Thirty-Four, The Wonderful Use of Skulls

  In the humble conference room of the Giant Bear Legion headquarters, a dozen or so officers sat upright and listened solemnly to Lenny's report on the current situation of the legion. Since the strange incident with the artillery yesterday, the atmosphere in the army had improved a lot, at least this meeting didn't have anyone late, but how long this diligence could last, only heaven knew.

  "At present, the material preparation of our department presents a kind of deformed surplus. Renny deliberated for half a day and finally found an appropriate descriptive word... The inventory of wheat, corn, beans, and salted meat is enough for the entire army plus affiliated civilians to eat for two years. The number of firearms distributed exceeds 40,000, but even if we include the dog bears, we only have 8,000 soldiers. The rest of the tents, clothing, cotton garments, etc. are somewhat excessive, and only medicinal potions and magical weapons are extremely scarce."

  "It sounds like the situation is pretty good, no need for medical treatment, the priest's divine magic can substitute for it, and if that's not enough, there's also the rural folk remedy. What's there to worry about?" The black-robed Owo said with his head down, intently flipping through the photos he had secretly taken a few days ago, without even lifting his head.

  "It's not that simple, Mr. Owo. Even with sufficient supplies, war still needs to be fought by people, and the quality of our troops..." Phil raised his gaze from the documents in his hand, glanced around the room, and found everyone was dozing off. He couldn't help but tap the teacup in front of him with a spoon, letting the clear sound drive away the drowsy atmosphere in the conference room.

  "It's also my responsibility, some things haven't been reported yet." Phil saw that everyone had already noticed and said loudly: "Lenny, tell everyone about the situation of the last batch of new recruits."

  "Yes, three days ago, the new recruits from Novokuznetsk finally arrived, and that was the end of our recruitment efforts. But out of these forty people, two are one-legged, eighteen were released early from prison, and there's even an old man over eighty!"

  The meeting room was initially silent, then immediately buzzed with discussion. The conscription has been done in such a way that it's simply ridiculous. After some whispering, someone raised a question.

  "Over eighty years old? Is he an elf or a dwarf, or perhaps half-elf?"

  "None of that, this guy is absolutely a purebred human, old as can be." Phil gestured for Renie to sit down and then tossed her a newspaper, letting the questioner take a look. "And also suffers from severe rheumatism, heart disease, and hepatitis, came here in a wheelchair. Look at what the new Komi Republic's newspaper says about how great it is. Disabled people are patriotic! Tsk tsk, if all disabled people came here to be patriotic, we wouldn't even need to fight this war."

  He looked around at everyone, then explained, "At the same time we were forming our legion, all the other states were also frantically expanding their forces under names like militia, home guard, and union defense force. The militiamen didn't want to leave their hometowns. The local councils of government didn't want to give up military authority either, so they just cobbled together a bunch of guys like this to flesh out our numbers!"

  "Didn't President Zena negotiate with them? Besides, we can recruit soldiers from the refugees in the north!"

  "Of course, we negotiated, otherwise how would so many things be sent to the military camp? These surplus weapons and supplies. Even if it's their compensation for not meeting the recruitment quota, we can only accept it." Phil replied, "As for the refugees, most of the able-bodied young men have already followed Chairman Ludwig back to the front line, leaving behind mostly older people or those with poor physical conditions who are unsuitable for combat. Besides, we don't have time to train them either."

  The atmosphere in the conference room was a bit awkward for a moment, and Phil immediately turned to the next topic.

  "Ensign Wahiri!"

  "Arrived!"

  "In view of your dereliction of duty yesterday, you are no longer suitable for the position of Artillery Commander. Effective immediately, you are demoted to Deputy Squadron Leader. Let's see how you perform from now on!"

  "Yes, I will definitely pay attention and make changes."

  "Mr. Awo." After dealing with the laughingstock Vashiri, Feri hesitated for a moment before speaking to the great magician who was looking at photos, "Since the Magical Strike Force training ended, you haven't taken on any actual duties. Are you interested in going to the Artillery Brigade to change your pace? I think someone as esteemed and respected as yourself would be more suited to being the commander of this important unit."

  Owvo finally lifted his head, putting the photo into his pocket. "Go to the artillery battalion? I'm not very familiar with this kind of thing. If you want me to teach others about attack spells, alchemy or necromancy, that's still okay, but if it's calculating trajectories and measuring distances, I'm afraid it's a bit out of my professional scope."

  "No, this time it's exactly to borrow your necromancy skills." Fili explained, "Our army has many cannons, but the quality is generally poor, and most of the gunners are newly recruited. Therefore, during shooting, they often get too nervous, neglecting to aim properly, and accidents can easily happen. I have an idea, which is to let you summon some skulls to replace the gunners' work during battles, in order to reduce casualties."

  "Skulls? You're kidding, right? How could they possibly have the intelligence to load and aim?"

