Chapter 137 Lieutenant Mason

After Custer's "unexpected visit", Winters went to Blackwater Town as agreed and met with Bud and Andre.

This is the first time the three of them have gotten together since they were dismissed. It’s been a long time since I saw you. I’m so kind and have endless things to say.

Bud marveled and circled around Red Mane to look at it. He also lifted up Red Mane's hooves and inspected it. He commented: "This horse is quite good."

"You still have to say that?" Andre scolded him with a smile.

Without spending the night in Blackwater Town, Winters and Bud put on the horses Andre borrowed from Dusa Village in Blackwater Town, and the three of them immediately set off to meet the "senior" that Bud mentioned.

"Which senior class are you from?" During a break on the road, Andre couldn't help but ask Bud: "Do we know each other?"

"You two definitely don't know each other, and neither do I. He is my monitor's monitor."

The smallest organizational unit of the Alliance Army Officer Academy is the "detachment". Each detachment will have first-, second-, and third-year officer students enrolled at the same time.

Therefore, in the military academy, an officer cadet can come into contact with cadets who are two years above him and two years below him.

Langtun Town and Heishui Town are too remote, and it takes more than four days to go back and forth to the county seat of Rewardan by horseback. The city of Gevaudan itself is also a border city, so Winters and Andre don't have many visitors.

But the town of Saint Christopher [hereinafter referred to as St. Christopher's Town], where Bud is based, is different. St. Christopher's Town is located on the thoroughfare between the two counties, and the transportation is very convenient.

A hard-surfaced road passes through the town, and troops often pass through Shengke Town when they are mobilized.

Some of the seniors from Plato whom Bud was familiar with heard that the junior student was assigned to Plato, and either made a special trip to visit him or passed by and visited him several times.

Therefore, Bader's information is better than Winters and Andre. Second Lieutenant Montagne and Second Lieutenant Cellini are really unfamiliar with the place and have a dark eye.

Bud learned from the "squad leader" who was responsible for guiding him when he was a freshman: In addition to the officers serving in the garrison in Jevaudan City, there were only four graduates of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the entire county.

There is no need to mention who the three unlucky guys are. The other one is a senior, and his residence is just south of the county, about forty kilometers away from Heishui Town.

According to Bud's monitor, it was a monitor's monitor. That is, that person is four terms ahead of Winters, Budd and Andre, and has been with Plato for five years.

Out of politeness, Bud thought they should also pay a visit to this senior alumnus. Not to mention being in a secluded environment for a long time, the ensigns were hungry for more information about the outside world.

So Bud sent a message to his two friends and agreed on a time to go together.

After leaving Blackwater Town, they rode on dirt roads in forests and wilderness. Because a horse is required to go back and forth, we have to stop and rest the horse from time to time.

In the newly cultivated land, which is vast and sparsely populated, it is often a long time before you see villages and scattered farmhouses. There is no human habitation in front or behind, and the only food and drink to eat and drink is the dry food and water carried with the horse.

But it's rare for a few people to get together, so it doesn't feel like a hardship.

The journey was uneventful, but the closer they got to their destination, the stranger things seemed to Winters and Andre. They didn't seem to be heading for a certain town, but were heading in a more sparsely populated direction.

"Are you not mistaken?" When the horse stopped again, Andre couldn't help but asked Bud: "There is no place to live before and after, and we didn't bring a tent. If you make a mistake, it will be troublesome."

Andre had been estimating the distance and direction, and he was surprised to realize that the destination should be within a few kilometers. But the surroundings looked even more desolate than before, not what the outskirts of a town should look like at all.

"You should be right, there are no forks on the road." Bud took out a roll of paper from his saddle bag. On it was a scrawled map and route description drawn by the senior: "The key point is that I don't have a detailed map near Gevaudan."

"We should have brought a guide." Winters regretted a little: "I forgot that this is Plato."

The three of them studied the maps in their hands, carefully recalled the way they came, and made sure they were on the right track. I can only bite the bullet and keep moving forward.

After another half hour or so, wooden fences began to appear on the roadside. With signs of human activity, the three ensigns became more confident.

Unexpectedly, at the end of the dirt road, there was a town even more crude and dilapidated than Wolf Town.

Although Wolf Town is small, it at least has two streets, one horizontal and one vertical, as well as a church, and it is full of vitality.

But the town in front of me is just a row of low wooden barracks on the roadside.

The reason why they are called "barracks" is because the shape of the wooden houses is similar to the wooden houses in the military camp, and they look very different from the houses in ordinary farms.

