Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 251 Contempt

   Soldier [Peter Bunir] of the 200th of the Iron Peaks Infantry Regiment did not know where to go, and his centurion [Tamas] did not allow him to ask any more questions.

  Bunir means dwarf in the old language. Seeing that he was born short, a certain officer who had a headache when he heard "Peter" angrily registered him with this appropriate pseudonym.

   Before departure, each person received a stick, and the dwarf also received one.

  The centurion ordered everyone to bite the wooden stick like a horse chomp, not to fall out, and to eat the whip when it fell out.

   There was no pre-war speech, and the gloomy-faced centurion only uttered one sentence: "Whether you are worth three hundred acres depends on today!"

   After saying that, he waved his hand.

   Biting the stick, the dwarf picked up the spear and set off.

The    team was marching in the forest, there was no road to speak of, and they would be separated if they were not careful.

   The dwarf soldiers had followed the centurion through the old forest twice. At the time, they had no idea what the purpose was. Now I think about it, they are probably preparing for today.

  The dense foliage of trees not only makes the march more difficult, but also gives many people the opportunity to desert.

   The dwarf watched as his companions in front threw away their weapons and ran into the chestnut forest without a trace.

   But the dwarf didn't run, he didn't dare, and he was thinking about the three hundred acres of land.

   So he quickened his pace to keep up with those who were ahead.

The    team finally stopped in a forest, not knowing where it was or what it was going to do, let alone seeing the enemy.

  The centurion made everyone lie down, and one by one he bent down and told:

   "As soon as the horn sounded, I rushed forward, and if I saw anyone without a red scarf, I would kill him! Three hundred acres! Remember! Three hundred acres!"

   It's about to be real, the dwarf is lying on the ground, his mouth is dry, his hands and feet are numb.

   He is a timid and responsible farmer. He has dealt with the land all his life, and he has never killed a pig, let alone a murder.

  Murder is going to hell!

   But, three hundred acres, that's three hundred acres...I can't even dream of it.

   He longed to hear the trumpet, and was afraid to hear it.

   After waiting for a long time, the life-threatening charge finally reached his ears.

   There was a deafening cry of killing in the forest, and many people rushed out with their spears in their heads.

   The dwarf lay on the ground and did not move, his hands and feet did not obey his commands.

   He was really scared, scared to death.

When    served as a soldier to the last high official, he only got two pieces of brown bread a day.

   So when he put down his weapon and surrendered, he had no burden at all.

   On the contrary, he was relieved not to have to fight.

   To serve as a soldier for the current high official, in addition to bread, he also received three silver shields.

  The silver coin was hiding in his close-fitting pocket at the moment, making his ribs hurt.

  How can three silver coins be worth life? War really kills people!

   Shorty is not sure he can go to heaven, he is not very religious, and he has never donated money to the church. Even with the most optimistic expectations, a walk in purgatory is inevitable.

   Even if the Lord is forgiving and allows him to go to heaven, it is better to go as late as possible.

   What's more, whether he goes to war or not, the three silver shields are already in his arms...

   He also received a field grant paper, which he carefully placed together with the silver shield.

   The dwarf wanted the land, he wanted it madly, but he hadn't really got the land yet.

The   300 acres only exist in the description. The dwarf has never set up a boundary marker, crossed a furrow, never sowed or harvested.

   No one pointed to a piece of land and told him literally, "This is your land, it doesn't belong to anyone else, it's yours."

"What if I'm lying to you?" A voice in my heart was trying desperately to convince the dwarf: "Who knows if he will really give you land? How can a master be kind? Hide, just hide here! Wait until the battle is over. go out!"

   Another voice kept muttering: "Three hundred acres, that's three hundred acres! Fight!"

  Suddenly, Shorty's back was burning with pain.

   He turned his head, and the furious face of the centurion Tamas appeared in his eyes.

Tamas, who was holding the vine whip, slapped the short soldier lying on the ground fiercely, and roared like thunder: "You bastard! Waste! Go! Look with your pig eyes! We're going to win! Go ahead and win! If you rush up, you will pick three hundred acres for nothing! You don’t want three hundred acres for free!”

   The dwarf was beaten and screamed, his body curled into a small ball, and he kept begging for mercy.

   Centurion Tamas slapped so hard that the vine whip couldn't bear it, and it snapped into two pieces with a crunch.

Tamas's arms were also shaking. He smashed the remaining half of the vine whip at the short soldier, and reached out his hand to draw the knife: "I'll give you three hundred acres, but you don't want it! Good! Fuck your mother! I will kill you now. !"

