Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 368 Unbreakable Alliance

   Winters did not return to Iron Peak County as soon as possible, but instead stepped into the country of mountains. Although it was outside the original plan, it was not a whim.

   In fact, Winters has been thinking about the possibility of a trip to Steelcastle since visiting [Arpad Duyoom].

   Up to now, the main way for the Tiefeng County Army to obtain weapons is to capture them.

   The weapons seized from the enemy are not only limited in number, but also of uneven quality, and there is a serious shortage of muskets.

   Tiefeng County can barely make simple weapons such as spears and stabbing mallets. If you don't count the cost, maybe you can make a door gun.

   But a more technical long-barreled musket or a long sword is beyond the capabilities of local blacksmiths like the [Goncharov brothers].

  Forcing to build...not impossible.

   If you can't make a long barrel, you can make a short one, and then use the short barrel to splice the long barrel. A musket made in this way looks decent just by looking at it - it's just unusable.

   There are natural hidden dangers in the splicing of the barrel. No one knows whether there is a hidden injury inside the splicing seam, let alone whether the hidden injury will cause the chamber to explode in the next shooting.

After the battle of blood and mud, officers and sergeants in each musket detachment reported similar cowardly behavior: some musketeers always loaded as little gunpowder as possible, and even deliberately poured the gunpowder in the paper bag outside the muzzle of the gun, resulting in the power of lead bullets. Insufficient, hit the barbarian armored soldiers only hear muffled sound, but no blood.

  And Winters found through actual investigation that most of the "cowardly" musketeers used spliced ​​muskets, and they had generally witnessed the tragic state of being severely injured when their comrades used spliced ​​muskets, which led them to dare not charge enough gunpowder.

   If a warrior is afraid of the weapon in his hand, how can he be expected to fight?

   That's why Winters traveled all the way to Steelcastle—his army needed weapons, and Steelcastle was the Republic's largest weapons production center.

   As for how to ship it back... Remember the pass issued by Arpad?

  The traditional route of steel castle ironware exporting to Palatu is water transportation, which goes straight down the Rose River to the Ember River, and then sells to all parts of Palatu.

   It's just that this trade route can't work now, because the lower reaches of the Rose River is a military government-controlled area.

  The military government will of course not allow the ironware of the steel castle to flow into the "pseudo-government" territory, so the merchant ships on the Rose River can only unload in Jiangbei Province, and cannot go any further.

   But... the merchant ships of the rebels in Iron Peak County may be able to get away with it.

   The so-called enemy of the enemy is the friend. For the military government, the Second Republic is the enemy, and the New Reclamation Corps is the enemy at both ends of the first mouse.

  Compared to the dreadful-looking former two, the "Tiefeng County Rebels" who are hostile to the Red Rose and the New Reclamation Corps look much cuter.

   In addition, the military government is currently allied with Veneta, and the attitude of the military government towards the rebels in Iron Peak County - especially Winters Montagne - has also become very ambiguous.

   Winters tested the junta's bottom line, and even made some excessive demands to Lieutenant Colonel Elek (such as asking to take away all the former subordinates).

   As a lieutenant colonel of engineers, Elek was not really qualified to give Winters permission.

   But Winters' demands were all satisfied in the end, and there were no ramifications. Even with Arpad's acquiescence in advance, it is unbelievable that it can be done so smoothly.

   This shows that not only Arpad, but other senior military officials also chose to turn a blind eye.

   Winters speculates from this: the military government is likely to have the idea of ​​winning the Tiefeng County Army, and it is even more likely that there is a plan to use the Tiefeng County Army to contain the New Reclamation Army.

  Therefore, Winters sent a letter to Lieutenant Colonel Elek while crossing the Jiangbei province to the Republic of Monta.

   In addition to sincere greetings and some information from the Heard ministries, Winters also enclosed thirty gold bars and a simple message:

   "Can the Tiefeng County Chamber of Commerce be allowed to purchase a few farm implements in Steel Castle...for spring farming?"

   Winters has not received a reply yet, but according to the situation explained by Mr. Ed, the issue of "Steel Castle refuses to sell" is more urgent than "the military government is not allowed to buy it".

  …

"Steel Castle is going to impose a trade embargo on Prato?" Winters felt a hint of black humor: "Isn't that just blocking the military government? Anyway, the route from Monta to Jhinliu River is all under the control of the military government. The castles of the kings would not have received the armor of Steelcastle."

   Mr. Ed's smile was somewhat mocking: "The statement of the State Council is 'for peace'."

   "Has the country of the mountains already chosen a side?" Winters took a sip of ice water.

   "It's better to say." Mr. Ed corrected lightly: "The position of the Monta Republic has never changed."

