Iron Powder and Spellcaster

After truly understanding the powers and duties of the stationed officers, Winters was surprised to find that in the three-thirds of an acre of land in Langtun Town, the powers of the stationed officers were simply boundless.

In the Republic of Veneta, the ruthless bureaucracy hates the growth of any military ambitions and strictly guards against potential risks of military interference in politics. It especially does not allow any military personnel to take control of local military affairs.

However, in Langtun Town, Jevodan County, Republic of Plato, militia, public security, anti-smuggling, land defense, labor...all matters involving violence are under the control of the stationed officers.

Moreover, there is no subordinate relationship between the town official and the town mayor. The two jurisdictions overlap, but their statuses are independent of each other. Resident officials have absolute decision-making power on matters they are responsible for.

So in a small place like Langtun Town, theoretically no one can control Winters.

Only the new reclamation area garrison headquarters established in the county capital can give him orders, but it is at least more than 150 kilometers away from Lang Town.

In other words... stationing officers in this small town is like a half-Turkish emperor!

The local power of the Palatine officers - or rather the local power of the Palatine military - stunned the young Venetans.

Shocked, Winters was not very concerned about the grassroots political ecological construction of the Plato Republic. Because he thought he would go home sooner or later, he was just temporarily stuck in this position.

But as long as you are still in office, you have to work hard.

…

"See? Just throw it like this. You have to use the strength of your waist and abdomen! The tip of the spear should be slightly upward when you release it, otherwise it won't be thrown far."

At the threshing floor of Hedong Village in Wolf Town, Second Lieutenant Winters Montagne was demonstrating with a makeshift javelin. There were also several javelins stuck crookedly on the target board not far away, which he had just thrown.

All the adult men in the village gathered around Lieutenant Montagne and watched the lieutenant demonstrate his spear throwing skills.

The women were sitting on the edge of the threshing floor, talking and laughing, working and watching the excitement. Children with snotty noses were playing and running wildly, imitating adults and throwing sticks.

The threshing floor of Hedong Village was a bustling scene, like a festival gathering, without the slightest tension that it should have had.

Winters originally resented women and children coming to watch, thinking it was a disturbance. But he soon discovered that it was also a very effective motivation.

"Practice seriously!" Winters deliberately said to the militiamen: "Ladies, you are all watching. If you lose someone here, do you still have the nerve to climb into bed at night?"

After hearing this, the young men from Hedong Village who took turns practicing spear throwing blushed, trying hard to outdo the others.

Winters was not satisfied with the militia in Wolf Town because it was too different from the standing army centurions he had led. But the farmer is not a professional soldier after all, so it would be great if he is willing to participate in the training.

While correcting the militiamen's wrong moves, Winters admonished: "Remember, don't stand in the front, don't throw the spear toward the head. Turn to the side and back, and throw the spear toward the belly, a place without bone protection!"

Judging from the size of the paw prints, expecting to kill such a huge beast with one strike is pure wishful thinking.

According to the advice provided by the hunter Ralph, if a beast attacks a village, the best way is to drive it away, using fire and noise to scare it away; the second is to consume it, until the beast is exhausted and covered with bruises and then kill it.

Therefore, Winters specially added barbs to these improvised javelins. Once bitten into the flesh and pulled out, a large piece of flesh would be taken away. When used, a rope will be tied to the gun barrel, which can be dragged and fixed.

Some farm women spontaneously collected some blue grass fruits commonly known as "rat arsenic" from the fields and gave them to Winters, saying that they could be boiled in water and applied to the javelin to be useful.

But Winters was skeptical that the poison would be effective.

Although the blue grass fruit is poisonous when eaten, it is still unknown whether it is still toxic when it enters the blood. Whether it can bring down large beasts is also a question. But it didn't matter whether it was good or bad, so Winters left them alone.

"The officers trained by the old marshal's school are different! They can do everything well." Girard watched Winters organize the militia and forge spears in an orderly manner, and happily said to everyone everywhere: "Second Lieutenant Montagne It is truly a blessing from the Lord to be able to come to Langtun as a resident officer!"

Under the coordination of Winters, militia teams were organized in the five villages under the jurisdiction of Langtun Town.

Farmers were warned to guard their doors at night and to make noise if police arrived, waiting for local villagers and soldiers to gather for rescue.

Winters also specially borrowed some dogs from two villages farther away from the forest and distributed them to those villagers whose houses were closer to the forest.

The problem that now troubles Winters is the lack of weapons.

