At 10.15am Hunchmausen sends a messenger to the Bremse hussars at Redderblau instructing them, if they haven't already, to give the tower a good search. They should then check Flossen, asking any locals if any smugglers have passed by, and offering rewards for information. Scouts should be sent to check the roads to Vill Barrow and Schottinder Farm for any fresh cart tracks.
At 11.20am, the squadron of hussars return from the direction of Redderblau Hill! They have the emperor! Having searched Redderblau tower, which revealed only the horror of what happens in a cellar when Bachscuttel hussars try and relieve themselves in the dark, the squadron moved thence to Flossen. A search of this ruined village revealed the still somnolent form of Emperor George, hidden in the remains of a cellar: one clearly used by carrot smugglers. Huzzah!
At 11.25am, a messenger arrives from Rimmer. The messenger passed 1st bn Ostmarck at 1100am, about a third of a mile east of Widenlau. Rimmer’s message is timed 10.15am. He sends his compliments and reports his position to be on the road northeast of Langenzofft, just short of the border with Rotenburg. At 10.10am, the enemy column crossed the frontier and exited Schrote! Huzzah! He will maintain his position and keep the frontier under observation.
The campaign is complete! All that remains is to drink some of Bishop Baldwin’s wine (or indeed all of it) and write a short report for the emperor, when he wakes! Baron Hunchmausen feels another title coming on!
Another excellent post,leaving me to google signs of carrot smuggling.
ReplyDeleteYes, apart from the obviously splendid discovery of the Emperor (Huzzah indeed), what on earth does distinguish a haunt of carrot smugglers? The world needs to know!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
David.
Ah gentlemen - carrot smuggling is an important source of illicit income for some in Mittelheim. In Fenwick, there has always been a raft of legislation restricting the import of rudely shaped fruit and vegetables (see https://mauricecampaign.blogspot.com/2017/01/). As a consequence, many have taken their lives, as well as their root vegetables, in their hands and attempted to move illicit cargos of these goods into the Empire. Given the methods routinely used for such nefarious activity, likely miscreants can often be discerned either by the commodious bulges in the front of their britches, or by the exaggerated care with which they sit down. The classic signs of a carrot smuggling den are widely recognised to be the presence of quantities of extra-large under-britches and/or buckets of lard.
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