Iron Powder and Spellcaster

On the night they arrived at Maplestone City, the Tiefeng County Army set up a siege camp outside the city.

Compared to the distance from Maple Stone City, the location of the camp is closer to Maple Leaf Castle, which vaguely cuts off the connection between Maple Stone City and Maple Leaf Castle.

Standing on the fort in the northeast corner of the camp, Richard Mason explained the essentials of setting up a siege camp: "According to the requirements of the "554 Order", the siege camp must be set up at least three kilometers away from enemy territory. , close to water sources, easy to defend and difficult to attack. At the same time, the siege camp must be built as solidly as possible. If conditions permit, the siege camp should be built according to the highest standard of permanent military camp standards."

In addition to Mason, there were also a number of New Army officers on the fort.

Regardless of whether they served in the infantry regiment, artillery team or cavalry team, as long as they were not on duty, they were all called over.

Facing a group of new army officers, Mason tried his best to use an encouraging tone and asked: "Why?"

The appointed commanders of infantry, cavalry and artillery at all levels looked at each other. Some had their own thoughts, but no one dared to speak rashly.

Perhaps in the eyes of the soldiers, they were superior officers, but in front of several tribunes, they still felt like big soldiers.

"Don't be afraid, speak boldly." Mason asked kindly: "Why at least three kilometers? Isn't it a waste of soldiers' physical strength to set up the camp so far away? As an siege party, why do we spend so much effort to build military camps?"

"Because of the cannon?" someone whispered.

"Yes." Mason nodded with approval and explained: "If the site of the camp is too close, it will give the defender an opportunity to use artillery to harass. The target of the camp is too large, and the artillery does not need to be accurate. But as long as One or two artillery shells falling into the tent can make everyone sleep uneasy all night. A distance of three kilometers is enough to isolate most artillery harassment. But there is more than one reason."

"To prevent the defenders from robbing the camp." Bart Schalling said.

"Yes." Mason smiled and nodded again, and continued to explain to the others: "The farther the distance between the siege camp and the fortress, the greater the possibility that the defenders will be exposed during the attack, and the longer it will take to withdraw the troops. In In many battle cases, the defenders often do not take the shortest route to attack the camp. Instead, they attack from the city gates in other directions, deliberately taking long detours, and then return from the gate closest to the siege camp after the battle. However, these are all for sieges of large cities. What will happen... I can't explain it clearly in a few words. I will tell you individually in the future. Is there anything else?"

Several New Army officers expressed their thoughts, but none of them were correct. The fort, which served as a temporary classroom, fell silent for a while.

"There is another most important reason, which is to leave enough space as a battlefield to fight against the enemy." Seeing this, Mason directly revealed the answer.

He sped up the progress and explained: "This is why siege camps need to be built to as high a standard as possible. Theoretically, siege warfare requires a huge amount of resources, making it impossible for the siege army to pose a threat to other directions, and it is difficult to To deal with external attacks. In layman's terms, when you attack a city with all your strength, once enemy reinforcements appear, the battlefield situation will be reversed in an instant."

"The situation of being besieged instead of being defeated has happened many times in sovereign wars." Mason picked it up and talked eloquently: "For example, the siege of Dulin in 529. The Allied forces invaded the city and captured the imperial troops in the city fortress. Surrounded. The Allied forces occupying the city were quickly trapped by the Imperial troops who came to support them. Finally, the old marshal led his troops to arrive and surrounded the Imperial troops blocking the city from the outside - like stuffing inside and out. The cake is usually wrapped in four layers! So as a siege party, you must be more prepared to be surrounded."

Regardless of whether they could understand it or not, all the New Army officers were nodding their heads.

"Then the last one...the siege of Dulin." Someone couldn't help but asked in a low voice, "Who won?"

All the officers of the New Army looked at the questioner one after another, and then all at Tribune Mason - in fact, this was what everyone was most concerned about.

"Then it means we won." Mason raised his eyebrows: "Otherwise, how could I use this example?"

The lookout was quiet again.

"So." Mason raised his hand and pointed around and asked, "Why do we set up the camp here?"

Behind Mason, the lights on the walls of Maple Leaf Castle were clearly visible. Surrounding the watchtower is farmland that has just been harvested, flat and empty.

