Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Instead of returning directly to Gevaudan, Winters stopped briefly in Camel Pine Street to gather his troops.

Andre and Bart Schalling, who were driving the horses, were the first to return.

More than 700 horses were divided into several groups, each led by a very jealous son.

Just by walking quickly, the horses can raise smoke and dust all over the sky, and when they run, they are even more impressive and spectacular.

"Fuck! It's done!" This was Andre's first words when he met Winters.

The former grabbed the latter's shoulders with tears in his eyes and almost cried in his arms.

The rewards at Nanshan Army Horse Farm far exceeded Winters and Andre’s wildest imagination.

Baishan County is not famous for its horse production. Leiqun County further east is a place rich in horses. The so-called Leiqun County means "thousands of horses marching in a group, as powerful as thunder".

So Winters didn't have high expectations.

He was satisfied if he could get a hundred horses.

If you get two hundred horses, it's time to celebrate with a lively banquet.

As a result, Andre brought back more than 700 horses and hundreds of foals ranging in age.

The older foals follow the mare, and the foals that cannot travel long distances are pulled by a cart.

Not only the horses, but also the horseherds were tied up by Andre.

Without a stableman, Andre's manpower alone would not be able to carry such a large herd of horses.

As a result, such a strange scene appeared on the land of Tiefeng County: timid horse herders herding horses, and Tiefeng County cavalry herding horse herds.

It's pity that a certain bald middle-aged man worked hard to save for many years, but he only made wedding clothes for others in one day.

"Oh! It's boring! They are all mares." Andre said with great regret: "It's a pity to use them for fighting. There is not even one serious war horse!"

Look, how terrible human greed is.

Not long ago, Andre was smiling from ear to ear over the capture of three military horses.

Now that he had captured thousands of horses at once, he sighed.

Winters didn't have any dissatisfied thoughts. He picked up thousands of horses for nothing and it was too late for him to be happy.

But the huge herd of horses also makes him a little worried: "Winter is about to begin, and we must quickly prepare a winter place and fodder for the horses. There are thousands of horses, big and small... I'm afraid we can't take care of them."

Andre was as optimistic as ever: "Let Senior Mason raise it."

Lieutenant Cellini never "didn't care about breeding, just riding".

"Senior Mason alone may not be enough." Winters smiled knowingly: "Call Bud too."

Captain Montagne also "doesn't care about raising, just rides".

The burden was pushed out so easily, and the captain and lieutenant felt relaxed and happily went to see the colt.

…

After waiting on Camel Pine Street for a day, Winters' centurions and sergeants came to meet him one after another.

The troops that were once broken into pieces are now reunited.

The soldiers were physically exhausted, but their fighting spirit was even stronger than when they set out.

"How was it?" Winters asked his other centurion [Gale].

"I want to sleep." The other party replied honestly: "I want to eat meat."

Winters laughed loudly: "Go back to Gevaudan and kill pigs and sheep!"

Twelve iron arrows were sent out, but only nine came back.

There are three more arrows that may come back, or they may never come back.

Leaving a receptionist on Camelback Street, Winters gazed in the direction of White Mountain County for the last time and set off again.

Still not returning directly to Gevaudan, Winters led the troops to take a detour to Fort Hammer, the current location of the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment, and successfully joined forces with Mason, Juan and Moritz.

It wasn't that Winters wasn't in a hurry to get home, he missed Anna almost crazy.

But the mess after the war is more troublesome than the war itself: the wounded need to be treated, the battlefield needs to be cleaned, the captured materials need to be counted, and the soldiers' merits need to be confirmed.

None of the above is a big problem, because the military has its own procedures for dealing with it.

The problem that troubles Winters the most right now is the prisoners.

"Don't say thank you." Lieutenant Don Juan put his legs on the table happily: "I don't help you fight for your sake, and you don't need to deliberately give me gifts to thank me. Just give me some horses and gold. That’s it.”

"Thank you very much, senior." Winters had a complicated expression.

The original battle plan was to contain the enemy forces in Baishan County and repel the enemy forces in Wargne County.

Winters performed the diversion mission on the Eastern Front perfectly.

However, the western front was forcibly turned into a battle of encirclement and annihilation by Don Juan.

Qipper's entire army was wiped out, some died, some ran away, and the remaining more than 1,300 people were captured and captured.

