Iron Powder and Spellcaster

[Maplestone City]

[Office Residential Area]

[Winters Montagne's apartment]

As night falls, Maplestone City gradually sinks into darkness and silence, so the brightly lit Montagne Mansion looks particularly lively.

The tempting aroma of food filled the entire two-story building. Winters and Senior Mason were setting the table while exchanging information about the situation in the city during this time.

"Colonel Gesa, Colonel Skull, and Lieutenant Colonel Matthias all want to complete the adaptation as soon as possible." Mason smoothed the tablecloth and carefully adjusted the position of the candlesticks, as if setting up an artillery position. "As you know, the Battle of the Howling Valley They suffered heavy losses but not many prisoners.

"They have been recruiting new soldiers, but it seems that the situation is not ideal. Therefore, Colonel Gesa and others still hope to recruit soldiers from prisoners and quickly replenish their losses.

"So the sooner the adaptation is completed, the sooner the troops in the Baishan counties can regain their combat effectiveness."

Compared to the rigorous and meticulous nature of his senior, Winters, who was responsible for setting the plates, had a too casual style. He just put them wherever he wanted, as long as there was no shortage of tableware.

"Of course they are anxious, otherwise how could they have agreed to our plan so happily," Winters responded, "But we don't need to rush this matter. I think we can delay it for a while. The longer it is delayed, the more leverage we have in the negotiation." many."

“That’s what I’m telling you,” Mason finally found the ideal shooting position for the candle holder, just enough to evenly illuminate the entire dining table.

He looked at Winters and said worriedly, "I'm afraid the reorganization can't be delayed any longer."

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Winters put the basket of tableware on the ground, casually pulled out the chair in front of him, sat down, and motioned for his senior to sit down and chat.

Mason did not sit down. He leaned against the dining table, lowered his head and asked, "Have you seen the information about the 'Southern Front'?"

"I saw it in the briefing you sent me," Winters said suspiciously and curiously, "Can there really be four legions? If we count the original six, it would be ten legions and fifty thousand people. ! Not even counting the auxiliary troops! Can the United Provinces really afford to support so many soldiers?”

The worry on Mason's face became even stronger, "The information I sent you was given to me by Colonel Gesar and Colonel Skull. Their information is much better than ours. If there is something going on in the Castle of Kings, they will know right away. .

"The information about the 'Southern Front' came from the Fortress of the Kings. There are now wild rumors in the Fortress of the Kings that the four legions of the United Provincial Army will arrive in the near future. Grover Magnus can't wait to see the citizens of the Fortress of the Kings. "The four legions" are added to the prayer."

"Of course he will do this," Winters sneered, "This is his life-saving straw. Without this breath, the citizens of the Kings Castle could have tied him up and sent him to Maplestone City."

"Maybe." Mason was not as confident as his junior.

"But, senior, I'm not asking where the intelligence came from, I'm asking for your opinion." Winters stretched out his arms to reach for a piece of bread from the bread basket at the far end. "Do you think the federal province can really hold up the situation?" Such an army?"

Mason didn’t want to talk about this, “I’ve been in Plato for five or six years, and I don’t know anything about the United Provinces.” He sighed, “And when I left the United Provinces, I was just a young boy. What do I know?"

"Tell me about it," Winters refused to give up. "No matter what, you must know the United Provinces better than I do."

Mason couldn't resist Winters, pondered for a moment, and answered cautiously: "I dare not say in the long term, but if we equip four more legions, we should be able to maintain it in the short term... it should be no problem."

He smiled bitterly, "After all, the United Provinces Army has been preparing for the 'Armageddon Battle' with the Empire from the moment it was born. There is no shortage of ordnance."

"Yes, there is no shortage," Winters snorted and broke the bread fiercely. "It's a pity that not a single lead hit the Imperials. Instead, it was used on our heads first."

Mason was speechless and silently sorted out the plates that Winters had scattered.

"This smoked fish is really good," said Andre with a loud and powerful voice as he burst into the restaurant, holding a large plate with a mountain of smoked trout in his hand.

Except for a large gaping hole in the belly, the silver skin of the smoked fish was completely intact, giving it the texture of matte leather.

The edges of the smoked fish are dyed an attractive honey color, which is tempting to eat.

