Iron Powder and Spellcaster

When the sentry on the tower city wall saw the golden lion flag on the horizon in the morning light, he couldn't believe his eyes.

The Tanirians obviously did not expect that the enemy would come so quickly. The red sulfur port had just fallen, and the Veneta people who were still resting marched 30 kilometers overnight, crossing the countryside that was still theoretically controlled by the Federation. The region pounced.

Now, most of the food collection team sent by Captain Kidd have not returned yet, and the Legion of Saint Mark has already arrived at the gate of Tacheng.

Leighton did not rush to attack the city. Instead, after isolating the inside and outside of the tower city, he divided his forces and began to clear out the small coalition forces behind him.

After several small-scale encounters, the food collection team sent by Kidd was completely defeated. The remaining soldiers were defeated and dispersed, but most of them were captured in the fields by farmers holding farm tools as weapons.

The soldiers of the Union were horrified to find that the farmers who were originally timid and cowardly and took everything they wanted now actually had the courage to resist.

The farmers had deep grudges, and the brave ones simply slaughtered the Union soldiers and buried them quietly. The timid ones gave the captured Union soldiers to the Venetas in bundles.

When Antonio saw the scattered prisoners who were escorted to Red Sulfur Port by the island's farmers, he knew that everything was going well for the Legion of San Marco. The farmers received the bounty and went home happily.

On Leyton's side, the Legion of San Marco quickly compressed the Tanirians' activity space within the walls of the tower city.

However, the defenders did not surrender obediently, nor did they send anyone to contact the Legion of San Marco. There was a strange silence on the battlefield. Seeing this situation, Layton still used the old method-sent people to persuade them to surrender.

The local squire of Chiliu Island who was forced to deliver a letter of surrender to the garrison was shot to death by random arrows without saying anything as soon as he walked to the city gate.

In this way the defenders expressed their determination that they would never surrender. So we simply killed the envoy before he opened his mouth, lest the words of persuasion to surrender would shake the morale of the army.

Layton was furious, but he was just helpless and furious. If Commander Venetta is furious and sends troops to attack, that will be the best thing for Captain Kidd.

It was already wishful thinking to expect the defenders to surrender. Leighton ordered fortifications to be built outside the tower city, and the war reached a stalemate.

——Cut——

"Give me some fat... Oops, don't get this with bones, give me more fat." A short soldier holding an iron pot stood in front of the chopping board and said with a smile.

Behind him, there was a long queue of soldiers waiting to receive the meat.

This is a corner in the military camp. The weathered volcanic soil has been turned into mud by the blood flowing everywhere, and it makes a squeaking sound when you step on it.

"They all have to be fat, who can eat the non-fat ones?" The man in charge of dividing the meat retorted angrily. With quick movements of his hands, he cut off two large pieces of fat from the pig skin and threw them into the short soldier's chest. In the pot: "I'll give you a piece of meat with bones, and I'll give you two pieces of fat meat. Go away, there are people waiting to get it, don't delay things."

The short soldier holding the iron pot left with satisfaction. The next soldier holding the iron pot came forward and said, "Give me two pieces of fat..."

The legions of the ancient empire were extremely good at building forts and roads. Most of the "roads" in the roads leading to Muluo were built by the army. Those hard-surface roads became the key to the prosperity of the ancient empire, and there are still remnants of them to this day.

The military systems of the republics are said to be inherited from the ancients. Although they are actually borrowing from ancient times and using the name "legion" for restructuring, they have also learned from the ancient empire's military's advantages of being good at civil engineering.

On the third day after the Legion of San Marco arrived in the tower city, the Legion of Grand Veneta and the Legion of San Marco joined forces and joined the ranks of building fortresses.

The soil is too thin to dig? The Veneta people made baskets from vines and branches from the dense forest and filled them with soil as the foundation of the wall. Tacheng is backed by mountains on both sides and has a narrow attack surface. However, this also saves the Veneta people a lot of trouble. The narrow attack surface means that the attack surface is also narrow.

