Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 576 Siege (Twenty-eight)

  [Central Army Tent]

"You come to see me now?" Geisa sat behind the map table, staring at Winters coldly, "It seems that you don't take me seriously at all!"

  "I've actually thought about whether I should come and say hello first," Winters dragged the camp chair at the other end of the map table to Gesa's side. As if it wasn't close enough, he dragged it forward a distance, almost until his knees touched each other, and said while he was busy.

"After thinking it over, I feel that I should go to the front line first. Otherwise, if you glare at me, slam the table, and ask me, 'You are a soldier, but you don't go to understand the battle situation first, but come to greet me first, are you still worthy of being a soldier?' Then I will have to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

"On the contrary, let's go to the front line first. General Geisa is a magnanimous person and won't bother with a minor major like me. Besides, it will be convenient to understand the battle situation first so that I can talk to General Geisa, don't you think?"

As he spoke, Winters supported himself on the armrests of the camp chair with both hands, and like a puppet that lacked lubrication, he leaned down stiffly until his buttocks touched the seat, then he sat down with a grimace.

Geisa snorted, stood up and walked behind Winters, grabbed Winters' shoulders with one hand and pressed the other hand on Winters' lower back.

"What are you doing?" Winters turned to look at Geisa Adonis in confusion.

“Don’t turn around,” Gesar snapped in a low voice, “Sit up straight.”

Winters sat up straight, and the next second he felt a sharp pain coming from his lower back, so painful that he almost jumped up from the camp chair.

He looked at Gesa in horror.

Gesar made a "tsk" sound. "You can't bear this little pain." He patted Winters' shoulder. "Get up and lie on the map table."

"Just because I didn't come to say hello first," Winters cried out in protest, "are you going to torture me again?"

"Stop talking nonsense," Geisa slapped Winters on the back again, "Lie down on the table and take off your shirt."

Winters did as he was told, half-heartedly.

"Does it hurt?" Geisa put his hand on the lower back of his head.

"No, a little higher up," Winters answered honestly.

"here?"

"Correct."

As soon as he finished speaking, Winters felt a great force pressing down from the side of his lumbar spine, pushing up and down at the same time, and the force was gradually increasing, getting stronger and stronger, until finally, it almost pressed into his skin and flesh.

At a certain moment, Winters seemed to hear a "crack", but it seemed to be an illusion.

He turned his head to look at Geisa, who stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Now Winters was sure that the crisp sound was not an illusion.

"Did you break any of my bones?" Winters asked quietly.

"Get up!" Upon hearing that, Geisa was so angry that he kicked the ungrateful wolf cub.

Winters stood up and made a few tentative movements. He was surprised to find that the back pain that had troubled him all the way was miraculously relieved, making him feel much more relaxed.

"Father Carman can't relieve my back pain," Winters gently moved his upper body and asked in surprise, "Where did you learn this skill?"

"Don't move, it's not over yet," Gesar said with a stern face. He turned around, stretched out his arms to Winters, and said, "Put your arms over here."

"Uh...how do I match it?"

"Come over here!"

Following Geisa's instructions, Winters and Geisa stood back to back, close to each other, with their arms clasped together.

Gasa groaned, exerted his strength suddenly, and actually lifted up the tall and strong Winters on his back.

Then he carried Winters, whose feet were off the ground, and "dumped" out again and again, as if he was shaking off dust.

Fortunately, there were only Winters and Geisa in the central military tent, otherwise it would be difficult to explain the strange posture of the two in a few words.

After doing this for about thirty times, Geisa was already exhausted and out of breath. He put Winters down and said, "Let's move around again."

Winters tried a few more movements, and this time, he could hardly feel the "pain". The pain that had made him afraid to move before disappeared, leaving only a little discomfort, like the wet marks left by the water in the ruts after drying. "You are really..." Winters was so surprised that he didn't know what to say, "It's amazing! It's amazing!"

"Humph," Geisa pretended to be disdainful, but still couldn't hide his pride. He wiped the sweat off his face and taught him a lesson, "You rude boy, come see me first next time, and I won't blame you."

"Of course," Winters thanked him wholeheartedly, but he still couldn't hide his curiosity. "How did you learn this?"

