Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 492 Rebuilding the Nation (Part 8)
All the officers of the "Preparatory Meeting" were summoned to the chapel attached to the Maplestone City Hall.

Among them, some were the pride of heaven, stepping into the prestigious Palatine Standing Army as soon as they left school, with a bright future ahead of them. However, they experienced an unprecedented defeat in an expedition and suffered many hardships before being redeemed from the hands of the Hart tribes.
Some are the marginalized and disappointed, born into poverty, who, with their talent and perseverance, were admitted to the Alliance's highest military academy, thinking that they would change their lives from then on. However, they were thrown into a new, neglected land, where they had a lot of skills but nowhere to use them. In the end, they proved their worth in a retaliatory rebellion.
There were also those who were originally just soldiers at the lowest level of the army, the most overlooked parts of the massive war machine, used and discarded at will by generals. They endured far more cruel and ruthless tests than others before standing out and earning themselves the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with others in the same temple.

These middle-ranking officers, from diverse backgrounds, with different experiences and personalities, are the backbone and pillars that will support the armed forces of the new republic in the future.

At this moment, all their eyes were focused on the person on the pulpit.

Reflected by the dome and arched walls, that person's uniquely cold, restrained, and magnetic voice clearly echoed in every corner of the hall, adding a touch of sacredness and ethereal beauty.

"...It's easy to start something badly, but to expect a good result after starting something badly is nothing short of wishful thinking."

On the pulpit, Wintersmontag, who had already explained in detail the causes and consequences of the "issue of command authority" and the serious disagreements within the four-person committee on the issue, was giving his final closing remarks:

"So, whether to build a national army or to establish a country with an army, the decision must be made now."

“And we—the four-person committee—believe that this power to define our past, present, and future should be given to you—the people who can truly represent the will of this army that will build a new republic.”

Winters paused, his sharp gaze sweeping across the faces in the church:

"Please remember—if there is any moment that truly determines the course of history, it is this very moment! And each and every one of you is right here in it!"

"[Wrong saplings will not bear the desired fruit]. Whether you cling to the past and repeat the mistakes of history, or sacrifice yourself and break free from the shackles of the past, will be up to you."

“I…” Winters slammed his fist on the pulpit: “No! Not me! It is the sky, the rivers, the earth beneath your feet, and every Paratul living on this land who are counting on you to make the right choice.”

Winters's gaze was piercing, looking directly into the eyes of everyone in the audience: "Don't let them down."

After finishing his speech, Winters took a half step back and raised his hand in salute.

Seiber Carrington, sitting in the last row, was the first to stand up and applaud, and deafening applause erupted under the dome.

Winters turned to look at Matthias Korwin sitting behind him.

“Lieutenant Colonel,” Winters said, stepping aside the pulpit and politely inviting, “it’s your turn.”

Lieutenant Colonel Matthias looked very grim; it was rare to see such an expression on the usually debonair Matthias Korwin's face.

Winters' unexpected demand for a general meeting of officers clearly put him in a very difficult position.
But Winters' other side—his unparalleled eloquence—left him utterly despondent.

Finally, knowing that the situation was hopeless, Lieutenant Colonel Matthias slowly loosened his clenched fists, stood up, and applauded along with the mid-level officers below the stage.

He smiled and gently shook his head: "Never mind... no need."

Hearing this, Principal Skul breathed a sigh of relief.

Colonel Skool was pleased that Winters chose to hold an "expanded meeting" to resolve serious divisions within the Supreme Council;

Lieutenant Colonel Matthias gracefully admitted defeat and accepted the joint decision of all officers at the "preparatory meeting," which put Colonel Skul's mind at ease.

Colonel Skull then stood up and clapped politely as well.

"Alright! Enough with the nonsense!" Colonel Gaisa Adonis, who was chairing the meeting, took the baton and ordered in a booming voice, "Vote!"

Colonel Gaisa waved his hand, and the orderly carried the ballot box that had been prepared beforehand onto the altar.

The colonel rubbed the back of his head and winked discreetly at Winters.

……

Let's rewind to the night Colonel Gaisa visited Winters.

