Iron Powder and Spellcaster

The setting sun hangs in the west, with red flags and fierce horses.

For a moment, the battlefield suddenly became eerily quiet, as if all the fighting had stopped at the same moment. The muskets no longer sounded, the swords no longer clashed, and even the military musicians were at a loss and put down their drums and horns.

But the eerie silence only lasted for a moment, because the next moment the earth-shaking cheers drowned everything.

From the south bank to the north bank, from the fields to the valleys, from the bloody Tamas at the front to the monkeys on the reserve front who have not actually participated in the war, every Tiefeng County veteran is shouting feverishly.

A cry of victory, a cry of wolf blood, a high-pitched war cry that has been used by all humans since before the birth of language and civilization.

No matter how many reasons the enemy had to win, no matter how likely our own side was to be defeated, when the soldiers following Winters Montagne saw that military flag appear on the horizon, they no longer had any doubts about today's outcome.

Even the newly absorbed prisoners were infected by the emotions of their comrades. They shouted more fervently than the veterans. They used their shouts to scare away the god of death and used their shouts to forget the danger. As a member of an invincible army, they spoke from the bottom of their hearts. , shouting at the top of his lungs.

Compared to the jubilation among the Tiefeng County troops, there was a dead silence among the parliamentary troops who were fighting for the dignitaries of the king's forts far away.

Even the dullest parliamentary soldiers can detect the invisible ebb and flow of momentum between the two armies, but many of them still don't understand what is happening.

And every officer of the parliamentary army who looked at the blood-stained red flag was silently reciting the same name:

"Winters Montagne."

Even newly commissioned honorary officers have more or less heard another version of that name from their colleagues:

"The Ghost of Styx returned from the dead."

Having discerned the subtle changes in the battlefield flow, Bart Schalling jumped towards the reserve front, raised his sword and pointed directly at the last two squares of the Sixth Army, and issued the general assault order without any hesitation:

"All! Impact—forward!"

The monkey only felt a ball of fire burning in his chest, causing his blood to surge and his heart to beat wildly. Although the fatigue and aches that permeated his body had not diminished one bit, they could no longer stop him from spreading his legs and waving his arms. .

Upon hearing the second battalion commander's order, Monkey immediately roared and rushed towards the enemy before all his comrades on the reserve front.

On the artillery position in the northeast of the battlefield, Seb Carrington snorted softly when he saw this scene, and curled his lips helplessly and dismissively, but there was something in his eyes that he tried his best to hide but could not hide at all. Feelings of envy.

The lieutenant next to him coughed kindly and asked impatiently: "Major, what should we do? Do we want to attack?"

Seb raised his eyebrows unconsciously. He turned around and saw that everyone around him looked eager to try, and they were all looking at him eagerly.

However, due to the lack of military orders, the Tiefeng County light cavalry who controlled the artillery position did not dare to reveal their identity and location, so they could only swallow the cheers in their throats and hold back their faces until their faces turned red.

Seb Carrington's eyes swept across the main battlefields on both sides of the river valley village - the puppet government infantry had been essentially torn into two parts, the remnant soldiers on the east bank who were almost finished, and the four brigades on the west bank that were almost unscathed;

The major looked to the southwest again - the coalition cavalry had gained an overwhelming advantage with the assistance of the Tiefeng County musketeers, and the cavalry in red and blue uniforms were driving the brown cavalry from the battlefield.

Finally, the major turned his head and counted his subordinates who had rushed to the battlefield - two or three kittens and puppies, with a total of less than fifty sabers.

All the light cavalry who successfully arrived at Snake Lake were sent out as search teams, and only so many could be collected in a short time.

Major Seber already made a judgment in his mind. He frowned, bared his teeth at the lieutenant beside him, and asked with a smile: "What should I do? You teach me?"

The lieutenant who had just asked was as if a bucket of ice water had been poured on his head, and he immediately withered.

