Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 274 Contact

  For Winters, it seemed as if he had been awakened by Charles within a second of closing his eyes.

   "Brother!" Ciel shook Winters anxiously: "Wake up!"

   Winters has a headache and can't breathe well: "What? How long have I slept?"

   "Shovel Harbor lit a beacon!" Charles helped Winters up: "You slept for less than two hours."

   "Shovel Harbor?"

"right!"

   "Beacon fire?"

   "Yes! Definitely a beacon! I confirmed it!"

   "Never mind." Winters fell back into bed: "Sleep."

  Ciel froze for a moment, Winters was already asleep.

"Brother!" The worried Ciel tried to shake Winters a second time. He was anxious and angry: "The mayor may not be a good thing, but Shovel Harbor is our friendly army anyway! If Shovel Harbor is lost, Isn't that the same as letting the Hurds in? Wake up..."

   was forcibly awakened twice in a row, and Winters slowly sat up from the bed like a puppet.

  Ciel dared not speak again.

  Winters leaned on his knees, propped his forehead, and a painful groan came from his chest: "Water."

  Ciel hurried over to bring water, and Winters drank it.

The    cold water also made Winters' stomach uncomfortable, but he was much more conscious.

   "Don't worry about the fire in Shovel Harbor." Winters lit the oil lamp casually, his voice a little hoarse: "It will go out by itself."

  Charle was about to ask when he heard heavy footsteps downstairs.

  The visitor strode upstairs and went straight to Winters' residence, knocking on the door first, then entering the room - it was Heinrich.

   "Sir." Heinrich reported calmly: "The beacon in the direction of Shovel Harbor has just disappeared! I'm afraid the beacon tower there has been pulled out."

   "How could it be unplugged?" Winters laughed helplessly: "That was destroyed by the people at Shovel Harbor themselves."

   Not only was Charles suspicious, but Heinrich was also puzzled.

   "Are the beacon towers still along the way?" Winters asked.

   "Still."

"Then they will be destroyed in sequence." Winters was leaning on the head of the bed, although he was very uncomfortable, but his expression was determined: "The messenger from Shovel Harbor will come over immediately to inform Revodan [the barbarian has been annihilated, Shovel Harbor is safe and sound], don't worry."

   Seeing Shire and Heinrich standing silently, Winters sighed and pointed to the bed and chair: "Sit."

  The two sat down obediently.

   "Have you ever seen a pack of wolves hunting?"

  Ciel nodded, Heinrich shook his head.

"Prey is scarce in winter, and wolves have to hunt big animals in groups to survive." Winters patiently explained to his most trusted 'squires': "But the wolves don't rush up recklessly. They get as close as possible first. The prey, then the observation, the picking of the target—usually the weak, the old and the infirm—then the action.”

  Charle responded quickly: "You mean... the monkey **** face is testing?"

   "Whether it's a test or not, there won't be a lot of troops." Winters yawned: "Otherwise, there will be no news from Andre and Mr. A."

  Charle asked eagerly: "But what if there is a mistake at Lieutenant Cellini? Or in a more serious situation, they are wiped out..."

"It's possible, it's good to think about it." Winters leaned his pillow behind his back and reminded reassuringly, "But don't worry, don't think about how the Tertown barbarians fight, first think about how they maintain the army. You know Hurd How are people assembled?"

   This time, Ciel and Heinrich shook their heads.

"It's no different from the imperial nobles. Little Kota takes his guards, vassals, and slave servants to the middle Kota, and the middle Kota takes his men and horses to find the big Kota—that is, the monkey **** face. How long does this process take? ?"

  Ciel and Heinrich shook their heads again.

   "I don't know either." Winters laughed.

  Ciel's breathing stagnated, and Heinrich's face flushed slightly.

"But it won't be easy, because the Hurds have to prepare their own rations." Winters' expression turned sharply: "Now the weather has turned cold, the grass is withering yellow, and the horses will lose fat every day from morning to night, not to mention marching. . And the drier the grass, the more grass area each horse needs every day. If you were monkey butt-faced, would you gather a lot of war horses in one place?"

   "No." Ciel shook his head.

   "How about you?" Winters asked Heinrich.

  Heinrich said with difficulty: "Neither."

   Winters guided the two of them: "Then if you are fire roasters, what is your most suitable strategy?"

"Spread the horses to graze." Ciel hurriedly replied: "The more horses there are in one area, the less hungry you will be. And walk slowly, so that the horses are not too tired. It's better to be able to eat all the way— It's like grazing!"

  Heinrich nodded silently.

   "Then you say, the barbarians encountered in Shovel Harbor will be the main force of the Teltown Department?"

  Ciel replied hesitantly, "Should... not?"

   Winters was noncommittal and continued to ask the two attendants: "If you were me, what would your first move be?"

   "Cross the river and take the initiative to hit them while they're not assembled?" Ciel asked tentatively.

   Winters let out a long sigh and tapped Ciel **** the head: "What should I ask you to think about first? What the Teltown people lack the most, they must make them lack even more!"

  Ciel hugged his head, crying in pain.

