Iron Powder and Spellcaster

As soon as the sun rose, the Qingfeng Town homeless camp fell into commotion.

Soldiers with flat-ended spears formed nets and harshly drove the refugees from their tents, forcing them to gather in the open space.

Peter Blake and Peter Fisher were also among them.

Bud stood on the carriage in front of the clearing, waiting for the refugees to arrive.

He held a flagpole in his hand. There was no flag on the flagpole, but it was covered with a sack.

The ragged refugees stood quietly. They were hungry, exhausted, and their eyes were numb.

Seeing that everyone in the camp had been brought over, Bud leveled the flagpole and slowly took off the sack covering the top of the flagpole.

The refugees couldn't help shouting.

The dirty burlap was ripped off.

A large holy symbol made of gold shone brightly in the sun.

Twelve rubies the size of pigeon eggs are set vertically and horizontally on the holy emblem, reflecting a breathtaking halo.

There is no shortage of people with good eyesight who have recognized it for what it is.

"This is the holy symbol of Saint Althos! The fragments of the holy relics are kept in it!" Bard held the flagpole in front of him with both hands, scanned the crowd, and urged: "Those who believe in the only savior! Kneel down and salute immediately!"

An old woman at the front of the crowd was the first to crawl on the ground.

Like a huge wave rolling over, others knelt down with her, even the soldiers knelt down on one knee.

"Our Lord who art in heaven!" Bud recited the Lord's Prayer loudly.

Everyone whispered: "Our Lord who art in heaven."

Bud continued to chant: "May people respect..."

He recited a sentence, and everyone followed him: "May people respect..."

Everyone prayed in unison, and the voices gathered together and became louder and louder. Many people even shed tears.

Even the refugees from other camps flocked to the fences of each camp to take a closer look.

"Forever!" After reciting, Bud saluted: "Get up!"

"Forever!" Everyone stood up as they saluted.

Bard handed the [St. Ados Emblem] to Ish beside him—Ish from Ganshui Town.

Ishi from Ganshui Town looked excited and held the flagpole tightly to prevent it from tilting even half a minute.

During the riots on the day of the fall of the city, the Cathedral of Gévaudin was first ransacked and then set on fire. Although the fire was quickly put out, the valuable sacrificial vessels in the church were also robbed.

The emblem of Saint Ados in Bard's hand was recovered from the criminals.

"Those who follow the will of the Lord, you will be saved!" Bard, who was leading the crowd in prayer, naturally began to preach to the crowd: "Many centuries ago...the prophet parted the ocean and led the people into the wilderness..."

His sermon was very simple, just telling the story recorded in the Bible: "The prophet parted the sea, led the people to wander in the wilderness for forty years, and finally arrived at the "land flowing with milk and honey."

Bard was neither a Protestant nor an old church clergyman, so he had no right to perform the ceremony.

But when he preached, everyone listened.

At the end of the sermon, Bard of Girard Village, the son of the tenant of Green Heart Abbey, looked into the eyes of the refugees and announced the fate of the latter without expression:

"Yesterday, the military-controlled government of Tiefeng County passed the "Poor Relief Decree." According to the decree, all refugees will be subject to military law immediately. The military-controlled government will provide you with food! Houses! Farm tools! And land!"

Bard did not allow everyone to think, and his voice was cold and ruthless: "But from today on, you will no longer be completely free people. Your status is equivalent to that of serfs, and from now on you will cultivate and open up wasteland on the farm!"

Even the most ignorant refugee was shocked at this moment.

The crowd murmured at first, and the sound continued to spread, making the camp more and more noisy.

Bud yelled, "Quiet!"

People closed their mouths suddenly, and the camp suddenly became silent. This was the residual power of stick education.

"The prophet led the people to walk in the wilderness for a full forty years before they entered the promised land." Like a sermon, Bard pronounced the verdict to the refugees without any doubt: "Thanks to the great grace of the Republic and the Lord, you only need seven years!"

The refugees were a little confused, and even the soldiers were listening carefully.

The autumn wind swept through the camp and carried Bud's voice to everyone's ears: "Under the witness of the Lord, the Republic makes a contract with you. After working as serfs for three years, you will turn into tenant farmers on your own and will no longer be subject to military law. Restraint. After working as tenant farmers for another four years, you will be eligible to redeem your land, regain your complete freedom, and become true yeoman farmers."

Bard opened the "Book of Judgment" and handed it to the crier brought from Gevaudan: "Whoever's name is called will come forward. Kiss the Holy Emblem, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Pledge allegiance. !”

The crier took the "Book of Judgment" with both hands. He only made extra money by singing votes at town hall meetings and reading notices in the market. He had never experienced such a scene.

His Adam's apple twitched as he struggled to pronounce the first name: "Peter Blake from Stonewall Village!"

Peter Blake's legs shook uncontrollably when he heard his name being called.

He didn't expect that he would be the first person called, and he didn't hear what the priest was saying at all.

