Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Like their enemies, the musketeers of Baishan County were given some long pieces of wood with thick barrels before receiving their matchlocks.

The recruits need to cut the long sticks into shorter lengths by themselves, use a red-hot iron drill to drill holes in the shortened rods, and cut the lids to a suitable size. The final result was small wooden bottles hanging on the chests of the musketeers.

On the eve of battle, musketeers would fill wooden bottles with just enough gunpowder for a single shot, then tighten the caps of the bottles securely and place them and their muskets next to their pillows.

Musketeers valued and loved these small vials of gunpowder, not only because they were useful, but also because when the musketeers left the army, they could only take these vials with them. So in their spare time, musketeers would decorate their small bottles to pass the time: people who knew carpentry skills would paint the wooden bottles with oil, people who liked painting would draw on the wooden bottles, and veterans would paint the inner walls of the wooden bottles as much as possible. The ground is polished smooth.

The small wooden bottle actually has an official name, but the musketeers find that name hard to pronounce. Because they usually come in groups of twelve, the soldiers prefer to jokingly call them the "Twelve Apostles."

Elnor also had the "Twelve Apostles".

In the process of resisting the enemy's first attack, he used "Peter", "Andrew" and "James".

Next, Erno and the enemy musketeers on the other side of the river fired at each other, and used "John", "Philippe", "Palomei", "Thomas", "Thathtus", "Mary" Sinus," "Jacob the Younger," and "Simon."

Therefore, when the light brown figure shouted across the nameless river again, Erno was left with only the last "disciple" that had not been used.

During the Sovereignty War, the generals of the Senas Alliance unanimously believed that if the musketeers assigned to the phalanx could complete twelve rounds of shooting, then no matter what the scale of the battle, they would definitely win - if not, it would be the spearmen and swordsmen. Shield hand problem.

Alliance military theorists think so and have written relevant theories into textbooks and drills.

But that was thirty years ago.

Let’s not discuss whether the theories of the previous generation of military strategists are correct. At least today, Erno has used up the eleven gunpowder prepared in advance, and victory is still far away.

Erno unscrewed the lid of the "Matthias" and poured the black powder inside into the gunpowder pool and the gun chamber. Then he spit out the lead bullet in his mouth, wrapped it in rags and stuffed it into the chamber of the gun.

After using up the last "apostle", Erno could only take the gunpowder bottle and pour gunpowder directly into the barrel. According to veterans, that's when things are most likely to go wrong.

The sound of gunshots, roars, screams, the sound of military drums, the muffled sound of the wall being hit, the sound of lead bullets flying through the air... all kinds of sounds were about to turn Erno's brain into paste, and he felt It felt like I was being put into a boiling cauldron, and someone outside the pot was banging the lid like crazy.

Fortunately, his hands were very steady and not a single grain of gunpowder spilled outside the muzzle of the gun.

But when he was hanging the match rope, Erno suddenly felt frightened. He remembered the gossip circulated among the musketeers:

The musketeer who uses the twelfth bottle will definitely encounter accidents...misfires, explosions or even misfires; the twelfth apostle is destined to betray his master, because before "Matthias" was chosen, the twelfth apostle The place belongs to another person - "Judas".

Erno hung up the match rope anxiously and put the barrel of the gun on the wall, but did not dare to lean forward and fire. He turned to look at Lieutenant Woods beside him, and saw that the lieutenant was desperately pushing away the ladder to build the fort.

After shouting, Erno stood up as if he was in great pain, closed his eyes and fired a shot at the enemy on the river beach.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that his matchlock neither misfired nor exploded. It's just that he just closed his eyes and didn't know where the lead flew.

But Erno doesn't need to worry about missing the enemy, because the narrow river beach below the highland is already crowded with light brown human figures - the sight in front of him even reminds Erno of the large clumps that can be seen from time to time on the tree roots in summer. crawling crawler.

Parliamentarian soldiers wearing light brown shirts rushed onto the river beach and crossed the trenches. From time to time, some people fell down without warning, or were hit by lead bullets, or had iron caltrops pierced through the soles of their feet.

