Iron Powder and Spellcaster

In just three sentences, Jason Cornelius revealed too much information.

And when the former head spoke, he had a very strange smile on his face, which Fritz had never seen before.

So, Fritz decided to start with the most core question.

"Excuse me, are you recruiting me?" Fritz asked directly: "Sir."

"No."

Cornelius put away his smile, sat back in the armchair belonging to the head, bent down slightly to open the drawer at the bottom of the table, and answered in a matter-of-fact tone:

"When you are in the preparatory school, the teacher asks you if you want to go to school, that is recruiting you. Now, I will only order you. When I give an order, you either obey the order or go to the military court."

Fritz was silent.

"However, I prefer to employ volunteers."

Cornelis took out a rosewood box from under the desk. He put his hand on the box buckle and looked at the former student with an oppressive look:

"So, I will give you a special question.

"Answer me - suppose there is a young officer who participates in the revolution with passion, but is betrayed and spurned by his motherland after the victory of the revolution. Would he want to bury himself in the history of war? Or would he want to shine for his motherland again?

"Think carefully about my question and answer it carefully. Remember, you only have one chance to submit your answer."

"I have a question too, sir." Fritz was unmoved and took the initiative: "Can you please answer mine first, and then I will answer yours?"

"A question?" Cornelius asked back.

He opened the buckle and lifted the lid of the rosewood box. Inside the box, on the velvet lining, an old pipe lay quietly.

Cornelius took out a box of tobacco from another drawer and said bluntly: "If you have any questions, ask them together."

Fritz sorted out his thoughts and decided to confirm the recent rumor: "You just mentioned the 'Southern Front', which means that the military has really decided to send a strategic corps to South Palat and North Palat with the Jinliu River as the boundary?"

"Yes." Cornelius pressed tobacco into his pipe meticulously: "The names have been chosen, [Western Front] and [Southern Front], one is responsible for destroying the Hongchuan rebels, and the other is strangling the Xinkendi rebels."

"Two-front war?" Fritz frowned.

Hearing the words of the former student, Jason Cornelius let out a string of sarcastic and terrifying dry laughter from his throat.

He took the lamp, removed the lampshade, lit the pipe, leaned back in the armchair, crossed his arms, took a puff, and then turned to look at the former student, his cold and majestic features flickering under the light:

"Who told you that forming two fronts at the same time is equivalent to fighting on two fronts?"

Fritz's face was confused: "I... don't quite understand..."

Cornelis snorted: "Major, you know that fighting on two fronts is a taboo in military strategy, but I don't know? Other generals don't know? And those old guys don't know?"

"You mean..." Fritz slowed down his speech as much as possible to give himself time to think: "Is there a front that is abandoned?"

"Yes." Cornelius frowned, and suddenly changed to a persuasive tone, but his eyes were full of ridicule: "Use your intelligence analysis ability quickly, Major, tell me, which front is abandoned?"

Fritz discovered that the former head of the headquarters was a very impatient person.

As expected, as soon as he finished speaking, Cornelius took out an ashtray from a drawer, threw it on the desk, carefully knocked off the ash, and carefully put the pipe back into the sandalwood box.

Then, Cornelius opened another drawer without stopping, took out a roll from a dozen paper rolls, flattened it, and pressed it with a sandalwood box and a crystal ashtray - it was a map of the Two Mountains Narrows.

Witnessing the former head of the headquarters accurately taking out various objects from different drawers, Fritz couldn't help but wonder what else was in the carved desk in front of him?

The former head of the headquarters pointed on the map: "This is the front of the mountain, this is the North Palatus, this is the South Palatus..."

In fact, Fritz could understand it without the other party's instructions.

He carefully observed the map in front of him - it was not large in size, but very detailed. It not only drew the main mountains, rivers, and urban roads in the Two Mountains Narrows, but also marked the locations of many relics and ancient battlefields.

It seems that the cartographer has done his best to make the information on the map more accurate and rich.

But Fritz still saw a lot of mistakes at a glance: cities that were not in the right place, coastlines that did not exist, and the wrong proportions between Plato and the Federation - the Federation was drawn too big, and Plato was drawn too small.

Considering the material and color of the map, this is obviously a very old map and outdated.

"Come on, student, listen carefully."

Cornelius asked Fritz to answer without any refusal:

"I won't ask you what the disadvantages of the Southern Army are and what the advantages of the Western Army are. This is self-evident nonsense - the Jinliu River is right there, and only the blind and stupid can't see it.

"What I want to ask you is - what are the disadvantages of the Western Army? What are the advantages of the Southern Army?

"Come, answer me."

The former head of the headquarters asked too many questions, and it took Fritz a while to catch up.

