Chapter 148 The Airborne Boss

In the blink of an eye, it's late December, the comfortable and cool autumn has passed, and now I don't feel warm even if I put on two layers of clothes.

Located at low latitudes, Plato freezes only during the coldest days of the year, but you can occasionally see condensation of hoarfrost on the ground in the morning.

Outside Shuangqiao City, in the corner of the army camp, Bell was sitting in front of a fire in a daze.

The wood was burned with crackling sounds, and the wind blew away the outer flames from time to time, but the flames still tenaciously emitted light and heat.

On a wet and cold winter day, this small flame is the only thing that can keep people warm.

Next to the campfire was a military tent, and Balian walked out of the tent holding an iron pot.

Seeing the blacksmith coming, Bell used a stick to stir up the fire more. Balian put the pot on the fire and returned to the tent.

Beside the tent, Angelou was humming a tuneless tune and happily brushing a reddish-brown horse.

"Second Lieutenant, you don't usually ride Ryzhi. Why are you so diligent?" Bell picked up a stone and threw it at the horseherd: "You have some free time! You came to help the blacksmith and me get food!"

Angelou turned a deaf ear and continued to work around the horse. Along with the "rustling" sound of the brush, Red Mane snored happily.

The horse herder only has eyes for horses now and pays no attention to people at all.

Instead, another person by the fire crawled out of the blanket.

"Is it ready?" Pierre, who was half asleep, stretched his waist and asked tiredly: "I thought I heard there is something to eat?"

"There is food, but it will be in an hour." Bell said, holding a fire stick: "If you two are willing to help, we can eat earlier."

"That's okay." Pierre got into the blanket and said, "Call me in an hour."

"Slacker."

"Ask the stable boy to help you. I was on night watch last night."

"Then can you go back to the tent and sleep? Don't get in the way."

"It's colder inside the tent than outside. There's sun and fire outside." Pierre's consciousness gradually blurred: "I'm not you, I can hug the lion to keep warm."

Bell was speechless.

…

The little hunter may be able to hide it from others, but he cannot hide it from his comrades who share an iron pot and a tent.

News spread quickly in the military camp, and the militiamen of the Wolf Town Centurion now knew that the second lieutenant had a pet.

However, most people thought it was a rare hound. Only Pierre knew that it was a lion.

Balian, Pierre, Angelou and Bell were all in the ten-man team at Ouashka, which included Dusak except the blacksmith.

Because he often had to take the lion cub to uninhabited places in the wild, the little hunter's secret was quickly discovered by several other people in the ten-man team.

Although everyone else was shocked when they first learned about this, in the end, they all chose to hide it for Bell.

Firstly, it is because of the friendship of "brothers in the same tent", and secondly, the little lion is now about the same size as a large dog, and is still in the cute rather than scary stage.

Because they shared the same secret, their relationship became even closer.

Of course, there is another potential reason: the lion cubs were kept in the officers' tents. The background of this incident was obviously Centurion Montagne, and no one wanted to make things uncomfortable with their immediate superiors.

In fact, Winters also had his own considerations in organizing several people into a "group".

[Note: Because the ten-man team shared a tent, it was also called a "gang" or a "tent"]

Pierre and the young stable boy are the little hunter's best friends, and Vasika and the other three Dussac are Pierre's friends. As for Balian, the blacksmith was usually taciturn and the person least likely to leak secrets.

Those who knew the inside story kept silent, and others spread rumors. In the end, the news became "the second lieutenant has a dog."

…

Angelou took care of the red mane and pulled out the Qiangan brush bristles.

The young stableman was reluctant to keep the two good horses in the stables of the camp, so he built a stable next to the camp.

The water in the pot was already boiling. Balian took out wheat flour, meat and a few wild vegetables from the tent and began to make soup.

The sun is at its highest point and it is the warmest time of day in winter.

Other soldiers and civilians in the military camp were also busy getting something to eat while the sunshine was good.

The hunter Bell could bring back a few rabbits and pheasants from the woods from time to time, and the blacksmith Balian had excellent cooking skills, so the food for the ten members of the Ouashika team was considered good.

Others' meals were better or worse, depending largely on the skill of the soldier handling them.

…

The Shuangqiao Camp was divided into areas by hundreds of troops, and the tents of the Ouashika Tens were surrounded by the military tents of the Wolf Town people. Next to the people of Wolf Town are the people of Blackwater Town, and after that are the people of Shenk Town.

Auxiliary soldiers from various secondary towns in the New Reclamation Province camped in the open space on the east wing of the military camp. They are now nominally affiliated with the New Reclamation First Auxiliary Corps.

