Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 200 Tree Cutting

  People are not afraid of difficult situations, but only afraid of having no direction.

   So the Paratus need a bridge, even though Seckler has sent messengers across the river for help.

  Building bridges is not only to "cross the river", but also to inject hope into the whole army.

  There is nothing in the world more hopeless than the end of the road.

   The indifferent Styx lay in front of him, and the people of Paratus had nowhere to go and no way to go.

   wanted to turn his head and desperately, but found that there were no enemies - the Hurds did not fight them head-on at all.

  The white lion is like a hunter who has surrounded the beast on the cliff, patiently waiting for the enemy to be crushed by hunger and despair.

The heart of the    army was disintegrated, and before the reinforcements came to relieve the siege, the Paratus had long since been defeated.

   Centurion Montagne's bridge plan is difficult, but that's okay.

   Because what the Praetian army desperately needed was not a bridge, but hope.

  Like a drowning man grabbing a plank, there are only three things the Platonic sees right now: bridges, bridges, and **** bridges.

  The carpenter and the engineer officer traveled through the forest to find suitable materials for the bridge construction.

   The straightest and longest pieces of good material are circled with red paint, they will be used as bridge stakes.

   The second-class lumber is marked with black lacquer and can be sawn into planks for laying bridge decks.

   As for the small trees and shrubs that are not yet ready, they are all used to burn charcoal.

  Anyone who has ever used a hammer and an anvil has been siphoned off, even senior blacksmiths like Berrian.

  The Jessica team lost a famous chef - Winters was living a life of swill again, but the Palatine army got a master craftsman who could take a dozen small workers.

  The captured weapons were reheated, folded, and forged; the excess armor was melted into molten iron, poured into sand molds,

  The only charcoal burner in the army became a baby bump. Fortunately, this craft is not difficult to learn.

   In addition to proposing the bridge plan, Winters also made a small contribution.

  According to Winters' suggestion, the 5th and 6th Corps also established the [Bridge Headquarters] following the structure of the 3rd [Great Veneta] Corps when they built Kuzhi Road on Red Iwo Island.

The    command is personally in charge of General Sackler, and all the resources that can be concentrated in the army are concentrated in this temporary department, which is then coordinated, distributed and directed.

   As for Winters, he just made a name for himself at the headquarters, and went to work with his militia as usual.

There are sappers and artillery officers in the    army who are more professional than him, so Winters did not continue to point fingers.

  Inspiration is like a layer of gauze paper, he pokes a small hole in the paper, and the rest will be filled by others.

  …

   A clearing was cut out of the not-so-dense forest, and the militiamen were swinging sharp axes and expanding the area of ​​the clearing.

   "Boom."

   "Boom."

   This is the sound of an axe on a tree trunk, and it doesn't stop for a moment.

   "Be careful! It's down!" Someone shouted hoarsely: "It's down!"

   "It's down!" The militiamen who heard the shouts also shouted: "It's down!"

   This is not only a reminder to each other, but also a fight for each other.

   A cedar tree with a crown more than ten meters high, like a drunkard walking at night, slowly fell towards the open space.

   Accompanied by the "crunching" sound that can sour its teeth, the cedar tree fell faster and faster until it fell heavily on the ground, throwing up dust.

  Three militiamen came over with axes and began to clear the branches of the fir tree.

  In the end, only the clean trunk of the cedar tree will be left, and then it will be dragged to the camp by a special carriage.

  A dozen meters tall is not a towering tree, but it is a rare wood in the wasteland.

After the    cedar tree fell to the ground, the sound of "dong dong" logging sounded again.

   Cutting down trees is extremely hard work, and those who are not physically strong cannot do it.

  The militiamen worked one day, and the next day their shoulders would be high and swollen.

  It would be easier if you had a saw, but the army was short of saws, so the main tool for logging was an axe.

The screeching hooves of   [da da] were getting closer, and a green-helmed cavalryman galloped into the logging woodland.

  The militiamen in the forest were all working hard, and no one paid any attention to the cavalry.

   The cavalry ordered the cavalry to look around, but they couldn't see the officer, so they shouted and asked, "Centurion Montagne? Is the centurion Montagne here?"