The two legions quickly built a two-meter-high earth wall around the outer circle of Tacheng, completely isolating the inside and outside of Tacheng - but there were no trenches because it was too laborious to dig out the basalt.

For soldiers who undertake a lot of heavy physical work every day, bread alone cannot feed them. What they need is meat and salt.

The place where Winters is now is a literal slaughterhouse. Meat is being distributed to soldiers in the front, and pigs are still busy in the back. Such places where diseases can easily breed are located in the corners of the camp and are strictly separated from the residence.

Winters watched with interest the butchers at work: slaughtering the pigs, burning the pig hair with wheat straw, disembowelling the pigs to remove the internal organs, and then using sharp knives to cut the whole pig into large pieces of pork.

The processed pork was carried to the chopping board and handed to another butcher to cut into pieces, weighed and distributed to the soldiers.

The establishment of the Veneta Legion is that there are eight soldiers in a ten-man team, sharing an iron pot and a large tent. Pork was distributed in teams of ten, so the soldiers would hold iron pots to receive the meat.

The butcher who was responsible for dividing the meat worked extremely quickly. A whole pig leg was shaved into bones in the blink of an eye in his hands. Six butchers were killing and decapitating the pigs in the back and they couldn't keep up with the speed of his dividing the meat.

"I could watch here all day." Winters said with Andre beside him.

Andre said, still unfinished, "Me too."

The two warrant officers did not have nothing to do to hang out here. The division of meat was the same as the division of wine. Fights were most likely to occur, so Winters and Andre were responsible for supervising the meat division process. With two officers present, the soldiers did not dare to make any mistakes.

Winters is no longer an acting centurion. He, Bud, and Andre have all been transferred to the Legion Logistics Department for rotational training.

Less than a day into the rotation, Winters and Andre were almost dizzy from the boring and heavy paperwork, so the two of them joined forces and took the initiative to take on the dirty work that no one wanted to do. Supervising the division of meat in a dirty and muddy slaughterhouse.

Bud, on the other hand, thrived in the piles of files and documents. The writing skills he had honed in his early years of copying scriptures in the monastery came in handy in the logistics department. The director of the logistics department finally found an officer who was good at shorthand and quick calculation and found a treasure.

As for why the three warrant officers were transferred to the Logistics Department, this starts from the second day when the Third Army arrived at Red Sulfur Port.

The day after the Great Veneta Army entered Red Sulfur Port, another supply fleet departing from Aquamarine City arrived at Red Sulfur Port.

In addition to bringing additional troops, ammunition and food to the Third Army, this supply fleet also brought with it a member of the Thirteen-person Military Commission and an officer officially appointed to command the 100th Army. .

However, this theoretical centurion of the First Hundred was surprised to find that the First Hundred actually no longer existed - after two bloody battles, the original one hundred and fifty members of the First Hundred There were only five soldiers left, plus three trainee officers.

Not only did the 100th no longer exist, but his boss also no longer existed - the chief group commander, Lieutenant Colonel Contel, was not dead, but was sent back to the Veneta mainland due to injuries.

The new centurion sadly discovered that until the next wave of reinforcements were sent, he was just a bare-bones officer with no soldiers under his command.

The First Hundred Team is gone, and there is no point in continuing to train in the First Hundred Team. And Winters didn't want to fight anymore. He felt that it was not worth fighting for the ambition of someone like Contel.

At Winters' request, Antonio transferred him, Bud, and Andre to the Logistics Department for rotational training, and at the same time, he also transferred the remaining soldiers of the 100th to the Logistics Department to serve as apprentices. Help Winters fulfill his promise: after tonight, you will never have to risk your life again.

Under Antonio's arrangement, the Hed people had also boarded a sailboat leaving Red Sulfur Island. They will first go to Aquamarine City, then be escorted to the Republic of Plato, and finally return to their hometown.