Although the materials and structures of farmers' houses are generally similar, the details are full of the life of the users.

The wooden houses in front of me were all the same, as if they were clay dolls poured out of a mold, full of templates.

A row of wooden houses stood abruptly on the ground, surrounded by desolate meadows, and looked very lonely.

The strangest thing was—Winters thought about it for a while before he discovered it—that there were no women or children in this town.

"Is this here?" Winters looked at Bud.

Bud was also very confused: "It should be here, but it looks a little wrong."

People outside the wooden house noticed the three officers on the roadside. A man who looked like a guard carrying a bow and arrow on his back came over and asked lazily: "Who are you looking for?"

There is a large dark red birthmark on the man's left eye, covering almost half of his face, which is very conspicuous.

"Let's come to Lieutenant Mason." Bud asked the man: "Is the person in charge here Lieutenant Mason?"

The man replied listlessly: "The lieutenant has taken people to supervise the lawn mowing. Sir, please wait here for a while while I find someone to call the lieutenant back."

He roared with a strong Plato accent, and a little man next to the wooden house responded and ran towards the slope not far away.

"Who are you here?" Andre frowned and stared at the man and asked.

"Me?" The other party smiled and said, "Sir, I am the one responsible for watching over other people."

Winters noticed something strange: "Wait, is this a prison?"

"Of course not, sir." The bored guard said without even raising his eyes: "This is a ranch, a labor ranch."

…

…

"Haha, I'm such a rare guest, but I haven't had a schoolmate visit me for a long time." Lieutenant Mason opened the door and warmly invited the three juniors to come in: "I've been busy cutting grass for winter recently. If I don't watch, everyone will be here. Work is done but no efforts are made... Hey, why am I talking about this! Come in quickly, you're welcome."

The furnishings in the lieutenant's house are very simple, including a bed, a cabinet, two tables, one large and one small, a few stools, and a wooden rack for hanging clothes, that's all.

The other wooden houses in the working ranch were shared by several people, and only the lieutenant had a wooden house to himself - this was probably the only luxury in this house.

A simple wooden bed was placed in the corner of the room, and the bedding remained the same as when the user left it, rolled up in a ball.

The leftovers of the morning's food were still on a plate on the small wooden table, and as the lieutenant passed it he disturbed two flies.

The whole room well reflects the living conditions of a typical young man who is single, living alone, and has no one to take care of him.

The only thing that made Winters more curious was the piles of books and papers full of writing on the big wooden table.

"It's a bit messy." The lieutenant threw the dishes on the small table into the barrel outside the door: "Don't mind, please sit down."

He rummaged in the chest of drawers and took out a few cups. He went under the bed and found a half-empty bottle of liquor - and then found an unopened bottle.

"I haven't had a customer here for months." Lieutenant Mason was busy pouring wine for the juniors and said happily: "It's really rare for someone to visit me. Next time you come, please send me a message in advance and let me have a good time. Get ready. The beef here is very delicious."

As soon as he heard that the guests were coming, Lieutenant Mason rushed back. After learning that the guest was his schoolmate, Lieutenant Mason's enthusiasm increased to a higher level.

Without waiting for the three Winters to ask, Lieutenant Mason started the conversation on his own. And it's like a dam breaking, once it breaks, it's out of control.

After drinking a full glass of strong liquor, Lieutenant Mason started slamming the table and cursing "Japanese guy". From time to time, the swear words were mixed with words such as "I am an artillery officer with a professional background", "A Japanese guy with maggots in his belly asked me to raise pigs", "I might as well go overseas" and so on.

When the emotion reached its peak, Lieutenant Mason held Winters' hand and said with tears in his eyes: "Listen to my advice, leave early, get out early, and return to the Union Province as soon as you can take off your military uniform. We people from the Union Province are here. , just don’t think about what career you can do..."

"Um...Senior, I'm not from the United Provinces, I'm from Veneta." Winters looked embarrassed, wanting to take his hand away but feeling embarrassed.

"Ah?" Mason was dumbfounded and looked at Andre: "Then you are from the United Provinces?"

"I'm not from Veneta." Andre shook his head hurriedly and pointed at Bud: "But he is."

Mason's mood gradually cooled down, and he asked doubtfully: "Then why did you two Veneta people come here? Shouldn't you go back to your place of origin?"

Winters recounted in detail the unthinkable disasters suffered by this class of Veneta graduates.