The Tiefeng County army's siege camp was neither close to a water source nor conducive to defense, and the distance from the enemy's fortress was far less than three kilometers.

"Because reconnaissance and intelligence show that the defenders of Maple Leaf Fort no longer possess large-caliber artillery, and there are only a few small-caliber city wall rotary guns left in the fort. So we can boldly approach and set up camp next to Maple Leaf Fort." Tianse. It was already very late, and Mason had no time to continue to carry out heuristic teaching: "Similarly, only if we are close enough can we frighten the Maplestone City militia and respond to any abnormal movements in a timely manner."

“In a nutshell,” Mason concluded: “It’s not only important to understand the theory, but it’s also important to be adaptable.”

The officers of the new army applauded, and many people breathed a sigh of relief - they could finally go back to rest.

After walking all day, digging trenches for half the night, and being dragged to class at short notice, everyone was very tired.

"After talking about the siege side, let's talk about the defensive side." Mason was still full of ideas: "There are never fortresses that cannot be conquered, but why do we still build them? Because fortresses are not only shields, but also fulcrums, springboards and spearheads. They can not only consume the enemy , delay the enemy, and also provide a stable supply storage place to protect friendly forces for internal maneuvers. Even if the enemy finally breaks through the fortress, the fortress is enough to make the enemy pay a heavy price..."

"So." Mason pointed at Maple Leaf Fort and asked brightly: "Look at this strong fortress, and then look at the surrounding terrain and environment. What can you learn from its location selection?"

…

Although the battle form of attacking and defending around cities and fortresses is not taken seriously in the country of galloping horses.

However, in the alliance's military system, siege tactics are undoubtedly a major subject, and can even be said to be one of the most important contents.

As far as siege is concerned, everything is very particular, from the location of the camp to the determination of the main attack direction, from the means of blocking enemy strongholds to the timing of using psychological tactics.

In the past, this military knowledge - not just siege tactics - was only passed down orally within the aristocracy, with young nobles serving senior nobles and observing how to lead an army.

So when one day they actually take over the command flag of an army, they naturally know what to do.

In this way, the ruling group monopolized military knowledge and successfully suppressed most uprisings at the initial stage.

But the shortcomings of this method are equally obvious: as long as one or two generations of peace or a devastating defeat, the aristocratic class can lose all the knowledge necessary to organize a large army, and can only start from scratch. Start accumulating.

It may even remain stagnant at a small level for a long time due to the lack of external threats.

The Union military system founded by Marshal Ned Smith did not have this shortcoming.

Through monastic military education, batches of Union officers such as Winters and Mason no longer have to sum up experience bit by bit through practice. Instead, they can learn from books the lessons that their predecessors paid for with blood and tears.

But when they arrived at the New Army in Tiefeng County, the situation reversed again.

Except for the superstructure, all the middle and lower-level officers of Tiefeng County's new army were selected through actual combat.

They are brave, loyal, intuitive, and extremely lucky. Compared with the fashionable and ignorant students who have just entered the military academy, they already have all the qualities to become qualified military commanders.

All they lack is knowledge.

Winters and Mason had to take every opportunity to cram knowledge into their heads.

…

…

The day after the siege camp was set up, Monkey's company received an order to dig trenches.

Some new recruits are still not used to digging trenches, but the "veterans" who have experienced the Blood and Mud War are already familiar with it.

The baggage camp sent a truckload of shovels, axes, and pickaxes. After receiving the tools and a good meal, the sergeants led the people out of the camp and started digging.

When digging, do not dig straight, but at an angle.

First dig out twenty steps and widen it.

Then dig out another twenty steps vertically, and then widen it.

Finally, the trench as a whole takes on a W-shaped zigzag appearance.

Although the Maple Leaf Fort in front of them no longer had effective means of counterattack, the Tiefeng County Army was still meticulous in digging trenches.

Not only were the hiding holes at the corners of the trench reinforced with wood, but branches and straw were also collected from everywhere to cover the top of the trench, blocking the view from the top of the wall.

While the front is digging trenches, the rear is also busy weaving baskets. It was as if they were not besieging a fortress with only a few hundred old, weak, and sick, but instead attacking a heavily defended fortress.

Compared with the massive formation of the Tiefeng County Army, the defenders' response seemed very weak.

