Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Winters always did what he said, and he immediately wanted to leave for Wolf Town to pick up Carman and the Potter brothers.

But after thinking about it for a while, he decided to leave the next day.

The straight-line distance between Gévaudan and Wolf Town is nearly three hundred miles, making it a real trip. Winters has a lot of matters related to Wolf Town at hand, and if he can do it once, he won't have to worry about it again.

"Char." After returning to the garrison, Winters began to make arrangements for the trip: "Go to Andre and ask him to prepare the horses to be sent to Bud and take them with him tomorrow."

Ciel nodded yes and left quickly.

Andre snatched over a thousand mares and foals from Baishan County, and together with the more than 300 horses originally owned by Tiefeng County, the garrison suddenly had a huge herd of nearly 1,500 horses.

Andre and Mason are leading people to build stables and cut grass to prepare the horses for the winter.

Mason doesn't know yet that he has been "elected" as the racecourse director - Winters is still looking for a good opportunity to tell his senior about it.

According to Bud's opinion, the horses in Tiefeng County will no longer be raised intensively for the time being.

Only the best war horses were kept, and other second-class war horses and riding horses were distributed to various military villages and farms. Even mares without foals are selected and prepared to be sent out together.

The conditions were difficult, and all horses had to work in the fields.

Andre was very unhappy, but since Winters nodded, he had no objection.

Mason breathed a sigh of relief. If all the fifteen hundred horses were to stay in Gevaudan for the winter, a large number of them would starve to death and freeze to death - they really couldn't afford to keep them.

Spreading out, while risky, also greatly reduces the need for fodder and stables.

"The ironware to be sent to Lieutenant Bader will also be sent this time." Winters called his taciturn flag bearer: "Go to the warehouse to order and load the ironware, Heinrich."

Heinrich nodded and waited silently for the next order.

"Go to prison." Winters seemed to smile: "Bring that guy Big Bentine with you tomorrow."

Heinrich nodded again.

"That's all, go ahead."

Heinrich raised his hand in salute and left silently.

Charles is lively and smart, and Heinrich is calm. Winters likes and trusts these two "children" from the bottom of his heart. From the beginning, the two of them were his military police, and later they also served as his guards, orderlies, and messengers...

Winters wanted to let the two kids out and take on greater responsibilities. But he couldn't bear it. Charles and Heinrich took care of all the big and small things in his life, which actually improved his work efficiency and quality of life.

But how can a dignified man serve as a bodyguard for the rest of his life? ——This is Winters’ simple understanding.

He decided to respect the ideas of the two children and ask their opinions first before deciding their whereabouts.

Thinking of this, Winters couldn't help but sigh. He unconsciously played with the knife, regretting that there were so few people around him who could take charge of his own business.

What is a "person who is responsible for his own affairs"?

This is the person who [the military resolution will issue the order "Go and build the stables", leave with the order, and the stables will be completed when you come back, and you don't need to worry about the whole process].

Except for Winters himself, only a few people such as Bud and Mason have the ability to independently plan, execute, and make decisions independently.

Even Andre, who was bad at mathematics, was pulled out to serve as the chief accountant - there was really a shortage of people.

Even Winters' personal bills and the settlement's account books are still managed by Anna.

The human resources of the new garrison are incomparable to those of the old garrison. Major Ronald has more than 20 officers under his command, and Winters has only six of them. Among them, a certain mysterious and handsome man always doesn't care about things, and the other mysterious and handsome man is too lazy to take care of them.

Gévaudin was not without a master of financial planning, and Old Priskin could obviously manage his accounts in an orderly manner, but Winters did not trust the old tobacconist.

People who have ability cannot be trusted; people who Winters trusts do not have such ability.

In the end, it can only be managed by "Mrs. Montagne".

"We have to deal with the accounting school matters as soon as possible." Winters subconsciously used a knife to draw white marks on the table: "We must train and train trustworthy people into capable talents."

It was Anna's suggestion to set up an [accelerated accounting school], and Winters happily took note of it, but now it seems that this matter is more urgent than imagined.