There may be some garrison strength left in Wargne County, but the field troops have been wiped out.

Today's Wargne County is like an egg whose shell has been peeled off, revealing the fragile protein inside.

On the surface, Wargne County was at the mercy of Winters.

In fact, going beyond Warne County and further north is the Maplestone City Direct Territory—the heart of the legion.

In other words, the road to Maplestone City has been opened, and the heart of the Legion is nakedly exposed to Winters' front.

The last thing Winters wanted to do was irritate the New Reclamation Corps.

The New Reclamation Corps is a clumsy, huge and bureaucratic machine, but once it faces life-threatening danger, its counterattack will be swift and fierce.

"So be it! Anyway, the fighting is over." Winters also had no worries about his debt. He laughed and saluted Don Juan and Moritz: "Senior, lieutenant colonel, one thousand people surrounded and annihilated two thousand people. , this battle was well fought!"

Lieutenant Colonel Moritz sipped his wine in silence.

"Don't even look at who is commanding it." Juan's expression was equally cold, but he couldn't hide the smile in the corner of his eyes: "It's exciting enough. In Veneta, even the school officer has no chance to command this. A force of this size."

"If you stay, you can command as much as you want in the future."

Don Juan snorted coldly, and a hint of loneliness appeared on his handsome features: "I'm just waiting for news about your father. I can't kidnap you, and the lieutenant colonel can't kidnap you either. Let's see what else the regiment commander can do. ! When the new order comes, I still have to go back to Veneta."

When it came to his family, Winters was filled with guilt and he couldn't face his family.

He sighed and said to Senior Mason and Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, "I have to write a letter to the Legion."

Winters was still the one who wrote, considering the words and reading them as he wrote them, while the others listened.

Legion lost one of its claws in this battle, but Winters' tone was even more humble than last time.

In the tone of a private letter, he confessed his true feelings to General Adams: From the moment he was assigned to Plato, he was full of gratitude for this land, and he had never thought of betraying Plato.

He expressed regret for accidentally injuring friendly troops in Linjun County; he was willing to assist in the search for the missing Wargne County officers; he was also willing to return the weapons seized from Wargne County.

The final signature is "Loyal Defender of the Republic, W.M."

All in all, this letter is simple in writing and sincere in emotion. It is Winters' best piece of writing since school.

"What's the use of writing this?" Don Juan was very impatient.

"To make General Adams look good, of course, it would be great if he could be deceived by this letter." Winters replied with a smile and handed the manuscript paper behind him.

Charles took the manuscript and copied it—the little dock worker currently serves as Winters' bodyguard, clerk, military policeman, and correspondent.

Winters changed the subject: "The legion's spellcaster assassins and the lieutenant colonel's... raid reminded us that a 'safety trench' should be established to prevent similar situations from happening again."

"Safety trench?" Mason was more concerned about this topic. Moritz's decapitation raid was so terrifying that he also had lingering fears: "How to build it?"

Winters explained: "First of all, the commander should not meet any messenger directly. Letters must be sent and received through a layer of transmission to isolate the opportunity for the caster to disguise himself as a messenger and assassinate him. And then..."

"Besides, I didn't think much of it." Winters said with a smile, "Let's work together to find out and fill in the gaps."

Mason thought for a while and added: "Officer uniforms, helmets, ribbons, waistbands, tassels, and piping, these things are too conspicuous. Put them in front of you and the lieutenant colonel, and they are simply living targets."

"If it's not obvious, how can the officer command the soldiers?" Andre asked back: "If it's not obvious, the big-headed soldiers would think the officer had escaped."

Winters has also considered this issue: "It is best to completely separate the dress and the uniform worn in battle. The uniform does not need to be too gorgeous, but it must also allow soldiers to identify who is an officer at a glance."

"This is contradictory." Mason spread his hands.

"Don't think about it so much. When will we have the money to issue uniforms to the troops? It won't be too late to consider what the uniforms are like." Andre yawned and waved his hand, asking Winters: "Do you really want to return the captured weapons?" ?”

Tiefeng County can only produce farm implement-level weapons, such as spears about two meters long.

With the rise of the steel castle metal industry, Jevaudan's only weaponsmith [Shao Sha] has long abandoned his sword forging skills. He now relies entirely on buying ready-made steel castle sword strips for business.

