Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 253 Adaptation

   Instead of returning directly to Gervodin, Winters stopped briefly at Rue Camelson to gather his troops.

   Andre and Bart Schalling, who were driving the horses, were the first to return.

  More than seven hundred horses were divided into groups, each led by a jealous son.

   Just by walking quickly, the horses can raise smoke and dust in the sky, and when they run, they are even more impressive and spectacular.

   "Fuck! Posted!" This was the first sentence that Andre met with Winters.

   The former grabbed the latter's shoulders with tears in his eyes, almost hugging his head and crying.

   The harvest at Nanshan Horse Farm is far beyond Winters and Andre's wildest imagination.

   Baishan County is not famous for producing horses, and Leiqun County further east is the place that is rich in horses - the so-called Leiqun, which means "tens of thousands of horses marching like thunder".

   So Winters didn't have high expectations.

   He was satisfied that he could get a hundred horses.

  If you get two hundred horses, you should have a lively feast to celebrate.

   As a result, Andre brought back more than 700 horses and foals ranging in age from hundreds of months.

  The older foals follow the mare, and the foals that cannot travel long distances are pulled by carts.

   Not only the horses, but also the stables were bound by Andrei.

  Without a stable, Andre’s manpower alone would not be able to carry such a large herd of horses.

  Therefore, such a spectacle appeared in the land of Tiefeng County: the trembling stables were grazing their horses, and the cavalrymen of Tiefeng County were grazing the stables again.

  Pity a certain bald middle-aged man who has worked hard for many years to make a wedding dress.

   "Alas! It's boring! They're all mares." Andre was extremely regretful: "It's a pity to use it to fight, there's not a single serious war horse!"

  Look at how terrible human greed is.

   Not long ago, Andre was smiling from ear to ear as he captured three military horses.

   Now that he has captured thousands of horses in one go, he sighed instead.

   Winters did not have the idea of ​​dissatisfaction. He picked up thousands of horses for nothing, and it was too late for him to be happy.

   But the huge herd of horses also made him a little worried: "Winter is coming soon, and we have to quickly prepare a place and grass for the horses to spend the winter. There are thousands of horses, big and small... I'm afraid we won't be able to take care of them."

  Andre is still optimistic as always: "Let Senior Mason take care of it."

  Lieutenant Cellini never "keeps, rides."

   "Senior Mason alone is probably not enough." Winters smiled knowingly: "Call Bud too."

  Captain Montagne also "don't care, just ride".

The    burden was pushed out so lightly, the captain and the lieutenant were relaxed and happily went to see the foal.

  …

   After a day of waiting in Camelpine Street, Winters' centurions and sergeants came one after another to join him.

  The troops that were once divided into parts are now reunited.

  The bodies of the warriors were exhausted, but their fighting spirit was stronger than when they set off.

   "How?" Winters asked his other centurion [Gail].

   "I want to sleep." The other party answered honestly: "I want to eat meat."

  Winters laughed: "Return to Wodan, kill pigs and sheep!"

   sent out twelve iron arrows, only nine came back.

   Three more arrows may or may not come back.

   Leaving a pick-up man on Camelback Street, Winters stared in the direction of White Mountain County for the last time and set off again.

   Still did not go straight back to Gervodin, and Winters took the detour to Hammer Fort, the current location of the Iron Peaks infantry regiment, and joined Mason, Juan and Moritz smoothly.

   It wasn't that Winters wasn't in a hurry to go home, he thought Anna was going crazy.

   But the mess after the war is more troublesome than the war itself: the wounded need to be treated, the battlefield needs to be cleaned, the seized materials need to be counted, and the credit of the soldiers needs to be confirmed urgently.

   None of the above is a big problem, because the military has its own set of procedures to deal with.

   The problem that bothers Winters the most right now is the prisoner.

"Don't say thank you." Lieutenant Don Juan put his legs on the table with ease: "I didn't help you fight because of your face, and you don't need to give me gifts to thank me. Horses and gold can come as you like. That's fine."

   "Thank you very much, senior." Winters had a complicated expression.

   The original battle plan was to contain the enemy in Baishan County and repel the enemy in Vigne County.

   The diversion mission on the Eastern Front, Winters performed perfectly.

   However, the Western Front was beaten by Don Juan into a siege battle.

