Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 203 You come and I go

  After the fire swept through the bridge forest, Winters had a lot of trouble chopping wood.

   The once lush woodland has been burnt to the ground.

   Only a few barren tree trunks are left standing alone on the peat.

  Winters led people to cut down the charred trees on the surface, and take away the unusable burnt wood as firewood.

In the days after   , the Hurds repeated their old tricks and set fire to the rest of the woodland again and again.

   There is a saying that "fool me once, your shame; fool me twice, my shame; fool me three times, you and I share shame", the Hurds obviously don't know this sentence.

  The people of Paratus have suffered a lot and have grown their minds.

  The logging team no longer blindly "cuts where it counts", but first opened up several criss-crossing firebreaks in the forest.

  In this way, the remaining part of the bridge forest was divided into small areas by the fire belt.

   Even if the Hurds set fire, the forest that can be burned at one time is limited.

   Firebreak is also a road, cavalry can quickly support through the firebreak in the forest.

   At the same time, because the bridge forest is less than one-third of the area - and it is still "smaller by the day", the area that needs to be defended has also shrunk.

  The Hurds not only failed to ignite another fire, but were ambushed by Lieutenant Colonel Robert outside the forest, killing and injuring many light cavalrymen with fire and support.

   All in all, these few days have been a rare relaxing time for Winters.

   He does not need to participate in combat, as long as he takes people out to chop down trees every day.

  Ciel picked up his blanket. The blankets were so badly burned that Winters was a little sad.

   That was the best thick woolen blanket that Mrs. Mitchell had brought him when he left Wolftown.

   In order to avoid freezing to death, Winters asked the logistics department for a new blanket.

   As a result, the logistics department handed him a duvet specially provided by the school officer, which was a blessing in disguise.

  Because the bridge forest is divided into small areas, the range of animals in the forest is increasingly restricted.

   During the tree-cutting work, Winters led his militiamen to give a "big reunion" to the rabbits, pheasants, deer and the like in the bridge forest.

   Simply put, some people are drawn into a circle to coax them out, while others are waiting in a pocket formation, which is a bit like hunting.

  Although the meat assigned to each person is not too much, Winters is not tired of it.

   In addition, as the hero who was the first to warn, the legion specially granted four eggs a day to the forcible transport.

  Eggs are laid by hens carried by the army, and are very precious, even Winters does not have this treatment.

   And old Lalo, who proposed the strategy of [fighting fire with fire], got a great warhorse.

The   Dussac boys were jealous, but old Lalo was not very happy.

   Winters saw that Lalo had a forced smile, and went to ask him why.

After    repeated inquiries, Old Lalo finally confessed his heart: "Sir, it's not that I don't know how to lift. I'm a peasant, what's the use of a war horse? It needs food and care, and I can't support it."

   Winters was at a loss for words, and he found that he was overwhelmed and did not think properly.

  Old Lalo asked hesitantly: "Otherwise... can you change me a mule?"

"For your war horse, five mules are more than enough!" Winters rubbed his palms and laughed: "I wanted to give you two heavy draw horses that can pull plows. But I thought again, the draw horses also need food. . Then replace it with two mules, and convert the extra value into Ducats."

  Anglo went to the wagon again, and picked out a sturdy, beautiful blue-blue mule for Lalo.

   The mules picked by Anglo are strong and strong, with strong mouths, and their coats are as bright and smooth as silk. Thighs and buttocks feel firm to the touch.

   Lalo's fellow villagers were full of praise when they saw this beautiful big animal, and the old Lalo himself was very precious.

   But there is only one, because the capacity of the chariot team is also tight, and there are not many spare draught beasts.

   The rest of the money, Winters's was converted into Ducat gold coins and handed over to Old Lalo privately.

   He thought carefully this time: a mule is still in the "envy" range, if you add money, it will enter the "jealous" range.

   "The gold coins are all sewn into the belt." There were only two people in the tent, and Winters handed the belt to Lalo: "Except for the difference in weight, it can't be seen from the outside."

  Lalorian thanked him, and carefully tightened his belt.

  Old Lalo was at least twice as old as Winters, his hands were full of calluses, and he was a very mature man.

