Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 147 Investigation
It should be noted here that the reconnaissance boats of this era are different from modern reconnaissance aircraft.

It does not have the powerful radar or various detection devices of modern reconnaissance aircraft, and its appearance is not like an airship, but more like a real airship.

After all, the primary objective of a reconnaissance boat is high-altitude reconnaissance, but the role of such a boat is actually quite limited.

As mentioned before, reconnaissance boats of this era didn't have much high-tech equipment. Therefore, they carried very little: only one camera and three large ground-hunting telescopes located at the bow, midsection, and stern. Their appearance was somewhat similar to submarine telescopes, except that submarine telescopes were mounted on the surface, while the reconnaissance boat's telescopes were mounted underneath.

In short, the main role of a reconnaissance boat is to first take photographs of the entire battlefield from high altitude, giving command a clear understanding of the terrain and pinpointing the locations of certain buildings. Then, a more detailed second round of reconnaissance is conducted using reconnaissance binoculars; confirming the locations of important targets or buildings in this process would be ideal.

Therefore, reconnaissance boats are quite useful in plains battlefields and naval battles, but their usefulness is greatly reduced in mountainous and densely vegetated environments like this.

This was also one of the problems that gave General Howe a headache, so when he learned of Levi's request from Henry, General Howe quickly summoned Levi to see him.

"Do you have a way to locate the rebels in this environment?"

"I have my own way."

Li Wei certainly has a way; he can just use cheat codes. It's no big deal.

"……………………"

Upon hearing Li Wei's reply, General Hao fell into deep thought. In fact, not long ago, he had just received a severe scolding from the cabinet over the phone. The cabinet had indeed granted General Hao the authority to negotiate, but their condition was that he could only negotiate with the Melistians who had submitted to the empire, not with the rebels. Therefore, the cabinet demanded that General Hao immediately eliminate the rebels, at all costs!
General Hao disliked hearing the phrase "at all costs".

Just as Henry analyzed, it wouldn't be difficult for the Imperial Army to win this battle, but it would be impossible without incurring huge losses, which would make things difficult.

It's like playing a game where you control a character to fight a boss. The mission requires you to defeat the boss, which isn't difficult.

However, if the mission requires you to keep your HP above 90% throughout the entire fight to defeat the BOSS, then the difficulty increases by more than one level.

General Hao is no fool. Don't be fooled by the cabinet's current statement of sparing no expense. If he were truly that stupid as to spare no expense, then those cabinet officials would ask why, given the strength of the Imperial Army, they suffered such heavy casualties against a group of rebels armed only with muskets.

In the end, you'll be the one who suffers.

There was nothing that could be done. For the soldiers below, winning was all that mattered, but as the commander, General Hao had to consider many more things.

But if Livy could really find the rebels hiding in the forest…

"Alright, I can give you a chance."

General Hao also made a decision.

"I need you to go to Mount Krent right now to investigate the troop deployment there. Is that alright?"

Mount Krent is currently home to a portion of the Imperial Army's land forces, and General Howe has also deployed troops there, effectively sealing off the southern rebels. The situation there is similar to that of Mount Blaise, except that instead of rebels, Imperial troops are hiding there. Although it's unclear what abilities this detective possesses, if he can truly locate all the Imperial troops in the Mount Krent region, then… well, let's take the gamble.

"no problem."

Li Wei nodded, then turned and left. Watching Li Wei leave, General Howe frowned and looked at Henry beside him.

"He's so confident? You must have told him that high-altitude reconnaissance is a very difficult thing."

For soldiers, high-altitude reconnaissance is not only difficult but also extremely stressful. A wrong judgment can leave them to be blamed, and they might even face a military court-martial. Although Li Wei wasn't a regular soldier and wouldn't be court-martialed, General Hao was quite certain that if this handsome man only had a mouth, he had ways of dealing with him.

"I don't know what Mr. Li Wei was thinking."

Henry could only shrug at this. He didn't know what Levi was thinking, but soldiers didn't care about that, as long as they got results.

Three hours later, Li Wei reappeared before General Hao.

This time, all he brought was a map.

"Okay, done."

Just by looking at this map, General Hao was certain that Li Wei was a complete novice when it came to high-altitude reconnaissance. Typical high-altitude reconnaissance requires taking a large number of photos as evidence, as well as conducting a comprehensive battlefield analysis.

Li Wei only brought a map to report; could he have thought that aerial reconnaissance was simply about drawing a topographical map?

However, it's not too late to watch it first before criticizing it.

General Hao silently took the map and began to look at it.

Then, he was completely stunned.

What the hell is this?
Indeed, in front of General Howe was a map of Mount Krent, but the problem was what Levy had marked on this map!
He didn't actually have a formal investigative report. Li Wei simply drew some circles on the map, some larger, some smaller. Then he marked the number of people on them, for example, five hundred here, two hundred there, about thirty over there…

It was very unprofessional, and you could even say it was completely amateurish.

