Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 423 Meeting

  [Revodan]

  [The meeting room of the station]

  Although Andre was restrained in front of Ike without any yin and yang, but when he returned to his own side, he showed no mercy at all.

   "If the level of the Union Provincial Officer and the Master is about the same." Andre said with a smile: "Then we no longer have to worry about the Union Provincial Army - it is simply vulnerable, vulnerable!"

   After the words were said, Andre remembered that there were two officers from the United States present, and quickly added: "Bud, not including you... oh oh oh, and Senior Mason."

Mason waved his hand habitually, looked sideways at the man in the iron mask sitting on the left, and asked curiously, "How did you think of setting up an ambush on the pier? You guessed in advance that Alpha and Portal would send a small force from A raid on the pier? Senior Morrow."

   Captain Morrow's indifferent voice came from under the iron mask: "I have no ability to predict, I just draw out a part of my troops as a reserve and guard the back road according to the dogma."

   "So it is." Mason was a little disappointed.

"However, the other party is indeed a bit silly, and the tactical deployment is like a blank sheet of paper, which can be seen at a glance." Probably because he was in a good mood after winning the battle, Captain Morrow rarely had the interest to chat: "The main force is attacking frontally, small The units are circling and supporting, as if they are arranging troops according to the textbook, there is no need to guess."

   Captain Morrow shook his head gently, half pity, half wanting to laugh and sigh: "It's really...too simple."

   As soon as he finished speaking, Andrei laughed, and Mason raised the corners of his mouth in cooperation.

   Sitting at the end of the conference table, Major Seber, who had been holding on to the silence, finally couldn't help but join the conversation.

Moreover, Saber Saibo was very aggressive as soon as he opened his mouth: "Oh, you don't count, how many years has the Union Province not fought a war? Apart from those half-dead old men, the younger generation can still find a few real people. Someone who has gone to war?"

Major Seber cleared his throat and glanced down at the lieutenants in the conference room: "You guys, although you are not long in the military, you have played against barbarians and accumulated some practical experience. What kind of goods are the Union Provincial Army? and Are they worthy of our Plato’s iron-flow ratio? Rather, the little guy named Axel can take the initiative to attack, and he has the guts. According to the consistent style of the Federal Army, he should shrink in It's right to stay in the dock until the end of the world."

Major   Several pungent comments made the other lieutenants in the room speechless.

   Finding no one responding to him, Major Seber was suddenly bored...and a little lost. He snorted softly, folded his arms, and looked out the window with a cold face.

"The major is right." Winters broke the silence, first agreeing with the major, and then saying a fair word for Ike: "Lieutenant Orange's military literacy is not bad, but he lacks experience. The militia was well trained by him, so I plan to screen the prisoners of the Battle of Shovel Harbor and add them to the infantry regiment if they have a clean background."

   For Winters' cooperation, Major Seber was very disrespectful. He pouted and continued to stare at the chirping birds outside the window.

"If I remember correctly." Bud put down the file in his hand, looked up and asked Winters: "Shouldn't Ike stay in the school to teach? At least he should stay in the federal province. How could he be sent to Palatu? "

   "I don't know." Winters spread his hands: "I didn't ask."

   "Should I ask or should I ask." Bud gently reminded: "We may be able to get some important information from Ike's mouth."

   Winters also followed the major's posture, folded his arms and pretended to pay attention to what the bird outside the window was shouting: "I'm afraid he won't take the initiative to speak."

"Isn't that easy?" Major Seber became interested and said nonchalantly, "If you guys can't keep your face down, hand over that little guy from the Union Province to me. Within three days, I'll ask him to tell him what he said in his dream. All poured out."

   "He never sleeps."

   Major Seber sneered: "How do you know?"

   "I slept in his lower bunk when I was in Luyuan for six years."

   Major Seber was stunned for a moment, then put away his careless expression, he sighed, tapped lightly on the table with his fingertips, and said leisurely, "That's going to be difficult..."

   Winters looked at Bud: "How about you go try it?"

  Because he knew that he was in a tough situation, Winters obviously lacked confidence when he spoke.

   But Bud nodded naturally and agreed tolerantly: "Okay, I'll try it, but there's no guarantee of success. After all, if you can't convince Ike, my chances of success are even slimmer."

   "Okay!" said Winters happily. "Try it."