Winters shouldn't have said much, but he remembered those people in Wolf Town who squandered their hard-earned money on Gervodin, and couldn't help but warned: "Don't gamble... and don't spend it on a woman's belly. Take it back, bring it with you. For your family, even if you buy a few new clothes."

  A young man in his early twenties told a middle-aged man in his early twenties. This scene is particularly funny and absurd.

   But Winters spoke earnestly and from the bottom of his heart, and old Lalo nodded heavily: "Relax, Centurion."

  …

   Winters has been having an easy few days, but Sackler and Alpad have not been very peaceful.

The   Hards stopped trying to attack with fire, but the harassment of the Pratu army did not stop there, but instead intensified.

  The sporadic Hurd light cavalry went to the Palatu camp in the middle of the night to fire guns, blow horns, and release cold arrows, which annoyed the people of Palatu.

The    sentry sounded the bell, and the Hurd turned around and ran. Without the sentinels ringing the alarm bells, the Heards are endless.

   Sackler set up ambush outside the camp and arranged for hussars to be on duty at night, but the effect was not satisfactory.

  Because the white lions are happy to engage in small-scale battles with the Platonic people, they are more willing to consume the spirit of the Platonic people in this way.

   Kill one tonight, and the White Lion will continue to come from another tribe tomorrow.

   In the end, Sackler angrily found that the best way was to ignore it.

   So the Palatine defenders in the north and south highlands buried their heads in fortifying their camps, ignoring the Hurd light cavalry who came to harass them.

  The Paratus refused to fight, and the Hurds intensified.

  The most extreme one, a few Hurds lit a bonfire outside the range of the muskets, and sang and danced while grilling.

When Brother Reid heard about this, he asked Winters with a smile, "Are you going to bring some women's clothes next time?"

   Winters didn't understand the mystery, and answered honestly: "The clothes of the Hurds are not divided into men and women, and the styles are similar."

  The old **** stick was boring, sighing and pacing away.

   Faced with the repeated provocations of the Hurds, the soldiers and lower-level officers were so angry that their teeth itch.

General   Sekler was quite determined. He ordered the defenders of the villages to dig three trenches to enclose the area between the southern highlands, the northern highlands and the river bank, showing that he wanted to be a hedgehog.

   Knowing that the Paratus would not attack, the White Lion still sent people to harass and provoke him every day.

   Because in this way, the confidence of the Heard tribes is gradually recovering from the fiasco at the Battle of the Nameless Valley.

  The Hurds walked their horses out of musket range, while the Paratus watched.

   The Hurd urinated out of range of the musket, and the Paratus continued to watch.

   The Hurds were wrestling out of musket range, and the Platoons watched—but happily.

   So the Hurds stopped wrestling and switched to other, more insulting activities.

Lieutenant    Mason sighed every day, regretting that he didn't bring his cannon, "otherwise, he wouldn't suffer from this anger."

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska proposed a plan: build a fort 50 meters away from the camp, and select soldiers from Orion to be stationed there;

  50 meters is within the effective killing range of ordinary arquebuses, and the musketeers on the camp wall can provide support for the pier.

Lieutenant Colonel Jesska also saw the potential of    rifled guns.

   However, due to the high cost of this kind of gun, it is currently used as a hunting toy in the hands of officers and wealthy families.

   In addition, only Orion is forced to spend a lot of money to buy a shot for the sake of livelihood.

   Trying is better than staring, Sackler agreed to Lieutenant Colonel Jesska's plan.

General    made a decision, and the other officers had to hand over their precious shotguns, and even Winters' double-barreled short-barreled gun was taken away.

  Palatu people have a general mentality of comparison, and guns naturally pursue beauty. The rifled guns of officers are all finely crafted, and the decoration on the gun is more expensive than the musket itself.

The    was handed over to the big-headed soldiers in this way, and the officers at all levels were very reluctant.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska had offended many colleagues invisibly, but his solution was immediate.

  Rifle shooters can already pose an effective threat to targets within 100 meters—although not one shot at a time.

  If you can't hit with one shot, you will only have two shots, three shots...

   After being killed and wounded more than a dozen people in a row, the Hurds dared not be reckless.

