Iron Powder and Spellcaster

[Southern Front Command]

On the second day after the battle on Margit Island began, the "rebel" forces arrived at the outskirts of the Castle of the Kings.

Jason Cornelius in the headquarters immediately received a report:

In the "rebel" team, scouts saw a flag with a winged lion pattern.

——

[The camp under the Castle of the Kings]

"Is this the Castle of the Kings?" Claude was extremely disappointed.

"No," Houdel rubbed his hands on his pants numbly, spat into the palms of both hands, then picked up the pickaxe at his feet and swung it hard, "It's a toilet."

"When can you be serious?"

"What's wrong with me? Aren't you asking nonsense?" Houdel asked back unhappily, "If it's not the Castle of the Kings, how can it be a toilet?"

"It's not as big as they told me?" Claude sighed and picked up the shovel, shoveling the soil loosened by the monkey to both sides, "I thought it was a great place after listening to the bragging of those young men!"

"Don't dawdle, dig quickly," Houdel swung the pickaxe with gritted teeth, "I'm going to take my first poop after digging."

...

Houdel's military school career unfolded in a way that was completely different from what he expected.

When he first heard that the principal of the "Second Academy" was a blind man named "John Jessica", Houdel thought that the messenger was playing a trick on him.

Because he had no idea where this person came from.

Reserve officers from other counties may not care, and may even welcome this principal with a background in the old army.

But in the eyes of grassroots people from Tiefeng County "rebels" such as Houdel and Claude Lee, their principal is and can only be "Blood Wolf".

Until new news came out that this "Brigadier General Jessica" was not an outsider, but the old boss of Mr. Montagne, the doubts of the reserve officers from Tiefeng County about the selection of the principal subsided.

Later, Houdel learned that although Blood Wolf did not become the principal, he was the vice principal, and Mason Tribune also served as the general manager of the Second Academy, so he was completely relieved.

"What classes can a blind man take? What can he do?" Houdel confidently predicted, "The real head of the military academy must still be Blood Wolf. At worst, there is Mason Tribune to back him up."

Thinking of this, Houdel was laughing in his dreams at night.

This cannot be blamed on him, because the desire of most reserve officers from the Tiefeng County Volunteer Army to "enter the military academy" is not essentially the product of rational thinking, but more of an impulse generated by the worship and yearning for "wolf blood".

Of course, they have thought about things like the future, but they didn't take it seriously.

I'm afraid they themselves didn't realize this.

So, when Houdel found out that the Blood Wolf was really just a figurehead, showing up on the day of the opening ceremony, and then never found again;

When he found out that Mason the Tribune was so busy with the issue of recruiting troops that he couldn't take care of the military academy at all;

He couldn't help but shout that he was cheated.

How could the "future of the Republic" be "not loved by the father and the mother"?

What Houdel couldn't accept was still to come.

The New Republic Army, which needs people everywhere, can't even be equipped with teaching staff.

Even the command positions of the front-line troops are vacant in large numbers, how can precious officers be transferred to the Army Academy?

Therefore, the Second Army Academy had to recruit a large number of external staff to teach in general subjects such as grammar, arithmetic, geometry, etc. Kai Morlan made a lot of efforts for this.

As for military subjects that could not be hired from outside, the Second Academy could only rely on those disabled officers who could not continue to serve on the front line.

Seeing the "uniform colleagues" supporting crutches and rocking wheelchairs, moving on the podium with difficulty, an external teacher who was almost tortured to madness by the stupid students could not help but sigh:

"So the military school is 'a cripple teaching a fool'?"

His words were heard by another external teacher passing by, so the evaluation of "a cripple teaching a fool" spread like wildfire and quickly became the most fashionable joke in Maplestone City.

However, to be honest, although the phrase "a cripple teaches a fool" is harsh, it accurately describes the current predicament of the New Republic Army:

Originally, the county garrison troops could barely support the establishment after the expansion by using a large number of commissioned officers;

Once they began to move towards regularization and squeezed out the water in the officer team, the commanders, especially the middle and grassroots commanders, suddenly became extremely scarce;

The officers of the new army were even in such a shortage that only those who lost their legs and could not ride horses could return to the rear to teach; other disabled commanders, even if they lost their arms or eyes, had to continue to stick to the front line.

