Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1651 1623. In Time

"So, this is the reason why your army has advanced all the way to the northernmost part of Aedirn?"

In front of the large dwarven stone round table where the meeting had been held, Lan En, holding a thick stack of contract documents and a cowhide diary in his hands, asked Henry and Hans with a chuckle.

"Because your commander is eager to get the occupation record so that his soldiers can enjoy more enclosure decree benefits, and these benefits will eventually be aggregated to the Merchants Association. And you..."

Lan En gently threw the cowhide diary in his hand onto the pile of documents, making a dull clattering sound.

"You will get nothing."

Hans and Henry were both dirty and smelly at this time.

It wasn't just the smell of sweat and blood from last night's fight and escape that fermented, but also the smell of what happened in the cell before.

When Hans was driven out by the dwarf uncle and nephew Boden, he accidentally kicked over the dung bucket in the cell.

This made the two men look even more undignified than beggars, if they were not wearing armor.

"Oh my god." The human captain of the rebel army on the stone table mocked them in a low voice, "Do these two like to roll in the cesspool?"

Hans lowered his head in shame, but Henry, who was born in the village, explained in a simple and honest voice: "We also want to be clean, but..."

But what can the two captives decide?
The rebels were not unable to tolerate the stench. They had been fighting guerrilla warfare for so long, how could they not tolerate such a small "hardship"? It was purely out of disgust for Nilfgaard that they mocked.

"Thank you, Mayor Borden." Lan turned around on his stool and nodded to the dwarf. "The information you found successfully solved one of our difficult problems."

"This is what we should do." Cecil Borden nodded calmly. "Just call me Cecil."

"We already have a private connection with Lady Sakia. The dwarves in Vergen all support the rebellion. If the Nilfgaardians hadn't come to kill us, we might be in a clean tavern right now, toasting to each other peacefully."

Perhaps because he is in charge of the town, Cecil, who holds the management position of mayor, has a much calmer temper than the average dwarf and is not too hot-tempered.

At this time, the corpses in the city of Vergen had been almost cleared, but there was still constant banging and banging, and it was noisy and bustling.

This was the rebel army's transformation or dismantling of the Nilfgaardians' previous facilities to strengthen the city of Vergen's defenses.

Now, this hall, which was originally used for meetings, has become a joint office space with its stone round tables now open.

Under Lan En's coordination, except for those who have to go out for field work, basically all the people in charge are busy here.

Lan En pushed the document in his hand to Sakia beside him, asking her to take a quick look at it.

"Is this how the Emperor of Nilfgaard treats his soldiers?" Iorveth said sarcastically beside Sakia. "Okay, okay. I feel much more relieved now."

Hans lowered his head even deeper upon hearing that, but Henry remained expressionless.

Lan En, under the hood, first glanced at the performance of the two men.

Then he shook his head and said, “I’m sure Emhyr wouldn’t do that, but as for the Merchants’ Association and the nobles, how much can he control? How strictly can he control them? Even with this kind of private collusion, it’s hard to say how much he knows.”

After that, Lan En changed the subject: "But you are right, this is good news for us."

He explained to the rebels: "The Merchants Association bribed the officers to enclose the land for themselves. This is a big deal, how could it be just him?"

As he spoke, Lan En raised the cowhide diary to refer to the owner of the diary.

"Oh, I understand a little bit now!" Yarpen was chewing a smoked sausage, his eyes shining as he chewed. "You mean, the Nilfgaardians and Kaedwenis have already started a conflict?"

"The scale won't be large," Lan En nodded, "but the frequency and scope will not be small."

"I'm afraid the battlefield right now has already become a jagged, intertwined, mutually invading battlefield."

A map of Aedirn was spread out on the stone table, which was clearly divided into two parts, north and south, with the Kaedwen-occupied area and the Nilfgaard-occupied area marked on it.

But as the war progressed, this simple and straightforward division was undoubtedly outdated.

Those Nilfgaardian commanders who had cooperated with the Merchant Guild, or simply saw an opportunity on their own, had now invaded Upper Aedirn in small groups like a comb through flesh.

But even so, the Nilfgaardian troops that occupied the city of Vergen should be the most eager for quick success.

From Vergen north across the Pontar River, all that is left is Kaedwen territory.

After receiving the accurate information that was logical, Lan En looked at the pile of documents and the map of Aedirn on the table, and his mind started to work rapidly.