Those who fell had little chance of getting back up because there was no one to help them. Once anyone falls to the ground, they will be trampled indiscriminately.

The drummer tried his best to beat the drum as if to urge his life. The soldiers in light brown shirts also rushed towards the valley village with a formidable, fanatical and blind momentum, as if what was waiting for them on the highlands was not a well-formed enemy, but salvation, home and treasure.

The caltrops spread by the defenders did not have the expected effect. They might have been able to block a few unlucky scouts, but they were trampled into the mud together with flesh and metal by the soldiers of the Grand Council Army.

One after another, the trailing iron weights were thrown over the heads of the Grand Council soldiers, and most of the grenades that fell into the crowd were crushed. But the grenades that exploded in the air caused a rain of blood.

However, despite the horrific carnage caused by the grenade, it was still unable to repel the large light brown wave.

The parliamentary army is really like the tide of the sea, breaking up one wave and then another. Before one centurion could fully reach the shore, another centurion had already jumped into the river. People pushed each other, cursed each other, and there was not even a gap to turn around and run away.

The spearmen of Baishan County, who had already replaced their short swords, picked up long pole weapons again. They stood behind the wall, held their spears upside down, and stabbed them downwards with all their strength.

The soldiers of the Grand Council Army below the high ground had nowhere to hide. The extremely sharp spear tip first opened a small opening in the mouth, shoulder, and chest, and then suddenly slid into the human body, penetrating all the way through the flesh and blood.

A young soldier in brown clothes even watched helplessly as he was impaled on a spear. With a wet sliding sound, the spear shaft kept sinking into his body. The soldier in brown clothes did not die immediately, and his screams made everyone tremble with fear.

The spearmen on the high ground also fell back in horror at the tragic scene they had created, and their spears fell out of their hands.

But the soldier behind immediately gave him another spear. He took the spear with tears in his eyes. Just as he turned around, a lead bullet hit his breastplate.

The gunfire from across the river never stopped, and had long since drowned out the gunfire from the highlands. The musketeers of the Grand Council Army not only suppressed the two forts on the high ground, but also fired at any Baishan County soldiers who dared to stand up.

The spearmen of Baishan County who held their spears upside down to kill the enemy at least wore plate breastplates. However, their armor was as fragile as parchment to the lead bullets fired from heavy matchlock guns.

Under the cover of the musketeers, the ladders of the Grand Council Army were erected on the high ground one after another. The brown-coated soldiers held up their shields and climbed on their hands and feet.

The Baishan County soldiers on the high ground tried their best to pry the ladder out, but where could they move it?

The light brown wave slammed the ladder to the high ground. Even if the stone wall acting as the fulcrum of the lever was crushed, the ladder would not move at all.

The temporarily converted fort at the corner of the river bend was the key offensive position of the Grand Council Army, and Woods Frank had been holding on to the northern fort.

The first brown-clothed sword and shield man to board the northern raised fort was knocked down by Woods and another soldier using a thick beam.

Before the two of them could take a breath, another lean sword and shield wielder climbed up.

The lean sword and shield hand stepped on the mud and jumped onto the wall, and saw the officer in the raised fort at a glance. He jumped up, screamed and stabbed Woods.

Woods subconsciously raised the beam to block. He only heard a "bang" sound, and a puff of white smoke erupted from the bunker. The soldier in brown clothes in mid-air seemed to have stumbled, lying on his back and fell in front of Woods.

Erno, who was still holding the launch rod tightly with his fingers, gasped for air and looked at the lieutenant blankly.

Woods didn't bother to express his gratitude and turned to his subordinates and shouted: "Distillate oil!"

The attack was still continuing. As soon as the third brown-clothed sword-and-shielder climbed onto the raised fort and exposed half of his head, his helmet and half of his skull were shattered by an ax head-on.

After climbing over the wall, Woods threw the ax back to the bunker and smashed out three distillate cans on the ladder that went up to the high ground. Without waiting for the musketeers on the other side to turn their guns, they climbed back into the wall regardless of their grace.

Two torches flew out of the fortress, turning the ladder into a rack.

