Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 422 Meeting
[Thervordan]
[Conference Room of the Garrison]
Although Andrei was very restrained in front of Ike and didn't say anything sarcastic, he showed no mercy when he was with his own people.

“If the provincial officers are about as good as the master,” Andrei said with a beaming smile, “then we’ll never have to worry about the provincial army again—they’re utterly pathetic!”

As soon as he said it, Andrei remembered that there were two other officers from the United Provinces present, and quickly added, "Bard, not including you... oh, and Senior Mason too."

Mason waved his hand dismissively, turned to look at the man wearing an iron mask sitting on his left, and asked curiously, "How did you come up with the idea of ​​setting up an ambush at the dock? Did you guess in advance that Alpha and Potal would send a small force to launch a surprise attack from the dock, Senior Morrow?"

Captain Morrow's cold voice came from behind the iron mask: "I don't have the ability to predict the future. I'm just following the dogma and drawing a portion of the troops as reserves to guard the rear."

"I see." Mason was a little disappointed.

"However, the other side is indeed a bit foolish. Their tactical deployment is like a blank sheet of paper, which can be seen through at a glance." Perhaps because he was in a good mood after winning the battle, Captain Morrow was unusually in the mood for conversation: "The main force attacked from the front, while small units flanked and supported from the rear. It was as if they were deploying troops according to a textbook. There was no need to guess at all."

Captain Morrow shook his head slightly, sighing with a mixture of pity and amusement: "They really are... too naive."

As soon as he finished speaking, Andrei burst into laughter, and Mason also smiled in response.

Major Seber, who had been sitting at the end of the conference table and had remained silent, finally couldn't help but join the conversation.

Moreover, Saber Cypher spoke with a strong sense of aggression: "Ha, don't you guys do the math? How many years has it been since the United Provinces fought a war? Apart from those old men who are half-buried in the ground, how many people in the younger generation can you find who have actually been on the battlefield?"

Major Seber cleared his throat and surveyed the junior officers in the conference room with a haughty air: "You lot, although your military service isn't long, you've at least fought against barbarians and accumulated some combat experience. What kind of stuff is the United Province Army? Compared to our Iron Torrent of Palatine, they're not even worthy of comparison. Rather, it's quite a feat that little guy named Axel dared to take the initiative to attack. According to the United Province Army's usual style, he should have been holed up in his fortress and held out until the end of time."

Major Seber's scathing critique left the other officers speechless.

Finding no one responding, Major Seiber felt bored...and a little disappointed. He gave a soft snort, crossed his arms, and stared coldly out the window.

“The major is right.” Winters broke the silence, first agreeing with the major, then speaking up for Ike: “Lieutenant Orange’s military skills are not bad, he just lacks experience. The militia under Potal are well trained by him, so I plan to screen the prisoners of war from the Battle of Shovel Harbor, and if they have a clean background, I will add them to the infantry regiment.”

Major Seiber was unimpressed by Winters' cooperation; he pursed his lips and continued staring at the chirping birds outside the window.

“If I remember correctly,” Bard put down the file in his hand, looked up and asked Winters, “Shouldn’t Ike have stayed on as a teacher at the university? At least he should have stayed in the federal province. Why was he sent to Palatour?”

“I don’t know,” Winters said, shrugging. “I didn’t ask.”

“We should still ask,” Bard said gently. “We might be able to get some important information from Ike.”

Winters mimicked the major's posture, crossing his arms and pretending to be very attentive to what the birds outside the window were chirping about: "He probably won't speak up on his own."

"That's easy!" Major Seber said nonchalantly, intrigued. "If you can't bring yourself to do it, just hand that provincial kid over to me. Within three days, I'll make him spill everything he said in his dream."

"He never talks in his sleep."

Major Seiber sneered: "How did you know?"

“I slept in the lower bunk of his room when we were in the Army Academy, for six years.”

Major Seber paused, his carefree expression vanishing. He sighed, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table, and said slowly, "Then things will become difficult..."

Winters looked at Bard: "Why don't you give it a try?"

Knowing he was making unreasonable demands, Winters spoke with obvious lack of confidence.

But Bud nodded naturally and agreed tolerantly: "Okay, I'll give it a try, but I can't guarantee I'll succeed. After all, if you can't even convince Ike, my chances of success are even slimmer."

