Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 156 Crossing the River

  According to the contents of the pamphlet issued to officers, a complete field camp must include trenches, walls, drains, stables, toilets, two entrances and exits, must have an easily accessible water source, and must be located on terrain conducive to defense.

   But the actual situation is that there are good and bad camps along the supply line. Generally, one or two soldiers are in charge of guarding, and there are no more than three camps at most.

   One part can accommodate two full regiments, with complete walls and trenches, which were temporary barracks built when the army passed by here a few months ago;

   The rest are much simpler, and a circle of earth canals are dug in the flat open space to be completed.

The sites of    camps are mostly close to the river, and they are built on the west bank of the walking field and the pontoon bridge. On the one hand, it is in order to obtain water sources, and on the other hand, it is also to ensure the safety of the pontoon bridge and the pedestrian field.

  River, the most troublesome thing for the cargo team during the march is the river.

  Due to the reliance on ice and snow melt water, the rivers in the Great Wilderness are severely affected by the seasons.

  When the rainfall is abundant in summer, the river can soar to a depth of several meters. In winter, it will enter the dry season, and most of them can walk alone - this is one of the reasons why they choose to send troops in winter.

  From the perspective of the general environment, the water system between the two mountains originates from the ice and snow melt water of the Shady Mountains and the Jinding Mountains, and is a typical dendritic water system.

  The geographer Bai Ruisi likened the two mountains to a leaf. The river running from west to east is the main vein, and the tributaries at all levels are the side veins and thin veins.

  According to this analogy, most of the rivers that cause trouble to the trucks are not even the veins.

   But even a calf-deep river, once in this season is enough.

  Although it rarely freezes in winter in Palatu, it does not hinder the cold.

  …

  The carriages drove through the ten-meter-wide shoal one by one, and the baggage team arrived at today's campsite.

   But this does not mean the end of a hard day. The coachmen are busy unloading their horses. The militiamen need to reorganize the camp facilities: clear the trenches, strengthen the walls, and re-dig the toilets.

  While others were digging the ground, the person in charge of cooking in each tent had to make fire, fetch water, and prepare food.

   As compensation for marching with iron pans, they do not need to participate in heavy physical labor - but it is hard to say which is more tiring cooking or digging toilets.

After the    rectification was over and the night guard and patrol personnel were arranged, Winters issued an order to dissolve.

   He's cold and hungry now, and sitting in the saddle all day makes his **** hurt to death. He just wanted to drink a sip of hot soup and quickly rest.

   But Lieutenant Colonel Jesska stopped him halfway, and Bud and Andre were also brought by Lieutenant Colonel.

Lieutenant Colonel    still had the usual lukewarm tone: "You guys have dinner with me."

   The three second lieutenants looked at each other.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska has been in office for more than three weeks, but he has always had a business-like attitude. So far, he has no personal relationship with the three Winters, and it seems that he has no intention of enhancing personal friendship.

   But the boss invited to dinner, and the ensigns could not refuse.

  But the lieutenant colonel did not go back to the barracks directly, but walked with the second lieutenants towards the stables, where the horses of the baggage team were placed.

  The three of Winters just followed the lieutenant colonel around the stables, watching the lieutenant colonel touch the sweat on the horse's back and check the horse's hooves and legs from time to time.

   The ten commander who was in charge of raising the horses was a Dussac in his thirties. He hurried to the stable after hearing the news. Facing the four officers, he looked very nervous.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska glanced at the ten commander and asked coldly, "It hasn't been a while since Ma was brought into the shed?"

   "Yes, my lord." The ten commander wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Lieutenant Colonel    reached out and grabbed a handful in the manger: "What is this?"

   "Concentrates, adults. Guaranteed enough, no deductions for milligrams."

   "What's this?" The lieutenant colonel kicked the barrel by the manger.

  The ten commander became more and more sincere and fearful: "Water! Just hit it from the river, make sure it's clean."

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska burst out suddenly, grabbed the bucket and smashed it at the ten commanders.

