Chapter 271 The Road Ahead

When the last drop of wine is consumed, the banquet will end.

Following Platuan custom, Mrs. Mitchell gave the Colonel a new pair of stirrups and a pair of new boots as gifts.

Bode laughed, put on new boots, and threw the old shoes out of the window to show that he was completely free from bad luck.

It's interesting to say that Winters used the galloping horse country method to succeed Colonel Bode, but the colonel was actually the only Platoon present.

The unconscious Captain Mason was sent back to his apartment by Heinrich, still talking about his breeding experience before leaving.

Colonel Bode wanted to talk to Winters alone.

After leaving the Mitchell House, the two strolled along the St. George River, chatting about the anecdotes of the Landing Courtyard.

"I can't walk anymore." Colonel Bode looked at the two big rocks on the shore: "Sit for a while."

"Okay." Winters didn't want to leave for a long time.

After sitting down, Winters slowly stretched his left leg and groaned unconsciously.

"Why do you feel like an old man?" Colonel Bode joked: "You stand up and sit down and hum."

Winters knocked his left knee and answered easily: "During the battle on the west bank of the River Styx, I was stepped on by horse hooves here. It was almost fine, but the weather has turned cold recently, and I started to feel sore and itchy again for no reason."

Colonel Bode was silent for a long time before speaking, his tone full of guilt: "I haven't thanked you yet. If you hadn't come back to save me that night, I would have died."

"No need to thank you." Winters pointed to the back of his head and said with a smile, "I got hit here. I can't remember many things that night."

"I'll tell you."

"never mind."

"Thanks."

Winters smiled and said nothing.

Winters has changed, and so has Colonel Bird.

The former colonel was burly, enthusiastic, laughing loudly and scolding fiercely, like a majestic stallion;

Today's one-armed soldiers are silent, quiet, and so thin that they can't hold up their clothes. Their appearance ages before age, but their hearts are more vicissitudes than their appearance.

While he still retains a positive sense of humor, it can be difficult to move on — something Winters understands best.

The two sat on the big rock, listening to the river surging in the darkness, and were silent for a long time.

It was Colonel Bode who spoke first. His attitude was as witty as ever, and he joked: "No wonder you refused to obey when I said I wanted to marry my daughter to you. It turns out that your little horse already has a bridle."

Winters stopped breathing: "Never mention this to Miss Navarre."

"What are you afraid of?"

"It's not that I'm afraid...forget it, I'm formally requesting you."

"Don't worry." Bode couldn't help laughing and patted the junior on the shoulder: "How can you tell a lady about the gentlemen's affairs?"

"That's right! That's right!"

"You guys from early childhood schools." Bode's eyes were full of pity: "You have had too little contact with women since you were a child, and you don't know whether it's good or bad."

"You never went to kindergarten?"

"I didn't even have a preparatory school at that time!" the colonel laughed heartily: "I entered the academy at the age of twenty, and my coming-of-age ceremony was already completed."

"Times are different." Winters defended himself feebly.

Colonel Bode smiled even more happily, as if asking casually: "Do you have any plans regarding the Teltown Department?"

"The sword was swung to block the shield, and the bow and arrow flew to the armor to block it." Winters picked up a few small stones, used the flying arrow technique to launch the stones, and used the deflection technique to distort the flying direction of the stones: "I don't have a plan, but I do have an idea. "

"Can you tell me about it?"

"There's nothing that can't be said." Winters laughed and drew a map in mid-air with his finger: "I want to divide Tiefeng County into upper, middle and lower parts based on the direction and distribution of the rivers."

"In terms of upstream and downstream?"

"No, it's divided by watershed." Winters explained: "So there are only Wolf Town, Blackwater Town and Wumastiff Town in Lower Tiefeng County."

Colonel Bode whispered a name: "Lieutenant Bader."

"Xia Tiefeng County is vast and sparsely populated, and more than 20,000 refugees are resettled there. Bud is in charge."