   "Shouldn't you be hiding somewhere to be lazy?" The messenger cavalry was disappointed and couldn't help but feel a trace of contempt: "What blood wolf? That's all."

  As the Paratus devote all their energy to building the bridge, the fame of the [Blood Wolf] who proposed this plan spread to the entire army.

  The soldiers of Plato have heard of the "deeds of glory" of the champion centurion, and everyone is eager to witness the true face of the blood wolf.

   This messenger also got the opportunity to send orders to the blood wolf after a lot of competition.

The cries of    the messenger were drowned out by the sound of trees being chopped down, and no one paid any attention to him.

   So he rode his horse to the edge of the lumber mill and wanted to ask someone to question him.

   The messenger saw a tall militiaman at a glance.

  The man, who was generally half a head taller than the others, wore a sackcloth coat, and was dealing with an oak tree.

   He raised the axe high and swung it down again.

   Every time the axe blade hits the trunk, the thick oak tree will tremble violently.

   It was obviously cold winter, but the churning white steam came out of the man's cuffs and neckline like a pot.

The    messenger walked up to the tall militia and asked impatiently, "Hey! Where is your centurion Blood Wolf?"

  The tall militiaman put down his axe and asked, "What's your business with him?"

The    messenger scolded: "You are qualified to ask about the military situation? Take me to him."

   "Blood wolf, I've never seen it before." The tall militiaman took out the towel tucked in his belt, wiped his face, and said slowly, "Winters Montagne, I am."

   "Boom."

   "Boom."

   "Boom."

The sound of    cutting down the tree is non-stop.

  The messenger got off the saddle, hurriedly took out a roll of lacquered letters, and offered them with both hands: "This is an order from the bridge headquarters, sir."

   "Thank you." The centurion took the letter, opened the lacquer seal, and glanced at it casually.

   The messenger stabilized his mind and looked at it quietly. He finally had a chance to see the true face of the legendary blood wolf.

   seems to be nothing special, not particularly strong, nor particularly thin, just a little taller.

   Apart from a thin gold chain hanging around his neck, he did not wear any decorations.

   But it's very special, the kind of special that a messenger can't tell. He stood respectfully.

   "Do you want a receipt?" the centurion asked.

   The messenger waved his hands again and again: "No, no."

   "Well, I have received the order." The centurion raised the letter in his hand: "Thank you for your hard work, go back."

  The messenger stepped on the saddle, he saw the blood wolf put the letter in his pocket, and picked up the axe again.

   A shout came from a distance: "Be careful! It's down!"

   The militiamen of the logging field echoed: "It's down!"

   "It's down!" The blood wolf swung his axe and slashed at the tree trunk.

The    messenger had just left, and two more riders rushed into the logging field like a gust of wind.

   "Not good!" one of the riders shouted: "Herds are coming!"

  …

   Winters used the cracking technique to blow up more than a dozen trees in the morning, and the phantom pain did not subside until the afternoon.

   As soon as he ordered the cavalry to leave, he heard Anglo's panicked cry: "Herds are here."

  The militiamen threw away their work and ran to the tents where weapons and armor were stored.

  Redmane ran all the way to Winters, Anglo jumped off the saddle, and said out of breath, "Sir, the Heards are here!"

   "Don't worry, you talk slowly." Winters's head hurt even more: "Where? How many? How's the battle going?"

   "The lumber carriage was hijacked!"

   "How many Hurds are there?"

   "Twenty dozen!"

   "Come on!" Winters shouted in his heart: "I knew this day would come!"

   He slashed at the tree with an axe like a vent, and the oak tree finally couldn't support it and fell to the ground tremblingly.

   "Watch out!" Winters yelled, "The tree is down!"

  The surrounding militiamen hurriedly avoided, but luckily there was no accident.

  Winters ran to Qiang Luck and ordered loudly: "Whoever has warhorses! Come with me! The others stay here and stand by! Send out the sentry!"

  Qiangyun can feel the master's anxiety. Usually, it has to be coquettish and begging for sugar when preparing a saddle, but this time, there is no extra action, and he obediently asks the master to put on the saddle.

   picked up the saber, leaped into the saddle, and Winters was about to set off.

   "Wear armor!" Ciel hurried over with three-quarter armor of Winters in his arms: "You haven't worn armor yet!"

