Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1224 No comments?
Mitch and Kadora politely declined the proprietress's invitation to keep them for dinner, and explained the purpose of their visit: The Eagle of Gray Hill invited Pastor Ling to the camp of the Ash Guerrillas to attend a combat meeting that needed to be kept secret.

Although it was said to be confidential, Lingge actually already knew the specific content.

"Is it about the joint operation against the mineral town of Lostra?" Ling asked the two people who led him on the way to the Ash Guerrilla Camp.

"Yeah." Mitch nodded slightly. He was not surprised that the young man, who was far away on Yunjingkong Island, actually knew the content of the meeting that should have been kept secret in advance. Perhaps in his mind, Pastor Ling had become an omnipotent image.

But in fact, the reason why the young man knew this was because not long ago, Carson Borg asked him for information about the distribution of troops and personnel stationed in Mineral Town. Since then, Linger had guessed that he was planning to take action against Lostra Town.

The scale of the Liberator's Front is gradually expanding, and the rebels are gaining momentum, like a raging fire sweeping across the wilderness, but their previous actions were only small-scale fights, and they had never engaged in a head-on battle with the 17th Legion. This makes everyone full of confidence, but also inevitably a little hesitant. At this time, a major victory is really needed to inspire people, and the mineral town of Lostra happens to have such a strategic value.

But on the other hand, the more important the target, the heavier the blow of failure. This is a double-edged sword, and the key lies in the skill of the person wielding the sword. Grayhill Eagle is naturally aware of this, so he attaches great importance to this operation. Before the war, he had repeatedly considered the terrain and considered tactics, and also invited leaders of other resistance organizations to participate in the combat meeting to brainstorm and advance and retreat together.

Strictly speaking, this is the first joint action of the Liberation Front since its establishment, instead of cooperating in name only, but actually fighting each other, with no tactical linkage at all. Therefore, it can be considered that whether this combat meeting can go smoothly will directly affect whether the various resistance organizations within the Liberation Front can abandon their boundaries and cooperate sincerely. Thinking from this perspective, it is not difficult to understand why the Gray Hill Eagle invited Lingge to participate in this combat meeting, instead of just notifying him verbally as before.

Lingge and his companions have never participated in any operation, but no one can deny that Yunjingkong Island, which provided a lot of reliable intelligence and precious materials for these operations, is now the most important ally of the Liberation Front. Therefore, even if Lingge is from the Western Continent, even if he never makes any comments on the decisions of the Liberation Front, even if he is silent than a log when attending combat meetings, he must be present. This is the obligation of being an ally, not only the obligation of Gray Hill Eagle and the Liberation Front, but also the obligation of Lingge.

Perhaps sensing the tense atmosphere approaching, Mitch and Kadora were somewhat silent along the way. It was Lingge who took the initiative to speak to the two of them, which made the atmosphere more lively. The young man mentioned the school and told Mitch that the children he sent had already adapted to life in the school. Although he didn't know how long it would take for them to completely get over the pain caused by the war, at least they had smiles on their faces again. This encouraged the boy and he felt that his choice was indeed correct. Although most of the credit was due to Pastor Lingge, he had more or less fulfilled his responsibility as a leader, right?
The young man also told the two that if they were willing and free, they could also come to the class and not always waste their time on the game console. Of course, I am not saying that playing games is bad, but learning and entertainment are equally important. You see, even Ai Guidance knows the importance of learning and brought her game console to class, so what reason do you have not to work hard? This series of sermons made Mitch's scalp numb, and he was sure that Ai Guidance definitely did not go to school because she liked to study. But Kadora seemed very interested. Perhaps because of her personality, she always accepted these new things very quickly.

The contrast between this pair of partners makes Lingge laugh. Mitch, who seems to be carefree and unconcerned, is actually quite conservative and even a little inferior. He is always worried about whether he can fulfill his responsibilities as a leader; Katara, who seems to be introverted and weak and needs to be protected by others, is actually a stubborn person with steel-like toughness in her bones. Once she makes up her mind, no matter how others persuade her, she can't change her mind.