"So it seems." Colonel Bode pondered: "Zhongtiefeng County is the remaining area south of the St. George River?"

"Yes, the remaining five towns of the eight southern towns are Middle Tiefeng County. North of the St. George River is Upper Tiefeng County." It is easy to talk to people with quick thinking. Winters added bluntly: "Upper Tiefeng County is the richest. , also has the largest population. Strictly speaking, Gévaudan, located on the north bank of the St. Georges River, also belongs to Upper Tiefeng County."

Colonel Bode looked at the sky, as if there really was a map there, and even said with a smile: "I think... you are dividing the cabbage, wrapping it layer by layer."

"If you face the New Reclamation Corps, it is indeed like a cabbage. The further outside you are, the more dangerous it is, and the further inside you are, the safer it is." Winters did not deny it, but he changed the subject and his expression became serious: "But if we face Hurd, Man, it's like a cabbage being cut open with a knife and the sides completely exposed."

"Don't you send troops to Tiefeng County?"

"No." Winters said expressionlessly, "Leave it to Bud."

"Where is Tiefeng County?"

"Don't send me either. Beiba Town is not loyal to me."

"For this reason, why don't you send troops to help them?" Colonel Bode smiled half-heartedly.

"No." Winters said frankly: "Because they are not loyal to me, it is difficult for me to obtain supplies and mobilize manpower in Upper Tiefeng County. It is not suitable for fighting, so I will not send troops."

"What are your plans?" Colonel Bode's expression gradually became serious.

A stone flew out of Winters' hand and exploded in mid-air in an instant: "I want to fight in Zhongtiefeng County."

"The prerequisite for a main force battle is that both parties involved in the war are willing to fight a main force battle." Colonel Bode asked curiously: "How do you know that the Telton people are going to fight in Zhongtiefeng County?"

"I don't know." Winters said quietly: "And if I were the enemy chief, I would try my best to avoid the main battle."

"The barbarians have many tribes and factions, and their structures are fragmented. The disadvantage is that they are easy to collapse in a big battle. The advantage is." The colonel sighed: "It is flexible, and a few dozen light cavalry can form an army."

Winters said happily: "So the focus of this battle is not to command my troops, but to command the Telduun troops. Let them fight me on the battlefield I choose."

Colonel Bode was stunned at first, then frowned, and finally laughed loudly.

"I finally know why Arpad likes you so much." The colonel slapped Winters on the shoulder: "Young people are really scary. If you dare to think and do what you do, I am really old!"

"Don't rush to boast." Winters felt helpless: "I haven't thought about how to mobilize the enemy yet. In fact... the result cannot be worse no matter what, so I have nothing to worry about."

Colonel Bode deliberately made a serious face: "After the strategy is determined, the process of finding ways to get closer to the strategic goal is tactics. If I were to take command, I would not even have the idea of ​​"commanding the enemy"; even if I did, I would use various methods to get closer to the strategic goal." The reason is negated. You already have a direction, isn’t that good enough?”

The elders' praise was more unbearable than the scolding. Winters urgently changed the subject: "You mean Arpad? What?"

"I admire you very much."

Winters played with the stones carelessly: "I didn't find it."

"He gave you the wine bottle. Didn't he appreciate you enough?" Colonel Bode raised his eyebrows and asked, "When I was a warrant officer, I never saw the wine bottle leaving his body."

"Is this happening?" Winters laughed. He always thought that the wine bottle was thrown to him casually by Arpad.

"Of course, everyone knows about General Arpad's lucky flask, it's his talisman!"

"I can't protect myself." Winters couldn't help but smile: "It's scrapped."

"Scrap?" Colonel Bode stared.

"Blocked a lead bullet for me." Winters pointed to his left chest: "Here."

Colonel Bode laughed until he burst into tears. After laughing, the colonel wiped his tears and said, "Since I mentioned Arpad, there is something else I want to ask you."

"Excuse me." Winters sighed in his heart.