However, just destroying a ladder was of no consequence to the brown soldiers who swarmed onto the fort.

The lieutenant has no control over what happens next. Woods, who was covered in mud, split open the wooden barrel with the paint seal of the Alliance Magic Combat Bureau with his own hands, and poured down the precious alchemical artifacts.

The bottom of the northern raised fort immediately turned into a sea of ​​flames. When the alchemical products burned, they released black smoke that covered the sky. The rolling heat wave even ignited the hay covering the roof of the raised fort.

Several firemen screamed and fled into the river, desperately trying to extinguish the fire on their bodies. However, the alchemical products produced by the Magic Warfare Bureau will not be extinguished by water, but will float on the water and continue to burn.

The burning man who jumped into the river was burned to the point where his skin and flesh were separated. More brown-clothed soldiers fell to the ground before they could run out of the fire.

The blazing flames not only drove back the Great Council Army, but Woods and others were also driven out of the fort they had been holding on to by the thick smoke and heat waves.

From the northernmost end of the zigzag river to the southernmost end, soldiers in brown clothes and soldiers in gray started a fierce battle around the wall along the coast.

In order to carry out Colonel Geza's order to hold on to the river bank, every soldier of the 1st Infantry Group of Baishan County was filled into the battle line by Lieutenant Woods, and the grenadier detachment personally selected by the lieutenant ran between defense zones to put out fires.

Even so, the defense line of the Baishan County troops still inevitably slid to collapse under the pounding of wave after wave of huge brown waves.

In contrast, the riverbanks on the south and north sides of River Valley Village seem unusually calm. The musketeers were half-kneeling behind the field ridge, and everything on the other side was still hidden in the smoke. There was neither a battle nor an enemy encounter. It was like a completely different world from the flames of the valley village.

Captain Hudson rushed to Colonel Gesar and asked uneasily: "The fighting is fierce over there. Do you want to send a brigade to support?"

Colonel Gesa, who had been listening to the explosions and screams in the distance, turned his head and asked coldly: "Does Colonel Bode want us to go to support?"

"No...no."

Geza stopped talking and just glanced at Captain Hudson.

The captain immediately saluted and rode back to his post.

In the fields to the north of the village, the officers of Leiqun County were equally frightened as they watched the corpses floating down from the upper reaches.

Colonel Scull ordered people to drag all the bodies ashore. After personally inspecting several corpses, the colonel concluded: "The New Reclamation Army... Saner's soldiers, the remnants of General Szekely."

Another lieutenant was puzzled. He squatted next to the corpse and picked up the light brown linen coat soaked in blood: "But they are wearing the clothes of the troops directly under the corps."

"They changed into new clothes." Skull tapped the spike-soled shoes on the corpse's feet with his sword scabbard: "But they didn't change into shoes."

The lieutenant suddenly realized, and he continued to think, with a look of surprise on his face unconsciously: "The New Reclamation Expeditionary Force should be the most powerful force of the enemy. Just after a trial, they joined their own direct line, Colonel, I'm afraid that guy Saner We need to be serious!"

Skull shook his head: "There's no rush."

The colonel narrowed his eyes and looked at another mound on the other side of the river, where everything was hidden behind a screen of smoke. However, through the wind, Skull could vaguely hear the low and powerful heartbeat coming from the other side.

"Have the scouts sent to the other side not returned yet?" Colonel Scull asked his subordinates without looking back.

"not yet."

The colonel turned around, his eyes sharp enough to kill: "Then send again!"

In the center of the storm, Colonel Bode was keenly aware of some changes - the smoke screen covering the battlefield was becoming lighter.

"It's about time." Colonel Bode calculated the time and commented in his mind: "If it were a king, it should be faster."

The wind speed has not changed and the smoke screen has become shallower, which can only mean that the Great Council Army, which has the upper hand, has actively stopped the smoke screen deployment operation.

This also means that the Grand Council Army has completed its pre-war deployment, and Saner is not prepared to conduct any longer long-distance, large-scale maneuvers.

