Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 202 Good luck and bad luck

  The silver-gray horse rushed into the camp, and the alarm bell was sounded like a reminder.

   "Emergency assembly!" A loud roar shattered the night: "Emergency assembly!"

  The Platoons woke up from their sleep and climbed out of their tents.

  The torches were lit one by one, and the disheveled soldiers first assembled in centuries and then ran to the school grounds.

The    standing army can still maintain order, while the auxiliary troops are in chaos.

  Lieutenant Colonel Robert didn't even wear boots, and came to the alarm bell with bare feet, helmet, and dressing gown.

   "What's the matter?" he asked Winters aloud.

   "Fire!" Winters dropped the bell hammer: "The Hurds are setting fires!"

   Lieutenant Colonel Robert was instantly horrified: "Where?"

   "I don't know! I smell smoke!"

   Lieutenant Colonel Robert tore off his nightgown and slammed to the ground: "Barbarian... such a vicious method!"

   It was only a moment when his emotions were out of control. Robert quickly cheered up and urged Winters: "No matter what tricks he has, let's catch it! You go back quickly, put on your clothes, aren't you afraid of typhoid fever?"

   Winters was standing shirtless by the bell-post, where the blanket he was wearing when he left the camp had fallen.

   He was in a hurry to come back to warn him, but he didn't feel anything at first. Hearing Lieutenant Colonel's words, he suddenly felt cold.

   Winters raised his hand in salute and strode to his tent.

  …

   Lieutenant Colonel Robert's "vicious" evaluation was not heard by the White Lion. Even if he could hear it, he would take it as a compliment.

  When the alarm bell sounded in the Qiaolin camp, the riverside camp and the camps in the south and north highlands were attacked at the same time.

   Requests for help, warnings, all kinds of information poured in.

   "What kind of madness is Yasin doing?" Arpad was furious and kicked Maza with one foot: "What's the point of doing such a small gesture?"

  The older you get, the more precious sleep is. Awakened in the middle of the night, Arpad's mood was also a bit wrong.

  Selek held his forehead and frowned: "It's all a feint, it's just distracting our attention. The Hurd's real move must lie elsewhere."

   A messenger rushed into the headquarters recklessly, and a gust of cold wind was engulfed.

   "Reckless! In what manner?" Arpad was furious: "Get out of here and re-enter!"

  The messenger backed away with his helmet, and came in again.

"Say!"

   "Beidaying is here to report, there is a fire in the northwest direction of Qiaolin!"

   Sackler punched the table: "Not good!"

  …

   At first it was an imperceptible smoke that only livestock could smell.

  The horses were restless, neighing one after another.

   But in winter, the weather is dry and the weather is dry, and there is a westerly wind to cheer, and the fire starts very fast.

When the troops of   Qiaolin Base Camp set off, everyone could already see the red light from the gaps in the tree trunks.

   This fire is a draw from the bottom of the cauldron. The Palatans wanted to build a bridge, and the white lion burned all the trees.

   Winters had never seen a forest fire before, and the scene was very different from the fire in Guitu.

   It is not the trees that catch fire first, but the bushes and grasses in the forest that start to burn first.

  The fire soared into the sky and climbed all the way to the canopy. The canopy is on, but the trunk is still fine.

  The flames spread among the tree canopies, like red clouds floating on the surface.

  The smoke thickened and became more and more choking to the naked eye.

  Lieutenant Colonel Robert took several officers including Winters to scout the fire.

  When the flames were still in the shadows, you could already see the black ash floating in the air.

   was at least two miles away from the fire, and several officers could no longer go any further.

  The scorching heat wave is coming. The horse neighed and refused to move no matter how hard it was beaten.

  Snakes, rabbits, deer... The beasts that are usually hard to find are now running in the direction of humans like crazy.

  The sound of the fire was like a ghost screaming, and like thousands of people tearing cloth together.

   also had a "bang bang" explosion - that was the fire that burned the wood and stone to burst.

   "It's not a single fire." Lieutenant Colonel Robert pulled the reins, tried his best to suppress the war horse that was about to run out of control, and shouted at the others: "The barbarians are probably setting fires in multiple places at the same time, otherwise they would never burn so fast."

   Qiang Luck was relatively calm, but paced a little restlessly, which saved Winters a lot of heart.

   Covering his mouth and nose, he also shouted at the lieutenant colonel, because he couldn't hear clearly without shouting: "This fire can't be put out! Hurry up and dig the isolation belt!"

   "Retreat first!" Lieutenant Colonel Robert rushed away.