"Did you kill General Sackler?" Colonel Bode's expression changed, his eyes sharp.

"I killed him." Winters readily admitted.

"Why kill?"

"There are many reasons, but in the final analysis, there is only one reason: I want to kill him."

"Kill if you want?" Colonel Bode asked.

Winters replied calmly: "Yes, kill him if you want."

"Do you still want to kill others?" the colonel asked with a sneer.

"I thought before."

"What now?"

"Faded."

"What's faded?"

"The hatred has faded." Winters wrinkled his nose: "And I found that killing one person is useless. Kill Sackler, and Tekle. Kill Arpad, and Valpad. Kill one. , there are ten people waiting to take over, it’s boring.”

"Killing one person is useless, so why kill more?" Colonel Bode gritted his teeth: "What on earth do you want to do?!"

"What do you think?" Winters asked.

"I think?" Colonel Bode glared angrily and yelled: "I think you are a careerist! When you see an opportunity, you will seize power by any means! You want to trample everyone under your feet, even if you have to kill thousands of people to do so. Thousands of people don’t care!”

Winters took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and asked the colonel with a smile: "Tell me, if an animal looks like a wolf, sounds like a wolf, and walks like a wolf, is it a wolf?"

"If it's not a wolf, is it still a dog?" Colonel Bode sneered.

"That's right. Everyone will see it as a wolf and treat it like a wolf, so does it matter what it is?"

"Of course it's important!" Colonel Bode roared like thunder: "Stop beating around the bush with me! I just want to know what you want to do? Are you not a wolf? Then tell me, how are you different from a wolf?"

"What do you want to do?" Winters said bitterly: "I wish I could know."

"I'll beat you to death, kid!" Colonel Bode suddenly stood up and waved his one arm vigorously. The majestic and savage stallion burst out of the vicissitudes of life.

"You can't beat me." Winters pushed the colonel back to the stone: "Calm down your anger and I'll talk to you slowly."

Colonel Bode gasped for air and coughed violently.

Winters waited for the colonel to catch his breath before speaking.

He looked at the black river water under the night and recalled with some nostalgia: "In the beginning, I pretended to be a robber to ambush the food requisition team and prevent Gévaudin from coming to Wolf Town to requisition food. At that time, I knew what I wanted to do. "

"Pretending to be a robber?" the colonel sneered.

"I can't really be a robber, can I?" Winters asked naturally: "I am an appointed garrison officer. Do I need to be openly hostile to Gévaudin?"

"Then?"

"Then I realized that there was no point in just protecting Wolf Town. Although the other towns had nothing to do with me, if the entire Tiefeng County burned down, Wolf Town would also be reduced to ashes."

"So your territory is getting bigger and bigger..."

"So I started thinking about the root of the problem." Winters lowered his head and fiddled with the pebbles in his palm: "The problem is not with the civilians, nor with the soldiers who carried out the orders, nor even with people like Major Ronald who gave direct orders.

People hated the soldiers who collected food and soldiers, and by the way, they hated the lords in the city of Jevaudan, because they were in direct contact with these two levels.

The real problem lies with the higher-level decision-makers, but the decision-makers are hidden behind the agents, so people will always have the illusion that the Duke is good and the Duke's servants are bad. "

"So you want to deal with General Adams?" Colonel Bode narrowed his eyes: "After the war begins, the only important thing is how to end the war. Even if you can really defeat General Adams, have you thought about how you are going to end it?"

Winters did not answer directly, but said with a smile: "To be honest with you - don't laugh at me. I really held a bit of a 'savior' feeling to seize Gevaudan and Tiefeng County.

"Savior?" A muffled groan came from the depths of Bode's nose: "What about now?"

Winters was a little disinterested: "Now I realize: it was my rescue that caused the people of Tiefeng County to no longer need rescue."

Winters simply sat facing the colonel and looked directly into his eyes: "If it weren't for me, if Tiefeng County was still under the control of the New Reclamation Army, what do you think it would be like now?"

