Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 55 Honor Guard

In the morning light, a beautiful three-masted ship appeared on the sea. On the main mast of the big ship hung the flag representing the emperor of the Muluo Empire, and on the second-highest mast hung the home of a nobleman that Winters did not know. emblem.

   also has three masts, this boat is not comparable to a small boat like the Skua. The three-masted ship in front of him is a magnificent warship. The stern and bow buildings are three stories high. The towering ship building looks like two humps standing on the deck.

   A small boat like the Skua is like a dwarf in front of a giant in front of such a large ship, and the opponent will be crushed to death if they move their fingers.

   "It's coming, it really makes us wait." Andre whispered to Winters.

   Winters yawned: "It's mysterious, and I don't know which big man it is."

   As a temporary honor guard, before dawn, Winters and Andre were waiting on the navy pier outside the sea blue city, and now they were sleepy to death.

  Bud was lucky to lose because he was a little shorter. Winters and Andre, and eighteen other apprentice officers were unfortunately singled out, and are now holding halberds and wearing armor as a guard of honor to support the army.

   When the direction of investigation turned to the inside of the Army, Winters became very leisurely. Because all regular officers have a higher rank than him, a trainee officer is not qualified to question any regular officer.

  Although in theory the military police is a tool used by the army to deal with its own people, the military police department in charge of Field is different.

  The Military Police Department of the Army Headquarters is essentially just a guard, and the headquarters wall is the boundary of its jurisdiction. The "gendarmes" are only responsible for standing guard at a few gates on weekdays, and have never arrested anyone.

  So Winters has been on duty in the office lately, doing chores of sending and receiving documents, arranging shifts for the gatekeepers, and drinking tea and chatting with scribe Moluc to pass the time when he has nothing to do. There is still a lot of time to deal with his personal affairs, such as ordering steel cones, helping Elizabeth make a scabbard, and helping Giovanni to get patterns.

   At the same time, the two school officials were working hard outside to investigate the case.

  Proficient in firearms, proficient in swift swords, wounded on the chin, and did not have an alibi on the day of the assassination. There are not many army officers who meet these conditions.

  Most army officers only know how to use firearms. They are the people who command the musketeers, not the musketeers. And, as Gurren said, many officers left the academy and lost their swordsmanship because they were barely used. For example, Warrant Officer Montagne, since he got on the boat home, he has never practiced swordsmanship again, and he can beat Major Moritz by eating his own hands.

   Going back a hundred years, even kings and dukes have to wear armor, mount warhorses and rush to the front line.

   But as the military concept changed, the size of the army became larger and larger, and the officer became a technical profession. The empires in the north obviously have ready-made officers like military nobles, and in recent years they have also imitated the Confederacy in setting up military academies.

  Personal prowess is no longer the main evaluation criterion for commanders, so only those who truly love swordsmanship and shooting will persist in practicing these things.

  Major Moritz, who has been hiding for a while, finally can no longer pretend to be deaf, because Winters' description reminds him of a small group - the Duelists Club.

   The Duelists Club is a small association within the Army. The members are mainly Army officers who like the fighting skills of hot and cold weapons. They will meet and compete regularly. It is not a secret society, as long as interested army officers can participate.

  Moritz thought it could start with the members of the Duelist Club, and rarely volunteered to take on the task of getting the list of Duelist Club members—because the Major himself was also a member of the Duelist Club.

   But after only two days of leisure, he came to work again. The headquarters selected the twenty tallest among the trainee officers this year. Winters was told that he had been honorably selected for this year's officer honor guard of the Veneta Army.

   Winters then learned that every year, twenty of the army trainee officers will be selected to be the so-called "officer's honor guard". To put it simply, it is to dress dignifiedly, and then be a puppet in various important occasions of the army.

  Because if there is something big or small, you will be called to be a statue of human flesh, so no official officer likes to do this job. In the end, only candidates can be selected from the trainee officers, and they will be changed every year.

  Andre and Winters were both unlucky to be selected, so they stood dumbfounded on the dock early in the morning, with dew on the outside of their armor, and they didn't know who they were coming to greet.

   When passing through the artillery fort on the outer circle of the Navy Pier, the artillery deck of the incoming ship and the gun doors on the **** opened one by one, and the dark artillery stuck its head out.

  From Winters and Andre's point of view, the hull of the battleship spewed out a cloud of blue smoke, and then there was a sound of thunder on the sea.

   The warship is firing its cannons.

  The reloading of the artillery took time, and the thirty-two pounder short-barreled guns used to destroy enemy ships at close range even required sailors to be hoisted out of the hull to reload. When a warship enters the port of another country, it can show that there is no hostility on its own side without loading shells and emptying its barrels. It has evolved into this special etiquette over time.

   The naval artillery fort also fired its cannons in return.

   It wasn't until he got closer that Winters discovered that the hull of the battleship was lavishly decorated with oil paints, wood carvings and gold-clad craftsmanship.

  The extravagant decoration has no effect in actual combat, it is purely to show the royal style and majesty, which makes Winters despise this flashy imperial style from the bottom of his heart.

  Under the guidance of the pilot boat, this gorgeous and mighty warship slowly put up its sails and berthed lightly to the navy's pier.

   "The first battery! Fire!"