When it was first discovered that the Tiefeng County Army was digging trenches and approaching, several rounds of artillery were fired from the top of the Maple Leaf Fort wall. However, when the city wall cannon, which weighed less than a pound, was fired at, the rebels ignored it, and the defenders stopped wasting gunpowder.

So the defenders in Maple Leaf Castle simply stared and allowed the Tiefeng County Army to "do whatever they wanted."

Probably because he knew that the monkey was about to be promoted, the sergeant assigned the monkey an easy job: cutting down trees.

After hearing the sergeant's words, the monkey silently put down the pickaxe, took the ax and carriage, and headed for the woodland on the outskirts.

A double carriage drove along a suburban road flanked by fields of freshly harvested wheat.

Cattle and draft horses paced the harvested wheat fields. These big animals were very smart. They had to eat up all the discarded wheat ears before they were willing to taste the wheat straw.

"That's great. When the next reward is given based on merit, we should also have land, right?"

"Maybe, I just don't know where we will be allocated."

Those who spoke were the monkey's comrades. They followed the monkey, chicken, and dog to ascend to heaven, and they no longer had to dig dirt under the bright sun.

The monkey was busy driving the carriage without saying anything.

There were originally six people in the tent where the monkey was. After the battle in River Valley Village, there were only three people with sound limbs left, and one was currently lying in the wounded camp.

The monkey didn't speak, and the other two comrades started chatting with each other.

The relationship between the soldiers in the same room is unusual. The two comrades know that the monkey is sad because of Paco's death, but they will not dare to speak when they see the monkey being depressed like others. In fact, their "normal behavior" is the greatest comfort to the monkeys.

"Alas, we have arrived at the edge of Maple Stone City, but we are not allowed in. I don't know what the adults think!" A soldier chewed the hard dried horse meat with difficulty and complained: "I haven't seen this before. What does a big city like Maple Stone City look like! Can't you let me go in and have a look?"

"Who doesn't know what you are thinking?" Another soldier leaned against the guardrail of the carriage, laughing and scolding: "Don't you just want to visit the brothel?"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

"Sergeant Lu Xirong once said that the few silver coins in our pockets can be washed away in less than a day, and we will still be in debt."

"When did I say I was going to a place like that?"

"Okay, okay, I've framed you. Hey, have you heard?" The soldier leaning against the guardrail lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "The merit list has come out. Captain Bunir's acres this time It’s still the first place. It seems that the meritorious service is called... right, it’s called ‘taking the lead’? It means being the first one to rush forward and risk one’s life.”

"How else can I say that I am great?" Another soldier spread his hands as a matter of course: "The merit is counted on the head, and I am the number one. Now that there is no merit on the head, I am still the number one."

"How many acres does he have?"

"one thousand?"

"A thousand? It's already been a thousand. I estimate there are even two thousand."

"Oh my God, two thousand acres. If I had two thousand acres, I would stop carrying my musket and go home and close my door and become the owner of the manor."

"If you have a life to earn, you must also have a life to use it." The soldier leaning on the guardrail laughed and scolded: "When you save two thousand acres, I'm afraid you will have to spend your life on it."

After saying that, he looked up at the blue sky and sighed: "I don't need that much, two hundred acres is enough. I just want to finish the war early, go home, build a cabin, and raise a few more horses." In the first year, I only planted barley, and in the second and third years, I planted wheat when the land was ripe. In less than ten years, I will be able to replace the wooden house with a big house. Then, I will live in it until I die of old age."

The other soldier couldn't help but sigh as he listened.

"How is the pension calculated for a dead person?" Monkey asked abruptly: "Have you ever said that?"

The soldier leaning against the guardrail was stunned for a moment and scratched the back of his head: "It seems that they will be paid in full according to the twelve years of service. If there are children, it will be given to the children, if there are no children, it will be given to the parents."

"None of them?" Monkey asked again.

"Then what else can we do? If you don't have any, just give it to me."

The monkey said "hmm" and pulled the reins: "We're here! Get off the car."

The three of them parked the car outside the road, unyoked the draft horses, and let the horses graze on their own. Then he picked up the ax and walked slowly towards the woods.

Cutting down trees is not easy in itself, but there is one advantage - you can be lazy.

Unlike digging trenches, all accounts and teams work together, and it is clear who is lagging behind.