   Prior to this, the Hurds even ran to a place less than 50 meters from the camp wall to provoke a demonstration.

   Since the rifled shooter came into play, the Hurds all retreated to a distance of two hundred meters.

   It's just that the nighttime situation is still annoying.

  Because of the limited defensive capabilities of the piers, it is easy to be touched, so the rifle shooters will withdraw to the camp at night.

   The Hurds dare not be arrogant during the day, and they will do more toss after the sun goes down.

  The two sides just came and went, and the low-intensity battle never stopped.

   In these bad days, there was only one thing that comforted the Paratus: the progress of the bridge was very satisfactory, thanks to a steady supply of timber at the Bridge Forest Camp.

  The bridge piles extend to the opposite bank of the river at a speed of at least ten meters per day, and have already crossed the center of the river.

   The Hurds on the other side of the river also racked their brains to destroy the bridge.

  The way of thinking of the Hurds is extremely straightforward: Can’t shoot heavy arrows? Then I'll switch to light arrows.

  So they hurriedly made a batch of bone arrows and light arrows with thin wooden poles, and set bows and arrows at the Palatine people.

The    arrows are lighter and the range is longer, but the power is also weaker, and it is more affected by the wind.

  The Hurds shot hundreds of light arrows against the wind, and the hit rate was appalling.

   The arrows that hit by luck will not hurt when they fall on the Platoons.

   is not powerful enough? Then I use a stronger bow.

   So he nailed three heavy bows into a crossbow and carried it to the river bank to shoot at the piling boat.

   If a special heavy bow is used, it may also pose a threat to the piling ship.

  The bed crossbows used by the Hurds are just ordinary horned bows, and the Plato piling boats are very heavy, and the arrows hit them like tickling.

  The Hurds on the other side covered the arrows with resin and tried to set the piling boat on fire.

   still failed, and the fire was not ignited as fast as the Paratus.

   After shooting for a long time, the boat and the bridge were all right. The Hurd's "bed crossbow" collapsed, injuring several people.

  The despairing Hurds launched another towed trebuchet, and more than 40 people pulled the poles and threw stones the size of human heads towards the bridge and raft on the water.

   This time it was a real threat to the Paratus.

   A stone the size of a human head cannot sink a raft, but it can kill people.

   However, when the Hurds launched the trebuchet, the bridge was less than 100 meters away from the other side of the river.

   Sackler directly dispatched musketeers and riflemen to the bridge to shoot at the Heards on the other side of the river.

   And the equipment of the Hurds is still the same old problem - shoddy and unusable for a long time.

   The raft didn't sink, the bridge pile didn't break, and the trebuchet disintegrated by itself...

  The Hurds who controlled the trebuchet dispersed in embarrassment, and the two sides ended another day of fighting.

   Winters watched from the riverbank, watching the whole thing.

   Watching the battle is one of the traditional entertainment activities of the army. Many officers who are not on duty come to the river bank to watch the battle.

When the officers communicated, most of them agreed with this view: the closer you get to the other side, the greater the resistance you will encounter; the Hurd people can launch one trebuchet today, and they can launch five or ten tomorrow; , I'm afraid it won't be easy.

  The presence of all the seniors and seniors of the Palatine nationality, Winters did not want to intervene, and hid behind to listen to him - he was actually very recognizable.

On the way back to Bridgewood Camp, Lieutenant Colonel Robert asked casually, "Winters, do you have other ideas?"

   In front of familiar superiors, Winters was less cautious.

   He stroked Qiang Luck's mane and replied, "I think people look down on the Hurd people on the other side too much. If the bridge is pushed forward 50 meters, the Hurd people on the other side will probably run away."

   "How to say?" Lieutenant Colonel Robert came to be interested.

   The other officers who accompanied him also pricked up their ears. They all knew that the younger brother next to him had fought against the Hurds on the other side.

Winters nodded embarrassedly and explained: "The Hurds on the other side are actually a miscellaneous army made up by many small tribes. The combat power is far less than that of the big tribes such as the Chihe Department, the Teltown Department, and the Suzi Department. The direct line of people can easily fall apart."