So Winters, Bud and Andre are now relaxed and waiting to be rewarded.

Their destruction of the two sea-blocking iron ropes and the artillery fort was an undoubted achievement. If the three of them were not trainee officers, just destroying the cannon would be enough for them to be promoted to one rank immediately.

However, the three of them are not even official officers now, which is very embarrassing. Can't a warrant officer be promoted to a second lieutenant? What will happen when they are officially awarded the title? The conferment is not a promotion, so is it possible to confer the rank of second lieutenant again?

In the end, the senior officers of the Third Army came up with the solution: suppress the awards first, and wait until the three warrant officers are officially awarded the title next year before awarding them, so that the procedures can be straightened out.

This means that the three warrant officers will not have to endure the qualifications after being transferred to regular officers next year, and can immediately be promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

In Bud's opinion, being able to stay out of the limelight in the back office was a good thing. Achieving great achievements suddenly is enough to make people hate you, so it is wise to stay away from the front line and give the opportunity to others to make achievements.

Although Andre was a little reluctant to leave the front line of the battle, thinking about the bloody battle in the artillery on a full moon night also made him a little scared, and he just wanted to take a rest.

As for Winters - he didn't think as much as Bud thought, nor did he miss the opportunity to fight on the front line like Andre. He just didn't want to die for the ambition of a few people or command soldiers to die. However, he couldn't change the direction of the world, so he could only hide and pretend not to see it.

The butcher next to the chopping board knocked the knife in his hand dissatisfiedly. This meant that all the meat on hand was finished, and he was urging the butcher behind him to bring the meat up quickly.

"I don't think you should slaughter a whole pig by yourself. Each person is only responsible for one link. For example, one person is only responsible for singeing and the other is only responsible for removing the internal organs. The slaughtering efficiency will be higher." Winters couldn't help but say. remind.

When he heard someone criticizing his work, a butcher immediately pushed back without mercy: "My lord, our family has been butchers for generations. I know how to kill pigs."

Seeing that Winters had hit a snag, Andre smiled evilly and poked Winters in the back. Winters also smiled bitterly and shook his head. These butchers were hired from outside and were not soldiers. Naturally, they did not understand the strict class order within the army.

"Okay, do whatever you want." Winters said helplessly: "But I have to correct you, I am not an 'elder', and there is no 'elder' in Veneta. The entire nobles of Senas Bay have been Down with the reckoning, there will be no more ‘big ones’.”

"Okay, my lord."

Winters was choked speechless, and Andre burst out laughing violently, beating his thighs desperately.

…

After his duty was over, Winters did not go straight back to his tent like Andre, but took a detour to the armory.

A legion is a small society, including not only soldiers, but also various craftsmen, such as blacksmiths.

These craftsmen all have military qualifications, and some are full-time craftsmen, such as the blacksmiths and gunsmiths in the Ordnance Department, who are responsible for repairing ordnance.

Other things belong to soldiers with specific skills. Because these soldiers have the duties of carpenters, masons, etc., they do not need to participate in heavy physical labor, and their salaries are higher than ordinary soldiers.

Therefore, people with special skills are more useful at any time, even in the army.

When the gunsmith in the armory saw Winters approaching, he immediately took out a strange short gun from the cabinet and handed it to Winters with both hands respectfully: "Sir, I have modified the gun you want."

The exquisite spring gun that Antonio gave to Winters was dropped into the seabed of Red Sulfur Bay together with Winters' armor and saber before the actual battle.

After Winters and his party returned to the construction site, he hired a few people to go to sea to salvage. However, this time he didn't have the same luck as before. Several good divers spent a whole day searching underwater and found nothing.

The exquisite and luxurious spring gun was completely lost, which made Winters feel heartbroken just thinking about it. When Antonio heard about this, he gave Winters the other gun from the pair of spring guns.

But Winters had a new idea, one that was more convenient than a spring gun.

