Chapter 1449: Chapter 25: Negotiation (2)_3

Seeing that Gessa was about to drink again, Winters reached out to block Gessa’s cup, “It’s still morning, Colonel, let’s drink later.”

“You won’t let me enjoy a soak, and now you won’t let me enjoy a drink?” Gessa raised his eyebrows. After a moment of confrontation, he reluctantly put down the jug, “Fine, it’s no fun drinking with you anyway. Your fellow countryman is the real drinking buddy, never talks, just drinks. What’s his name again? Oh… Moritz, right? How come I haven’t seen him lately?”

“He’s quitting drinking, feels pretty down every day.”

Colonel Gessa’s expression became a bit complicated, unsure whether to regret or celebrate, he clicked his tongue and suddenly waved his arm impatiently: “What a bummer!”

Winters sipped his beer, still pondering about the “fundraising.”

“Forget it, let’s not just talk about me, tell me about you!” Gessa crossed his legs, held his chin, and glanced at Winters askew, “You still haven’t straightened out the ranks issue?”

“I can’t accept the rank of Brigadier General,” Winters immediately replied solemnly, “and it’s not just about my pride.”

Gessa sneered, “‘Not just’?”

“If I get promoted four ranks at once, there will be a lot of… trouble.”

“What trouble?”

“Internal trouble.”

“Can’t you just say it straight?”

A rare look of helplessness appeared on Winters’ face, “If I get promoted four ranks at once, it can’t be just me alone.”

“Lieutenant Bard has already decided to retire from active duty, so he’s not a concern for now. But Senior Mason, Lieutenant Cherini, they must be promoted along with me.”

“Especially Lieutenant Cherini, if I become a general and he’s still an officer, he’d definitely feel frustrated. He’s my closest comrade, my partner, I have to consider him.”

“But if Senior Mason and Lieutenant Cherini both get promoted along with me, then officers from the Expeditionary Force like Major Seber who joined midway, shouldn’t they also advance? Then the hierarchy of the New Army would be completely messed up. The military would naturally split into two factions—the old New Reclamation Legion faction, the old Iron Peak County Military faction… it’s not good for cohesion.”

“What’s not good for cohesion,” Colonel Gessa listened with irritation, straightforwardly pointing out, “if it was just you alone getting a four-rank jump, wouldn’t all the problems disappear? In the end, isn’t the issue still with your little sidekick? That… Andrea Cherini? Get him in line!”

“Colonel Gessa,” Winters’ expression suddenly turned serious, even a bit frightening, “Lieutenant Andrea Cherini is not my sidekick, I would die for him, and he would die for me, but neither of us would kneel to the other.”

His attitude was firm, unequivocally stating: “I don’t want to ‘get him in line’, and I can’t ‘get him in line’, so please don’t mention this again.”

Gessa was stunned, and after sitting stiff for a moment, he scratched his arm, feigning anger, “If you can’t get him in line, you can’t. What’s with the scare? I thought you were about to turn into the ‘Blood Wolf’!”

Winters was hit where it hurt, now genuinely a bit anxious, “How many times have I told you! That was a nickname others came up with recklessly!”

“Nicknames are never made up recklessly…” Gessa couldn’t help but tease, quickly changing the topic before the young buck in front of him really turned into a blood wolf, “Alright, alright, no more about that.”

Winters crossed his arms, a bit flushed from the neck up, unsure if it was due to the alcohol or the temperature.

“However, have you thought about one thing,” Gessa picked up the jug again, completely forgetting he promised not to drink anymore, “if you can’t get Lieutenant Cherini in line…”

He stared intently at Winters, enunciating each word: “How are you going to lead us then?”