  The ten commander did not dare to hide, and was smashed by the bucket to take a few steps back to stabilize his center of gravity.

   "The sweat on the horse's body is not cold! You dare to feed the horse with water!" The lieutenant colonel slapped the ten commander to the ground again with a slap in the face: "Do you want to die?"

   The ten commander panicked and begged for mercy: "I...just..."

"To shut up!"

  The ten commander got up and didn't dare to speak.

   "Go to your centurion yourself tomorrow to get ten whips." Lieutenant Colonel Jesska gave him a disgusted look: "Get out!"

   The ten commander fled as if he had been granted amnesty.

   "Down his ten commander." The lieutenant colonel said to Andre.

"Yes."

  …

   Later, in Lieutenant Colonel Jesska's tent.

   The lieutenant colonel and the second lieutenants were sitting around a small table, still talking about what happened just now.

   "You bastard!" Lieutenant Colonel Jesska was still angry: "It's not his own animals that don't feel bad! Look at their war horses, they are all waiting for the sweat to break down before feeding them."

The    carriage team had a hundred or ten carts and more than two hundred draught horses. Some of the chariots and horses were the property of the army, and the coachmen were mere hired hands; the rest were owned by the coachmen, who were paid more.

  The coachman's horse is looked after by the coachman. The army's horses, the lieutenant colonel arranged for a few Dussacs to look after them.

   But they don't seem to care much.

   "How about leaving the coachman to look after it?" Winters asked.

   "It's the same, it's not that you don't feel bad about your own things." The lieutenant colonel shook his head: "The coachman is not as convenient as a soldier."

   Several people were speechless for a while, waiting eagerly for dinner to be served.

The lieutenant colonel pondered for a while and said: "The carts are now fully loaded, and it is the time when the horsepower is the most exhausted. There must be no accidents. We only have four spare draw horses, which are more expensive than soldiers. An officer should be assigned to take charge of this matter. , the talents under the supervision of officers will not slack off.”

Lieutenant Colonel    first looked at Winters and shook his head. Then looked at Bud and Andre, presumably to choose one of the two cavalry officers.

  Andre immediately avoided his gaze, and Bud sighed and said, "I'll come."

   "Okay, then you." The lieutenant colonel nodded.

   The orderly opened the curtain and brought the plates to the officers.

   Winters was already numb with hunger, but the smell of the food made his stomach churn again.

   The four soldiers don’t have any prayers before meals, and they can start when the food is placed on the table.

  Co Winters nearly spit out the soup he drank yesterday with just a little taste of the mushy substance on the plate.

  It was so disgusting, sour and smelly, like a foot wrap.

  If something looks like swill, smells like swill, and eats more like swill, then it should be swill, right?

   Winters looked at Andre in shock, and Andre looked at him in shock.

   On the other hand, Jessica and Bud looked as usual, as if they were not eating the same thing.

   "Sir, do you usually eat this?" Andre asked cautiously.

   The Lieutenant Colonel was tearing apart the hard and dry bread due to dehydration, and replied casually, "I'm not inviting you to dinner, I'm helping you correct your mistakes."

"What is wrong?"

   "The mistake of getting too close to the soldiers!" The lieutenant colonel said coldly: "I understand the feelings of the local army, but you are in the army now. Keep your distance from the soldiers, otherwise it will affect your judgment."

  Although the lieutenant colonel didn't say it, Winters knew what the lieutenant colonel was referring to, which annoyed him a little.

  Andre made a haha ​​and asked Bud, "Can you eat this too?"

  Budd glanced at Andre and replied, "If you were born in a tenant's house, you could eat it too."

"Okay, don't pick and choose." Lieutenant Colonel Jesska was quite displeased: "It's good to have something to eat in the barracks. Soldiers are not cooks. If they can cook things well, they are qualified, and they don't care about the taste. You just haven't fought a war, otherwise you will be able to eat a plate of pig food."

   The three of them, who have experienced a lot together, exchanged glances without words, but they have no intention of correcting the lieutenant colonel.