He only vaguely heard "distributing grain", "distributing land" and "being a serf".

"Live well and you will find a way to survive."

Peter Blake suddenly remembered what the unknown gentleman had said.

He swallowed hard, walked forward stiffly, kissed the holy emblem made of gold and gems, and swore allegiance.

"Peter Campbell of Linshui Village!" Bud read the second name.

No one came out.

Bud narrowed his eyes and repeated: "Peter Campbell from Linshui Village!"

A young man reluctantly walked out of the crowd. He was thin and skinny, but his eyes were big and rolling. His mouth was slightly crooked and he was registered as Campbell.

The young man walked slowly to the carriage, but did not want to kiss the holy emblem. He glanced at the face of the "priest officer" and said hesitantly: "Sir, I am not a farmer, I am a Gevaudan, and I don't know how to do it." Farm.”

"Then why did you claim to be a farmer when you registered?" Bud asked expressionlessly.

The young man couldn't answer.

He was originally an idle scoundrel from Gévaudan, and on the day the city fell, he wanted to take advantage of the chaos, so he tied a red rope on his shoulders and went out to rob.

Unexpectedly, the attacking army quickly turned around to suppress the riot, restore public order, and round up the robbers.

He was afraid, so he followed the refugees out of the city and hid in the refugee camp. He was fooled through the screening process, and when registering, he reported his identity as a tenant farmer.

Seeing that the other party was silent, Bud asked kindly: "You don't want to farm?"

"Sir." The rogue man replied bravely: "I don't know how to plant."

"Can."

The rogue man was overjoyed: "Thank you for your kindness! Thank you..."

Bud pointed at the other party without any emotion: "Catch him!"

Ish threw the flagpole to others, kicked the rogue man down, and tied him up with a few blows.

The young scoundrel was now completely panicked: "Sir! I am willing to work on the farm! I am willing to go!"

"Shut him up!" Bud ordered.

Ishi, who was wearing iron gloves, slapped the rogue man so hard that he fainted immediately.

"If you don't accept the poor relief contract, you are a criminal." Bard ruthlessly gave the verdict to the unconscious scoundrel: "According to the power granted to me by the Poor Relief Act, I sentence you to twenty years of hard labor. Take him away!"

Ish dragged the rogue Gévaudin, who went by the alias Peter, all the way out of the camp like a corpse.

"You have only two ways to go!" Bud looked at the refugees again: "Either, go to settle the farm and cultivate the land! After seven years, you will be freed; or, after twenty years, you will serve twenty years of hard labor. No more freedom! You can choose whatever you want! Next one!"

"Peter Fisher of Stonewall!" cried the crier, trembling.

Peter Fisher, who had been pitying Peter Blake just now, was now so scared that he almost wet his pants.

He gritted his teeth and moved his steps. He didn't understand what was happening next to him. He only understood two words: "seven years" and "land".

He is a long-term worker with nothing, no matter how bad he is, he will not lose more.

Peter "Fish Eyes" Fisher walked up to the carriage, bowed his head, kissed the Holy Emblem, and swore allegiance.

Following the lead of Peter Blake and Peter Fisher, the others resignedly accepted their fate, voluntarily or not.

Even if they wanted to resist, they couldn't.

Winters and Bard's control of the refugees is divided into three stages:

In the first stage [encirclement], no refugee is allowed to escape;

The second stage [screening and registration] is to identify the gangsters and hooligans who have infiltrated the farmers, select the craftsmen and farmers among the refugees, and register the remaining landless farmers;

The third stage [diversion] is to break up the large army of refugees and prevent the various departments from responding to each other and connecting with each other.

In the third stage, more than 20,000 refugees were divided into 16 battalions.

Each camp has as many as 2,000 people and as few as less than 900 people, nearly one-third of whom are children.

Although the number of refugees in each camp still far exceeded the number of soldiers in Bard's hands, with three centurions, they could easily suppress any single camp.

Moreover, many fleeing farmers had their families with them. Even if they wanted to resist, they still had to worry about their families. They had no fighting capacity.

The farmers with families and families do not resist this "contract". They are eager to find a place for their wives, children and children to eat.

Some farmers were reluctant, but after their names were called, they walked to the carriage like everyone else, kissed the holy symbol, and swore allegiance - even they themselves didn't know why they did this.

…

Bud watched the refugees come forward one after another. He remembered what he said to his companions in the meeting room of the settlement yesterday:

"Fa Di? Fa Di? We are not building a utopia!"

"The yeoman farmers want land, but how can we give them any land? The cultivated land has owners, and the land without owners is wasteland! The yeoman farmers want houses, but how can we give them houses? The yeoman farmers want animals and plows, but we can't give them either!"

"We can't turn refugees into farmers! Not to mention that I never thought of doing this!"

"Don't think about saving the world. Playing the savior is more resented than being a pure bad guy. The peasants can accept you treating them like a noble, but they can't accept you being a good person!"