The   Qippel Corps was completely wiped out, some died, some escaped, and the remaining more than 1,300 people were all captured and captured.

   There may be a little garrison left in Vigne, but the field troops have been swept away.

   Today's Vigne is like an egg that has been peeled off, revealing the fragile white inside.

   On the surface, Vigne County has been left to Winters' slaughter.

   In fact, beyond Vigne County and further north is the territory of Maplestone - the heart of the Legion.

   In other words, the road to Maplestone has been opened, and the heart of the Legion is exposed to Winters' front.

   And the last thing Winters wants to do is stimulate the New Reclamation Corps.

  The New Reclamation Corps is a clumsy, large and bureaucratic machine, but if its life is in danger, its counterattack will be swift and furious.

"That's it! Anyway, the fight is over." Winters is also not worried about his debts. He laughed and paid tribute to Don Juan and Moritz: "Senior, Lieutenant Colonel, a thousand people surrounded and wiped out two thousand people. , this battle was fought beautifully!"

   Lieutenant Colonel Moritz sipped his wine silently.

"You don't even look at who commanded." Juan's expression was equally cold, but the corner of his eyes was a smile that he couldn't hide: "It's happy enough, in Veneta, even the schoolmaster has no chance to command this. troops of all sizes."

   "If you stay, you can command as much as you want in the future."

Don Juan snorted coldly, and his handsome features showed a bit of loneliness: "I'm just waiting for news from your father. I can't kidnap you, and the lieutenant colonel can't kidnap you. Let's see what else the regiment commander can do. When the new order comes down, I still have to go back to Veneta."

   Speaking of home, Winters was full of guilt, and he couldn't face his family.

   He sighed and said to Senior Mason and Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, "I have to write a letter to the regiment."

   was still written by Winters, who considered the words and read them as he wrote, while the others listened.

The    Legion had a claw cut off in this battle, but Winters' tone was more humble than last time.

   In the tone of a personal letter, he opened his heart to General Adams: from the moment he was assigned to Plato, he was full of gratitude for this land, and he never thought of betraying Plato.

   He expressed regret for accidentally injuring friendly troops in Lin County; he was willing to assist in the search for the missing Vigne County officers; he was also willing to return the captured Vigne County weapons.

   The last signature is "Loyal Defender of the Republic, W·M"

   All in all, this letter is simple and sincere in writing, and it is Winters' best study since going to school.

   "What's the use of writing this?" Don Juan was very impatient.

   "Let General Adams have a decent face, of course, if he can be deceived by this letter." Winters replied with a smile, handing the manuscript behind him.

  Charle took over the transcripts—the little dockworker was currently serving as Winters' guard, clerk, gendarmerie, and correspondent.

   Winters changed the conversation: "The Legion's spellcaster assassin and the lieutenant colonel's ... raid reminded us that a 'safety trench' should be established to prevent similar situations from happening again."

   "Security trench?" Mason was more concerned about this topic. Moritz's beheading raid was so terrifying that he also had lingering fears: "How to build it?"

   Winters explained: "First, the commander should not meet with any messenger directly. The sending and receiving of letters must go through a layer of transmission to block the chance of the caster disguised as a messenger to assassinate. Then..."

   "I didn't think about it after that." Winters smiled: "Let's work together to find out the leaks and fill the gaps."

  Mason thought for a moment, then added: "Officer uniforms, helmets, sashes, corsets, tassels, piping, these things are too conspicuous. It's a living target in front of you and the lieutenant colonel."

   "It's not obvious, how does the officer command the soldiers?" Andre asked: "It's not obvious, the big boss thought the officer had escaped."

   Winters also considered this issue: "The dress and the uniform worn in battle are best separated completely. The uniform does not need to be too flashy, but it must also allow the soldier to recognize who is the officer at a glance."

   "It's contradictory." Mason spread his hands.

"Don't think about it so much. When we have the money to issue military uniforms to the troops, it's not too late to think about the uniforms." Andre yawned and waved his hand and asked Winters, "You really want to return the captured weapons. ?"

  Tiefeng County can only manufacture agricultural implement-level weapons, such as spears of about two meters.

   With the prosperity of the Steel Castle metal industry, the only weapon craftsman in Revodan [Shaosha] has long since abandoned his sword forging skills, and now he relies solely on the purchase of ready-made Steel Castle sword bars to do business.