“Great!” Winters said happily, “Let’s give it a try.”

As we chatted, the sun had already risen above the treetops. Sunlight streamed through the open windows, illuminating the long table in the conference room.

The sound of bells echoed from the remaining towers of the Gevordan Cathedral, reminding the group that the most precious morning of the day was about to end.

"Let's put that kid Axel aside for now. I'm here to talk to you about something important!" Major Seber tapped the table, raised his eyebrows, and asked Winters in an unfriendly tone, "What do you plan to do with the prisoners of war who came back from the wasteland with me? Release them or keep them? Can you give me a straight answer?"

"The issue of resettling the returning prisoners of war will be resolved today," Winters replied, while jotting down the major's request in his notebook.

“I have something to ask too.” Andrei raised his hand and complained, “When will the bounty for the Battle of Shovel Harbor be paid out? The soldiers are all eagerly waiting—and of course, I am too.”

Upon hearing this, Major Seber immediately craned his neck, practically pressing his nose against Winters's forehead: "Many of my men are among the light cavalry that raided the Red Serpent Tribe. They risked their lives for you, so they can't be left out when it comes to dividing the spoils."

Winters noted down another point and nodded in agreement: "The distribution of the spoils must also be decided today."

However, Major Seber's words only served to remind Winters of his mistake. He coughed lightly and pointed out the major's earlier error as calmly as possible: "When you brought the cavalry back, you were buying wine, throwing money around, and hosting a lavish feast, which led to the spoils of the Red Serpent Tribe battle being..."

"Hey!" Major Seber said casually, "A victory celebration always costs a little. What's this? We've only just begun."

He glanced at Winters: "Petty!"

Winters took a deep breath.

"I have something else to say!" Andrei raised his hand again, eager to interject, "Now that there's no longer a war, shouldn't the warhorses we took be returned to the cavalry and horse farms? Shouldn't the cavalrymen we withdrew be returned to me as well? Sigh, we finally managed to keep a little fat, and then all that commotion in the spring makes it all for nothing..."

Before Winters could reply, Bard spoke first.

Bard looked at Andrei and asked seriously, "The battle report says that you executed all the enemy prisoners you captured at the Battle of Shovel Harbor?"

"Those people are all bandits and robbers; it's no loss to kill them."

"Not a pity?" Bard paused for a moment. "No, it's a great pity."

Andrei scoffed: "What's a pity?"

Bud retorted, "Do you know how long it takes for a woman to go from pregnancy to childbirth?"

"What do you mean?" Andrei frowned.

“It takes ten months for a woman to get pregnant and give birth. Only half of the babies live to be three years old, and only one-third of the children grow into adults.” Bad patiently explained to Andrei, “It takes at least seventeen years for a crying infant to grow into a strong adult. But you only need one stab to execute him.”

Andrei stiffened his neck and asked defiantly, "So?"

"So have you ever thought about how much waste you've caused?" Bard pursed his lips and said slowly, "Weapons can be produced in large quantities every month, grain can be harvested twice a year, and warhorses can be replenished every three years."

He scanned the other officers present: "And what about people? It takes at least seventeen years to raise one person. Compared to weapons, food, and warhorses, 'people' are the most difficult resource to replenish and the resource we lack the most. Iron mines, farms, logging camps, construction sites—Iron Peak County needs people everywhere now, people who can work—whether they are guilty or innocent, whether they deserve to die or not."

Andrei was speechless. He asked hesitantly, "Bad, what exactly are you trying to say..."

“The ‘decapitation order’ should be stopped.” Bard looked at Winters and said seriously, “Using heads as an incentive may be useful in the short term. However, as far as I know, some soldiers are now even privately executing surrendered enemies in order to obtain their heads. Even without considering moral factors, indiscriminate killing is a waste that we cannot tolerate.”

“Okay.” Winters nodded and wrote another note on the paper: “We need to reach a conclusion on this matter today.”

“I have something to do too.” Mason slowly raised his hand, and seeing that everyone was looking at him, he said somewhat embarrassedly, “It’s nothing serious. White Mountain County recently closed the bridge, and several local businesses asked me to come and find out what’s going on.”

"Okay." Winters added another note: "I'll send someone to ask. Is there anything else?"