All the information about the Nilfgaardians' battle line deployment during the truce and the Kaedweni's military deployment into Aedirn was in his mind and was reviewed by Mentos.

"Did Kaedwen value this city before?"

Under the hood, Lan En suddenly asked Cecil, "Important? Of course, this is the entrance to the Pontar Valley!"

Cecil Borden put his hands on his hips, and spoke with pride at first, but then with self-mockery and a wry smile.

"But, that's the geographical location. Vergen is a city dominated by dwarves, and everyone knows what Kaedwen is like."

Kaedwen can be said to be the worst country among the four northern countries in terms of its treatment of non-human races. This is because King Henselt is the "Boar King" who openly oppresses and massacres non-human races.

"After he occupied Upper Aedirn, he didn't bother us much. It seemed quite peaceful. But we are not optimistic."

"Because we think that Henselt probably wants to concentrate on guarding against the Nilfgaardians. When he has time, he will clear out the non-human races in the city and massacre them. That's why we were happy to contact Lady Sakia's rebels before."

"We don't want to be lambs waiting to die with our heads covered!"

It was precisely because Kaedwen put this dwarf city aside and wanted to deal with it later that the small force of Nilfgaardians captured this place.

"When did the Nilfgaardians capture this place? What was the original defense strength of Kaedwen?"

Lan En asked the question without hesitation, as if he had thought about it all along.

This way of questioning, which seemed to capture the key rhythm, made Sakia and Iorveth, who were originally looking at the documents, unconsciously focus their eyes on it.

They instinctively felt that something was going to happen after they got enough information.

They felt right.

"Five days ago?" After getting Cecil's answer, Lan raised the corner of his mouth under the hood. "Calculating the time, it's still in time."

"How late is it?" Cassandra walked over with great interest, holding a glass of dwarven beer in her hand.

"Just in time to confuse the Kaedweni army."

Lan pointed to a city on the map called Dichot, located in the east of Vergen.

"This is the center where the Kaedweni control and manage this area. The Kaedweni garrison before Vergen was mainly responsible for them."

"And if our Nilfgaardian 'friends' really did a good job in capturing Vergen."

As he spoke, Lan En looked up from under his hood with interest and glanced at the two captives standing at a loss in the room.

"We are not Nilfgaardians, sir." Henry said in a muffled voice.

As if he was afraid of angering Lan, Hans added, "It was really easy for us to take this place that day! We didn't let anyone escape!"

Lann turned around and said, "That means the Kaedwen of Dichot didn't even know that Vergen had changed hands twice!"

Without intending to give the confused Yarpen and the others time to react, Lan simply nodded to Cassandra.

"I need you to take the one hundred men who have been equipped with Nilfgaardian equipment and set out immediately after you are ready. Go east to the east of Dichiot and then launch an attack on the Kaedweni near this area."

"That's fine with me." Cassandra crossed her arms and shrugged. She looked completely relaxed, not nervous at all. "But how long will it take them to change clothes? Also, what specifications do we need to bring in for the supplies?"

"Heh." Lan En smiled first, "Nikolaos has taught you a good foundation, Spartan."

"What specifications do the supplies need to be?" This sentence is asking about the planned combat intensity and the duration of the mission.

Allowing looting of the enemy means that time is not too urgent and supplies do not need to be planned too tightly.

Not allowing looting of the enemy means that speed and efficiency are paramount, and you must withdraw immediately after completing the mission.

There are many other factors that affect the rate of material consumption, but they are basically linked to combat style and combat requirements.

Even the armies of ancient Greece, especially the professional army of Sparta, had already figured out these things.

Cassandra raised her glass to Lan in response to his praise.

Lan turned to look at Cecil and Alpen.

"The craftsmen in the city can start working now!" After being rescued, the mayor of Vergen had first inspected the changes in the city after being occupied for a few days, so he had a good idea of ​​the situation.

Yarpan was very clear about the logistics of the military equipment: "You only need 100 pieces of Nilfgaardian equipment, and we can get them together now. The craftsmen are now working on the repairs, and we can have them before lunch. But I still don't quite understand."

"Didn't we decide beforehand to mess up the fragile 'friendship' between Kaedwen and Nilfgaard?" Lan chuckled from beneath his hood.

(End of this chapter)