Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1657 1629. Changing generals before the battle?

"What's written on it?" Cassandra asked Bode. "Is it the minutes of the meeting?"

"Yes, Lady Cassandra." Bode shook the papers in his hand, making a rustling sound, with a smile on his face. "It seems that the Kaedwen people are beginning to sense danger."

"After all, our actions are fierce and fast."

"It says that the Nilfgaardian incursions north of the Tiffany River are becoming more severe. Tell these camps to buck up and step up their guard."

"Although it still didn't say 'fight back at South Bank' or 'carry out an attack', the wording was already quite serious and aggressive."

"Apart from these bad-tempered Kaedweni soldiers, it seems that even those sitting in the command room are reaching their limit of patience."

"Isn't this what we want?" Cassandra crossed her arms and nodded habitually, "Let them, the Kaedweni and Nilfgaardians, start fighting again."

Bode threw the minutes back into the blood-soaked muddy ground: "Two gangs of robbers standing on the land of spoils, fighting each other because of uneven distribution of spoils, doesn't it sound natural? But..."

"but?"

Cassandra was puzzled by Bode's slight hesitation.

Embers Knight scratched his head. "They also said that they suspected that the recent aggressive actions of the Nilfgaardian army were due to some changes within their ranks - changes in command."

"After all, they had lived in peace across the river for the past few months."

"Although the truce is on the verge of collapse, the change in command style is so drastic that it still seems a bit schizophrenic."

"Menno Cuhoon. We fought him at the Battle of Sodden Hill two years ago. Even the Lord said that he was an excellent and steady commander."

"Is it because of our actions?" Kassandra asked directly, asking the question that concerned her most. "In the past two days, we have attacked three Kaedweni military camps here."

Bode obviously had his doubts in this regard, but he still cautiously reminded: "But our actions have just begun. I doubt whether we have really caused such a big impact at present."

"So you really are changing your generals at the last minute?" Cassandra sneered, "This is a big taboo."

"Strictly speaking, it's not a battle. Right now, both the North and the South are still in a truce." Bode shook his head, "But it won't have much of an impact whether we change or not."

Cassandra looked at him in confusion.

"Even if Menno Cuhoon is still the commander, he is only a loser in the last war, Lady Cassandra."

Embers Knight calmly expounded his views.

"Are there any generals in the Nilfgaard Empire who are better at commanding large-scale wars than Menno Kuhoorn? Perhaps there are. But those people may have the ability and talent, but they do not have the prestige, status, and connections that Menno Kuhoorn has."

"If he lacks these and only has command ability, then his performance on the ground is unlikely to be better than Menno Cuhoon. War is a complex, large-scale project that requires coordination."

"So," Cassandra spread her hands, "you don't have to worry about it?"

"Yes." Bode nodded to her, "We should focus on our mission."

"The time limit for the first mission is ten days, and this thing can extend the time limit to twelve days." Cassandra took out the space expansion pack and shook it, laughing softly, "We can make good use of this time."

The cry of an eagle was heard from the sky, and Cassandra's eyes flashed with golden light.

"It's time to go." The falconer tied the space expansion bag back to his belt and shouted loudly to the surroundings, "Move quickly!"
-
The team that was sent out to carry out the "Fuel the Fire" operation on both sides of the Tiffany River has been rested after completing a mission cycle and then sent out again.

Cassandra and her team's actions, in accordance with the goals and plans given by Lan, achieved corresponding results.

During these ten to twenty days, the Kaedweni Intelligence Center of Dichiot seemed to have completely forgotten about Vergen, a place they did not pay much attention to.

Those 'Nilfgaardian commandos' that penetrated deep into the hinterland seemed to be working closely with the Scoia'tael, and no one could catch them.

Di Qiaote has organized small elite troops to deal with the situation no less than three times, hoping to completely eliminate the dangerous factors near the command center.

But every time they returned in vain, and not many people were able to return alive.

People in the Kaedweni Command Center are in a panic now. After all, the 'Nilfgaardians' are now almost a threat to the area around Dichiot!

The enemy's influence has spread to the vicinity of the headquarters. Who can work with peace of mind?

As a result, everyone's attention was forced to focus on the other side, far away from the city of Vergen. On both sides of the Tiffany River, the smell of gunpowder was growing thicker at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As the army was dispatched more frequently, more and more battlefield situations were collected by Vergen.

Based on the movements of the Kaedweni, Lan inferred the distribution of their legions and the situation of the Nilfgaardians.