   During the chat, the sun has risen over the treetops. Sunlight filtered through the open windows and spilled onto the long table in the conference room.

  The sound of bells came from the high tower of the Cathedral of Gervoudin, reminding the people present that the most precious morning of the day was about to pass.

"Let's put the matter of that kid named Axel aside, I'm here to see you today on business!" Major Seber tapped on the table, raised his eyebrows, and asked Winters in a bad tone: "Come with me from What do you plan to do with the prisoners of war who have returned from the wasteland? Can you give me an accurate word?"

   "The resettlement of the returning prisoners of war will be resolved today," Winters replied while taking notes on the major's demands.

   "I also have something to ask." Andre raised his hand and complained, "When will the bounty for the Battle of Shovel Harbor be issued? The big bosses are all waiting eagerly—of course, I am also waiting."

When Major Seber heard this, he immediately stretched his neck, wishing to put the tip of his nose on Winters' forehead: "There are also many of my soldiers in the light cavalry that rushed to the Red Training Department. They work for you. Missing them."

   Winters made another note and nodded in agreement: "The distribution of the spoils will also be discussed today."

   However, Major Seber did not say that it was okay, but instead reminded Winters. He coughed lightly and pointed out the major's previous problem as peacefully as possible: "When you brought the cavalry back, you were buying wine, throwing money, and opening water seats, which led to the capture of the Battle of the Red Training Department..."

   "Hi!" said Major Seber carelessly. "Celebration, it has to cost something. What is this? Where does it go?"

   He glanced at Winters: "Little boy!"

   Winters took a deep breath.

"I have other things to say!" Andre raised his hand again, and interjected impatiently: "Since there is no war for the time being, shouldn't the military horses that were taken away before be returned to the cavalry and the military horse farm? Shouldn’t my cavalry be returned to me? Alas, I managed to save a little bit of fat, and after a tossing in the spring, I was busy again…”

   Winters didn't have time to reply, Bud spoke first.

  Bud looked at Andre and asked solemnly: "The battle report said that you executed all the enemies you captured in the Battle of Shovel Harbor?"

   "Those people are all horse bandits, it's not a pity to kill them."

   "It's not a pity?" Bud was silent for a moment: "No, it's a pity."

  Andre disagreed: "What's the pity?"

  Budd asked: "Do you know how long it takes for a woman to get pregnant and give birth?"

   "What do you mean?" Andre frowned.

"It takes ten months for a woman to get pregnant and give birth. Only half of the babies live to three years old, and only one third of the children can grow to adulthood." Bud explained to Andre patiently: It takes at least seventeen years for a baby to grow into a sturdy adult. You only need a knife to execute him."

  Andre cocked his neck and asked unconvinced, "So?"

"So have you ever thought about how much waste you have caused?" Bud pursed his lips and said slowly: "Weapons can make a large batch in a month, grain can be harvested twice a year, and war horses can be replenished in three years. One batch."

He glanced at the other officers present: "And what about people? It takes at least seventeen years for a person to raise one. Compared with weapons, food, and war horses, 'people' is the most difficult resource to replenish and the resource we lack the most. Iron Mines, farms, lumber mills, construction sites, Iron Peak County now needs people everywhere, people who can work—guilty or innocent, damned or not.”

  Andre was speechless, and he asked sternly: "Bud, what are you talking about..."

"The 'head cutting order' should be stopped." Bud looked at Winters and said solemnly: "It is really useful to use the head as an incentive for a short period of time. However, as far as I know, there are already soldiers in order to obtain Heads, and even private executions of surrendering enemies. Indiscriminate killing is a waste that we cannot tolerate, even without regard to morality.”

   "Okay." Winters nodded and wrote down another line on the paper: "This matter, we have to discuss the result today."

"I also have something to do." Mason raised his hand slowly, and seeing everyone else looking at him, he said a little embarrassedly: "It's not a big deal. Baishan County recently blocked the bridge, and several local businesses asked me to come. Ask what's going on."

   "Okay." Winters wrote another note: "I'll send someone to ask, is there anything else?"

   "Then I'll say it together." Mason twisted his fingers and counted them one by one:

"While you're gone, I've built six more blast furnaces. Today, the local production of wrought iron far exceeds the digestion capacity of Forge Township. Brothers Poultin and Gonza want to know if the excess pig iron can be used. Sell ​​it to another county?"

