Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 509 Rebuilding the Country (25)

The subject of the third trial—the silver-haired ponytail officer strolled into the large meeting hall, calmly observing the strangers sitting on the steps around him, his expression did not look like a prisoner of war, but a gladiator Step into the arena.

  The free men in the new land are also looking at the stranger on the trial seat.

  Tall, handsome, calm, quiet, tired but dignified, shabby but neat, thin but dignified—these are the first impressions most free men have of the silver-haired officer.

  Just like a beautiful lady can always be tolerated without reason in the social arena, the silver-haired school officer has also quietly won the favor of many free people.

"The person on trial." Colonel Scull broke the silence. Compared with the indifference and sternness shown in the previous two trials, the colonel's attitude this time is more gentle: "Are you the former lieutenant colonel of the Republic of Plato? Spall Berent?"

When the silver-haired officer heard such a formal question, he first raised his eyebrows in puzzlement, but soon relieved, with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "It's the 'Colonel' now, Your Excellency. And I thought we'd We knew each other a few years ago, senior."

   "Answer the court's questions." Colonel Skool couldn't see even a little smile on his face.

"Alright alright."

  The silver-haired colonel shrugged helplessly, and saluted the free people around him with his right hand on his chest, as if introducing himself: "'Former Lieutenant Colonel Gaspar Berent', it's me, that's right."

   This move won him a little favor in the hearts of the free people in the new land.

   After all, compared to the previous three "gentle and sweeping" interrogators, the silver-haired school officer has already won at the starting line by virtue of his poise and demeanor alone, making Liberal people feel sympathetic, and it is difficult to shout out that classic slogan.

  However, at the next moment, the silver-haired school official suddenly changed his subject and spoke surprisingly.

He put down his hands, stood proudly on the court, and declared: "But I am not a lackey of the 'Republic' of the Castle of Kings, I am a soldier of the Hongchuan Army Conference! My loyalty belongs to the Marshal of the Republic—Alpad Du Yaomu!"

  Hearing the self-declaration of the silver-haired school officer, the free people in the new land were astonished as if they had just woken up from a dream.

  Wake up, because people finally understand who the silver-haired officer on the trial bench is—the Blue Rose general who occupied Bazenauer and ignited the civil war in New Reclamation;

   The reason for the astonishment is that people don't understand why General Lan Qiangwei was also sent to the trial seat - aren't Hong Chuan and the "New Legion" a group?

  …

  [Iron Peak County Seating Area]

  Nandor has been completely confused: "What's going on? After the red rose was tried, the blue rose is also tried?"

   "It's the other way around." Richard of Heishui Town said with an inscrutable expression, "It's because the 'Hongchuan' is to be tried, so the 'Fortress of Kings' must be tried first."

   "Brother." Nandor smacked his lips and smiled wryly, "I understand every word you said, but why can't I understand it together?"

"Look." Richard glanced at Nandor, and then at the old Dusak who was also puzzled: "The first two trials were just 'private courts', this third trial is 'Ming canonical punishment'."

  …

  [in court]

   "Gaspar Berente, now that your identity has been checked, I will inform you of the basic information of this court and your rights."

Colonel Skool looked serious: "This is the Special Court of Freemen, established in accordance with the rights conferred by the Charter of the Union. I am the public prosecutor and the chief judge. All the freemen present are jury judges, and they will jointly decide whether you Guilty. Do you know, Gaspard Berente, why you were brought before the Tribunal of Freedmen?"

"Your Honor, if you are asking why I am here in a literal sense, I can answer you." Gaspar squinted at an ugly guy in the first row of seats on the right: "I am trying to After winning a siege, I was attacked by what I thought was a friendly force, captured, and brought here."

  In the seating area of ​​Baishan County, Colonel Gaisa folded his arms and snorted coldly.

Gaspar nodded gracefully to Colonel Gaisa, and continued: "As for what you really want to ask, 'Why am I being brought before your court'? Free men are as confused as I am."

   After finishing speaking, Gaspar bowed slightly and bowed to the judge's bench: "So, please come and tell me the answer."

"Because it is suspected of participating in the secession of the country, suspected of subverting the republic, and suspected of organizing, planning, and carrying out armed riots." Every time Colonel Skool mentioned a crime, he would leave a long blank space, and he told the other party in a slow voice: "Gass Pal Berent, you are charged with treason."

  As soon as this remark came out, the free men in the jury were dumbfounded and silent, but Gaspar himself frowned slightly.