When the battle has entered this stage, the smoke screen will not only lose its role as cover, but will also reduce the command efficiency, so it is better to simply open up the battle array and fight openly.

Colonel Bode shouted loudly: "Tell Colonel Gesar and Colonel Skull that the next two hours are the real critical moment! They must keep a close eye on the enemy on the other side and not allow any enemy troops to break through in an organized manner. River bank!"

The orderly who was waiting in the stairwell answered loudly and ran down the stairs quickly.

The fighting outside the village was fierce. Although Colonel Bode's sight was blocked by the smoke screen, he only needed to use his ears to hear how fierce the fighting was.

The attendants and adjutants sent to Colonel Bode from the three counties went upstairs several times to beg the colonel to evacuate to a safe area as soon as possible, but Colonel Bode dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

Colonel Bode dismissed the fussing requests from the lieutenants - no matter how fierce the fighting was now, it was just an appetizer.

"Come on, Sanel." Bod Gates stared at the fog that was gradually dissipating: "Let me see what progress you have made."

At the same time, the "appetizer" in Colonel Bode's eyes also came to a decisive moment.

"The river bank defense line cannot be defended." Lieutenant Woods told Captain Parady in front of him succinctly: "But I am convinced that the enemy commander is playing tricks."

Captain Parady is in charge of the reserve force of the River Valley Village Defense Area, the 1st Infantry Battalion of Leiqun County. His troops guarded the buildings on the west side of Riverdale Village, waiting for orders to join the battle.

Woods's face was covered with black stains mixed with sweat and cigarette ash. He spoke quickly and explained to himself: "The commander on the other side is messing around. Fighting like this is not worth the gain! He pushed all the troops up at once. , and also sent 'Zhu Arrow' to supervise the battle, determined to rely on the superiority of troops to overwhelm us. I can't complete the colonel's order, I can't hold the river bank defense line..."

"Lieutenant." Captain Parady patted Woods on the shoulder. Although he had a higher military rank, he did not treat Woods arrogantly because of this: "You just tell me what you need me to do."

"Follow my orders." Woods' Adam's apple rolled: "River Valley Village can only defend according to my method."

…

The bloody tug-of-war determined the outcome. In the end, the number of times the Baishan County garrison pushed the enemy off the high ground was less than the number of times the Great Council Army climbed onto the high ground.

After climbing up the slope again, the Great Council Army occupied a small section of the wall on the east side of the river bend, and the defenders were no longer able to drive them out of the defense line.

Due to the cutting of the river, the terrain in the south and north of Hehe Valley Village is steep, and the slopes are directly inserted into the river, making it difficult to deploy siege equipment; while under the east highland is the silted river beach, which is the easiest area to conquer in the three directions, and is also the location of the Grand Council. The area where the army invests the most troops.

After learning that progress had been made in the east side of the river bend, the Grand Council troops deployed in the other two directions immediately moved towards the breakthrough. The pressure on the south and north sides of Hehehe Village also suddenly eased.

Soldiers in brown clothes climbed ladders and continuously penetrated into the defense line from the breach. The soldiers of Baeksan County, who had shown great tenacity in the tug-of-war, reached their limit and fled one after another.

In the end, the wall between the two raised forts was completely occupied by the Great Parliamentary Army, and only a few remaining soldiers fought stubbornly in the houses and courtyards at the corner.

Looking at the backs of the enemy troops fleeing into the village in embarrassment, the soldiers in brown clothes who had won the hard-fought battle burst into cheers.

However, their commander was not satisfied with this. Their commander was focused on the sweetest strawberry on the cake, the reddest apple on the fruit tree, and the most valuable spoils of this battle.

The bell tower with the four-quadrant military flags was close at hand, and the commander of the brown-coated soldiers ordered a victorious pursuit.

Turning a corner, the church comes into view.

Then, the soldiers of the Grand Council Army heard gunfire from all directions and the deafening sound of horse hooves.

The officer, who was intoxicated with the dream of making great achievements, suddenly woke up: his troops were out of the cover of the musketeers on the other side of the river, and they did not carry weapons to counter the cavalry.