Most of the wooden houses on the west wing of the camp were empty, where the standing army camp was located.

Although there are not many standing army soldiers in the camp, the auxiliary soldiers are not qualified to live in board houses and can only sleep in tents.

In the center of the camp, the most heavily defended area, there were mountains of ordnance, food and fodder piled up.

Shuangqiao Camp is close to the border and is the largest baggage accumulation place of the Plato Army.

A network of roads like blood vessels gathered war materials from every city, town, and village in the Republic to here.

All baggage convoys transporting supplies to the front-line troops must depart from Shuangqiao Camp.

The Wolf Town Hundreds are currently stationed at Shuangqiao Camp and are responsible for loading and unloading operations.

…

Boil water, wheat flour, vegetables, meat, sprinkle with a little salt and spices, and cook it into a pot of fragrant noodle soup.

Smelling the fragrance, Pierre climbed up, and Angelo led Qiang Luck back to the stable.

Belle, Balian, Pierre, and Angelou were sitting around the fire. Balian, as usual, always served others first.

Pierre took out the wooden bowl from his bag, wiped it with his clothes, and handed it to the blacksmith.

Little Mr. Mitchell looked around sleepily, yawned, and asked, "Where are the four of them?"

"Going to play." The blacksmith's answer was concise and to the point.

"Aren't you coming back now?"

"I just went this morning."

Balian handed the bowl of pasta soup to Pierre. Pierre took the bowl and stared blankly at the fire.

After a while, he lamented: "We are said to be militiamen, but what is the difference between us and civilians?"

"Of course there is a difference. The civilians have money to take it, but you don't have any money to take it." Bell said without raising his head.

Angelou next to him drank the noodle soup and drank it loudly.

…

On October 27, 558 in the Imperial Calendar, the Montagne Hundred arrived at Maplestone City.

After receiving weapons at the garrison camp, the Centurion went to Hosenberg to escort the baggage without stopping.

Not only were weapons issued, the legion also assigned twice the number of workers to the centurions.

Gilad, who is experienced in drawing dice, is right. They are called militiamen, but they are actually civilians with weapons.

Lieutenant Winters Montagne had 80 militiamen and 160 civilians under his command, but in fact there were 240 laborers.

For nearly two months, Winters led his men throughout the Republic of Plato, escorting, loading and unloading, building camps, and building roads...

The Galloping Horse Kingdom has been at war with the Hart tribes, but basically it has nothing to do with the Wolf Town Centurion.

In mid-October, when Plato's fifth and sixth legions crossed the boundary river, Wolf Town had not yet drawn a dice.

As the follow-up troops moved towards the territory of the Hurd tribes, the Wolftown Centurion was driving its carts on the country roads.

For the people of Wolf Town, "war" is just hard manual labor, victory reports chanted loudly on the streets, and the occasional news heard from other soldiers.

Pierre and the other young Dussacs sighed. For them, war was originally the saber hanging on the wall, the adventure stories dictated by their fathers, and the drunken bragging of uncles and uncles.

To some extent, they still harbor some dreams of achievement and heroism. As a result, I have been working as a jobber for two months, which is just two months of physical labor.

But Winters was content with not having to take any risks in combat. In military camps such as Maple Rock Camp and Shuangqiao Camp, he unexpectedly reunited with many classmates.

Before, Second Lieutenant Venetta was scattered all over Plato, and it was rare to meet him. Now that the army recruits militiamen from all over the country, people have the opportunity to leave their bases and meet by chance on the road or in the military camp from time to time.

During the past few months in Plato, the Veneta lieutenants had a very difficult time, and they had endless things to say to each other.

After questioning, Winters received bad news: No one in Second Lieutenant Veneta saw Gold, and naturally he did not receive the gold coins sent by Gold.

The pirate leader was greedy for money and kept the money for himself?

Impossible, if that were the case, there was no way Ciel could reach Wolf Town alive. The only possibility is that Gold had an accident.

With no other way out, Winters had no choice but to write to Girard for help, hoping that Girard could help find out through Major Ronald's relationship with the county garrison, but there was no reply yet.

By mid-December, the mobilization of supplies in the Kingdom of Galloping Horses had come to an end.

Mountains of grain, grass, ordnance, and ammunition are stored in the Shuangqiao Camp. The Palatine Army now has no shortage of supplies, but it lacks the ability to transport the baggage to the front line.

Therefore, starting from mid-December, auxiliary troops from various places gradually gathered towards Shuangqiao Camp.

