Iron Powder and Spellcaster

In June, the sun is like fire.

It has been seven days since the Tiefeng County Army "taken over" Maple Stone City, and the siege of Maple Leaf Castle has also lasted for seven days.

The roar of heavy artillery that reaches the ears from time to time reminds everyone that the war is still going on.

But life must go on.

Like other cities, there are large areas of cultivated land on the outskirts of Maplestone City. At present, the rye outside the city has been cut, and it is time to cut the wheat.

The cattle and horses slowly dragged the heavy stone rollers, grinding out large flat areas in the harvested farmland.

The threshed grains were spread evenly on the field and drained under the scorching sun.

Looking around, the fields outside the city are full of sudden golden spots, as if someone had thrown them up with a paint brush.

Because harvesting, threshing, drying and other processes require a lot of manpower.

Therefore, every time during this season, whether they are men or women, adults or children, as long as they have a pair of hands, they all have to work in the fields.

Not only the homesteaders and tenants of Maplestone City work in the fields, but also the landless people from nearby villages and towns and the poor in Maplestone City are also attracted, relying on selling their labor during the harvest season in exchange for meager remuneration.

A large number of day laborers gather like streams in the morning and return home like returning birds in the evening.

The busy work scene is almost the same as in June of previous years.

If you turn your attention to the more remote Tiefeng County, you will be surprised to find that large refugee farms under the rule of the rebels have even finished harvesting winter wheat and are seizing the time to grow vegetables and beans to supplement their food rations.

It seems that the entire New Reclamation Province has gotten rid of the war and turmoil and has regained the stability and tranquility of the past.

However, this peace is more like the calm in the center of the storm.

There was no need for deliberate publicity at all. The results of the Battle of River Valley Village naturally spread beyond the newly cultivated land, immediately triggering violent turmoil in Plato and even within the alliance.

A new round of purges broke out in the King's Castle.

The Red Rose Faction, which split from the old Grand Council, was once again divided into two based on whether they supported Grover Magnus unconditionally.

A large number of Red Rose MPs who disagreed with Grove Magnus' political views - especially those local factions who fiercely opposed the intervention of external forces in the Plato civil war - were labeled as "traitors", "spies", and "anti-party sympathizers". Arrested and imprisoned on charges of "criminal".

Some Red Rose members were even publicly executed without trial as "collaborators who caused the defeat of the battle."

The King's Castle has returned to the terrifying atmosphere of the last bloody coup: the doors and windows of every house are closed, and except for the cavalry with wanted warrants, no pedestrians can be seen on the road.

Some say that dying beasts are more dangerous than usual.

But Grove Magnus's actions were not only dangerous, but also crazy.

I just don’t know if the congressmen who once surrounded Grover Magnus towards the Speaker’s throne felt any regret when they lowered their heads in front of the execution sword.

In Guitu City, the United Provinces, which learned of the latest fighting situation in Plato, began a new round of mobilization and armed force.

The prices of iron, lead, nitrate, and sulfur on the market skyrocketed. Along with the price of military supplies, the price of raw wool also soared.

The Piedmont Wool Importing Guild gave a suggested quotation for listing a bale of [medium quality, undegreased] raw wool [one gold shield and two silver shields] - and it was only a suggestion.

Panicked textile factory owners began to stockpile raw materials at any cost, while wise factory owners were already laying off weavers.

On the other side of the inland sea, the earthquake was no less felt in Veneta than in the United Provinces.

There has not been a large-scale battle in the Senas Alliance for many years in which both parties invested tens of thousands of troops.

Looking back a hundred years, a battle of this scale would be enough to destroy and rejuvenate a country; even today, after experiencing the baptism of sovereign wars, such a tragic battle is enough to be recorded in the annals of history.

However, the Veneta people's shock contained more positive connotations.

The "Inside Story of the Tiefeng County Rebels" that had previously been deliberately suppressed by the Directory could no longer be suppressed. Winters Montagne's name spread throughout Hailan Gaomen overnight.

At the Serbetti Mansion, Hailan's noble ladies came in droves and asked Kesha Serbetti about the situation in a roundabout way. After leaving the house, they went straight to the Navarre Manor and congratulated Mrs. Navarre half-heartedly.

Leaving aside the rumors that circulated in Hailan's drawing rooms and salons, there is no need to say much about the reactions of Mrs. Navarre and the Serbs.

In response to the latest war situation in Plato, the Directory of Veneta issued a stern statement to the ruling council of the United Provinces through public channels - warning the allies not to intervene in the civil war in Plato in any form, otherwise Veneta will be forced to respond.

