Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Early in the morning on the third day after the levy order arrived at Wolf Town.

At dawn, groups of four-wheeled farm carts drove out from the manor houses in Wolf Town, gathered in the center of the town, and headed towards the city of Gevaudan.

Hundreds of large vehicles were stretched in a long line on the road. There was a kilometer difference between the front and the back. The creaking and friction of the axles could be heard from a distance.

From time to time, well-armed and capable riders pass by the slow carts, patrolling the convoy back and forth.

Following the undulations of the terrain, the road winds and stretches into the distance, and most of the places it passes are deserted.

Wilderness and meadows are the main scenery on the road. Occasionally when the convoy passes through the forest, everyone's nerves are tense instantly.

The laziest coachman will be very energetic at this moment, taking out his dagger and crossbow, keeping a vigilant eye on the dark woodland on both sides of the road.

It wasn't until the convoy left the forest that the drivers dared to breathe a sigh of relief, kicked their weapons back under the seats, and returned to their usual listless appearance.

It was Winters and Girard who rode at the front of the convoy, and the patrolling rider was Dussac hired by the manor owners.

Although Wolf Town has received an order to recruit militia, life still has to go on.

The crops in farmers' fields need to be cut, autumn crops need to be planted, and the tobacco, cotton, and sugar beets harvested from various estates need to be sold.

Most of the manor's output has already been deposited by various commercial banks in advance.

But for merchants, the risks and costs of transportation were too high, and the manor owners needed to transport the goods to Gevaudan for delivery.

Therefore, every year at this time, the owners of the manors in Wolf Town would make an appointment to transport goods to Gevaudan City together, so there was this huge convoy in front of them.

Holding together to keep warm is really a helpless act.

Tyranny, tyranny is as fierce as a tiger, and the tyranny of Plato's top leaders in the newly cultivated land will inevitably lead to rampant banditry.

Theft, poaching, tax evasion, private reclamation... Every crime can force originally law-abiding farmers to take desperate risks, exchange violence for food and clothing, and become robbers and bandits.

If conditions were bad - low temperatures throughout the year, wet and cool summers, long and cold winters - crops would fail and famine would ensue.

That's not just New Reclamation, Plato or the Senas Alliance... there will be a large number of farmers going bankrupt, starving, and turning into bandits across the entire continent.

[Note: People of this era did not know that they were experiencing what would later be called the "Little Ice Age." ]

Most of the newly cultivated land in the Republic of Plato is covered by virgin forests and meadows, dotted with scattered villages and towns and several small cities with a population of one to two thousand.

The only larger city is Maple Stone City, the capital of the new land province and the headquarters of the legion.

In such sparsely populated frontier areas, without the protection of city walls or the watch of neighbors, any isolated farmhouse would have no choice but to be slaughtered by a few strong men armed with crude weapons.

Therefore, most of the farmers in newly cultivated land live together in groups, and there are few individual farmhouses far away from the village.

The dirt roads in the countryside, the borders between towns, and the forests near cities are all far outside the scope of help and are dangerous places where bandits are rampant.

Life in Wolf Town is peaceful because Gilad Mitchell is in charge.

Gilad's lenient administration and Dussac's full support meant that Wolf Town itself had no breeding ground for banditry.

The foreign villains, without help from the locals, are like landed fish. Those with a bright mind will run away immediately, while those without a bright mind will be easily strangled by Gilad and Dusak.

After a small and well-known gang was eliminated, few evil gangsters came to the territory of Wolf Town to make trouble.

However, there are a total of 124 administrative districts at the same level as New Land and Wolf Town. No matter how good the public security in Wolf Town is, it will have minimal impact on the overall environment.

A convoy of farm carts carrying a large amount of goods, moving slowly, and lacking the ability to protect themselves is simply an irresistible meal for gangsters.

At this time of year, small groups of bandits will even spontaneously form large gangs to commit crimes, robbing convoys carrying goods from various places into the city.

After paying a price of blood several times, the manor owners of Wolf Town stayed together for warmth and hired riders from Dussa Village to protect the convoy.

"A few years ago, there was a particularly famous robber, nicknamed 'Bloody-Hand Shuter.'" Girard and Winters rode side by side, vividly telling the legend of the bandit in the new land: "That guy not only robbed, but also killed people." , extortion, and would cut off people's hands and put them in salt barrels to pickle them. It is said that when the gendarmerie caught him, they found hundreds of severed hands, and they couldn't tell which pair belonged to which person."