   "Destroy the pasture," Heinrich replied in a low voice.

  Winters sat up again and nodded approvingly: "Yes, how to destroy it?"

"fire."

"Yes." Winters patted Heinrich on the shoulder: "This is the first step in dealing with the Terdun people. The enemy has many soldiers, but we have few soldiers; the enemy is strong, we are weak; the enemy attacks, we defend .

  We must try our best to weaken the enemy before we can fight. Isn't the monkey **** face called the fire roaster? Just fire him up—two lieutenants are doing just that in no-man's-land. "

  Charle asked with a sullen face: "Where is Shovel Harbor? Don't care?"

"Don't worry." Winters waved his hand: "The mayor of Shovel Harbor is a veteran of Dussack, and he has thousands of refugees in his hands. Isn't he busy training refugees recently? Two brigades of militiamen are in hand. If the estuary can’t be blocked, then die as soon as possible.”

   "He will die if he dies, what will happen to the people in Shovel Harbor?" Ciel couldn't bear it in his heart: "Do you want to assemble the troops first?"

"Even if you want to send troops to support, you have to wait until dawn. Forcibly marching at night, isn't it sending meat to the wolf's mouth?" Winters tapped Charles again on the head: "Tomorrow's business, tomorrow. Even if there is a war tomorrow, today Have a good night's rest."

  Ciel hugged his head and said "Oh".

"Let me tell you, the most feared thing in Shovel Harbor right now is the 'reinforcement'." Winters sneered: "They are afraid that I will take the opportunity to send troops to occupy Shovel Harbor. There are barbarians in front and rebels in the back, so the battle will be difficult to fight. . So let's just stay still and let them concentrate on dealing with the Hurds. How the battle is going, we'll know in the morning."

  Ciel and Heinrich raised their hands in salute.

Winters unbuttoned his clothes—he was too tired to undress when he slept before—and said, "I guess... the messenger from Shovel Harbor is heading for Gervodin. It must be a big victory, don't worry about it at the garrison, don't Come help, hum."

  Ciel and Heinrich saw that Winters was going to sleep, and they were ready to leave.

   Winters stopped the two of them: "When this battle is over, I plan to open a military school. The cadets... Tentatively, they are officers of the centurion level. Do you want to go?"

  Charle and Heinrich were stunned.

   "You two can't always be my guards." Winters said with a smile, "Want to lead troops?"

  Ciel's eyes turned red all of a sudden: "I'll be your guard for a lifetime."

"Don't rush to answer first, think slowly. Anyway, we have to solve the monkey butt-face thing first." Winters pushed the two attendants out of the door: "Unless the barbarian kills Gervodin, don't disturb my sleep again! "

  Charle and Heinrich failed to recover from the shock. The two looked at each other and stood at the door for a while before gently walking downstairs on tiptoe.

  …

   Early morning, Shovel Harbor.

   Mr. Alpha dismounted and walked into the town church with his sword in hand. His face was hidden under his helmet, and his breastplate was covered in blood.

  Church is the tallest and strongest stone building in Shovel Harbor. The beacon tower is located on the church bell tower, which naturally became the command post during wartime.

   Mr. Alpha crossed the altar and entered the spiral staircase, and went straight to the roof.

   The mayor of Portal is on the roof.

   As soon as we met, Mr. Alpha questioned Portal directly: "Did I say, 'Do not light the beacon tower without my consent'?"

   His voice came from the helmet, and it sounded a little dull.

"Seeing the beacon fire on the other side of the river, the boys guarding the big beacon tower panicked and lit the big beacon tower." Portal pointed to the gray-faced young men in front of him: "I'm also teaching them a lesson. ."

  Beacon Fire is a set of systems, specific to the beacon tower, there are big and small, and there are points and totals.

  A small beacon tower is arranged on the bank of the river, and a large beacon tower is installed on the Shovel Harbor Church.

   If the beacon tower does not move, the information will be controlled within the port of Shovel; when the beacon tower is lit, Revodan will receive a warning.

   sent away the guards of the beacon tower, and Portal asked eagerly, "How is the battle?"

"Everything that can be solved has been solved." Mr. Alpha took off his helmet and shook off the sweat from his hair: "Some rudimentary enemies ran into the mountains and forests, and some took advantage of the chaos to break through and run eastward, there are about a dozen or so in total. ."

   "The barbarian is actually here!" Portal clenched his teeth and hammered his thigh. He sincerely thanked Mr. Alpha: "Thank you for being there."

   Mr. Alpha shook his head expressionlessly.

   Portal is not very concerned about guarding against barbarians. According to his logic, the Hurds were slaughtered in September, how could they dare to come again?

   On the contrary, Mr. Alpha is very serious. The defenses and beacon towers of Shovel Harbor along the Guanghui River are all arranged by him.

  After receiving the beacon alert tonight, Alpha was the first to go to support.

  Time, the key is time.

   Time is not on the side of Teltown:

  The Guanghui River has a wide water surface. Every time the sheepskin raft crosses the river, it will be washed far downstream, and it needs to be carried back upstream, which will delay a lot of time;

   Time is not on the side of the people of Shovel:

  The place chosen by the Terden people to cross the river was forty kilometers from Shovel Harbor. Even if an adult walks non-stop, it takes a day to walk 40 kilometers.