  The quick-thinking colleagues already understood what Winters wanted to say, and Lieutenant Colonel Robert patted his thigh.

"They walked around in Palatu, and they robbed a lot of money. The white lion can keep them on the other side of the river, which is beyond my expectations. This shows that the white lion has great prestige in their minds, but... " Winters braided a bunch of braids for Qiang Yun and smiled: "That's it."

When   Winters went to Bianli, Alaric [Storm Eagle] almost cornered him.

   But if the current Jesska team is guarding the Styx camp, Winters is confident that he can beat Alaric's thousand team to crying father and mother.

   Even the dullest colleagues reacted at this moment:

  The own army in the West Bank is bent on fighting back home;

   And the Hurds on the other side have already grabbed enough money, and their will to fight is much worse than when they went to Palatu.

   As long as the bridge can reach the other side, the rest should not be too difficult.

   Back at Camp Bridgewood, Winters ate dinner as usual, toured the camp, and wrote letters—he had actually treated letter writing as a diary.

  Blow up trees with cracking technique every day, and the spellcaster training is also saved.

   After doing all this, he burrowed into the eiderdown.

   "Duck down quilts are good everywhere," Winters thought regretfully. "But it's still not as comfortable as my old blanket."

  …

   The hooves rolled like thunder.

   and the rush of bells.

   Winters jumped off the army couch and reached for his sword.

   "Is it a dream?" He turned his head slowly, trying to identify the direction of the hooves.

   is not a dream! Really hooves!

   Winters scolded, rushed out of the military tent and shouted: "Enemy attack!"

   The power of this roar was close to that of a sonic boom, causing him to feel dizzy.

  The soldiers rolled away from the tent and began to arm.

  Ciel and Heinrich hurried over to arm Winters.

   "[Indistinct swear words]!" Winters was annoyed: "Just can't get a good night's sleep, can you?!"

   "It's the other way around! It's the other way around!" Ciel shouted anxiously, "The armored clothes are reversed!"

  Winters was still angry, but suddenly his stomach hurts with laughter: "I said why is it like being strangled in the throat..."

  The taciturn Heinrich said suddenly: "Sir, the sound of hooves seems to be coming from the camp."

   Winters was horrified, and his hair stood on end: "That's right... It's from the camp..."

  Three strokes, five to two and two to put on the armor, and Winters strode to his camp.

  Charle went to lead the horse, while Heinrich followed the centurion with his flag.

   Horse hooves passed around the camp.

  The green-helmed cavalry rushed into the Qiaolin camp, ran wildly on the main road, and shouted: "General Arpad has an order! Anyone who can ride a horse will follow! Arpad..."

   Hearing the words of the messenger cavalry, Winters was relieved.

   At a certain moment just now, he thought that the main camp had been breached.

  The brazier was lit one after another, and the Shuangqiao camp was waking up.

   After finishing the team, Winters took his men to the school grounds.

When the   Montagne Centuries entered the field, there were not many people on the field, which made Winters a little proud.

   Seeing the familiar Lieutenant Varga, Winters hurried over and asked, "Squad leader, what's going on?"

   "I don't know either." Lieutenant Varga bowed and smiled wryly.

   Yiqi rushed into the school field, it was Lieutenant Colonel Robert.

   "The centurion present!" Lieutenant Colonel Robert ordered: "Follow me!"

   After saying that, the lieutenant colonel galloped out.

   Winters and Varga looked at each other and followed suit.

  Lieutenant Colonel Robert did not speak, and led a few people out of the Qiaolin Camp.

   Unable to recognize the direction at night, Winters could vaguely feel that he was heading towards the river bank.

  Winters, worried about the strong luck breaking the hoof, slowed down a little, so he landed last.

   Not waiting to reach the river bank, by the silver moonlight, through the sparse tree shadows, he saw something rolling in the river.

   "Fireboat! No, not a boat! What the **** is that!"

   If the Jesska team from Chapter 89 went to guard the riverside camp in Chapter 48, they would really be able to beat the Alaric Thousand Team to the point of crying.

   Not only has the force doubled, but the experience of the soldiers is incomparable at that time.

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

   (end of this chapter)