The situation in the Tanilia Islands and the Cataract River Basin has heated up again. The vacations of the officers of the Third and Fourth Legions have been cancelled. Soldiers wandering around outside the garrison camps are no longer seen.

The Veneta Inland Sea Fleet also left its home port and began a new round of hunting for the interprovincial smuggling ships on the inland sea.

On the bank of the inland sea, Lian Sheng and Venetta had already arched their backs, exploded their manes, and pressed their bodies tightly against the ground, as if they were about to pounce on each other and bite each other in the next second.

On the contrary, on the north bank of the Jinliu River, the Palatu military government located in Hongchuan had a mediocre response to the war on the south bank.

The Hongchuan military government neither took advantage of the enemy's loss of troops to attack the cities on the eastern border with the United Provinces; nor did it try again to break through the Jinliu River defense line.

All in all, the Hongchuan military government has taken almost no action, and its negative attitude is intriguing.

As time passed, the waves caused by the boulder "Battle of Riverdale" in the alliance were reflected back to the new land.

The upper-class citizens of Maple Stone City who were able to receive news from the outside world couldn't help but become pessimistic about the prospects of the new land.

The situation within the newly cultivated province is equally turbulent.

The Tiefeng County Army released a victory communiqué signed by Winters Montagne to the public, and Maplestone City immediately became famous in Luoyang.

The printed communiqués were sold out, and the handwritten communiques were sold for one silver coin each. Three printing workshops in the city had to urgently print more copies.

Maplestone City citizens who got the communique not only read it in the square, living room, and dining table, but also secretly sent them to other places.

Although the communiqué omitted many tactical details, it also remained silent about coalition casualties.

However, through the summary content in the article, ordinary people other than the two parties involved in the war were able to glimpse the full picture of the battle for the first time and understand what a devastating blow the Grand Council Army suffered.

Through the subtle emotions revealed between the lines - for example, the parliamentary army is called the "Puppet Government Army", the Baishan, Bianjiang and Leiqun County troops are called the "New Reclamation Army", and it is only used for the "Tiefeng County Army" "Our Army" - Many smart people in Maplestone City are pessimistically aware that there may still be a battle to be fought within the so-called "New Reclamation Alliance".

The development of the situation was as expected by the citizens of Maple Rock City.

The Leiqun County army was stationed in the southeast of Maple Stone City and never joined the Tiefeng County army. They sat and watched the Tiefeng County army besiege Maple Leaf Castle alone.

It is said that Xuelang invited a major to come forward to contact the Leiqun County army. As a result, the colonel had a big quarrel with Colonel Scull. The Leiqun County army retreated again that day, all the way to Maplestone City Direct Territory and the The border of Leiqun County.

On the other hand, the garrison in Wargne County also rejected the Blood Wolf's ultimatum.

The Wargne County garrison politely received the Blood Wolf's messenger, but firmly stated that he would never accept "unconditional surrender", let alone "surrender to the rebels."

Under the peaceful surface of the newly cultivated province, there are undercurrents.

The armies of Tiefeng County, Leiqun County, and Warne County were in control of each other, and no one took any action on the surface.

But anyone with a discerning eye can clearly see that although the Tiefeng County Army controls Maple Stone City, it is in the most unfavorable situation. Its connection with the base area was cut off by Warnie County, while on the other side, the Leiqun County army with its back to the mainland was replenishing its losses.

You will know the work when you see the subtleties, and you will know the end when you see the beginning. Various signs have made the upper-class citizens of Maplestone City, who have a relatively broad vision, more convinced that the current peace is just a mirror, and a new round of war will come at some point.

The pessimistic mood spread from top to bottom, gradually spreading to every corner of Maple Stone City.

Even people working in the fields will feel anxious about the future when they occasionally straighten up and see the dark clouds in the sky.

However, Major Alder Felt, who was trapped in Maple Leaf Fort... knew nothing about all of the above.

Major Felt didn't know about the purge of the King's Castle, nor about the tense situation between the United Provinces and Veneta, nor about the unusual quietness of the military government, or even about which of his colleagues had survived.

From the moment he escaped into Maple Leaf Castle, the major's world was only less than one square kilometer in size, roughly appearing as a circle with Maple Leaf Castle as the center and a radius of three hundred meters.

Maple Leaf Castle originally had a large garrison, but some of them ran away after learning the news of the defeat. After that, hundreds of remnants of Felt's troops fled one after another, plus a hundred servants and handymen, the total number of people who could take up arms was still about one brigade.