As for making armor and firearms, don't even think about it.

The Tiefeng County army relied entirely on captured weapons and armor to arm itself.

So Andre was very sensitive when he heard Winters say that he wanted to return the seized materials.

"I would like to return it." Winters said in a relaxed tone: "If you dare to ask for it, then give it back to him."

Several others laughed.

Winters suppressed his smile: "One more thing, I think now is the time."

"That thing again?" Don Juan frowned.

"That's right." Winters looked around at the other officers and declared word by word: "Reorganize the army! Now is the time."

"You have to reorganize the army just after the war?" Andre disagreed: "It's too hasty."

"No, it's just that we have just won a battle." Winters said resolutely: "Fighting a few more battles will make it difficult to adapt. Now our army is a blank sheet of paper, but it already has a little bit of an army look. The timing is perfect!”

The organization of the Tiefeng County army was extremely chaotic, which was a worry for Winters.

In order to reduce internal resistance, Winters appointed his own garrison officer and has been acting under the banner of the garrison so far.

In theory, all troops are under the jurisdiction of the garrison. In fact, the garrison has no power and is just an empty shell. The soldiers do what they want.

The cavalry was commanded by Andre, the infantry answered directly to Winters, and Mason was in charge of his small group of engineers and artillery.

And the formation of different troops is very different.

Among the infantry, there are the old Bard, Cellini, and Mason Centuries, which use the old organization but are the most powerful units.

There are also units such as the Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment, which adopt a new organization but have not yet been tested in actual combat.

The cavalry and artillery were completely private soldiers of Andre and Mason, with no organization at all. The number of people can be large or small, it all depends on the temperament of the commander.

Logistics is even more of a mess. If there is not enough at the lower level, we will need it, and if there is more at the upper level, we will send it out. It relies entirely on virtue and integrity, and there is a serious lack of institutional restraint.

Winters discussed the issue with others more than once.

Winters also pointed out fiercely on more than one occasion: The reason why this chaotic status quo can be maintained is entirely because the size of the army is too small. As the size of the army continues to expand, sooner or later it will suffer.

There were a total of six officers who could participate in the decision-making. Don Juan and Moritz did not express their opinions, but Bud, Andre and Mason were successfully persuaded by Winters.

The matter of reorganizing the army has been written on the agenda, but the New Reclamation Army did not give it a chance.

As soon as Winters drafted the adaptation plan, Baishan County and Wargne County came over aggressively.

"The crisis is temporarily over." Winters said with bright eyes, "But the Legion will come again sooner or later. The time to reorganize the army is now!"

The atmosphere became a little tense.

"Okay! You said change it." Andre slapped his thigh: "Then change it!"

Mason also nodded: "The current situation is outrageous. We really need to sort out the organization. If we don't sort out the organization, we will always be rebels."

Lieutenant Don Juan and Lieutenant Colonel Moritz looked at each other.

"You don't need to consider the opinions of me and the lieutenant colonel." Juan shrugged: "You are Plato officers, we are not."

In this way, Charles silently wrote in the minutes of the meeting: "Lieutenant Bader was absent, A and B abstained from voting, and the remaining three all passed the resolution."

"A small ship is easy to turn around, and a small army has its advantages." Winters took out a thick stack of manuscript paper and said excitedly: "I suggest restoring the formation of the legion!"

Don Juan almost choked on his saliva: "Are you going to be on the same level as me?"

"No, no, no." Winters said with a blush, "I don't want to be the commander of the regiment."

"Why are you so polite?" Andre slapped his thigh again: "The decision is yours, and it's up to you."

Winters blushed even more and shook his head repeatedly: "The legion is only a nominal organization, and it is not really necessary to set up a legion. The artillery team and the cavalry cannot be included in the command system of the advanced corps, so they need to be at a higher level. The formation of the army."

"Then there's an open seat?"

"Just empty."

Winters distributed papers with the adapted content to others: "On top of the legion, a military council should be established to coordinate all military affairs and military orders, just like the current six-person resolution meeting."

The unwritten six-person resolution will change the sign and become a legal military council, and no one has any objections.

From a staffing point of view, the members of the Military Senate are higher than the corps commander.

Only Moritz spoke softly: "Don't name me and Juan, we are still Veneta officers."

