"I heard you were calling me, so I rushed over as soon as I handed over the work to Second Lieutenant Thor. The officer at the head saluted Zhao Mian, and then stood straight, "I don't know what happened when the commander summoned him?"

"If you really don't know what the hell is going on, it's better to take off your duties as captain. Zhao Mian shook his head and looked at the other party with a slight frown—but it wasn't that there was any dissatisfaction, it was just that Brother Kalman was carefully examining his right leg, "The record I asked you to make when I left has been going on all along, right?"

Aiden nodded.

"Very well, first tell me about the price of food and the change in the resident population in the city in the recent period. Zhao Mian commanded casually.

"This ......" Aiden looked at Zhao Mian's right leg and Brother Kalman, who was carefully examining the amount of iron in his muscles, and showed a somewhat embarrassed expression, "Sir, why don't you treat your wounds first, and I'll go and send all the materials to your office after finishing them." Hearing him say this, several officers around him and Lorena on the side also showed expressions of agreement.

"No need, here it is. But Zhao Mian shook his head, he looked down at Brother Kalman, "Monk, can the operation be carried out here?"

"If I had to say it, I'd recommend going to the infirmary or somewhere else, not here. The monk sighed, "But if it were you, you wouldn't listen to me, so I'll do my best." ”

"Very well, if you are ready, let's get started, it doesn't matter if you can't take it all out, just make sure he doesn't interfere with my free movement in the future. Zhao Mian nodded and looked at Aiden again, "Lieutenant, don't worry about my injuries, I came out of the forest when I smelled gunpowder, and it seems that the current situation is more urgent than I expected." If I'm not mistaken, has the Northern Fort sent a message asking for reinforcements?"

"The first batch of reinforcements was assembled yesterday and headed for the front. Another officer on the side replied, "Shortly after Colonel Lorena returned, we received a request for help from Major Daven from the northern fort, and then Chancellor Christopher signed the dispatch order, and two city garrisons and an elite garrison set out from the city to support the northern fort. ”

"What's the reason, Second Lieutenant Gervas?" Zhao Mian thought for a moment, and then asked another question, "I should have issued a complete and reasonable reason for requesting support in non-war time and filed it in the army, what is the major's reason?"

"It's ......" "It's border friction." Before Ensign Gervass could continue, Christopher on the throne continued with a gloomy face, "Recently, those orcs have been more and more harsh on our people at sea and in the cities of goblins, and there are fewer and fewer orcs willing to trade equally, and even recently they have openly provoked us on the commercial coast, and from this situation, I judge that the other party is likely to attack us in the near future, so I agreed to Major Daven's request." Is there a problem?" he raised the scroll in his hand, "And I just received word that the orcs have gathered a large army on the Kokar Cliffs, which is the closest port from Durontar to the northern fortress. ”

"No problem, thank you for your prompt response. Zhao Mian glanced at him, then continued to look at Second Lieutenant Gervas, "If the tribe gathers troops on the Kokar Cliffs, we also need to be prepared accordingly, and tomorrow morning your team will prepare to set off to reinforce the northern fortress." Aiden, you ......"

"Sir, wouldn't continuing to reinforce the northern fortress make the horde think that this was a deliberate act of hostility on our part, and the Queen would never agree to do so. Before Zhao Mian finished speaking, Lorena on the side interjected into the topic and immediately objected.

"I just want the tribe to think so. Although he was interrupted, Zhao Mian didn't feel much annoyed, he just shook his head calmly, "You also said that you were attacked by a group of orcs from the Fireblade Clan, and judging from the fact that the other party has infiltrated Theramore, we can't ignore the possibility that they have infiltrated Orgrimmar- Of course I trust Thrall, and the education he received has taught him that the benefits of an ally are far greater than an enemy, but we still can't ignore the fact that we are the only stronghold of humanity in Kalimdor, and the hatred of all orcs for the humans who imprisoned them will naturally transfer to us, not to mention the precedent of General Dalin, so once someone bypasses Thrall and agitates other orcs, then it is very likely that the first shot of the war will be carried out at the behest of the leaders of both sides. ”

"Sir, if that's the case, you shouldn't send troops to the northern fortress, as it will obviously irritate the already hostile orcs and make them even more aggressive. Lorena retorted with some excitement - although she also respected Zhao Mian, as an officer who was promoted by Gianna, it was obvious that she was more willing to believe in Gianna's trust diplomacy.

"They will inevitably attack, and if they attack the northern fortress now, then it will be the best outcome. "But it was Zhao Mian's cold answer that answered her," Colonel Lorena, if the other side immediately crosses Thrall and launches an attack under the stimulus of our Chen Soldier border, then this is just the private action of a group of tribealists who are dissatisfied with the orcs and humans as neighbors, whether they are eliminated by us or controlled by Thrall's troops who have rushed in, this matter will not ferment more and more in the next period of time, and even if we extinguish this unauthorized attack force, we can use this reason to obtain more temporary benefits in the next negotiations. ”

"Negotiation?" Lorena repeated with some stunnedness.

