Iron Powder and Spellcaster

[Kings' Castle]

[Barracks of the Federal Provincial Army]

Silence enveloped the officers' mess, which served as a temporary conference room, and the atmosphere was so solemn that it was breathless.

The breeze blowing from the direction of the playground not only failed to relieve the sweltering heat, but also brought with it the noisy sound of unloading trucks.

The members of the Southern Front Headquarters, who had left the large troops and arrived at the Castle of Kings together with the commander himself, sat on one side of the long table;

Lieutenant Colonel William Lodewijk and his subordinates, who had arrived earlier than the Southern Front headquarters, sat on the other side of the dining table.

Both sides looked towards the end of the long table in silence, waiting quietly for the top commander of the federal provincial army in the direction of South Plato to finish reading the report in his hand.

"Well," after an unknown amount of time, Jason Cornelis put the report submitted by Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk on the spot back on the table, took off his monocle, rubbed his sore eyes, and concluded calmly:

"It's bad, worse than the worst-case scenario I could have imagined."

He was clearly talking about the severe situation facing his own side, but the commander of the Southern Front seemed to be evaluating the enemy. Not only was he not "tampering with respect," he was also sarcastic and extremely sarcastic:

"This idiot Grove Magnus gave away all the troops we worked so hard to recruit, arm, and train for him in just one battle.

"He is like a bad gambler who has pissed off two pounds of horse. He stumbles to the gambling table with the gold lent to him by others. When he sees an opportunity that he thinks is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he is immediately taken advantage of. My eyes were dazzled by the sweet dream, and all my belongings were weighed down on me. I didn’t think about it, and I didn’t want to think about it, what would happen if I lost?”

Cornelis held his chin, thinking, and was silent for a moment, then changed his words: "No, the Speaker is worse than a bad gambler. A bad gambler can only gamble away himself, his family, and the property of his relatives and friends.

"And what our Grand Speaker gambled away was the entire field strength of the legitimate government of Plato - that is, he gambled away the 'legitimacy' on his sign, and gambled away the entire South Plato.

"What's even better is that in order to maintain his power, Grove Magnus also killed the peace negotiators, successfully losing his last bit of legitimacy."

Hearing this, William Lodwick felt a little restless - the reason why Grove Magnus was able to "kill" was precisely because of his support.

However, His Excellency, the former head of the headquarters, did not care at all about Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk’s embarrassed expression and continued:

“Nowadays, towns across South Plato, even if they have not yet secretly communicated with the rebels, tend to sit on the sidelines and watch.

"What's even more terrible is that when His Excellency the Grand Speaker sent away the field troops, he also sent away the last Plato officer regiment loyal to the Grand Council. He didn't even leave any seeds behind, and personally put an end to the parliamentary army. Possibility of reconstruction in the short term.”

Cornelis picked up the report on the table again and flipped it over carelessly, "No matter how you look at it, Grove Magnus's rule in South Plato is over."

After hearing the words of the chief, Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk's subordinates all looked at each other in shock.

On the other hand, the members of the headquarters across the long table didn't react at all, looking like they were used to it.

Finally it was Lieutenant Colonel William Lodewijk who broke the silence.

William Lodwyk was a man with gray-blue eyes and an unsmiling man. He was originally very sharp-looking. After coming to Plato, he became even thinner, and his cheeks and eye sockets were visibly sunken.

The tightly pursed thin lips, the wrinkles etched between his brows, and the unconcealable fatigue all showed that he was under great pressure during this period.

"You are right, Speaker Magnus's throne is already shaky." Lodwyk bowed slightly, "So, it's great that you can get to Plato so quickly. We are all counting on you. He can help a building that is about to collapse and turn the tide before it falls..."

"Stop pretending," Cornelius waved his hand impatiently, "If I were you, I would have cursed my entire family.

"When I went to school, you had not yet entered the school; when you went to school, I was just a junior instructor. I am not your teacher, and you are not my student. There is no need for us to go through this hypocritical process."

Cornelis knocked on the table, "You have already answered me in the report about what I want to ask. If you want to ask, just ask directly."

This was the first time William Lodewijk had seen the behavior of his former head of department. He was startled at first, and then his brows wrinkled unconsciously.

