Chapter 229: Parisii situation
Chapter 229: Parisii situation
As they left the imperial palace under construction, Gautier gave Guido a serious look “Prepare a scroll with the treaty we made with the emperor Theophilus.
Princess Adelaide must know what kind of thing she promised. I also want you to make a scroll for my son.
He must know that he has to take care of the princess while he entrusts the task of supervising everything that has been conquered to his brother. “
Guido nodded “You can count on me to send the letters but at what time we will spend this month, we can return to Bennu …
Of course we would have to spend a little more but the service it offers is first class. “
Gautier laughed and put his hand on Guido’s shoulder. “Since we are in Rome, let’s do like the Romans and live this month like the nobles of Constantinople do.”
While this was happening in a forest, Adelaide was beheading an deserter. With blood covering her face, she turned her head to look at Paul.
“Paul, this was the last deserter in this place. We must start moving north because I do not want the army of the traitorous count to ambush us in this place.”
Paul, who was wiping the blood on his forehead, just nodded and from his belt he took his iron canteen from where he took some water.
“Princess, what do you think is happening in Constantinople right now?”
Adelaide raised her shoulders as a sign of not knowing the answer “There are many things that could happen, but until I receive a letter, we will not know if my aunt is alive or dead.
Whatever the case, my duty is to bring her to the empire so that she can live a quiet life or failing that so that her body can rest with the rest of the family.
But if there is something that worries me, it is the siege of Parisii by my brother, although the reports indicate that my father is advancing county by enemy county.
It will most likely take at least three months or half a year in the worst case.
Although the capital can withstand a prolonged siege, I don’t know if my sister can withstand the pressure to hold the city.
The only thing that gives me a bit of reassurance is the fact that the nobles, peasants, merchants, citizens and soldiers.
I do not know how they will surrender for the siege of my stupid brother. If he is going to take the city, it will be difficult for him to clean alley by alley and house by house. “
In Parisii Giselda was quite nervous because her guards had found some indications that there were sappers trying to tunnel to destroy part of the walls.
“Alphonse, please tell me that we’ve already started building our own tunnels so we can intercept enemy sappers.
If the wall falls, we can only hold out for a single month, which would be insufficient time to allow my father to arrive with reinforcements. “
Alphonse an elderly man with green eyes, looked seriously at the princess “The sappers, they are working the best they can to make tunnels together with the help of volunteer citizens.
We expect there to be fighting in the tunnels tonight, so you may be able to hear some soldiers running throughout the course of the battle.
So I implore you, princess, to please stay calm in case you can’t sleep. “
Giselda caressed her nasal septum as she closed her eyes “Alphonse, since this damn thing started I haven’t been able to sleep like I should.
Sometimes I wake up because of the simplest sound because I think someone is entering the city. Unfortunately I am not like my sister who has a military training.
I am just a princess whose training was for high society, attending balls and doing diplomacy, not keeping a serious and confident face when speaking to my subjects.
You know it makes me sad to know that we only have five months of food before we have a shortage.
Even with our work to extend the rationing, we can only hold out for 7 months. Maybe that will be enough, but what if my father is delayed more than expected, what will we be able to do at that time? “
Alphonse sighed and walked to a wooden window, which he opened so he could see the immense army besieging the city.
“We can only reduce the mouths to feed. I recommend that any vagrant, thief or prisoner be sent to the tunnels to fight.
They will not betray us because in that place it is only kill or die. If we eliminate all of them, we will have 2 more weeks of guaranteed food.
But if we make all the women and children start sowing what they can in the city, we can have a harvest of wheat and barley that will give us another 3 months of food.
However, you will have to give a speech tomorrow in front of the church to be able to make everyone support her duty, otherwise we would have to do more barbarous things.
Like murder children and women, but in doing so we would only be branded as traitors, and morale would collapse. “
Giselda opened her eyes and got up from the throne where she was sitting, because she wanted to drink some wine to calm her nerves.
“Prepare everything for tomorrow, I don’t want to have to make drastic measures against my population.”
Alphonse nodded and decided to leave the small throne room to begin his work.
In the morning of the next day, Giselda woke up with big dark circles because at night she could hardly sleep due to the constant movement of the troops entering and leaving the palace.
Because inside the soldiers’ barracks there was one of the many entrances to the catacombs from where the tunnels were being built to intercept any enemy who wanted to enter the city.
Getting up from her bed with great heaviness, Giselda began to walk towards her bathroom as she was thinking of washing her body to relax a bit.
When she got to the bathroom, she took off her clothes and revealed her well-formed body, which she gradually introduced into the hot waters of the palace’s hot springs.
While this was happening inside the palace, on the outskirts of the city of Parisii, Luis, the rebellious son of the Emperor Ludovico, bit his nail quite angrily.
“I gave you the best sappers so that you could enter the catacombs from where you could tear down part of the wall, but you return a report to me where you tell me that they were intercepted at dawn.
You are one of the best generals in the empire and you made a mistake against my sister who is a fucking princess who does not know how to fight or handle troops. “
The general swallowed “It was not my fault, Emperor Luis. It was all due to him not taking care of the troops in the tunnels. I gave a clear order that they were not intercepted.”
Luis began to laugh “You are telling me that my soldiers are useless and that is why they trusted each other while working in those dark tunnels …”
Luis’s mocking face turned into one of anger as he hit the wooden table in front of him “You’re useless, if you know that damn troops are rubbish.
You must be with them to supervise every move they make, because the last thing I wish is that because of their damn negligence they fail in a simple task.
Now that my damn sister knows about the tunnels, it will be a battle to be able to make and maintain the tunnels before we can do anything!
I don’t want to remind you that my father is advancing county by county, destroying the rebellious nobles. Even my stupid brother was killed by my other sister.
You are going to go down to those tunnels and coordinate the attacks and the construction of new tunnels. You will not be allowed to return until you give me a victory.
If you fail your body will rot in those places, if you escape your family will be sent to work in the tunnels to compensate for your betrayal.
I don’t want excuses, you piece of shit, I want results! “
The general who had his face covered in the saliva of Emperor Louis could only bow his head in anger. “I will comply with his majesty’s orders and will not leave the tunnels until I complete my mission.”
After saying those words, he left the command tent and began to walk towards the entrance of the tunnels where slaves and captured farmers were working, removing soil or water.
Before entering the tunnels, he looked sadly at the priest, who was on duty, to give the workers some reassurance.
“Priest, maybe this is the last time I can see you so I would like you to bless me because I will possibly die in those tunnels.”
The priest smiled when he saw how the general was too honest with the “My son, I will gladly give you the blessing of our lord so that your soul can rest in case you die.
I won’t ask about why you will have to enter the tunnels, but you have a message for your family in case they come looking for your body. “
The general nodded and bowed his head “Tell them that I died doing my job and not to seek revenge for my death, unless they know they can complete it.”
The priest looked fondly at the general as if he were a son, so he began to pray as he crossed the general.
At the end, he could only see how the man entered the place where his body would rest.
‘What is Luis thinking to kill one of his best generals?
I just hope he knows that for things like that he will end up losing the war … ‘