After Edmond Dantès returned to the team safely, the last trace of worry in Aigron's heart was relieved.
It is true that he suffered heavy losses in the battle around Mesolongion, but his backbone was not damaged. Most of his most trusted and important people are still alive. The previous losses can be overcome by the subsequent ones.
Supplement to make up for it without causing fatal injuries.
And as long as he wins, all the sacrifices will be worth it. He will uproot the Turks' largest stronghold in western Greece and control a large area; at the same time, the great reputation he has already achieved will inevitably increase even more, and everything will rise even further.
Everyone will see that he overcame obstacles, overcame difficulties, and put in the greatest efforts for the cause of independence of the Greek people, and no one will doubt that he just took advantage of the situation and reaped the fruits of victory.
The most important thing for him now is to end the war as soon as possible and then prepare for the next step.
So he secretly ordered Michel Ney to send people to the fortress to persuade him to surrender.
In order to achieve his goal, he used both soft and hard tactics, and set a two-day consideration period, threatening that if he did not surrender within two days, after the city was broken, he would let all the captives be handed over to the Greeks and die in agony.
While persuading them to surrender, his men continued to attack, on the one hand to erode their remaining positions and consume their few resources; on the other hand, to exert mental pressure to make the defenders collapse as soon as possible.
After doing all this work, Aigron anxiously waited for a response. In his opinion, the conditions he proposed were generous enough. If they were still rational, the defending officers would not refuse.
He didn't believe that these Turks really had the heroic spirit to live and die with the fortress.
Sure enough, on the afternoon when the deadline he proposed was about to end, several military envoys with white flags appeared on the front line.
Michel Ney, who knew what was going on, immediately ordered these people to be sent to Aigron.
Aeglon then met them in his tent.
Not long ago, the two sides had a brief ceasefire in order to collect the remains of the fallen, and there were military envoys coming and going between the two sides, but this was the first time that Aiglon personally received them.
The leader was a Turkish officer. Even though his clothes and beard were disheveled due to the fierce battle, it could still be seen that he was well-educated.
When they saw Aiglon, they were all stunned for a moment, marveling at his youth. Then, they all bowed and saluted the young man.
"My lord, on the order of our commander, I have come to see you." Then, the leading officer said to Aiglon in fluent French. "My name is Ahmed Yusuf Yassin.
Meeting you is an unforgettable honor for me, and I salute you!"
Because after Aigron came to Greece, the title he used publicly was the leader of the Knights of Fontainebleau, so he faced the young people with this title.
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head deeply and was extremely humble.
Seeing his attitude, Aigron knew that he would be done soon.
He was in a good mood, so he smiled and nodded to the other person.
"Nice to meet you too, sir."
Then, without being too polite, he went directly to the topic, "The deadline I proposed is coming soon. I can understand that the purpose of your coming here is to give me an answer?"
"Yes, sir." Yusuf Yassin nodded, "Our commander, after careful consideration and weighing, decided to agree to your terms and surrender to you in Kaicheng."
As he spoke, he carefully looked at the young man with curiosity. He seemed a little frightened, fearing that if he said something wrong, he would offend the young man and plunge himself and the remaining robes into eternal disaster.
From his awe-filled gaze, Aigron finally felt that he was now a famous big shot.
He has grown from that poor prince with nothing to a big man who can control the life, death, misfortune and blessings of tens of thousands of people.
For a moment, he was filled with secret joy.
However, there is still a voice in his heart warning him. How can you be complacent just because of this small achievement?! How can your achievement only reach this level?!
This warning made him calm down again.
"I'm glad you made the right judgment." He nodded calmly, as if it was just a trivial matter.
Then he asked, "So what conditions do you want to put forward?"
"You promised in your previous letter not to hand us over to the Greeks and to ensure our personal safety." Yusuf Yassin whispered, "We hope you can confirm it again in writing."
His attitude seemed very unconfident, because he himself also knew that now his side no longer had any capital to resist, and would face failure no matter what. Now that he could fight for a glimmer of hope, he was already showing mercy to the other side.
"No problem. I will include this item in our formal peace treaty." Aigron nodded lightly and agreed to the other party's request. "Is there anything else?"
"Except for the weapons that must be surrendered, please keep all other personal belongings of our officers and soldiers safe." Yusuf Yassin continued, "Of course... in order to compensate for your warriors who have fought bloody battles these days.
We will donate a sum of money to reward them and make up for our apology."
Although he spoke evasively, Aigron understood immediately. Although he nominally said "our officers and soldiers," he actually meant the property of the officers.
After these Turkish troops came to Greece, they burned, killed and looted everywhere. The officers must have a lot of looted property. Under normal circumstances, after the fortress was breached, they would either be killed directly or looted.
There is no way to save these belongings no matter what.
So after deciding to surrender, they hoped to "hand over a sum of money" in exchange for Aiglon to preserve their remaining belongings so as not to lose everything.
His eyes were full of pleading. Obviously, for them, this was the most important condition.
In principle, Aigron could indeed agree to this condition. After all, he didn't care about the property he robbed, but... he was unwilling to agree to the other party so easily.
"After the fortress is handed over to us, all items will be returned to us, and any property and weapons inside will be confiscated. This is our natural right as the winner, and I will not give up." Aigron said coldly at first.
Answered coldly.
When Yusuf Yassin showed a look of despair, Agron changed the topic again, "However, as a person who likes to be lenient, I am not unable to make some accommodations. When confiscating property, we will proceed.
Register accordingly. If you behave well in the future, I can return some personal property belonging to the officers at my discretion."
