V

*** ***

There was silence on the wide Metributi River, and only the sparse raindrops could be heard falling on the river, accompanied by the rustle of the evening breeze blowing the grey sails.

A small fleet of four "Flat" fast dnakers, formed in an arrow-like formation, took advantage of the north-east wind to go upstream. Behind this small fleet was a fleet of more than a dozen sailing ships - that was the coup army Fortiburg Escort Fleet, which Viscount Vrazol Rasta had in mind. The distance between the two sides has been maintained to the extent that it is barely visible to the naked eye, and they are unhurriedly puffing out half sails. It was not so much a pursuit as a fleet guiding another. As they sailed, the rain began to lighten, and the clouds slowly began to dissipate, revealing the remnants of the sun hidden behind the shadows.

"We have left the Cumulonimbus area," the flagship's captain looked through his monoculars at the river downstream, "the enemy has been thrown a long distance by us, but it seems that he has no intention of giving up." ”

The half-elf who heard the news took the telescope from the captain's hand and confirmed the report. Ever since he stepped back on deck and was truly in command, he had become almost a different man. If his boss in the St. Mori fleet, or his drinking friends in Lenny's Tavern, saw him now, they would be so shocked that they couldn't even close their mouths. Although he still had that languid and slightly helpless smile on his face, there was an incomparably sharp and decisive light that shot out of Leonard's ocean-blue eyes.

"Go to the Sancha estuary in front and adjust the spinnaker, turn the fleet into a horizontal formation, and open all the gun doors!"

As soon as they reached the junction of the Meterbutsi River and the Hind River, the flag was issued from the flagship of the fleet. At the same time, the four "Flats" tightened their quadrangular sails and adjusted the direction of the jibs, so that the boats crossed the main course of the Meterbysi River, forming a meniscus-shaped column, cutting off the channel more than 100 meters wide horizontally. The rebel fleet that followed behind saw them stop, but they did not dare to chase closer, but only retracted the main sail, and relied on the propulsion of the auxiliary sail to barely stop on the river downstream to form a two-way column. At first glance, the formation of these two columns seems to be about to charge Leonard's artillery position, but on closer inspection, the fact that they are only flying the jib does not look like they are about to charge.

"Raising the flag to the south shore, the garrison mage emitted a low-angle red light thirty degrees west-south. The closer you are to the river, the better, but be careful not to go too low. ”

The half-elf casually gave an incomprehensible order, completely ignoring the thoughts of the two generals beside him who didn't understand naval warfare. Clad López was just sitting in a corner chair with his cold face laid back and his eyes closed, but Admiral Vena Betsy, who was known for his fiery temper, was not so relaxed, and was whispering to his staff officer, who was familiar with naval affairs, about the state of the battle.

"Magic signals and flags are generally used by liaison detachments. But the Hind River is obviously in the north, and the south is just land. To be honest, I don't understand it...... What are we threatening with, and what are they afraid of?"

As if to footnote the staff officer's dutiful explanation, the rebel fleet immediately adjusted its sails, and the entire fleet approached the north bank of the river, gradually approaching the mouth of the Hind River. Seeing this maneuver chosen by the enemy fleet, Leonard's hand waved heavily.

"Flag! to the north, yellow signal!"

In an instant, in the Hind River, there were many sail shadows! Several shells also shot out from behind the hills on the north bank, and hit the river next to the rebel fleet, splashing up a column of water that shot into the sky, and the mainmast of the ship in the center of the fleet was broken. In an instant, three of the ships in that fleet panicked and fired green signals symbolizing "retreat".

The staff officer of the Phatis Army frowned slightly, and whispered to himself: "Retreat so soon? This is too commandless......

"If your fleet is also crossed by an opponent who is obviously weak, you will also lose the trust of your subordinates. The captain on the side interjected, "Especially in front of such an opponent who is good at using land and water coordination and detachment tactics." We've packed up an entire detachment of them in the first three encounters, and now even their main fleet is a bird of terror. ”

Hearing this, Admiral Vena Betsy nodded thoughtfully, ready to watch the battle of the river fleet, which Krade López was also proud of.