This ability to collect and summarize intelligence depends on the powerful computing power of Mentos, otherwise Lan En feels it is really difficult. On the stone round table in the city of Vergen, the map of the power distribution and actual control area of ​​the Kaedweni and Nilfgaardians has been changed several times.

The original simple layout that divided Aedirn into two parts, north and south, according to the Tiffany River, has now been divided into pieces.

Lan found the possible locations of the scattered, large and small Nilfgaardian advance teams and marked them on the map.

It almost looks like a freckle on the map.

Just as Lan had expected, the Merchants' Association had not only reached an agreement with the Nilfgaardian officer who occupied the city of Vergen, but they also provided convenience to many lower-level officers of the Eastern Army Group in this Civil War.

As for the senior officers, Lan En believed that they were most likely involved, otherwise they would not have allowed the lower-level officers under their command to be so radical.

The Kaedweni's actions were limited to defensive counterattacks, and they tried to hunt down the small groups of Nilfgaardian forces that crossed the Tiffany River.

However, Henselt, who was known for his brutality and unreasonableness, was very rational this time and did not seek involvement or joint compensation. He did not seek equal revenge from the Nilfgaardians on the south bank of the Tiffany River.

It seems that he just has character problems, but his mind is still clear.

The dispatched assault teams continued to bring news and intelligence, disrupting the peace between Kaedwen and Nilfgaard.

Back in Vergen, Sakia and the local dwarves and humans of Vergen are working with the rebels to restore some of the city's production capacity.

Vergen was originally a commercial hub, occupying a key position at the entrance to the Pontar Valley. But now the war has swept everything, and commercial activities have suffered a devastating impact.

If some solid action is not taken, potatoes will soon be more expensive than the usual refined grains.

Fortunately, there are many human farmers in the rebel army, and they have already begun to prepare to reclaim some wasteland around Vergen.

Elves do not grow food at all.

Lan had previously heard from Geralt and Dandelion about the strange things they had encountered in Aedirn.

The elves lived in the Blue Mountains on the eastern border of Aedirn. During the rise of humans, they were driven up the mountains and lost their original spacious and favorable living environment. As a result, they had no idea how to grow food.

At that time, the two of them happened to encounter a monster commissioned by the elves to steal grain and vegetable seeds from the human village at the foot of the mountain, and eavesdrop on the human farming techniques, such as paying attention to the seasons, turning the soil and plowing the land, etc.

Because they discovered this, they were almost tied up and killed by the elves.

However, times have changed. Even now, in Aedirn, the human farmers in the rebel army are already chatting and laughing with the elves and dwarves as they prepare to reclaim the wasteland.

This made Lann, who had listened to Geralt's stories, even more convinced that he was on the right path.

But on the other hand, this also means challenges, because the right path is often not easy to take.

"By the way, did you ask Stuart before? Has the merchant ship that brought goods from Novigrad returned?"

Lan En was standing in front of a pile of messy spell materials at this time. He turned around and asked with a little worry.

"I asked, meow!" The fluffy ball walked over with a package that was bigger than the cat and said, "He said everything that can be bought is here, and if it's not there, it really is not there! Hey!"

It placed the huge package at Lan En's feet, and breathed a sigh of relief. The small triangular ears on its head trembled.

"Tsk." The demon hunter made a dissatisfied sound. "You said 'You can buy anything in Novigrad', but now you've been slapped in the face."

The calico cat raised a small paw very honestly, as if raising his hand to answer a question in class: "But Stuart didn't say such a thing. I remember it was Dandelion who said that, meow!"

"Okay, okay, just complaining."

Lan En shook his head and slapped the rock wall behind him with his palms.

This is a sturdy and hidden underground warehouse in the city of Vergen.

He chose it as the location for building a fixed portal.

Originally, the location of such a facility should be close to a place of magic, and it would be best if it was built right on top of a place of magic.

But the nearest magical place to the city of Vergen is a small island in the middle of the Pontar River Valley. What's the point of building a portal there?
Then another plan can be used to complete the construction, which requires meeting more stringent construction conditions.

Vergen is in charge of this key position at the entrance to the Pontar Valley, and of course he has to make good use of it now.

The trade with Novigrad at the mouth of the Pontar River is a wealth route that cannot be ignored.

On the day Vergen was captured, a very simple merchant ship had already sailed into the Pontar River and started to resume this route.

(End of this chapter)