Of course, one of the smoked fish was unfortunately killed before it was served. The beautiful fish skin was torn open and the plump fish meat was roughly pulled out. The person who committed this crime was of course Andre who was still chewing. Lieutenant A. Cellini.

"It's a gift from Mrs. Mitchell," Winters smiled and raised his hand, "Give me one too."

True Platuan people, like their distant relatives, will never touch fish unless there is a very good reason.

Therefore, although the fish resources in Plato are not as abundant as those in coastal areas, the advantage is that there is less development, so the stocks are large and fishing is very easy, making it a paradise for anglers.

This made it easier for the ethnic groups who later moved to Plato - such as the Dusan people.

People in Tusa love to eat fish, especially smoked fish. No matter what kind of fish it is, Tusa people can smoke it and grill it. Regardless of the season, whole or sliced ​​brown smoked fish is always indispensable on their table.

However, outsiders cannot enjoy the smoked fish that Dussa people love so much.

At least Winters felt nauseated every time he ate it, and the reason was simple—it was too fishy, ​​so fishy that it made people sick.

Only Mrs. Mitchell's recipe was different from any Dousa home-made smoked fish Winters had ever tasted. Not fishy or woody, juicy, tender, fragrant and delicious, you can't get enough of it.

Unfortunately, it is troublesome to make and not durable to preserve. It can only be tasted on the Mitchell family's dining table.

This time, it was Mrs. Mitchell who asked Scarlett to deliver it when she learned that Winters was back in the city.

"Yes, I will ask Mrs. Mitchell for some tomorrow," Andre put the plate in front of Winters and sat next to Winters.

"This fish is troublesome to cook," Winters gave half of the bread in his hand to Andre, skillfully peeled off the fish skin, sandwiched the juicy fish meat with bread, and enjoyed it like this, saying vaguely, "It takes more than ten hours to smoke it on a low fire."

"Ah? So troublesome?" Andre was stunned, but he soon had a good idea and laughed, "Then I'll find a boy to learn at the Mitchell family. If he learns, won't he have to trouble Mrs. Mitchell? Well, Alexander Nikolayevich is very smart, good at fishing, and Dusak, let him go."

The door of the restaurant opened again, and Scarlett walked in with a stew pot.

Seeing Winters and Andre devouring the smoked trout like a whirlwind, Scarlett put down the stew pot, turned around and ran out of the restaurant to complain.

"Sister Anna! They're already eating!"

Andre jumped up from his chair immediately after hearing the voice, wiped his mouth carelessly, threw the napkin under the table, and threw the unfinished bread into Winters' plate.

"Wow! You!" Winters, who wanted to do the same thing but was a step slower, was shocked and angry.

However, Andre had pushed all the dining chairs back to their original positions, and the Hussar Lieutenant whistled with a victorious smile.

The next second, Anna appeared at the door of the restaurant like a ghost.

Ms. Navarre's eyes first swept across the tableware on the long table, then across a messy plate of smoked trout, and finally stopped at Winters.

Her eyebrows were slightly frowned, the tip of her small nose wrinkled, and her lips were pursed into a slit. Without saying anything, her expression was better than a thousand words.

Winters was reluctant to admit but could not deny that he actually liked to see Ms. Navarre angry - Anna was more lovely and lively when she was emotional than Ms. Navarre, who usually paid attention to her image.

But he obviously shouldn't think so much at the moment. The most important thing at the moment was to save his life.

Winters raised his hands in surrender and solemnly promised: "No more, never again."

"Mr. Mason," Anna nodded to the other two people in the restaurant with satisfaction, "Mr. Cellini."

Mason and Andre also nodded in return.

Then, Anna left the restaurant.

Until her figure disappeared, her eyes stayed on Winters, and she made a gesture of her finger across her throat without leaving a trace.

Winters smiled and blew a kiss.

As soon as Anna left, Winters' face changed immediately.

"Traitor!" He picked up the spoon and threw it at Andre.

Andre originally raised his hand to catch the spoon, but his arm couldn't keep up with the reaction, and he could only dodge sideways in a thrilling way.

He retorted with a smile: "I was originally on Ms. Navarre's side."

"Wow, you can say that?" Winters became even more angry and replaced the spoon in his hand with a knife.

"Why can't you say it? I didn't lie to you, I just didn't tell you."

