Iron Powder and Spellcaster

After realizing that the defenders of Tacheng were racing against time to consolidate the city's defenses, the two army commanders who came to conduct reconnaissance in person immediately returned to Red Sulfur Port.

It was already night when the two legion commanders rode back to Red Sulfur Port. Ignoring the fight for command, Leighton, who returned to Red Sulfur Port, immediately ordered the Legion of San Marco to hand over the city defense to friendly forces, and then led his headquarters to rush to Tacheng overnight with light equipment.

The third "Grand Veneta" Legion will rest for a day at Red Sulfur Port and then bring the baggage of the two legions to join the Legion of San Marco.

Braziers and torches lit up the central square of Red Sulfur Port. Antonio and Leighton were riding horses, watching the urgently assembled Legion of San Marco distributing hemp rope.

Many people in this era suffered from night blindness, and even when the moon was bright, they looked like blind people at night. Therefore, qualified officers will try to avoid night operations. However, the situation is urgent at this time, and the Veneta people can't control it so much.

One end of the hemp rope is tied to the waist of the soldier in front, and the other end is tied to the hand of the soldier behind. Only in this way can we ensure that no one will fall behind, get lost, or escape during the march. This is a clumsy method, but it is also an effective method.

After preparations, the Legion of Saint Mark set out from the Red Sulfur Port in four columns.

Antonio, who looked solemn, raised his hand and saluted Layton with a military salute. Layton, who also looked solemn, did not return the salute, but just waved his hand, and then left with a whip, without saying a word to Antonio who came to see him off. .

The civilians of Red Sulfur Port hid in their houses, peeping through cracks in doors and windows to watch the actions of Veneta's army. They still vividly remembered the scene of the ferocious Veneta soldiers going from house to house arresting people in the past few days. The residents of Red Sulfur Port breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the Veneta troops were just heading outside the city.

However, the king's flag was changed at the top of the city, and a Veneta army left, but a new Veneta army came. No one knows what will happen tomorrow, and the people of Red Sulfur Hong Kong sleep in this state of uneasiness.

Winters did not rest, he was waiting anxiously in a room at the Third Army's station.

The door was pushed open and Antonio walked in. Winters stood up to salute, but Antonio pressed his arm, patted his shoulder, and said nothing.

What would a man do if he saw his son drowning? He would jump into the water to save people whether he knew how to swim or not.

What happens when a commander is faced with a “viper’s sting” situation? Even if he has a guilty conscience, he must "cut off his wrists".

But when the two identities overlap, things get complicated.

On the day the Third Army was ambushed, Antonio abandoned Winters and his centurions. Winters didn't know what was going on in Antonio's heart at that time, and he knew it must be uncomfortable.

There was nothing he could do about it. People would always die in wars. He didn't resent his adoptive father for this. After being tempered as a real officer on Chiliu Island, even if he had any grudges in his heart, he had already let go.

But he didn't know what to say to Antonio, so he didn't say anything, and Antonio didn't say anything either. Because it is difficult for men to communicate openly about their feelings, in most cases they simply do not communicate.

Besides, there are more important things at the moment.

"I have found the person that the Secretary of State of the United Provinces asked you to find." Winters bluntly stated the information that he believed must be given to Antonio as soon as possible.

"Huh?" Antonio obviously didn't react and was stunned.

"To be precise, it's a corpse." Winters bit his lower lip.

"Lionel..." Antonio tried hard to remember: "...Is this the person he asked me to find before he left? His name seems to be..."

"Marat, Marat, the special envoy of the Secretary of State of the United Provinces." Winters reminded: "When Secretary Lionel leaves, please send Mr. Marat's ashes to him."

"As I get older, my memory is really bad." Antonio smiled bitterly and asked puzzledly: "Did you find that person on Red Sulfur Island? Did he die on Red Sulfur Island?"

Winters took a deep breath and whispered: "No, not on Red Sulfur Island...it's in Aquamarine City, in the morgue of the Security Command - the man who was assassinated at the dock was the Secretary of State of the United Provinces special envoy."

Antonio was confused at first, and then took a breath of cold air. He asked Winters solemnly: "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. The assassin's accomplices personally admitted this to me."

"who is it?"

Winters gritted his teeth and spit out a name: "...it's Lieutenant Colonel Contel."

