Instead of returning directly to Gevaudan, Winters stopped briefly in Camel Pine Street to gather his troops.

Andre and Bart Schalling, who were driving the horses, were the first to return.

More than 700 horses were divided into several groups, each led by a very jealous son.

Just by walking quickly, the horses can raise smoke and dust all over the sky, and when they run, they are even more impressive and spectacular.

"Fuck! It's done!" This was Andre's first words when he met Winters.

The former grabbed the latter's shoulders with tears in his eyes and almost cried in his arms.

The harvest at Nanshan Army Horse Farm far exceeded Winters and Andre's wildest imagination.

Baishan County is not famous for its horse production, but Leiqun County further east is a place rich in horses - the so-called Leiqun means "thousands of horses marching in a group, as powerful as thunder".

So Winters didn't have high expectations.

He was satisfied if he could get a hundred horses.

If you get two hundred horses, you should have a lively banquet to celebrate.

As a result, Andre brought back more than 700 horses and hundreds of foals of various ages.

The older foals follow the mare, while the foals that cannot travel long distances are pulled by a cart.

Not only the horses, but also the horseherds were tied up by Andre.

Without a horseherd, Andre's manpower alone would not be able to carry such a large herd of horses.

As a result, such a strange scene appeared on the land of Tiefeng County: timid horse herders herding horses, and Tiefeng County cavalry herding horse herds.

It's pity that a certain bald middle-aged man worked hard to save for many years, but he only made wedding clothes for others in one day.

"Oh! It's boring! They are all mares." Andrei said with great regret: "It's a pity to use them for war. There is not even one serious war horse!"

Look, how terrible human greed is.

Not long ago, Andrei was laughing from ear to ear over the capture of three army horses.

Now that he had captured thousands of horses at once, he sighed deeply.

Winters didn't have the idea of ​​being dissatisfied. He picked up thousands of horses for nothing, and it was too late for him to be happy.

But the huge herd of horses also made him a little worried: "Winter is about to begin, and we must quickly prepare a winter place and fodder for the horses. There are thousands of horses, big and small... I'm afraid we won't be able to take care of them."

Andre was as optimistic as ever: "Let Senior Mason raise it."

Lieutenant Cellini never "didn't care about feeding, just riding".

"Senior Mason alone may not be enough." Winters smiled knowingly: "Call Bud too."

Captain Montagny also "doesn't care about raising animals, he only cares about riding them".

The burden was pushed out so easily, and the captain and lieutenant felt relaxed and happily went to see the colt.

…

After waiting on Camel Pine Street for a day, Winters' centurions and sergeants came to meet him one after another.

The troops that were once broken into pieces are now reunited.

The soldiers were physically exhausted, but their fighting spirit was stronger than when they set out.

"How was it?" Winters asked his other centurion [Gale].

"I want to sleep." The other party replied honestly: "I want to eat meat."

Winters laughed loudly: "Go back to Gevaudan and kill pigs and sheep!"

Twelve iron arrows were sent out, but only nine came back.

There are three more arrows that may come back, or they may never come back.

Leaving behind a support team on Camelback Street, Winters stared at the direction of White Mountain County for the last time before setting off again.

Still not returning directly to Gevaudan, Winters led the troops to take a detour to Fort Hammer, the current location of the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment, and successfully joined forces with Mason, Juan and Moritz.

It's not that Winters isn't in a hurry to get home, he misses Anna almost crazy.

But the mess after the war was more troublesome than the war itself: the wounded needed to be treated, the battlefields needed to be cleaned, the captured materials needed to be counted, and the soldiers' merits also needed to be confirmed.

None of the above is a big problem because the military has its own set of procedures to deal with it.

The biggest headache for Winters right now is-captives.

"Don't say thank you." Lieutenant Don Juan put his legs on the table happily: "I don't help you fight for your sake, and you don't need to deliberately give me gifts to thank me. Just give me some horses and gold.

That’ll be fine.”

"Thank you very much, senior." Winters had a complicated expression.

The original battle plan was to contain the enemy forces in Baishan County and repel the enemy forces in Wargne County.

Winters performed the diversion mission on the Eastern Front perfectly.

However, the western front was forced by Don Juan into a battle of encirclement and annihilation.

Qipper's entire army was wiped out, some died, some escaped, and the remaining more than 1,300 people were captured and taken prisoner.