“Since Corwin is using morale, the enemy, and the common interests of all officers as shields,” Colonel Geisa said with a mocking smile, pointing at Winters, “then why don’t you give him a ‘cut off his fuel supply’ move, understand?”

Winters suddenly felt enlightened, but in order to please Colonel Gaisa, he still bowed his head and asked earnestly, "Please enlighten me."

Colonel Gaisa's face broke into a look of utter satisfaction, as if to say, "You're still too young, kid."

He smacked his lips with lingering satisfaction, then let out a long, contented sigh.

Having done all this, Colonel Gaisa straightened his back, sat upright with his hands on his knees, and solemnly addressed Winters:

"Since Corwin claims that changing the ownership of command would infringe upon the interests of all officers and inevitably shake morale, then you should request an expanded meeting of the four-person committee to bring this matter to the table and let all officers decide!"

The colonel calmly explained:
"Colwin would never have imagined that a young man like you, who has achieved success at a young age, would be willing to relinquish the power he holds."

While I cannot directly support your opinion on revising the allocation of command authority, I can agree to your request to convene an expanded conference—as a final solution to the differences. With our votes, even if Mecklen and Corwin oppose convening an expanded conference, it will be to no avail.

The reason that matters of great importance concerning the interests of all officers should be left to the officers to decide is enough to shut Matthias Korwin up.

“That’s why I can guarantee it,” Gaisa Adonis clapped his hands and laughed, “that Corwin won’t utter a single word.”

Winters, however, was not swayed by the colonel's confidence; he fell into deep thought and remained silent for a long time.

It took Winters quite a while to come back to reality.

He frowned and asked the colonel seriously, "What if the general officers' assembly doesn't choose the path I expect them to take...?"

Colonel Gaisa's smile froze.

"So that's what you were thinking?" The colonel, supporting himself on his knees, struggled to his feet, looked down at Winters, and asked with heartache, "So you really don't trust your classmates, your predecessors, and the subordinates you promoted?"

The colonel then asked, "Do you think you're the only person in the world who has a long-term vision, is selfless, and hates evil?"

"You'd entrust your life to them, so what's this little thing?"

Colonel Gaisa put his hand on Winters' shoulder and said decisively, "You—underestimate them."

……

Return to the chapel attached to the city hall.

The voting process has ended, and the vote counting is underway.

The ticket contained only one sentence—Do you agree with Commissioner Winters Montagne's proposal?
The ticket only has two options – “Yes” and “No”.

For every ticket that Colonel Gaisa Adonis read out, Colonel Skul Mecklen would draw a line with a graphite strip on the bulletin board covered with white paper.

The first ticket is...

The second ticket is...

The third ticket is...

The fourth one...

As more and more strokes appeared on the bulletin board, the atmosphere in the church grew increasingly solemn.

Under the dome, only Colonel Gaisa's voice echoed as he counted the votes.

Colonel Skul Mekren, who was counting the votes, had beads of sweat on his nose; Lieutenant Colonel Matthias Korwin, sitting in the audience, had his lips tightly pressed together; Winters also remained silent.

Behind them, every officer present could clearly hear their own heart pounding.

“The seventy-first vote.” Colonel Gaisa unfolded the folded ballot and showed it to everyone. “Yes, sir!” Then, as usual, he reached his hand into the ballot box again.

But this time, the colonel's expression was somewhat strange.

“That’s all.” Gaisa Adonis pushed the ballot box over, revealing its empty interior to everyone: “That was the last vote.”

Upon hearing this, the officers present all looked toward the notice board.

On a piece of white paper divided in two by a thick red line, one side is covered with counting symbols...

On the other side, there was nothing.

As expected yet unexpectedly, the attending officers unanimously approved Winters Montagne's proposal.

There wasn't a single vote against it.

This means that even Lieutenant Colonel Matthias Korwin voted in favor.

Winters stepped onto the pulpit and looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar faces below. Just moments before he had been speaking eloquently, but now he was at a loss for words.

Finally, he bowed deeply to thank—and apologize to—all his comrades in the church.

Even after witnessing many heroic acts of self-sacrifice and courage on the battlefield, Winters never expected that reason could overcome greed, nobility could overcome selfishness, or that anyone would be willing to cut off their own flesh and blood for the benefit of others.