"Yes, negotiations. You don't be naïve enough to think that once the two sides fight, there will really be a full-scale war. Zhao Mian sighed as he spoke, and it was at this moment that Brother Kalman, who had been examining for a long time, finally picked up his tools and began to try to cut his skin. Although the pain was slightly relieved with the help of the spell, Zhao Mian, who was still enduring the pain of being cut flesh and blood, frowned, but his words were still clear and complete, " Orgrimmar's development is not yet saturated, the need for outward expansion is not so urgent, although we have a demand for drier land, but we do not have the capital to fight the Horde, so most of the ordinary people and leaders on both sides will not agree to this senseless war, although the means of the Fireblade Clan are good, but they have chosen the wrong time, if they continue to remain incognito...... If we continue to incite public opinion and undermine relations for about five years, we may be able to really provoke a war. ”

"Alright, don't say it. Together with Gianna, you learned her kindness and trust in others, but you didn't learn how to think in the big picture, and you forgot my teachings. However, Lorena wanted to continue to say something, but Zhao Mian shook her head and stopped her words—but in Christopher's sight, he made a few simple movements with his fingers, and only after doing this did he turn his head to look at Aiden, "Let's go back to the topic at the beginning, Aiden, how is the price of food and the flow of people in the city recently." ”

"The price of food is becoming more and more difficult to maintain because of the trade with the tribes, so the price of bread and vegetables has been rising recently, compared to last month, the price of bread has increased by 20 percent, the price of vegetables has increased by 30 percent, and the price of fish and meat produced by us is still the same, and the price of fish is even declining. Aiden nodded, and opened his mouth to report on the information he had been collecting in the city. In terms of population, the number of inhabitants has continued to rise steadily, and more than forty pioneers from the Eastern Kingdoms have settled in Theramore last month, and on the floating population, adventurers from the Eastern Kingdoms have been entering the country since we began to secure a stable route with the port of Minahir, and merchants are happy to trade goods from both sides to make a difference, but Kurtiras is still closed and refuses to allow all ships from us to enter the port. ”

"Expected. Zhao Mian nodded, and on his lap, an iron plate that had just been torn off by Brother Kalman fell to the ground of the council hall with blood, "The deterioration of relations between the two sides will naturally bring about such a situation, if only we could not rely so much on trading with the other party to obtain food - but for the time being, it seems to be an extravagant hope, after all, it is in a swamp, and the problem of not having good arable land still cannot be solved." After speaking, Second Lieutenant Zhao Mian paused, seemed to have thought a little, and filtered the next question in his mind, "Just mentioned Kul Tiras, leaving aside that for the time being, how is our communication with Stormwind and Ironforge Castle?"

"The dwarves of Ironforge are happy to trade with us, but we can't produce large quantities of ale in exchange for their weapons, so trade has been tepid. As for Stormwind City......" Aiden also sighed a little sadly, "We understand that the reconstruction of Stormwind City is still in progress, but the port of Stormwind City is still not completed, although the temporary port is enough for the traders to trade, but it is not enough for us to exchange a lot of materials, not to mention that Dalin's death has caused a lot of malicious reactions among the nobles, and we should not be able to enlist support from Stormwind City until the aftermath of the matter is completely over." ”

"Well, that's ......" Zhao Mian thought for a moment, and then spoke, "Let the navy gang find a way to establish a stable route with the northern elves in the next three months, and then try to carry out some trade activities with the other party, if it goes well, we should be able to gain some trade power in the eastern kingdom through the goods of those night elves." After speaking, he paused slightly, "We are still at an absolute disadvantage in Kalimdor, so after this operation, no matter what Major Davon says, the number of permanent soldiers in the northern fortress cannot exceed one company, so that the tribe side will think that we are 'under pressure to increase the number of troops in the northern fortress', of course they believe it or not, but at least make sure that we say so on the surface." Kvass nodded.

"Colonel Lorena, next you pick some men and go in the direction of Thunder Valley, go to Gianna, if the other party has already started, there is no reason for a leader who is alone outside not to be attacked in some form, she has probably been brought in - even out of curiosity she has walked into a trap, you need to find her, and then bring her back or follow her on her next mission, no matter what she says, remember not to let her remain alone. Lorena gave a military salute.

"It's too late, but we can take advantage of that, Aiden, you will start to conduct a city-wide search and register people entering and leaving the city gates on the grounds of 'someone has been found to be in collusion with the devil', and deliberately let people spread it in the bar saying that it is related to the Fireblade Clan. At the same time, Warrant Officer James, you pick some trustworthy veterans to go out of the city in batches, and set up ambushes at traffic intersections and ports outside the city, and some people who have dealt with the Fireblade Clan but have not joined them may leave at this time to avoid trouble, you are targeting these guys, try to get more information about the Fireblade Clan in their mouths. Aiden nodded to another officer, who looked stronger.

"Mills, use my name to gather the cavalry, and make them ready to lead the team as soon as I give the signal or have someone with my badge to give you the address. The lean man with a goatee also gave a military salute.

"That's it, disband. After all the tasks were arranged, Zhao Mian pondered for a while, then waved his hand and gave the order to disband.

"Yes!" the group replied in unison, then turned and left the chamber.

It was at this time, seeing that they seemed to be almost busy, that Deffy came in with a wooden plate with two glasses of wine and a few loaves of bread and a piece of meat that looked like it had just been roasted, and she held it to block her view so that she would not see the bloody right leg head-on. Then he handed the plate in his hand to Zhao Mian's hand, and turned around not to look this way.

"Thank you. Zhao Mian didn't care, although this old woman sometimes babble something a little annoying, but that's all.

And under the sound of chewing and surgery, Christopher, who finally couldn't stand it anymore, stood up a little annoyed, stood up from the throne with a few bundles of scrolls, and deliberately stepped on his steps and walked out. And Defe, who couldn't stand the smell of blood, followed him and left in the same way.

Then, in the chamber, which was gradually starting to cool down, only Brother Kalman, who was still carefully removing steel and other debris, and Zhao Mian, who was eating food with his own bloody taste, casually grabbed the scroll on the table and began to flip through it.