Hedong Village and Hexi Village are not bad, at least the villagers still have some bows and arrows.

But the two Protestant villages were defenseless. Not to mention swords, spears, and spears, they didn’t even have a good bow. The villagers could only use pitchforks as spears.

If they hope to use pitchforks to deal with the owner of the paw print, the Protestants must at least be brave enough to fear death.

Then again, if farmers can have the courage to fight without fear of death, why does Winters urgently build these javelins?

Just go up and stab with a spear! As long as you are still flesh and blood, what can't be stabbed to death?

But the actual situation is: standing at a distance and shooting arrows, the militiamen can barely do it; if a beast pounces on them, the militiamen will only be chased.

Precisely because ordinary people did not have the courage to fight with ferocious beasts, Winters trained the militiamen to use javelins, the hunting tools of ancient ancestors.

Adding to Winters' headache was the undisguised hostility revealed by the two Protestant villages.

To be honest, Winters didn't even realize that Wolf Town had two Protestant villages before Girard mentioned them.

The Protestants neither attended Sunday services nor had much communication with the other three villages.

In Winters' view, Wolf Town was already remote and isolated enough, but in Wolf Town, on the edge of the civilized world, the Protestants gathered together to form a small, more closed and isolated group.

In several other villages, Mayor Girard read the letter of appointment once and that was enough to complete the introduction. The villagers naturally accepted the new resident officer.

In those two Protestant villages, every literate person in the village read Winters' letter of appointment, and the villagers still looked at Winters Montagne with suspicion.

What irritated Winters even more was that the Protestants did not seem to believe the warning of the "wolf plague" and did not take his orders as the resident officer seriously.

Not many young people came to participate in the training, and those who did did so perfunctorily. Several Protestant villagers even whispered to Winters, "The wolf plague is just a cover for the mayor to send more laborers, and he is blackmailing us."

He acted like he was being persecuted and delusional, which made Winters extremely angry. On the contrary, Gilad was used to it and even persuaded Second Lieutenant Montagne.

But neither Mayor Mitchell nor the town official in Montagne had much to do with these stubborn Protestants.

But it happened that the two Protestant villages were closest to the edge of the forest.

So every time he thought about the two Protestant villages, Winters had a splitting headache.

The only thing that gave Montagne's town official peace of mind was the village of Dussac, the gathering village of Dussac.

Hearing that there was a large beast lurking in the woods, the men in Dussa Village happily started preparing their swords and guns.

Different from the customs of Hedong and Hexi villages and the two Protestant villages, every household of the Dusaks has weapons.

The saber is hanging on the wall, the spear is leaning against the barn, these are just the basics.

Even the village of Dusa retains more than 20 matchlocks, some old and new. The new ones were purchased for hunting only in recent years, and the oldest muskets can even be traced back to the Sovereignty Wars.

Every household in Dousa Village still raises horses. The men's riding skills have been practiced since childhood. Even Winters' equestrian skills cannot compare with them.

Hearing that the wolf plague was coming, the old men were invited to teach the young people how to use spears and sabers.

The idle and energetic young Dusaks suddenly had something to do, and there were far fewer fights, gambling and other trivial things.

Sergei proudly said to Winters: "Sir, can you count on those farmers when this kind of thing happens? It depends on us Dusak! No matter what comes, we are here to handle it." die!"

Now that he has such a group of brave Dussac on hand, Winters has no reason not to take advantage of them.

Therefore, Winters ordered people to set up beacon towers at the heights of the five villages. If any village was attacked, the beacon towers would be used to warn, and the riders from Dussa Village would immediately gather for support.

With the beacon tower, Hedong and Hexi villages are very happy. But judging from the suspicious expressions on the Protestant villagers' faces, Winters couldn't help but feel that the Protestants wouldn't ask for help from the Dussacs even if the beast came.

In addition, more than a dozen manor owners in Wolf Town, including the Mitchell family, also generously donated money to purchase the javelin.

In addition to visiting various villages and supervising training in the past few days, Winters also followed Ralph into the woods many times to look for traces of the beast.

Winters was weighed down by so many things, making him very tired.

But being busy also alleviated the depression of being manipulated by others - after all, if he had something to do, he wouldn't have the energy to figure out how to get back to Veneta.

But this morning, Winters put all other things behind him. He had a very important thing to do. He wanted to... buy a horse.

In the vast and sparsely populated Palato New Reclamation Area, horses are in urgent need, and it is really inconvenient to go anywhere without a horse for transportation.

