Clearing St. Paul Street is just a prelude. The old city is still burning. It is urgent to suppress the riots and restore order.

In order to avoid complications, Winters pretended to be injured and handed over the command of the North City Freeman Cavalry to Colonel Berne.

His casual false identity cannot withstand careful scrutiny. Although it can scare citizens without military background, it can be revealed in front of people who are familiar with the inside story.

Now that the real supreme military commander of Solingen has appeared, Captain Berne doesn't mind giving up the center stage.

However, Winters's guards were really eye-catching and looked out of place wherever they stood - there was no cavalry under Colonel Berne's command, and the militia cavalry in the North City were not as well-equipped.

Winters exchanged a few words with Pierre and Charle, and then the two men led the guards to break away from the garrison and still followed the river and ice road towards the city.

Winters himself and Kaman put on military police robes and remained with Colonel Berne to guard against possible beheadings.

In addition to suppressing bandits and deterring lawbreakers, the troops stationed in various autonomous prefectures in Monta also have an important responsibility - suppressing rebellion.

The garrisons in each state have secret plans to take over the main towns in the state, so Colonel Berne's "occupation" of the steel fort was very easy.

The orders he issued were clear, precise and in order:

(1) Control the main roads of Steel Castle to ensure smooth flow of routes into and out of the city;

(2) Occupy bridges, intersections, and landmarks along the river, and divide the steel fort into disconnected blocks;

(3) Starting from the main road along the river, mopping up the rioters block by block and advancing to the edge of the city.

The plan was initially implemented smoothly. After receiving the support of the Beicheng Militia Cavalry, the efficiency of the garrison was greatly improved.

Although the "free men" of Steel Castle were clumsy with their sabers, with the tall horses under their legs, they could often disperse the gathered rioters with just a few riders feigning a charge.

Even if individual riders are trapped in the crowd and are besieged, the infantry following closely can rescue them in time.

The suppression troops entered the city from the north and south sides at the same time, occupying intersections and bridges along the way, and stormed towards the lakeside pier with great momentum.

But the deeper you go into the city, the greater the resistance you encounter as you move forward.

Because the main perpetrator of this disaster tonight is no longer the rioting unemployed workers, but the fire.

…

Winters had personally experienced the fire at Victory Arsenal and thought he would never see a comparable doomsday scene again.

But now the steel castle in front of him seemed to be re-enacting the drama of the Great Fire of Guitu City.

The heat wave surged, making the helmet and breastplate scalding hot. The thick smoke billowed, making it difficult to open one's eyes.

On the main road on both sides of the Rose River, there are people's shadows and the sky is lit by fire.

The thieves who took advantage of the chaos stumbled through the crowd with their stolen goods in their arms, ducking into the alley. The fleeing citizens dragged their families and fled out of the city in panic.

The essence of Steel Castle is the large and small workshops densely distributed along the river. The "workshop belt" is not only the area with the highest building density in Steel Castle, but also the area with the most convenient transportation in Steel Castle.

However, most of the workshops along the river had been looted by now. The warehouses with high walls and strong doors narrowly escaped being robbed, while the workshops were set on fire.

The road, which used to be able to accommodate two trucks running parallel at its narrowest point, is now choked with carts and horse-drawn carriages carrying all sorts of things.

Suddenly, a loaded trolley lost its balance and capsized amidst the screams of its owner.

The clothes, porcelain, and silverware piled high on the car were scattered all over the floor, attracting others to grab them. In a blink of an eye, only a few bloody pieces of porcelain and the owner of the car who was sitting on the ground and crying were left.

At a glance, everyone was carrying their belongings, but they had no time to pay attention to the spread of the fire.

In mid-air, flocks of pigeons circled around their homes that had been turned into a sea of ​​flames, unable to bear to leave. Pigeons' flight feathers were burned and they fell to the ground and died.

Churches, houses, workshops, everything was burning; the flames roared horribly, and the roofs collapsed without support.

The anti-riot troops entering the city and the refugees leaving the city met each other, blocking the arteries of the steel castle from both ends.

The army can deal with heavily armed thugs and gangs, but there is nothing the refugees can do with their bare hands.

The soldiers guarding the bridge at the intersection tried their best to maintain order, but all their efforts were in vain.

Those who wanted to get in couldn't get in, and those who wanted to get out couldn't get out. The sound of exploding wood mixed with the cries and curses of men, women, old and children, flooding the streets and roads.

…

Colonel Berne's temporary command post is located at the [Chapel Covered Bridge] over the Rose River.

The chapel covered bridge is one of the landmark buildings of Steel Castle. The interior of the covered bridge was originally occupied by a large number of vendors' stalls that occupied nearly half of its width. Now it has been brutally cleared away.

The messengers with dusty and smoky faces ran in and out, constantly bringing back worse news and sending away the latest instructions.

Standing on the top of the octagonal water tower in the middle of the covered bridge, you can clearly see the fire in the old city.

It is very different from the disasters caused by fires in the past. Tonight's steel castle fire obviously had multiple fire points and spread in all directions.