   "It's not that you haven't fought a war." Andrei said slowly, stirring the mush on the plate with a spoon: "It's just that in contrast, what you have here is really hard to swallow."

   "Compared with whom?" Lieutenant Colonel Jesska raised his eyebrows

   "Compared to...Monty [Montagne's nickname] orderly."

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska sneered, obviously not believing.

   The next day, the lieutenant colonel wrote.

   On the third day, the lieutenant colonel did something "as expected of him".

   Blacksmith Bellion was transferred to the brigade headquarters as a full-time cook.

  …

   While there is a de jure “buffer zone” between the Heard minions and the spheres of influence of Plato, the geographical definition of the buffer zone is constantly changing.

   In the buffer zone agreed by Ned Smith and the three major departments of Hurd, the part to the south of Jinliujiang River is today's New Reclamation Province.

  [Note: Jinliujiang is the name of the river in Palatu]

   In general, the Palatu people are pressing step by step, and the Hurd people are retreating step by step, and there is a no-man’s land roughly 100 kilometers wide between each other.

   It is said to be a no-man’s land, but in fact it is not completely uninhabited.

   The most common is the shepherd.

   The original agreement between the two parties was that "the Palatu people will not cultivate, and the Hud people will not herd livestock", and it did not stipulate that the Palatu people could not herd sheep in this area.

   This is not a game of words, because nomadic nomadism is a traditional art of the Paratus people.

   As early as the year 273 of the imperial calendar, a national wool trade guild, the Mesta Honor Society, had already appeared in Palatu.

   Even Plato's grazing term derives most of its etymology from Hedd.

  Agriculture could not bring gold and silver, so before the republican era, Mesta's taxation was always an important financial income for the Duke of Palato.

After   Richard IV inherited the Duchy of Palatoux, he also received more than 10,000 pounds of silver from Mesta every year. [Note: about 98,000 Ducat gold coins]

  The poor Palatine herdsmen drove sheep across national and religious borders, not only to migrate with the seasons between the forces, but also to guard against the plundering of the Hudds.

   But it was these lowly shepherds who accumulated wealth for the Platonic nobles, enabling them to build castles, mercenary armies, and stubbornly wage long wars against the Heard tribes.

  If it wasn't for the large-scale eastward invasions of the Heard tribes that had not been withstood by Palatu several times in history, Forsland and Veneta would have fallen under the iron hooves long ago.

  The Platoon Shepherds left behind a lonely castle on the old frontier, as well as countless stories and legends with them as the protagonists.

  Because of this, even though the vast majority of the Paratus people live on farming, Andre likes to use the slanderous term "Japanese sheep guy", and we have reason to believe that this indecent description may have actually happened.

  …

   Shepherding in no-man’s land is an industry with official endorsement, and it is even a pillar industry of Palatu.

   But there are also trades that are not officially supported by Plato.

   For example, some peasants who cannot afford land will secretly go to no-man’s land to open up wasteland.

The   Palatu government will not arrest them on purpose, nor will they provide any protection to the thieves, let alone recognize their property rights.

   There are also many bandits and robbers who will hide on the other side of the boundary river to avoid the limelight.

   Many thieves were killed by them, but the government rarely dispatched law enforcement forces to cross the boundary river, and such people were mostly caught by bounty hunters.

   There are also caravans and smugglers.

  Pallato official sometimes allows mutual market, sometimes prohibits mutual market. The wind is always changing, but the demand is always there.

   As the saying goes, "Tobacco, alcohol, oil, sugar, and sugar come from the east, and cattle, sheep, mules, and horses come from the west."

   When the mutual market is allowed, it is a caravan, and when the mutual market is prohibited, it is a smuggler. Anyway, there are always people driving the caravan between the Hurd tribes and Palatu throughout the year.

   Most of the time, the Palato government turned a blind eye - but that was for livestock and groceries such as cattle and horses, tobacco and alcohol, sugar and oil.