In fact, Major Felt has proven his ability to maintain the morale of these five hundred people and prevent them from being kidnapped and sacrificed to the blood wolves.

But other than that, he couldn't afford to try anything else.

The major could only watch in despair as the Tiefeng County rebels went crazy, first building a high wall around Maple Leaf Castle, and then building a second high wall outside the high wall.

At the beginning, there were only rebels digging trenches outside Maple Leaf Fort.

Within a few days, some prisoners in brown clothes also appeared on the construction site, which greatly accelerated the rebels' work efficiency.

The rebels used the open space between the two high walls as a new camp. While digging trenches and approaching Maple Leaf Fort, they organized prisoners to make a large number of baskets in the new camp.

Because Maple Leaf Fort was built next to the river, the river bank between the river and the fort was completely exposed to the range of the defenders, so there was always a section of the river bank under the control of the defenders, making it difficult to completely encircle it.

However, the rebels did not even let go of the last section of the river bank.

The rebel engineers found another way, first building a camp on the other side of the river, and then extending a pontoon bridge from the camp on the other side at night.

When Major Felt woke up in the morning, the rebel bridgehead had already risen.

The bridgeheads on both sides and the pontoon bridges not only blocked the last gap in the siege fortifications, but also blocked the Anya River.

If it weren't for the fact that the pontoon bridge across the Anya River in front of him was the work of the enemy, Major Felt would have applauded the officer who directed this project.

However, when it's your turn to become the "enemy" in a textbook battle, it's not a pleasant feeling.

With the completion of the rebel bridgehead, Maple Leaf Fort's connection with the outside world was completely cut off. Not to mention sending and receiving letters, even getting water was no longer possible.

If it weren't for a backup well in Maple Leaf Castle, the defenders would have surrendered immediately.

By the fourth day of the siege, rebel artillery appeared outside Maple Leaf Fort.

Seeing the thirty-two-pound cannon pushed out by the rebels, Major Felt's vision suddenly went dark.

The major's last hope was dashed, and he knew he had only one way left: negotiation and then conditional surrender.

However, according to Felt's own observations, the rebels seemed to want to attack by force - otherwise there would be no need to dig so many trenches; and they seemed to want to siege for a long time - the double-layered high wall was obviously to protect against external enemies.

There is just no desire to negotiate.

"Why don't you negotiate with me?" Major Felt asked himself every day, but he still couldn't figure it out.

He looked outside the city and shouted in despair: "Why don't you negotiate with me?"

Major Felt—or rather the defenders of Fort Maple Leaf—had the power to negotiate.

As the headquarters of the New Reclamation Army, Maple Leaf Fort is not only a fortress, but also the warehouse of the New Reclamation Army, which stores the gold, ordnance and gunpowder that support the entire legion's operations.

At the same time, as the core defense fulcrum of the Plato Army in the newly cultivated land, Maple Leaf Fort has undergone several expansions and reinforcements since its completion.

The renovation in 532 corrected the firing range of each fort, the expansion in 535 built a new triangular fort outside the main bastion, and the repair in 539 made large-scale adjustments to the terrain outside Maple Leaf Fort...

As a military project alone, the value of this fortress is immeasurable.

Major Alder Felt had already thought about what to say as his first words during the negotiation: "You want me to surrender? I would rather light the powder magazine on fire and bring Maple Leaf Castle to pieces!"

In order to say this sentence categorically, Major Felt secretly practiced it many times in front of the mirror, and he was able to make it watertight.

However, the major waited and waited until a high wall was built outside Maple Leaf Castle and a pontoon bridge was built on the Anya River, but he still could not wait for the rebel negotiators.

As the sun set, Major Felt stood alone on the ledge of Maple Leaf Fort.

"Winters Montagne!" The major gritted his teeth and wailed in his heart: "Do you really want me to send Maple Leaf Castle to the sky?"

Major Felt didn't know that the Winters Montagne he was cursing was right where he was looking.

Looking south from the higher-lying Maple Leaf Castle, you can have a panoramic view of the north and west sides of Maple Stone City.

Right at the west gate of Maplestone City, where carriages gathered, Winters was chatting with a middle-aged farmer.

Because the West Gate taken over by the Tiefeng County Army did not charge tolls, many farmers had to use the West Gate to enter the city even if they took a long way around.

As a result, from morning to night, there was an endless stream of carts entering and leaving Maple Stone City from the west gate.