   Don't even think about making armor and firearms.

   The Tiefeng County army armed itself with captured weapons and armor.

   Therefore, Andre was very sensitive when he heard Winters say that he would return the seized materials.

   "I want to pay it back." Winters said in a relaxed tone: "If you dare to ask for it, then give it back to him."

   Several others laughed.

   Winters restrained his smile: "There is one more thing, I think now is the time."

   "That thing again?" Don Juan frowned.

   "That's right." Winters looked around at the other officers and announced word by word, "Reorganize the army! Now is the time."

   "The army should be reorganized just after the war?" Andrei disagreed: "It's too hasty."

"No, it's just good to have just won a battle." Winters was firm: "It's not easy to adapt after a few battles. Now our army is a blank sheet of paper, but it already has a little bit of the appearance of an army. Best time!"

   The formation of the Iron Peaks army was extremely chaotic, which was a problem for Winters.

   In order to reduce internal resistance, Winters took the post of the garrison officer, and has acted under the signboard of the garrison.

  In theory, all troops are under the jurisdiction of the garrison, but in fact the garrison has no power, just an empty shell, and the soldiers listen to their own.

The cavalry was under the command of Andre, the infantry under the direct command of Winters, and Mason in charge of his small corps of sappers and artillery.

   And different troop formations are very different.

Among the    infantry, there are Old Bard, Cellini, Mason Centurion, which are the most powerful troops with the old system.

   There is also a new formation such as the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment, which has not yet been tested in actual combat.

  The cavalry and artillery were completely the personal soldiers of Andre and Mason, and there was no organization to speak of. The number of people can be large or small, all depends on the commander's temperament.

  Logistics are messed up even more. If there is not enough below, we will send it. Relying entirely on virtue and integrity, there is a serious lack of institutional constraints.

   Winters has discussed this with others more than once.

   Winters also pointed out fiercely more than once that the reason why this chaotic status quo can be maintained is entirely because the size of the army is too small. When the size of the army continues to expand, it will suffer sooner or later.

   There were a total of six officers who could participate in the decision-making. Don Juan and Moritz remained silent, while Bud, Andre and Mason were successfully persuaded by Winters.

   The reorganization of the army has been written on the agenda, but the New Reclamation Corps will not give the opportunity.

As soon as    Winters drafted the reorganization plan, White Mountain County and Vigne County attacked aggressively.

   "The crisis is temporarily lifted." Winters' eyes were bright: "But the Legion will come back sooner or later. To reorganize the army, it is now!"

  The atmosphere became a little dignified.

   "Okay! You said to change." Andre slapped his thigh: "Then change!"

  Mason also nodded: "The current situation is not good. It is really time to take a look at the organization. If we don't sort out the organization, we will always be rebels."

Lieutenant    Don Juan and Lieutenant Colonel Moritz looked at each other.

   "You don't have to consider the opinions of me and the lieutenant colonel." Juan shrugged: "You are officers of Paratus, and we are not."

   In this way, Ciel silently wrote on the minutes of the meeting: "Lieutenant Bud was absent, A and B abstained from voting, and the remaining three members passed the resolution."

   "Small boats are easy to turn around, and small troops have small advantages." Winters took out a thick stack of manuscript paper and said excitedly: "I suggest restoring the formation of the legion!"

  Tang Juan almost choked on his saliva: "Are you going to be on the same level as your father?"

   "No no no." Winters said blushing, "I'm not trying to be legion commander."

   "What's more polite." Andre slapped his thigh again: "It's you who decides, so you can do it."

Winters blushed even more and shook his head again and again: "The corps is only a nominal organization, not really a corps. The artillery and cavalry can't belong to the command system of the Progressive Corps, so they need a higher level. Corps formation."

   "The empty space?"

   "Just empty."

  Winters distributed paper with the adapted content to others: "Above the legion, a military council should be established to coordinate all military affairs and military orders, just like the current six-member resolution meeting."

   The unwritten resolution of the six people will change the signboard and become a compliant military council, and no one has any objection.

   In terms of organization, the members of the Military Senate are even bigger than the corps commander.

   Only Moritz said softly: "Don't name me and Juan, we are still officers of Veneta."