   Helpless, Winters got off his horse and put on his armor again.

   He was wearing coarse work clothes, all of which had to be changed.

  Silk shirts, cotton armour, chain mail, plate armour, riding boots, Shire and Heinrich helped Winters to wear layers.

If the    messenger comes again, he will definitely not admit his mistake.

   After the preparations were completed, Winters led more than two dozen Dussacs to the location where the convoy was attacked.

   On the one hand, the Palatine army was logging nearby forests, and on the other hand, logging teams were sent deep into the forests to cut trees.

The place where the    convoy was attacked was between the lumber mill and the camp, and the men from the camp arrived before Winters, and the hussars had already set off to hunt down the Hurds.

   The scene was tragic, the unarmed transport convoy was unable to resist, and all the drivers were hacked to death.

The    wagon remained in place, but the axles were smashed, and the draught horse was taken away by the Hurds.

  Alpad had sent sentries around, but this small group of Heards still got in.

   "Force us to divide our troops again." Winters thought to himself: "Is this your plan? White Lion?"

  …

  Before the convoy was attacked, the bridge-building project was progressing exceptionally well.

   Winters was most worried that the [floating pile drivers] could not be used, because their center of gravity was too high, and they were easy to overturn in the slightest wind and waves.

  The river Styx in winter is gentle—but that’s only compared to the choppy spring and summer. The further you go to the center of the river, the more turbulent the water becomes.

  Fortunately, the Palatine sappers built the raft large enough and balanced the floating box, so the operation of the pile driver was no problem.

  Floating pile driver is the core machinery for bridge building, it has no problem, other problems are small problems.

  Plateau's army built two floating pile drivers, one on the left and one on the right.

   The Hurds on the opposite bank tried to harass them with arrows, but the heavy arrows they used couldn’t reach a distance of 200 meters.

   By the way, their arrows are still upwind.

   Even with a light arrow, it lost its accuracy and power when it flew 200 meters away.

   The range of the bow and arrow is not enough, and the Hed people on the other side carried out a few boats, wanting to fight on the water.

   As a result, he was beaten in the face by the Palatine musketeer, throwing a few floating corpses ashore in embarrassment.

   Winters estimated that when the Hurds' bows and arrows could effectively kill themselves, the bridge would be less than fifty meters away from them.

   Even at that time, the musketeers can shoot across the river with the Hurds, and it’s hard to say who is afraid.

   This time, it was the turn of the Hurds on the other side of the river to experience a sense of powerlessness.

  No matter what they do, the bridge stretches towards the east bank at a speed of more than ten meters a day.

   The biggest factor limiting the speed of the Paratus army in building bridges was not the Hurds, but the wood.

  In the wasteland, forests are rare, and the aniseed materials that can be used as bridge piles are even rarer.

  Plato's army could have continued north to build bridges where the river was narrower.

  But in the end I chose the current location because it is next to a coniferous forest.

  After measurement, the deepest water level of the Styx is about six or seven meters, and at least ten meters of wood are used there.

  Ten meters of lumber yields a twenty-meter tall tree.

The   Platoons were going crazy, and they couldn't find a few qualified materials.

   It was an old carpenter who came up with a solution: if the long wood was not enough, he used shorter pieces of wood to splicing them together, then fixed them with iron nails, and hounded them with iron rings. Although the iron will rust, it will be no problem to persist until the bridge is completed.

   So the building bridge headquarters dispatched twenty logging teams, including the Montagne Centuries.

  …

  The attack on the timber convoy means that the white lion has seen the Achilles' heel of the Platonic people.

  Yesterday, Winters applied to the bridge headquarters to build an additional garrison camp in the forest.

  The lumber harvested by each logging team is first concentrated in the camp, and then armed and escorted back to the main camp.

  Today, the messenger sent him a reply.

  Because of "spreading forces" and "secondary transfer delays", the Bridge Command rejected his application.

   But now, even if the Legion did not want to disperse its forces, it had to disperse.

   The schedule is broken, this chapter was updated yesterday [Saturday]. Thank you book friends for reading, subscribing, recommending tickets, monthly tickets, tips and comments, thank you all. There is also a book group, 924430243.

   (end of this chapter)