Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 454 Wolf Cub (Part 2)

Faced with the young lieutenant's questioning, Pierre remained noncommittal and instead turned the tables on him: "So, it was Old Felt who announced the news of your army's crushing defeat in the main battle."

"Of course not, Major Felt is still trying his best to block the intelligence. But Green Valley Town is so small, how can there be no leaks? In one night, everyone knew that a 'Lieutenant Bathory' had escaped from the other side of the mountain."

The young lieutenant sighed: "However, I still can't figure out where you found such a guy who could fool a major?"

"Did you see Lieutenant Bathory?" Pierre asked.

“No.” The young lieutenant said impatiently, “Didn’t I say that Major Felt was trying his best to keep the news under wraps?”

"Then why are you so certain that 'Lieutenant Bathory' was an imposter I sent?"

"Why?" The young lieutenant scoffed. "Because it's too real, too real to be disproven—the nineteenth class? They're three classes behind us, and eleven classes behind the major! There's no way they could have any interaction."

Pierre listened attentively, waiting for the other to continue.

"The Fifth Legion's identity is also quite ingenious, as if they knew beforehand that only the Sixth Legion's troops were in Green Valley Town."

Pierre nodded and asked, "Anything else?"

The young lieutenant simply sat back down on the large rock and began to speak freely: "None of the messengers the major sent to Maplestone City have returned. The regular communications that should have been sent from Maplestone City have also not been delivered. In other words, once you leave Green Valley, it's all your territory. Since you were able to cut off the communication lines between Green Valley and Maplestone City, how did you manage to miss a few exhausted and disheveled defeated soldiers?"

"Negligence is inevitable."

The young lieutenant scratched the back of his head in frustration and continued to speak to himself, "But I really can't figure out how you managed to fool Major Felt. You can send someone to impersonate a deserter, you can send someone to impersonate a laborer, but you can't send someone to impersonate a professional officer from the Army Academy. Major Felt has countless ways to distinguish the real from the fake, but somehow he was completely fooled by you."

Pierre shrugged: "Maybe I wasn't lying to him at all."

"Come on, Mr. Mitchell! We've come this far, you might as well just be honest." The young lieutenant stood up, scrutinizing Pierre with piercing eyes: "Has the main battle really come to a conclusion? Have you really won? Has Senior Montagne really led the main force away? Or is he still lying in ambush outside Green Valley, waiting to annihilate Major Felt's planes?"

Wahika, who was listening from the sidelines completely bewildered, finally couldn't hold back any longer and angrily shouted, "You're such a weirdo! What do you mean by 'real' or 'fake'? Why would we lie to you? What does the truth have to do with you? What does the falsehood have to do with you? Stop talking nonsense! Let's go! Go to the prisoner-of-war camp and think about it slowly!"

The young lieutenant completely ignored Vahika and stared intently at Pierre.

Pierre was silent for a moment, then replied, "My colleague is right. What does it matter to you whether it's true or false?"

Pierre also scrutinized the young lieutenant: "And from what standpoint are you asking this question?"

The young lieutenant stared at Pierre for a long time, as if searching for clues in the latter's subtle body language.

Finally, he bent over, propped his forehead up, and groaned softly, "So... so the squad leader really did win the final battle."

The next second, he suddenly raised his head, looking at Pierre with a complicated expression, his fist clenching and then relaxing: "That means I overestimated you—Mr. Mitchell, you made a serious mistake!"

As soon as they finished speaking, Pierre and Vahika heard the faint sound of hooves behind them. Vahika turned around and saw a light cavalryman galloping towards them from upstream.

The young lieutenant grew increasingly impatient: "You not only gave Major Felt crucial military intelligence, but you also allowed him to ascertain your strengths and weaknesses. Major Felt has realized that you are merely a small group of isolated light cavalry, while the main force of the Iron Peak County Army is not even in Green Valley—this is tantamount to removing the sword of Damocles from the Major's head!"

Pierre remained unmoved, while Vahika was utterly bewildered: "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean?" the young lieutenant sneered. "It means you've all played your cards, and now it's Major Felt's turn to play."

As they were talking, light cavalry coming from upstream arrived beside them.

The light cavalryman dismounted, strode to Pierre's side, and whispered a few words. Pierre didn't speak, but simply made a gesture, and the light cavalryman immediately turned back.

As the hoofbeats faded into the distance, Pierre glanced at the young lieutenant whose eyes held a hint of provocation, then looked at the increasingly confused Vahika, and said calmly, "The garrison of Green Valley has come out."

"Great!" Vashika slapped his thigh and breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, we're getting to the part I can understand."

“It’s quite a commotion.” Pierre glanced at the young lieutenant again: “At least two battalions, about a thousand men, have been mobilized and are heading downstream.”

Vasika exclaimed "Huh?" and instinctively looked around. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and realized, "That major, could he be planning to trap us here and beat us up?"

The overall topography of Green Valley resembles a pea, with the hills on both sides of the Ox Knee River resembling pea pods, and a series of riverside settlements, including Green Valley Town, acting as individual peas.

The "bean-sized" areas are the flattest and most suitable for agriculture. In contrast, the areas between the "bean-sized" areas are naturally broken, rugged, and difficult to cultivate—and also difficult to traverse.