  Winters held the iron cup and sighed—there is nothing left for history.

  …

   Unlike the Provinces, Veneta, and Palatu, who won their independence in blood and fire, Monta and Vine did not earn their sovereignty by themselves.

No one knows what conditions Marshal Ned gave to Richard IV under the city of Guitu, but everyone can see the result: the mad emperor retreated, and most of the Monta emperor and the Vine duchy were included in the province Territory, since then there will be no more flags of the Royal Family of the Sun to fly south of the Shady Mountains.

   However, as soon as the Imperial Army was withdrawn, the Union Province, Veneta, and Palato were almost at a loss due to the [New Territory Disposal Plan].

   The lions of the union province open their mouths and think that the Monta Land and Vine Lands should be merged into the Union province nearby, and the reasons are also very good:

The    province has the smallest land area; the province pays the most in the war; the Shady Mountains are completely under the jurisdiction of the province, which is more conducive to the overall planning of the defense of the empire.

  Pallatu firmly opposed the proposal of the Union Province, and proposed that the Warn Territory could be merged into the Union Province nearby, provided that the Monta Territory must be merged into Palatu.

  Veneta borders neither Monta nor Vine, so either of the above two options cannot be accepted by the Republic of Veneta.

In the end, at the appeal of Marshal Ned, the three parties compromised: Monta and Vahn joined the alliance as independent republics. The preparation and early operation of the republic government would be guided and supervised by the alliance government, and the two countries would not agree on alliance affairs. Has a one-vote veto.

   On the surface, the final solution is an outcome acceptable to all countries.

   However, the delegates who signed the agreement never imagined that in the end, the federal province won all.

   Within a few years after the Empire's retreat, the Union Provinces successfully turned the Union government into a glove and a microphone for Guitucheng by infiltrating and controlling key departments of the Union.

   This kind of gameplay eventually led to Plato and Veneta leaving the venue angrily, and the alliance government has since existed in name only.

   But the Union Province also deeply intervened in the political ecological construction of Monta and Vine by controlling the coalition government, spreading its influence to every blood vessel and every pore of the two new republics.

   In this political game, in the end, the more shameless person wins everything, and the more moral person loses nothing.

   But the real loser is the "Permanent Union of Free Republics"

After the vision of the    Great Alliance had collapsed, Marshal Nedern died of illness within a few years.

   And then until today.

  …

  Winters lived in the military school for nine years and honed in the archipelago, the wasteland and the Palatine for three years. Although he has not been exposed to politics much, he still has a basic understanding of the inside of the alliance.

At least when I was still studying at the Army Academy, the decision of [Plato and Veneta to withdraw from the alliance government] that they gave up on themselves if they could not win was to be pulled out and criticized in internal discussions every time and again. Frequent quarrels.

The reins of   Monta's government were held by the United Provincial Republic, so [the country of the mountains intervened in the Palatine Civil War] was a matter of time in Winters' view.

  The Palatu military government and the kings fortresses can still wrestle their arms, but if the United Provinces and Monta send troops at the same time, the military government has absolutely no hope of surviving under the three-sided strangulation.

   And the future of Tiefeng County Army depends not only on its own struggles, but also by the games of the various republics.

  [A person who does not focus on the overall situation cannot hold even a corner of the chessboard].

   It is precisely because of this sentence that Winters will venture into the country of the mountains, not only to purchase weapons, but also to find out what is going on in the Monta Republic - it would be better if he could send a manpower to send back information regularly.

  …

   So, the crux of the Monta problem is—

   "To what extent is the Monta State Resolution ready to intervene?" Winters asked Mr. Ed: "Trade embargo? Political condemnation? Military confrontation?"

   The old man shook his head gently: "I don't know... Your Excellency Montagne, can I ask a question."

"Speaking."

   Mr. Ed asked slowly: "Among the mountains, between the sky and the earth, is there a person called the Republic of Monta?"

   Winters understood what the old gentleman wanted to say, and replied with a smile: "Of course it doesn't exist, the country is a collective of thousands of people."

"Yeah, just like a chamber of commerce, the interests of the partners are not always the same." Mr. Ed stared at Winters: "For example, some people think that you are a rare commodity, some people think that you must draw a line with you as soon as possible, and others The one who never made a statement...the most important person."

   "What do you think?" Winters asked politely.

   "Me?" Mr. Ed looked at Anna and said kindly, "I'm just doing a little favor for my dear little lady."

  Anna nodded gratefully and held Winters' hand lightly: "Mr. Ed is a close friend of my grandfather, and a partner who moved to Veneta from Rhode Island with my grandfather."