The old city was covered in flames. From a distance, the Nancheng and Beicheng districts that had not been affected were like sandbanks hanging in the Red Sea, in danger.

Realizing that the plan could not keep up with the changes, Colonel Bern immediately revised the main tasks to "evacuate people" and "put out fires".

But compared with suppressing riots, putting out fires and evacuating people is not at the same level of difficulty.

When the two brigades of soldiers entered the city, they were instantly diluted by tens of thousands of refugees. Not to mention putting out the fire, even evacuating the people was not enough. It was a drop in the bucket.

Colonel Berne was watching the fire from the top floor of the water tower. His hands seemed to be just holding on to the window frame, but the fingers pressing on the red bricks were already livid.

"This won't work," said Winters, who was standing behind the colonel.

The colonel asked without looking back: "What did you say?"

Reason warned Winters - don't talk too much.

As an outsider, what happens to Steel Castle after tonight has no direct bearing on him. Even the more tragic the fire, the more beneficial it will be to him in the future.

But something still drove Winters to speak up: "I said, 'This won't work.'"

Colonel Bern turned around and looked at Winters coldly: "What can we do?"

"You know better than I do."

But "knowing" is one thing, "taking action" is another.

Only when you are on top of the octagonal water tower with a wide view can you truly understand how bad the situation has become.

The steel castle is now an iron pot on the fire, filled with boiling oil. The oil pot is pouring at an accelerated rate. Once the hot oil is poured on the firewood, the whole house will burst into flames.

The time has come when the defeat cannot be reversed without drastic measures - no! The time has come when even if drastic measures are used, it is very likely that Steel Castle will not be saved.

If you want to prevent the entire house from being reduced to ashes, you must have the courage to use your hands.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas squeezed through the fleeing crowd, rushed to the end of the chapel bridge, and returned to the temporary command post from the front line.

He jumped off the saddle, didn't even bother to hitch the horse, rushed into the covered bridge in three steps and then ran up to the water tower.

"This can't go on like this! Our troops staying in the city have blocked the roads." Thomas's cheeks were already blackened, and he spoke urgently: "Otherwise, while the fire scene is still some distance away, we can temporarily order each hundred troops

Retreat. Make way out of the way and ask the civilians to evacuate first."

Winters may not have understood it in the past, but now he can understand what Lieutenant Colonel Thomas is really saying.

"Our troops staying in the city have blocked the roads" which means "If this continues, our people will also be trapped in it."

"Make way and ask the civilians to retreat first" was the high-sounding reason given to the colonel by the lieutenant colonel.

The garrison's duty is only to suppress riots and rebellions, not to put out fires.

Even if the Legion sits back and watches the steel fortress turn into ashes, and someone wants to hold the person responsible afterwards, it can be excused by saying that it is too late and that it has tried its best. But if the Legion takes the initiative to jump into the quagmire, it will never have the chance to clean itself up.

The more you do, the more mistakes you make. The world is like this, helpless and sad.

Bern did not pay attention to the deputy, but gave Winters a sideways look: "Boy, do you still need to make up your mind for me?!"

The colonel took off his hat and smoothed his gray hair: "Lieutenant Colonel Thomas."

Thomas subconsciously touched the heel of his boot: "Sir."

"Convey my order to all the centurions." The colonel put on his hat again and straightened the hat: "As the highest military commander of Solingen State appointed by the Army Congress of the Republic, I believe that Steel Castle is in a 'completely out of control' state. According to "

With the power granted to me by the non-disclosure clause of Article 17 of the Hornford Agreement, I decided to activate the emergency plan - [Steel Rain]."

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas was startled, and his expression suddenly became nervous: "Sir, that is a secret payment that can only be triggered by the rebels occupying the city..."

"From now on." Colonel Berne stood in front of the window without any movement, staring at the Elin Cathedral in the sea of ​​fire, and continued to state without any influence:

“All property of the Steel Castle, whether private, municipal or republican, shall be taken over by the Solingen Garrison; all adult males of the Steel Castle, whether citizens or non-citizens, shall be conscripted by the Solingen Garrison;

Civilians who have not been drafted will also be placed under military control; any civilian who disobeys orders will no longer have their private property and personal safety protected."

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas was dizzy, his mouth was dry, and he was unable to speak.

Colonel Berne glanced at the adjutant: "Anyone who leaves his post without permission tonight, cowers, or talks about failure will be punished according to military laws for timidity in battle."

Thomas' Adam's apple twitched and he struggled to spit out the answer: "Yes."

"Repeat my order."

Thomas took a deep breath and recited what Colonel Berne said word for word.

"Form a written order and file it." Colonel Bern said expressionlessly, "Send it to the centurions now."

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas gritted his teeth, raised his hands in salute, and ran down the tower with a "dong dong dong dong" sound.

"What is Steel Rain?" Winters asked softly.

"You don't need to know that. You just need to know that I have obtained the power of life and death." Colonel Berne took out the wine bottle from his arms, slowly unscrewed the lid, and replied calmly: "Tonight."
To be continued...