However, the battle he had envisioned was over before it had even begun.

*** ***

After a moment's hesitation, the rebel fleet finally turned its sails and retreated down the river to Fortiburg, and to everyone's surprise, Leonard did not launch an ambush circle he had set up, but only watched the enemy fleet go away. The two sides confronted each other for only a few moments at the mouth of the river, after which they both left the battlefield.

During the fleet's voyage to Lenny, Admiral Vena Betsy finally couldn't suppress the doubts in his heart and asked, "I've heard of your Excellency before, and it seems that he should be a famous general who can force the Fortiburg fleet into a fortress, but if I'm not mistaken, you actually fled the battlefield under superior circumstances. Are you going to keep them strong enough to bombard Lenny Harbor, Captain Kakkawi?"

His provocation that left no mercy on Clad caused all the seamen around him to change their countenances, except for the commander of their fleet.

After spending so much time in the St. Sen's navy, Leonard had become accustomed to the pickiness of most of his superiors. After giving the first mate an order, the half-elf answered Admiral Vena Betsy's question: "If I really have an advantage, I will naturally attack, but when I am not sure of victory, it is normal to escape." Neither we nor they can afford such a heavy bet. ”

"Do you call this caution, or cowardice?" said Admiral Betsy shook his head.

Hearing this question, the half-elf just smiled wryly and spread his hands, and it was Lieutenant General López who opened his mouth to relieve him.

"Two weeks ago, on this river, there were seven of our boats, but there were twenty of them. Now, we have nine boats, and they only have fifteen. If this is cowardice, I would praise such cowardice. After all, soldiers can be recruited quickly, but warships cannot be rebuilt quickly......"

The admiral interrupted him: "No, because of this, we should seek a decisive battle, so that the enemy will give up the dream of replenishing his forces." As long as we defeat either Kengola or Fortiburg, the other side will be left with the only option left to surrender. I can't leave the Fathes front with the main forces for too long, there is no time to wait for a political settlement - the later the war breaks out, the greater the losses for our country. ”

"What do you mean?" Clad smelled a faint hint of negotiation in these words.

"Together, the two of us will be hesitant to take Forty within a week, even the staunchest doves in the council. With militia units to thwart the 8th Divisions at Kengrad and Voltagrad, and then to capture Fort Fort, the coup army had no choice but to surrender. Admiral Vena Betsy said loudly, "As long as you agree with my raid plan, we will surely win in the council!"

Clad looked up and looked at the Admiral again. Admiral Wiener Betsy's reputation as an "orthodox conservative" seems to be difficult to reconcile with that of the person before him, and he does not seem to be as politically indifferent as it is rumored. It is clear that Admiral Betsy is targeting the next chairman of the General Staff......

Moreover, he already sees Clad as his biggest competitor. In the eyes of Vena Becky, it is impossible – or rather, difficult – for this lucky junior. The alliance between the two can only be an alliance of interests, and it is temporary, similar to an alliance that is difficult to bind as "I serve this term, and you serve the next term".

But what if this motive is left aside? What are the chances of hoping for an ethereal political solution instead of Wiener Betsy's decisive plan?

Peace and War......

Which of the two is less risky? Would it be better to sacrifice some troops to save time, or to sacrifice time to ensure the strength of the country?

"I'm going to think about it. Lieutenant General López hesitated and frowned. It is difficult for him to make a choice, both in public and private.

Wiener Betsy touched his beard and said, "Don't worry, but I hope Your Excellency will make a decision as soon as possible." It's all for the country. ”

"I'll make a decision when my intelligence agents deployed in Kengal and Forty bring in new information. López replied, "It won't take long." ”

He groaned, hoping that Soleton would be able to contact his secret intelligence network. Forteburg's steaks are good, but there's absolutely no such thing as "half-rare" on the menu – not even a decade ago.

