The Last Frontier of Fire and Sword

Baron Gustav Wrangel fled back to Warsaw with news of his defeat. The news that King Kazimierz led the army had passed Brest caused the Swedes in Warsaw to panic.

Especially when Baron Gustav Wrangel exaggerated the army of the Republic of Poland exponentially in order to conceal his defeat, some unsteady soldiers and aristocrats asked President Alvid Wedenberg The commander abandoned Warsaw and went to Prussia to join His Majesty the King.

The reason why these once brave soldiers and nobles do this is because they began to cherish their lives, and the reason is because they got the huge wealth in Poland that they could not even dream of in Sweden.

It can be said that every aggressor who accompanied King Karl X to Poland, from the nobility to the soldiers, gained wealth that they could not earn for several lifetimes in Sweden with salary and farm income. Once upon a time, on the Vistula River, every day there were ships carrying boxes of gold and silver jewellery to the Swedish port. Soldiers’ home letters were no longer homesick words but rings, earrings and other gold-printed ornaments.

The most painful thing in life is not not having it, but having it and then losing it. Wealth has softened the strong will of these noble soldiers. When they heard the arrival of the Polish army, they first thought of not killing the enemy and serving the country, but what to do with those treasures if they died.

Widenberg refused.

Although Widenberg was also greedy for wealth, and was defeated by a group of monks in Czestochowa and ridiculed by some people, it is undeniable that Widenberg was still one of the most outstanding generals in Sweden and even Eastern Europe at that time. one.

He did not panic because of the news brought back by Baron Gustav Wrangel, nor did he become greedy for life and death because of the increase in his wealth. Instead, he judged from the information brought back by the Baron that the Polish army was one. The fatal weakness-food.

As we all know, in this era, due to the rapid development of architecture and the relative slowness of pyrotechnics, in the confrontation between artillery and castle, due to the emergence of new bastions, a new balance has been achieved between spears and shields.

Even if the siege party has sufficient and powerful heavy artillery, it will take years and months to conquer a city. At this time, success or failure often depends on who has more food on both sides.

And this time, the Poles led an army of 100,000 (data provided by Baron Gustav Wrangel), so their daily consumption of food and grass must be an astonishing number. After being ravaged by war in other parts of Poland, it is bound to be unable to provide supplies for the consumption of 100,000 horses, and transportation from Lviv is far away. As long as the Swedish army rushes to the Warsaw area before the arrival of the Polish army and carries out a thorough tactics of fortifying the walls and clearing the fields and scorched earth, then the Polish army under the fortified city will inevitably encounter a shortage of food, and by that time they will collapse without fighting.

Wedenberg told the Swedish dignitaries in Poland of his judgment. What he did not expect was that after listening to his judgment, the dignitaries did not regain their confidence, but directly asked a question: Can the commander-in-chief be sure that the Poles will be short of food?

Widenberg spoke briefly. War is gambling, except for the Poles and God, who can be sure how much food they brought.

Widenberg could not guarantee them that the dignitaries began to riot again.

At this time, Christina played the role of Dinghai Shenzhen. The former queen stayed in Warsaw because she had to take care of the seriously ill old Prime Minister Benedict. She stood firmly on the side of Arvid Wiedenberg, and Christina said that she would stay in Warsaw. And guarantee that His Majesty King Carl X will return from Prussia soon.

Although Christina has abdicated, she still has high prestige in the hearts of the Swedes. Seeing that Her Majesty the Queen would stay, these dignitaries would cherish their lives no matter what they were, and were unwilling to put aside their decent and dignity on their backs to abandon the Queen's infamy and escape alone. They are no longer boisterous.

No one knows that Christina made this decision very painful and was for the sake of all the Swedish compatriots in the city.

She has always opposed the war, and during her time in Warsaw, she also tried to reduce the persecution of the Poles by the Swedes. If she can, she really wants to return Warsaw to the Poles. However, as the former queen of the Swedes, Christina must stand from the perspective of her own country and consider Sweden and the Swedish people in the city.