"Then who is going to organize the accounting school?" Winters' head started to hurt again.

After much thought, he could only do it himself.

"Venue, funding, students, teachers..." Winters wrote down the things needed to run the school one by one on the paper.

Suddenly, he took a deep breath and slammed the table: "Since these are all things, why don't I also expand the military training class?"

Previously, Winters’ [military classes] mainly took the form of evening classes.

As soon as it got dark, the other soldiers had their dinner and prepared to go to bed. The sergeants and captains selected by Winters gathered to listen to Winters's lecture.

It was a really bitter past, and Winters was almost pissed off every day. All the people who came to class were blind, and the most basic words had to be taught on the spot.

The bigger problem is that the attitude is not serious and does not take it seriously at all. Some people also moved around a lot of the chess pieces that Winters used to demonstrate tactics.

After only one evening class, Winters completely abandoned the gentle teaching method and raised the banner of stick education without hesitation.

Can’t memorize the alphabet?

beat!

Can't tell the difference between east, west, north and south?

beat!

Can't recognize the map logo?

beat!

I don't know how many vine whips have been broken, and the warriors who came to class secretly called Ciel "One more one" behind his back.

Because every time Winters broke a vine whip, Ciel would immediately hand over a new one.

Tamas, Bart Shilling, Samkin... they were all "centurions" who were beaten by Winters with a cane whip.

Now that an accelerated accounting school can be set up, it doesn’t seem too difficult to set up an accelerated military school.

The more Winters thought about it, the happier he became.

"There needs to be an infantry section! I will be the section chief." Winters wrote on the paper and said to himself: "There also needs to be a cavalry section! Andre - Bud should be the one. Artillery section, Mason Senior! Although there is no cannon now..."

Infantry, cavalry and artillery are the three classic disciplines of Ned Smith’s military system.

Winters stared blankly at the three words on the paper, and a bold idea popped into his mind: "Maybe... I can transcend the shackles of the old marshal."

The thought made him blame himself - how dare you compare yourself to the old marshal?

But the idea also made him tremble with excitement.

Winters realized he was starting from scratch and was facing a blank slate. So he can do whatever he wants!

He crossed out the words infantry, artillery and cavalry vigorously. Get a new piece of white paper and write it down in the most solemn font:

Infantry, cavalry, artillery.

The three major categories are the basis.

He bit the penholder, recalling the sieges one after another in the Battle of the Islands and the attacks on Border Force in the Battle of the Wilderness, and wrote down the fourth word - engineer - on the paper.

In Ned Smith's military system, engineers and artillery are not separated, and the artillery department is responsible for everything except infantry and cavalry.

This was no problem, because the artillery force was very small at that time; for many princes, it was too expensive to maintain an artillery force. Therefore, they do not have artillery under their command, and they hire artillery teams from outside during war.

Turning artillery into a permanent branch of the army, alongside infantry and cavalry, was already a leap forward for Ned Smith.

And Winters Montagne planned to take an even bigger step - he wanted to separate engineers from artillery and set it as a separate discipline.

Every siege he experienced reminded him that the role of engineers in war could not be ignored.

Opportunities for the two armies to square up and fight in the wild, like those in ancient times, are now extremely rare. Siege warfare is the main theme! Engineers are eligible to own one branch.

After writing about sappers, Winters thoughtfully wrote down the fifth word - baggage.

The current military system of the republics is that whoever is assigned by the "Legion Commander" to take care of the baggage will be in charge of the baggage. Mainly people from the artillery department, because there are few cannons and many artillery, if you don't care, who will?

Some unlucky cavalry and infantry officers were also sent to transport baggage, such as the former Jashka Brigade.

Since engineers have been taken out, logistics should also be taken out and trained separately.

In this case, artillery is simply artillery. Artillery officers no longer have to be bothered by various chores, they only need to worry about playing with the cannon.