"If you ride a horse too much, especially when wearing armor, you will develop this problem sooner or later. As for my skill," Geisa sighed, "I learned it from Senior Bode."

Winters sighed softly upon hearing this.

"Forget it, why mention that old man?" Geisa threw away the towel he used to wipe his sweat, sat down on the chair behind the map table, and asked directly, "Have Gaspar and his men been sent back?"

"After we've crossed the river, there shouldn't be any problems the rest of the way."

"When did you come back?"

Winters held up four fingers. "Four days ago."

"Four days ago?" Geisa raised his eyebrows. "Riding a horse all the way? Are you crazy, kid? Aren't you afraid of something happening?!"

"I didn't ride all the way," Winters defended himself weakly. "I took a boat to Mirror Lake County first, and then rode the rest of the way."

"That won't work either. A messenger can ride like this, but you can't. Do you understand?"

"understood."

Gesa paused and asked meaningfully, "You went to explore the road. How is it? Is it easy to walk?"

Winters sighed and shook his head heavily, "It's a hard walk."

He explained, "It's the rainy season on the grassland, and the four-wheeled carriages can't move at all. The newly built spring carriages can barely move, but they have to carry less stuff. Considering the round trip distance, it is equivalent to adding hundreds of kilometers of loss out of thin air. So if we want to provide meaningful support to the 'North', we can only go by water."

“Can we go by water?”

Winters shook his head again. "Mirror Lake County is still blocked by the fleet of the United Provinces-Kings Castle. Some ships have even traveled upstream to the Hed Wasteland. They are probably collecting hydrological information."

The more Geisa listened, the more his brows furrowed.

"But in my opinion, the most important thing right now is to find out the war situation in Jiangbei Province. Not only has the people of the Federation blocked the Jinliu River, but also because of..." Winters chose his words carefully, "because of that incident..."

"Just say it straight," Geisa waved his hand, "What's that? Wasn't it just that I beat Bazenauer?"

“Yes, due to the exchange of fire in Bazenauer,” Winters said simply, “the Hongchuan side is also hostile to us.

“Although the route through the Hed Wasteland is long and circuitous, it can stably deliver letters. As long as Colonel Gaspard can return to Hongchuan safely, we will have a communication channel within Blue Rose.

"This way, any subsequent actions will be much more convenient."

"What if there's someone who can pass on the message?" Geisa said bluntly, "Isn't it still impossible to cross the river?"

"Yes," Winters nodded, "We still need a boat."

"The ship," Gesar paused, "you can only rely on the people in your hometown."

Winters did not explain that he and Vineta had no affiliation, not because the explanation was meaningless, but because in this situation, the explanation seemed like an evasion.

He just nodded, "I'll find a way."

Gesa hummed, stroking the scarred half of his face, and then changed the subject, his eyes sharp, "So, what are you doing in the Castle of Kings?"

  　[This chapter was originally one chapter with the previous one. I finished writing it during my lunch break, so I just published it here]

　　[This plot is not well written, I am very sorry, there are many places that are not explained clearly, I am also very sorry]

　　[Winters originally planned to go directly to Jiangbei Province under the pretext of escorting prisoners of war, mainly to survey the route, establish contacts, and pave the way for subsequent operations, that is, to explore the way]

　　[The biggest problem for Xinkendi is that they are completely in the dark about the situation in Jiangbei Province. They don't even know whether Hongchuan knows that Geisa attacked Bazenauer. Because although Gaspar sent a communication ship back to report the news, no one knows whether the ship has reached Jiangbei.]

　　[The Shinkenchi side also does not know Hongchuan’s attitude towards [Rebuilding the Country]]

　　[But the two do have a common enemy and a need to band together for warmth, so there is a possibility of union]

　　[The author did think of having Winters lead a detachment to bypass the Great Wasteland and support Hongchuan]

　　[However, considering the distance, season, and the manpower available for the newly reclaimed land, I finally rejected this idea. At least at this point in time, it is too difficult.]

　　[After writing, it is the reader's right to interpret the text. I shouldn't have been so long-winded. But my condition was very bad during this period, and there were many things that I failed to explain clearly, so I have to explain them here. I apologize again]

　　[Thanks to all the book lovers for their collections, readings, subscriptions, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments. Thank you all]

　　(End of this chapter)