Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1653 1625. Kaedweni Soldiers

A fixed portal, the direction of which of course leads to Aretuza College in Gos Velen, far away in Temeria.

After all, when Lan, Sakia and Iorveth reached a consensus, Margarita also cautiously expressed her expectations for the prospects of this cooperation on behalf of the warlocks of Aretuza and expressed her intention to invest.

But although Margarita has no taboos with Lan En and allows him to do whatever he wants, she is always more cautious when she takes actions and makes decisions on behalf of the academy.

The sorceress's support will not be made public, at least not before the situation of the rebels has been stabilized in the international situation.

This meant that Aretuza College could not use its vast assets, relying on the dwarven bankers' developed financial industry, to directly deliver funds and support materials to the rebels far away in Aedirn.

It's not even easy to just send a trusted sorceress to act as a spell advisor.

Now is a time of war, and the situation on the continent is highly sensitive. No one knows how many spies and detectives are roaming around in this world.

No one knows how many mages are monitoring every fluctuation of the portal spell and the fluctuation of long-distance communications.

Then I can only come secretly.

But there is also a problem with doing it secretly, and that is that the delivery efficiency is too low.

The rebels have been fighting in Aedirn for nearly a year. Aretuza's resources have been given to them, and they are often worth a lot.

But to be honest, with this amount, Saskia would rather have a few cabinets of Valyrian steel ingots than those expensive and rare magic items.

The rebels want to expand themselves, so they must go in quantity. What you gave me now is not bad, but it is not the right way!
But now, the rebels have finally gained a relatively stable stronghold after nearly a year of turbulence.

It is also the prototype of the free city-state that Sakia and Iorveth had expected, Vergen.

Just like when you rent a house and move frequently, it is always difficult to buy large furniture. Once you have your own fixed residence, you can buy large items with peace of mind.

A fixed portal is a large object that is "precious, difficult to move, and difficult to maintain."

In comparison, a fixed portal does not rely too much on the mana of the person who opens the portal. Even for an ordinary demon hunter, a shot of [Alder Seal] is enough to activate it.

Moreover, its fluctuations are small and hidden enough, which is a very important advantage in today's contemptuous era where everyone is in danger and doesn't know who to trust.

But on the other hand, the premise for the fixed portal to have such an advantage is that its cost is really not low.

This cost is not simply 'funding'.

Instead, they are various rare and precious materials that are so rare that they are out of stock, advanced magical knowledge, and other things that cannot be bought with money.

Many of the existing fixed portals were left by wizards in the ancient elf era. They were left in the wilderness and ancient ruins, and no one activated them, so they gradually fell into disrepair.

Nowadays, not many people have the ability to build this kind of portal, and not many materials can be used.

Therefore, building a fixed portal is not dangerous even for Lan En, but it is troublesome and depends on luck.

Lan En thought that now was the time to do this tedious work.

And once this fixed portal is finally built, Aretusa and the future free city-state of Vergen will be connected, allowing for smoother integrated operations.
-
While the insurgents in Vergen were organizing this hard-earned base, three days had passed.

On the banks of the Tiffany River, which runs east-west and divides Aedirn into two halves, the Kaedweni army has been stationed here for several months without moving an inch.

The Pontar River divides the northern territory horizontally, while the Mahakam Mountains and the Kestra Mountains divide it vertically, intersecting into a cross and dividing the northern territory into roughly four parts.

The Tiffany River is a river that also flows out of the Blue Mountains. Its upper reaches run parallel to the Pontar River, but it finally merges with the Pontar River near Vergen.

This river divides Aedirn into two parts, north and south, which are called Upper Aedirn and Lower Aedirn in Aedirn.

However, Kaedwen and Aedirn have always had territorial disputes. They regard the northern Upper Aedirn region as a part of their own historical rule and insist on calling this area "Lomako" by their own name.

During the months of truce, the Kaedweni army stationed and patrolled on the north side of the Tiffany River, flying their yellow flag with a black unicorn. On the south side of the river, the Nilfgaardian flag with a black sun disk fluttered across the river.

None of them showed any intention of moving.

Today, the river is still flowing, and a Kaedweni military camp stationed dozens of kilometers away from the river has not moved.

The commander of the camp was a centurion in the Kaedweni military system. He rode into the camp from the road, as if he had just returned from a high-level meeting.