As long as the exits to the upstream and downstream are controlled, each settlement becomes a natural prison.

“Major Felt is only responsible for closing the door,” the young lieutenant replied indifferently. “Whether you get beaten up or not is up to you.”

"Who are you calling a dog?!" Vahika always reacted quickly to these kinds of things.

Pierre gestured for Vasya to be quiet, stared at the young lieutenant, and asked again, "So, which side are you on?"

"I'm already a prisoner, what does this war have to do with me?" The young lieutenant didn't answer directly. He pointed to the exit on the other side of the valley: "I suggest you go directly downstream. It's a long detour, but it's safe. Major Felt doesn't have any cavalry; he can't catch you." Vasika belatedly realized: "That opening, wasn't it supposed to be you blocking it?"

“Vasha.” Pierre said no more, raising his hand to summon his men: “Take two platoons and escort this… Lieutenant and the other prisoners downstream.”

Vahika didn't ask any more questions, simply nodded, and began selecting personnel from the assembled cavalry.

Pierre also began assigning tasks to the light cavalry, and for a time the young lieutenant and other prisoners were neglected.

The young officer observed the movements of the Iron Peak County light cavalry with bewilderment, this time realizing the situation too late.

"You...you...you wouldn't..." After the light cavalrymen had each received their orders and dispersed, the young lieutenant finally realized something was wrong. He was so shocked that he stammered, "You wouldn't be going to fight?"

Pierre ignored the young lieutenant, turned around, grabbed the saddle, and mounted his horse.

“Let’s go.” Vahikara stopped the young lieutenant, deliberately emphasizing his words: “Your Excellency!”

The young lieutenant broke free from Vahika's arm and grabbed Pierre's horse's reins in one swift motion: "You think you can take down six battalions with your small cavalry force?!"

Pierre still ignored the young lieutenant; he nodded, signaling Vahika to take the latter away.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" The young lieutenant became agitated again. "Let me tell you, you were able to cut the communication lines because Major Felt was wary of Senior Montagne's main force. Without the intelligence advantage, you won't be able to handle even the two battalions that are about to arrive, let alone six battalions. From the moment Major Felt learned about the main battlefield, the initiative was no longer in your hands."

The young lieutenant gripped the reins tightly, his eyes wide, and spoke rapidly and urgently: "You think you can starve Major Felt to death by cutting off his food supply? If Major Felt is determined to retreat, your light cavalry force alone cannot stop him. You think you can starve Major Felt to death by cutting off his food supply? Even if there is no food in Green Valley, Major Felt can obtain supplies from other villages and towns along the way."

“Lieutenant,” Pierre politely requested, “please go with Mr. Morozov; he will ensure your safety.”

The young lieutenant took a serious look at Pierre Michel for the first time—the man was about his age and similar in height, but only upon close observation could one discover the marks of war hidden beneath his calm expression.

When the young lieutenant met Pierre Mitchell's deep eyes, he was startled and instinctively loosened his grip on the reins: "You destroyed the villages and towns between Green Valley and Maplestone City too?"

“Not yet,” Pierre answered frankly, “but will if necessary.”

Having said that, Pierre pulled on the reins and flicked the whip, about to depart.

The young lieutenant paused for a moment, took half a step, and asked again, "If that's the case, why are you still fighting with Major Felt here?"

Pierre stopped his horse, turned around, and solemnly told the young officer: "The deserters were not sent by me in disguise, nor was that 'Lieutenant Bathory'—I didn't even know his name before. But you're wrong about one thing: they weren't 'let go' by me, they were 'released' by me."

Pierre paused for a second, then continued, “You’ve got one more thing wrong. I don’t just have ‘a little’ cavalry; I have two squadrons. It’s still not many, but it’s more than enough to deal with the likes of Old Felt’s men.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the young lieutenant saw a plume of white smoke rise from behind the outline of the hills, soaring straight into the sky.

Soon, two more plumes of black smoke rose from the southeast and southwest directions on the opposite bank of the river.

"You still haven't answered me," the young lieutenant asked unwillingly, "Why do we still have to fight Major Felt here?"

Pierre's reply came from afar: "Because only prey will run away."

Pierre rode past the Iron Peak cavalry, who were already poised to attack: "Let them know who the hunter is!"

Among the light cavalry, someone let out a loud "woohoo" of laughter.

Immediately, over a hundred light cavalrymen roared and followed Pierre into battle.

“Let’s go.” Vashika tugged at the young lieutenant, feeling somewhat annoyed at being assigned the task of guarding prisoners: “Sir.”

"Hey! My name is Kadar!" The young lieutenant suddenly rushed forward and shouted at the cavalrymen's backs, "Kadar Lagra!"

……

At noon, Major Felt, who had been eagerly waiting on the high walls of Green Valley, witnessed the destruction of the last combat-ready unit under his command.

……

three days later.

Two ragged, dazed-looking Parliamentarian soldiers appeared at the west gate of Maplestone.

No matter what people ask them, they will only answer one sentence with a trembling voice:

"The wolf riders are here!"

[The wolf riders are here for a room check! You old scoundrel Felt! You're quite the hider!]
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