"Time flies." Mr. Ed smiled with regret and regret: "Let's go back to Monta. The interests of the United Provinces and the interests of the Monta people are not exactly the same. The interests of the Monta State Council and the interests of Steel Castle are not exactly the same. Not exactly the same. The states of Monta are quite divided on the trade embargo policy alone.”

   "You mean there is still a turnaround?"

"I mean that no collegiality has been formed yet, and no one knows what the final result will be." Mr. Ed pointed to the mountains: "The customs of Monta and Veneta are very different, as you have seen when you came, the Republic of Monta is essentially It is a piece of small settlements divided by high mountains. That's why the small Monta Republic has 26 states, and each state still retains a considerable degree of autonomy. Change…"

  Winters listened patiently, and in turn asked a simple and rude question: "According to the current power structure of the Monta Republic, to whom does the command of the Seventh [Hills] Legion and the Eighth [Iron Wall] Legion belong?"

  Mr. Ed was startled, and hesitantly replied: "It should be the Army Committee."

   Winters asked again, "Who does the Army Council listen to?"

Mr.    thought for a moment, then smiled helplessly: "I can't understand the inside story of the army. Mr. [Bolso da Este] should give it better than me. You can ask Bai Ying when the time comes."

Winters exhaled a long breath: "If even you can't figure it out, I probably know what's going on. It must be another historical issue... On the surface, it listens to the State Council, but in fact no one listens. "

   Mr. Ed didn't understand very well, and the other two were also full of doubts. Winters was still sighing: "Why can't the United Provinces teach something better?"

  Mr. Ed coughed lightly and drew the attention of others: "At present, if you want to find a channel for purchasing farm tools, you can only start from the differences of interests between Steel Castle and the Monta State Council."

   Winters understood the implication: "You mean we have a chance to bypass the embargo."

The old gentleman said calmly: "If the Steel Castle Blacksmiths Guild is willing to trade, there are 10,000 ways to bypass the embargo; if the Steelcastle Blacksmiths Guild is unwilling to trade, there are 10,000 ways to bypass the embargo. The way the terms are made doesn't make sense either."

   "If you don't buy the finished product directly." Winters asked word by word: "Is it feasible to exchange recipes, customize machinery, hire craftsmen...?"

  Weapons are consumables. As long as they are used, they will break down sooner or later. Buying them alone is not a long-term solution. In addition to buying ordnance, Winters has a higher priority - buying technology.

   Mr. Ed was surprised at first, then laughed happily, with three points of admiration and seven points of regret.

He shook his head and persuaded earnestly: "Mr. Montagne, you think farther than many people, which is rare at your age. But I still recommend that you focus on your most urgent needs. It is best not to mention other requirements when it comes to the supplies.”

   "Excuse me...why?"

  Mr. Ed did not say anything, but replied with a smile: "You will know when the time comes."

   [currently owed two chapters] (the previous part is calculated separately)

   [The number of the ten standing legions of the alliance]

   [The 1st "Victory Goddess" Legion, Province]

   [II Corps of 'Running River', Union Province]

   [The 3rd 'Great Veneta' Legion, Veneta]

   [The IV 'Emerald' Legion, Veneta]

   [V 'Grancing Horse' Regiment, Palato]

   [VIth Legion of the 'Kings', Plato]

   [The VIIth 'The Mountains' Regiment, Monta]

   [VIIIth 'Iron Wall' Legion, Monta]

   [The IXth 'Lark' Legion, Varne]

   [Xth 'Talia' Legion, Vine]

   [Standing Legions are also a product of political compromise. For the sake of fairness in name, each Republic is only allowed to keep two Standing Legions]

   [But in practice, those who have no money (Wan) can’t wait to cut the budget of the standing army hard, and those who have money and want to expand their army (the United Provinces) will additionally set up the “National Army/Reserve Army”]

   [The equipment configuration of the standing armies of various countries is also very different, especially the artillery and cavalry do not occupy the establishment, which is most likely to widen the actual combat power gap between the various legions]

   [The Union Province is backed by the Victory Arsenal, so the Union Province Army has the largest artillery unit]

[Plateau is the cavalry leader among the republics, the standing cavalry of fifty squadrons and tens of thousands of cavalry reserves (reserves who can ride horses, can afford to raise horses, militia, Dussac) are simply for the other allies unimaginable]

   [Vinetta's army is quite satisfactory, and there are not many cavalry, because the most expensive military is actually the Veneta Navy...]

   [Monta, the land of mountains has traditional army bonuses, it has been a recruiting place since ancient times]

   [As for Vine...well, Vine...they have the best food]

   (end of this chapter)