Winters was indignant: "You killed dozens of people before being arrested. What do the military police in the new land do for food? I also served as a military policeman. If my old commander, Lieutenant Colonel Field, were to come..."

The words touched his mind, and he suddenly thought of the fallen Lieutenant Colonel Field and the agreement to have a drink at Golden Harbor. Winters' voice became weaker and weaker, and finally he was speechless.

"Catching thieves is the responsibility of the local government, and the garrison army does not care." Gilard sighed and said: "The military police of the army will be dispatched to arrest the bloody hand, because he went too far and robbed the army's supply convoy."

Sergey next to him became energetic and interjected enthusiastically: "There is another joke. It is said that a trekker came to the city and met a robber on the way. At this time, a group of gendarmes passed by, and the peddler shouted for help, but the gendarme ignored him. . In desperation, the traveler yelled, 'I didn't pay the tax,' and the military police immediately rushed over to chase away the robbers, arrested the traveler, and sent him all the way to the city."

After saying that, Sergey laughed.

Two cavalrymen running back from far ahead were Pierre and Vashika. Girard was very cautious and sent several riders to explore the road ahead early in the morning.

"Dad!" Pierre was impatient and shouted from a distance: "The river is flooded!"

Vashika also looked panicked: "The water can reach the horse's back now, what should I do?"

The driver in front heard the shouts of the two men and hurriedly pulled the rope to stop the cart. The driver behind also stopped in a hurry, and the big cars stopped one after another.

Sergey saw his son's panic and yelled dissatisfied: "What a panic! Are you still Dusak? How big of a thing could scare you like this?"

"It's the first time these two kids came out with the team and they have little experience." Girard explained to Winters: "This is the lower reaches. If it rains upstream, the water will rise downstream. It is common for people to be unable to walk on foot. .”

"What should we do?"

Gilad pointed to the north: "Detour to Xiaoshi Town. There is a bridge in Xiaoshi Town to cross the Pangtuo River. It just takes more time and some tolls."

Gilad and the old man looked at each other and nodded at Sergey.

Sergey turned his mount and galloped towards the rear of the convoy, shouting to convey the order: "Detour! Detour! Go to Little Rock! Follow the car in front! Follow the car in front!"

"The intersection to Xiaoshi Town is at the back and has already passed. But it's difficult to turn around on the road. If you go further, find a good place to go around!" Gilad went to the driver of the leading car and ordered: "Follow me. .”

The driver whipped the animal hard, and with a harsh friction sound, the pulling horses neighed and dragged the carriage, and the convoy continued to move forward.

Girard said apologetically to Winters: "I guess it will take an extra day on the road."

"It doesn't matter, it won't be a day or two anyway." Winters replied with a smile.

The reason why Winters is also in the convoy is to provide protection secondarily - this huge convoy has no shortage of people who can use swords.

The main purpose of Second Lieutenant Montagne was to visit the garrison in Gevaudan. Because the order to call for militia is so broad, there are some key matters that need to be clarified.

Although the recruitment order has been delivered for several days, there has been no progress in the selection work in Wolf Town. No draws, no practices, nothing.

It's not that Winters deliberately delayed, but because it was the busy farming season, and taking a shot at this time would mean ruining the farmers' hard work for a year.

The Palatu Plateau has a low latitude and high altitude. The airflow in the north-south direction is blocked by towering mountains. The precipitation mainly comes from the monsoon blowing from the Gulf of Senas to the plateau.

Because of this, most of the crops in Plato are planted in rotation with two crops a year or three crops every two years.

At this time, spring-sown crops need to be harvested and dried in the cultivated fields of the villages in Lang Town. And autumn crops such as winter wheat are waiting to be sown.

Ordinary farmers are busy harvesting, drying and sowing grain, but people in Dussa have one more job - cutting grass. After the pasture is allocated to each household, men, women, old and young all go to work together to cut and dry the grass to feed the livestock in winter.

After farmers with little arable land finish working in their own fields, they go to do odd jobs for farmers who are short of manpower, so that they can exchange some grain to subsidize their families.

Winters couldn't bear to recruit farmers at this time. Fortunately, there is still some time before the deadline, so there is no need to be too anxious.

Therefore, Second Lieutenant Winters Montagne also had time to go to the city of Gevaudan to clarify the ambiguous content of the recruitment order. The second lieutenant had many questions to ask his immediate superior.