   The dwarf digs the dirt with his fingers, struggling to get up.

  Pain, shame, greed, fear, hatred... His brain was about to be turned into a pot of rotten porridge.

   "Ah!!" A horrifying scream came from the dwarf's chest. The honest farmer rushed out of the forest with blood red eyes and bare hands: "Devil! Death! Three hundred acres!"

  The rest of the cowards were either infected by the dwarf's fanaticism, or afraid of martial arts, or talking about three hundred acres, or both, and stood up panting.

   "There are devils ahead! The devil who came to **** your land! Kill! Killing a devil is not a murder!" Tamas snarled with a saber: "Who the **** can't get on, I'll kill you right here!"

   "Kill!" Everyone screamed and rushed to where the devil was.

  …

  Don Juan was never afraid of fighting, on the contrary, fighting made him addicted.

   But this battle, he felt anxious for the first time.

  The layout of the enemy is very orderly, the camp is surrounded by double-layer wooden fences, and the sentries are spread out early.

   In order to hide his tracks, Juan had to set up the attack position a mile away.

   But he still ran into the enemy's sentinel. Fortunately, the opponent's sentinel was also taken aback and was killed before warning.

   The charging distance of more than one mile, not to mention how much strength the soldiers have left to run to the place, few people can do it just by running one mile in the forest without deviating from the direction.

   So Don Juan was making a big bet. On one side of the scale were the disadvantages of reckless raids, and on the other side the fragile fighting will of the enemy soldiers and Moritz van Nassau.

  The original plan was to wait for the enemy to divide, and then fight an ambush in the wild between Hammer Fort and Gervodin.

   But the enemy commander was unusually cautious, and fought with a straight face.

   This made Don Juan unsure whether the other side would split up.

   By observing the enemy's several failed attacks on Hammer Fort, Lieutenant Don Juan concluded that the enemy's morale was low and lacking will to fight.

   So he decided to adopt a more dangerous battle plan - annihilate the enemy in front of Hammer, regardless of whether they are divided or not!

   The successful interception of Colonel Geisa's messenger was a godsend for him.

  Don Juan did not propose to "take the opportunity to behead", maybe he didn't expect it, or maybe he didn't want to.

   But Lieutenant Colonel Moritz himself came up with this sinister plan.

  Moritz, as a lieutenant colonel, voluntarily risked his life to assassinate the enemy commander, surprising everyone.

  Don Juan was even more moved.

   "Just do it the way he did." Moritz chuckled as always: "They can send spellcasters disguised as messengers to assassinate, so we can try it too."

  Huan ran wildly in the forest with his saber, thinking in his heart: "Don't have an accident, Lieutenant Colonel."

   rushed out of the forest, suddenly enlightened, and if it was not as he expected, only a few people followed him and ran to the enemy's army camp.

The formation of the    Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment was shattered after a one-mile cross-country charge.

  Many soldiers ran out of the forest and stood on the road to find that the enemy barracks were still three or four hundred meters away from them.

   Another soldier ran behind the Hammer Fort.

   Juan roared: "Pull the stakes!"

   He was the first to rush to Mucha, and the other soldiers followed.

   The wooden stakes carried by the army were inserted into the ground with two fists between them, and the pointed end was thrust out. It was the wooden fence—a textbook-like temporary camp fortification.

  The enemy has two circles of wooden fences, inside and outside.

  Don Juan just pulled out a two-person gap on the outer wooden fence when the enemy troops in the camp ran over.

  The enemy Chaotang Juan and others fired bows and arrows.

   The strength of the enemy's bow was weak, and the arrow flew crookedly, but it still made the soldiers of Tiefeng County panic.

  Arrows flew past them, and they all turned and fled.

  Tang Juan cursed in anger: "I didn't even run! What are you running? Supervise the team!"

   The supervising team didn’t respond to him, because the supervising team also ran in a mess.

  Don Juan raised his saber in a fit of anger and knocked down a fleeing soldier, actually wanting to supervise the battle himself.

   There was a howl that did not sound like a human voice in the forest. Everyone was shocked, even Don Juan was stunned for a while.

The    howls got closer and louder.

   A short soldier rushed out from the branches and leaves with his bare hands - no one could have imagined that the war cry that made all the listeners shudder came from such a short man.

   The little soldier broke into between the two wooden fences, pulling the stakes like mad.

   The enemy shoots arrows at him, and he does not hide.