"Contel?" Antonio suddenly changed his color: "He is so brave! Where is he?"

"Lying in the medical center, a person loses consciousness and may not survive. On the day of the attack on the port, Lieutenant Colonel Contel was shot in the stomach and his intestines were pierced. I found a doctor on the island to remove it. The lead bullet was removed, the intestines were sewn up, and the abdominal cavity was cleaned. He admitted it to me personally when he was conscious and I felt that he was not lying and there was no need to lie about this matter."

Hearing that Contel's life or death was uncertain, Antonio's mood calmed down a little. He took a breath and asked, "Why did Contel assassinate the special envoy of the Secretary of State for the United Provinces?"

"It was not Lieutenant Colonel Contel, but other people in Lieutenant Colonel Contel's group who did it." Winters organized his language and said: "According to them - because Veneta needs Tanilia Islands.”

Later, Winters told Antonio everything he knew.

Mara, the special envoy of the Secretary of State of the United Provinces, arrived in Aquamarine City secretly for no reason. He brought an agreement with him, an agreement on the Tanilia Islands.

Venetta's desire for the Tanilla Islands is already well known.

Seven years ago, the Fremen began a brutal tug-of-war with their eastern neighbors. In order to raise more military spending, the Fremen Sultan, who controlled half of the eastern routes, began to impose higher commercial taxes.

Therefore, since Consul de Bella took office, Veneta's tax revenue has gone from bad to worse, the prosperity in sight has declined, and the businessmen who made their fortunes on the Eastern Route have gone bankrupt one after another.

In the internal trade circle of Senas Gulf, the status of Veneta's core transfer station is also facing a strong challenge - the challenge from the Tanilla Islands.

The Tanilia Islands are no longer the wild islands they were thirty years ago. The islands have rapidly prospered as a neutral port in the cracks between major forces, and have accumulated a lot of wealth.

Because there is less tax revenue, the tax rate needs to be increased. After the tax rate was raised, businessmen fled to the Tanilia Islands where the tax rate was lower. There are fewer businessmen, and the tax base is reduced. In order to maintain the original tax revenue, the tax rate must be increased again.

As a result, a vicious cycle has entered.

"Veneta needs the Islands," were the exact words of Colonel Contel. It's not because of any bullshit pirates. Pirates in the Senas Sea have been rampant for decades, but they have only been emphasized again and again in recent years. All this is because Veneta needs the islands.

Whether it is the need to eliminate competitors, or for new raw material production areas and commodity dumping sites, and more importantly, for new ports - ocean ports.

The harbors along the Gulf of Senes are too small and too shallow. The Tanilia Islands are dotted with deep-water harbors, and to the east of the islands is the Ocean of Storms.

Obtaining Tanilia not only meant acquiring a new land, but also meant acquiring a new possibility, the possibility of a new route, the possibility of a new route across the Tempest Ocean to the Spice Islands.

The Fremen Sultan imposed heavy taxes on merchant ships, hurting trade on the one hand, but also causing the price of goods from the east to skyrocket, making goods from the east even more profitable - if they could circumvent Fremen control. .

The Tanilla Islands represent this possibility. After decades of surveying and mapping, Veneta's navigators have realized that if the earth is a sphere, then a straight line can be drawn from the Tanilla Islands to the Spice Islands.

To do all this, one needs to pass through the stormy ocean with rough waves, high winds and rough waves, and through the stormy ocean that has swallowed up the lives of countless explorers.

If you want to pass through the storm ocean, you need a ship that is strong enough and seaworthy, a dry dock that is large enough, and an ocean port.

It is precisely because of various reasons that more and more Veneta people are aware of the great value and potential of the Tanilia Islands, especially within the Veneta military.

The young Veneta soldiers reached a consensus in heated debates about the country's future: Veneta must seize the islands. To further this end, at least one secret society was formed within the Veneta army.

Contel, who was dying, refused to reveal more secrets of the group to Winters. He just tried to get Winters to accept his ideas and absorb Winters as a member of the secret group.

Winters also obtained more information about this group during this process.

But the Venetans were not the only ones to see the potential and strategic value of Taneria, the United Provinces were also aware of this. The Republic of the United Provinces started planning and planning for the islands earlier. Before the Veneta people began to emphasize that the islands were stolen by pirates, the people of the United Provinces were already sparing no effort to infiltrate the Tanilia Islands, intending to turn the islands into the first island of the United Provinces. Eighteen provinces.