*** ***

The steak was served quickly, topped with a special sauce. Soleton took his plate of special steak, which was half rare, carefully sliced it, and put it in his mouth to chew carefully. Soon, his tongue found what he was looking for, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. It was a small wax pill that felt completely different from the surrounding beef.

Guilty of this disgusting method of information transmission, the fake lieutenant still pressed the wax pill under his tongue. The rest of the beef slid into his esophagus, a slight feeling of nausea churning deep in his digestive tract.

Thankfully, there wasn't much conversation at the dinner table, and everyone just ate with their heads down, even with a small wax pill in their mouth.

"Sorry, I'll make it easier. ”

After asking the waiter for the location of the toilet, Soleton made his way downstairs to the toilet. Toilets in the 17th century were already stinking, especially in this fortified city. Even if there are punished privates who come to clean the toilets in the middle of the night, and even if there are water and fertilizer trucks that are brought in and out every day, it will not affect the stench of the toilet in the slightest. Bearing back the unappetizing smell, the young lieutenant took the wax pill out of his mouth and read the note it contained in the dim light of an oil lamp. The scribbled handwriting on the note seems to have been disguised to prevent others from recognizing the handwriting.

"You must be in the toilet right now, or secretly reading this note on the way to the toilet. To prevent others from following or peeping at you, now quickly go to the second pit from the left and squat down and throw the note into the toilet paper basket. ”

Seeing the words on the paper, Soleton gasped at the stench of the toilet and began to speculate about the writer's mastery of magic. Prophecy, Omenology, and Astrology all seem to be somewhat possible, but none of them are the same. No magic that indicates the future can predict the outcome of something definite. If the writer is a spell user, the list of suspects isn't too long. It shouldn't be too difficult to identify a target among such a handful of suspects......

A handful of suspects?

Thinking of this, he suddenly woke up and couldn't help laughing: this prediction was actually not surprising. Just know that he didn't come alone, and there are only a handful of places where he can read the note. Of course, a novice will 100% choose the toilet that he thinks is a hidden place, how can he know that this arrangement has long been in the calculation of others?

After figuring out the key, Soleton crouched down in the second pit. Separated by blackened planks between the two squatting positions, he pulled the old creaking wooden door, hung up the rusty iron latch, and threw the note in his hand into a ball at the bottom of the paper basket. As he expected, he found a second thin piece of letter paper in the gap between the planks next to the paper basket. The man was very careful in the details, and deliberately chose inferior paper that looked like hand paper. It was only when the first one was opened that the smug look on Soleton's face disappeared.

The handwriting on the paper glowed faintly green, and the content was just as chilling: "You're now exposed, newbie. You don't hesitate to use this risky form of emergency contact in a dangerous situation, and you perform this small gesture in front of two trained spell users, and one of your companions—or both of them—must have been following you. Now, be still and listen to the footsteps around you. ”

As Soleton gasped again, the sound of heavy, powerful footsteps could be heard outside the toilet door, and he hurriedly pulled out a second piece of paper.

"If the footsteps are heavy and powerful, this man is an envoy of the Empire. If the footsteps are slight, or there are no footsteps, it's your colleague. The latter is less likely, and if this happens, you will immediately destroy all your contact documents and throw them in the paper basket, and I will take care of the rest of the problem. Don't try to contact me again using this method, I'll find a way to contact you again. But if it's the former, he'll definitely pick a squat next to you and find a way to deal with him. ”

The wooden door on the left creaks open and closes again. With a few gentle taps, Viscount Rasta's deliberately muffled voice came from next door: "Sorry, do you have any paper, Lieutenant?"

"Well, Your Excellency, you actually came here to go to the toilet yourself...... "Soleton said perfunctorily, hurriedly flipping to the third. He was already a little at a loss. The third piece of paper had only two lines scrawled: if it was confirmed that it was an envoy from the Empire, give him the fourth.

Hearing Soleton's words, the Viscount burst out laughing: "Personally, your words are so funny, even His Majesty the Emperor can't let his ministers go to the toilet instead of him, right?"

