He swallowed hard, looking like he was trying to speak but he couldn't resist the extremely strong temptation in the end: "...Sir, is this really for me?"

"No!" The face of the storm was full of natural expressions: "This belongs to the lucky guy just now."

He immediately changed the subject: "But as long as you are willing to cooperate, I guarantee that although the next nineteen people will receive a little less reward, it will not be much worse than him."

The white officer holding the diamond couldn't wait to ask, "If I obey your orders, can I get a diamond like this?"

"This is just one of them." Blast blinked, and he looked like a seductive monster: "Gold, silver, beautiful girls, land, slaves... everything is available."

The three words "beautiful girl" immediately had a special effect among all the white prisoners of war. Their faces changed one after another, and they did not hide their greed.

A few minutes later, the thunderbolt was obtained by another nineteen guides.

...

The morning sun did not make Tazville feel like he had returned from the dark abyss, but it made him feel that the situation became weird and uncontrollable.

According to the "Common Defense Contract" signed by the major kingdoms hundreds of years ago, the number of troops stationed in Shenwei Fortress is 200,000.

Please note that the "garrison" mentioned here refers to the elite troops selected and dispatched by the kingdoms, that is, regular troops.

Whether it is fortresses or passes, there must be enough people to be stationed all year round. In addition to officers and soldiers, there are also a considerable number of auxiliary personnel. In the five kingdoms and the Holy See, "engineers" are very special existences. They are not soldiers in the true sense, but laborers who exist as reserves.

Chefs, tailors, weapons maintenance personnel, bricklayers, pig herders, shepherds and horsemen, carpenters, blacksmiths... all of these fall into the category of "engineers". Because the fortress is special and the responsibilities of the stationed troops are of great importance, no matter any profession, they can only be males and no women.

The Treaty of Common Defense was strictly enforced during the thirty years of its initial signing. All kingdoms and the Holy See did not slacken in supplying supplies to meet the needs of the garrison. At that time, the soldiers stationed in the Fortress of Shenwei could be described as "happiness". They could enjoy the best quality flour, sausage, cured meat, cheese and wine, and also receive three times the salary of ordinary soldiers (left-behind personnel in the country).

As time goes by, the situation also changes. The northern giants have never left the Dragon Lock Pass. Regardless of the outcome of the war, they will only hide behind the high walls like quails. Although they have won the war several times with the help of the patron saint, they have only chased the periphery of the Shenwei Fortress and stopped. Over time, the attitude of the various kingdoms and the Holy See has also changed. They no longer send the most elite troops, and their daily supply has also decreased. Of course, the reduction is not large, at least it can make the fortress garrisons eat enough.

Black bread mixed with sawdust and cinders, the cured meat is almost all scraps, and inexplicable debris can often be eaten in the sausages (such as thread balls, wood thorns, metal crumbs, and hair from humans or livestock, bone slags, sand and gravel). The supply of cheese and butter is getting smaller and smaller, and fresh vegetables and fruits have long disappeared... As a last resort commander, the fortress commander could only excavate the land inside the city wall and plant it by himself.

Twenty years ago, alcohol became a luxury. The "summer supply" used to include a large amount of beer and dried fruits, while "winter supply" was a spirit. Now the supply of beer is only 5% of the previous ones. Walnuts, currants, raisins, dried apples and other goods simply disappeared from the supply list. The share of spirits supplied in winter has also been reduced by half. Although the name "corn whiskey" is marked on the list, the quality is actually quite low and it has been mixed with at least one-third of the water.

No one is born masochist. The result of a sharp decline in treatment directly leads to the quality of the soldiers of the Shenwei Fortress getting worse every year. Except for the poor people who really can't make it in China, no one is willing to come to such a place to suffer. The "200,000 garrisons" are just numbers on the surface, and the actual posts have been reduced again and again. There are deserters almost every day, and the supplementary personnel sent by the rear are also seriously insufficient. As the commander of Tazville, the actual garrisons (regular army) of Shenwei Fortress (regular army) were only 120,000, and there were more than 70,000 auxiliary personnel.