This military camp was not the usual crude facility made of tents and wood cut on the spot. Instead, it looked like it had houses, wells, and even a water wheel.

The troops stopped fighting to spend the winter, but how could they spend the winter in tents? Of course there had to be houses for the soldiers to live in.

These soldiers simply used a village with a good terrain as their military camp.

Most of the Kaedweni military camps stationed and rotated in the surrounding areas also use this method to spend the winter.

The centurion's horse's hooves raised dust as he walked into his house, which turned out to be the village tavern.

As soon as he entered, he saw his centurions gathered around the burning fireplace. Some were playing Gwent, while others were maintaining their weapons, but they were all waiting for him as he had ordered.

He couldn't help but nodded.

Seeing him come in, the centurions quickly made way for the seat near the fireplace and let him rub his hands and warm them by the fire first.

"Uh, Lord Centurion?" asked the Archer Decree Captain. "What have the big guys decided? Are you still not going to fight? Tell us now."

The centurion waved his hand and took the glass of vodka first. After drinking the whole glass, he let out a long sigh and smacked his lips as if he was savoring the taste.

"Oh, please tell me now!" The archer centurion was a little impatient. "Can we still fight? Or continue to wander around the river and maintain the defense line? Like an extra guest at a wedding banquet?"

"Are you itching to do something?" The centurion put down his glass and patted his knees. "Can't wait to cross the river and kill people? You are really a bunch of vicious wolf cubs. You can't do anything except barking and snarling."

"You're right." Starler said coldly. His bow legs were so severe that they looked like spider legs, but considering his status as a cavalryman, this might be a good thing. "We've been staying by the river for several months. Is there a war to be fought, or is this it?"

"It's not the right time." The centurion stroked his beard. "The big shots, the King, the Marquis, the Governor, they all said it's not the right time."

"We still have to wait and guard here."

"Don't ask me anything extra, because I don't understand. We are soldiers, and soldiers must follow orders! That's it! Pour me some wine!"

"Still waiting?" The archer centurion murmured in a low voice while pouring wine for his superior, "But there is no money left in this place, this is too..."

"Give and take?!" the centurion asked in a stern voice, "Who among you got any money from this place? Don't you have any brains?"

The centurions immediately shut up and lowered their heads.

"How many times have I told you?" the centurion continued to scold them. "Since the beginning of the war, since we crossed the Pontar River, I have been telling you to obey my orders!"

"Listen carefully to my orders! You are not allowed to burn any villages! Any farmhouses! You are not allowed to take anyone's things, and you are not allowed to plunder! You are not allowed to rape women! You and your men are the same! If you disobey my orders, you will go to the gallows!"

"The Governor has emphasized to us more than ten times: We are not fucking invaders! We are friends who come to lend a helping hand!"

"Starler, what are you laughing at, you idiot? This is an order!"

Yes, it is an order, but as the saying goes in every country, 'For every policy, there is a countermeasure', 'Small punishment means a severe warning' and so on.

Of course the order will be executed, but in reality, how rigorous should it be executed? And how severe will the punishment be for poor execution?
If these things are not rigidly pursued and sorted out, the scope for improvement would be much greater.

Look at their current military camp. Do they really think that the local residents of Aedirn will willingly give it up just because they come to "lend a helping hand"?
Even on the day this order was issued, the Kaedweni crossed the Pontar River and set foot on the land of Aedirn.

One of the cavalrymen asked the cavalry centurion Starer on the spot: We can't rob? Are you kidding? What should our horses eat and drink?
Then he got his answer.

The cavalry centurion said: "Well, you can steal some horse feed, but that's all! You are not allowed to hurt others, burn houses, or destroy crops in the fields. Shut up! This is an order! The army is a place where you obey orders, and no one allows you to bargain! Otherwise, you will be hanged! I said, you are not allowed to kill people, animals, or..."

Later, halfway through his speech, Starler paused, thought for a moment, and then continued.

"Well, even if you want to rape a woman, you have to find a place where there are no people and don't make any noise."

Having said this in front of the Centurion, and with no reaction from the Centurion, the following events followed naturally.

Soldiers may not be aware of the complexities of the so-called 'gap between legal formulation and actual conditions'.

But they have all been soldiers for a long time and are all very experienced.

(End of this chapter)