   "I have placed the craftsmen you brought back from Steel Castle in South City. Do you plan to hire them collectively? Or let them choose their careers freely? Many forge masters have come to me and asked around the corner to hire Steel Castle blacksmiths."

"The road from Rewodan to Forge Township has been repaired. Do we need to continue to build it elsewhere? Now that the situation in Tiefeng County has settled down, the road builders want to go home. If they want to keep them, I'm afraid they have to give higher pay."

"We don't have any shortage of money for the time being—the gold you brought back is more than enough to cover your expenses, the problem is that the gold cannot be sent directly. If you agree, I will arrange for the goldsmiths in Gervodin to start processing the pure gold into gold coins. Or—" Mason Gritting his teeth, "Let's just coin our own coins."

   "Oh, yes, and wool..."

After Mason finished talking about all the things that Revodan had accumulated during this period of time that needed to be decided, Bud also said softly: "The summer grain will be harvested in June, and the tax will not be collected, how to collect it, and how much to collect. It must be decided as soon as possible; There are the reclamation of refugee farms, the return of refugees to their hometowns, and the rent paid to the owners of the estates…”

   Winters wrote more and more on the paper.

Major Seber patted the table unhappily and scolded Winters: "Don't just memorize, I'm here to talk to you. Give me an accurate answer, and I'll leave now—I'm not interested in talking to you. You go home!"

  The room fell silent, only Captain Morrow sneered.

   "Major." Winters showed the writing paper he remembered densely in his hand, and asked: "So many things, do you want me to decide?"

   "Otherwise?" Major Seber's eyes widened, and he asked, "You're not the head? Who makes the decisions if you don't? You're not responsible for decision-making, so what are you doing in that position?"

  Andre nodded like a chicken pecking at the rice next to him.

   Winters smiled: "Then you're not afraid that I make the wrong decision?"

Major    was a bit short on words, he thought about it, and said impatiently: "That's your ability!"

"To call everyone today is to come up with all the things that need to be decided at the moment and discuss the results together." Winters stood up and looked at his colleagues in the conference room: "I said when I invited everyone, today is the 'Enlarged Conference of Officers'."

  Different from the dilemma of searching all over the county and not being able to find a seventh qualified officer, now Tiefeng County can be described as "abundant of talents".

   Not counting Axel Orange, who was captured, there were fourteen regular officers from the Army Academy. As for the "new army officers" appointed by Winters, there are more than two dozen.

   The six people sitting in the conference room at the moment are very representative, representing all the current military forces in Iron Peak County.

   Winters and Andre represent the new army, Bard represents the refugee farm and South Eight, and Richard Mason can barely represent Gervoudan.

   Major Seber represented the prisoners sent back by the Chihe Department. Many of these prisoners were indecisive about whether to leave or stay, and Major Seber could almost control their attitude.

Captain    Morrow represented the first expeditionary prisoners of war to join Iron Peak. They and the people of Tiefeng County experienced the battle of blood and mud together. Although there were fewer people, they were more closely connected with Tiefeng County. Many of them have already accumulated military merit, are waiting to release land, and do not plan to leave.

   This is the current "highest authority" in Tiefeng County - the enlarged meeting of officers.

   The power of this organ of authority neither comes from popular votes nor conferred by the upper echelons, but is half based on prestige and half on the army.

  Although the host of the meeting, Winters, did not consider himself to be the head of the military government, although everyone in the meeting did not feel that they were part of the military government.

   But in fact, they are even more junta than the Palatu junta in Hongchuan.

  Because the Hongchuan military government has at least some ordinary administrators without military status, and the military concentration of the highest authority in Tiefeng County is 100%.

   However, she is the only political group that has the will and the ability to protect Iron Peak County, clean up the mess, and open up a new path, and it can hardly even be called a political group.

   However, it is clear that there are people in this small group who are unwilling to accept a new identity.

"[General counsel]!" said Major Seber disdainfully: "There are too many people talking, and nothing can be done! And I'm not in the mood to stack up with you. I'm just coming to you for an answer - whether to let us go or not. If you let us go, when can we go? Give me an answer and I'll leave now!"

"Just to give you an answer, that's why I invited you over to discuss it." Winters replied politely, without being humble or arrogant: "This answer is about the future of you and your subordinates, if you are not willing to participate in the process of negotiating it, You can exit and wait for us to give you a result."