Therefore, the Army Committee really couldn't spare anyone to the Second Academy.

But not everyone is capable and qualified to teach military subjects.

So, someone naturally turned his attention to the prisoner-of-war camp.

For someone, this is not something worth hesitating about at all. It is someone's nature to make the best use of everything.

But when Holder saw the blind principal John Jessica, assisted by a baby-faced man, walk into the classroom, lead an embarrassed, thin, ink-stained officer to the podium, and announce, "From today on, the topography course will be taught by Major Old Felt."

He was shocked at first, then at a loss, and finally felt unacceptable. He didn't even listen to what the principal and the new topography teacher said next.

He had only one thought in his mind: "This is crazy! I'll tell your Excellency!"

However, the arrival of Olde Felt was just the beginning. The various teaching positions of the Second Army Academy were filled with basket weaving experts from the prisoner-of-war camp in the blink of an eye, just like the toilet in the early morning.

Even because the ranks of the captured officers were generally higher, their qualifications and experience were far from comparable to those of the new lieutenants who left the front line due to injuries, so the important military science subjects were handed over to the prisoners, and the disabled new lieutenants could only be responsible for some general subjects.

Many lieutenants were not even assigned teaching tasks, but were assigned to various classes and became district captains - that is, the king of children.

This made Houdel even more unacceptable.

However, before he found an opportunity to complain, he, as well as all the teachers and students of the Second Army Academy, under the leadership of Principal John Jessica, embarked on a "study journey" to the Castle of the Kings.

...

The toilet was completed quickly, but Houdel did not take a big poop in revenge as he said.

He just felt bored.

"You said," Houdel asked Claude on the way back to the camp, "Before going to the military academy, I dug toilets every day; after going to the military academy, I still dug toilets every day. What's the point of going to this military academy?"

Claude tilted his head and thought about it, a happy smile appeared on his face, and he put his arm around Monkey's shoulders:

"Anyway, we are digging toilets in the Castle of Kings now."

Houdel stopped, "Well, that makes sense... Let's go!"

"Where are we going?" Claude was confused.

"Let's go to La Pao Da to celebrate."

"Okay," Claude smiled, "Let's go together."

——

[The camp on the other side of Margit Island]

"Did the journey go smoothly?" Facing Brigadier General Jessica, Mason was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, "Why did you take all the students to the front line?"

"If I don't take them to the front line, what else can I do?" John Jessica said coldly, leaning on his cane, "If I don't have all the teachers, I can't have all the classes. It's better to take all the students to the battlefield to test their background and save them from having wild thoughts."

" But the front line is still too dangerous after all," Mason wanted to persuade him, "These students are precious, and we all hope that they can graduate quickly to fill the gaps everywhere..."

"Danger?" Jessica raised his eyebrows. Although his eye sockets were covered with a black cloth, it seemed that there was a cold light shining through the gap, "Just right, we can get rid of cowards. Why be a soldier if you are afraid of danger? You don't have to say nice things. With your enrollment quality, you can thank God for keeping half of the people."

Mason scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly.

After all, to ensure that all candidates from Tiefeng County can be admitted, the passing line of the entrance examination of the Second Army Academy is almost lowered below sea level.

It is no exaggeration to say that even if the candidates only stepped on the test paper, they can find their names on the admission list.

"What are you laughing at?" Jessica turned to Mason.

"Nothing," Mason waved his hand quickly, even though the other party couldn't see it. "You are right. We have recruited as many people as possible, so we asked you to check and eliminate unqualified candidates. Only you can take on this important task."

"Stop flattering me," Jessica said sternly, but it can be seen that he still enjoyed it.

"However, how will the Second School conduct classes on the front line?" Mason instinctively began to check for gaps. "As for the barracks, there are no ready-made barracks available, and there are no staff available at the moment..."