   "Then continue to call Mr. A and Mr. B." Winters didn't care.

  Moritz sighed and said nothing.

   "The cavalry and artillery do not need to be adapted too much." Winters looked at Andre and Mason: "Just set the number, the quota, and write the regulations. You two are responsible for writing the regulations yourself."

  Andre had a bitter face, and he had an idea: "I'll go to Bud to write! Isn't it over?"

   Mason also smiled bitterly: "I don't have a gun in my hand, which one should I hire?"

   "We don't have a legion either, so don't we decide on the formation of the legion." Winters comforted the senior: "The formation will be set first, and the cannon will be available sooner or later."

  Senior Mason sighed, and randomly sketched the lines of the cannon on the grass paper.

   "It's the infantry that really needs a drastic adaptation." Winters' expression became serious: "The army will fight an upright and upright battle sooner or later, and the existing system is simply insufficient for a real battle, and it must be changed!"

   In Winters' reorganization plan, the "regiment" as a conscription unit will be linked to the region, which is still retained.

   In order to facilitate the replenishment of troops and logistics management, the Centuries are still under the direct jurisdiction of the regiment in name.

   But tactically, Centuries should be organized into "battalions" to fight.

A    "battalion" is close in size to the current brigade, but not quite the same.

"The minimum standard for a battalion should be to be able to form a phalanx alone to fight." When it comes to infantry tactics, Winters' eyes light up: "A large phalanx of 1,000 or even 3,000 people is too cumbersome. The Plato standing army is in the wasteland. A small phalanx of 500 people is generally used in battle, and the effect is very good.”

  Tang Juan was interested: "What if a small phalanx of 500 people encounters cavalry? Can it withstand the impact?"

"Yes." Winters unconsciously leaned towards Senior Juan, and described his combat experience in the wasteland: "In a small square of 500 people, the Hurd cavalry still can't rush in. And when the square becomes smaller, the musketeers can Use your power. Especially the area between the two squares is a killing zone..."

   Among the officers present, only Juan and Winters were infantry officers.

   Talking about **** tactics, the two of them could chat all day while sitting on a rock.

  Others showed little interest in the infantry, Senior Mason was drawing cannons carelessly, Lieutenant Colonel Moritz had been quietly dozing off, and Andre was too sleepy.

   It was Winters and Don Juan, who were almost face to face across the table.

   Speaking of excitement, Winters took the straw paper to draw a map and used chess pieces to represent the two armies, explaining and deducing to the seniors.

  Tang Juan was also excited, sometimes admiring, sometimes sighing, and sometimes sighing with embarrassment.

   "Someday you two will have time to gesture alone!" Andre was furious and slammed the table: "Get the business done first!"

   Winters and Juan glared at Andre at the same time, but the latter felt guilty.

  Andre whispered: "I'm so hungry, hurry up and finish the meeting and go to dinner."

  Don Juan glanced at Andre, hummed slightly from his nose, and shook his head slightly.

"I expanded the centurion to 120. If a 'brigade' is still six centurions, it's not suitable." Winters returned to the topic: "So we switched to the battalion organization, with four centurions per battalion, for a total of 480 people."

   "There are only four teams? How about the combination of swords, shields, muskets, and spears?" Juan frowned.

"There are no sword and shield players. Each battalion has one team of muskets and three teams of spears." Winters explained: "The training of sword and shield players is too difficult, and the equipment requirements are high. Lieutenant Colonel John Jesska simply did not have swords. Shield hand, the effect is also very good."

   "Muskets and spears, one to three?"

   "I have too few muskets." Winters sighed deeply and smiled: "Otherwise I would like to improve to one to one, with two teams of musketeers and two captains of spearmen per battalion."

  Don Juan was puzzled: "Half of the musketeers? What about hand-to-hand combat?"

Winters smiled even more. He took the white paper and explained to Juan as he drew: "If the musketeers adopt the tactics of rotating shooting, they can greatly weaken the enemy before entering into hand-to-hand combat. Even in hand-to-hand combat, It is also possible to place musketeers among the spearmen, so that…”

   Juan stretched his head out to look with interest.

   "Have you two finished yet?!" Andre couldn't bear it any longer, he patted the table and asked.