One of the most critical issues, and one that sounds quite nonsensical, is whether the conscripted militiamen are considered "soldiers" or "citizens" in the legal sense.

For the villagers in Wolf Town, this problem is really funny.

Is he a civilian husband? A soldier?

what is the relationship? Aren’t they all going to work?

If you ask this question to the farmers in Wolf Town, they will definitely answer unanimously: "Whichever can make me serve less."

But Brother Red had a very creative idea. Drawing a dice is a devastating blow to any family, but an old mendicant monk's idea might turn a bad thing into a good thing.

Just like what he said: "[Selika language] Misfortune lies where blessing lies, and blessing lies where misfortune lies."

But the premise of everything is to clarify "whether the militia is civilians or soldiers."

…

If you ride a horse from Wolf Town to Gevaudan, you will travel 60 kilometers a day, and it will take about two days one way.

But the slow farm truck could only travel twenty kilometers a day. In addition, it took a detour to Xiaoshi Town on the way, so it took seven days to reach the city of Jevaudan.

Girard and Winters used marching discipline to discipline the convoy, setting up scouts at the front and a containment team at the back, patrolling back and forth during the day, and taking turns on duty at night.

After several days of marching, everyone was very tired both mentally and physically. But most of the drivers and Dussac were not out with the convoy for the first time, and they could still endure it silently.

On the other hand, Pierre, Vashka and other young Dussacs who were with the convoy for the first time complained and complained as soon as the excitement wore off. In the last few days, they were too lazy to patrol and simply stayed on the cart.

There were also major accidents such as broken axles and overturning on the road. Fortunately, Winters and Girard handled them well and no casualties were caused. Girard specially brought a few empty cars out just to guard against such accidents.

Apart from these minor twists and turns, the journey was uneventful, and luckily no unsighted gangsters came looking for trouble.

After all, one large cart might be prey, but with a hundred carts, the opponent would have to consider whether his teeth would break.

The weather was good, and the rain that Girard was most worried about did not happen, and the convoy arrived in the city of Gevaudan without any danger.

When the bell tower of the church in Gevaudan came into view, Winters set off for the garrison first, and Girard enthusiastically offered to accompany him.

"Is it okay? Don't you need to follow the convoy?" Winters was embarrassed to continue to trouble old Dusak.

"It doesn't matter, just take the tobacco to the warehouse, you don't need me." Gilad said cheerfully: "Besides, you don't know how to get to the garrison, so I will lead you there. I know Major Ronald and can introduce it to you. "

Girard's enthusiasm gave Winters no reason to refuse, and the two of them took control of their horses and left the convoy, heading towards the center of Gevaudan.

As the capital of the new reclamation province and Tiefeng County, Jevaudan can only be called a "city" but not a "city". Because she only has an urban area and no city walls.

Like all naturally formed settlements, the city's geographical conditions are unique to today's eyes.

The city sits in the middle of a river valley, with the land beneath its feet solid and flat. The Saint-Georges River flows around the city, providing fresh water to the citizens of Gevaudan and carrying away filth.

The most conspicuous building in the entire city is the Gevaudan Cathedral standing in the center of the city. Travelers a few kilometers away can also see the sword-tip bell tower of the cathedral.

"The Cathedral of Gévaudin is amazing. Big! Tall!" The old Dussac, who was not good at words, blushed all over his face. It took him a while to come up with another adjective: "Glorious and magnificent! By the way, there is a saint in the cathedral. Daos’ grave! It is said that no matter how sick you are, you can recover by just touching it. But I haven’t tried it. Firstly, I’m not sick, and secondly, the priest doesn’t allow touching..."

Girard introduced the city of Gevaudan along the way, and Winters listened carefully.

One person spoke, the other listened, and the two soon arrived at the St. George River.

"I heard this place is called Lover's Grove." Girard pointed to a sparse forest on the west side of the road across the city and said, "Anyway, that's where men and women come."

Hearing this, Winters couldn't help but look at the small woods a few more times.

But it was still daytime, there was not a single person in the forest, and it didn't look like anything special.

There is only one wooden bridge over the St. George River, and an old man wearing a coarse monk's robe is dozing in the pavilion at the end of the bridge.

Seeing the two men approaching on horseback, the old man limped to the wood that served as the railing and saluted: "Good day, may God bless you."

"Good day, Father." Gilad also bowed: "How will you charge the bridge toll today?"

"A nickel for a horse and a quarter of a nickel for each man."

When Girard took out his purse and counted the silver coins, Winters frowned and asked, "Are you a priest?"