Soleton pulls out a fourth piece of paper with two scribbled words in light black charcoal: "Brume Eagle." He didn't have time to think about it, and hurriedly threw the piece of paper from above into the squatting position next door.

"Thank you!" followed by this thanks, and the next door suddenly fell silent. No, it should be said that everything seemed to be quiet, so quiet that there was no sound at all, only the whispers of Rasta ringing in Soleton's ears.

"I've set up a small quiet field where no one will hear us talking now. What did 'Foghawk' tell you to pass on to me, and where was he himself?"

Hearing this, Soleton understood the meaning of the piece of paper before. That was actually the contact code of the Holy Empire's spy network in Forteburg! Clad López's intelligence network was so powerful that even he knew about this kind of secret information......

Soleton's hands began to tremble, and for a moment fear welled up in his heart. He really underestimated the difficulty of intelligence work, and he shouldn't have used that code so easily. If it hadn't been for the secret agent who provided the secret information to tell him these top-secret information, he would have gotten through it by now. He scanned the last piece of paper as fast as he could.

"Perfunctory about the whereabouts of his 'Fog Hawk'. In the name of the 'Fog Hawk' sending the report back, he was prevented from any further possibility of spying on Forte Fort. If you have the opportunity, establish intelligence and emotional contact with him. ”

This is where the green word breaks. Soleton bit his lip, trying to suppress the tension and uneasiness in his heart. He is indeed a novice, but there is a master behind him...... He didn't need to be afraid, and he couldn't let the Imperial agents next to him see that he was afraid. He struggled to recall the plot of the spy novel he had read earlier, piecing together reasonable dialogue.

"'Fog Hawk' is in a delicate situation, it is difficult for him to meet with you, and I hope you don't take the initiative to contact him again. Once he is exposed, it will cause great trouble, and His Majesty the Emperor cannot afford such a loss. ”

Viscount Rasta immediately asked, "With his position, I can understand it. What else is there to say? There's no way he's going to ask you to contact me in such a risky way for this one. ”

"There's another very important thing. As for ......" Soleton considered for a moment, speculating on the only possible reason for the report," ...... A detailed report of this coup d'état, 'Fog Eagle' has been sent. He doesn't intend to pass you because the chances of you being exposed are too great. ”

Vlasol Rasta's voice froze: "That guy! uh...... Forget it, that's reasonable. Anything else?"

It seems that the two men know each other...... Moreover, the relationship is not too good. Based on this, Soleton revised the following dialogue: "Also, he asks you to never do anything more dangerous...... Uh, that ...... Self-asserted espionage. He hopes that you will not waste His Majesty's true goal because of your own claims. ”

Rasta's side was silent for a while before a response came.

"Okay. Tell him that he may try to persuade Marshal Radetz Govar to meet me officially. Let's go back separately, I'll go first, you'll come later. I've lifted the silence. ”

The wooden door creaked open again, and the sound of heavy footsteps faded away. Naymen Soleton's feet went limp, and he nearly collapsed in the manure pit. He tore the sheets of paper to shreds and threw them into the paper basket. He felt that it was a little inappropriate to leave in this way, so he took out another piece of paper and scribbled on it, "The secret envoy requests that a meeting with His Royal Highness the Marshal be arranged as soon as possible, please handle it with caution", and then threw it into the paper basket before leaving.

When he returned to the restaurant, he had no intention of eating, but just hastily drank some soup and ate some desserts. Captain Edith still had a diplomatic smile on his face, as if he was not suspicious of their actions. The three of them said goodbye very kindly, Viscount Rasta returned to his room, and Soleton and Edith went back to report to Major Theon Constan, the captain of the gendarmerie, and handed over their shifts. Everything seemed to be calm, as calm as ever.

That night, Soleton lay in his room, staring at the ceiling and stayed awake all night.

Two weeks after arriving at the fortress, the penultimate night before Adventism, the young lieutenant finally realized that the world around him was more complicated than he had originally thought. This seemingly safe fortress is not calm, with intertwined undercurrents surging beneath its surface.

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