“Then I’ll say them all at once.” Mason counted on his fingers, listing them one by one:
“While you were gone, I started six more blast furnaces. Now, the local production of pig iron and wrought iron far exceeds the capacity of the forge town. The brothers, Poltan and Goncha, want to know if the surplus pig iron can be sold to other counties?”

“I have settled the craftsmen you brought back from Steel Castle in the South City. Do you plan to hire them collectively, or let them choose their own jobs? Quite a few forge owners have come to me, indirectly asking about hiring the steel castle blacksmiths.”

"The road from Revodan to Forge Township has been completed. Should we continue to build it to other places? Now that the situation in Iron Peak County has stabilized, the road workers all want to go home. If we want to keep them, we'll probably have to offer them higher wages."

“We don’t lack money for now—the gold you brought back is more than enough to cover our expenses. The problem is we can’t just distribute the gold directly. If you agree, I’ll arrange for the goldsmiths in Jervodan to process the pure gold into coins. Or—” Mason gritted his teeth, “we can simply mint our own coins.” “Oh, right, and wool…”

After Mason finished recounting all the decisions that needed to be made in Jervodan, Bard spoke up softly: "The summer harvest is in June. Whether or not to collect taxes, how to collect them, and how much to collect—these also need to be decided as soon as possible; there's also the reclamation of the refugee farms, the return of refugees to their hometowns, and the payment of rent to the various plantation owners..."

Winters took more and more notes on paper.

Major Seiber slammed his hand on the table in displeasure and snapped at Winters, "Don't just write this down. I'm here to get an explanation. Give me a straight answer, and I'm leaving right now—I have no interest in playing house with you!"

Silence fell over the room, broken only by Captain Morrow's sneer.

"Major." Winters showed the densely filled sheet of paper in his hand and asked, "With so many things to discuss, do you expect me to make a decision with just one word?"

"Otherwise what?" Major Seiber glared and demanded, "Aren't you the boss? If you don't make the decisions, who will? If you're not responsible for decision-making, then what are you doing sitting in that position?"

Andrei nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Winters smiled faintly: "Aren't you afraid I'll make the wrong decision?"

Major Seber was at a loss for words. After thinking for a moment, he said impatiently, "That's a problem with your ability!"

"The reason I've gathered everyone here today is to bring up all the issues that need to be decided and discuss them together to reach a conclusion." Winters stood up and looked at his colleagues in the conference room: "When I asked you all to come, I said that today is an 'expanded officers' meeting'."

Unlike the previous predicament where they couldn't find a seventh qualified officer even after searching the entire county, Tiefeng County is now teeming with talent.

Even excluding Axel Orange, who was captured, there were fourteen regular officers from the Army Academy. As for the "new army officers" appointed by Winters, there were more than twenty.

The six people sitting in the conference room right now are very representative, representing all the military forces in Tiefeng County at present.

Winters and Andrei represent the New Army, Bud represents the refugee farms and South Eight Towns, and Richard Mason can barely represent Gévordan.

Major Seber was representing the Red River tribe in returning the prisoners. Many of these prisoners were undecided about whether to leave or stay, and Major Seber could almost sway their attitudes.

Captain Morrow represented the first group of expeditionary prisoners of war to join the Iron Peak County. They had fought alongside the people of Iron Peak in the Battle of Blood and Mud, and although their numbers were small, their bond with Iron Peak County was stronger. Many of them had already earned merit and were waiting for land, with no intention of leaving.

This is the current "highest authority" of Tiefeng County – the expanded officers' council.

The power of this authority comes neither from popular election nor from the authorization of the higher authorities, but is half based on prestige and half on the military.

Although Winters, who chaired the meeting, did not consider himself the head of the military government, neither did the attendees consider themselves part of it.

But in reality, they are even more of a military government than the Palatour military government in Hongchuan.

Because the military government in Hongchuan had at least some ordinary administrative officials without military status, while the military concentration of the highest authority in Tiefeng County was 100%.

However, she is currently the only political group that is willing and able to protect Tiefeng County, clean up the mess, and pave a new path, and it is even difficult to call it a political group.

However, it is clear that within this small group, there are also those who are unwilling to accept their new identities.