Winters pondered for another moment, carefully folded the white paper and put it into his small notebook. This was a big deal, and he had to discuss it with his companions, including Bud, Andre, and Mason.

Accelerated accounting school is a complete blip in comparison.

"Ask Anna to be responsible for planning the accounting school." Winters thought to himself, "I'll just implement it."

…

Early the next morning, a convoy left Gevaudan.

Winters set out for Wolftown with more than four hundred horses, seven carts, axes, shovels and plows, and one condemned man.

There was no ceremony to speak of, just a few people including Mason, Anna, Shaosha and Carlos came to see him off.

"Safe and safe." Anna carefully smoothed Winters' collar and skirt: "Have a nice trip."

"What's the point?" Winters laughed heartily: "In the past, I could ride a horse and go there and back in two days. Now it's troublesome and not comfortable at all."

Winters was absolutely delighted to be able to get out of the city and get some fresh air. The little lion would follow whatever he said... He was also extremely bored.

Anna snorted softly, and quietly pinched the soft flesh of Winters' waist with her nails, causing the latter to gasp in pain.

"Come back soon." Anna's smile was as pure and flawless as a saint's.

Winters nodded desperately.

The movements of the two were very subtle, and others had no idea what was happening. However, the brief scene was still discovered by blacksmith Shao Sha, who had been secretly paying attention.

In his opinion, just a slight move of the female wolf's finger made the blood wolf tremble and beg for mercy on the spot.

This made the blacksmith Chauchat more sympathetic to the tribune and his admiration for Madame Montagne.

When Winters came to Shaosha and Carlos, he felt that there was a trace of inexplicable pity in the middle-aged blacksmith's eyes.

"You two, work harder." Winters said with a smile: "When I come back, I hope to see enough ore and charcoal for at least one trial."

"Please rest assured!" Shaosha and Carlos nodded heavily.

…

Yesterday afternoon, Winters couldn't hold himself back, took the map and headed straight to Iron Peak. Following the road paved with slag, he easily found the abandoned mine.

As the old blacksmith Boltan said, the entire Tiefeng Mountain is an "iron mountain". Standing on the mountain, take a shovel and insert it into the ground. Before the shovel head sinks into the soil, the tip of the shovel has already touched the hard stone bed.

Therefore, Tiefeng Mountain is bare and not a single tree grows. It's better at the foot of the mountain, because the weathered rock fragments have been blown to the foot of the mountain to form soil. The higher you go, the more desolate Tiefeng becomes, with only a few scattered weeds surviving in such a harsh environment.

Tiefeng Mountain has changed hands several times in history. Neither the Hedians nor the Platuan people would let go of such a natural iron mine.

So the surface outcrops on Iron Peak were mined dry long ago.

Seventy years ago, the [Suta tribe] among the Hittites occupied this place again. The Suta tribe dug shafts along the veins and gradually mined shallow deposits. There are still remains of their old smelting furnace on Tiefeng Mountain.

Thirty years later, this land was recaptured by the Platuan people.

Sutabu, who was expelled from this land, sang sadly: "The loss of my Tiefeng Mountain has made my swords less sharp; the loss of my Jiuqu River has made my six animals no longer able to have a vassal."

The Suta Tribe lost Tiefeng Mountain and were forced to move westward. They were eventually crushed in a brutal tribal melee in the wilderness, and were eventually annexed by the Teldu Tribe. The Suta tribe, which was once powerful for a while, has been swept into the garbage heap of history, which is sad.

There is no need to mention the past of the Hud people, the pages of time have been turned.

Blacksmith Boltan moved here thirty years ago and relied on the mountains to make ends meet. He mined ore, smelted iron, forged farm tools, and sold them to new immigrants.

The newly moved farmers are in desperate need of farm tools, and iron tools are in short supply. Blacksmith Boltan seized the opportunity and made his first pot of gold.

When you have money, you start pursuing things. In order to obtain better ore, blacksmith Boltan led people to dig an inclined shaft two hundred steps into the mountain, and then extended the working surface to both sides.