I took the blunderbuss. This blunderbuss looked like an ordinary short gun, but there was nothing next to the ignition hole. There was no lever for hanging the match rope, and no mechanism for the spring wheel.

Bare except for ignition holes and powder troughs.

This was the inspiration Winters got from fighting the man who seemed to be the court mage.

The reason why I say suspected is because there is nothing to prove the identity of that person. Winters was convinced that the masked man chanting the ancient imperial language must be a magician, probably the legendary court mage.

However, after Antonio and Winters stared at each other for several minutes in front of a charred corpse, they discovered that the charred corpse could not explain anything.

There are no tokens, signs, or features, except an iron mask that has not been burned.

During the Sovereignty War, the Senas Alliance Army failed to kill, capture, or persuade any court mage to surrender. Even if Antonio believed that his nephew was not lying, he could not point to the corpse and say that this was the court mage.

Antonio could only ask Winters to keep quiet and send the body to the Bureau of Magical Warfare for autopsy. He would also use other channels to find out the identity of the anonymous magician.

When reviewing the review afterwards, Winters figured out how the man was able to use the crucified cannon normally - he must have used some powerful fire-like spell to ignite the cannon through the barrel. Gunpowder in the barrel.

In this way, shells can be fired without the need for an open flame.

He tried it himself. It was very difficult to ignite gunpowder through the enclosed metal. It seemed difficult for the third hand to penetrate the metal. However, it was not impossible as long as the magic power was sufficient.

Thinking of this, an idea appeared in Winters' mind - perhaps this idea could be applied to muskets. You don't necessarily need to ignite the gunpowder through the barrel, just use magic instead of an open flame.

Therefore, there is this customized short blunderbuss, but the specific effect of its use has yet to be further tested by Winters.

After confirming that the gunsmith had made the short gun according to his requirements, Winters placed a bag of silver coins on the gunsmith's table.

"No, no, no, I don't dare ask for this. I already have a salary." The gunsmith declined in fear.

"Your salary is earned by working for the legion. This gun was customized by me in my own name. It's not the same thing. This money is not only for your labor, but also for the materials of this gun. Keep it."

The gunsmith then accepted the money bag and said coquettishly: "In fact, it doesn't take much to cut off the ordinary barrel and make a lighter butt. But it doesn't even use the ignition device. I really want to I don’t know how you would use this gun..."

Winters smiled and said, "I have my uses."

He wrapped the gun in linen and returned to his tent.

Outside the camp, a dark and thin man was waiting for him. It was Gold, "Good Luck" Gold, a former pirate captain, a rower on death row, and the biggest contributor to Winters' narrow escape on Red Sulfur Island.

When the situation became critical, the Veneta navy could release prisoner oarsmen and distribute weapons to them. As long as the convict oarsmen participated in the battle and returned to their posts after the battle without escaping, their crimes could be expunged and they could become free men when the war was over.

Gold had been restored to his status as a free man after the Battle of Lighthouse Harbor, and he was the crew member of the Golden Lion who handed Winters a bag of water.

And now, he came to say goodbye.

"Sir, I have to leave this hellish place and take the nearest communication ship to Aquamarine City." Gold grinned and revealed a set of gold teeth - the teeth knocked out by Leighton have been replaced with gold ones. , he said with a smile: "Your Veneta Navy allowed me to regain my freedom in advance because of the letter of merit you wrote to me. I'm here to say goodbye to you."

"Are you leaving now? Where are you going?" Winters was a little surprised and quickly asked Gold to come into the camp to talk.

Gold did not go in, but stood respectfully outside the camp and said, "I don't know. I don't know where I'm going. Anyway, I'm a free man again. Let's take it one step at a time."

"It's okay to leave here, you don't need to participate in this war." Winters said with some emotion. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote an address and handed it to Gold: "Remember what we found?" Is that fat captain? That old acquaintance of yours and mine, the fat man who piloted your Good Luck back to Hailan, only to encounter pirates again and was sold to Red Pine Manor as a slave? Do you remember him?"