"[A general's scheme is too much!]" Major Seber said disdainfully. "Too many mouths make things no good! Besides, I have no interest in playing games with you. I'm just here for an answer—are you going to let us go or not? If you are, when can we leave? Give me an answer, and I'll leave right now!"

"That's why we invited you here to discuss this with you," Winters replied politely and respectfully. "This answer concerns the future of you and your subordinates. If you are not willing to participate in the process of negotiating it, you can leave and wait for our result."

Seber was rebuffed and almost lost his temper and stormed off, but he gritted his teeth and held back, not leaving his chair.

"Then let's get started quickly," Major Seber urged. "Let's come to a conclusion as soon as possible."

"Don't be impatient." Winters nodded. "We still need to wait for someone."

"Who are we waiting for?" Major Seber grinned.

Just then, the sound of a cane tapping on the ground came from outside the door.

"They've arrived." Winters strode towards the door, then personally helped an elderly, blindfolded soldier into the conference room.

Major Seber certainly recognized who the visitor was.

Sabre Seber jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair. He raised his hand in a precise salute—even though the other man was no longer visible: "Lieutenant Colonel Jessica!"

The others also stood up and saluted.

John Jessica stood at attention and returned the salute, then faced the direction from which the voice of Cypher came: "I could hear you yelling from far away."

“It wasn’t shouting,” Seber explained quietly. “It was discussing things. We were discussing something.”

"Everyone's here!" Winters said happily. "This expanded meeting of Iron Peak County officers will be chaired by Lieutenant Colonel Jessica, and I'll take the minutes!"

Major Seber pursed his lips, listlessly picked up his chair, and sat down again.

Lieutenant Colonel Jessica turned to Winters and said coldly, "I'm not here for a meeting, I'm here to ask you for something!"

Winters helped Lieutenant Colonel Jessica to the head of the conference table: "Please have a seat."

Lieutenant Colonel Jessica remained unsmiling, his naturally stiff tone showing no softening despite his blindness: "Captain Montagne."

“Yes,” Winters replied.

"The infantry manual is more than half completed."

"Your contribution is truly remarkable."

"The kids sent by Cypher were a great help," Lieutenant Colonel Jessica rarely praised someone. "But from beginning to end, it was just me and the kids Cypher sent; there was no printing press, no typesetters..."

The lieutenant colonel suddenly fell silent, his head bowed, lost in thought. After a while, he raised his head again, looked directly at Winters, and said coldly, "There's no indication that this manual will be used in the future. So, I'd like to know, did you ask me to write this manual because you think I'm too idle?"

“The printing presses, ink workers, and typesetters are all in the South City. I specifically hired them from Steel Castle at a high price,” Winters replied earnestly. “If you can chair the meeting, we can get a ‘resolution’ today.”

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

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

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

Horseback riding and charging are strictly prohibited within and around the garrison compound; violators will be severely punished—unless there is an emergency military situation.

Sure enough, as soon as the sound of horses' hooves disappeared, the sound of panicked footsteps followed, rushing straight towards the conference room.

The door opened.

Surprisingly, it was little Priskin who was supposed to be with Mr. Leo, who appeared outside the door.

"My lord! War has broken out!" Little Priestin was drenched in sweat, as if he had just crawled out of the water. His hands and knees trembled from riding for too long. "Blue Rose has sent troops! Mirror Lake County has changed hands! War is about to break out in the newly reclaimed lands!"

Just as he uttered the last word, little Priskin's body went limp and he fainted.

“Take him away.” Lieutenant Colonel Jessica chuckled and tapped the table. “Let’s continue.”

[87,029/100,000]
[The Roaring Chapter, the cannon fire will roar from the very beginning to the very end...]
[Young Priestin: Grandson of the tobacco merchant Priestin, who was punished by Winters for engaging in pyramid schemes in Iron Peak County, and then volunteered to go to Maple Rock with Mr. Leo to do business.]
[The only known regular military officers in Tiefeng County]
[Montagne faction: Winters, Bader, André, Maison, Moritz]
[Palatu officers: Jessica, Seber, Moro]
[United Provincial Officer: Axel]
[Please help add any missing information, thank you very much]
[The new army officers appointed by Winters: Pierre, Anglou, Samukin, Vahika; Tamas, Bart Sharing, Lannis, Levy]
[Thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, donations, and comments. Thank you everyone!]
(End of this chapter)