It had been more than a week since the Montagne Centurions arrived at the Double Bridge Camp.

…

Frustration is frustration, but we still have to eat.

A pot of noodle soup was completely eaten by four people.

Angelou scraped the bottom of the pot with a spoon and praised: "Blacksmith, why are the things you make so delicious?"

Balian smiled and said nothing.

Pierre burped and asked casually: "Are you going to be on duty this afternoon?"

"No, today it's Little Rock's turn."

"Then let's play dice?"

"I can't." Angelou replied while eating: "I want to take Ryzhik out for a run in the afternoon."

"What about you?" Pierre looked at the hunter.

Bell shook his head: "I have something to do too."

Pierre looked at the blacksmith again, who didn't even need to ask.

Little Mr. Mitchell got back into the blanket: "Then I'd better sleep."

Several people were chatting when a man with a saber in his left hand and a luggage on his right shoulder walked into the Wolf Town camp.

The man stopped a Wolf Town militiaman and asked casually: "Is this the Montagne Centurion?"

Numbers are rarely used within the military, and it is customary to refer to a unit by the name of its commander. For example, the Montagne Centurion, Contel Brigade, etc. But for the militiamen, they prefer to call people from such-and-such town.

The stopped Wolf Town militiaman was stunned for a moment, then nodded and answered.

“Where are the Bard Centuries and the Cellini Centuries?”

The Wolf Town militia asked in confusion: "What are the Bard's Centurion and Cellini's Centurion?"

"He was asking about the people from Saint-Que and Blackwater." Pierre heard the conversation and climbed out of the blanket: "Over there, there are Lieutenant Cellini's people, and over there are Lieutenant Bader’s people.”

Pierre pointed casually, and his eyes were involuntarily attracted to the man in front of him.

He was a tall, strong man wearing an old cavalry uniform. The outline of the lower jaw is covered by a thick beard, and the high bridge of the nose divides the facial features into two halves.

Anyone will never forget this face, because a black eyepatch covers the man's left eye - he is a one-eyed man.

But when he looked at a person with his remaining right eye, the feeling of oppression was stronger than the other people's two eyes combined.

"Where is Lieutenant Montagne now?"

"It should be in the officers' quarters." Pierre asked as politely as possible: "Who are you?"

The one-eyed man did not answer, but said coldly: "Ask Ensign Montagne, Ensign Cellini and Ensign Bader to come and see me."

"Who are you?" Pierre asked again bravely.

"I'm John Jessica." The one-eyed man seemed to smile and threw the bag on his shoulder to the ground. He stared at Pierre and said, "I am your lieutenant colonel."

…

When Pierre found Winters, the three centurions were having lunch with Brother Carman and Brother Red.

Hearing that someone claimed to be Lieutenant Colonel Jessica, Winters, Andre and Bud threw down their utensils and headed to the Wolf Town camp.

Although the auxiliary legion is an auxiliary legion, it also has a complete establishment. There is also a brigade command layer between the legion and the centurion.

The Montagne Centuries were nominally the First Auxiliary Corps, the Third Battalion, and the First Hundred of the New Reclamation Province. Andre and Bard commanded the Second and Third Hundred.

The entire third brigade currently only has three centurions, which is considered half a force.

Previous missions were conducted in units of hundreds, so there was no group commander. Winters received his orders directly from the Plato Army Logistics Department.

It wasn't until yesterday that Winters and the others were notified that Lieutenant Colonel Yang Jessica had been appointed as the commander of the Third Group and would take office in the near future.

A few people were chatting at the dinner table just now, guessing the whereabouts of the captain, but they didn't expect that this "Lieutenant Colonel Jessica" would arrive so quickly.

The three of them had just arrived at the centurion camp in Wolf Town, but they learned that the lieutenant colonel had already gone to the legion headquarters. The three centurions who had just jogged all the way from the officers' quarters in the center of the camp had no choice but to turn back.

Finally, they met the one-eyed lieutenant colonel at the Legion Archives.

The one-eyed lieutenant colonel stood in front of the desk of the colonel [Karl Heinrich Angus], the chief of archives. A saber and a rucksack were placed on the colonel's desk.

Lieutenant Colonel Jessica himself was reading a file with his only remaining right eye.

Seeing three ensigns knocking on the door and entering the square room, Colonel Angus found an excuse and walked away, leaving Jessica and his three subordinates alone.

"You three." The one-eyed colonel leaned on the desk and asked in a bad tone: "How did you end up commanding the militia?"

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