In the suburb far from Smolensk, there is a valley called West Rome. There is a lake in the valley. The lake is small, but it is rich in all kinds of fish. Every year when the fish grow fat, the fishermen around will come here to fish, and then put the caught fish in baskets and transport them to Smolensk for sale.

    In winter, when the lake is frozen, it has become a inaccessible place. No one will come here at this time. But this winter, if any hunter who doesn''t care about his family comes here to have a look, he will be stunned by the scene in front of him.

    Around the lake, there are countless wooden houses made of large oak strips. These wooden houses are not tall. On the contrary, they are surprisingly short, and the highest one is only a person''s distance above the ground.

    The windows of these houses are also very small, wide outside and narrow inside, just like gun holes in blockhouses. These irregular buildings surround the lake with thousands of buildings. If it weren''t for the light and smoke from the window, it''s hard to believe that such a shabby place would be a people''s residence.

    This is the secret camp of the 10000 Cossack army led by Vasili zolotalenko.

    The army secretly moved to Smolensk province months ago and settled in siromac. On the one hand, the cold weather restricted the movement of the army; On the other hand, Bogdan hemelinitsky, the commander of the Ukrainian front line, has always ordered them to stand by and wait for the Tsarist Russian army.

    All of a sudden, the Cossacks with loose discipline were more idle. The Cossacks are good at wine. The wooden house originally used to garrison troops suddenly came out of 38 pubs. I don''t know where they got the wine. Every day, wave after wave of zaporoche Cossacks drank half to death inside, and then were carried outside by latecomers, because these stone like drunkards occupied the place. This time, the first drunkards were in bad luck. More than ten people freeze to death on the ground every day.

    As the leader of this army, Vasili zolotalenko was indifferent to this phenomenon. For one thing, wine is the life of the Cossacks. It is something that never leaves the body like guns and short spears. A prohibition Cossack company captain, waiting for him, was betrayed by his relatives and shot dead by his men. On the other hand, even he drank countless wines every day. This is not Vasili zolotalenko''s good wine. He is a rare commander of Cossacks who does not want to drink. Because of this, he was not paralyzed by alcohol, so he didn''t only know how to fight hard like ordinary Cossacks. Vasili zolotalenko drank because he had nothing to do.

    Since he was stationed, every day he sent a messenger to Ukraine on the fastest horse. The messenger had only one task: to ask Bogdan hemelinitsky to agree to attack Smolensk alone by his army. And every messenger brought back the same command, that is, "wait". As for whether to wait for the army of Czar Russia, or whether to wait for winter to go and spring to come. The letter didn''t say that Vasili zolotalenko didn''t care. Anyway, he spent his time here.

    At the moment, he was sitting on a large stack of leather mattresses in the Council hall. This conference hall is also the largest room in the camp. On his right sat his adjutant, and on his left was one of his "League brothers". The three were surrounded by wine bottles, and the leftover cow bones and bread were thrown everywhere.

    Of the three, Vasili zolotalenko was the most sober, but he also began to talk nonsense. Although the other two could drink better than him, they drank more than him. I don''t know how much, so they got drunk early.

    "Wine, give me more wine." Vasili zolotalenko shouted at the door of the council chamber, staring at his red eyes stained with alcohol.

    As usual, at this time, as long as he shouted, someone would bring wine. But at this moment, no one brought in the wine and there was no movement.

    "Bring the wine, or I''ll throw you all into the lake." Vasili zolotalenko shouted again. He struggled to get up, but the leather mattress under his feet was too slippery. He fell back to his seat several times.

    Finally, the door opened. Vasily zolotalenko vaguely saw a man come in with a basin of things.

    "Wine, wine," cried Vasili zolotalenko.

    But the figure poured the things in his hand on Vasili zolotalenko''s head.

    The cold water made Vasili zolotarenko shiver. He put his hand on the handle of the knife - someone dared to do this to him. He must let the guy taste his blood.

    "Vassily, wake up," said the figure to him. The voice was familiar to me.

    Vasili zolotalenko rubbed his eyes, and he finally saw the man in front of him.

    "Bao Hong!" exclaimed Vasily zolotalenko in surprise.

    "Old friend, are you all right?" the man called Bao Hong saw Vasili zolotalenko recognized himself, opened his hands and gave him a big hug.

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

    Vasili zolotalenko pushed Bao Hong away and gave him a heavy punch in the chest.

    "Oh, why are you here?"

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

    Bao Hong didn''t notice the blow on his chest. He said to Vasily zolotalenko, "for Smolensk."

    There''s no better antidote.

    Vasili zolotalenko asked in surprise, "Bogdan finally plans to capture Smolensk?"

    "Yes."

    "Where is the Czar''s Russian army?"

    Originally, zaporoze''s Cossacks and czar Russia agreed to jointly attack Smolensk province. Vasili zolotalenko, listening to Bogdan''s final order to attack, took it for granted that the Czar Russian army had also entered Smolensk province.

    "No, we attack ahead of time. Don''t wait for them," Bao Hong said.

    "Wait?"

    "Wait!"

    "Is there something wrong?" Vasili zolotalenko asked again. His brain, which was not corroded by alcohol, was obviously more sensitive.

    "There are some changes," Bao Hong said.

    "What changes?"

    "See for yourself." then Bao Hong took out a piece of paper from his arms.

    "I don''t know words," said Vasili zolotalenko.

    "I don''t know. When I didn''t come, the commander told me."

    "Make a long story short."

    So Bao Hong repeated the original words of Bogdan hemelinitsky. The main content is the treachery of Czar Russia. Originally, Bogdan went to Moscow to seek the assistance of the Czar, and the two sides formed an equal alliance. However, when he arrived at the Czar, he misinterpreted it as "accepting that the grand commander Bogdan hemelinitsky and zaporoze''s whole army and their cities and lands belong to the highest authorities of the state." it became the relationship between refuge and being trusted.

    Of course, Bogdan, who knew this, would not suffer this dumb loss, so he sent Bao Hong to seize Smolensk in order to take the initiative before czar Russia sent troops.

    "Great." Vasili zolotalenko licked the wine stains on his lips, smiling like a bloodthirsty beast.