There may be some garrison strength left in Wargne County, but the field troops have been wiped out.

Today's Wargne County is like an egg whose shell has been peeled off, revealing the fragile protein inside.

On the surface, Wargne County is at the mercy of Winters.

In fact, passing through Warne County and further north is the Maplestone City Direct Territory—the heart of the Legion.

In other words, the road to Maplestone City has been opened, and the heart of the Legion is nakedly exposed to Winters' front.

And the last thing Winters wants to do is irritate the New Reclamation Corps.

The New Reclamation Corps is a clumsy, huge and bureaucratic machine, but once its life is in danger, its counterattack will be swift and fierce.

"Then let's do it! Anyway, the fighting is over." Winters also had no worries about his debt. He laughed and saluted Don Juan and Moritz: "Senior, Lieutenant Colonel, one thousand people surrounded and annihilated two thousand people.

, this battle was well fought!"

Lieutenant Colonel Moritz sipped his wine in silence.

"Don't even look at who is commanding it." Juan's expression was equally cold, but he couldn't hide the smile in the corner of his eyes: "It's exciting enough. In Veneta, even the school officer has no chance to command this.

Troops of the same size.”

"If you stay, you can command as much as you want in the future."

Don Juan snorted coldly, and a hint of loneliness appeared on his handsome features: "I'm just waiting for news about your father. I can't take you away, and the lieutenant colonel can't take you away either. Let's see what else the regiment commander can do.

Come on! I will still go back to Veneta when the new order comes down."

When it came to his family, Winters was filled with guilt and he couldn't face his family.

He sighed and said to Senior Mason and Lieutenant Colonel Moritz: "I have to write a letter to the Legion."

Winters was still the one to write. He considered the words and read them as he wrote them, while the others listened.

Legion lost one of its claws in this battle, but Winters' tone was even more humble than last time.

In the tone of a private letter, he confessed his true feelings to General Adams: From the moment he was assigned to Plato, he was full of gratitude for this land, and he had never thought of betraying Plato.

He expressed regret for accidentally injuring friendly troops in Linjun County; he was willing to assist in the search for the missing Wargne County officers; and he was also willing to return the weapons seized from Wargne County.

The final signature is "Loyal Defender of the Republic, W.M."

All in all, this letter is simple in writing and sincere in emotion. It is actually Winters' best piece of writing since school.

"What's the use of writing this?" Don Juan was very impatient.

"To make General Adams look good, of course, it would be great if he could be deceived by this letter." Winters replied with a smile and handed the manuscript paper behind him.

Charles took the manuscript and copied it - the young dock worker currently serves as Winters' bodyguard, clerk, military policeman, correspondent and other positions.

Winters changed the subject: "The legion's spellcaster assassins and the lieutenant colonel's... raid reminded us that a 'safety trench' should be established to prevent similar situations from happening again."

"Safety trench?" Mason was more concerned about this topic. Moritz's decapitation raid was so terrifying that he also had lingering fears: "How to build it?"

Winters explained: "First of all, the commander should not meet any messenger directly. The sending and receiving of letters must pass through a layer of transmission to isolate the opportunity for the caster to disguise himself as a messenger and assassinate him. And then..."

"Besides, I didn't think it through." Winters said with a smile: "We have to work together to find out and fill in the gaps."

Mason thought for a while and added: "Officer uniforms, helmets, ribbons, waistbands, tassels, and piping, these things are too conspicuous. Put them in front of you and the lieutenant colonel, and they are simply living targets."

"If it's not obvious, how can the officer command the soldiers?" Andre asked back: "If it's not obvious, the big-headed soldier would think the officer had escaped."

Winters has also considered this issue: "It is best to completely separate the formal dress and the uniform worn in battle. The uniform does not need to be too gorgeous, but it must also allow soldiers to identify who is an officer at a glance."

"This is contradictory." Mason waved his hands.

"Don't think about it so much. When will we have the money to issue military uniforms to the troops? It won't be too late to consider what the uniforms are like." Andre yawned and waved his hand, asking Winters: "Do you really want to return the captured weapons?

?”

Tiefeng County can only produce farm implement-level weapons, such as spears of about two meters.

With the rise of the steel fort metal industry, the only weaponsmith in Jevaudan [Shaucha] has long abandoned his sword forging skills. He now relies entirely on buying ready-made steel fort sword strips for business.
To be continued...