I went upstairs, and the second floor was even worse than the downstairs. The wall facing the courtyard was no longer there, and although there were no corpses lying on the ground, there were still large pools of blood, fragments of various buildings, and broken and discarded weapons. Those who survived looked very tired, and some of them looked like they had been frightened for a while.

I looked at Pinto, who was dragging the captive, and pointed to the rooftop that was high above here, "and dragged him to the edge of the roof, and knelt in the direction of the courtyard gate." ”

Once on the rooftop, Walker and I asked for a telescope and looked out of the courtyard. Now the sky was beginning to brighten, and through the binoculars it could be seen that the guerrillas had not only withdrawn from the courtyard, but had retreated directly to the corner leading from below to the big house. There were many corpses of the guerrillas near the walls of the compound, and even more inside the courtyard. Now these who are still alive do not look like they are going to leave immediately, but more like they are waiting and watching.

"They're not gone yet." I said as I handed the telescope back to Walker.

Walker took the binoculars and looked at them, "What are they trying to do?" Ready to keep playing? ”

"Hit? How else can they fight? I said, gesturing to the Oridayan from the wizard's team who was kneeling beside me, and then said, "If we're not mistaken, then the wizard should have sent his most powerful person." What else could he have? ”

"Then why didn't they go? Do you want to collect the bodies of these dead people? Walker asked, putting down his binoculars.

I shook my head, "The battle has reached this point, and who cares about someone who is already dead?" I think he wants to wait for our people here to take advantage of the situation and take the initiative to give him a chance to turn the tables. ”

"So you didn't let everyone chase them out when they retreated?" Walker then asked.

"Of course. In fact, now we have no need to pursue, and we don't have the strength to leave here and go out to fight the guerrillas. If you look at the people who are still alive, they are exhausted, and some of them seem to make me feel like I'm going to break down if I keep putting pressure on them. Now we just have to wait, wait for them to retreat on their own, or to ram us at gunpoint again. I said, glancing at the sky, "But there's not much time left for them to attack." It will soon be dawning. And I have such a captive to blow their morale. ”

"What are you going to do with him?" Walker glanced at the man, "You're not in a hurry. The man was probably going to die from bleeding profusely. ”

I came to this man's side and crouched down to him, "Can I ask you a question?" ”

The man tilted his head to look at me, smiled slightly disdainfully, and did not answer. I looked at the corpses in the courtyard and said, "I'll just say yes." Can you tell me where you got so many people? I'm talking about these skilled hands. Please don't tell me that these are guerrillas, I have fought with guerrillas before, and their combat ability is not as strong as the people who came to fight the manor this time, and they are much weaker. ”

The man was silent for a moment, then said, "Can you give me a good time?" ”

"I've never tortured anyone. I don't think anyone has done anything to you since we caught you, have we? Tell me, where did these people come from? I asked.

The man looked at me again, "What if I'm not going to tell you?" ”

Hearing him say this, I sighed and said, "You know what? In order to fend off your onslaught, we have forcibly recruited some ordinary local people to fight. These people have suffered heavy casualties, and their families are here. If you don't say it, then they will be happy to watch me put you in their hands. I don't think they're going to end you with a bullet. ”

When the man heard me say this, he gave me a resentful look and then said with some difficulty: "Some of them are Silva's people, selected by his former guards. And then there are the Mexicans you have robbed before. ”

"I see. How many of them are there? That's right. How many of you are here this time? I continued to ask.

"The Mexicans came with about a hundred people, and the Silva people had fifty or sixty people. And also. And those we trained ourselves, adding up to a total of four hundred and fifty people. ”

"Huh. Not bad. I think there are at most forty or fifty people left out there now. I smiled and stood up, "I'm done with my question." I'll get you on your way in a moment. I looked at Pinto and motioned for him to aim at the man.