Yusuf Yassin's expression suddenly softened a little. Although the young man's tone was still very harsh, at least it still gave them a glimmer of hope.
Now their fate is indeed determined by his kindness.
"Are there any other conditions?" Aigron asked again.
"You said in your letter that some of us can be released appropriately. How many people are allowed to be released, and to what extent?" Yusuf Yassin continued to ask his question, "Is it
Are the officers allowed to leave as well?"
Aigron had already considered this question, so he answered it without thinking.
"The number of people released cannot exceed one-fifth of your total number, and the ratio of soldiers to officers is ten to one. As for the specific people to be released, it is up to you to decide, except for your commander Ibrahim Musta
Except for Mr. Fa-Omar, others can come and go freely."
He had previously estimated that after the heavy casualties caused by the continuous fierce battles, there should be about two thousand healthy and capable people in the fortress.
If one-fifth of them are released, about three to four hundred people will be released. The release of these people will have little impact on him and will not change the future war situation. Even after they return to the Turkish army, they may still
Help spread your reputation.
On the one hand, this will make the defenders feel more confident in surrendering, and on the other hand, it will also show their compassion, establish a good relationship with the Turks, and lay the foundation for possible future cooperation.
Sure enough, after he said this, Yusuf Yassin seemed even more overjoyed.
"Thank you for your compassion!" He suddenly knelt down on one knee, and then Aigron bowed and saluted. "Sir, in this case we have no other demands. Although we have fought hard, under the current situation we only have
We can choose to surrender, and we have fulfilled our obligations, and no one can blame us for our choice. Next, our fate will be determined by you, and we pray for your mercy..."
His tone was as humble as before. Although surrender is never a good experience for any soldier, they have no other choice at the moment.
Between survival and dignity, survival is more important in the end, and this young man has already offered them relatively generous conditions.
"You've finished stating your conditions, then it's my turn." Aigron said calmly.
"What do you want?" Yusuf Yassin immediately became nervous, fearing that the young man would suddenly make some embarrassing conditions.
"I promised to feed you after your surrender instead of handing it over to my allies; but this also means that I have the right to drive you to work in order to compensate for the price I paid. After the war is over, I will go to Mesolongi
Weng builds some monuments, and you are responsible for providing labor, and after the monuments are completed, you must collectively pay tribute to those heroes who died in the war."
Eggron put forward these conditions with a serious expression. Obviously, this is not negotiable.
Although this condition is indeed a bit humiliating, now that it has reached this point, Yusuf Yassin certainly does not want to offend this young man again.
So, he nodded with difficulty and agreed to the condition. "Okay, we will obey your instructions."
"Very good." Aiglon nodded with satisfaction, and then extended his hand to Yusuf Yassin, who was still kneeling on one knee. "Sir, I am very sorry for everything that happened before, but it has become a
After all, I will do my best to fulfill my promise, and I wish you good luck."
Youssef Yassin also reached out and took Aigron's hand, expressing his respect with a humble gesture.
After completing the brief negotiation, Aigron watched these military envoys leave their camp and then returned to the remaining lines of the defenders.
He quietly waited for the moment when his victory finally arrived.
He did not wait long. On the morning of the next day, the defenders who were originally staying in the trenches and city walls waved white flags. Then they put down their weapons, raised their hands high, lined up, and walked out of their original positions.
.
Because they knew nothing about the surrender negotiations, the soldiers on the front line were a little shocked by this scene, but soon Michel Ney informed the entire army that the enemy had officially surrendered.
The enemy surrendered!
As if loaded with radio waves, the news quickly spread throughout the entire army.
The seemingly never-ending sound of gunfire had stopped now, and the entire fortress was as quiet as if it was in another world.
But just a moment later, deafening cheers suddenly drowned all the frontline positions.
Then, a large group of soldiers wearing black military uniforms walked out of the trenches and positions and rushed towards the fortress quickly.
This time there was no one to stop them. They crossed the trenches and ravines, climbed up the city wall, and then rushed into the fortress that they had dreamed of but had never been able to obtain, and saw its true appearance.
While the whole army was in ecstasy, Michel Ney was naturally not carried away. While they worked hard to maintain order, they sent out a special team to receive all the weapons of the defenders as soon as possible and seal up all the supplies and belongings inside.
The work of counting the prisoners was also carried out at the same time.
And Aigron doesn't have to worry about all this.
Surrounded and cheered by a large group of soldiers, he led his guards into the fortress, and what greeted him was a middle-aged man in his forties.
He has a big beard, and his square-faced forehead is covered with wrinkles. It is obvious that he has been mentally and physically exhausted recently, but it can also be seen that he is relieved now.
Under Aigron's gaze, he walked up to the young man, and then handed the sword in his hand to Aigron.
Then, he spoke, and Edmond Dantès, who was standing next to Aiglon, quickly translated to the young man.
"I am Ibrahim Mustafa Omar, the commander here." The middle-aged man replied with emotion, "I am unfortunate to stand here as a loser; but I am
I am very lucky to be able to witness a new legend as a person involved. Sir, everything for me is over. Next, I pray for your mercy and forgive me and my subordinates. In addition, I wish you to write more legends in the future.
, just like...him."
Aigron didn't speak any more, he just walked up to the other party, nodded to him, and then reached out to take the other party's saber.
At this moment, everyone present looked up to the sky and cheered, and the salutes also roared. The deafening sound seemed to make people suspect that the war had resumed.
However, everything is definitely over and victory will come at any time.
From this moment on, Mesolongion fell into the hands of the young man.