Seb held his saber and ordered in a deep voice: "Inform Colonel Skull of our identity. Judging from the flag message, he should not be dead yet. Also go to the Leiqun County cavalry. Whoever is commanding them, ask him to gather his troops and join me." ——It is enough for the puppet army on the West Bank to leave a few light cavalry groups to contain them, so that they can stop wasting their fucking power in chasing down the defeated generals."

"Major, the commander of the Leiqun County Cavalry..." A lieutenant hesitated: "I'm afraid he won't obey the order obediently."

Seb Carrington stared, showed two wolf-like fangs, and repeated word by word: "Let him come to me."

The lieutenant said nothing more, and quickly called a few light riders, and galloped down the hillock to the west bank.

"Then what are our orders? Senior." Another older lieutenant asked calmly.

Seb's expression softened a little. He raised his arm and pointed at the battlefield: "The puppet troops on the east bank are almost finished. Once they are finished, the puppet troops on the west bank cannot return to their base camp and lose the cavalry cover. That's meat on the chopping block." , you can clean it up however you want."

"Remember! Winning a war depends not on fear of death, but on the ability to seize opportunities." After giving the disciples a lesson on the spot, Seb took one last look at the bloody battle flag on the distant hill, turned around, With his hands on his hips, he gave the order with high spirits:

"If the puppet troops on the West Bank plan to stay in place, we will continue to stay here and monitor them; if the puppet troops on the West Bank want to join the puppet troops on the East Bank, or if the puppet troops on the East Bank want to join up with the puppet troops on the West Bank, we will resolutely attack them. They; if..."

Before Seb finished speaking, a low exclamation suddenly sounded from around him.

There was an incredible shock on the faces of the officers in front of Seber, and the light cavalry from Tiefeng County immediately ran towards the war horses.

Seb yelled something bad, and then looked towards the hill to the southeast, only to see that the owner of the bloody military flag was already galloping down the hillside alone, rushing straight towards the main position of the Great Council Army.

The rangers on the periphery of the parliamentary army's front noticed the unusual movement immediately, and all rushed to outflank him.

Even the cavalry of the New Reclamation Army dispatched to supervise the formation was disturbed. A group of cavalry was separating from the supervising team, obviously going to intercept and kill.

Seb cursed and grabbed the reins of the war horse. Seeing this, the other officers also ran towards their mounts.

"If that bastard has a hot head and insists on going into battle himself!" Seb grabbed the saddle, stepped on the stirrup, jumped on the saddle angrily, and yelled in a vented manner: "Then what I just said is all bullshit!"

In the blink of an eye, the Tiefeng County light cavalry on the artillery position had completed preparations. Except for a few people guarding the gunners, the rest of the light cavalry formed an impact formation behind Seber.

The saber was placed on the shoulder, reflecting the bloody glow under the setting sun; the war horse shook its head, breathed out hot air, and kept tapping the ground with its front hooves.

"All of them! There is only one order!" Seb pulled out his saber and waved it in the air. The blade fell right above the ears of the war horse: "Support Winters Montagne - at all costs!"

The cannon roared three times, and the God of War rained lead and iron three times among the brown soldiers.

Stepping through the smoke of gunpowder, Sebo personally led the Tiefeng County light cavalry, like arrows from the string, killing the parliamentary army at the foot of the hillock.

The shelling from behind made the brown-clothed soldiers howl as they were forced to re-enter the battlefield by the butcher's knife.

It wasn't until they heard the sound of hooves and saw the unfamiliar cavalry rushing down the hillock that the parliamentary army's supervisory team realized that the shelling just now was not an accidental fire.

The brown-coated cavalry surrounding the broken troops immediately moved forward to fight, and the brown-coated cavalry who went to intercept the rebel leader also immediately turned back.

However, before the latter could rush back, the Tiefeng County light cavalry had already rushed in front of the former, roaring into the line of parliamentary cavalry.

In the hand-to-hand exchange, Seb calmly parried a fatal slash, turned around and placed the saber on the opponent's right arm seemingly lightly, and then dragged the saber forward with astonishing force.