  Cerber touched a soft nail, almost stunned, and walked away, but he gnashed his teeth and finally held back, and his **** didn't leave the chair.

   "Then start quickly." Major Seber urged: "Hurry up and discuss the results."

   "Don't be impatient." Winters nodded: "I have to wait for someone else."

   "Who are you waiting for?" Major Seber bared.

   Just then, there was the sound of a cane tapping the ground outside the door.

   "Here comes." Winters walked quickly to the door, and then personally helped a blindfolded old soldier into the conference room.

Major   Cerber certainly knew who it was.

   Sabre Cerber stood up in a hurry, and the chair was slammed down. He raised his hand to salute meticulously—even though the other party was no longer in sight: "Lieutenant Colonel Jesska!"

  Others also stood up and saluted.

  John Jesska also stood at attention, returned the salute, and then faced the direction of Cerber's voice: "I heard you shouting all the way."

   "It's not shouting." Cerber quietly defended: "It's a discussion, we're discussing things."

   "Everyone is here!" Winters said happily: "This time, Lieutenant Colonel Jesska will preside over the expanded meeting of officers in Iron Peak County, and I will take the record!"

   Major Seber pouted, raised his chair awkwardly, and sat down again.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska turned his head to "look" at Winters, and said coldly, "I'm not here for a meeting, I'm here to ask you for something!"

   Winters helped Lieutenant Colonel Jesska to the head of the conference table: "You sit first."

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska was still stern, as if his natural stiff tone had not softened in any way because of his blindness: "Captain Montagne."

   "Yes." Winters responded.

   "The Infantry Manual is more than half-written."

   "You have done a great job."

"Several children sent by Seber helped a lot." Lieutenant Colonel Jesska rarely boasted: "But from the beginning to the end, there were only a few children sent by Seber and I, without a printing press or typesetting. Carpenter…"

Lieutenant Colonel    suddenly stopped talking. He lowered his head, wondering what he was thinking. After a while, he raised his head again, "looking directly" at Winters, and said indifferently: "There is no sign of any future use of this manual. So, I want to know, you asked me to write this manual, Do you think I'm too busy?"

   "The printing presses, ink workers, and typesetters are in South City, and I hired them heavily from Steel Castle." Winters replied earnestly: "If you can preside over the meeting, we can get a 'resolution' today."

   "Then let's get started." Lieutenant Colonel Jesska put down his cane impatiently.

  Winters sat next to the lieutenant colonel and turned the notebook to the first page: "The first thing should be..."

   A series of hail-like hooves came from outside the window. The soldiers present were most sensitive to the sound of hooves, and they all looked out the window.

  It is strictly forbidden to collide with horses in and around the courtyard of the garrison. Violators will be severely punished—unless there is an emergency military situation.

   As expected, as soon as the sound of the hooves disappeared, the sound of panicked footsteps followed, rushing straight towards the conference room.

   The door opened.

  The one who appeared outside the door was little Priskin who was supposed to be with Mr. Leo.

"My lord! The war is on!" Little Priskin was soaked with sweat, as if he had just climbed out of the water. His palms and knees kept shaking because he had been riding a horse for too long: " Blue Rose sent troops! Jinghu County changed its flag! The new reclaimed land is about to go to war!"

   As soon as he uttered the last word, little Priskin's body softened and fainted.

   "Take him away." Lieutenant Colonel Jesska sneered and knocked on the table: "Let's continue."

   [73, 221/100, 000]

   [Roaring volume, the sound of cannons will roar from the beginning to the end...]

   [Little Puliskin: grandson of tobacconist old Puliskin, beaten by Winters for his head-turning speculation in Iron Peak County, and then voluntarily followed Mr. Leo to Maplestone to do business]

   [Tiefeng County currently has a regular officer with a surname]

   [Montagne faction: Winters, Bard, Andre, Mason, Moritz]

   [Plateau officers: Jessica, Cerber, Morrow]

   [Provincial Officer: Axel]

   [If there are any omissions, please help to add, thank you very much]

   [New Army officers appointed by Winters: Pierre, Anglo, Samukin, Vasika; Tamas, Bart Haring, Lannes, Levi]

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

   (end of this chapter)