People in Terra, governing a weird little country

He has plenty of time and resources to waste with Roy! It all depends on whose hook catches the scale first!

Yelagund naturally didn't know that Sammy was having a lot of fun in Casimir. He just asked thoughtfully:

"Sammy, do you remember the group of explorers who entered the ice field you mentioned last time?"

Sammy thought for a moment and responded:

"1."

It's so strange, I feel a little angry for no reason.

Yelagund raised his eyebrows and ignored this unreasonable emotion:

"Is there a Mariam among them?"

"I don't know," said Sammy.

How could He know the names of the explorers? Those people had not even reached the border of civilization where the "gatekeepers" He had set up were stationed, so they were not worthy of being remembered by Him.

However, since Yelagund asked about this matter, He didn't mind helping:

"I can ask Xuesi to help search."

"Thank you!"

"Small things."

Sammy's voice gradually faded away, and Yelagund moved his consciousness back to Manzhuyuan. Muirseth had already returned to the podium with a heavy heart.

Yaer sat in the audience, put down the book that was covering her face, with a smug smile on her lips.

In this way, it can be considered as helping Ernst and Kjerag, right?

Well, how should I put it, in Ernst's words?

"Human Connections"...Oh no, "Divine Connections"!

PS: The author will take a leave on April 4th. I will take a flight to Shanghai in the early morning. If I have time, I will write at the airport. But in order to prevent any unexpected situation, I will take a leave first.

It will still be updated normally when we arrive in Shanghai.

Chapter 433: Tallulah: Alina, go early and come back early!

Ursus, tundra.

1094 12 Month 7 Day.

For those living on the endless tundra of Ursus, today is not a special day.

The Ursus Empire has a vast territory, great power, and its military equipment is one of the best in the entire land. With this abundant martial virtue, the Ursus Empire has expanded its territory over the past few decades and has become the country with the largest land area in Terra.

But compared to the territory it claims "from east to west", the territory that truly belongs to the central government of the Ursus Empire, that is, the territory that the Emperor of Ursus can actually control, is not that large.

The entire empire was divided among warlords, and each army group was independent, giving a sense that the Tang Dynasty and its military governors were in a different world.

The influence of the Ursus Emperor does not extend to the northeast of the Ursus Empire, and the aristocratic warlords who occupy the northeast - once the Duke of Koschei, and now the several Ursus marquises who shared the Duke of Koschei's body after his death - their influence does not extend to the tundra. This barren land has become a de facto lawless area today.

No matter eating, no matter drinking, no matter living, these are the three "no-nos".

Of course, taxes still need to be collected, grain still needs to be paid, and people still need to be levied. These things are all related to the "family and national affairs" of the nobles, and not a single cent can be reduced. Only in this way can it be considered sound.

If too much tax is collected, people will have no money to trade, if too much grain is collected, people will have no food to eat, and if too many people are collected, there will be no hope for farming next year. With this set of combined punches, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Ursus Empire has no intention of letting the people on the tundra survive and is engaging in "mild genocide."

As we all know, if a person can't survive, he will have to make some noise.

The military's suppression is certainly a deterrent, but some people will always realize that it is better to die in battle than to starve to death! People do not fear death, so why scare them with death?

In Ursus, indeed, no one shouted out: "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different races?", but Ursus also had its own rebels.

Tundra guerrillas, camp.

Tallulah looked at the growing guerrilla force with a look of relief on her face.

Their ranks are growing, and more and more people are aware of the absurd and brutal nature of Ursus. This means that the guerrillas are further strengthened. As long as the patriots can perfectly "digest" these new members, their momentum on the tundra will be further strengthened. At that time, they may be able to directly launch an active attack on the outposts set up by the Ursus on the tundra!

By then, wouldn’t the food problem that has troubled them for a long time be easily solved?

[Hmm, the word digestion is good. I have heard Yelena mention it occasionally. Bozhukasti is the Wendigo among the Sarkaz. Is this race that becomes stronger by devouring the corpses of their own kind?]

Tallulah had some fantasies in her mind. If the Patriots failed to train these new members, then it might not be a bad idea to just "swallow and digest" them.

[After all, this is what the Sarkaz have always done. ]

Ahem, no, what am I thinking about? When did Yelena mention this to me? Wendigo... Yelena has never been out of the tundra. She doesn't even know the difference between Drak, Vayvan, and a dragon. How could she know about the existence and information of this ancient Sarkaz clan?