But the monkey was very "ungrateful". Although there was no one to supervise the work, he still waved the ax vigorously.

The monkey actually doesn't want to cut down the trees. He would rather dig trenches, because the heavy and difficult physical labor can keep him from thinking wildly.

He struck hard on the tree trunk one after another, as if he was hacking down the enemy.

Broken wood flew, and one hand-thick pine tree after another fell over with a groan.

The monkey almost did the work of the other two people. Unknowingly, he was no longer the thin, slippery "monkey", but turned into a soldier with strong arms and a taciturn nature.

From morning to noon, almost a cartload of wood was cut down. Monkey and two comrades called the draft horses back and dragged the logs from the forest to the roadside one by one.

When the three of them were sweating profusely, a messenger cavalry galloped over with a horse.

The messenger cavalry, dressed in beautiful green uniforms, asked politely: "Who is 'Hodel'?"

The other two soldiers were a little confused, and the monkey didn't understand it at first, but he remembered something, and walked towards the messenger cavalry in the surprised eyes of his comrades: "I am."

"Please follow me back to camp." The cavalryman ordered, pointing to another horse tied to the saddle: "Tribune Mason wants to see you."

The monkey wiped his sweat and said, "But what about my job?"

"Chopping down trees?" The cavalryman almost choked: "There should be no need to do it."

The monkey frowned: "There are so many logs and only two people are left here. When can we finish moving them?"

"It's okay! Go! Go!" The comrade behind him hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed the monkey's coat from the car and handed it to the monkey: "How many trees can we finish with just a few trees? It's a piece of cake."

The messenger cavalry proposed very considerately: "How about this? You follow me back to the camp first, and then I will inform the chief sergeant of the first company and ask him to send a few more people to help?"

The monkey thought for a while, nodded, and said, "There is another question."

The messenger cavalry was puzzled.

"I can't ride a horse."

"It's okay." The cavalryman smiled and said, "You can lie on the horse's butt."

…

After a bumpy journey, the monkey was brought back to the camp by the messenger cavalry.

The military camp is like a small town, and the interior is divided into various areas. Outside the camp where the Chinese army was located, the cavalry was ordered to put down the monkey, which was so shaken that its internal organs were almost displaced.

"Inside is the general headquarters." said the cavalryman.

The monkey asked in confusion: "You won't come in with me?"

"I can't enter the central military camp without permission." The cavalryman raised his hand and saluted: "You can only go to see the Mason tribune yourself."

In fact, Monkey has never been to the Chinese Army Barracks. Even inside the military camp, there are strict restrictions on entry and exit in different areas. It is not Monkey's turn to visit the Chinese Army as a soldier.

But this was the first time someone had saluted the monkey. He didn't want to be embarrassed, so he returned the salute and walked stiffly towards the camp gate.

The guard at the door checked the monkey's ID card and let him in.

In the center of the Chinese military camp are three large tents arranged side by side, with some small tents surrounding the large tent.

Soldiers with weapons hanging from their waists and clerks wearing civilian shoes shuttled between the tents. Everyone was so busy that the monkeys seemed to have broken into another world.

He shamelessly stopped a clerk and asked about the tent where Mason's tribune was.

When he reached the door of Tribune Mason's tent, he realized that he was not the only one the tribune wanted to see - about thirty people had gathered in the tent, some of whom he knew, and some of whom he did not.

Suddenly, the monkey discovered that his friend Doug was among them. Doug also saw the monkey and smiled and waved to the monkey.

The monkey hurriedly walked into the crowd, squeezed in next to his friend, and asked excitedly: "Why are you here too?"

"All the preparatory students are here." Doug's answer was always concise and to the point.

Just as Monkey was about to ask more carefully, the atmosphere in the tent suddenly changed. Everyone put their heels together and straightened their waists.

The monkey also subconsciously stood at attention.

Richard Mason walked into the tent where the monkey was.

Tribune Mason was still kind and kind, making people want to get close to him when he saw him. He raised his hand to signal everyone to take a break.

The monkey noticed that the tribune looked a little tired and his fingers were covered with traces of charcoal powder and ink.

"Some people must have guessed why I called you here, so I won't hide it." Tribune Mason announced with a smile: "You have all passed the selection and will officially become the first batch of students of the New Reclamation Military School. ."