I looked outside, still not withdrawing, hiding around the corner, and shouted, "Friends of the guerrillas outside. I don't know why you haven't withdrawn yet, do you still have the luxury of continuing to attack? Or do you pretend to be pitiful and wait for us to go out? We're not going to go out and fight you guys anyway. If you feel confident that you can attack, we don't have a place to run, you know. But please hurry, it will undoubtedly be more difficult for you to attack after dawn, and the most important thing is that I have asked Mr. Balcas to send me reinforcements, and the small number of them should be there soon. I don't think there are many of you, look at the corpses in this place. Are you still alive enough to take these bodies away? I guess even if one of you can carry two, it's not enough, right? Actually, I've talked a lot of nonsense, and I want you to hurry up and fight. The weather here is not good, and after fighting with you, we still have to take time to collect the corpses of you who died in battle, otherwise we will be the unlucky ones in the end, so please hurry up. I shouted and looked at the Australian who had been kneeling beside me and shouted, "We've got one of yours." It should be Mr. Wizard's man to be exact. According to our intelligence, he is from Australia, and you shot two of your captured captives in front of us. In my hometown there is a saying that comes without being rude, and now I will send this fellow wizard on the road, which is our return gift. ”

I looked at Pinto, who took out his pistol and pointed two shots at the back of the man's heart. The man was shot and threw himself forward, then fell off the roof and fell into the courtyard.

"Did you see that? Finally, hurry up, we'll have breakfast waiting for you! I reached for Walker's binoculars and looked there.

There seemed to be some commotion after I finished shouting, and some voices came from there, but soon fell silent again. After that, he hid there like before, and there was no clear movement.

I continued to look at it for a while and then returned the telescope to Walker, "Let's go get something to eat." Send someone to keep an eye on them to see what tricks they want to play. Also contact Pablo or Carl and tell them about our situation, especially if the housekeeper has been killed. ”

Back in the room on the second floor, I planned to find a small place to rest, but I couldn't find it, because now the second floor is either occupied by the wounded or by the local people.

In one of the rooms where the wounded were kept, I found the oil bottle, and at the moment he was wearing bandages on his arms, shoulders and head, and he looked very serious, but judging by the look in his eyes and facial expression, he was just as he had said before, "I can't die." ”

"What? Your good friend didn't accompany you? I asked jokingly.

The oil bottle shook his head and said, "She went to see Mr. Housekeeper." You don't know that housekeepers are like relatives to the Balcas siblings. ”

Speaking of housekeeping, I was reminded of Quinn, "Quinn, did you see that?" ”

The oil bottle nodded, "See." It seems to say that he has a concussion, and nothing else is wrong. ”

"That's good. You have a good rest here. Heal your wounds, and go to the tomb in the future. I was ready to turn and leave.

"What about the guerrillas? What happened to the guerrillas? "The oil bottle saw that I was leaving, and quickly asked.

"Don't you think I can wander around here without realizing it? It's all right, just wait for Pablo to come back and give you the medal. ”

Shortly after leaving the bottle, Walker approached him, telling him that Pablo and Carl had already been contacted. They looked excited when they learned of the situation, and that they were going well, and Pablo was coming here with someone, probably by tomorrow morning. Karl, on the other hand, was to stay there and continue to coordinate the various teams to make a final purge of the guerrillas there.

Then Walker, and I arranged the dozen or so men who were still able to fight, and then began to take turns resting, and when the sun was fully rising, Pinto came to us and reported to us that the guerrillas had retreated. They quietly disappeared around the corner, and soon disappeared into the woods on the edge of the manor.

I am still deeply relieved about such an expected result, after all, I am afraid that the wizard will go to extremes and use the little strength left in his hands to carry out the final game, although even then there is still a considerable chance of victory for us, but even if we win, how many people can stand here? No one wants to face an adversary who is going to make a last-ditch effort.

"Finally withdrew. If we still have enough men, we should really try to chase them down. Walker said with some reluctance.

I pointed to the wound on his head and said, "It's better to heal the wound first." We'll have a chance in the future, and this time we hit the wizard hard, and I think there should be other teammates besides the Australian. It will be much easier for us to meet them again in the future. ”

"When you talk about corpses, shouldn't we take someone to clean up the bodies of these dead? Otherwise, such a hot and humid environment will soon begin to rot. Walker said.

I thought for a moment and said, "Let's find all our own people first." As for the partisans. Put it there first, isn't Pablo coming back soon? Let those who come back do their part. ”

"Okay, then decide." Walker said as he prepared to get up.

I then stood up and said, "Arrange the sentries and observation posts." To prevent the wizards from playing tricks with us, we can't be too relaxed. If they suddenly come back to the carbines, we won't be able to parry. After all, even if we win, it will be a pyrrhic victory except that it is better than defeat. We can't afford to toss anymore. ”