After the two cavalry passed by each other, the brown-clothed cavalryman had a deep wound on his arm, and his arm suddenly drooped. The saber was also taken off his hand, hanging on his wrist by the sword tassel.

Seb neither chased after him and swung his second sword, nor did he care about the opponent's fate. This was just an insignificant moment in the war, and he had already learned how to discard unnecessary emotions.

But the other half of Seb's brain kept warning him, reminding him that something was wrong.

He looked around at the enemy and our cavalry caught in the melee. It was still an insignificant part of the war, just like before and the same as it will be in the future. Except for the brown cavalry, there were no officers.

... There were no officers among the brown cavalry.

Seb's heart suddenly tightened, and all the blood rushed to the top of his head. The least expected plan before the war turned into the most imminent crisis.

He almost subconsciously turned his head to look to the southeast and shouted with his last breath: "Spellcaster Countermeasures!"

But the battlefield was too chaotic, and it was impossible for Seb's voice to be transmitted to the other side of the battlefield.

Even if his voice could be transmitted to the other side of the battlefield, it would be too late, because the owner of the red army flag had already leapt into the parliamentary army's main position on the hills east of the river valley village.

This was followed by a deafening bang.

The air waves rolled up the soil and gravel into the sky, and then fell down again with a crackling sound. Smoke and dust spewed out in all directions, and all the remaining soldiers on the outside of the parliamentary army's main formation were overturned by the shock wave.

Seb, Tamas, Bart Shilling... The heartbeats of everyone on the battlefield paused for a beat following the explosion. Half of them turned from surprise to ecstasy, while the other half seemed to have fallen from heaven to hell.

Unprecedented panic appeared in the minds of people in Tiefeng County, because they had never considered - or even imagined that this scene would happen.

Only those who were well prepared were the first to respond, and the last fully formed parliamentary army cavalry rushed towards the original position of the formation like lightning.

According to Colonel Sarnell's arrangement, it was impossible for anyone to survive. But the goal of "anti-magic tactics" is not only to "ensure destruction", but also to "prove destruction".

The Parliamentary Army cavalry rushed to the ambush site as soon as possible and rushed into the smoke before everyone else. Everything went according to plan...except for the reaction of the Tiefeng County Army.

The expected wavering and collapse did not occur. After a brief shock, the Tiefeng County Army burst into unimaginable rage.

In the melee, the Tiefeng County light cavalry threw away the enemy and rushed to the explosion site desperately.

The bloody fight began again, this time it couldn't even be called an attack because it had no other purpose than to kill, kill, and kill.

The last three phalanxes of the "Sixth Army" were shaken by the impact and were about to collapse.

Under such critical circumstances, the parliamentary army on the west bank no longer ignored the threat from the rear. They marched out of the valley village along the causeway used by the Leiqun County cavalry and entered the battlefield on the east bank.

The situation on the east bank of the valley turned into a huge melee, with brown spots and blue-gray spots interlaced with each other, and the concept of battle lines no longer existed.

There is no longer a front or a rear, only survival and death; there are no longer friendly or enemy forces, only those who want to be killed and those who do not need to be killed.

On the periphery of the battlefield, Colonel Sarnell, who had put on an ordinary soldier's jacket, had essentially lost control of the parliamentary army. He had played down his last card, exhausted all his reserves, and used all his strength.

At this moment, Sanel Karoi is like a gambler who has put down all his chips. The outcome is no longer under his control.

It may be that the parliamentary army collapsed in the next second, or the coalition army collapsed in the next second, and Saner was unable to make even the slightest impact on the outcome.

He could only pray desperately - he had never had such a pious moment in his decades of life - praying for the disintegration of the rebels to come first.

He stared firmly at the position of his formation, pinning all his hopes there, counting on the brown cavalry carrying evidence of the rebel leader's "total destruction" to gallop out of the smoke and knock down the first domino of the rebels' general defeat.

As if something in the dark heard the prayer, Sanel saw the brown cavalry disappearing behind the curtain of smoke and reappearing from the dust.