It couldn't be that the Patriot told her, Patriot... Captain Bozhukasti never mentioned his birthplace. He always regarded himself as a guard of Ursus, but the Ursus Empire he wanted to protect had deteriorated. Otherwise, he wouldn't have a nickname like "Patriot".

"Is that you, Kosice?"

With a low growl of annoyance, Tallulah's expression was distorted.

Recently, she could sense that her emotions were becoming somewhat unstable.

Well, maybe not by myself. It is always difficult for people to have self-awareness of their emotional changes, just like when you say "No, buddy", everyone knows that you are anxious, but you still insist that you are not anxious.

Alina told her about her changes.

Elafia's friends were very worried about Talullah's changes. According to her, she had often rejected the captain's suggestions and often quarreled with Yelena. Sometimes she even quarreled with the captain, which surprised Talullah herself.

Arguing with the captain, is this something a human being can do?

Not to mention the contributions that Bozhukas made to the guerrillas, the fact that he could quarrel with him, whose vocal cords were infected by mineralogy and who spoke with a stutter, was already a very shocking thing.

If an ordinary person says a few words, he would probably lose his temper before getting a response, right?

Tallulah was therefore more certain that the prophecy given by Kochie was very likely true. Something had indeed been "planted" in her. Just like the "heart demon seeds" in the martial arts novels that her sister Chen Huijie read when she was still in Longmen, they were gradually taking root and sprouting, and even subtly shaking and changing her mind.

This is somewhat chilling, and Tallulah doesn't even have a way to fight back against her, but fortunately, she still has her friend Alina by her side, advising her at all times.

Tallulah absolutely trusts Alina. As long as she opens her mouth, even if Tallulah doesn't think there is anything wrong with the matter, she will seriously think about it several times.

This made Tallulah's tense spirit relax a little.

As usual, the angry soliloquy did not receive any response. The black snake seed was indifferent and arrogant, like a spectator watching a play, sitting in the stands and wanting to manipulate the protagonist on the stage to perform the play he likes. But Tallulah would never do that.

She will use her actions to tell Black Snake that you are wrong! You will never be able to control my fate!

[Let's start by training this group of people, capturing the first Ursus outpost, and firing the first shot at the Ursus Empire! ]

"leader."

A dull and hoarse voice sounded not far behind her. Full of ambition, Tallulah turned her head and looked at Bozhukasti and Yelena who were walking towards her, with an excited smile on her face.

She did not notice the solemn expressions on their faces, but couldn't wait to boast:

"Captain, Yelena, look! A lot of infected people and villagers have come to us again! This time there are two hundred of them, which is close to the population of a small village! As long as we gather them and train them well, we can launch the first wave of counterattack against Ursus. Then..."

"Tallulah!"

Before Talullah could finish her words, she was interrupted by Yelena. The silver-haired Carters exuded an icy aura that kept strangers away. Talullah knew that Yelena was not really like that, but this time, the words she said were as cold as her temperament.

"Listen to me, we can't take in these people!"

Tallulah was stunned. She blinked in confusion, as if trying to figure out the meaning of Yelena's words. But in the end, she could only blink in confusion.

"why?"

Yelena's expression was particularly solemn, and her tone was particularly cold and hard: "You also know that this is two hundred people! We don't have that much food to feed these two hundred people!"

She took a step forward, stretched out her hand and grabbed Tallulah's collar, her voice filled with anger and accusation:

"Tallulah, what on earth are you thinking! Father and I! We have said it countless times that the guerrillas can no longer accept more members! Our resource allocation has reached the critical point of collapse. Even now, two-thirds of the soldiers are still hungry. These people who protect us can only have a full meal when they go out on missions. Do you think this is reasonable!"

"The more people you add to the team, the more we will have to send out for perimeter patrols and protection. But we don't have enough food, so we can only launch raids on the Ursus outposts. But raids will result in casualties. The more raids we do, the more our soldiers will be injured or even... sacrificed! When our soldiers are used up, what will we use to resist the Ursus people? You are not saving people, you are killing people!"

"you......."

Yelena wanted to say something, but Bozhukas had already stretched out his hand and blocked Yelena's face.

With his ears standing up high, Carters had no choice but to take a deep breath and hold back the swear word that was about to come out of Ursus's mouth.

She shouldn't have been so angry, but Tallulah was going too far this time. Two hundred people, was she treating the guerrillas as a charity?

Training and counterattacks, how many of these refugees have the ability to fight? How long will it take to train them into warriors like the snow monsters and shield guards? During this period, how much food, equipment, and...how many lives will they have to pay?

