Gévaudin.

While the hussars were reorganizing, Colonel Scull strolled along the St. George River, taking one last look at this familiar yet unfamiliar city.

The stone road was shrouded in light blue smoke, and piles of pine branches and mugwort were burning in the middle of the street. The air was filled with a strange fragrance, which was said to drive away the plague.

Huge logs kept passing through the curtain of smoke and drifting down from the upper reaches.

The logs were pulled to the shore by boatmen, and the men holding sharp axes had been waiting for a long time. The branches were chopped into firewood, and the thick trunks were sent to the rumbling hydraulic sawmill.

Wood is needed to rebuild homes, and fuel is needed for heating in winter.

The rebel government has lifted logging restrictions, and the materials and energy accumulated in the forest over hundreds of years are being released again.

Skull's eyes rested on the giant waterwheel outside the workshop. While a sawmill was put into use, five more sawmills were being built.

The sound of horse hoofbeats was clear, and Colonel Gesa rode a black horse and quickly came to Scull's side.

"What are you looking at?" Gesa asked.

Skull sniffed the aroma of pine wood in the air: "Actually, I don't know too much."

Gesa followed Skull's gaze and couldn't help laughing: "Isn't it just a waterwheel?"

"It's a waterwheel." Scull replied: "It's not just a waterwheel."

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

A dull, rhythmic tremor echoed in the air.

Looking across the river from Gesa, towering wooden towers were looming in the mist.

"Well, it's not just waterwheels." Gesa smacked his lips: "There are also pile drivers."

On the other side of the river, thousands of ordinary people were doing something very unusual in winter, building houses.

The cold weather made construction difficult, so those people built a large number of construction machinery: tower pile drivers, cranes driven by animal power, mobile cranes...

Those people used giant machines that were used to build churches, fortresses, palaces and other large projects, but the houses they built were ridiculously simple.

What kind of house is that?

Four wooden stakes are nailed to the wooden boards to form the four walls, and then the roof made of the same wooden boards is fastened to complete the building. It is more like a prison than a residence.

At the same time, there was a construction site on the other side.

"Come closer to me!" Mason's voice was already hoarse. He waved his arms widely and directed the crane operator: "Okay! That's it! Put it down! Put it down! Slow down!"

The roof that was hoisted into the air was slowly lowered. After the roof was firmly seated, the carpenter with a small hammer removed the brackets and fixed the roof.

Different from the normal process of building a house of "putting up the beams first and then building the roof", for the houses Mason is responsible for building, the roofs are all built on the ground in advance and then hoisted up with a crane.

The people of Tiefeng County who were stunned at first are now no longer surprised.

If anyone thinks these houses look like prisons, he’s right!

Because the design of these houses is completely copied from the board houses on the working ranch where Mason once worked.

What's more, in order to further save building materials, these prefabricated houses in Gevaudan also adopted a "township" structure. That is, the houses are next to each other, with one wall and two rooms, which greatly saves wood.

You know, even the wooden houses in the labor ranch can barely be called "single-family houses." And the wooden houses in Gevaudan are not even as good as the wooden houses of prisoners.

Hailan's townhouses are stone buildings. The stone is solid and thick, and has strong sound insulation capabilities.

In the townhouses of Gévaudin, there is only a thin wooden board between the two houses, and there is nothing to separate them except the line of sight.

But the people in Tiefeng County who were building these prefabricated houses couldn't wait to move in. Everyone put in a lot of effort to do this, racing against time to intensify the construction.

Therefore, except for the women and children who were evacuated to the old city, the vast majority of Tiefeng County people stranded in Jevaudan still only have simple tents that cannot protect themselves from the cold.

And the weather is getting colder day by day.

So aesthetics and comfort are not currently a consideration.

At the construction site, men, women, the elderly, and children who are not construction workers have a clear division of labor and work in an orderly manner.

Anyone who has participated in the preparations for Gevaudan can see at a glance that these men, women, and children followed the organizational form of the city building period.

Even when defending a city, "whoever builds a section of the city wall will defend that section of the city wall." When building a house, it is also "whoever builds a certain section of the city wall will live in that section of the city wall."