Farmers are eager to transport the dried grains into Maple Stone City, not only because there are warehouses protected by city walls in Maple Stone City, but also because they need to pay land rent and taxes as soon as possible, and they cannot afford to delay for a day.

"From the south of the city to Maiqiu and Gongsao Town." Although the middle-aged farmer was not sure about the identity of the young man in front of him, he still cautiously used the honorific: "Every land you can see is almost ' It belongs to the Lord of the City."

Winters handed over the kettle and asked politely: "What is the Lord in the City?"

"The master in the city is naturally a master who lives in the city." The middle-aged farmer gratefully took the kettle and moistened his dry throat: "But there is a lot of land outside the city."

Winters is no stranger to city citizens owning real estate outside the city. For example, many farmers in the suburbs of Gevaudan automatically have the right to be citizens of Gevaudan. They go out to work in the city during the day and return to the city to rest at night. Although he is a "citizen", he is also a "farmer".

"Are there no yeoman farmers around Maplestone City?" Winters asked.

"Not many." The middle-aged farmer shook his head: "They all rent the land from the masters in the city, and so do I. So when we buy food, we have to pay the rent overnight, as well as taxes."

"So anxious?"

"Hurry, otherwise you will have to pay a lot of interest."

"Oh?" Winters raised his eyebrows.

The middle-aged farmer explained bitterly to Winters: "The government collects the summer tax on the fourth Monday of May every year. It is the time when the harvest is lean, so the city lords have to pay the tax on our behalf. After we have harvested the grain, we will return it. The masters in the city have to pay a lot of interest every time they come and go, so they can't delay even a day."

Winters only knew that farmers needed to borrow food to survive during the lean years, but he did not expect that there was such a level of exploitation in Maple Stone City.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Didn't this invite the tax collector back again?"

"Who?" the middle-aged farmer asked puzzledly.

"Nothing." Winters smiled and asked, "Who are the city lords in Maplestone City?"

"It's not 'who'." The middle-aged farmer waved his hands quickly: "There is no 'who'."

Winters understood the other party's meaning skillfully: "You mean, not a certain person?"

"Yes, yes, it's not a certain person." The middle-aged farmer grinned cheerfully and counted on his fingers: "Wool Guild, Stonemasons Guild...Southern Parish, Northern Parish, Anya Monastery...local masters, The foreign master..."

Finally, the middle-aged farmer slapped his forehead: "But the one with the most land is the government hall, and the land I rent is also from the government hall?"

"Official office? What official office?" Winters frowned.

"What kind of government office could it be? The government office is the government office." The middle-aged farmer was also very surprised: "The New Reclamation Corps."

Winters was stunned at first, then realized, and finally burst out laughing.

The middle-aged farmer in front of him looked puzzled, and Houdel who was accompanying him was also confused.

Beside a few people, carriages loaded with grains were continuously driving into Maple Stone City.

"If there is an opportunity for you to own your own piece of land." Winters asked softly, "Would you accept it?"

The middle-aged farmer lowered his head, and the answer came from a soul tortured by poverty and scarcity: "I am willing to give everything."

Winters solemnly extended his hand to the middle-aged farmer, shook it vigorously, and then stood up holding his sword.

"Let's go," Winters said to Holder.

…

…

[Wagne County]

[Artemis]

At dawn, Major Sandel, the garrison officer in Wargne County, was awakened by the sound of explosions.

He rolled off the bed and opened the window.

In the distance, the navy blue military flag of Tiefeng County Army has been planted on the city wall facing the rising sun.

[Update completed this Wednesday! And they are all big chaptersヾ(^▽^*)))]

[There was an error in the labeling of the forces on the previous big map. The part bordering the north of the Jinliu River and the United Provinces is still in the hands of Red Rose. Will come up with the correct version as soon as possible]

[Additional explanation]

[In fact, it was not only the wealthy people in ancient China who would try their best to buy land. Before the industrial revolution, people all over the world would try their best to "buy land" when they had money. Because at that time, land was the safest and most lucrative investment option - loan sharking was restricted for religious reasons and was not an option in many cases]

[Therefore, in the late Middle Ages, Renaissance Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany, the real estate on the outskirts of many developed autonomous cities, if you look closely, most of them were still owned by urban residents]

[It is not surprising that such a situation occurred during the German Peasant War: the urban bourgeoisie, who were also oppressed, often sided with the feudal ruling group and the church when faced with the help of the peasant uprisings, because they were also real estate owners and were in conflict with the feudal Notice that the interests of the group and the church are aligned]

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