"They can accept a god as their savior, but they cannot accept a man as their savior!"

"You give them land and food, and they may briefly regard you as a god! But one day when they find out that you are a human being, they will immediately spurn you and betray you."

"So everything we do must be based on our interests. Only in this way can we accept it without complaint when they betray us one day."

"If anyone thinks this is exploitation! Then I'm going to exploit them!"

"Don't try to save everyone. That is a great feat that only God can accomplish." Bud clenched his fists and looked directly into Winters' eyes: "If we can save half of the people, we can go to heaven or to hell with peace of mind. hell."

…

All the refugees in the Qingfeng Town camp took an oath, and Bader ordered people to post the official document on the notice board in the camp.

Early the next morning, [Qingfeng Camp] will set off to move to the southwest of Tiefeng County, and the other fifteen "battalions" will also set off in sequence.

Bud will take all the refugees to Langtun Town, Blackwater Town, Five Mastiff Town, Niuho Valley and Xiaoshi Town.

It is the southwestmost and most desolate land in Tiefeng County, and it is also the place farthest from the enemy.

He knew that the vast majority of the refugees did not listen to what he was saying, and he did not have time to explain it carefully to the refugees. But it doesn't matter, they will understand gradually.

"Let's go!" Bard stepped on the stirrups and mounted his horse, taking the emblem of Saint Ados: "Go to the next camp."

…

Compared to the solemnity and dullness of the homeless camp, the atmosphere there at Winters was relatively relaxed.

The war is approaching, and the affairs of the refugee camp are taken over by Bud and Mason.

Winters devoted his energy to reorganizing the army.

The most important content is to turn the captured prisoners of Ronald's army into his soldiers.

Originally, the garrison officer in Montagne wanted to select able-bodied refugees to join the army, but he soon discovered that there was no need to do so.

Because Major Ronald had already done the job for him.

The troops under Ronald's command are composed of the strongest adult males among the refugees.

Moreover, the officers of the former Jevaudan garrison also conducted basic military training for these "new recruits".

The respectable Major Ronald took care of recruiting and training troops, saving Winters a lot of trouble.

The four brigades that originally belonged to Ronald now have a total of four destinations.

Three centurions were taken by Bud, Andre, and Mason;

There are also a small number of "labor farms" currently in Wolf Town - those who went out to collect food from the city and were ambushed by Winters.

Samkin led the militia from each village in Wolf Town to look after them. According to Winters' arrangement, they must be cutting down trees and building houses.

Another small group deserted on the retreat. At that time, they were still Ronald's soldiers.

The rest were captured by Winters, totaling 1,178.

Winters first eliminated all soldiers born in Gevaudan.

Then, a small number of strong people from the refugees were added.

Finally, he appointed his old troops as captains of ten and centurions of the new army.

According to Winters' organization method, the new army was reorganized into one hundred arrows and 1,200 men.

If it is a standing army, this size can already use phalanx tactics.

But Winters lacked muskets, so the hundred arrows were all spearmen.

In the past imperial military system, soldiers recruited from different fiefdoms, counties, and states were organized into separate regiments [Regiment].

"Regiment" is not only a military establishment, but also a recruitment and administrative unit, which is very consistent with the current situation of Winters' army.

The so-called tentative designation Winters gave these 1,200 soldiers was [Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment], and they were tentatively assigned to ten centurions.

In addition, there are the three "old troops" of Bard, Andre and Mason's centurions, organized outside the infantry regiment.

Winters originally planned to incorporate these soldiers with combat experience into the new unit, but the counterattack of the New Reclamation Corps came too quickly and it was too late for the new unit to form combat effectiveness.

So instead of loosening your fingers, clench your fists.

Therefore, Winters has not made any major changes to the three most reliable centurions under his command for the time being. He has only transferred some of the veterans to serve as sergeants of the Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment.

His troops now have flesh and blood and bones, but this army is still a zombie, not even enough to be called an army.

They are just a group of refugees eating bread.

This army lacks soul.

Next, Winters must make these soldiers truly his "warriors."

[Thank you to the leader of Book Friends [Sonnets], thank you]

[The oath of allegiance may seem unbinding, but it is indeed the most direct means for the regime to require the people's loyalty during the feudal era, the Renaissance, and the bourgeois revolution. After all, in theory, the witnesses of the oath are not humans, but gods. For believers who fear going to hell, the oath is actually very binding]

[Until now "by the Scripture" testimony is accepted. There is nothing strange about swearing allegiance]

[For Winters, the concept of the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment is not out of the ordinary, because it is natural to organize soldiers from one area into a regiment]

[It is actually not very accurate to translate the military units of "regiment" in different countries into "regiment". This concept is somewhat linked to the region. A large number of soldiers recruited from a certain area can be called a "regiment." There is no precise regulation on how many troops a regiment has. Mercenaries during the Renaissance also participated in wars with the concept of "regiment\