Upon receiving the command, over twenty cavalrymen, clad in light leather armor and wielding sabers, fanned out to both sides to cut off any escape routes, while three others charged directly towards the hilltop.
Although the terrain here wasn't perfectly flat, on such relatively gentle slopes, human speed could never match that of horses, especially with the the Bandit Leader's sprained ankle.
"A tiger fallen into the flatland is bullied by dogs," the the Bandit Leader cursed inwardly. Normally, with so many of his men around, he wouldn't even bat an eye at these mere twenty-odd ragtag cavalrymen, but now...
Just as the the Bandit Leader was at a loss, his subordinates also caught up one after another. Seeing their leader in such a pathetic state, halting in his tracks, the bandits also slowed down and moved closer to the the Bandit Leader's position.
Compared to the terrifying pursuers behind, the unknown dangers ahead were even more frightening.
"Boss, what happened? Why did you stop here?" a subordinate who had arrived asked urgently.
"We're blocked by a Tuscany patrol, they have over twenty men, they're cavalry, and three of them are already charging this way, the rest are surrounding this hillside, we have nowhere to run."
As he spoke, the the Bandit Leader saw the hard crossbows clutched in his subordinates' hands and immediately had an idea, commanding, "Quick, all of you, hide. We still have over ten men and several hard crossbows. When those three charge up, immediately shoot at them, kill them, seize their horses, and we'll still have a way out."
Just as the the Bandit Leader was contemplating how to implement his plan, a bandit with one eye still bleeding lunged forward with a punch, and half of the the Bandit Leader's remaining few teeth fell out.
The one-eyed bandit roared emotionally, "Even at a time like this, you're still only thinking about yourself! Even if we kill them, and somehow don't injure the horses, and we successfully catch the horses, there will only be at most three horses. How will we, over ten men, divide them? Won't we just be dying for nothing for you? I think you say 'we' with your mouth, but in your heart, you're only thinking about yourself, aren't you?
Because of your greed, our brothers have been terribly harmed by you; so many brothers have died, and my brother was also killed. We are in this state now all thanks to you! Even if I have to die today, I'll drag you down with me!"
Saying this, the one-eyed bandit raised the loaded hard crossbow in his hand towards the the Bandit Leader.
"How dare you hit me? How dare you speak to me like that? I am…" The the Bandit Leader turned around, saw the hard crossbow pointed at him, and swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
"What are you? What do you think you are? Are you used to being so arrogant? I'm telling you, we only recognize you as boss if you can lead the team well. At this point, you're nothing, no one's life is more valuable than anyone else's!"
The the Bandit Leader trembled with rage, but the other party was holding the crossbow to his face, and his legs were shaking uncontrollably. The others didn't know who to help or what to do for a moment, and the situation remained deadlocked.
Hearing the distant quarrel on the hillside, the officer realized something was wrong. It was now certain that there was more than one person on the hillside, and it was very likely that the opponents had already gathered. What was unknown was what weapons they had and how strong they were; charging up rashly like this was too dangerous.
He was still young and didn't want to die, so the officer changed his mind and, along with the two accompanying cavalrymen, slowed their pace, staying even with the two flanks, and slowly approached the hillside.
Because they were advancing at full speed, the patrol team surrounding the two sides and the Swiss Guard encircling the mountainside quickly met. After clarifying each other's identities and the course of events, they immediately sent people back to report to their respective officers.
After understanding the situation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The patrol officer decided not to risk himself, but instead chose to guard the outer perimeter of this side to prevent the stragglers from escaping. The remaining matters could naturally be resolved by cooperating with the Swiss Guard. Fighting alongside such a force and getting to know the Pope was an unmissable opportunity.
And Dracula was also very pleased that he could capture the enemy leader, so he ordered a halt to the pursuit, instructing the Swiss Guard soldiers to spread out to the sides, forming an encirclement, and then continuously shrinking the encirclement to capture all the enemies in one fell swoop.
At the same time, the bandits on the hillside were still in a stalemate.
One bandit secretly peeked out and glanced down, then turned and said, "Stop arguing, those three cavalrymen have slowed down and aren't charging up. Stealing horses to escape is out of the question; they want to encircle us, and not one of us will get out."
"If they don't charge up, we can charge down! There are so many of us, we can still fight!" The the Bandit Leader argued unwillingly, hoping to regain leadership and thus his hope of survival.
"Shut up! You are the one who deserves to die most among everyone! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking." The one-eyed bandit's one eye was blind, but his mind was clearer than before.
"Then what do you say we do? What else can we do? Nowhere to run, just wait here to die?"
Just as everyone was at their wits' end, another bandit suggested, "Perhaps we can hand him over and surrender to the other side. Their target isn't us, and we were completely unaware; we are insignificant to them, he is the culprit. As long as they get the information they want, they might let us live to show their benevolence."
After speaking, this bandit turned to the the Bandit Leader and said, "Boss, brothers have followed you for so many years, and this time, because of your mistake, we've lost so much. Borrowing your life to save the lives of the remaining brothers, this request isn't too much, is it?"
"Don't dream, it's impossible. If you hand me over, you'll all be dead ends." The the Bandit Leader was truly panicked now; once he was handed over, he would likely face torture that would make him wish for death. "You are insignificant, they don't need to kill you, but they also don't need to keep you. To serve as a deterrent and prevent similar incidents from happening again, they will definitely kill you! And they will make you die a very ugly death!"
"Good, let's do it! Hand him over, and we surrender," the bandit pointing the crossbow at the the Bandit Leader agreed.
"No, you can't do this! I am your boss! If you do this, then I'll die now. If I die, you'll be worthless to them, and none of you will survive," the the Bandit Leader shrieked hysterically.
"Then go ahead and die! If you dared to die, you would have already died; why would you still be clinging to life now? Stop talking nonsense to him. Who has a rope? Tie him up for me, and gag his mouth."
In a moment, the the Bandit Leader was hogtied, able only to make muffled sounds of protest.
"Which way do we surrender? The patrol looks easier to talk to, maybe we should…"
"No! The ones who defeated us are those fully armed guards, and even if we surrender to the patrol, we will definitely be handed over to them. If they feel insulted because we didn't surrender to them, we would have wasted our chance to live! Listen to me, surrender to the Guard."