But for General Hao, this picture terrified him!

Because he personally arranged the defenses of Mount Krent, and the number of people and their positions marked on Levy's map were almost exactly the same as General Howe's arrangements!
How can this be?

General Hao's outward expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was in turmoil. He even suspected that someone had leaked his plans, but this was impossible. Only General Hao knew the overall defensive layout of Mount Krent; others only knew parts of it and could not possibly have obtained such a complete defensive map!

Although the map that Li Wei brought was worthless from an official document perspective, it was an invaluable treasure from a military perspective!
"How did you do this?"

General Hao put down the map in his hand, suppressing his excitement as he looked at Li Wei. He couldn't understand how the other man had managed to do this.

Although the terrain of the Krent Mountains is not as complex as that of the Blaise Mountains, the vegetation there is quite dense, making it impossible to see the overall defensive layout from the air.

But Levi's map has completely exposed the defenses of Mount Krent!
"As a detective, I do have some talent in this area." What else could Li Wei say in the face of General Hao's question?

He couldn't very well say that once he activated [Soul Vision], he would know exactly what was going on below, could he?

Even if Li Wei were willing to tell, it's still a question whether General Hao would believe him.

"I understand."

General Hao stared at Li Wei for a moment, then nodded. He didn't know how Li Wei had done it, but he didn't need to know. As the commander, as long as General Hao was certain that Li Wei had a way to identify the rebels' locations from the dense forest, the rest was no problem!
Meanwhile, in the Blaise Mountains, the rebels remained on high alert.

A soldier rode swiftly to the camp and handed over a letter.

"Reporting to the General, a letter has arrived from Noyok."

"Ah."

A man emerged from the tent, took the letter, and opened it to read.

"How is it, George?"

Soon, another person spoke up and asked.

"The Imperial Army's attitude has not changed; they hope we can engage in further negotiations with them."

As he spoke, the rebel commander-in-chief, George Washington, put the letter away.

"It seems they are indeed wary of our current arrangements."

"But we can't continue this stalemate indefinitely. What if the Imperial Army really takes action..."

"Even if they win, they will realize how strong the people of Melicia's will to pursue freedom is, and as long as we can inflict enough casualties on the Empire here, the Francis Republic will help us restrain the Empire's further actions from an international diplomatic perspective."

George looked brimming with confidence. He had previously sent envoys to the Franciscan Republic for private contact. They were prepared to deliver a crushing blow to the Imperial forces should the Empire choose to attack Noyok, regardless of victory or defeat, aiming to inflict maximum casualties. The Franciscan Republic would then seize the opportunity to unite with other nations to condemn the Empire internationally.

After all, Francis wasn't the only country that didn't want the empire to be revived. If they could secretly undermine the empire, it would be a good thing for all the countries besides the empire.

"report!"

Just then, the scouts reappeared.

"A reconnaissance boat has appeared!"

"Oh?"

George picked up his binoculars and looked up. Then he saw a small black dot hovering over Mount Blaise through the gaps in the leaves.

"It's just a reconnaissance boat, it's not very useful. We've already made preparations and ordered the other camps to remain vigilant and not expose themselves."

"Yes."

The group was already accustomed to the Empire's reconnaissance, and they had discovered that it was largely useless against the environment of the Blaise Mountains. Moreover, George had altered his plans, dispersing a large number of troops; if the Imperial army did indeed choose to enter the Blaise Mountains, a widespread guerrilla war awaited them.

George checked the arrangements one last time before returning to the command post.

For him, this day seemed no different from any other. After one night, the empire would once again make demands for negotiations with the rebels.

Should I ask the representatives to make some concessions and give the other side some hope? Or should I simply abandon negotiations and force them into a decisive battle at Blaise Hill?

As he pondered this, George drifted into a deep sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, accompanied by a commotion, George suddenly woke up from his dream. Before he could figure out what was happening, he saw a soldier rush into the tent.

"General! The Empire has made a move!"

"what?"

Upon hearing the soldier's words, George was immediately startled. He hurriedly stepped out of the tent. It was already late at night, and the surroundings were completely dark.

But George heard it.

The thunderous roar that came from the sky—that was the Empire's Cyclops!

"What a joke! It's the dead of night! The Empire is choosing to attack at night?" George quickly climbed to the nearby watchtower, raised his binoculars, and looked up at the sky. He then saw, illuminated by the moonlight, the massive metal structure slowly advancing towards Mount Blaise.

"General!?"

"Don't panic!"

George gave a shout, calming the soldiers down.

"This could be some kind of pressure tactic by the Empire. Don't panic, don't reveal your location. The Imperial Army has no idea where we are."

Before he could finish speaking, George saw several beams of light suddenly appear around the Cyclops in the air.

Immediately afterwards, a whooshing sound descended from the sky!

(End of this chapter)