King Kazimierz came with an army of 100,000, and most of them were cavalry (or the result of the exaggeration of Baron Gustav Wrangel). If the Swedish army rashly leaves the fortified Warsaw city defenses, As Prussia retreats, it is likely to be intercepted by the Polish army in the middle, thus repeating the mistakes of Baron Gustav Wrangel.

Moreover, there are so many non-combatants in the city of Warsaw now-the Kingdom of Sweden has occupied Warsaw for nearly a year, and many families of nobles and soldiers are in the city. Retreating with these people will undoubtedly greatly affect the speed of the retreat, making it easier for the Poles to catch up. Instead of taking them with them, leaving them to the Poles, just relying on what the Swedes did on the Polish soil, how can Christina expect to be kind, and the tragedy of tooth for tooth and eye for eye is destined to happen.

Moreover, from a political point of view, his cousin has already encountered difficulties in Prussia, and the loss of Warsaw will strengthen the determination that the Elector Frederick William may fall to Kazimierz, and Denmark waits. The country will also be ready to move.

After that, Christina visited the anxious Swedish nobles in the city one by one, personally persuaded them, elaborated with them the pros and cons of abandoning and defending the city, and encouraged them to fight for their families.

Wedenberg even took out the jewels plundered from the occupied areas of the Republic of Poland by the Swedes hoarding in the city, and rewarded the Swedish soldiers and German mercenaries in the city to boost their morale.

These methods quickly stabilized the aspirations of the army and the people, the advocacy of abandoning the city became smaller, and the voice of persistence became louder.

From this day on, fires ignited every day outside the city of Warsaw—this is the Swedish soldier following Wydenberg’s orders to clear the fields and clear the shooting boundary outside the city. Although the Swedish soldiers generally obeyed Queen Christina's orders, they only drove and burned down the houses and crops of the poor Polish farmers without harming their lives, but this was already very cruel. Countless Poles shivered in the cold wilderness at night because they had no shelter from the wind and rain; the Swedes also refused to ban them from entering Warsaw because it would consume little food in the city.

Countless people were crying outside the city, and the voice was like howling a ghost.

In the Kazimierz Palace, Helena prayed and wept every day. At first, she prayed for the safety of herself and her children; later, when she heard that His Majesty King Kazimierz had liberated Brest with the Polish army, she began to pray that the army of the motherland would liberate Warsaw as soon as possible. Rescued himself and the child from his hands.

At this time, Helena did not know that her husband was the pioneer who defeated Baron Gustav Wrangel and liberated the Brest Fortress.

In fact, Helena and her two children did not suffer much in Warsaw. At least compared with the homeless and hungry people outside the city, she is very lucky.

Helena was taken to Warsaw by Bao Hong more than a month ago. As an alliance messenger sent by Khmelnitsky, Bao Hong was treated with enthusiasm in Warsaw. Wedenberg treated Bao Hong like a prince, treating him as the most honorable guest of the kingdom. It is conceivable that as Bao Hong’s woman (Bao Hong did not let Wydenberg and others know that Helena was the wife of the Polish colonel, but lied to be her mistress), Helena and the children got it. The care is also meticulous.

But mentally, Helena is extremely scarce in Kazimierz Palace. The Polish servants in the palace were frightened by Bao Hong's lust, and no one dared to say a word to her. They were afraid that their conversation with Helena would be seen by the Cossack and would be beaten. This is a precedent-a Polish maid just asked where Helena's hometown is. Blair was beaten up after hearing it.

But there is no impermeable wall in the world, and the fact that Helena is the wife of the Polish colonel still spread in the Kazimierz Palace.

Therefore, while reaping the sympathy of the Polish maid, the higher-status Swedish servant in the Kazimierz Palace was full of contempt for Helena. They look down on the Cossacks in their hearts, thinking that those guys are inferior, but Bao Hong and others are now the distinguished guests of Commander-in-Chief Widenberg, so even if the Cossacks drive them like Polish servants, they have to Put on a respectful look.