Even the political structure of the United Provinces Republic allows it to offer more favorable conditions than the Republic of Veneta. It would be better to be the eighteenth province of the United Provinces than to be another county of Veneta.

Because of this, Veneta became more and more radical. Every time Consul de Bella gave a speech in parliament, he would always mention the Tanilia Islands, and his words became more and more fierce each time.

But Lionel, the Secretary of State for the United Provinces, proposed a new possibility, one that would not lead to conflict within the Senas alliance.

His envoy secretly came to Veneta to reach an agreement, an agreement that De Bella and Lionel had been secretly discussing for a long time: to turn Tanilia into an overseas territory of the Senas Alliance and maintain its Semi-independent status, a kind of joint rule between Veneta and the United Provinces.

This was destined to be an agreement that neither party would be satisfied with, and it was also the reason why the special envoy of the Secretary of State for the United Provinces was assassinated.

To be honest, Winters did not object to Contel's argument that "everything is for Venetta's benefit." Acquiring Taneria would be a huge boon for Veneta, Winters agrees.

However, from the moment Contel's associates openly assassinated the envoy of the Secretary of State for the United Provinces because the political reconciliation was contrary to their expectations, Winters could no longer believe anything they said.

In Winters' view, these people said "everything is for the benefit of Venetta", but in fact, their actions were only for their own political ambitions.

The military is the country's weapon, and military academies have been instilling this in officer cadets. However, when a weapon has a mind of its own and even attempts to influence the actions of the person holding the weapon, this is essentially a form of rebellion.

The soldiers who drowned in the sea, those who were nailed to wooden stakes, and those who died and were burned in the forts all died from the ambition of the Contels.

"That's all I know. Contel's secret society should be using the Duelist Club as a cover. These people are already very dangerous. They have tasted the sweetness of violent manipulation of politics. I can't imagine what they will dare to do in the future." Wen Tes concluded: "But according to Contel, they did not blow up the pier. Another group of people blew up the pier... I don't know whether it is true or not."

He originally left all these contents in the letter, but since he survived, there is no need to believe it. He eagerly found Antonio to explain all this, just to remind Antonio that there was already a secret political group in the Veneta Army.

No one knew which officers were members of this secret group, or even that there were other officers like Contel within the Third Legion. The most dangerous thing is that this political group is becoming increasingly violent and radical, and is not willing to use killing methods to eradicate those who stand in their way.

Antonio pondered and said nothing.

He thought for a while and then said: "...I have heard a little bit about secret societies. There are many secret societies in the army, but this is the first one that dares to kill people..."

"If you want to check them, I can sneak in. Contel tried to recruit me. If he survives, I will use him as a stepping stone. If he dies, it will be easier."

"No, you don't need to investigate. It's too dangerous for you to investigate this matter. We should use fair methods to deal with such private matters, but now is not the time. We have already started a war with Tanirya, and it is the time to employ people. . If this matter is brought out now, the Military Commission will only deal with it indifferently. If we insist on severely punishing everyone, it will damage the army's combat effectiveness." Antonio frowned and said, "This matter is yours. Don’t worry about it, I’ll go find Admiral Zio and handle it from top to bottom.”

Winters heard Antonio's subtext and said unwillingly: "Are you saying that Contel and the others have tied themselves to Venetta and can't handle it?"

"There is no turning back. The war has started. The most important thing now is how to end the war. We will deal with them, but the time is not right now. We need to find a proper way and find a way that does not damage the military's combat effectiveness." Antonio's brows knitted into a knot: "Leave this matter to me. Don't get involved too deeply."

"You should also be careful of these people. They even dare to kill the special envoy of the Secretary of State of the United Provinces. The knife is already stained with blood, and they will only become more crazy. They may even... attack one of their own people." Although he is unwilling to do so, since Antonio said he would take over, so this might be the best solution at the moment.

Suddenly, Winters remembered something and said hesitantly: "There is another thing, which may be more relevant than Contel..."

"Huh? What's the matter?" Antonio rubbed his temples and asked a little tiredly.

"I...I think I killed a court mage."

I am back after wiping out the Minotaur family.

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