   So it's a race where time favors the faster side.

  So Alpha chooses to run first - time also favors those who prepare in advance.

The   Shovel Harbor Militia was divided into six groups by Alpha and distributed along the river. Through careful planning, Alpha kept the Shovel Harbor Militia within two hours of any point on the riverbank.

   This has advantages and disadvantages.

   The advantage is needless to say, the disadvantage is that the defense of Shovel Harbor has become extremely weak.

   Now that Shovel Harbor's attention is on the riverbank, it's like exposing his back to the point of Gervodin's knife.

   You must know that the port of shovel is less than 40 kilometers away from Gervoudan, and Gervoudan has cavalry...

   "Is the messenger sent?" Alpha tucked his helmet.

"Sent. I have already told Gervodin that we are safe here and don't need any support." Portal wiped the sweat from his forehead: "How about taking the troops back? We lost the battle tonight, He. The German Manzi shouldn't come again. And the more we keep the rebels from coming, the more the rebels will come. It's more important to deal with the rebels now."

   "It took a lot of effort to send the militia everywhere, and it is even more difficult to get it back." Alpha shook his head: "What if the Hurds observed our movements and crossed the river again? We failed to destroy their ship."

  Potar asked impatiently: "What if the rebels come to attack us?"

   "The leader of the rebels is serious." Alpha smiled: "He is not a despicable person."

  …

  In the early morning, outside the north gate of Gervoudan.

   "Open the door! Open the door!" A dusty rider slapped the door frantically: "I have an emergency military situation to report to the garrison officer!"

   The city walls of Gervoudan are very short, but it is not easy to climb over.

   "What's the noise?" The ten commander at the head of the city scolded the visitor: "Look for Your Excellency the Military Tribune, and wait until tomorrow morning!"

   "I have an emergency military situation!" the rider shouted: "I am the messenger of Shovel Harbor!"

   "That won't work either!" The ten commander replied, "Who knows if you are a barbarian's spy?"

   "Then you put the basket down and I'll climb up!"

   "No gondolas."

   "Put a rope down and I'll send the letter up."

   "No rope."

  Shovel Harbor messenger stood stupidly for a long time, suddenly pointed at the city head and cursed: "You are sincere not to let me in, emergency military situation, can you afford to delay?"

  The ten commanders at the head of the city didn't talk nonsense. With a wave of his hand, seven black muzzles pointed at the comers.

  " said the tribune of Montagne." The ten commander looked at the messenger under the city: "Whoever disturbs his sleep will be shot."

  …

   Winters slept soundly in the second half of the night, because no one bothered him again.

   But he still hadn't slept much, and his habit made him wake up naturally at dawn.

After    freshening up, he cheered up and went to Anna's apartment for breakfast.

   "The Montagne couple" is currently publicly separated, and breakfast is a rare time he can spend with Anna.

   However, there was a clear distinction on the table, and the food for the female family members was quite plentiful, while Winters only had two pieces of brown bread on his plate—the standard ration for the Iron Peak Army.

  Catherine looked at Winters with her chin propped up, and said in a tone that was half admiration and half joke: "You are really good enough to lead by example."

  Winters was especially bad at dealing with little Lady Navarre, so he smiled and nodded without saying a word.

  Anna lightly stepped on her sister's foot and poured some warm water for Winters.

   "Are you going to stay in the South Bank all day today?" Anna asked softly.

   Winters guiltily replied, "It should be all these lately."

  Charle knocked on the door and came in, reporting to Winters, "The messenger from Shovel Harbor is here."

   "When did you come?"

   "Last night, I've been waiting until now. Do you want to see me?"

   "Not seen."

   "He brought a letter."

   "Not accepted."

   "Send him away?"

   "Let him bring a word to Portal." Winters nibbled hard brown bread: "'Send twenty heads here.'"

   [Sorry again for being late]

   [Recommend a book written by a book friend, "Saving Nuwa from the Immortal Sword"]

   [The breaking of the previous chapter is not good, so the end of the previous chapter was revised and moved to this chapter as the beginning]

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

   About the characteristics of grassland fires [First, the fire is fierce. The grassland area is large, the terrain is flat, and the combustibles are flammable. Once a fire occurs, under the action of strong winds, the fire will expand rapidly and it is difficult to control. The second is fast. Due to the changeable wind direction in the grassland area, there are often multiple fire heads, which spread rapidly and form a fire encirclement. It is difficult to transfer people and animals, and it is easy to cause casualties. The third is obvious seasonality. The climatic characteristics and vegetation characteristics of grassland areas determine that spring and autumn are the high incidence seasons of grassland fires. From March to June, the high temperature and strong winds increase, the grassland snow melts, the dry grass and other combustibles are exposed, the weather is dry, and it is easy to catch fire; from September to November, the weather becomes colder, the rainfall decreases, the grassland vegetation is yellow, the sky is dry, and it is easy to catch fire. . ]

   (end of this chapter)