Colonel Bode turned his head to look at the river, neither looking at Winters nor speaking.

"Then let me tell you. The grain levy continues! The levy continues! Farmers flee! The fields are barren! Sooner or later, the grain reserves from last year and this year will be exhausted, and then there will be famine, banditry and rebellion, followed by even greater famine!"

Colonel Bode couldn't help but sigh.

"Is what I said false?" Winters' voice got louder with every word he said: "You said I wanted to kill thousands of people? Yes! That's right! General Adams killed them with his own hands. I’m afraid there are not as many people as I have killed!”

Winters pointed to the Place Gévaudan in the distance, his momentum suddenly rising: "There, I beheaded dozens of people and hanged dozens of people. Farther north - north of Hammerburg! Colonel Zipper, many, many more Many seniors, they all died because of me!"

He stared and asked Colonel Bode: "Taking lives with a sword is murder, but taking lives with famine and war is not murder? General Adams's hands are clean, and mine are blood, so he is nobler than me? Yes." Oh, if General Adams was willing to act, there would still be people praising him for his compassion!

How can there be such truth under the sun? ! Let me tell you, General Adams is the biggest executioner! The master who rules the Republic of Plato is the biggest executioner! I put blood on my hands and they put blood on others! "

"I have answered with this sentence before, and I still use this sentence to answer now." Winters stood in front of Colonel Bode, lowered his head and looked directly into the colonel's eyes, and declared word by word: "Yes! Many people will die. But if my people are willing to die for me, my enemies will know it. If my people are not willing to die for me, my enemies will also know it. I would like to ask, how many people are willing to die for me? Died by an enemy?"

Colonel Bode subconsciously wanted to defend himself, and he spoke with difficulty: "How could the New Reclamation Corps watch the farmers starve to death? As far as I know, isn't General Adams also recruiting refugees to open up wasteland?"

"But did he do it? He didn't do it!" Winters patted his chest: "Sorry, I did it.

I can do things that Adams can't do; I dare to do things that he dare not do; I am willing to do things that he is unwilling to do. If it weren't for the monkey butt face causing trouble, you could see the wasteland turn into a golden sea of ​​wheat in May and June next year. "

Colonel Bode's momentum was completely suppressed.

After a long silence, he admitted openly: "You did a good job indeed. General Adams could only recruit the best of the refugees as soldiers and let the remaining refugees go to open up wasteland.

As for the land, houses, and farm animals from the manor owners, they were redistributed to the refugees. General Adams could not, did not dare, and did not want to do this—he and his men were large plantation owners themselves. "

Winters did not feel the joy of winning. He quietly sat back on the big stone and shot the stones into the river one by one.

"Cruel joy will eventually end in violence." Winters' voice was filled with deep frustration, frustration and confusion: "But I don't know what I can bring to people."

The colonel listened silently.

"I am just returning Tiefeng County to its previous appearance. Nothing has changed inside or outside. Therefore, Beiba Town is lukewarm and distant from me." Winters supported his forehead: "I not only understand them , I also think it is reasonable for them to do so.

To them, my replacement of the New Reclamation Corps is just another person collecting taxes. This is what the North Eight Towns think now. Sooner or later, the South Eight Towns will think the same way. "

The colonel patted Winters on the shoulder and made a pun: "Being alive is a gift in itself."

"The premise is that life can be taken away at any time." Winters's voice sounded very clear in the quiet night: "Before facing death, people will not regard survival as a gift, but will only regard survival as a matter of course. It should be. This is not arrogance, but nature."

He smiled and asked: "If I knew the date of my death, would I still be here chatting with you? I would have gone to see Miss Navarre to get married and have children."

Colonel Bode looked up to the sky and laughed.

These two people who have faced death can best understand: when death approaches, many things that are not important now will become important; many things that are important now will become unimportant again.

Winters sincerely expressed his confusion to Colonel Bode:

"The current situation is that I saved Tiefeng County from the Legion, but found that Tiefeng County can live a good life without me."