"Then continue to call Mr. A and Mr. B." Winters didn't take it seriously.

Moritz sighed and said nothing.

"The cavalry and artillery teams don't need to be reorganized too much." Winters looked at Andre and Mason: "Just set the number of personnel, quotas, and write regulations. You two are responsible for writing the regulations yourself."

Andre grimaced, and he had an idea: "I'll go find Bud to write it! Isn't it the end of the world?"

Mason also smiled bitterly: "I don't have a cannon in my hand, which kind of soldier should I choose?"

"We don't have a legion, so we have decided on the legion's organization." Winters comforted the senior: "Decide on the organization first, and the artillery will be there sooner or later."

Senior Mason sighed and randomly sketched the lines of the cannon on the papyrus paper.

"What really needs drastic reorganization is the infantry." Winters' expression became serious: "Sooner or later the army will have to fight an upright and tough battle. The current establishment is simply not enough to cope with a real battle. It must be changed!"

In Winters' reorganization plan, the "regiment" as a recruiting unit will be linked to the region and will still be retained.

In order to facilitate the recruitment of soldiers and logistics management, the Centurion is still nominally under the direct jurisdiction of the regiment.

But tactically, the centurions should be organized into "battalions" to fight.

The size of the "battalion" is close to that of the current brigade, but not quite the same.

"The minimum standard for a battalion should be to be able to form a phalanx to fight alone." When talking about infantry tactics, Winters's eyes lit up: "A large phalanx of a thousand or even three thousand people is too cumbersome. The Platonic standing army is in the wilderness. In ancient times, small square formations of five hundred people were generally used to fight, and the effect was very good."

Don Juan became interested: "What will happen if a small phalanx of five hundred people encounters cavalry? Can it withstand the impact?"

"Yes." Winters' upper body unconsciously leaned towards Senior Juan, recounting his combat experience in the wilderness: "The Hurd Cavalry still couldn't break into a small phalanx of five hundred people. And as the phalanx became smaller, the musketeers could Use your power. Especially the area between the two phalanxes is simply a killing zone..."

Among the officers present, only Juan and Winters were infantry officers.

Talking about infantry tactics, the two of them could sit on the rocks and talk all day long.

Others showed little interest in the infantry. Senior Mason was drawing cannons carelessly, Lieutenant Colonel Moritz had been quietly dozing, and Andre was also very sleepy.

Winters and Don Juan, on the other hand, were almost cheek to cheek across the table.

When he got excited, Winters took some tissue paper and drew a map, using chess pieces to represent the two armies, and explained and deduced it to the seniors.

Don Juan was also very happy when he heard this. Sometimes he admired, sometimes sighed, and sometimes sighed.

"When will you two have time to compete alone?" Andre became furious and slammed the table: "Get the business done first!"

Winters and Juan glared at Andre at the same time, making the latter feel guilty.

Andre whispered: "I'm so hungry. Finish the meeting quickly and go have dinner."

Don Juan glanced at Andre, snorted slightly, and shook his head slightly.

"I expanded the centurions to 120 people. If a 'brigade' still has six centurions, it would be inappropriate." Winters returned to the topic: "So we switched to the battalion organization, with four centuries per battalion, a total of 480 people.”

"There are only four teams? How about matching swords, shields, muskets, and spears?" Juan frowned.

"There will be no sword and shield bearers. Each battalion will have one team of musketeers and three teams of spearmen." Winters explained: "It is too difficult to train sword and shield bearers, and the equipment requirements are high. Lieutenant Colonel John Jessica simply did not have swords. Shield Hand, the effect is also very good.”

"Musket and lance, one to three?"

"I have too few muskets." Winters sighed deeply and smiled: "Otherwise, I would like to improve to one to one, with two teams of musketeers and two spearmen per battalion."

Don Juan was puzzled: "Half the musketeers? What about hand-to-hand combat?"

The smile on Winters's face grew wider. He took the white paper and explained to Juan while drawing: "If the musketeers adopt rotation shooting tactics, they can greatly weaken the enemy before entering hand-to-hand combat. Even if they enter hand-to-hand combat, You can also place musketeers between the spearmen, so..."

Juan stuck his head out to see with interest.

"Are you two done yet?!" Andre couldn't bear it any longer and slammed the table and asked.