I don’t know if they are like this on the battlefield, but when Lingge thought of this, he suddenly couldn’t laugh anymore.

A bonfire was burning in the camp of the Ash Guerrillas, and the huge flames pierced through the haze of the black trees. Tents, makeshift wooden houses, and a fence that could not stop wild animals at all, which was built to demarcate the area, constituted the entire pattern of this simple camp. There were not as many people left in the camp as Linger had imagined. There were probably some soldiers on missions outside. Some of them were on guard and patrolling outside, and some were chatting around the bonfire to dispel sleepiness. When they saw Mitch and Kadora, they waved to them and sometimes to Linger. They had all visited Tianxin Church and even played games there, and were impressed by the pastor.

While Lingge was responding one by one, Mitch and Kadora had already brought him to a wooden house in the corner of the camp. The simplicity of this wooden house was comparable to other makeshift buildings. Even the lighting was done by the most primitive torches. It was hard to imagine that it was in such an environment that a new rebel army would discuss an event that could change the status quo of the entire Gray Hill area.

Kadora stopped, and Mitch said to the young man, "This is it, let's go in, Pastor Ling."

Linger's eyes narrowed. He noticed that Mitch said "we", which meant that he would also attend this meeting. But under what circumstances would a child be allowed to attend such an important combat meeting? The young man suddenly remembered what Grayhill Eagle said to him not long ago. It was when he learned that Linger had built a school specifically for those children who lost everything in the war, he was inspired to say: "Maybe children will not need to go to the battlefield in the future, but those who have already set foot on the battlefield will never come back."

He looked at Mitch deeply, and only looked away when the latter gave him a puzzled look, then he hummed softly and pushed the door open. Mitch scratched his hair in confusion, followed him into the wooden house, and closed the door. When the darkness completely swallowed up the gap between the door frames, the boy seemed to hear a sad sigh, which could be Lingge's or Kadora's.

In any case, he didn't hear it clearly. …

There were not many people in the house, about eight or nine, but the house itself was not big, so it was still a bit crowded. They all sat around a wooden table, on which were some simple foods: black bread, pickled cucumbers, a paste that was hard to tell what it was, and some cold roasted meat. When Lingge and Mitch entered the house, Grayhill Eagle was sitting right in front of the door, eating paste mixed with pickled cucumbers. This old farmer-like way of eating was not inconsistent with his strong and resolute appearance.

The two people who suddenly broke in instantly captured the attention of everyone in the room. Compared to Mitch, Lingge was obviously observed and scrutinized more. Everyone knew that there was a mysterious ally behind the Grey Hill Eagle. The accurate intelligence before each action that made people think that there was a traitor in the Seventeenth Legion came from this mysterious ally, but no one knew his origins. Even until today, they still didn't know his name and appearance. They didn't know whether he was from Grey Hill, from the nearby Wallis, from the Royal City, or not from the Kingdom of Noah at all?
In fact, even after meeting him, they still knew nothing about this young man, except for his name, because Grayhill Eagle simply mentioned to everyone when introducing his ally: "This is Mr. Lingge, our reliable friend."

Then he said to Lingge, "Please sit down," and the young man found an empty seat and sat down. Mitch looked at the main seat and saw that there was already someone next to Grayhill Eagle. It was Regina, who was in a low mood for some reason. He thought about it and felt that he was not qualified to sit next to the temporary commander of the Liberators Front, so he sat down next to Lingge. Then Grayhill Eagle introduced the people in the room to the young man one by one, such as "Ector of the Forest Ranger," "Jose Asher of the Pale Knights," "Giovanni of the Miners Brotherhood," and so on. The young man nodded and greeted them politely.

