Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 765 - 59 The Number of Stoves_2

Chapter 765: Chapter 59 The Number of Stoves_2 Chapter 765: Chapter 59 The Number of Stoves_2 “Come,” Winters beckoned with a hand. “Stand by the railing.”

The mayor of Niutigu Valley walked to the fence, trembling. He couldn’t resist looking down and immediately felt the world spinning.

The watchtower was over five meters high, with a soft riverbank below, but to the mayor of Niutigu Valley, it seemed as daunting as a hundred-meter cliff.

The mayor of Niutigu Valley felt a push from behind, let out a scream, and then realized he was still alive.

“What’s your name?” Winters, with his arm around the mayor’s shoulder, asked with a smile, “You gave me a fright.”

The nearly forty-year-old mayor, embraced by Blood Wolf, turned pale and stammered, “Raging… your subordinate… your subordinate is so overwhelmed with emotion… that I yelled out in surprise…”

“Oh? You’ll get used to it.” Winters pointed enthusiastically to the horses across the river. “Afraid you might not understand, let me explain to you. See that? Those are people from Terdun watering their horses.”

...

“See, see, see, seen it.”

“From what I’ve observed, the people from Terdun water their horses three times a day, probably due to a lack of fresh grass,” Winters asked with a smile. “Tell me, how many horses are there in the herd by the river?”

The mayor’s eyes brimmed with tears: “This, this, this… Your subordinate truly doesn’t know!”

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“Let me tell you, there are about a hundred horses, and each time they water the horses, it’s this number. I speculate that it’s inconvenient for too many horses to drink at once, so the people from Terdun water them in groups of about a hundred, taking turns.”

“Your Excellency is wise!”

“Less flattery, listen carefully,” Winters said with a twinkle in his eye. “All of this is military secret.”

The mayor of Niutigu Valley nodded with a woeful face, as if pounding garlic.

“Now to the crucial part.” Winters put his left arm over the mayor’s shoulder and with his right hand took out a small notebook. “According to the record from the coastal watchtowers, the people from Terdun watered their horses a total of 402 times yesterday—there may be omissions or repetitions, but the number is roughly accurate. Tell me, how many savages are there across the river now?”

The mayor of Niutigu Valley felt as if struck by thunder: “I, I, I… Your subordinate, how would I know?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Winters reassured the mayor, then added seriously, “I forgot to tell you, though there are rich and poor, statistically speaking, the main force of Terdun has an average of 3.1 horses per person. Want to calculate again?”

The mayor of Niutigu Valley shook his head desperately.

Winters closed the notebook. “Then I’ll give you the answer. The military force on the other side from Terdun should be around four thousand. This corroborates with the information provided by their chieftain ‘Taltai,’ who was captured by our army. Do you know how many of our troops are in Niutigu Valley?”

The mayor of Niutigu Valley swallowed and shook his head.

“Four platoons, plus a company, not even a thousand men. These are military secrets.” Winters patted the mayor’s shoulder. “Mr. Mayor, I’ve told you all this, you must keep it secret for me, okay?”

The mayor of Niutigu Valley could no longer hold himself together, his knees went weak, and he knelt on the ground, hugging Blood Wolf’s legs, wailing pitifully, crying for mercy.

Tamas and Bart Xialing stepped forward to grab the mayor of Niutigu Valley and, together, they lifted him up.

“Everyone was laughing just now, but you didn’t,” Winters’s gaze turned icy. “Why didn’t you laugh?”

The mayor of Niutigu Valley was crying too much to speak.

The conversation couldn’t continue.

Without waiting for an order from Winters, Bart Xialing punched the mayor of Niutigu Valley in the abdomen, effectively stopping his tears.

The conversation could continue.

Winters leaned back against the fence, his sword resting on his knee: “You’re not laughing because you’re afraid. Of course, you should be afraid, with the enemy outnumbering us four to one, defeat is certain by any calculations.

I might as well tell you, the chief’s personal army hasn’t even arrived yet. Once the Hearth-Warmers arrive, it’ll be seven to one. Ho, certain death. That’s why you don’t laugh, and you even find our laughter ridiculous.”

“No, no, no…” The mayor’s head shook like a rattle drum as he cried, “Your subordinate has never thought that way…”

“No?” Winters raised an eyebrow, drew his sword: “Come, kiss the blade, swear you’ve never said ‘defeat is certain, better flee early,’ swear you haven’t been spouting nonsense in the church, swear you haven’t been secretly forming factions against me. Swear, and you can go.”

The mayor of Niutigu Valley trembled all over, silent.

“Hmm, at least you’re honest.” Winters sheathed his sword, his expression lightened, and his smile returned: “Of course, you can think this way and even say it at the dinner table. I could forgive you for that. But you cannot say it in public because you are the mayor. In front of the people, you represent my authority and stance.”

Winters sat down with the mayor by the fence: “Mr. Mayor, consider this, if we’re outnumbered, what if I went around crying ‘this battle is lost’ all day? Or if I looked mournful, what would happen then?”

“The dangers of this battle, I understand them better than you do.” Winters gently pulled the mayor’s arm, speaking with a slight smile: “But we must laugh, not cry. If I laugh and you cry, if I cry, wouldn’t you be scared to death?”

The officers roared with laughter, and the mayor of Niutigu Valley also managed a faint smile.

Winters looked at the mayor, speaking earnestly and kindly, “I laugh to set an example for my soldiers. I hope you can also set an example for the people of Niutigu Valley, and stop forming your little circles against me, okay?”

“Okay! Okay! Your subordinate dares not anymore!” The mayor’s triangular hat was soaked with tears, and he nodded frantically.