Second Lieutenant Winters Montagne is now eating and living in the Girard house. Although Girard Mitchell doesn't mind, Winters is really embarrassed to continue to occupy the Mitchell house. The horses are gone.

So Winters really wanted to buy a horse.

Not only for transportation, he also had a dark idea: if he had a horse, he could escape directly back to Veneta.

But he can't afford it.

"Poor Second Lieutenant" is not just an officer's self-deprecation. Being an officer is a costly profession. Uniforms, horses, and weapons must all be purchased by oneself.

Although Plato's salary seemed a little better than Veneta's, it was considered good if the second lieutenant's income could meet his food and accommodation needs.

Want to buy a horse?

You can think about it.

Therefore, if an officer in this era was not from a wealthy family, it would be best for him to find a wealthy father-in-law.

Although he may be suspected of feeling too good about himself, Winters still feels that Gilad Mitchell will definitely be happy to marry his daughter to him.

Miss Mitchell blushed every time she saw Winters, and her voice sounded like a mosquito when she spoke to Winters, which made Winters feel very embarrassed.

The elegant and virtuous Mrs. Mitchell also seems to be very fond of Second Lieutenant Winters Montagne, who is born in Hailan.

Not to mention that old Sergei asked Winters in a roundabout way several times if he was engaged.

Sergey’s family didn’t have a daughter, so who else could he ask?

Winters insisted that he was already engaged and his fiancée was in Hailan.

But Sergey muttered: "We are so far away from Hailan, so even if we have an engagement, it may not count."

“It’s so painful to have no money!”

Winters Montagne lamented this during the sleepless night of tossing and turning.

But it was impossible for him to borrow money from Gilad Mitchell's family. On the contrary, the better the Mitchell family treated Winters, the less he dared to owe favors.

In fact, Winters was already considering moving out of the Mitchell home when the time was right.

After all his calculations, Winters now had three months' salary, and the only precious metal he had left was... Anna's locket.

Pure gold.

But it was impossible to sell the locket. If she sold it, Mademoiselle Navarre would have to tear Lieutenant Montagne's hands into pieces.

“It’s so painful to have no money!”

In the sleepless night of tossing and turning, Winters Montagne lamented again.

In the end, it was the two cufflinks given by Antonio that saved the day.

Winters' family is very strict about money management, but he himself does not have a strong concept of money because he never had any place to spend money in the military academy.

So he didn't take the two cufflinks that Antonio gave him seriously. I wear it on important occasions, and I also took it with me when I went back to Guidu Castle for the award ceremony.

Once a person is forced to panic, he will hold on tightly to even the smallest hope.

Lieutenant Montagne, who was thinking about money, looked at the two cufflinks given by his uncle, and suddenly had a bold idea.

After identification by the blacksmith, Winters finally confirmed that the two cufflinks he had always thought were bronze... were indeed pure gold.

Also, the belt buckle given by my uncle is also made of solid gold.

Even though they were thousands of miles apart, the wisdom of the elders still enriched Winters' empty wallet.

As a result, the poor Lieutenant Montagne suddenly became rich. Although it is not much, it is enough to buy a sufficient war horse.

Buying toys will make you happy. A man's happiness is that simple.

The war horse is, in a sense, a big toy.

Winters's depression was swept away, and he couldn't wait to ask Girard which house in Dussa Village had horses for sale.

Although he was embarrassed to accept the favor of the Mitchell family again, the purchase of war horses could not escape Girard's eyes.

Rather than deliberately avoiding suspicion, Winters thought it would be better to openly ask for Gilad Mitchell's help.

Girard's eldest son Pierre heard that Lieutenant Montagne wanted to buy a war horse, and he was excited to follow him.

The communal pastures of the village of Dousa are located on flat land to the south of the village and are not fenced. Untended alfalfa and rye grow freely here, and the meadows appear a beautiful creamy yellow from a distance.

Far to the south, some flecks of brown and black flashed, and a herd of horses galloped toward the pond. A small figure bounced up and down like it was stuck to the horse's back, gathering the horse.

"Hook!" Pierre stood up on the saddle, waved excitedly in the direction of the horses and shouted: "Angelou!"

The figure on horseback in the distance heard the shout and waved his hat in response.

"Come here! Come here!"

The man on horseback in the distance put on his hat again and galloped towards Winters and others.

"That's the horseherd of Dussa Village, Angelou." Girard pointed his whip at the approaching rider and said with a smile: "No one knows the horses in the village better than him. Let him help you choose A decent one!”