With an order   , the army's artillery was fired.

  Vinetta's army and navy have been at odds with each other for more than 20 years, from military budgets to chairs in a thirteen-member committee to trivial matters, fighting for everything that can be fought.

   The gun salute just now was a tribute from the Navy. With the Army present, of course, the Navy cannot represent Veneta alone. Therefore, the army also specially pushed over a dozen cannons for the salute.

   Before the people on the boat got off, the two figures hovering in the sky gradually grew larger. The two figures originally appeared to be the size of seagulls, but they were actually flying so high. When they were really close to the ground, everyone on the dock realized that these were two terrifying beasts.

   These two flying birds are like eagles, but ordinary eagles are not so big. The wingspan of these two giant eagles is wider than that of a battleship, and they fly like two dark clouds in the air. The two behemoths swooped down, and the gunners were frightened and fled in all directions, and the officers could not come back even if they shouted.

  The two giant eagles landed on the pier gracefully, spreading their wings like a demonstration, screeching all around, scanning the surroundings with indifferent yellow eyes. Winters visually estimated that the wingspan of the two giant eagles was at least ten meters long, and they stood taller than a floor, as if they were two high walls standing on the dock.

   Winters certainly didn't run away like the gunner, and the officers' honor guard didn't move because they knew what it was. However, if he hadn't seen these two giant eagles with his own eyes, Winters would not have believed that such creatures really existed in the world.

  "[Blurred swear words]" Winters exclaimed in a low voice: "The pseudo-emperor actually has such a giant eagle, I thought it was a bragging in the history of war."

  Andrei didn't reply, his legs were shaking, and his mouth made an uncontrollable sound of teeth.

   This cannot blame Andre, the fear brought by this giant beast is too strong, as if a legendary monster tore a hole in the book and drilled it out. Andrei was brave enough not to run away with the gunner.

"What are you afraid of?" Winters stabbed Andre secretly: "As long as it is a living creature, it must be afraid of cannons. Isn't it a big turkey? A fake emperor can scare people with such flashy things. "

   "I'm not afraid of XX." Andre replied angrily, but his body language didn't say that.

  Two men of low stature came down from the back of the eagle, causing a burst of exclamations among the soldiers. The two giant eagle riders wore no armor, only a soft black leather jacket.

   One of them stood in front of the guard of honor of the army officers and the officers of the navy, and said loudly: "The supreme plenipotentiary of the Emperor Muluo, the minister of the cabinet's seal, the Count of Narzia, salute you all!"

   This man is not tall, but his voice is surprisingly loud, and the entire Navy Pier can hear it clearly.

   "Isn't this just trying to give the Veneta people a disgrace? Who do you want to scare?" Andrei said dissatisfied after seeing it clearly.

   Winters also snorted coldly: "These mentally handicapped people who marry close relatives like to engage in such useless things."

  The two came to the Navy Pier before dawn to stand by, and now they were played with such a thing, and they were very upset. Coupled with standing in the back of the queue, they chatted more and more recklessly. A group of soldiers in black half-armor with straight swords on their waists disembarked first, and they stood in a line equidistantly along the entire trestle, extending to the dry bank.

"Is this the loyal heir army of the oath-breaker?" Winters looked at the black armored soldiers: "It's not so much boasting, right? It seems that the oath-breaker still attaches great importance to this minister of the seal. of."

The    Zhongsi Army is an army established after the current Muluo Emperor Henry III ascended the throne. As the name suggests, this army recruited soldiers from fallen soldiers and orphans of royal officials who died in the line of duty, and was mainly responsible for guarding the palace and protecting Henry III himself. They are the only army that can bring weapons into the palace, and they have won the trust of the oathbreakers, and they are known as the most elite troops in the empire.

Andre said yin and yang angrily: "The oath-breaker himself broke his oath, so he was especially worried that others would betray him, so he came up with such a thing. The father died, and the son continued to work for the oath-breaker. What kind of loyal army, I think it should be called the Extinct Army."

   Those loyal heirs in black armor couldn't hear Andre's words, but Winters' mouth was bitter. Because he is also a "loyal army" in essence, belonging to Veneta's loyal army.

   Many cadets at the Army Officers Academy, like Winters, are the heirs of fallen officers. As Andre said: Lao Tzu died, and the son continued to work hard.

  Andre realized his gaffe, and slapped himself through the helmet: "My mouth...X...really...don't care..."

   "What's the matter...it's okay." Winters also knew that Andre was just unintentional, but in the end he smiled and comforted Andre.

The mission of the    honor guard is very simple, that is, standing on both sides of a road with the honor guard of naval officers. The big men all got on the carriage and left, and the honor guard was disbanded.

   But Winters, who was about to return to the Army Headquarters, was stopped by a stranger.

   There was indeed a giant eagle in the late Neogene, the Argentine giant eagle. However, considering the strength of the bones of birds, it should not be able to carry people. The giant eagle in the book is a fantasy version of the Argentine giant eagle, with stronger bones and a longer wingspan, which can be ridden by lighter people.

   Thanks to the book friends who have voted for the recommendation before, thank the book friend Yanyunsan for the recommendation vote, thank the book friend 20181013204343295 for the recommendation vote, thank you, thank you.

   (end of this chapter)