He couldn't tell the truth from Cornelius's face. But after scanning the expressions of the command members sitting across the table, he was convinced that the other party was not joking.

In this case, Lodewijk was too lazy to talk nonsense. He simply organized his thoughts and asked directly: "How many troops did you bring this time?"

Cornelis answered simply: "Not counting the artillery, this batch, a brigade, five hundred."

"Where's the next batch?"

"It's still five hundred."

Lodewijk's frown slowly relaxed, "Will there be a large group sent to every flight in the future?"

"No!" Unexpectedly, Cornelis shook his finger, "Just these two five hundred."

Lodewijk's newly relaxed nerves suddenly became tense again.

The officers under Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk also looked surprised, not sure if they heard correctly.

On the other hand, the members of the headquarters still looked like they had known about it for a long time.

"Only a thousand people?" Although Lodewijk was a little mentally prepared for the Southern Front's external strength and internal cadres, he could not be so prepared.

"Counting your troops, two thousand, for now."

"Then... later?"

"Although as we speak, Major Van House is going all out to train the troops remaining in the mainland," Cornelis said calmly, "but I suggest that you don't have any expectations about the size of the follow-up troops. Unrealistic expectations.”

The restaurant fell silent for a moment, and the commander himself made his meaning very clear.

"Excuse me," Lodewijk licked his teeth and suppressed his anger and asked, "Anyway, the Southern Front also has four legions on the books, with a strength of 20,000. How can it be possible that it can only provide 1,000 men? "

Cornelius did not answer directly, but asked another question: "Lieutenant Colonel, what do you think of the five hundred soldiers I brought?"

Lodwyk was stunned for a moment, and the image of Cornelius' troops singing military songs as they walked through the streets of the Kings' Castle flashed in his mind.

He commented fairly: "Although they still lack actual combat experience, they are all good soldiers."

Cornelis smiled half-heartedly, "How can soldiers carefully selected from four legions be bad?"

Lodewijk was speechless.

Cornelius still had the heart to joke: "You can rest assured that the five hundred soldiers coming on the next flight will be as good as this batch."

Lodewijk was angry and anxious, "Do you expect to rely on two thousand people to stop the newly established rebels?"

"Two thousand men are certainly not enough," Cornelis paused and said seriously, "but this is all the troops that the Southern Front can currently use."

Cornelis glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk's men with sharp eyes and warned sternly: "So, don't let any Plato people know about this. Whether it is on the table or in bed, you only need to tell them one thing. ——The large troops of the Southern Front will arrive soon, do you understand?"

Lodewijk heard the threat in the words of the former head of the department and immediately counterattacked: "Don't worry, my subordinates will keep secret. But I also want to remind you that there is no airtight wall in the world."

"The later it gets ventilated, the better."

"No matter what, two thousand people are too few," Lodewijk still wanted to fight for it. "If all four legions are in place, it can at least deter the autonomous towns and prevent them from surrendering to the enemy easily; maybe it can still To frighten the rebels in the new land, forcing them to adjust their strategies and actively avoid fighting. "

Cornelius glanced at the colonel coldly: "Soldiers are more expensive than elites. It is better to bring 20,000 useless soldiers to Plato than to bring 20,000 pigs. At least the pigs can be eaten, but the people It will just eat up the pigs.”

"If you only have two thousand people," Lodewijk immediately pushed back, "you will still be eaten up."

"Listen, William Lodwick," Cornelius stood up and looked down at the lieutenant colonel and all the officers present.

"If you expect to win this war by bringing troops from the United Provinces, you can surrender now.

“The military department cannot give us troops, and it will not give them to us.

"Even if the military really gives us troops, it can't change this iron law - only the people of Plato can decide who is the master of the land of Plato."

"So," Cornelis sat back and elaborated in a leisurely manner: "The only way we can win this war is to rebuild the army of the Plato Republic."

"Are you still thinking about 'winning'?" Lodewijk asked in disbelief.

"Why not?" Cornelius's expression was as calm as water: "I am here to win this war."

"Then how do you plan to win..." William Lodewijk's expression was as gloomy as ink, "How do you plan to rebuild the army of the Plato Republic?"

Jason Cornelis smiled: "First, we have to talk to the New Reclamation rebels."

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