"Okay, stop it." Mason had to take out the senior's airs and speak to maintain order. He picked up the spoon and pulled Andre back to the table, "Where were we just talking about?"

"Hmm?" Andre thought for a while, "I'll find a kid to learn how to smoke fish?"

Mason raised his forehead painfully, and after a moment, he sighed, "Yes, talking about the reorganization of the army."

Andre yawned and reached out to take another smoked fish.

"Yes, talking about 'can't delay'." Winters also wanted to eat fish, but Anna's influence was still there, he didn't dare to act rashly, and could only watch Andre feast on it.

He said regretfully: "It seems that we have to play this card as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this card is not yet 'ripened' and may not be able to exchange for Colonel Gesar's understanding of the new land outside."

"You are the player, you can play when you say." Mason responded, and said what he really wanted to say quickly, "The problem is not this card, but how to play the next card after playing this card!"

"What do you mean?" Winters raised his eyebrows.

"Although Baishan County, Leiqun County, and Bianjiang County have the same attitude towards the new army's need to be reorganized as soon as possible," Mason said seriously, "but I can assure you that when the new army is finished resting and has to decide where to go next, Colonel Geisa, Colonel Skool, and Lieutenant Colonel Matthias will definitely not agree."

"Oh?" Winters instantly became interested and poured a glass of water for the senior, "Tell me slowly."

Mason took a sip of water and talked freely: "From the intelligence I have come across, Baishan County should be more inclined to directly attack the Fortress of the Kings.

"Woods of Baishan County The lieutenant is organizing people to repair the road to the east of Maplestone City;

"And Lieutenant Woods is also planning to build a military supply warehouse in Sifang Town and collect large carts;

"The officers of Baishan County are particularly concerned about the patrol operation that blocks the road between Maplestone City and Zhuwang Fort;

"The most obvious thing is that Colonel Gesar has shown an abnormal interest in the cannons in our hands... All signs indicate that Colonel Gesar should want to take the snake's head and solve the problem once and for all."

Winters has always trusted and admired Senior Mason's ability to organize and summarize the complicated and trivial information.

He still remembered that when he first met his senior, the latter could guess that the Plato Army was going to fight again based on a few expired newspapers, so he organized the prisoners to harvest forage in advance to prepare for the cold winter. .

Although Mason used a lot of "should" and "could", Winters knew his senior - Richard Mason would not speak at all if he was not 90% sure.

"Go straight to the castles of the kings?" Winters frowned.

As a man who has accomplished the legendary feat of "single access to the castles of the kings" that has never been done before - and there is currently no successor -, Winters recalled the fortifications of the castles of the kings with concentration, and the more he thought about it, the tighter his brows became. .

As an ancient capital that has stood since the "Dark Ages", although the city defense design of the King's Castle has lagged behind the times, it is still a very, very, very difficult bone to crack, and as long as appropriate modifications and additions are made, it can still be Reborn in the age of artillery.

Needless to say, the Castle of Kings is a city located by the water, and the Ember River behind it is firmly in the hands of the United Provinces and Red Rose.

"Even if the gap opened by Arpad is not blocked," Winters had already launched an siege in his mind and said with a wry smile, "With our current conditions, if we forcefully attack the castles of the kings, we will be able to defeat... very hard. It’s ugly. Besides, if the water supply of the kings’ castle cannot be cut off, the siege will be nonsense..."

"I think so too," Mason said, "but Baishan County believes that the troops in the King's Fort are now empty and the people's hearts are unstable.

"If we fight now, we might be able to win it in one fell swoop. As long as we capture the King's Castle, no one can question our legitimacy, and there will be no more major wars on the south bank of the Jinliu River.

"If we don't fight now and wait until the four legions of the United Provinces are in place, and then we want to fight again, I don't know how long it will take..."

"Well, their idea... is actually quite reasonable." Mason scratched his head in distress and simply waved his hand, "I can't figure it out anyway, so you can decide."

Winters did not rush to make a judgment, but crossed his arms and asked: "What about Leiqun County and Bianjiang County? Didn't you say that they are not of the same mind as Baishan County? What actions are they taking?"

"You don't have to look at their movements," Mason chuckled, "Lieutenant Colonel Matthias has already taken the initiative to communicate with us."

"Oh? What did he say?"

Mason paused and replied meaningfully: "He is sure that you will support him because he wants to open up the Veneta Corridor first."

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