The shepherd urged the horse to run very fast, and soon he was close to several people.

Only then did Winters realize that the stable boy was very thin, and although his face was tanned, he could not hide his childishness.

"Why is it a child?" Winters was shocked.

"Little Gou'er is sixteen, right? He doesn't count as a child." Girard said with a smile: "Don't look down on him just because he is young. He has been managing the horses by himself for two years, and he manages them very well. Woolen cloth."

"Two years?" Winters was even more surprised: "Then he became a stable boy at the age of fourteen?"

"Yes." Gilad took it for granted.

"Is he not from Tusa?"

Pierre immediately retorted: "Of course Gou'er is from Tusa!"

But Gilad understood what Winters meant. He sighed and said, "Little Gou'er's father died of illness, so his family didn't have any land. Gou'er's mother led him to find his father, but he ended up in Langtun. He also died of illness not long after. This kid liked horses, so I asked him to follow Old Peake and manage the horses. Old Peake lost his life after drinking the year before last, and he did a good job managing the horses by himself... Hi, but finally After he has survived enough, when he comes back from his errands, he will be able to farm."

In a few words, the horse herder had already reached several people.

The young man on the horse used a set of beautiful moves to roll off the saddle and run towards Pierre. Pierre also dismounted, and the two began to play and fall with joy.

After learning about Winters' purpose, "Hook" Angelou led a few people to approach the group of horses that were drinking water.

Winters fell in love with a splendid green horse at a glance, but the horseman shook his head: "Sir, that green horse is the stallion of this herd. He has a bad temper and cannot be ridden."

Looking back and forth, Winters spotted another dark horse: "How about that dark horse?"

Gilad pursed his lips and smiled.

The pony boy, who was still in the stage of changing his voice, replied in a drake voice: "Sir, that horse is a mare. It was bred here and is waiting to give birth to a foal next year. How can it be sold?"

The scene was very embarrassing for a time. Second Lieutenant Montagne, who was born in the infantry department, encountered his own shortcomings. At this moment, he missed his classmates Bud and Andre very much.

Winters gave up thinking: "Angelou, then you can pick one for me."

"Here! That horse 'Rezike' is quite good." The young stable boy pointed at a brown-red horse and said.

Winters followed the groom's gaze and looked over. The horse's ears stood up and it looked over alertly. But by the standard of "strong luck", the brown and red horse felt a little shorter and smaller.

In fact, Lieutenant Montagne only has one criterion for evaluating horses - that they look good.

On the premise of looking good, the taller the better.

Looking at the brown and red horse, Winters said hesitantly: "Isn't that horse a little... small?"

Girard and Angelou all laughed, but Pierre and Winters were a little confused.

Gilad, who was over fifty years old, laughed so hard that he was out of breath. He pinched his waist and said: "Second Lieutenant, we Dousa people evaluate war horses not by size, speed, strength... but by endurance. Only those who can keep running Horses are good war horses.”

"That horse Ryzhik is only three years old, but his leg strength is really great." Angelou added: "The small horse is agile and light, and is best at hurdles. When it grows to four years old, its leg strength will definitely be better. By then, Then you can bring them back and breed them.”

Winters, an old man and a young man from Dussa, said that he was also moved: "Will the horse owner be willing to sell it?"

"As long as the weather is good, good horses are like crops in the field, growing one after another." Gilad smiled: "What can't be sold? I'll discuss it with the horse owner for you."

Since people who know horses say so, Winters no longer hesitates. Girard took his son to find the horse owner to negotiate the price, leaving Winters chatting with the pony farmer Angelou in the pasture.

Looking at the horses grazing peacefully, Winters asked curiously: "By the way, how do you Tusa people name your horses?"

"People in Tusa don't name horses, they just call them by the color of their coats." The young horseman laughed and said, showing a dozen teeth: "But we people in Tusa have hundreds of words to describe the color of horses' coats. ."

The ponyboy added: "Rezike is referring to the red and brown coat color with white spots on the forehead."

The deal was sealed quickly.

The horse owner readily gave a good price.

Borrowing a set of saddles, Winters Montagne rode Ryzhik out of Wolf Town.

Thanks to the book friends who voted for recommendation before, thank you to book friends Sky Lens, Sakura Is Justice, I Don’t Know What It’s Called, WritersBlock, The Yellow Rabbit of the Flower Planter, Social Justice Lao Wang, Kun Kun, The Most in Your Life, Calmness Thank you all for the recommendation vote from a certain uncle who is gray and ideal in his thirties.