When he mentioned that the mustachioed officer locked the Veneta graduates into the carriage without any explanation and came out at the Castle of the Kings, Lieutenant Mason sneered disdainfully: "It's like something those bastards from the Federal Provincial Army can do."

When it was mentioned that the Plato Army forcibly dispersed Second Lieutenant Veneta and assigned them to various places, the contempt on Lieutenant Mason's face was even greater: "I'm not surprised that a fucking goat can do such a thing."

After listening to Winters' story, Mason looked at the three junior students with great sympathy: "The United Provinces sent you here not only to provoke Venetta, but also to provoke Plato. Of course you sheep will not look down upon you either. But the fights between big shots always cost us people, cough!"

The lieutenant sighed and comforted him: "But don't worry, you are better than me. The plateau people will not hold you captive until they send you back. People like me can only stay here for the rest of their lives." Feeding pigs, horses, and prisoners, day after day, is a helpless waste of time. Just thinking about it makes me despair..."

This topic was too heavy, and Mason's expression became darker and darker.

Andre quickly interrupted: "Senior, are all your people prisoners?"

Mason was stunned for a moment and replied: "Except for the guards...but most of the guards here are also former prisoners."

"But aren't your supervision measures a bit... lax?" Winters also immediately joined in the new topic: "It seems that escaping is not difficult?"

"Run? Where to run? There are desolate meadows on all sides." The lieutenant's face looked half-smiling, and he patiently explained: "And the people who come to me are all light-duty criminals. They can go home after working for a few months. , if I run away, I will be wanted for the rest of my life. I am looking forward to running away with a few people occasionally and having more fun."

"Do all the Platons use hard labor instead of jail?" Bud asked.

"Japanese guys are very stingy, how can they tolerate being in jail for free?" When mentioning the Platoans, Mason always looked dissatisfied: "But stealing a chicken to work for two months is better than having your hand chopped off. Strong, are you right?"

"That's true." Several people agreed.

"But the Japanese guy is a little nice and has little control. As long as he has enough meat animals, he doesn't care about anything else. I live a leisurely life here. The past few years have been good, and I can still provide some wages and food to the prisoners. Order some meat. Some homeless prisoners are unwilling to leave in the end." Mason's face glowed again: "I have been improving breeding animals. When I find a way to take off this military uniform, I will be in Plato Buy a small ranch..."

The three second lieutenants looked at each other. It sounded like the senior was dissatisfied with being assigned to raise pigs, but he had obviously devoted himself wholeheartedly to the pig raising business.

"Senior, have you heard about the recent draw?" Winters asked the lieutenant.

When Winters and others came to visit Lieutenant Mason, they actually wanted to inquire about the outside world.

But it seemed that Mason was even more isolated than the environment they were in, which surprised several people.

Winters also told two friends about the "drawing" that Lieutenant Colonel Custer said. After discussion, the three people concluded that there was no need for Custer to lie to Winters.

But the three of them knew nothing about why the dice were drawn. They even had no idea what the word "dice" meant in Plato.

Although the lieutenant didn't look like a well-informed person, Winters mentioned it casually.

Unexpectedly, Mason replied in a matter-of-fact tone: "Of course I know, probably after the autumn harvest."

"Did you get the news too?" Winters was stunned.

"No, no one can give me news." Lieutenant Mason found a few pieces of paper from the big table: "Although no one gave me news, I can guess the sun sheep after reading the newspaper sent by the army postman. What do you want to do?"

Di Bao? Winters never received one.

After Mason's explanation, the three second lieutenants learned that the postman of the Plato Army only came to the door once a quarter, and while delivering salary, he also delivered newspapers to the officers stationed in various places.

In the sparsely populated Republic of Plato, settlements are far apart, making communication difficult. In order to alleviate this problem, the military and administrative agencies distribute newspapers to various places every quarter to ensure the most basic flow of information.

Winters and others took the last quarter's newspaper and read it carefully, but they never saw the mention of "drawing after the autumn harvest", nor did they see the word "drawing".

"The Army has been advocating for a while, and it's time to say it directly." Lieutenant Mason said calmly: "Looking at this posture, it is estimated that the war will begin after the autumn harvest and the war will begin in the winter. Maybe there will be conscription of prisoners, so I rushed Cut the grass. All the prisoners have been taken away, and I don’t have enough manpower here.”

"Think about it for yourselves." The lieutenant sneered and said, "Why did the United Provinces choose this time to deal with Plato? It's just that the Japanese guy will endure it if he bites the bullet."

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