Just like a gambler at the roulette table who saw the red ball finally falling towards the number he pressed, Saner's chest burst out with a crazy roar: "The bandit leader is dead!"

However, the next moment, the situation completely reversed - the brown cavalry was not reporting victory, but running for their lives in a panic.

The red ball finally bounced and fell into the adjacent grid.

The ghost once again climbed out of the Styx, riding the enemy's horse through the smoke screen, the broken battle flags rustled, and the earth seemed to groan under his horse's hooves.

The cavalry of the Parliamentary Army that stood in front of him were literally torn to pieces - when the soldiers loyal to the Great Parliamentary Army actually faced the legend, they realized that he was a hundred times more terrifying than the legend.

Sanel could only watch helplessly as the ghost of Styx penetrated the siege of the rangers, then the phalanx of the Sixth Legion, and finally the thin layer of cavalry wrapped around the broken troops.

What happened next was almost a one-sided massacre.

The humans in brown clothes were like sheep being driven by wild beasts, screaming, rolling and crawling in all directions.

They were forced to return to the battlefield by the supervising team, and what drove them to act was fear rather than fighting spirit.

When something more terrifying than the Supervisory Team appeared, even the Supervisory Team's saber could not stop the reorganized parliamentary army from fleeing for the second time.

Like glass being shattered by a hammer, the counterattack force put together by the parliamentary army at any cost exploded into countless pieces in front of one person.

The huge wave that burst out in an instant even swept in other people on the battlefield. The parliamentary army and the cavalry of Tiefeng County were scattered by hundreds of fleeing people, flooding into every place between the brown spots and the blue-gray spots. In a gap.

Seb wanted to gather his men, but the surroundings were chaotic.

He reined in his horse and looked around. There were people and trampled corpses everywhere who were driven by instinct to run for their lives. The pale golden wheat field was trampled into a quagmire, mixed with blood and minced meat, and disappeared into whines and sobs.

The sound of hooves rolled in from the east, but the Parliamentarian army had exhausted its reinforcements.

Saner fell into despair - from now on, every new force that appears on the battlefield will only be reinforcements for the rebels.

Sure enough, a heavy cavalry galloped towards the battlefield from the provincial road, with the flag of the winged lion waving in the wind, and Andrea Cellini's figure at the front of the column.

The marching route of the Tiefeng County cavalry was not a mountain, but a river, going straight down the river into Snake Lake. Therefore, the cavalry team, which was supposed to be the first to arrive at the scheduled assembly point, instead took the longest detour.

But no matter what, they rushed to the battlefield.

But when Andre saw the scene on both sides of the river valley village at this moment, he couldn't help but be surprised.

The battlefield has fallen into complete chaos, with enemies and friendly troops everywhere; tens of thousands of people have been packed into the fields on the north bank, some are running for their lives, and some are fighting.

"My lord." Tulin was speechless and asked stammeringly, "What should I do?"

"Go wherever there are enemies!" Andre came to the conclusion at a glance. He buckled on his helmet and drew his sword: "The puppet army has only its last breath left. The remaining troops are all following the military flag and fighting on their own - then Let’s go capture their flag!”

"Enter the battle!" Turin took a deep breath, raised his lance high, turned around and shouted to his comrades: "Capture the flag!"

"Capture the flag!"

"Capture the flag!!"

"Capture the flag!!!"

The heavy cavalry of Tiefeng County charged towards the "Flag of the Former King" in the center of the battlefield, and the sea water parted in front of them.

When Andre cut down the former king's flag with his own hands, the last honor, courage and dignity of the "Sixth Legion" also disappeared.

Andre picked up the regimental battle flag from the blood and raised it high above his head: "Next one!"

"Next side!!!" He was greeted with thundering cheers.

No one has a second opinion about today's victory or defeat.

…

…

dusk.

Warm sunlight shines on the church and hills, casting long and narrow shadows on the fields.

Except for the bodies lying horizontally like black spots that stretched for miles, there were almost no "people" standing on the battlefield.