   "Okay, let's talk about it." Winters perfunctory Andre, patted Senior Hu An's shoulder lightly: "I'll talk to you when I have time."

   "A word is settled." Juan said regretfully.

   Winters went on to explain the adaptation: "Simply put, I'm adding [battalions] as tactical units. Each battalion is four centurions. Everything else remains the same."

   "Isn't a battalion a brigade?" Andre didn't understand.

   "No, the same number, but not the same." Winters explained: "The battalion has more officers, but fewer troops."

   "Then don't use the ancient imperial system of centurions and brigade." Andre was overjoyed: "Just use [company]. Don't call centurion or brigade commander. Just call company commander and battalion commander."

   "Didn't the centurion sound good?" Winters wondered.

Andre sneered: "Those guys who don't even know where the gate of Luyuan opens, dare to call themselves a centurion? I'm almost dying of anger. They don't deserve the title of centurion for the time being. Long, good!"

   Regiment and Company are the organizational names of Veneta's mercenaries in the past.

   Marshal Ned deliberately used the names of ancient empires such as [Hundreds], [Brigades], and [Legions] to distinguish them from mercenary troops.

  Andre was very insistent on this matter, and Winters also felt that he would change it completely.

   So he crossed out [Centurion] on the draft and wrote [Company Commander].

  Winters gathered the manuscript paper and made a serious conclusion: "It doesn't really matter if you change it over and over. What really matters is one sentence, and I want to say it at the end - [military resolutions will have all military powers]."

   "Of course." Andrei didn't care.

   "I mean, even one day, military resolutions will pass against my will, or yours." Winters stared at Andre: "We must obey, can you?"

  "You and I need to talk about this?" Andrea Cellini answered firmly: "I will always support you."

   This was not the answer Winters wanted, but he had nothing to disapprove.

   "There is one more thing that must be changed." Winters smiled: "But there should be little resistance. After all, our army is a blank sheet of paper and has not been soiled by those so-called traditions."

   "What?" Don Juan was puzzled.

   "Bound discipline, seized and returned to the public."

  Tang Juan shook his head: "It's not difficult to say it is difficult, it is not difficult to say it is not difficult. It depends on your ability."

   "Senior Mason?" Winters whispered.

   Mason, who was immersed in the world of stick figures, was suddenly pulled out.

   "What's wrong?" Mason subconsciously covered the cannon car on the paper: "Is the meeting over?"

   "I would like to ask you to return to Revodan ahead of time." Winters said: "I will bring a large army and I will arrive later."

   Mason raised his eyebrows: "Go back early? What's the matter?"

   "Two things." Winters tapped on the table: "I want to ask you to go back and build a gallows in the city square, the kind that can hang a lot of people."

   The other four present were slightly surprised, and even Moritz woke up and looked at Winters suspiciously.

   "The public trial meeting, hasn't it been held all the time?" Winters raised his chin: "Gather it together and calculate the general account."

   Moritz blinked and nodded slightly.

   "Another thing?" Mason looked Winters in the eye.

   "The other is a good thing." Winters laughed: "I would like to invite you to prepare a triumphal ceremony."

   [Military ranks, military positions and military establishments have always been wildly misappropriated from each other. Although roughly the same, there are differences in different countries, languages, and cultures]

[Take the English captain as an example, the word can represent both the company commander, the captain, the captain, and the colonel (navy); it can represent the captain of the Spanish phalanx standing in the front row of each column , and can represent the leader of a small group of mercenaries in the city-states of northern Italy in the sixteenth century. Not as clear as Chinese semantics. ]

   [Translation of "the military division, brigade, regiment, battalion, and battalion arrangement" is an elegant translation. There is quite a feeling of taking the "Gong Hou Bo Zi Nan" to force the titles of European countries]

   [But in any case, the formation of the [company] battalion [battalion] regiment [regiment] as an army organization and still in use today occurred from the second half of the sixteenth century to the first half of the seventeenth century. It involves [Morris military reform in Nassau] and [Gustav II military reform], which is the era in which the protagonist lives]

[So the era in which the protagonist lives is really interesting; on the one hand, the world is being portrayed more and more clearly, but it still has a sense of mystery; on the other hand, the progress of systems and technologies is progressing one after another, and you never know what will be new tomorrow stuff]

   (end of this chapter)