   "Devil!" He pulled out a stake and shouted, "Death!"

   Many of the Tiefeng County soldiers who escaped stopped.

   Taking this opportunity, Don Juan finished what he was going to do. He slashed the deserters to death, and shouted sharply: "Fighting in fear! Kill on the spot!"

   More and more Iron Peak soldiers ran out of the forest.

  Most people didn't charge with Don Juan in the first place, it was easy to get down on the ground and hard to stand up.

   So they lay on the ground, trying to win or lose just like that.

   Thanks to the reprimands, whips, and three hundred acres of the centurion and the sergeants, the terrified soldiers got up and went into battle.

  The new force will attack the enemy camp with soldiers who want to escape. For the troops lacking will, the number is the courage.

   Seeing that he was surrounded by his own people, the most cowardly soldier also gave birth to three points of courage out of thin air.

  Tiefeng County soldiers swarmed to the fence and followed the short soldiers to pull out the stakes.

   "Shout! Give me a **** shout!" Don Juan roared.

   The emotions were extremely intense, but Don Juan's thinking was unusually calm.

   He knew that both the enemy and us were rabble, and they fought with one momentum.

   As long as you can act like you are winning, you will win!

  Don Juan raised the **** saber and led the soldiers to shout: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

   "Kill!" The Tiefeng County soldiers pulled out the outer ring stakes.

   "Kill!" The Tiefeng County soldier pulled out the inner circle stake.

   "Kill!!" Tiefeng County soldiers poured into the enemy camp like a flood.

   "The garrison officer in Vigne County is dead!" Don Juan suddenly realized that something was wrong: "Surrender and don't kill!"

   "Death!" The Tiefeng County soldier shouted with red eyes: "Kill!"

  …

   When Richard Mason, who was in charge of defending Hammer, led his artillery to arrive, the Iron Peaks infantry regiment had broken through the fence and entered the enemy camp.

  The two sides scuffled between tents and fires.

   Without uniforms, it is almost difficult to distinguish between enemy and me.

  The vast majority of the soldiers fighting each other had no armor, the sharp sword would see blood with a single stroke, and the spear would kill with a stab in the chest.

   Among the screams, shouts of killing and begging for mercy, someone shouted hoarsely: "The one wearing the red scarf is the rebel! The red scarf! The rebels!"

  Beside the gap in Mucha, Mason found the anxious Don Juan.

  The latter let two soldiers hug his legs and lift him up, watching the battle with a solemn expression.

   "Where's the lieutenant colonel?" Mason asked when they met.

   "I don't know." Juan bit his lip.

   "How's the battle?!"

   "It's not good!" Don Juan's handsome facial features were a little distorted, he held the scabbard tightly: "There is no way to escape, all are stuck inside, this battle is going to be bad!"

  A small camp squeezed into two armies. The soldiers of Iron Peak County fought with blood and courage, while the soldiers of Vigne County had nowhere to escape.

  The soldiers in front were screaming and stabbing, and the soldiers in the back were pushing the soldiers in front to the enemy's blade.

   Both sides are terrified, and fear can make people take over by the survival instinct of "fight or flight".

   At this moment, "war" is suppressing "escape", so the two armies are at a stalemate.

   But the slightest perturbation can cause the balance to tip irreversibly.

  Huan jumped back to the ground and asked the senior, "Where's your gun?"

   "Bring everything that can be beaten." Mason pointed to the log-like things carried by his subordinates.

   "Okay! Wait for a while to see my signal, and let it go together! Wherever there are more people, don't worry about accidental injuries, just bombard!" Juan waved his arms and ordered the soldiers he could command: "Others come with me!"

   Before he finished speaking, Juan went around the wooden fence and ran north. The soldiers followed him because they didn't know.

   "Why are you going?" Mason shouted at the back of his junior.

  Don Juan went straight to the camp gate without looking back.

  …

   Winters deliberately let out the wind, saying that Captain Mason and Lieutenant Bard, who were in charge of relocating the refugees, had left Gervodin.

   In fact, only Bard went to relocate the people, and Mason secretly led his troops to build a "new" Hammer Fort.

   During this period, Mason also improved the wooden cannon.

  The original wooden cannon used long, straight, thick and large wood, and it also needed to be fastened with iron rings.

   So the artillery captain Mason gave up his pursuit completely and directly built a one-off second-generation wooden cannon.

  It is difficult to obtain large wood? Then use small, one-foot-diameter wood to make do with it.

   Hoops are too troublesome? Then don't hoop, anyway, use it once to chop wood and burn it.