The coalition soldiers chasing the fleeing enemy had disappeared on the horizon, leaving only a cavalry group monitoring the remnants of the parliamentary army trapped in the valley village.

When Tiefeng County's artillery finally arrived on the battlefield, the remnants of the Parliamentary Army were desperately trying to break out.

The last two parliamentary army brigades that still maintained their organization, together with other defeated troops who fled into the valley village, formed a large square formation of more than a thousand people, moving slowly towards the main camp along the provincial road.

The Tiefeng County artillerymen unloaded their cannons on the mound and continued to bombard them.

Before they had gone even one kilometer, the large phalanx of a thousand men collapsed under artillery fire, and the soldiers joined in the panic flight.

During this battle, the last remaining organic units of the Grand Council Army disappeared.

Jacob Green, who witnessed this scene, wrote this record in his notes:

"At four o'clock in the afternoon, Colonel Bode Gates lost the battle;"

"At six o'clock in the afternoon, Tribune Winters Montagne won the battle."

…

…

When Winters rushed back to Riverdale, it was completely dark.

From the main gate to the Chinese army's tent, a series of torches were lit in the coalition camp.

As Winters rode into the camp, the Union soldiers on both sides of the road lowered their heads unconsciously. Only after Winters walked over did the coalition soldiers dare to raise their eyes and look at the back of "Wolfblood" in awe.

Mason had been standing guard outside the Chinese army's tent. The moment he saw the tired and pale Winters, the senior's eyes suddenly turned red.

"It's all my fault. I obviously set off first..." Mason was so mute that he could hardly speak. He held back tears, painful and self-blaming: "If I had arrived in time, this wouldn't be like this..."

Winters didn't comfort Mason or accuse him. He just shook the senior's hand, looked into the senior's eyes, and shook his head slightly.

Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, who was also guarding outside the tent, supported Mason and silently patted the latter's arm.

"Is Colonel Bird in there?" Winters asked.

"Inside." Moritz paused: "He's waiting for you."

Winters took off his weapon, walked outside the tent door, and silently opened the curtain.

The dim candlelight shone on Winters, and everyone in the tent turned their eyes to him.

Colonel Gesar, Colonel Skull, Captain Lauzon, Lieutenant Woods... almost all the surviving officers of the four-county coalition were in the tent at this moment.

They looked at Winters Montagne with complex expressions, at this junior from the Army Academy, at this ghost of the Styx, at this leader of the Tiefeng County rebels, at this man who turned the tide today.

The officers backed away slowly to clear a path for Winters.

In the center of the tent, Colonel Bode Gates, half lying on the camp couch, looked at Winters and showed a smile.

Winters suppressed his emotions and walked quickly to Colonel Bode.

Colonel Bode's chest was covered with a shirt soaked in blood. He was speechless. He just looked at Winters and nodded slightly.

Winters held the colonel's remaining right hand and couldn't hold back anymore, tears bursting from his eyes.

Colonel Bode smiled again and slowly shook his head.

The colonel closed his eyes, a tear falling from the corner of his eye.

He opened his eyes again and looked at Winters, his chest heaving, his bloodless dry lips struggled to open a gap, and a weak voice came intermittently from between his lips and teeth:

"The sun...and the stars...sound...in unison..."

Winters knelt on one knee beside the camp couch, held the colonel's thin hand, and wiped away his tears:

"A majestic song rises from the earth."

Skull Meklen stared at Colonel Bode and Winters Montagne:

“The hope of humanity sings loudly.”

"A hymn to the birth of a new world."

Half of Geza Adonis's face, covered with horrific scars, was shaking uncontrollably. He couldn't bear to stay any longer, so he turned and walked outside the tent. When he opened the curtain, the low singing voice of the officers floated outside the tent:

"The Great Alliance Marches Onward."

"The battle flag is flying high."

Richard Mason, almost overwhelmed by guilt, choked with sobs:

"Fight together for victory."

"A new world of freedom."