Mason, who was coordinating the building project, looked at the busy construction site and suddenly felt a little worried: "This... is probably the most embarrassing work in my life."

"Your Excellency?" [Demon] Anse, whose half of the face was covered with horrific birthmarks, noticed something strange and asked, "Are you unhappy? Isn't the project going very well?"

"It's easy to build." Mason smacked his lips: "It will be difficult to tear it down in the future."

"Demolish it? Why demolish it?" Demon Ance's mood was as cold as ever: "But it's not difficult to demolish it. This kind of wooden house can be burned down with just one fire."

Mason smiled bitterly and shook his head. Suddenly something occurred to him, and his expression became horrified: "It's broken! These houses...shouldn't they be called 'Mason Houses' in the future?"

…

"What now?" Geza asked Skull: "Do you still think a colonel's uniform can bribe them?"

Skull looked indifferent: "At least now I am sure that Captain Montagne will never be bribed."

…

"Negotiation?" Andre asked Winters: "Can you really trust them?"

"Trust is one thing." Winters sighed: "But I always feel that they can't really accept us."

…

"Then letting them go is equivalent to raising tigers?" Gesa frowned.

…

Andre propped up his chin and said nonchalantly: "After all, there will still be a battle sooner or later."

…

"Currently, the cost of using force will far exceed what we can accept." Scull looked at the busy figures on the other side of the river and looked at Gesa: "When he distributes the land, things will become more troublesome.

."

…

Winters' mood was a little depressed: "They want to negotiate, so let's negotiate. You also know the current situation in Tiefeng County."

…

"You also know the current situation." Skull said seriously: "No matter what, at least stabilize them first. We must avoid any complications that may disrupt the 'more important' strategy."

…

"No matter what, if we can bleed less." Winters made up his mind: "It's best if we can bleed less."

…

The hussars were ready to go, and Colonel Scull and Colonel Gesa mounted their horses.

In addition to the original farewell party, many soldiers from Tiefeng County and citizens of Gévaudan came to see him off on their own initiative.

Winters held the wine glass steadily and walked slowly to the horses of the three colonels.

According to Plato tradition, when there is a hostess, the "stirrup wine" should be served by the hostess.

However, Winters was determined to personally deliver stirrup wine to the three school officers, so there was no much-loved kissing session with the hostess today.

Winters did not want to use those frivolous rhetoric. He stood in front of the cavalry and raised his hands in a very solemn salute.

In any case, when the Hurd tribes invaded, these Palatine cavalry brought their sabers to Iron Peak County, and Winters was grateful to them from the bottom of his heart.

Although it sounds vulgar, sharing the same hatred and hatred is always the fastest way to build comrades-in-arms. I have been "comrades-in-arms" who have fought side by side in bloody battles, but now I have to say goodbye, I am always a little reluctant to let go.

Andre was the most excited, and his eyes were a little red. That is to say, there was no alcohol in Tiefeng County, so everyone was relatively rational.

If the customs of the Platuan people were strictly followed, both parties would have hugged each other drunkenly and said some strange words with tears and runny noses.

"Okay, okay." Colonel Gesa shuddered: "Don't say any disgusting words, I can't accept it."

"Actually, I still hope you can stay in Tiefeng County for a while."

"Don't worry, there's no one who will get sick during the war?" When the old story came up again, Gesa felt helpless: "If people gather too much, they will naturally get sick. After a while, when the refugees disperse, the Aachen Plague will naturally disappear.

."

There had been many conversations about this matter. Colonel Gesa had not been able to be persuaded before, nor could he be persuaded by the few words of farewell.

Winters collected his emotions and nodded: "Thank you."

"You'd better go and thank Colonel Bode." Colonel Geza grabbed the back of his bare head and spoke quickly: "Besides, we're not here to help you. As for the Huds, no matter what, we want to kill...

…It’s all General Adams’s fault. This [interception strategy] is complete bullshit! If Tiefeng County is finished, wouldn’t the Huds just take a detour and return to the wilderness from Tiefeng County? He also intercepted the boundary river in Wargne County.

What's the use... We have to come and wipe his butt..."

Colonel Winters left Gesa to defend himself alone, picked up another glass of wine and walked to Major Ronald's horse.

"I'm sorry, Major."
To be continued...