One night passed, and the sound of gunfire in the city became increasingly sparse. Tazville was confused by this. According to his experience, the attacker would only speed up and increase the intensity of the attack in order to take the fortress in the shortest time.

After all, this place is just between Lock Dragon Pass and the Southern Kingdom. With Tazville's eyes, it is not difficult to see that the northern giants have taken a good move. They seized the critical time point just in time. As long as they seized the fortress before the main force of the Kingdom Alliance gets news and sends reinforcements, the huge Northern Expedition Union Army will be equivalent to being locked in a cage, and the next outcome is defeat.

This is actually very risky!

Tazville knew very well that as long as he firmly held the God-Majesty Fortress, all the attacking giants would turn into prey.

He has been prepared to fight to the death since last night.

So Tazeville couldn't understand the increasingly sparse sound of gunfire.

This is nothing more than two situations: either the northern giant has occupied all the fortress areas except for the main building they are stationed in, or the northern giant has been repelled by the fortress defenders.

Either way, it seems unlikely to Tazeville.

Let’s talk about the latter one. He knew very well what the men under him were. The quality of the soldiers of Shenwei Fortress was far inferior to before. There was no problem with letting these people hide behind the city wall and fire the enemy outside through the shooting hole. But it would be difficult to launch an attack like the Warriors. It would require a large number of officers to lead the way in front, and no less than five hundred supervisors would be supervised behind the back.

So, does this mean that the giants have already taken the upper hand and have dominated the battle?

No matter how weak the fortress defenders were, they were not as weak as being mostly annihilated by the giant in one night. To be honest, the giant's attack shocked Tazville! He never thought that the northern giant actually had guns and cannons, and its power was far greater than the hot weapons he was using. Looking at the sun rising little by little on the ground plane in the distance, his confidence was constantly eroded, leaving only doubts and fear.

While racking his brains to think, suddenly there was a rush of footsteps outside. Then the adjutant pushed open the door and broke in. He ran out of breath, his face covered in sweat, and he was not waiting to get there

I lowered my voice in anger, "Sir, it's not good, the pipe below can't release water!"

Tazville couldn't help but open his mouth wide and suddenly stood up from the chair.

The main building is very strong, and the underground warehouse contains a large amount of food. The designers foreseeed a long time ago various situations that may occur in the war. They buried the water pipeline underground and connected it with the well west of the fortress. In this way, even if the Shenwei Fortress was attacked by foreign enemies and even occupied most of the ground buildings, as long as they guard the main building and similar areas around them, they can still ensure sufficient drinking water and food until reinforcements arrive.

Tazville knew better than anyone about the terrible disaster of water cuts, and he also understood what the saying "the tube cannot release water" means.

Without water, the soldiers will be in trouble without fighting. At most, no more than three days. If their patience reaches its limit, they will take the initiative to surrender.

There are only two reasons why the pipe cannot release water: either the well was destroyed by the northern giant, or the giant discovered the water supply pipe buried underground and cut it off.

In Tazville's view, the first situation is unlikely. Giants are also humans, and they have to drink water as long as they are humans. Although there is abundant groundwater around the Shenwei Fortress, mining is not easy. Moreover, the northern giants deliberately attacking Shenwei Fortress was not a simple military operation. The purpose is obvious, and it must be to block the way back south of the Kingdom Alliance. Therefore, the possibility of giants destroying the well is almost zero.

Then there is only the second type of inference, which is also the most logical inference that the giant destroyed the water supply pipeline.

Tazville felt cold hands and feet, and his heart was filled with unprecedented rage, wanting to kill people to vent his anger. The fortress terrain and structural drawings are highly confidential, and those without power and duty do not know which building is connected to the dense underground water pipeline network. The giants can do this in a short time, either they have installed people early and even bribed traitors in the fortress, or the officers captured in the battle chose to cooperate with the giants and betray their compatriots in order to survive.