   "Gaspar Berent." Colonel Skool asked solemnly, "Are you pleading guilty?"

"I have committed many sins in my life, alcoholism, lust, lying, arrogance... I will not deny them, may the Lord bless me." Gaspar saluted freely, and then put away his smile: "Only 'treason' With all due respect, I cannot agree to this accusation."

  Facing the free man in the new land, Gaspar Berente gave a firm answer: "I plead not guilty!"

Colonel Skull was noncommittal and continued to inform the rights: "Gaspar Berent, during this trial, you have the right to apply for recusal, require witnesses to appear in court, refuse to answer irrelevant questions, defend yourself or entrust others to defend, and participate in the trial. The right to argue, to see the court record, and to make a final statement. Did you hear me?"

   "Listen clearly." Gaspar Berent replied with a smile: "It's fair, isn't it?"

   "Do you want to apply for recusal of interested parties?" Colonel Skool asked.

Gaspar looked around and spread his hands: "The jury judges sitting in the hall are either my classmates with broken bones and tendons, or strangers I don't know at all—so, no, I don't want to be a judge. Apply for recusal."

   "Do you need to entrust someone else to defend you?" Colonel Skool asked again.

   "In this hall, the defender I trust most is you, senior. But you are already sitting on the judge's bench." Gaspar shook his head regretfully: "No, I choose to defend myself."

"The indictment will be read out below." After a short preparation, Colonel Scull put on his monocle and opened the indictment: "Gaspar Berent, on May 12th of this year, you commanded four infantry brigades Two squadrons of cavalry and cavalry—a total of about 2,300 people set out from the control area of ​​the Hongchuan Army Conference, crossed the Jinliu River, attacked and occupied Bazenauer, the capital of Jinghu County in the new reclamation province. The statement here Is there a mistake?"

Gaspar politely corrected: "When I set off, the formation of my troops was six infantry brigades and two hussar squadrons. Some barges were intercepted, and there were only 2,300 people left on the shore. As for the troops you used Forgive me for not approving the word 'attack'. Because Bazenauer changed flags on his own initiative. This can be confirmed by the mayor of Bazenauer and my subordinate, Major Calkin."

   "Actively change the flag?" Colonel Skool narrowed his eyes: "You mean to 'actively' change the flag under the premise that Calkin Frentz promised a high-ranking official and paid a lot of money?"

   "The 'initiative' that is persuaded is of course active." Gaspar pretended to be surprised and looked at the free men around him, and asked confidently: "Otherwise, wouldn't every man be a rapist?"

   There was a burst of low laughter from the seats around the judge's bench.

Colonel Skool frowned in displeasure, but he did not step on the trap set by his junior and wrestled with the latter over the definition of "rape", but went straight to the point: "Since you have admitted to occupying Bazenau You commanded the troops of Bazenauer, so answer me: What is your purpose in leading the troops to occupy Bazenauer?"

   "What purpose?" Gaspar circled around a bit and asked with a smile, "Military or political? Primary or secondary? Short-term or long-term? Fundamental or superficial?"

   Colonel Scull still had a portrait-like expressionless face: "This court has plenty of time, you can explain everything."

"As expected of you, you are still so funny." Gaspar first complimented politely, then sat upright, and replied solemnly: "The purpose of the military council to acquire Bazenauer is very simple: the line of defense in the lower reaches of the Jinliu River It is difficult to break through, so the Military Council hopes to open a gap in the upstream area to launch a new round of offensive. Bazenauer is the breakthrough and bridgehead selected by the Military Council.”

   Pausing for a moment to allow some time for the audience to digest, Gaspar Berente spoke again.

With a calm expression, he also revealed Hongchuan's dark considerations: "There is another reason for choosing Bazenauer: the military council believes that the death of General Kevin Adams is a god-sent opportunity. After moving to Maple Stone City, the external defense of the province of New Reclamation has been greatly weakened, and the internal situation is tense. If some external force is exerted to break the balance, it is very likely to detonate the civil war in New Reclamation. At that time, the military council will have the opportunity to send the New Reclamation Legion included."

  Gaspar nodded slightly: "The above is the purpose of the military council ordering me to lead the troops to the new land."

  The large conference hall was silent, and the free people in the new land were a little uncomfortable with General Blue Rose's excessive honesty.