…

[West Bank of the Nameless River]

A young man in the uniform of a Parliamentarian officer woke up from his coma and sat dazed among the corpses.

A group of farmers walked past him as if he didn't exist.

The farmers all had long wooden sticks in their hands. They would beat the corpses as they walked. If they found any iron tools, they would bend down to pick them up and put them into their backpacks. The coalition forces were short of manpower, so they searched for farmers in Hehe Valley Village and nearby villages. Come over here and hire them on a piece-rate basis to clean up the battlefield.

The parliamentary officer watched blankly as the farmer rummaged through the corpses of his men and his enemies, stepped on them without any respect, turned them over with his feet, and stole their belongings.

An equally young coalition officer who was supervising the farmers cleaning the battlefield dismounted, took out a kettle, and silently handed it to the parliamentary officer.

The parliamentary army officer stared blankly at the kettle in his hand and suddenly burst into tears.

…

“All oppressed people unite.”

“Rise up against the evil empire that enslaves you.”

…

[East bank of the nameless river]

The monkey held a corpse in a breastplate and sobbed uncontrollably. In the middle of the breastplate, a large tear-shaped bullet hole is clearly visible. Above the breastplate, the honest and honest face of the new recruit Paco was lifeless.

The old sergeant Lu Xirong stood beside the monkey and put his hand on the monkey's shoulder without saying a word.

…

“The roar of the people will be like rolling thunder.”

“Be as ruthless as the tide and time.”

…

[Medical Clinic at Daying Corner]

Screams and curses were heard one after another, and the severed arms and legs were piled up in a pile outside the tent.

An officer whose legs were completely amputated below the knees was clawing at the dirt and crawling on the ground while laughing miserably.

…

"The Great Alliance Marches Onward."

"The battle flag is flying high."

…

[The field below the mound where the artillery position is located]

A war horse with its front legs blown off was lying on the ground, and the blood under its body had gathered into a small pool.

It shed tears and slowly chewed the straw near its mouth.

…

"Fight together for victory."

"A new world of freedom."

…

[East bank of the nameless river]

The pyre where the bodies were burned burst into flames. The strange smell of tar drifted into the distance along with the thick smoke.

People covered their mouths and noses with triangle scarves and threw more corpses into the fire with expressionless faces.

…

"Just like the sun that will surely greet you in the morning."

"Like a river that must flow into the sea."

…

[Downstream of the unknown creek]

Naked, bloated corpses beached in the shallows downstream.

Villagers along the coast cut off the clothes from the corpse.

…

"A new day for the Sennas has arrived."

"Our children will live proud and free."

…

[Snake Ze]

Andre threw the flag of the parliamentary army outside the wall.

Sheze opened the door and surrendered.

…

"The Great Alliance Forward!"

"The flag is flying in the wind!"

…

[Yinqueshan]

The sound of horse hooves followed hauntingly behind.

The soldiers in brown clothes desperately got into the forest and fled towards the Green Valley.

…

"Fight side by side for victory!"

"A new world of freedom!"

…

[Chinese military tent in the coalition camp]

Colonel Bode's eyes lit up. He held Winters' hand tightly with his last bit of strength and smiled happily:

"Just like the sun that will surely greet you in the morning."

"Like a river that must flow into the sea."

"A new day for the Sennas has arrived."

"Our children will live free and proud."

Winters also held Colonel Bird's hand tightly and sang firmly:

"The Great Alliance Forward!"

"The flag of justice is flying in the wind!!"

"Fight side by side for victory!!!"

“A new world of freedom!!!”

When the last line of lyrics ended, Bod Gates passed away suddenly outside Riverdale Village at the age of forty-six.

The battle that decided the fate of the new land came to an end.

[Late...sorry]

[But it’s a big chapter, and it’s the final chapter]

[This plot could have been written more concisely and better, but I wrote it too slowly (hitting the wall) (hitting the wall) (hitting the wall)]

[I will learn a lesson and not make the same problems again in subsequent plots]

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