  "Of course, I won't let them do such complicated work." Fili hastily waved his hand. "My idea is to have the artillery retreat from their positions after completing preparations and aiming, and then have Skull execute the ignition task with a torch. To be honest, I shouldn't bother a great occultist like yourself with such trivial matters." He rubbed his hands together somewhat awkwardly, "But I asked several mages I know, and they all said they didn't have such precise control abilities, and it would be bad if the ammunition caught fire or something. After thinking about it, I realized that only a top-notch undead mage like yourself could complete such delicate work. So I had to trouble you."

  After listening to the explanation, Owo's fat face wrinkled up, seemingly having a hard time accepting this new idea. He thought about it repeatedly for a while, feeling that there was no

  He nodded in agreement, but still dragged his feet a little.

  "But summoning a skull is a 5th-level spell, and I'm restricted by this broken thing to only use up to 4th level." He tugged at the anti-magic collar around his neck. "Do you have any way to solve this problem?"

  "This is indeed a bit difficult to handle, after all, this thing is at the level of a great magician, and you can't even take it apart, let alone me." Phil also didn't think of this problem, and was suddenly stumped.

  "Right, controlling skulls is only a third-level magic!" After thinking for a while, Fili patted his forehead, seemingly inspired. "Reni, hurry up and write a notice saying that we're going to collect some skulls in the name of military supplies. Then..." He paused for a few seconds, his eyes wandering among the crowd, making everyone who was looked at feel a chill in their hearts, before lowering their heads, hoping not to be called upon.

  "Vashir!"

  "Arrived!"

  "Now I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself by doing a professional job. Fili gazed at the poor dwarf miner with an expression like a big grey wolf looking at a small white rabbit, "I order you to take your subordinates to the nearby cemetery after the meeting and collect two hundred corpses. Then bring back all the bones. Remember to dig graves that are old and look dilapidated, in short, find ones that don't seem like anyone will come looking for trouble, got it?"

  "This... " Wasi's forehead was sweating, wasn't this blatant grave robbing? Or was it for the corpse... He thought about it and felt nauseous. And if this got out, where would he put his face?

  "Is there a problem? Or would you rather have your men blown to pieces by artillery?" Phil actually understood what he was worried about, so he spread his hands and issued the final ultimatum. "If that's the case, then let's just forget I said anything. But once we're on the battlefield, I'll put a disciplinary squad behind the artillery formation!"

  "Got it, I'll be careful when I'm doing it." Vashili, who was not very brave, immediately softened up after being scared by his superior. After all, life is more important than reputation... let's talk about that after surviving the battlefield.

  "Very well." Fili patted Vashiri's shoulder in approval. "Mr. Owo, to solve your problem, I'll have the artillery carry the skulls themselves. That way, no summoning is needed. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

  "Hmm, just controlling the skulls is still manageable." Owo rubbed his chin and nodded, "However, in actual use, the skulls are very easy to damage. Two hundred units are absolutely not enough, at least prepare six hundred units for me."

  "Did you get it, Wahiri? Just do as Mr. Owo said!"

  "Exactly!"

  "Also, the skulls in nature are more prone to decay and insect infestation, so remember to wipe them clean and dry every day. Moreover, to prevent being caught off guard during battle, I suggest each of you take responsibility for one skull and carry it with you at all times, so that if you suddenly need it, you won't be unable to find it."

  "Exactly!"

  "Moreover, it's said that there are many wild dogs on the northern grasslands. If they were to carry off our bones, it would be terrible. So when we're camping and sleeping, it's best not to let go of your skulls either, or else I'll have no choice but to dismantle your skeletons to use as replacements."

  ……

  As Owo added one sentence after another, Wasi's face turned whiter and whiter, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. His legs were shaking violently, as if he was about to collapse under the table at any moment. Everyone looked at this old dwarf with understanding and sympathetic eyes, for the days ahead of him were too terrifying: walking around with a skull on his back during the day, sleeping with a skull in his arms at night, and having to play puzzle games with a pile of bones from time to time... This was truly the life of a brave warrior!

  "Alright, today's meeting will end here. As per the superior's arrangement, from tomorrow on, our troops will set out one after another, and before we reach the front line, this is probably the last time we sit at the same table." After resolving the artillery issue, Fili felt there was nothing more to say, so he announced the meeting adjourned. "Please everyone pay attention to rest, you can also properly indulge a bit. But be sure to maintain necessary vigilance, don't let yesterday's ugly incident happen again!"

  The crowd dispersed, but Fili remained seated in his seat until the end. After the meeting attendees left, he reluctantly scanned the room where he had stayed for over a month, then closed his eyes to recall the experiences of this period. After a long sigh, he finally stood up and took off the military cap hanging on the coat rack.

  "It's been less than three months and I'm going back to the battlefield again! Hopefully nothing goes wrong."

  He put on his hat and grabbed his briefcase, then pushed the door out. The engineer troops will dismantle the military camp buildings including the headquarters before leaving the camp, this house, along with the peaceful life of more than two months, is also about to come to an end.

  On the branches outside the door, tender green new buds have already burst forth.

  Spring has arrived.