   "When you made the decision to detonate the civil war in New Reclamation." Colonel Skool took off his monocle, remained silent for a moment, and asked, "Have you considered the subsequent impact?"

   "Think about it." Gaspar bluntly replied: "If you can defeat the New Reclamation Army, it will naturally be the best result, which means that the entire New Reclamation Province will become the enemy of the Kings Castle;

   "If you can't defeat the New Reclamation Army, at least you have weakened and restrained the forces of the Fortress of the Kings;

"At the same time, as a local garrison, your influence in the counties is deeply rooted and difficult to remove in a short time. Even if the new reclamation army wins the new reclamation civil war, it will only get an unstable new reclamation, and it will be difficult to draw war resources from it. .”

   Colonel Blue Rose on the jury seat spoke eloquently, but the Freeman from New Clayton on the jury seat felt very uncomfortable.

  Because of the former’s tone, they felt like a piece of meat on the chopping board, being rummaged and pointed at by the butcher and diners.

  However, they couldn’t help but admire the former’s boldness in telling the truth. They had heard too many hypocritical truths, but on the contrary, some truths with a tingling feeling made people feel better.

"I mean, have you considered it?" Colonel Skool sighed: "Dragging the New Reclamation province into the civil war will mean a lot to the New Reclamation Legion, members of the New Reclamation Regiment, and the people of the New Reclamation What are you wearing?"

  Gaspar froze for a moment, then smiled and shook his head: "Don't be so hypocritical, senior. If you think so much, there is no way to fight. You know this better than me."

Colonel Skool did not refute, nor did he brandish a moral stick to beat the opponent as he had done in the previous two trials, he just put on his monocle again and continued to ask: "Who gave you the order to 'occupy Bazenauer'?" Who is it? Arpad Dujayam?"

"It's not a certain person, it's the decision-making committee." Gaspar added: "In fact, Marshal Alpad does not support the plan to send troops to the new reclamation. But as a collective decision of the decision-making committee, he cannot dismiss it." .”

  Colonel Scull weighed his words and asked: "That is to say, the highest military authority of the Hongchuan Army Conference is the 'Decision-making Committee', rather than Alpad Duyaomu monopolizing power."

"It can be considered so." Gaspar looked around at the free people and explained calmly: "We are soldiers, we obey orders, and we respect authority, but this does not mean that the regime we have established will also be like the army. Command everything."

  Colonel Skool did not comment on this, but continued to ask: "The highest 'military' authority of the Hongchuan Military Conference is the decision-making committee. Is the 'highest authority' also a decision-making committee?"

  Gaspar didn't respond as fluently as before, and a shallow furrow formed between his brows: "I don't know what you mean, Your Honor."

"My question is very straightforward." Colonel Skool repeated patiently: "Is the highest authority of the regime established by the Military Council—the regime commonly known as the Third Republic of Plato—also the 'Military Council Decision-making Committee? '."

  The Colonel's monocle reflects the light from the skylight, making it impossible to see his eyes clearly.

  Gaspar subconsciously stroked the ponytail on the back of his head, and asked slowly: "What is the 'supreme authority'?"

  The atmosphere began to change subtly, and even the slowest free man could vaguely feel that Colonel Blue Rose, who was talking and laughing before, was avoiding questions, and the initiative in this conversation was changing hands.

"If you don't want to answer, I can ask you in another way." Colonel Scull put down the file, crossed his arms on the judge's bench, stared at Gaspar Berent, and asked the question word by word , so that every syllable came unmistakably to everyone's ears: "How does your so-called 'regime we have established' make laws, collect taxes, appoint officials, command armies, declare war, and decide peace?"

"Tell me, Gaspar Berent." Colonel Scull stood up slowly, looked down at the interrogated, and asked with a sense of oppression: "What is your so-called 'regime we have established', who is running it?" rule?"

[must! win! ]

   [The plot of the meeting is coming to an end soon! I can finally hear the roar of the cannon again, woo woo woo Q_Q, cannon, my cannon]

   [Some book friends suggested subdividing [Rebuilding Homeland] into different subsections, because the current serial number is too long and has reached 25. The author thinks this suggestion is very reasonable, so I am asking for everyone’s opinions]

   [Would you like to subdivide 【Rebuild Home Country】? For example, Girard is divided into a section before he encounters Mavi and Siegfried in the tavern, Girard is divided into a section in the tavern, and then the freemen's meeting is divided into another section? ]

   [Thank you for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

  (end of this chapter)