  Other officers followed.

   Retire to a safe place, and the officers dismount for a meeting.

   Winters took out the map—the map was drawn by Lieutenant Colonel Jesska.

   Seeing him take out the map tube from his arms, the eyes of the other officers went straight.

  The situation is urgent, and there is no time to do that.

   Winters activated the light spell and pointed to the map to explain: "The logging teams have already cut a lot of open spaces and roads in the woods. We connect and widen the logging fields close to the camp, and maybe we can save part of the forest."

   Lieutenant Colonel Robert didn't talk nonsense, and slapped his thigh: "Just do it!"

Lieutenant Colonel    then added an order: "Each centurion judges at the moment and withdraws if it is really not possible! The tree can still be used if it is overheated, don't break people in!"

   The commander on the scene made a decision, and the troops of the Qiaolin Camp immediately took action.

The efficiency of   Plateau's army was unquestionable, with the centurions carrying tools into the lumber mills.

  According to the orders passed on layer by layer, everyone took out wet towels and scarves to cover their mouths and noses, and began to dig the isolation belt.

   The method of setting up the isolation belt was learned by Winters from the fire of Guitucheng.

   He didn't know whether it worked or not, but even if there was only a glimmer of hope, he couldn't just watch the white lion burn up the forest.

  The steeds were taken to safety, and Winters walked through the forest on foot.

   His voice was amplified by magic, and even overwhelmed the noise in the forest: "The withered grass, branches, and pine towers on the ground are all taken away! Anything that can catch fire is not allowed to stay!"

   When scouting the fire, Winters could see clearly: it was not the trees that came first, but the dead branches and leaves on the ground.

  More than 3,000 soldiers and militiamen were scattered in the forest, almost losing their unified command.

   At this moment, the only thing he can rely on is the will and ability of each centurion.

The   Palatu people should be thankful for two points: first, they have a very strong corps of low-level officers; second, the vegetation in this forest is very sparse.

   Fate is so tricky.

   The trees on the wasteland are not very large, and the dense virgin forest can only be seen by entering the foothills to the south and north.

  The bridge forest is sparsely vegetated and has little timber, which makes the Palatans extremely headaches.

   However, it is precisely this "disadvantage" that has now become an "advantage".

   Not long after, reinforcements sent by the camp also arrived at the scene.

When    found that the bridge was on fire, Sackler immediately dispatched all sappers and auxiliary soldiers, led by Colonel Bode to support.

   Colonel Bode also brought General Sackler's order: "If you can save it, save it."

   "Fart!" Lieutenant Colonel Robert was also in a hurry: "What does it mean to be saved? Isn't it saved anyway?!"

The    reinforcements and the original troops of the bridge camp, everyone went crazy.

   Trees, regardless of thickness, were felled and dragged away, and even the turf on the ground was shoveled away.

   Not only shovel away the turf, but also turn the soil over.

   The fire field has burned into a line, getting closer every second.

  The skin on Winters' face was scorched by the heat, and the scarf covering his nose and mouth would dry in minutes.

   He sent people to the river again and again to fetch water, but the water still ran out very quickly, and there was no supply at all.

   Two militiamen ran to find the centurion.

   Their faces were black with smoke, and Winters couldn't see who it was.

  It wasn't until one of them spoke up that he realized it was Ish, the one from Ganshui Town.

   "Sir, this is old Lalo!" Ish said, pulling the militia next to him: "He is from Haoquangu, he has a way!"

   Winters' mouth was bitter, but he didn't have the energy to politely: "Speak!"

   "Old Lalo" in Ish's mouth spoke, sounding like a middle-aged man: "Sir, it's better to fight fire with fire!"

   "How to attack?"

   "Don't wait for the fire to come over! Let's light a fire first! It's just fighting fire with fire! But we have to wait until the fire ditch is dug."

   "The wind is blowing east!" Winters pointed to the sky: "Light a fire, we must burn us first! How to fight fire with fire?"

   "That's not the case, my lord." Old Lalo explained anxiously: "The wind in the fire field is chaotic! It can even swirl! The fire will **** the wind!"

   Winters suddenly remembered the fire tornado in Guitucheng. The fire was so big that it would indeed **** the air and cause the wind to be chaotic.

   "Are you sure?" Winters stared at old Lalo.

  Old Lalo lowered his head and Nuonuo said, "No, I... I'm not sure."

   "My lord, when he talked to us, he spoke well." Ish shouted and grabbed Old Lalo: "There is Lord Centurion! What are you afraid of!"

