trooping turned out to be 38 taverns all at once. I don't know where they got the wine. Every day, waves of Zaporozhye's Cossacks drank half to death inside, and then were carried outside by latecomers, because these stone-like drunks took the place. This time, the drunks who came first fell out of luck. More than ten people freeze to death on the ground every day.

　　 As the leader of this army, Vasily Zolotarenko was indifferent to this phenomenon. For one thing, wine is the life of the Cossacks, something that never leaves the body like a musket and a short spear. The captain of a cossack company who was forbidden to drink, was waiting for him to betrayed by his relatives and was shot and killed by his men. And secondly, even he himself drank countless wines every day. This is not Vasily Zolotarenko's good drink, he is one of the few Cossacks who is not greedy for the cup. Because of this, he was not paralyzed by alcohol, so he didn't only know how to fight hard like a normal Cossack. Vasily Zolotarenko drank because he had nothing to do.

After 　　 was stationed from him, he would send a messenger to Ukraine on the fastest horse every day. The messenger had only one task, which was to ask Bogdan Khmelnitsky to agree to an attack on Smolensk by his army alone. And every messenger brought back the same command, that is, "wait". As for waiting for the army of Tsarist Russia, or waiting for winter to spring. The letter didn't say that Vasily Zolotarenko didn't care, anyway, it was just spending time here.

　　 Right now, he is sitting on a large stack of leather mattresses in the chamber. This chamber is also the largest room in the camp. On his right hand side sits his adjutant, and on his left hand side is one of his "Allied Brothers." The three people were surrounded by wine bottles, and the leftover beef bones and bread were thrown everywhere.

　　 Among the three, Vasily Zolotarenko is the most sober, but he also started to talk nonsense. Although the other two can drink more than him, they can drink more than him. I don't know how much they can drink, so they fell into position early.

　　 "Wine, give me wine again." Vasily Zolotarenko yelled at the door of the chamber, staring at the red eyes stained with alcohol.

　　At this time, as long as he called, someone would bring in wine. But at this moment, no one brought in wine, and there was no movement.

　　 "Get the wine quickly, or I will throw you all into the lake." Vasily Zolotarenko shouted again. He struggled to get up, but the leather mattress under his feet was too slippery. He fell back into his seat several times.

　　 Finally, the door opened. Vasily Zolotalenko vaguely saw a man come in with a basin.

　　 "Wine, wine." Vasily Zolotarenko exclaimed.

　　 But the figure fell on Vasily Zolotarenko's head with his head over his head.

　　 Vasily Zolotarenko shivered in the cold water. He pressed his hand on the handle of the knife-someone dared to do this to him, he must let that guy taste his own blood.

　　 "Vasily, wake up," the figure said to him. This voice was actually familiar to me.

　　Vasily Zolotarenko rubbed his eyes, and he finally saw the person in front of him.

　　 "Bao Hong!" Vasily Zolotarenko exclaimed in surprise.

　　 "Old friend, how are you?" The person called Bao Hong saw that Vasily Zolotarenko recognized himself, and opened his hands to give him a big hug.

　　 If Cheerchen were here, he would recognize this man named Bao Hong, the messenger of the so-called Duke of Dominica who saved his name.

　　Vasily Zolotarenko pushed Bao Hong away, then punched him hard in the chest.

　　 "Heh, why are you here?"

　　 Bao Hong, as a rare cavalry expert among the Cossacks, should have fought fiercely with the cavalry of the Republic of Poland on the grassland.

　　 received this punch in the chest, but Bao Hong didn't care. He said to Vasily Zolotarenko: "For Smolensk."

　　 There is no better sober medicine.

　　Vasily Zolotarenko asked in surprise: "Is Bogdan finally planning to take Smolensk?"

　　 "Yes. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com"

　　 "Where is the army of Tsarist Russia?"

　　Originally, the Cossacks of Zaporozhye and Tsarist Russia agreed to jointly attack Smolensk Province. Vasily Zolotarenko listened to Bogdan finally giving the order to attack, taking it for granted that the army of Tsarist Russia also entered Smolensk Province.

　　 "No, we attack in advance. Don't wait for them." Bao Hong said.

　　 "Are you waiting?"

　　 "No more!"

　　 "Did something happen?" Vasily Zolotarenko asked again. His brain, which is not corroded by alcohol, is obviously more sensitive.

　　 "There are some changes," Bao Hong said.

　　 "What changes?"

　　 "Look at it for yourself." After that, Bao Hong took out a piece of paper from his arms.

　　 "I don't know words." Vasily Zolotarenko said.

　　 "I don't know either. But when I came, the commander told me."

　　 "Then you can make a long story short."

　　 Then Bao Hong repeated Bogdan Khmelnitsky's original words. The main content is the treachery of Tsarist Russia. Originally, Bogdan went to Moscow to seek aid from the Tsar, and the two sides formed a reciprocal ally. But when it came to the czar, the misunderstanding became "accepting the commander Bogdan Khmelnitsky and the entire army of Zaporozhye, as well as their cities and lands, to the highest authority of the country." It became a refuge and a refuge. relation.

　　 Of course Bogdan, who knew about this matter, would not suffer from this dumb loss, so he sent Bao Hong to come, intending to seize Smolensk before Tsarist Russia sent troops to take the initiative.

　　 "Great." Vasily Zolotarenko licked the wine stain on his lips, his smile was like a bloodthirsty beast.