"I have seriously reflected - maybe I shouldn't have thought about resuming production from the beginning. I should have eaten the food in the warehouse and waited for famine to appear."

"When everyone starts to get hungry, I will give each hungry person a weapon and lead them into Baishan County and Warne County, eating and drinking everything like a swarm of locusts. Then I will coerce more people. Many refugees attack other places, and in the end they succeed or fail with great success."

"It would be really fun to do that." Winters smiled miserably: "It would be much happier than hanging in Tiefeng County without getting up or down now."

"Why don't you do this?" Colonel Bode asked seriously: "Don't you want to be the savior? If you light a fire that burns the world, you will be the savior of the refugees."

"Because I don't want to." Winters replied disdainfully: "I don't want to be a savior, and I am not a savior. I am an executioner - I will never deny this."

"What do you want?"

"I don't know either! But I can't say this to anyone. I'm like a person holding a torch and walking in front of thousands of people. If I say 'I don't know where I'm going' and then step on the torch Destroyed. Then what should they do?"

"You can't tell others, but you can tell me?"

"Yes, I can only tell you." Winters spread his hands: "After all, you are a bystander."

Colonel Bode snorted.

"But I'm not worried." Winters smiled freely: "Wasn't the old marshal forced to join the rebels back then? Did he know where he was going at that time? Did he know where he would end up? No. Step by step?"

"What did you say?" Upon hearing this, Colonel Bode became anxious. He jumped up from the boulder, pointed at Winters and asked angrily: "Tiefeng County is not enough, the new land is not enough, and Plato is not enough? You still want to be a marshal?! Why don't you become the emperor?"

Colonel Bode was trembling with rage.

"Don't worry, I'm just giving you an example." Wen Tesla asked the colonel to sit down and patiently reassured him: "Maybe next year there will be a winner between the red and blue roses, and the victor's army will conquer the country, I will escape back to Veneta to do it. Where is the small business? Who can say for sure what will happen in the future? "

Colonel Bird angrily threw Winters' arm away.

"In short, I want to stop and think about it." Winters told the colonel sternly: "I will not expand again until I figure out what I can bring to people and before I have completely won the loyalty of Tiefeng County. If I can't even return to Tiefeng County, why should I attack other counties? I want to see where to go first before moving forward."

Colonel Bode sneered: "You haven't been blinded by ambition."

"I also want to ask you, what are you loyal to, concerned about, and concerned about? Is it the government? Is it the military? Is it the republican system? Or is it the people?" Winters asked.

Colonel Bode couldn't answer.

"I would like to ask you to stay and help me." Winters bowed deeply to Colonel Bode sincerely.

"Help you?" Colonel Bode groaned: "I, the great Colonel of the Republic, will become a rebel with you?"

"Forget it if I don't help." Winters straightened up and sat back on the boulder.

The old man and the young man didn't look at anyone, they just sat there in silence.

After sitting for a long time, the river flowed calmly in front of the two of them.

"I want to go back to the Kings' Castle." Colonel Bode suddenly said.

"I will prepare horses for you." Winters nodded simply. He was neither surprised nor disappointed: "I will arrange for someone to escort you - don't worry, we are really escorting you, not killing you."

Bode was so angry that he slapped Winters: "You kid, you are so cruel now!"

"If I don't kill you, how can you say I'm vicious?" Winters felt extremely aggrieved.

"Having this idea is cruel enough!"

"Okay, fine. When will you leave?"

"If you fail to recruit, are you going to drive me away?" Colonel Bode laughed angrily and slapped Winters on the back again.

"It's up to you. I would like you to stay for two more days." Winters was also a little reluctant: "Anyway, whenever you want to leave, I will arrange a car and horse escort for you."

"Just these few days."

"good."

"I want to go back to the castle of the kings."

"no problem."

"I'm different from you foreign bachelors. My wife and daughter are still in the castle of the kings." Colonel Bode sighed: "I have to take them over."

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