  The wood is thin and does not have iron rings, so it is easy to explode? Then use less medicine.

   The final "product" is these "wooden cannons" that are like pieces of logs.

   It is said to be a gun, but it is actually a large wooden musket.

   It wasn't even lead or iron sand - not so much lead and iron to waste - but broken stones.

   Mason's second-generation wooden cannon is more difficult to kill the enemy, the main thing is to listen to the sound, and then spray the enemy all over the face.

  The ultimate "cutting corners" leads to a sad power, but the cost is also very low - in the final analysis, a hole is drilled in the wood.

   So Captain Mason made hundreds of them in one go, and they keep making them.

   Today, it is not the number of guns that limits the size of the Mason artillery team, but the lack of gunpowder supply…

  …

  There is no high ground around the garrison camp in Vigne County where a cannon can be mounted, and the range of the disposable wooden cannon is very close.

   Mason was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

  I looked around and couldn't find a place to mount a gun.

   He gritted his teeth and ordered: "Hold it!"

   The "artillery" were stunned, no one moved.

   Even with reduced charges, these shoddy wooden cannons still occasionally explode.

   Shooting a cannon in his hand is equivalent to committing suicide by drawing lots.

   Seeing that no one was moving, Mason grabbed a wooden cannon from his subordinates: "I'm coming!"

   Holding a wooden cannon, he stepped on something that could stand on tiptoe, barely standing at a higher position.

   But it was still too low, Mason simply picked up the wooden cannon.

   His subordinates were too frightened to speak.

   Holding a cannon, the blasting chamber may break your hand;

   Carrying a cannon and blasting the chamber will kill you.

   Juan had already detoured to the north side road, opened the gate of the camp, and was waving the flag desperately at Mason.

   "Fire!" Mason yelled.

   Soldiers dare not move.

   "Light me up!" Mason shouted angrily.

   An "artillery" with a large red birthmark on his face silently lit the lead of the wooden cannon in his hand, and stood on the stepping stone with the wooden cannon on his back.

   There was a loud bang, and gunpowder smoke gushed out.

   Anyone who uses gunpowder, even if it is not a gun but a cannon battle, is far more powerful than a bow and crossbow.

   The people fighting in the camp were all startled by the loud noise.

   Mason strode through the gunpowder, and saw that the old part with the red birthmark on his face was still alive, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

   "Red Birthmark" was bloodless, with blood dripping from one ear, and his hands were shaking uncontrollably.

   He threw away the smoking wooden cannon and coughed desperately.

  Mason suddenly realizes how stupid he is, what's the use of shooting people?

   With the range of this wooden cannon, how many people can it hit?

   It's enough to make a noise!

   "Put it on the ground to fight!" Mason was enlightened: "Put it on the ground for me to fight!"

  The wooden cannon has completely become a cannon battle.

   A series of roars sounded outside the fence, and the melody of the **** battle was shaken to a halt.

  The gunpowder smoke filled the air, and the soldiers of the two armies could not figure out which side was firing the guns.

   "Vogne County is defeated! The garrison officer is dead!" At the camp gate, Juan commanded the soldiers beside him to shout in unison: "Surrender and don't kill! Run!"

   "Victory-Victory!" Mason also commanded his subordinates, shouting in unison in rhythm: "Victory-Victory!"

   Iron Peak County soldiers quickly understood what was going on, and they shouted frantically to the beat: "Victory—Victory!"

   "Run! Go north! Go home!" A Vigne soldier pointed at the camp gate and cried.

   The ferocity and **** bravery of both sides seemed to have been drained in the pause just now, and the soldiers of Vigne County fled in the direction of the camp gate and the direction of home.

  The soldiers of Tiefeng County did not stop them either. They were able to stab each other with their spears like crazy just now, but for some reason they couldn't stab them any further.

   "Not yet defeated!" Captain Sarai, the chief centurion of Vigne, shouted angrily: "Not yet defeated! Come back!"

  Captain Raisa raised his saber, trying to stop the torrent of defeat.

   Suddenly, a soldier in the crowd behind Raisa shot a dark silver coin, hitting the back of Raisa's head.

  Leza fell to the ground, coughing up a few mouthfuls of blood, and his consciousness was annihilated.

  …

On    Winters' side, he still didn't know the situation in Hammer Castle.

   separated by hundreds of kilometers, he could not control the troops remotely.

   At the same time, Winters has full confidence in Senior Juan's military talent.