The Liberators' Front must have absorbed more resistance organizations than just the few in the room, but the rest are too far away, and some are even active in the border areas of Ansers and Wallis. The geographical isolation makes them respond to the Liberators' Front's call only in name. In fact, the two sides have not yet established a complete communication channel. Therefore, whether they participate in combat meetings is not the key. The real main force is only these people in front of them and the resistance organizations they represent behind them.

After introducing each other, Grayhill Eagle did not say any polite words and directly announced the theme of this combat meeting - the only theme, which was how to conquer Mineral Town and achieve a major victory that was imminent for the Liberators Front. He then briefly described the defense forces near Mineral Town. Thanks to the key intelligence of a mysterious ally and many adventurous on-site inspections, this information was extremely detailed, so detailed that it gave people a headache after listening to it.

Three infantry squadrons, as well as supporting artillery, tanks, mechanical soldiers and other special arms, abundant material reserves, steep mines and narrow valleys, high fortresses and fire blockades of continuous magic machine guns... This force is enough to guard a medium or large city, let alone a small town? After listening to it, Ling Ge felt that although the Mineral Town was the most suitable target strategically, it was definitely the hardest nut to crack tactically. With the current strength of the Liberators Front, it would take a heavy price to conquer this well-armed town. In Alice's words, it was hellish difficulty from the beginning.

There were many people who shared the same idea as Linger, and Eckert, the leader of the Forest Rangers, was one of them. He shook his head and said, "If the situation in Mineral Town is really as you said, then my suggestion is to change the target, Carson. The four northern towns are also a good choice. In terms of population and size alone, their combined weight is not inferior to Mineral Town. Conquering the four northern towns is also a brilliant victory. In addition, the four northern towns also have the enemy's airship base. If we can occupy or destroy it, we don't have to worry about the 17th Legion's airship troops coming back from the front line in the future, which can be regarded as eliminating some of the worries."

This statement was supported by some people. Although Eckert became the leader of the Forest Rangers with the support of Carson Borg, he would not change his judgment because of this. This might be why Grayhill Eagle valued him. The combat meeting was a place for discussion and voting. If everyone followed their own opinions, what kind of meeting was it?
He would persuade Eckert and those who objected in his own way.

"In terms of scale, the North Four Towns are indeed not inferior to Mineral Town, but their strategic positions are not the same. If the 17th Legion loses the North Four Towns, it will only lose face, which is no different from the loss we caused it before; but if it loses Mineral Town, it will really be seriously injured, this is from the enemy's perspective." Gray Hill Eagle paused for a moment, and then said: "From our perspective, whether the 17th Legion's airships will come back to help is a question, but even if they come back, it will not be today, but in the future when the situation becomes more corrupt and the 17th Legion has to rely on the airship troops to turn the tide. By then, an airship unit will not be able to change anything. Therefore, it is a threat, but not a threat now, let alone the biggest threat. Getting the North Four Towns can only get uncertain guarantees for the future; on the contrary, we lack gunpowder, firearms, and even more necessary materials to arm an army: steel, craftsmen, and alchemical materials, and Mineral Town has all of these. Getting Mineral Town means getting a stable guarantee now. I think that a stable guarantee now is more important than an uncertain guarantee in the future. What do you think?"

There was silence in the room for a while. Lingge observed everyone's expressions. Some were thoughtful, some were hesitant, and some were thinking hard. For example, Mitch was still too young, and his vision and knowledge were limited. If he wanted to keep up with the thinking of Gray Hill Eagle, he needed to make greater efforts.

Finally, Eckert, who had been opposed just now, changed his attitude first: "You make sense, Carson, I support your plan."

It was like a herd effect, and others also expressed their opinions: "I have no objection." "Me too." "Just do as you say, Carson."

After they all expressed their opinions, the young man slowly replied, "I have no objection either."

He had thought it through long before he came here that he was just a spectator today and there was no need for him to express any opinions.

Give me some meow