industrial lord

Chapter 617: Good Helper for Settling Accounts

As time passed, the wind grew stronger and the weather became colder.

The observation post on the mountain dug a large and deep pit and communication trench, propped up logs on the top, and piled stones on the entire area to prevent enemy aerial reconnaissance and block the biting wind.

Today, Archduke Suarez came to take a look accompanied by Eugene. They first went up the mountain from the magic crystal mine, entered the communication trench at the exit above the mine, and then entered the observation post.

"What a nice smell!" He asked as he walked through the observation post, smelling the strong aroma, "What's stewing in the pot?"

Today was the day that Krom's class was on duty. Metzger heard that a leader was coming so he came early and immediately saluted and reported: "Sir, there is fat meat, golden beans, and dried pumpkin in the pot."

Archduke Suarez lifted the lid of the pot and saw a few pieces of fat in the pot with half of its face exposed among the beans. He nodded and said, "It's cold, so it's good to eat more fat."

"Your stove is interesting."

The stove in the outpost burns wood in the middle, and the space around it is used to store water. It can not only be used for cooking and heating, but also for making hot water.

After looking at the stove, Archduke Suarez walked to the observation post, where there were two refracting telescopes almost the size of a human leg, through which he could clearly see the castle of Count Sampaio in the distance.

There is a map in the middle of the telescope, which is divided into grids by straight lines, and each row and column is numbered.

Archduke Suarez saw the advantage of this kind of map at a glance. When there were multiple maps, he only needed to report the coordinates and others would be able to find the corresponding place immediately.

Behind the telescope are several communicators, which are currently conducting routine reports and can detect any clues on the other side at the first opportunity.

Archduke Suarez was very satisfied with this outpost, as he could see many of the enemy's arrangements.

It’s not that he hadn’t thought about setting up an outpost here, but the means of communication were limited before, and it was impossible to transmit intelligence to the foot of the mountain in time.

As a result, he also lost the opportunity to discover the mine.

"There have been some rumors here recently." Archduke Suarez said to Eugene, "Some people say that your Kingdom of Madeira will not attack, and you are here to destroy my granary."

"I followed the rumors and found quite a few pagan spies. Do you want to pass on any intelligence?"

Eugene thought for a moment and said, "Let's just say we're here to make money."

He added: "We have made a lot of progress recently on the issue of food."

"We sent troops to plunder villages and towns. Last month we took back 500 tons and bought 4000 tons, as well as a lot of livestock. The other side reported a loss of 6000 tons to the king and settled the account."

"Now many towns that are far away are also looking for us. When our troops go there, they pretend to attack the city, break the city wall for an hour or two, and then they send the goods out."

"I'm worried they have some conspiracy."

Using war as an excuse to settle accounts happens occasionally, but now it's not just one or two families, but many families, which makes people suspicious.

The corner of Archduke Suarez's mouth twitched, and he shook his head and said, "Those nobles near the front line have two functions. The main one is to serve as shields when I attack, and to use their lives to delay time."

"The second is to collect food and fodder. When the army arrives here, they will use the food they have accumulated in the past."

"It worked well for the first ten years, but then it stopped working."

"In the past ten years or so, King Dos of Madeira has grown old, and his children have grown up. The issue of succession has begun to affect internal affairs, so he no longer actively attacks me."

"It's the same here. With our attention diverted to the country, we don't have the energy to take the initiative."

"The wars here in the past ten years have only been minor ones, and with the good stuff sold here from your Duchy of Wessen, they smuggle grain to my side in order to have the money to buy it."

"Who would have thought that Doss would agree to old Louis' request and suddenly send troops, throwing many people off balance."

"There are strict requirements on the amount of food stored there. When the army arrives, they must provide a certain amount of food. The problem is that they can't fill such a big hole now. They will lose their heads."

"It's just right that you took the initiative and helped them settle the account."

"Losing the battle is just a matter of ability, and bribing important officials in the palace will only result in symbolic punishment."