   Winters gritted his teeth, grabbed old Lalo's shoulder, and said, "I'll be responsible for anything that goes wrong. If you have any ideas, tell them all! I'll go to Lieutenant Colonel Robert."

   said, Winters began to fumble for his pockets, but he couldn't find anything valuable when he searched his body.

   had no choice, so he had to make a wish first: "I don't have any gold or silver with me. If your method works, I will let Anglo pick the best horse and bring it home for you."

  …

  20 meters wide, the isolation belt extending from south to north has taken shape.

  Lieutenant Colonel Robert agreed to a small-scale experiment with Winters' "fighting fire with fire".

   This is a total bet, no one knows if it can be done or not, and everyone’s palms are sweating.

   Outside the isolation zone in charge of the Montagne Centuries, Winters personally lit another fire.

   Lamp oil, resin, and whatever fuel the militia could find. Blazing flames soared into the air and began to spread to the east.

  Everyone was waiting, and the flames reached the bare isolation belt.

  People watched with trepidation as the red embers flew towards them from the air, for fear that the canopy of the tree would be ignited by these flying ashes with sparks.

  The eastward advance was blocked, and the new fire field began to spread to the west side, and it was getting faster and faster.

   Seeing the effectiveness of fighting fire with fire, the crowd cheered, and tears could not stop flowing from the eyes that were roasted dry.

  Behind the smoke, out of sight, two lines of fire collided, burning everything they touched—including themselves.

  …

  …

  The fire burned overnight.

   In the early morning of the next day, the leaders of the Hurd tribes came to watch the enemy.

  The woodland is still shrouded in smoke, the trees are burnt bare, and some dark red embers can be seen on the surface of the fire.

  The white lion pondered, but did not speak.

   "White lions, it looks like you burned them all to death." The chief of the Black Water Department said in a pleasing manner.

   The Blackwater Ministry has suffered a lot, and the Blackwater Chief is now a die-hard supporter of the White Lion.

   "According to your auspicious words, short bow. I hope so too." The white lion still respects the chief of the Black Water Department as before: "However, I am afraid it will not be so easy."

The   Plateau sentry found the group of enemies on the nearby hillside and ran back quickly to report.

   "Let's go, it's time for us to go back." The white lion beat the horse gently: "Just look at it, don't bother the Paratus people to see you off."

   After a while, the Platoon sentry led a black armored cavalry out of the smoke-shrouded forest.

  The two personal guards accompanying the leaders of the various tribes raised their guns to meet them, but they were beheaded by the black armored cavalry one after another.

  The black-armored cavalry ran to the adjacent hill and shouted a few words at the leaders of the tribes.

   Without waiting for the other guards to surround him, the black armored cavalry had already left with a big smile.

   "What did he say, little lion?" asked the fire roaster.

   "Want to burn us?" The little lion looked at the back of the heavily armored cavalry, and translated expressionlessly: "Fuck you."

  …

  Bad news: Two-thirds of the bridge forest was burned.

  Good news: Bridge Forest is one third left.

   And another piece of good news: some of the firewood is still useful, especially those with large diameters, and the White Lion inadvertently helped the Palatine with the wood sifting.

   "The misfortune is where the blessings depend. The blessings are where the misfortune lies." Brother Reid twitched his beard and smiled: "The ancients did not deceive me."

   [Actually in this volume, although Winters is still a centurion, he actually often commands thousands or even more troops, which is a very valuable experience. In Veneta, a big tree shades him. In Plato, he can only grow by himself]

   Generally speaking, an army with a low level of organization will not attack and collapse when it encounters a fire, let alone put out a fire.

   The troops of the Qiaolin camp, firstly, discovered the fire very early, and secondly, the standing army was highly organized, which was a grade higher than the feudal troops.

   A book friend mentioned before that a centurion team has only one centurion, isn't it too few? In fact, for the army of the feudal era and the Renaissance, there were already many.

   According to the preparation of the Spanish phalanx, a Cap [originally referred to as captain, later evolved into the rank of captain] should bring 250 soldiers.

   Because for a long time, officers were full-time nobles. To promote ordinary soldiers to be officers, I have the impression that we have to wait until Cromwell's model army.

   The Roman army could send individual centuries to perform tactical tasks during battles, such as flanking and flanking.

   But in the Middle Ages, the military rarely saw this kind of flexibility.

   Thank you for reading, subscribing, recommending tickets, monthly tickets, tips and comments, thank you all.

   (end of this chapter)