The veins here are sandwiched between layers of quartz, making mining more difficult.

However, compared with the Hurd people's mining methods of shafts, baskets, and slaves as the main labor force, the mining efficiency of the old blacksmith Boltan's era was greatly improved.

Forge Township became prosperous, and Tiefeng County was even exporting ironware to Lin County.

Then there were some changes in the direction of the situation - after several years of consultations and debates, the Senas Alliance was officially established.

The republics lowered tariffs on each other and began to trade more extensively. Promoting commercial prosperity is a good thing for the republics, but a bad thing for the Forge Country and Boltan the blacksmith.

The cheap ironware and bar iron produced by the steel castle were transported to Plato via water, which defeated the blacksmiths of Plato who were still in the handicraft workshop stage and quickly occupied the iron market of Plato.

The old blacksmith Boltan was one of the "defeated ones".

What Winters saw next was what Winters saw - almost no one in the Plato blacksmiths smelted iron anymore, and they all bought ready-made steel bars; no one forged swords anymore, and they all bought ready-made sword bars.

This may be a good thing for the league as a whole, but it is a bad thing for Winters today, a huge bad thing.

He wants to change this phenomenon.

…

Winters has sent people to explore the conditions of the mine. At the same time, he ordered Shaosha and Carlos to mine ore on a small scale and prepare to test the blast furnace.

It is impossible to restore the abandoned Tiefeng Mine to operation at once, but it is not difficult to dig out hundreds of kilograms of ore for trial production.

Because of the matter of "mining" itself, there has been no leap forward in thousands of years.

Thousands of years ago, slaves and today's miners carried chisels and hammers down the wells and dug with their arms. It’s nothing more than a copper chisel turning into an iron chisel, and an iron chisel turning into a steel chisel.

According to the old blacksmith Boltan, there is also a "cracking method" of burning it with fire and then pouring it with water. However, in mines with poor ventilation, this method often kills people, so few mine owners will use it.

Winters finally came to Mason: "Senior, I leave Gevaudan to you."

Juan is addicted to hunting, Andre is addicted to horse walking, and Lieutenant Colonel Moritz is addicted to alcohol. With Bud gone and Winters gone, the only reliable decision-maker in Gevaudan is "Richard Mason Military Protector" official".

"Don't worry." Mason smiled helplessly: "Nothing will happen."

In fact, Senior Mason has also been obsessed with his new gun carriage and cannon-casting plans recently. However, the senior has a strong sense of responsibility and is easy to talk to. Unlike the other three who say they will just let it go, they really just let it go.

Winters silently raised his hand and saluted the senior - there were six people in the military resolution meeting, three of them were not working, and only they themselves knew the pain of the remaining three.

Mason solemnly raised his hand in return—but he was still thinking about his new gun carriage.

"If the axle is strong enough." Mason's thoughts have drifted far away: "Maybe it can be done without a shock-absorbing structure?"

After a brief farewell, Winters stepped on the stirrup and mounted his horse, and finally nodded to several people.

Anna held the wine glass and walked to Winters' horse to offer him the stirrup wine before leaving.

After drinking it all in one gulp, Winters set off on his way.

[It is difficult for the innovator himself to realize that he is "innovating" because to him, he is just improving something that already exists. For example, Watt and his improved version of the steam engine. The prototype of the steam engine existed before Watt, and he did not have the idea of ​​​​"I can change the world by building this thing." What drove Watt was a need for money and fame, and what drove the entire society was the need for prime movers at that time]

[There will be improvements when there is demand, and many modern things that seem to be "overnight" have a history much longer than people think. The book "The Old Regime and the Great Revolution" is a good argument]

[Innovation is both an eureka that bursts with inspiration, and innovation is also a coherent, regular, and step-by-step development process]

[In the late Roman Republic, records from the province of Gaul include a centurion who was called "the second one" because every time he broke a grapevine cane, he would break it with a new one. ...But judging from the context, the legionnaires respect this Centurion]

[Thanks to book friends for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments]