Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 116 Guaranteed Job Placement After Graduation Isn't Always a Good Thing
The roof of the Army Province of the United Provinces Republic was almost lifted by the noise. The consul in Guido, Paratu, had just left after making a big fuss when the chief advisor in the United Provinces, Veneta, stormed over in a rage.

The federal military's operation was covert, swift, and efficient, without any warning.

When Venetian officials stationed in the United Provinces learned that all the Venetian trainee officers awaiting commissioning at the military academy had disappeared, it was three days after Winters and his men had been taken away.

“[Veneta’s profanity]! What are you trying to do! What are you trying to do!” Domenico Royer, Veneta’s chief advisor to the United Province, slammed his fist on the table and cursed, spitting all over the face of William Barents, the head of the Army Province’s external liaison department.

Barentsz was one rank higher than Royer in terms of military rank, but since the United Provinces were in the wrong, Barentsz could only smile apologetically and reassure Royer: "Please calm down and let me explain. I assure you, Lieutenant Colonel Royer, that our Army Ministry truly knew absolutely nothing about this matter..."

Royer punched the desk so hard it cracked: "You dare say you didn't know? All sorts of trivial matters, big and small, happened right under the noses of your Army Department, and you still dare say you didn't know?!"

"We really had no idea!" Barents said sincerely. "The General Staff handled this whole thing, keeping the Ministry of the Army in the dark as well. There wasn't a hint of it beforehand, and we only just found out about it."

The separation of military and political power and military command in the United Provinces Republic is a chronic problem that has existed since the beginning of independence. The military in Venetia has only one "Royal Palace", while the military in the United Provinces has a "Province" which is called the same.

The other republics were acutely aware of the potential dangers posed by the United Provinces and learned from their mistakes. Venetia, in particular, fearing a repeat of the United Provinces, enacted numerous laws to severely restrict the power of military personnel.

But Barents's explanation couldn't fool Domenico Royer.

"You're talking nonsense!" Royer was even more furious: "You may not be able to control the General Staff Headquarters, but when has the General Staff Headquarters ever been allowed to extend its reach into your Army Province?! When did military academies become part of the General Staff Headquarters system?! You dare say that military academies are not under the jurisdiction of your military and political system?!"

“That’s right, military academies are under the jurisdiction of the military and political system,” Barents said helplessly. “But the Army Officer Academy is under the jurisdiction of the ‘Allied Army Headquarters’!”

……

……

The carriage traveled along the stone-paved Guzhi Road, its wheels clattering and bumping slightly.

Winters was dozing off with his eyes closed.

The marks on the wooden planks indicated that the group had spent sixteen days in the carriage, during which time Warrant Officer Venetta and his men had to eat hard bread and drink water that had begun to rot.

The large wooden barrel filled with excrement was placed in the corner of the carriage, and it was a miracle that it wasn't overturned along the way.

However, the wooden barrels inevitably emitted a foul odor, which lingered for a long time in the poorly ventilated carriage, mixed with the smell of sweat.

The group in Venetta were numb; they couldn't tell whether they smelled worse on themselves or in the barrel.

If it weren't for the fact that officers are generally physically stronger than ordinary people, this long and arduous "journey" would have been enough to bring down most of them.

Everyone was exhausted. On the first day, the Venetian youths were still cursing, but by the sixth day, they didn't even have the strength to speak.

There were six people in the carriage with Winters, but only Andrea Cellini still had the energy to speak. Andrea stubbornly tried to sharpen the edge of the iron spoon on the iron plate, and after a few strokes, he would mutter a curse in a hoarse voice.

When they were locked in the car, the soldiers from the United Provinces searched everyone and took their weapons, but Andrei secretly brought a spoon with him.

"Alright." Andrei tested the sharp edge of the spoon with his finger with satisfaction: "That's enough."

"Let me see?" Winters opened his eyes.

“Here.” Andre handed the spoon to Winters.

Winters tried it on his face and laughed, saying, "This thing is so difficult to use even for shaving, don't even think about using it for anything else."

"That's enough." Andrei chuckled. "They can't keep us locked up forever... Hmph, I'll charge out the moment the doors open and wipe out those mud bastards!"

Another voice came from the darkness: "Alright, leave that sheep-faced guy to me. I'll pluck all his beards."

The group in Venetta didn't know the mustache's name, so they nicknamed him "Goat Guy" based on his mustache. Over time, this nickname evolved into "Sun Goat Guy".

Despite their hardship, everyone tried to find humor in the situation, and a low chuckle rippled through the carriage.

However, the carriage suddenly stopped, and the carriage became quiet.

Winters listened intently; it seemed as if the horses were being changed again outside the carriage.

The carriages ran day and night from the moment they set off, changing horses but not the carriages along the way. The only way to achieve this is by using a post station system.

If the relay station system was used, it means that this escort was not an individual's reckless act, but rather had at least some degree of official support.

Whenever this thought came to mind, the people in the carriage became increasingly worried.

The change of horses took an unexpectedly long time, and the warrant officers only noticed that it had become quiet outside. Confined inside the carriage, they had no idea what time it was, and could only observe the sun's altitude through the iron windows on the roof.

Then a long time passed, and the carriage did not set off again.

"Did they just dump us in some desolate wilderness?" Andrei exclaimed in shock, pounding on the carriage. "Where are we? Let us out! Did you hear me? Let us out!"

The mustachioed, smug face didn't appear by the iron bars, but Winters heard other sounds: the familiar shouts of his classmates, and the sounds of banging on the train car.

The Venetians on the other vehicles heard Andrei's shout and responded in the same way.

Although they couldn't see each other, the warrant officers used this method to confirm that there were four carriages in total, and that all twenty-seven warrant officers who had returned from Venetta to Guido for the commissioning ceremony were present—even Bard, a member of the Union Province, was there.

But apart from that, the warrant officers received no response.

The sun set and rose again outside the iron bars, leaving only Winters tapping the carriage with his spoon.

Just as Winters, who had already begun to dehydrate, was about to give up, footsteps sounded outside the car.

The locks were smashed open, the car doors were cleaved apart, and the blinding light made the warrant officers, who were used to the darkness, instinctively cover their eyes.

Unable to see clearly for a moment, Winters gripped the arm of his rescuer tightly and asked anxiously, "Where are we now?"

"Where?" The person being asked was completely baffled: "Where else could it be? Of course, it's in Kings' Castle."

[Note: Hetumoger, the capital of the Republic of Plato, is named after the legend that seven kings swore an oath there in ancient times.]
……

……

In a sense, the moment Winters was locked in the carriage, Marshal Ned Smith's last wish was fulfilled.

It was just done in an unexpected way, and for purposes completely opposite to Marshal Ned's original intentions.

When Winters learned he was in Kingsburg, news also reached Hailan that the Venetian graduates had been sent to the Republic of Palatul. The United Provinces' military action was absurd, ridiculous, inexplicable, and even… childish.

Why did they do this? This was the question that lingered in the minds of all the military and political personnel in Venetia.

How dare they do this? This was the anger that surged in the hearts of all the Venetians who learned of it.

But since it has already happened, the first thing to do is to solve the problem.

"This matter is indeed a bit complicated," Colonel Andre said, taking a drag on his cigarette. "It's not easy to resolve."

The throne room at the Venetia Army headquarters was filled with smoke; it was here that the war plan for Taniriya was finalized a year ago.

A year later, the senior officers of the Vinnetta Army gathered here again. But this time, they were discussing the career paths of a group of second lieutenants, which gave the officers present a sense of dark humor.

"What's so difficult about that?" Another officer in the conference room asked, puzzled. "They send the people to Palatour, and we just bring them back, right?"

Colonel Andro glanced at the questioner and said impatiently, "They weren't sent to Palatul, they were 'assigned' to Palatul, understand? Assigned! Their military status went with them! The kids graduating this year are now official officers belonging to the Republic of Palatul!"

"Huh? Why are we Venetians being assigned to the highlands?" the questioner exclaimed in astonishment.

Andro sighed and had no choice but to explain the reasons in detail.

On what basis did the Army Officer Academy assign the Venetians to the highlands?

Procedurally speaking, the Army Officer Academy does indeed have the authority to assign Veneta graduates to the Republic of Palatour.

Because the military academy cadets are not registered in the republics, but in the Cenas Union.

For example, Winters was still a civilian citizen while attending Army Junior School and Army Preparatory School. He only began to have military status and become a real soldier, with the rank of private, after being admitted to the Army Officer School.

Therefore, although Winters was born in Veneta, his military affiliation during his time at the military academy was not in the Republic of Veneta, but in the Army Officer Academy, and his file was kept by the academy's archives.

The Army Officer Academy is also affiliated with the Allied Army Headquarters...

In other words, military cadets are not "soldiers of the republics," but "soldiers of the alliance."

Before military cadets were assigned to the republics, the Allied Army had absolute and complete personnel authority over them.

The problem lies in this "allocation".

"Go back to where you came from." This is a rule that has been in effect for nearly thirty years since Marshal Ned founded the school, and it has never gone wrong.

Venetia students returned to Venetia, while United Province students remained in United Province; everyone kept to themselves and did not interfere with each other.

The problem is that Field Marshal Ned still retained a clause in the school charter stating that "when conditions permit, graduates should not be assigned places based on their place of origin."

Ned Smith acted with goodwill, hoping to mend the rifts between the republics.

But what does "when conditions permit" mean? And what does "reasonable allocation" mean?
No explanation.

There was no explanation... so whoever held the school seal could explain it however they wanted.

Although this power has never been used, the Allied Army Commission can actually allocate military academy graduates however it wants.

When Winters and others were "properly assigned" to the Republic of Palatul, they legally became army soldiers belonging to Palatul.

"[Expletive]! Isn't the Allied Army Committee just a shell of the United Provinces Army?" After hearing Andro's explanation, the attending officers and colonels of Veneta were dumbfounded: "On what basis... on what basis?"

The officers in the conference room were all graduates of the Army Officer Academy, but none of them had ever heard of such a thing.

“That’s right, the Alliance is just a puppet of the United Provinces. But procedurally speaking, the Alliance Army Committee has complete and absolute power over the personnel allocation of military academy students. That’s how it is; we’ve been tricked by the United Provinces.” Colonel Andro was also quite frustrated.

"Are the people in the United Provinces out of their minds? Why are they doing such disgusting and ridiculous things? Will we be unable to fight if we send twenty-odd second lieutenants to Palatour? Isn't this just pure madness?" Colonel Born, who was in charge of the military police, was furious.

Many officers joined in the cursing, and the conference room became chaotic.

"Have you ever seen a couple deeply in love?" General Zio, who hadn't spoken for a long time, finally asked.

The throne room fell silent suddenly, and the conversation about men and women left everyone puzzled.

Cho said calmly, "If men and women love each other, they are willing to go through fire and water. But if they turn against each other, they will use every means to hurt each other. I think that our relationship with the people of the United Provinces is like that of men and women. When we love each other, we love each other to the point of life and death, but now that we have fallen out, our relationship naturally becomes uglier and uglier."

These words sounded like a joke, yet they weren't. The others present pondered them, wanting to laugh but unable to.

"What was the point of the Benliuhe Legion crossing the border river and burning two of our beacon towers? And what's the point of sending the children to the plateau this time?" Qiao stood up, looked at his subordinates, and said coldly, "None of them are meaningful, but these actions themselves are significant. The United Provinces are simply provoking us, using every method they can think of. Big moves, small moves—the goal is the same. For us, there's only one core question. If the United Provinces go to war with us, can we win now?"

The officers present remained silent, for the answer was obvious.

Seeing that his subordinates remained silent, Zio sat down again and said calmly, "Then we can only endure it. This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end, this is just the end of the beginning. Just watch, the United Provinces will have more actions to take in the future... but for now we can only endure it."

"What will happen to this year's children? Will they just be left on the plateau?" Major General Pedroti couldn't help but ask.

"If they can get the person across, we can bring them back. We just need to send someone to pick up this newly promoted second lieutenant," Colonel Born said, spreading his hands in a rather optimistic manner.

“Military status can be transferred, but they are now citizens of the Republic of Palatour, so we need their approval first.” Colonel Andro’s expression remained very worried.

Born said matter-of-factly, "Then let's ask them to agree. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for the Venetians to return to Venetia?"

"I'm afraid the people of the plateau won't agree easily this time," Andro sighed.

"why."

"Because this year's children were sent overseas."

Consider this a small foreshadowing resolution... When the allocation model was explained at the beginning, Winters and the others were already destined to be sent to Palatine.

Being assigned a job means "you have to go wherever you're told to go."

Thank you to all the readers who voted for the book before, thank you to reader Tianjingtou for the monthly ticket, and thank you to readers Heise Computer Accessories, Tianjingtou, Yu Shi Tong Zhou, 20181010005850390, Tianshui You Jiaren, 161120205936216, Dandingdi Huiguo, Tianjingtou, writersblock, and Zhengyi Chunjie Shi Koala for the recommendation tickets. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)