Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 821 - 82 Enemy_2

Chapter 821: Chapter 82 Enemy_2 Chapter 821: Chapter 82 Enemy_2 As soon as they entered the church, Tulin reported anxiously, “Commander! Revodan has not yet fallen!”

Due to the church’s echo structure, Tulin’s voice sounded particularly ethereal, its content akin to the gospel.

The spirits of others in the command post were lifted. Winters, who had been poring over the map, suddenly looked up and gestured for Tulin to explain in detail.

Revodan was surrounded by the forces of Terdun, with Terdun’s cavalry patrolling along the southern shore.

Communication in and out of the city was completely cut off, and the messenger who took a detour along the north shore hadn’t returned. Tulin was the first Scout under Winters’s command to break through the blockade.

Tulin did not dare to delay or take credit for his findings. Glancing around, he spoke loudly and clearly, “There are many barbarian patrols; I couldn’t enter the city but did catch a glimpse of the western slopes. I can assure you, the flag atop the city walls is still our blue army flag, not the barbarians’ horsetail banner!”

Many in the command post were citizens of Revodan, with their families in the city.

...

Upon hearing this, the clerks could not help but cheer out loud, sweeping away the gloom that had accumulated over the past few days.

The sound waves spread out of the church, transmitting the news that “Revodan is still holding strong.”

Upon hearing the news, the soldiers and laborers who had been constructing fortifications around the town threw down their tools and also began to shout wildly, venting the emotions pent up inside them.

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In the frenzy, only one person maintained his calm and restraint.

Winters tapped his fingertips lightly on the tabletop and slowly asked Tulin, “Is Revodan’s city defense still intact?”

“Intact!” Tulin replied without hesitation, “The city walls are all in good condition. There’s no sign of fires. I also observed carts and pedestrians on the bridge, seeming to transport something!”

Bard strode energetically into the church, and as soon as he entered, he joyfully asked, “Heard Revodan is safe and sound? Our senior really is capable!”

“Safe and sound. Since our senior has held Revodan, we have more options now.” Winters unconsciously stroked a simple knife, lost in thought.

Seeing this, Bard signaled for everyone else to remain, and silence fell over the church again.

Winters stood below the altar, deep in thought. Sunlight streamed through the church’s mosaic glass windows onto him, giving his figure a mottled look.

His subordinates and clerks looked on reverently, some silently praying in their hearts.

“Bard,” Winters spoke slowly and deliberately, “Conscript all persons in Iron Peak County over the age of fifteen and under sixty.”

…

Green-flagged messengers raced in all directions, carrying two orders.

The first order called for the conscription of all men over fifteen and under sixty from Middle Iron Peak County and Upper Iron Peak County as militia; those who joined were to receive a specified allotment of land, with thrice the amount for those who fell in battle.

The second order had spread throughout Saint Town before it was even fully copied.

It had no official name, but everyone spoke its nickname with a hint of fear and shiver—”the beheading order.”

It stated that in Iron Peak County, regardless of gender, age, or civilian status, anyone who could bring an enemy’s head, along with a helmet or hat as proof, would receive an allotment of land.

Land was Winters’s capital, and his only capital. But when the time came to use it, Winters was never stingy.

…

Mason also received a message from Winters—the messenger who had crossed the river through King’s Bridge Town had finally reached Revodan.

“What is this?” Mason sighed deeply as he handed the note to Moritz, “Is it some special script used by the Venetians?”

The hastily created cipher was too simple to carry much information.

Yet the risk of interception was not to be ignored, so Winters’s message was written in code.

Mason couldn’t understand it.

Moritz, who was listless, took the note, glanced at it, and quickly handed it back, saying, “No.”

Due to the lack of grain for brewing, Moritz had been suffering severe withdrawal symptoms.

At the moment, he was fiddling with a small silver flask, the last of Revodan’s strong liquor inside.

The colonel was so focused on every detail of the flask that it seemed mere contact might quench his thirst.

Only Mason knew that the colonel was saving the last of the liquor for the battle.

“What else did the Civil Guard Officer Montaigne say?” Mason asked, resigned, to the messenger.

“The Civil Guard Officer said,” the messenger replied, “Go find A and B.”

…

Usually, within the military, A referred to Lieutenant Tang Juan, and B stood for Moritz.

Tang Juan had been missing for a while, but Mason was aware of another A, and at this moment, this Ms. A was right here in Revodan.

Ms. A—Anna Navarre took the note, looking at the jumbled letters with a slight frown.

Catherine also peeked over her sister’s shoulder, but she was equally clueless.

“It’s from Winters,” Mason said, embarrassed, “I think only you can understand it.”

Hearing that name, Anna’s brow smoothed over, and she answered modestly and with a touch of shyness, “Then I probably understand how to interpret it.”

Anna went on to simply explain the reason, her cheeks growing redder as she did.

Since Winters’s letters to Anna were always being spied on, when Anna once mentioned it in jest, Winters had told her about a method of encryption.

“In ancient times, a commander would shift each letter in the military orders by several places down the alphabet,” Winters had thought he was solving a problem, “thus, the original sentences would turn into a jumble of letters.”