His opponent did not give him a chance to correct his mistake - the soldiers of the Grand Council Army who invaded Hehe Village were already at the end of their game, and their strength was limited, so they were overwhelmed in an instant; the Leiqun County infantry outflanked them from both sides, cutting off the retreat of the troops entering the village.

The soldiers in brown clothes were either killed, surrendered, or jumped off the river beach in panic.

After winning first and then losing, the troops of the New Reclamation Expedition Army no longer had the ferocious momentum they had before. They retreated to the east bank of the nameless creek and disappeared into the increasingly faint smoke.

The tired defenders did not pursue. The military flag of Baishan County was put back into place, and the musketeers from both sides began to shoot at each other aimlessly again, but compared to before, the gunshots now always sounded feeble.

The defenders were also licking their wounds. The church that served as a temporary medical center was already filled with the wounded, and there were more dead people lying on the ground in the cemetery than buried underground. No one could perform last rites for the dying and seriously wounded. In the end, Colonel Bode walked down the bell tower and closed the eyes of the deceased one by one.

While the Leiqun County soldiers took over from the White Mountain County troops to renovate the defense line, Woods Frank returned to the fort at the northeast corner of the river bend.

The air of the bunker was filled with the stench of burning and disgusting human flesh, and some ladders and wooden shields piled on the river beach were still burning.

The gunfire was still ringing, and Woods didn't dare to show his head.

He looked out through the gap in the guardrail and saw that the mudflat was littered with the bodies of the Grand Council Army soldiers who had not been taken away. They lay haphazardly across the ground, like large brown blobs.

The poor guy with the spear stuck in the mud flat has not been removed yet. He stands in a weird posture, like a scarecrow tied by the devil. Just as Woods looked at the poor guy, the corpse's left eyeball slowly slipped out of its socket.

Woods's stomach suddenly tightened. He couldn't control it anymore and started to vomit violently while holding on to the wall.

Time may have just passed an hour, but this hour was too long. It was so long that Woods Frank felt as if a whole day had passed. It was so long that Woods Frank didn't know how to survive the rest of the time.

Erno hurriedly ran into the fort, and he patted the lieutenant on the back at a loss.

To be honest, the few slaps Ernault had on Woods' back had no effect, but for some reason, when Woods realized there was someone else beside him, he felt less uncomfortable.

"Is there water?" Woods asked hoarsely.

"Water?" Erno was stunned for a moment and hurriedly took out the water bag: "Yes!"

Erno removed the stopper and handed it to the lieutenant. Just as Woods was about to take it, Erno took the water bag back.

Erno wiped the stopper of the water bag several times with a clean part of his clothes, and then handed it to the lieutenant again.

Woods Frank was moved. He took the water bag and took a sip of it cherishedly. The water moistened his burning lips and sore throat, giving him some strength again.

"Thank you," Woods whispered to Private Erno.

Erno was too frightened to speak a complete sentence. He shook his head in flattery.

Woods stood up, handed the water bag to Erno, and let out a sigh of relief: "Although this wall is simple, there are still areas that can be improved. If battlements are added to the wall, our musketeers will not have to be like now. Be on tenterhooks. Erno, you are a good soldier, don't stay here. You go to the back line of defense, where you are needed more."

Erno actually didn't quite understand what the lieutenant was saying. He scratched the back of his head and asked, "Sir, are you going to stop fighting for the time being?"

"It takes time for the enemy to reorganize." Woods patted the wall: "I will use this opportunity to strengthen the defense line."

"Oh, then..." Erno whispered: "I think the pot of soup hasn't boiled dry yet, I... I turned down the fire."

Woods laughed dumbly: "You..."

Before he could finish his words, the fort in the northeastern corner of the highland was overturned by a thirty-two-pound round artillery shell.

The eight heavy artillery deployed on the mound on the opposite bank roared in sequence with the help of smoke screens.

The real attack begins.

[I had a little trouble making the illustrations for the previous chapter and this chapter, so I have to post them later, sorry] [Thanks to book friends for their collections, readings, subscriptions, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments, thank you all]