"Selling grain to me is a betrayal of the king, and you will die." "It's not just the lord who will die, the relevant bureaucrats will also die together, so let those people work together to fool the higher-ups."

"Don't worry too much. They invited you there too late. They won't and dare not harm you."

Eugene breathed a sigh of relief, knowing it wasn't a conspiracy.

But he did not take it lightly and still required the team to act according to wartime standards to avoid being lured and eliminated by the enemy using bait.

As Archduke Suarez was coming down the mountain, he said to Eugene, "For some reason, the army of the Kingdom of Gaul has been silent this year, which is beyond my expectations. Do you have any clues?"

Eugene shook his head. He couldn't understand the current situation in the Kingdom of Gaul.

The people in the mountain outpost breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their leader leave, and it was time for lunch.

A kind of rice shipped from the south still has distinct grains after being steamed. Before going up the mountain in the morning, get a box of rice and then ask the mage group to dehydrate it. Now pour it into hot soup and soak it for a while and you will have a delicious hot lunch.

Krom was responsible for distributing the food to everyone. He first scooped the soup into the lunch boxes to soak the rice, then scooped out the fat and put five pieces per person on the rice, and finally scooped out the beans and pumpkin slices.

Zikel mixed the rice and vegetables evenly, ate a piece of fat meat, and felt particularly satisfied. He said to Zopel next to him: "Someone in our village used to say that the king's life is to eat a piece of fat meat every day."

As he ate, Zopel said, "I had never eaten fatty meat before I came to Wessen State, but I had eaten lard twice."

Metzger laughed and said, "Hey, we used to hear that old Wesson ate lard on his bread every day."

Zikel asked curiously, "Is it true?"

An operator operating the communicator said, "It's true."

"My father has been a guard in the castle. He said that when old Master Wesson was roasting a fire in winter, he would spread lard on a slice of bread and roast it over the fire, letting the lard slowly melt into the bread."

Metzger thought for a moment and said, "This will make the bread softer."

"Now there are more rich people and they eat better. In the past, bread had to be cut with a saw, but now people put lard in the bread, saying it makes it softer."

Then he was despised by everyone, even though he was the richest person here.

We finished our meal while chatting and laughing, and suddenly we noticed that the wind outside was gradually getting weaker, and it almost stopped around three o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky suddenly became clear.

Krom immediately asked Zopel to check the sunshade of the telescope. These two telescopes were very precious and he could only feel at ease if college students were to maintain them. It was difficult for Zikel to even touch them.

The outpost faces west, and when the sun sets, the reflection of sunlight on the telescope lens will cause the outpost to be exposed.

Metzger went to a telescope and looked across. A column of smoke rose to the right of Count Sampaio's castle.

He asked Crom, "How many bakeries are there at Castle No. 1, and when do they bake the bread?"

Crome immediately replied, "There is a bakery on the north side of the castle, which bakes bread every three, six, nine and three days from ten in the morning to about four in the afternoon."

Metzger then asked, “Are there still birds in the woods now?”

Chrome replied, "Some, but not many."

Metzger told him, "Watch these. Bakeries and birds can tell a lot."

After Metzger left, Zikel asked Krom, "Sergeant, I know that the smoke in the bakery is because there is too much bread being baked, but why does the company commander want to watch the flock of birds? It's normal for birds to fly around in the woods, isn't it?"

Crome replied: "The normal flock of birds that are moving to another place is different from the flock of birds that are startled. The flock of birds that are moving to another place usually only has one kind of birds, while the flock of startled birds sometimes has several kinds of birds, and their flying directions and speeds are also different."

Zikel had never paid attention to this aspect before, but it made sense when he thought about it.

Crome patted him on the shoulder and said, "Ask more about things you don't understand, and don't always focus on the tailor's little daughter."

Ziker's face suddenly turned red, and he stammered in his defense, and there was joyful laughter in the sentry post.

(End of this chapter)