But it only took a little time, and he spoke quickly. He was a little hesitant at first, but he spoke more and more fluently:

"The disadvantage of the Western Front is... Although the border between the Piedmont and North Palato is almost undefendable, the deeper you go into the interior of North Palato, the higher the terrain becomes and the more inconvenient the transportation becomes. The further you advance, , the supply becomes more difficult...

"The advantage of the Southern Front is that although the Jinliu River is a geographical barrier, it is also a good waterway. As the capital of Plato, the Castle of Kings is not very clear about its port..."

"Kings' Castle is the wool distribution center of Plato." Cornelis explained coldly: "The water level is deep, there are many berths, and the facilities are complete. Continue."

"Then as long as the Southern Front holds the King's Castle, it will be able to receive a steady stream of supplies from the base camp..."

"As for the question itself, you got it right." Cornelis commented mercilessly: "But you only saw the first layer, not the second layer."

His finger crossed the Jinliu River on the map and reminded the former student: "The Jinliu River does not only have ports on the south bank. The Western Front can also use the Jinliu River for supplies."

Fritz objected: "But Hongchuan, Ishimori, Fort Kolling... the enemy's heartland are all located in the interior and mountainous areas."

"First take the water route, then the land route. You can attack the coastal towns first, and then go deep into the interior of North Palato." Cornelis clicked on the lower left corner of the map: "What's more, the heart of the enemy of the Southern Front is also inland. "

Fritz fell into deep thought. After thinking about it, he nodded and admitted his 'mistake' without any delay.

Cornelis snorted, this time seemingly satisfied.

He patiently explained with rare patience: "All your assumptions are based on one premise, which is that the Jinliu River waterway can be used by us, and only by us."

Fritz was stunned for a moment, and then trembled in horror: "You mean, the Veneta people will..."

"Are you a Veneta?" Cornelius glared.

"I..." Fritz didn't understand what the former head of the department wanted to say: "No."

"Am I?"

"No."

"Then how do you know, and how do I know, what the Veneta people plan to do?"

Cornelius stared at Fritz with blazing eyes, and his tone became unusually stern:

“But I can tell you, Cadet.

“If you blindly assume that the enemy is not going to do something and base your plans on that.

"Then one day, you will take you and your subordinates with you into the eternal catastrophe."

Fritz was silent for a moment, stood up, bowed and saluted: "I would like to be taught."

Cornelius sneered: "If you hit the ear, you won't be reassured even if you hit it a hundred times; if you hit the left chest, you can get it in your heart in one hit. Unfortunately, the latter usually won't get a second chance."

"Forget it, sit down." Cornelis then waved his hand and returned to the topic: "So, now you understand why, although two front armies have been formed, it will not be a two-front battle?"

"Understood." Fritz replied quickly: "If the possibility of Venetta's participation in the war is taken into consideration, only the strategic goals of the Western Front can be achieved."

"The general strategy set by the Army Headquarters is called 'attack in the west and defend in the south'."

Jason Cornelius introduced the students seriously:

“The Western Front Army can be described as ‘strong soldiers and strong horses, and a gathering of heroes’.

“[Purity] and [Consistency], the two main forces of the National Guard, are stuffed together.

"As if that wasn't enough, we also took backbones from [Goddess of Victory] and [Running River], strengthened them to [Holiness] and [Justice], and then stuffed [Holiness] and [Justice] in.

“Firearms, armor, cannons, and ammunition can be given as much as you can.

“Young people, mature people, old-fashioned people, all those who want to jump up are all trying to squeeze in.

"There are also Monta people and Waan people who were also ordered by the military to send troops to help in the battle."

"North Plato." Cornelis concluded: "The military is bound to win."

"Since [Purity], [Chastity], [Holiness], and [Justice] have all been incorporated into the Western Front." Fritz frowned unconsciously: "How can there be any more troops for the Southern Front?"

"Why not?" Jason Cornelis paused for a moment, and a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "The Fifth Army Corps of the National Guard, [Patience]; The Sixth Army Corps of the National Guard, [Prudent]; The Seventh Army Corps, [ Tenacity]; Eighth Legion, [Temperance].”

Even though Fritz had experienced the cold shoulder of the War History Department, he was still stunned: "Eighth Army? Eight Legions?"

He spoke as fast as a rat with its butt burned: "When did the National Guard expand from four legions to eight legions? Patience, prudence, perseverance, moderation... I have never heard of anyone saying this before? !”

"Haven't you heard of it?" Cornelis said with a meaningless smile, "Then you have heard of it now."

"Where can there be so many soldiers in the mountain front!"

"Recruited, conscripted, recruited, tricked." Cornelis replied casually: "There are also some town guards... Anyway, there is no need to really fill up the establishment."

Fritz was a little anxious: "This... what kind of fight can this be?!"

"Very good, now you know the truth, Major." Cornelis suddenly put away his cynical and sinister attitude and said solemnly: "The Southern Front can't fight at all!