"How long can we last for our water storage?" Tazville was not furious. He quickly adjusted his mindset and asked questions calmly.

Getting angry now will not help, it will only make the situation worse.

"Many soldiers' kettles were empty. There was no water reserve, not at all." The adjutant looked pale. He understood the seriousness of the matter. Although there was a rude element in his words, he said it was the fact: "This has never happened before, and the grain warehouse next to the groundwater room was filled with a lot of flour, which required ventilation and dry environment."

"Send people to contact the nearby defenders immediately to see how many people are alive and find out the situation." Tazville made a decision almost immediately: "Let the soldiers check their respective weapons and equipment and wait for orders."

The adjutant looked at him in fear and asked carefully: "Sir, are you going to break through?"

Tazville did not directly answer: "Let's find out the situation first."

...

At noon, the scouts sent out gradually returned, and the information collected by all parties was summarized, and the problems facing Tazville became clear.

Just as he was about to make the final decision, the adjutant came in again to report that someone was wearing a white flag outside and asked to see the fortress commander.

Soon, the seeker, led by the adjutant, walked into the room and came to Tazville.

"What's your name? Which unit did you come from?" Looking at the second lieutenant standing in front of you, Tazville felt a sense of disgust for no reason. At this time, he could still walk from a distance with a white flag, and was undoubtedly a shameful surrender.

"My name is Torun, and he belongs to the Special Legion of the Fortress of the Kingdom of Porcelain." He looked in good spirits, kept his head tilted, and although he was a little arrogant, he maintained an essential etiquette: "I brought the giant commander's letter of surrender."

"What did you say?" A trace of surprise flashed in Tazville's eyes. He put away his previous contempt and disdain: "Issue to surrender?"

For a long time, whites have always believed that the northern giants were barbaric and ignorant, and had almost no ability to express their words.

Toren took out a roll of paper from his waist pocket and respectfully handed it to Tazville. The latter took it and unfolded it. Looking at the standard letters and words on the paper, his expression began to become surprised and then solemn.

There is no error in spelling or grammar of words, and the writing is extremely fluent, especially the conjunction between letters, which even surpasses many officers Tazville knows, let alone the lower class civilians who have never received education.

"Is this what you wrote?" Tazville, who was full of questions, felt that he had found the answer. He raised his eyelids and looked at Torun standing in front of him, and sneered a sarcastic sneer: "I didn't expect you to understand the word of the giant. Second Lieutenant, it seems that you have long wanted to be one of them."

Toren was not angry, and he explained frankly: "You misunderstood. This letter was written by Commander Giant. I stood by him when he wrote the letter."

Tazville didn't believe it at all. He tore the letter to pieces in a few strokes, sneered at Torun, and sneered in the chaotic white paper scraps: "Do you think I'm an idiot who knows nothing? The hatred between the giants and us can never be eliminated. How could they learn our language? Unless..."

"The Holy Lord is here, I really didn't lie." Toren interrupted Tazville. He spread his hands and his expression was innocent: "It's a special period, and your decision is directly related to the life and death of many people. Do I need to deceive you on such a irrelevant little problem?"

The words were very direct and the truth was simple and easy to understand. Tazville was slightly stunned, and then fell into an indescribable psychological frenzy like a storm.

He had to admit that the lieutenant made a lot of sense and he could not argue for a while.

"The giant wants me to surrender..." Tazville's mind quickly flew into his mind: "What are their conditions?"

Toren said bluntly: "You have two choices: first, put down your weapons and surrender immediately. The respected tyrant can give you a reward that is equivalent to your identity."

Tazville asked questions as he spoke: “For example.”

Toren took out the reward he had received from his pocket, that was the huge diamond, and shook it in front of Tazville: "This is just one of many rewards."

Although Tazville tried hard to control his emotions, the muscles in the corners of his eyes could not help but twitch slightly.

He knew better than Torun the value of this diamond.
Chapter completed!