"certainly."

"Church clergy?"

"Of course." The old man asked in confusion, "What's the matter?"

"Then how do you collect money here?"

The old man made another salute and explained nonchalantly: "This bridge belongs to the Cathedral of Gevaudan, so you have to pay to cross the bridge. However, residents of the city do not charge, clergy do not charge, and church servants do not charge... …”

Gilad counted out three small silver coins and handed them to the old man: "Father, please use the remaining money to buy some firewood to keep warm."

The old man bowed his thanks and moved the wood that served as the railing.

After the two horsemen crossed the bridge, the old man moved the wood back with difficulty.

Upon seeing this, Winters turned back, dismounted and lifted up the wood: "Go back and sit down."

The old man thanked him profusely and limped back to the pavilion.

Winters shook his head secretly. In fact, what he just asked was: "How could such an old man be allowed to do such a job?"

Crossing the bridge was the urban area of ​​Gevaudan, and Winters passed the cathedral on the way to the garrison.

It's only a quick glance, but this towering stone building is indeed majestic...and resplendent.

The garrison is a two-story stone building with white walls and red tiles, surrounded by a wooden fence to form a large courtyard. At the other end of the compound is a row of barracks, with a flat playground between the barracks and small buildings.

The guard at the courtyard gate recognized Gilad and waved the two of them in. Instead of going directly upstairs, Girard led Winters to the stable in the backyard to store the horses.

When Winters handed the reins to the groom, Gilad Mitchell blushed and said embarrassedly: "Second Lieutenant, there is something I have been thinking about for a long time, and I want to ask you for your help. "

The sudden request caught Winters off guard. He had some bad premonitions in his heart, but he still replied: "Tell me, what's the matter?"

"I hope you won't find it abrupt." Gilad became more sincere.

"You said it." Winters started to sweat even more.

"I'm really embarrassed and very presumptuous."

"You say."

"I thought about it for a long time before I came up with this old face."

"You say."

"You..." Gilad gritted his teeth and said awkwardly: "...can the son you sent me be a mate to my mare?"

Winters almost suffered a cerebral hemorrhage: "That's it?"

"Of course it's a paid breeding, I know the rules." Old Dusak hurriedly added.

The son of a horse that Girard was talking about naturally did not mean red mane, but strong luck.

Winters had been fighting in Taneria before, and Qiang Yun had been staying at Hailan's house. When Kesha sent Ciel to find Winters, she asked Ciel to bring Qiang Luck with him.

Winters speculated that it probably also meant "riding this horse home."

Ever since he saw Qiang Luck, Girard couldn't take his eyes away. He kept wandering around Qian Luck when he had nothing to do, making Winters think he wanted to buy Qian Luck.

"Mr. Mitchell." Winters held Girard's hand sincerely: "Take it and match it with whatever you want."

Old Dussac was beaming with joy, rubbing his hands and not knowing what to say.

"But I heard that the female horse seems to be more important." Winters asked.

"Of course the quality of the female horse is important, but the young horse is equally important." Gilad suddenly said sadly: "After Hehanwu was killed by a bear, my family didn't have a decent young horse... Forget it, let's not talk about this. "

Gilad waved his hand and led Winters into the two-story building.

To Winters's surprise, every officer or soldier in the garrison seemed to know Gilad and greeted old Dussac one after another.

In this way, the two easily met Major Ronald, the commander of the Gervaudan garrison and Winters' immediate boss.

I don’t know whether it was because of Girard’s introduction or because of his relationship as an alumnus, but Major Ronald was very friendly to Winters.

He carefully asked Winters about his difficulties and what help he needed, and also introduced Winters to other officers in the garrison.

"Actually, I'm only a few years older than you." The major's tone was quite sympathetic. He patted Winters on the shoulder: "I've probably heard a little about you, so please bear with me for a while. Now it's time to employ people. At this time, it is impossible for the superiors to let him go. Once the battle is won, everything will be easy to talk about."

Winters felt a great contrast in the Platuan Army. Every Platt officer he met was very nice and friendly.

But it was the group representing all the Plato officers who detained him here, leaving him without a home and unable to return.

Naturally, Winters has not forgotten the purpose of his trip. He has some important issues that need to be clarified.

Are militiamen "civilians" or "soldiers" in Plato's law?

"It's a soldier." Major Ronald replied affirmatively, and he also found documents to support it.

So Winters’ second question:

Dussac's conscription into the militia...is it considered service?

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