Winters is undoubtedly a pessimist.

But today's vote proved one thing to Winters—people don't always make the most selfish choices.

Regardless of their background, experience, or personality, all the officers present relinquished their right to "command themselves" and chose to hand over the reins of their command to others.

Some people make their decisions after careful consideration, while others cast their votes blindly, impulsively, and irrationally.

But in any case, they all chose the path of self-sacrifice.

Moreover, everyone chose the same path.

As Winters straightened up again, thunderous applause erupted once more from beneath the dome.

Colonel Gaisa clapped his hands vigorously and mouthed to Winters with a smug look on his face:

"You—you underestimate us."

Colonel Skull and Lieutenant Colonel Matthias, who were also applauding, looked around at their men in the church, who were almost caught up in a frenzy, and saw deep worry and fear in each other's eyes.

Looking at the eager faces below the stage, Winters suddenly recalled Brother Rhett's words: "A man is what he is, depending on the emotions that are stirred within him."

“I am certain.” Facing the crowd, Winters spoke with genuine emotion: “Today will be a day that will be forever remembered in history.”

Thanks to the church's ingenious acoustic design, his voice easily drowned out the applause from everyone in the audience.

"Not just because we made the right choice."

Winters clenched his fist and solemnly declared:

"Moreover, from this day forward—we are truly standing together!"

He was met with even louder, deafening applause and cheers.

……

……

The successful holding of the all-official meeting was as if the "preparatory meeting" had undergone a major overhaul.

The officers' morale was instantly renewed, and everyone was full of confidence and enthusiasm.

Soon, the "regularization" of informal officers in the county troops—especially the Iron Peak County Army—was put on the agenda and was quickly promoted.

The detailed plan was printed into a booklet, part of which was distributed to officers at all levels, and the other part was posted on the bulletin boards in the barracks for public display throughout the army.

The bulletin boards located in the military camps in various counties were instantly crowded with people.

Regardless of whether they were literate or not, whether they were officers or soldiers, everyone was curious about what arrangements the bigwigs above had made, and everyone was scrambling to get a good spot in front of the bulletin board.

Houdel was one of them.

Since he was only a reserve officer, he hadn't yet received the pamphlets that were distributed to individuals.

Also, since he was already a reserve officer, the "regularization of informal officers" was closely related to his personal interests, so Houdel could only look at the bulletin board.

However, there were just too many people around the bulletin board; Houdel had never seen such a dense "army formation" in the river valley village.

Shoulder to shoulder, chest to back, elbows waving everywhere, people cursing everywhere.

Houdel tried everything he could, but he couldn't squeeze to the front of the bulletin board.

He wasn't tall either; he was blocked from seeing anything by the others, and all you could see were the sweaty backs of their heads.

"What did he say?" Houdel jumped up and down anxiously, shouting, "Read it aloud!"

But there were too many people and it was too noisy near the bulletin board. No one paid attention to the little monkey scratching its head in frustration, and no one could hear the little monkey's cries.

Houdel cursed helplessly, scratched his head, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He decided to go and ask Company Commander Peter Bunier.

Firstly, because the company commander definitely knows more than I do;

Secondly, although the Blood Wolf Champion had a notorious reputation, Houdel found that Company Commander Peter Bunier was actually a very easy person to talk to after getting to know him.

Just then, Houdel noticed that among the crowd desperately pushing towards the bulletin board, there was someone going against the flow, desperately trying to back out.

Houdel didn’t remember the man’s name, but he had seen his face in the tribune’s tent in Mason.

Houdel immediately stepped forward, grabbed the man's shoulder, and struggled to help the man, who was unable to move, escape from the crowd.

The man's face was flushed red, and he looked at Hoddle gratefully, panting, "Thanks, man!"

"Thank me later." Houdel asked impatiently, "Did you see the announcement? What did it say?"

The man looked troubled: "Actually... I didn't fully understand it either..."

"Huh?" Houdel was extremely disappointed.

“But I’ve figured out one thing.” The man swallowed hard.

"Huh?" Houdel perked up instantly.

The person paused, their expression complex: "I have...the exam."

[I'm late, sorry]
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