I don't know what other people were thinking, but the monkey's heart still beat faster than expected.

"The school is still under construction, but I am very short of manpower here, so I thought of you." The magnetic voice of Mason Tribune continued: "My work here is the responsibility you will bear in the future. So in advance There’s no harm in letting you get acquainted with it, right?”

The monkey didn't react for a while, but others would not wait for him.

"Okay, let's start working now." Tribune Mason clapped his hands: "Who can count? Raise your hand."

Some people raised their hands.

Tribune Mason nodded, and an officer led away the few people who still had their hands raised.

“Who can read and write?”

"Who can plot?"

“Who knows carpentry?”

"who……"

There were fewer and fewer people around, and Doug was gone. When leaving, Doug glanced at the monkey worriedly. He touched the back of the monkey's hand and left silently.

Finally, the monkey was the only one left in the tent.

The tribune walked up to the monkey and said, "What is your name?"

Although it was just a plain sentence, the monkey felt great humiliation inexplicably. The most humiliating thing for the monkey was that this humiliation did not come from others, but from his own incompetence.

The monkey held back his tears and replied in a low voice: "Monkey - Hodel."

"Hodel, recruiting soldiers for the Blood Mud War, um..." the tribune's voice still made people feel warm: "You captured Axel Orange. Haha, you made him miserable."

The monkey lowered his head so that the tribune could not see his eyes, and swallowed hard his tears.

"It's okay if you can't read and write. Tamas couldn't read and write before, and now he's a battalion commander. The military school will open a special course for you so that you can master reading and writing as soon as possible." The tribune comforted a few people. After thinking for a while, he asked again: "By the way, can you ride a horse?"

The monkey can't ride a horse, but this is his last chance, and he instinctively wants to answer "yes."

Because in the past ten years of his life, evading responsibility and getting away with punishment has become a habit. When faced with consequences he cannot bear, he always subconsciously chooses to lie. So a monkey is a monkey.

But now something else—another instinct molded by military life—prevented him from lying.

"No." The monkey replied.

He lowered his head, not daring to look at the tribune for fear of seeing his disappointed look.

"Oh." The tribune scratched his beard in distress, and suddenly clapped his hands: "In this case, you can go to the prisoner of war camp."

Mason walked over to the table, wrote a quick note, and then sprinkled a handful of fine sand on the note. After the ink was absorbed, he folded the note and handed it to the monkey.

"Hand this note over." The tribune said with a smile, "The guards will take you there."

The monkey raised his arm and saluted solemnly.

…

The prisoner of war camp was a separate camp, but not far from the siege camp.

The monkey only walked for a short while before arriving at the gate of the prisoner of war camp.

The monkey handed the note to the guard, who entered the camp with the note.

After a while, the officer in charge of the prisoner-of-war camp came out. He glanced at the monkey suspiciously, but after checking the ID card, he nodded and waved: "Follow me."

The officer in charge of the prisoner-of-war camp did not bring the monkey into the camp. Instead, he led the monkey to the shade of a tree outside the camp and then turned around and left.

In the open space under the shade of the trees, two men wearing armbands, helmets, and holding wooden swords were competing—or it couldn't be called a competition, but one-on-one instruction.

Seeing the monkey approaching, the two of them stopped.

One person stood silently holding his sword, while the other person turned to look at the monkey and raised his hand to lift his face shield.

Monkey suddenly discovered that he had gotten a "job" that would make other preparatory students so jealous that their eyes would bleed.

Because underneath the face protector are the wolf's eyes.

[The Easter egg chapter contains a very good engraving depicting the siege of Prague in 1648]

[The reason why this painting is said to be "good" is because there are very few painters who understand military affairs, and there are even fewer painters who can reflect the various details in siege warfare]

[Things drawn by predecessors are not necessarily correct. Most painters have never fought in a war. Even if they are lucky enough to watch a battle, they can only rely on their brains to make guesses about some unknown details. Not to mention some painters who didn’t even have a chance to watch the battle and relied solely on their imagination]

[The print in the Easter Egg Chapter shows all the details on the battlefield extremely well, from the fences, weapons, and walls on the defensive side, to the trenches and artillery on the siege side, the mortars in the distance, and the movement of the regiments. …etc., it’s worth zooming in to see every detail]

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