Is it worth it to exchange the lives of experienced veterans for the lives of those who have weak beliefs, little experience, and cannot even guarantee loyalty, and who may inform on the Ursus infected patrol officers and food collection teams at any time just to get a meal?

Yelena felt it wasn't worth it.

Don't tell her that human lives can't be compared and measured. The uncles and aunts of the Shield Guard are relatives who watched her grow up. The members of the Snow Monster Team, regardless of their age, call her "Big Sister". These people who just escaped and stared at her cotton coat and the food in the hands of the soldiers with green eyes, what are they?

“But they are our future!”

Tallulah's temples were a little swollen, but she still tried her best to calm down and explained seriously,

"Yelena, we must not give up on them. They are the future of our team. We in the Integration Movement cannot just live on the tundra. If we need to counterattack, take down the Ursus outpost, occupy the Ursus gendarmerie camp, or even capture a mobile city, we must have manpower! They are our manpower!"

Tallulah had a clear idea. If the organization continued to maintain the form of a guerrilla force, it would have to streamline its numbers, conduct mobile operations on the snowfield, and attack the Ursus patrol team. The current situation was indeed not suitable for adding more people.

But the Integration Movement has never been an organization that stays in a corner!

Tallulah has high hopes for it; it is an organization that aims to "liberate all infected and oppressed people"!

If it wants to grow, it needs manpower. Yelena asked her why she accepted two hundred refugees. Tallulah just wanted to answer her: Two hundred people, I just hate that it is too few!

But Talullah also knew that if she said this, it would undoubtedly be a direct confrontation with Yelena. Talullah did not want to intensify the conflict, so she could only look for help to Bozhukasti who stopped Yelena, hoping that the captain could make a fair judgment.

Bodrakas looked at Tallulah instead.

Before coming, he thought a lot. Although his language ability was not very good, his mind was still sharp. He could see Tallulah's purpose from beginning to end and knew her prospects.

He was indeed trying his best to cooperate with him and satisfy him, sometimes even at the cost of sacrificing himself and the soldiers under his command.

But this time, he really couldn't just sit there and do what Tallulah did.

"Two hundred people... that's too many."

"It will take at least three months to train...to become a warrior. We...can't afford that!"

"Two...options."

Bozhukas said,

"Or... let me... select... at most... 20 people."

"Either... take them all... but... we must... immediately... attack... the Sentinel camp."

Bozhuocasti's eyes flickered, and Tallulah didn't quite understand what he meant.

Attack the sentry camp immediately? But these 300 people have not received any training. If they are asked to attack the sentry camp, I am afraid that most of them will be killed or wounded in a round of mortar fire from the Ursus artillery, and the rest will have to flee in all directions.

Isn't this tantamount to sending them to their deaths?

A dangerous thought came to Tallulah's mind, but she immediately shook her head.

No, no, no, the captain would not do such a cruel thing. What is the difference between this and those patrol teams that drove the peasants to take up pitchforks and rakes to serve as human shields to fight against the guerrillas?

But Bozhukastie seemed to see through Tallulah's thoughts and nodded slightly:

"The battlefield... is the best... training ground."

There seemed to be a few gusts of cold wind blowing across the wilderness, making Tallulah feel a little chilly.

She suddenly understood what Bozhuocasti meant by "screening 20 people".

That was his estimate of the number of people who would survive the battlefield in the best case scenario if Plan 2 was implemented.

In other words, the so-called two options are actually just one option in the fundamental sense.

Or, keep 20 people and the remaining 180 will go out into the wilderness to fend for themselves.

Or, send them all to the battlefield and serve as cannon fodder. If they are lucky, 20 of them can survive. The rest will die and naturally have no food to eat.

Bozhukasti gave Tallulah enough face. In plan one, he took a step back and further reduced the supply of his guerrilla fighters to support a group of Tallulah's new recruits. He would even train them himself. Bozhukasti never held back. He was always wholehearted in training soldiers.

Plan 2 can also satisfy Tallulah's mentality. Since she can't bear to send them to their deaths, she can just let the artillery fire of the patrol team and the sentinels bury them. All the dead are casualties during the war, and it is the sentinels and patrol officers who are brutal, not Tallulah. The surviving infected people will not only be braver and more determined, but also have been through hardships, so it is easier to train them, and they may become a group of elites.

He has tried his best to have the best of both worlds while being realistic.

And Tallulah is also very down to earth.

She felt that plan one was to let her die without any help.

The second option is to let her send someone to die.

She didn't want to choose either.