"Okay, okay, let's get to the point." Winters perused Andre and patted Senior Juan on the shoulder: "I'll tell you when I have time."

"It's a deal," Juan said regretfully.

Winters went on to explain the adaptation: "To put it simply, I'm going to add [battalions] as tactical units. Four Centuries per battalion. Everything else remains the same."

"Isn't the battalion the brigade?" Andre didn't understand.

"No, the numbers are the same, but not the same." Winters explained: "The battalion has more officers, but fewer troops."

"Then don't use the ancient imperial organization of centurions and brigades." Andre was overjoyed: "Just use [company]. Don't call them centurions or brigades. Just call them company commanders and battalion commanders."

"Isn't Centurion nice to hear?" Winters didn't know why.

Andre sneered: "Those guys who don't even know where to open the gate of Luyuan, dare to call themselves centurions? I'm almost furious. They are not worthy of the title of centurion for the time being. Just call them Lian." Long, very good!”

Regiment and company were the organizational names of Veneta mercenaries in the past.

During the military reform of Marshal Ned, he deliberately used the names of the ancient empires such as [Century], [Group], and [Legion] to distinguish them from the mercenary army.

Andre was particularly insistent on this matter, and Winters also felt that if he wanted to change it, he would change it completely.

So he crossed out [centurion] on the draft and wrote [company commander].

Winters gathered the manuscript paper and concluded seriously: "It doesn't matter if you change it over and over. What really matters is one sentence, and I want to say it in the end - [Military resolution will have all military power]."

"Of course." Andre didn't care.

"I mean, even if one day, a military resolution will be passed against my will or your will." Winters stared at Andre: "We must obey, can you do it?"

"Do you and I need to talk about this?" Andrea Cellini replied decisively: "I will always support you."

This wasn't the answer Winters wanted, but he had nothing to be dissatisfied with.

"There is one more thing that must be changed." Winters smiled: "But there shouldn't be much resistance. After all, our army is a blank slate, and it has not been stained by those so-called traditions."

"What?" Don Juan was puzzled.

"Restrain discipline and return the seized property to the public."

Don Juan shook his head: "It's hard to say it's hard, it's not hard to say it's not. It depends on your ability."

"Senior Mason?" Winters called softly.

Mason, who was immersed in the world of stick figures, was suddenly pulled out.

"What's wrong?" Mason subconsciously covered the cannon truck on the paper: "Is the meeting over?"

"I would like to ask you to return to Gevaudan in advance." Winters said: "I will lead a large force and will arrive soon."

Mason's eyebrows raised: "Go back early? What's the matter?"

"Two things." Winters tapped the table: "After you go back, I want to ask you to build a gallows in the city square, one that can hang many people."

The other four people present were slightly surprised. Even Moritz woke up and looked at Winters in confusion.

"Isn't it that the public trial meeting has never been held?" Winters raised his chin: "Gather them together and calculate the general ledger."

Moritz blinked and nodded slightly.

"Another thing?" Mason looked into Winters' eyes.

"The other thing is a good thing." Winters laughed: "I would like to ask you to prepare a triumphal ceremony."

[Military ranks, military positions and military establishment have always been wildly appropriated from each other. Although they are roughly the same, there are differences in different countries, different languages, and different cultures]

[Take the English captain as an example. This word can represent both company commander, captain, captain, and colonel (navy); it can represent the captain standing at the front of each column of the Spanish Grand Square. , and can represent the leader of a small group of mercenaries in the northern Italian city-state in the sixteenth century. The semantics are not as clear as Chinese. ]

[Translating "military division, brigade, regiment, battalion, and company lineup" into "military division, brigade, regiment, battalion, and company lineup" is an elegant translation. There is quite a feeling of using "gonghoubozinan" to impose titles in various European countries]

[But in any case, the establishment of company, battalion, and regiment as an army organization and still in use today occurred from the second half of the sixteenth century to the first half of the seventeenth century. Involving [Maurice's Military Reform of Nassau] and [Gustavus II's Military Reform], which is the era where the protagonist lives]

[So the era in which the protagonist lives is really interesting; on the one hand, the world is being drawn more and more clearly, but it still has a sense of mystery; on the other hand, the advancement of systems and technology is endless, and you never know what will be new tomorrow. stuff]