  The vast battlefield is roughly divided into the Eastern Front and the Western Front, Winters is in charge of the Eastern Front, and Don Juan has the absolute command of the Western Front.

  Moritz and Juan are Winters' most powerful secret weapons.

  Don Juan's side had just won a big victory, but Winters had a little trouble here: the enemy in White Mountain County came so fast.

   When he was in Antlers Town, he received a message that the "enemy turned back to help".

   Before he could leave Antlers Town, another scout came back and reported that "the enemy is building a pontoon bridge, and the speed is amazing."

   Combined with the situation in Baishan County, Winters concluded that the other party was well prepared.

  Three Centuries quickly assembled in Antlers Town Square.

   Facing the soldiers, Winters mercilessly ordered: "Throw away all the things that have been captured!"

   Soldiers were not fed enough, not warmly clothed, endured harsh military law, and had to fight desperately. Robbery was one of their only means of venting.

   In other words, post-war robbery has become a soldier's "sacred and inviolable right".

   Winters hated it, but he couldn't eradicate the tradition all at once.

   He can restrain soldiers from robbery, arson, and adultery. As for petty theft, he turns one eye away.

  In the wealthy places like Antler Town, the soldiers made a small fortune.

   Some soldiers have even changed into new clothes and shoes, matching the old ones, looking ridiculous and pathetic.

   Hearing Winters' order, everyone was reluctant.

   "Throw it away!" Winters repeated the command, rarely.

   His old minions—the centurions and the sergeants—without hesitation, took out coins, cloth, silver knives and forks, fine small china and other odds and ends from their rucksacks, and threw them on the ground resolutely.

   The centurion and the sergeants took the lead, and the other soldiers followed suit.

   But they were really reluctant, some even cried while throwing it.

  Beautiful silver fork - many warriors from bitter background have never used it in their life, they can't even use steel, they only use wood.

   They knew the robbery was wrong, but the "I want to take this home" feeling was so strong.

   On the other side, Andre is leading the cavalry to sweep the bakery, tavern and all possible places to store food in Antler Town.

   He kicked open the baker's shop door with his saber: "Take it all!"

  The vicious cavalry immediately set about raiding the baker's house.

   "Sir! This is not my bread!" The baker cried and grabbed the ground: "I bake it for someone else! You take it, how can I explain it!"

  Andre threw a bag of silver coins to the baker.

  The baker held the purse and nodded reluctantly.

On    Winters' side, seeing the soldiers clear out all the cumbersome items, he walked into the queue to check one by one.

  The six soldiers also had "trophies" in their rucksacks, which he found.

   "Throw away." He repeated the command a third time.

   The six obediently threw away the things they grabbed.

Back in front of the team, Winters directly told his subordinates: "The enemy is coming, and marching speed is life. Except for weapons, dry food and ammunition, you are not allowed to bring anything! There is no need to greedy for these small profits. Take it, everyone has a share after the war!"

  The soldiers turned from sadness to joy, and those who were especially sad broke their tears into laughter.

  Andre's cavalry team returned to the town square, and distributed food and drink that they could bring with them, such as bread and bacon.

   Getting rid of the burden and replenishing the baggage, Winters waved his hand, and the troops left Antler Town and continued to move towards Iris Castle.

   Winters didn't know how the battle was on Senior Juan's side, but the longer he kept the enemy in check, the more room there would be for the western front to turn around.

   Therefore, even though he knew that the enemy was ready, he still chose to continue feigning the Iris Castle as originally planned, involving as much of the enemy as possible.

   When he left Antlers Town, the detective came to report: "The enemy's pontoon has been penetrated."

   Winters did not speak.

   He led the troops out of Antler Town within five kilometers, and another scout came to report: "The enemy is traveling lightly and fast, and the vanguard is only fifteen kilometers away from Antler Town."

  The speed of the garrisoned army in Baishan County was astonishingly fast, like a bloodhound chasing after Winters.

   "Okay." Andrei also figured out the taste, and he laughed: "The daring people are waiting for us to jump outside and want to eat us."

   "You don't have to go any further. If you guessed correctly, the militias in the towns of Baishan County have begun to assemble, and we will run into a wall no matter where we go." Winters looked at the map, his brows furrowed.

   Andrei yawned, not caring at all that he was surrounded.

   "The garrison officer of Baishan County... He doesn't think I have no preparations and recklessly ran into his territory?" Winters Montagne was simply inexplicable.

   He laughed angrily: "This guy, he really looks down on people!"

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   (end of this chapter)