Gold took the note and was a little confused: "Well, it seems... I probably still remember..."

"I said I wanted to give you a boat, right?" Winters laughed and said, "That fat man owed me a big, big favor, so he sold me his Skua at a cheap price. It just so happened that my mother He also left me a small inheritance, so I can afford it. Find him at this address. The Skua is yours now, Captain Gold...but don't be a pirate this time."

Gold was so shocked that he almost dropped the note in his hand. He stood there at a loss, his eyes a little red.

"Don't say 'thank you' and don't cry. You deserve this." Winters got goosebumps all over his body and quickly joked: "But if you become a pirate again and meet me again, Then we have to fight again."

"Sir, what do you think of my luck?" Gold did not answer, but asked an irrelevant question.

"Uh..." This question really stopped Winters. He thought for a while before answering: "To a certain extent, you are really lucky...to meet Layton and us. It’s unfortunate, but even so, you are the only one alive in a whole ship of pirates, which can be regarded as great luck…”

"Yes, I think so too. I have always had good luck, so I am Good Luck Gold. However, there is a person who has better luck than me, so when I bump into this person, my good luck is useless .Who do you think this person is?"

"...You're not talking about me, are you?" Winters was a little confused.

"Yes, sir, it's you. I thought about it for a long time on the deck of the Golden Lion before I figured out that luck is relative. One person's luck may be another person's misfortune. I met someone who is luckier than me. If you are a person, then my good luck will turn into misfortune. You are the person who is luckier than me, so I will follow you on Red Sulfur Island." Gold said firmly: "So in the future, if If I bump into you again, I will surrender immediately."

After speaking, Gold nodded, turned around and walked away gracefully.

Winters was stunned for a while, returned to his tent, and began to continue writing a letter that he had not finished writing for two days.

The supply ship from Aquamarine City not only brought supplies, but also sent letters from home - of course, it was only letters from officers, not soldiers.

In Elizabeth's envelope, Winters unexpectedly found another letter inside, Anna's letter.

He couldn't wait to open Anna's letter. There was nothing special in the letter: she and her sister had a big quarrel again, she wanted to learn sculpture but her mother refused, an old servant at home had left, sea blue is now popular. A new fabric from the north...

There was nothing special about these contents, just Anna's daily routine, but for some reason, Winters felt like he was in another world when he read these contents.

Although his hands were stained with blood, Winters had never been troubled by the people he killed, not once. In his opinion, killing is enough, and everyone who dies in his hands has a way to die.

However, Winters could always recall the soldiers of the 100th, those soldiers who were nailed to the wooden stakes, those soldiers who followed him to escape in the dense forest, and those soldiers who fought bloody battles in the cramped corridors. their faces.

"St. Mark's Cathedral is being renovated. Many painters and sculptors have been invited. When you come back, how about we go and see it together? Mr. Montagne, where are you now? What are you doing? Why are you Why don't you write to me? Write to me. I know almost nothing about you. Write to me." At the end of the letter, Anna wrote.

Winters wanted to tell Anna everything about himself, telling her that he was trapped in red sulfur island and was in fear all the time, but he still had to look confident in front of everyone, and told her what he saw. The anger at the insulted body told her about her anger towards Contel and the people behind him, and about the dead souls that broke into his dreams...

He thought a lot, but couldn't write a word.

Finally, he picked up his pen and wrote: "I am fine, eating well and sleeping well. Maybe I am really lucky."

I wrote the wrong serial number in Chapter 87, but I can’t change it no matter what. It’s very confusing.

Thank you to the book friends who have voted for recommendations before. Thank you to the book friends Justice and Purity is Koala, Please Call Me Pleasant Goat, Yuan Hongjian, There is a Beauty in Tianshui, and Ami. Thank you all.