"It is said that one front army is responsible for destroying the Hongchuan military government, and the other front army is responsible for recovering the newly cultivated land.

“It is said to attack from the west and defend from the south, first from the north and then from the south.

"But in my opinion, the military headquarters doesn't even want to defend this south side!

"That bunch of old immortals must be thinking like this - as long as they can capture North Palato, the land area of ​​the United Provinces will be expanded several times, and the problems that have plagued the United Provinces for decades will be solved in one fell swoop!

“Population, land, depth, market, everything is there!

"In this case, why do we still spend a huge amount of manpower and material resources to maintain a bridgehead on the south bank of the Jinliu River and not invest these resources in North Plato?"

Cornelis shouted: "Which one has less loss? Which one has higher profit? You are also from the United Provinces. Do you need others to teach you this kind of truth?!"

"In that case..." Fritz couldn't fully digest the words of his commander for a while, and he was a little dizzy: "In that case, why should we form the Southern Front?"

"Because the military can accept the loss of the castles of the kings." Cornelis sneered: "But the United Provinces cannot tolerate the abandonment of the capital of Plato."

"So...so..." Fritz pressed his forehead and felt a sense of discomfort: "That's why they created such a 'Southern Front' with equal levels, equal sizes, and even the same names.

In order to deceive those who knew nothing about the truth beforehand, in order to shirk responsibility afterward, and to block the mouths of those who were full of anger about the results. "

"That's right." Cornelis looked calm: "This is the usual style of those old guys, and this is why we launched a mutiny."

"But we failed in the end." Fritz whispered.

"Failed?" Cornelius asked coldly: "Why do you think so?"

Fritz from Nice slowly raised his head and stared at the former head of the department.

"This is what you said yourself, right? Student. 'As long as there is a change, I am willing to be a tool.'" Cornelis asked word for word: "Isn't there a change now? We have successfully shattered the old order. The shackles awakened the Piedmont Republic from its slumber and stirred up the entire alliance. "

Fritz was silent.

"What, you regret it? Student." Kolinis asked mockingly: "You are not sure whether this change is good or bad now? Do you regret being a tool now?"

There was another uncomfortable silence.

"Never..."

Fritz grabbed his knees and slowly raised his head. The attitude of accepting humiliation and pretending to be deaf to criticism disappeared from him, and fire burned in his eyes.

He gritted his teeth and said word by word:

"I have never regretted it. As long as there is a change, I am willing to be a tool. I would rather be beaten to pieces in the stormy waves, I would rather die under the hooves of the stampeding cattle, than choose to swallow the bitter wine called reality. , and then live in humiliation in a cage.”

Jason Cornelius listened quietly to Fritz’s confession, nodded, and asked:

"So, I still have the same question, answer me - suppose there is a young officer who participated in the revolution with passion, but was betrayed and spurned by the motherland after the victory of the revolution. Would he want to bury himself in the war history? Or would he want to shine for the motherland again? fever?"

"If the motherland needs it, I am willing to put everything I have on the altar. Flesh, bones, nails, and soul can be taken." Fritz's face was gloomy: "But I don't understand why I want to go to the Southern Front."'

“Because I have to go.

“Because I have to go.

“Because the motherland needs you to go.

"Because the United Provinces can live without kings' castles."

Cornelis punched the desk hard, and the lights in the entire room trembled:

"But the Alliance must not lose South Plato!"

[Orz]

[Information that can be disclosed]

[The federal army is divided into the standing army system and the National Guard system]

[The standing army is theoretically affiliated with the Union; the National Guard is the private army of the federal provinces]

[Although the National Guard of the United Provinces is theoretically comparable to the reserve force of Veneta, the reserve force of Veneta is a citizen soldier, composed of property-owning citizens, and is only called up during wartime. The National Guard of the United Provinces is recruited from poor peasants and proletarian class, permanent]

[The standing army includes: the first legion, the goddess of victory; the second legion; the rushing river]

[The original National Guard includes: First Legion, pure (main force); Second Legion, steadfastness (main force); Third Legion, holy; Fourth Legion, righteous]

[The 5678th Regiment of the National Guard - Patience, Prudence, Perseverance and Temperance, is a recent temporary expansion]

[Currently, the paper strength of the Western Front of the United Provinces includes: 20,000 people from the four old National Guard regiments + Monta reinforcements (unknown) + Waine reinforcements (unknown)]

[The opponent of the Western Front is-Plato Military Government, Arpad Ministry]

[The paper strength of the Southern Front includes: four regiments of the National Guard that were temporarily set up, seriously short of personnel, and lack of training + the advance troops to maintain security in the Castles of the Kings + the remnants of the Red Rose]

[The opponent of the Southern Front is - the Fourth Republic of Plato]

[Audience outside the venue: Veneta, Empire]

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