noveldrama
Chapter 735 735 50 The Road Ahead_2
Chapter 735 735 50 The Road Ahead_2
?Chapter 735: Chapter 50 The Road Ahead_2 Chapter 735: Chapter 50 The Road Ahead_2 A pebble flew from Winters’s hand, only to burst into pieces midair, “I want to fight a decisive battle in Iron Peak County.”
“The prerequisite for a main-force battle is that both sides are willing to engage in a main-force battle,” Colonel Bod asked curiously, “How do you know the people of Terdun want to fight a decisive battle in Iron Peak County?”
“I don’t,” Winters said somberly, “And if I were the enemy chief, I’d do everything to avoid a main-force battle.”
“The barbarian tribes are many, factions are many, and the system is fragmented. The downside is that during major battles, they can easily collapse at the slightest touch. The upside,” the colonel sighed deeply, “is flexibility. Just a few dozen light cavalry can constitute an army.”
Winters said cheerfully, “So the focus of this battle is not on commanding my troops, but on commanding Terdun’s troops. I have to make them fight me on the battlefield of my choosing.”
Colonel Bod was first stunned, then his brows furrowed, and finally, he laughed heartily.
“I now see why Alpad is so fond of you,” the colonel slapped Winters’s shoulder hard, “Young people are indeed terrifying, daring to think and act; I truly feel old!”
“Don’t be too quick to praise me,” Winters said quite helplessly, “I still haven’t figured out how to mobilize the enemy. The outcome couldn’t possibly be worse, so I have nothing to lose.”
Colonel Bod deliberately put on a stern face, “Once the strategy is determined, the process of doing everything possible to approach the strategic goal is tactics. If I were in command, I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of ‘commanding the enemy’; and even if I did, I would dismiss it with various reasons. Aren’t you already heading in the right direction? Isn’t that good enough?”
Praise from an elder was harder to bear than scolding, so Winters swiftly changed the subject, “You mentioned Alpad? What about him?”
“He thinks highly of you.”
Winters fiddled with the pebble disinterestedly, “I hadn’t noticed.”
“He gave you his flask, isn’t that appreciation enough?” Colonel Bod raised an eyebrow, “When I was still a warrant officer, I never saw him without that flask.”
“Really?” Winters chuckled, having always thought the flask was something Alpad had tossed to him on a whim.
“Of course, everyone knows about General Alpad’s lucky flask; it’s his talisman!”
“It didn’t protect him.” Winters couldn’t help but grin, “It’s ruined.”
“Ruined?” Colonel Bod’s eyes bulged.
“It blocked a lead bullet for me,” Winters pointed to his left chest, “Right here.”
Colonel Bod laughed boisterously, tears streaming down his face. After his laughter subsided, he wiped his tears and said, “Now that we’ve mentioned Alpad, there’s something else I wanted to ask you.”
“Please ask,” Winters sighed inwardly.
“Was it you who killed General Sekler?” Colonel Bod’s face changed, and his eyes became sharp.
“I killed him,” Winters admitted readily.
“Why did you kill him?”
“There are many reasons, but in the end, it boils down to one: I wanted to kill him.”
“Killed because you wanted to?” Colonel Bod questioned.
Winters answered calmly, “Exactly, I killed because I wanted to.”
“Do you still want to kill others?” the colonel asked with a scoff.
“I used to.”
“And now?”
“It’s faded.”
“What’s faded?”
“The hate has faded,” Winters wrinkled his nose, “Besides, I realized that killing one person doesn’t help. Kill Sekler, there’s Tekler. Kill Alpad, there’s Valpad. Kill one, and ten more are waiting to take his place. It’s pointless.”
“Killing one person doesn’t help, so you plan to kill more?” Colonel Bod said through clenched teeth, “What exactly are you trying to do?!”
“What do you think?” Winters countered.
“What do I think?” Colonel Bod glared furiously, bellowing, “I think you’re an ambitious man! Eyeing an opportunity, you ruthlessly grab power by any means necessary! You want to trample everyone underfoot, even if it means killing thousands to do so!”
Winters took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and asked with a smile, “Tell me, if an animal looks like a wolf, howls like a wolf, and walks like a wolf, is it not a wolf?”
“If it’s not a wolf, is it still a dog?” Colonel Bod sneered.
“Exactly. Everyone will treat it as a wolf, and act towards it as they would towards a wolf. Does what it really is even matter?”
“Of course, it matters!” Colonel Bod roared like thunder, “Stop beating around the bush with me! I just want to know what you’re up to? If you’re not a wolf, then tell me, how are you any different from a wolf?”
“What do I want to do?” Winters said bitterly, “If only I knew that myself.”
“I’ll beat the living daylights out of you, boy!” Colonel Bod suddenly stood up, violently swinging his lone arm. The vigorous, wild stallion within him burst forth from his aged body.
“You can’t beat me,” Winters pushed the colonel back onto the stone, “Calm down, calm down, I’ll explain it slowly to you.”
Colonel Bod breathed heavily, coughing violently.
Once the colonel’s breathing settled, Winters began to speak.
Gazing at the black river waters beneath the night sky, he reminisced with some longing, “At the beginning, I posed as a robber to ambush the grain levy team, keeping Revodan from forcing grain requisitions on Wolf Town. Back then, I knew what I wanted to do.”
“Posed as a robber?” the colonel scoffed.
“I couldn’t really be a robber, right?” Winters retorted matter-of-factly, “I’m a commissioned military officer stationed in the town, do I need to be openly hostile against Revodan?”
“And then?”
“Then I realized that just protecting Wolf Town was meaningless. Although I had no connection to other towns, if the whole Iron Peak County was aflame, Wolf Town would surely turn to ash as well.”