But after being angry with Cossacks, these Swedish servants cast their anger on Helena. For them, there is nothing more interesting to tease a woman from a Polish colonel.

They deliberately did not deliver meals to Helena and the others on time, did not change the clean bedding, and added salt to the milk in a prank manner. Everyone called Helena's name directly.

Of course, if Bao Hong knew about these pranks, he would certainly not give up. But he was discussing the alliance between the Zaporozhye Cossacks and the Kingdom of Sweden with Alvid Wedenberg every day. He didn't have much time to take care of Helena, and Blair and other Cossacks who were ordered by Bao Hong to take care of Helena, He also turned a blind eye to the behavior of the servants.

And Helena, she hates Bao Hong so much, how can she pray for help from her enemies.

But since Baron Gustav Wrangel fled back to Warsaw in embarrassment, all the servants have become kind to Helena. The servants in Poland brought precious news from the palace to Helena, and the servants in Sweden did not dare to mix Helena and their children's food with salt and other things. The Swedish chief who was cold and frosty even cared about Helena and asked her to warm up.

"My Virgin! Please bless me."

On this day, Helena knelt down in front of the statue of the Virgin, praying.

"Master Bao Hong is here."

The shouts of Polish servants came through the door. This shout actually conveyed a message to Helena.

When Bao Hong strode into the room, Helena had stood up from the ground, she let the children go to another room and faced Bao Hong alone.

Helena looked at Bao Hong, her face full of frost. In fact, since arriving in Warsaw, Helena has not spoken to Bao Hong.

Bao Hong today seems to have just returned from the suburbs. His leather boots were covered with mud, and he stepped on the white carpet step by step.

Helena frowned in disgust.

Bao Hong walked in front of Helena. He held the whip in his hand and held it high in front of Helena.

But Helena was still expressionless, just staring at Bao Hong with hatred.

"You know what, I really regret it. If I didn't like you so much back then, I would give you three whips like a Ukrainian farmer, and then take your body without the permission of the priest."

Helena still didn't speak, but there was fear in her eyes.

Bao Hongmei smiled and lowered the whip from Helena's eyes.

"Today the Poles sent a messenger." Bao Hong said.

Helena did not speak, but looked at Bao Hong.

"Do you know what it's for? It's about you."

Bao Hong walked to the table and poured a glass of water to drink ~www.readwn.com~ and then sat on the sofa. He was waiting for Helena to ask herself, but he was disappointed again.

"Damn, damn! Why don't you say a word to me."

Bao Hong stood up suddenly angrily and yelled at Helena.

After yelling and yelling, Bao Hong gasped.

"The Poles will use Simon Grendel, a general for you." Bao Hong said.

Hopeful light appeared in Helena's eyes, but it soon dimmed again.

But this point was still caught by Bao Hong.

"A general, change the wife of a colonel. Of course Widenberg can't ask for it. He asked me to go to the outskirts and told me about it. But I refused. You didn't expect it, I refused. The old guy shouted intimidation. I told the guard to lock me up, but when I pointed the dagger at the tip of his nose, the old guy was scared. Look, I am such a person." Bao Hong laughed wildly.

"I don't deserve the king to replace me with a general. I believe my husband will come to save me." Helena said the first sentence so far.

Bao Hong stopped laughing. He suddenly grabbed Helena's hand, and under Helena's horrified expression, he pushed it onto the sofa.

"Bao Hong!" Helena screamed.

But Bao Hong turned a deaf ear.

The Polish maid outside the door was tremblingly listening to Helena’s heart-piercing screams and the crying of the children in the room. Of course, they knew what had happened to politeness, but their fear of Bao Hong far exceeded them. Sympathizing for Helena, the servants lowered their heads and listened in pain, the screams like weeping.

After more than ten minutes, Bao Hong walked out of the room. He was naked with a bronze upper body and a towel around his lower body, laughing and striding down the corridor.