"Classes? What classes?" Jessica slammed his cane heavily on the ground. "Is there any better class than the battlefield? It is better to drag them into the trenches and give them a shovel than to teach them a hundred siege tactics in the classroom! No need to prepare barracks, just command them the same way you command other troops."

"Then..." Mason scratched the back of his head, "I won't be polite."

"Polite? Why should I be polite?" Jessica asked back, "This is a battle against the Kings' Castle. These students may never have the opportunity to see a siege of this scale again in their lives. Missing it is the biggest regret. Just command them and let them broaden their horizons. There is no harm."

"Yes," Mason raised his hand to salute, and asked with a smile, "In fact, you don't want to miss this siege, right?"

Jessica snorted coldly and didn't say anything.

"Then, let me tell you about the arrangement," Mason changed the subject at the right time, "and please help check it."

"Let's go." Jessica answered concisely.

Mason unfolded the map and explained it to Lieutenant Colonel Jessica.

——

[Ten Arrow River Embankment]

"The small island opposite is Margit Island," Mason leaned on the river bank and pointed it out to the two people behind him, "In just one day, the enemy has inserted a circle of sharp wooden stakes on the river beach and connected the stakes with iron chains, not giving us the opportunity to rush to the beach directly by boat..."

The acting commander of the Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment [Tamas] and the commander of the first battalion of the Leiqun County Infantry Regiment [Charka Matt] listened to the major's explanation while concentrating on observing the situation on the island.

"I was originally thinking, why can't we wait for a while and wait for everyone to arrive before taking action," Captain Charka Matt frowned, "Now it seems that we really can't delay."

"That's right. The longer it drags on, the harder it will be to fight," Mason explained patiently, "and when fighting across a river, quality is more important than quantity."

Richard Mason has been officially appointed by General Gesa as the deputy commander of the siege of the Castle of the Kings, and the commander-in-chief is of course Gesa Adonis himself.

As for another general of the new army, Skull Mekron, he has long returned to Maplestone City.

Skull Mekron did not stay at the front for a few days. Someone was needed to take charge of the rear, and all kinds of official business needed to be handled.

Especially when Winters Montagne escorted the prisoners to the new reclamation land, and Richard Mason left for the front, the army headquarters in Maplestone City could not do without people.

So although Richard Mason was only a major, he was the second-highest-ranking officer on the front line, and the position of deputy commander fell on him, which was justified.

But Mason was still very cautious when exercising his power.

Because the new army has not yet gotten rid of the shadow of the "Four County Coalition".

In the new army's organization plan, nominally, the "regiment" is just a unit responsible for recruiting soldiers, just like the currency "gold pound" used by merchants to keep accounts but not actually existing.

A regiment can be under the jurisdiction of several battalions, and the size of the battalion is equivalent to the battalion in the old organization.

In this way, the garrison troops of each county can be seamlessly transferred to the new organization, and no longer have to worry about the size of their own battalion but not the full legion.

In Winters and Mason's expectation, the supreme commander of the battle should be able to directly mobilize any battalion in any regiment, just like the legion commander in the old organization can command any battalion under his command.

But in fact, the officers of each county still instinctively regard the "regiment" as a certain combat organization.

If Mason wants to mobilize the "battalion" of Leiqun County, he must issue an order through the regiment of Leiqun County, or at least obtain the tacit consent of Skull Mecklen first.

The same is true for Gesar's desire to command the battalion of Tiefeng County.

Winters was optimistic about this. According to him, "There are factions within the Alliance Army, not to mention that we are originally four doughs. Just knead them slowly, and sooner or later we will knead the dough into one."

Mason did not think about how to "knead four doughs into one". His primary goal was "not to tear one dough into four".

So at this moment, he came to the front line with Charka Matt to survey the enemy situation.

He hoped to obtain the support of the officers' corps of Leiqun County for the combat plan before the order was issued.

Fortunately, although the officers of Leiqun County had a sense of mountaintops, they did not have mountaintopism.

As someone said, "Although there are four doughs, the four doughs are working towards becoming one dough."

"Please give the order," Charka Matt nodded and saluted, "Deputy Commander."

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