  Any caravan that dares to smuggle iron, guns, and gunpowder is not pardoned. Even if they had crossed the middle line of no man's land, the Palatine hussars would chase them to the death.

   However, because of this, iron, guns, and gunpowder are sold at extremely high prices in Heard's ministries, so it is not uncommon for people to take risks.

   In addition to the Palatu people, there are also Heders in this "no man's land".

  The three ministries [Haidong], [Suz], and [Telltown] who signed an agreement with Ned Smith, but the Hurds also have numerous small and medium-sized tribes.

   There are always Hed tribes who enter the buffer zone after disasters or failure to compete for pastures, and these Heds are also not protected by the various councils.

   They sometimes looted Palatine squatters, and sometimes they were slaughtered by swindlers, bandits, and even Palatine hussars.

   All in all, when a person steps into this "no man's land", he is equivalent to leaving all the laws, rules and civilizations of the world.

  Herds, shepherds, thieves, robbers, smugglers... all kinds of people struggle to survive here.

   They sometimes cooperate and sometimes fight. Except for the gun in the hand, nothing can guarantee the safety of a person's life and property.

   And the goal of this battle of the Republic of Palatu is to push this area to the west for another 100 kilometers.

  …

   It took the baggage team twelve days to cross the 100-kilometer-wide no-man’s-land.

  Palatu people grew up listening to stories like "there are bandits on the other side of the boundary river", and at first it was inevitable that they were a little apprehensive.

   In the end, let alone bandits, not even a few rabbits were encountered.

   walked all the way without any disturbance, and everyone was a little lost.

   There is no way to do this. Three hundred teams are responsible for the escort, and only the thieves who have a hole in their brains dare to attack the baggage team.

  …

The    buffer zone is bounded by the river on the Plato side, as well as on the Heard side.

   And the boundary river of the Hurd people is much more stylish than the boundary river of the Paratus people.

   In front of the convoy was a large river nearly 400 meters wide. The water was swift and bottomless. There was only a swaying floating bridge connecting the two banks.

  Crossing the river via the pontoon, the convoy entered the camp at the bridgehead to rest.

   However, the defenders refused to wait for other people to enter the camp, and those small traders could only spend the night outside the camp.

  Qiaotou Camp also had far more defenders than the previous camp, with a hundred troops under full command of a captain.

  After setting up the convoy, Winters and others climbed up the camp watchtower to view the view.

"Look, this river should be [Curvalea] in Heard's mouth, which means taking away the river of the soul, the river of the underworld." Brother Reid pointed to the river and said with a red face: "I have heard this for a long time. The river is majestic, I can see it today, it really lives up to its reputation!"

   "Curvarea...Curvarea..." Winters chewed on the word for a while, and suddenly realized: "Isn't Kurvarea a dance? It seems like... a dance to the Styx?"

   Brother Reid laughed and said, "If you say that you are inexperienced and incompetent, you are still not convinced. That is [Cour Valletta]. The etymology is the same, but the affixes are different."

   Hestas said it only once, and Winters couldn't remember how to read it. Thinking of the old shaman, he sighed sadly.

   "With such magnificent scenery in front of you, what are you sighing? The wind blows!" The old cultivator rolled his eyes.

   "I think of an old friend." Winters smiled: "Old man, you have to live longer, don't die casually!"

   "Don't worry! I must be alive until I die!" The old cultivator laughed, but he was not shy.

   There should be no more tonight, I have been writing until now at four in the morning yesterday. In the past few days, I went home and went to bed first, then got up to write. I have a good rest tonight and try to adjust the jet lag.

   Thanks to the book friends who voted for the recommendation before;

   Thanks to book friends Soda Bird and Knight of Heaven and Earth for their recommendation tickets;

Thanks to the book friend 20191007064305842, Xianxia Bookworm, Kepler B22, Xianjian Private Deed h, Ami, Calm Ash Kuo, Huai Jiang Suan, Sky Lens, Justice Pure is Koala, Book Friend 160501224737305, Son of Anaki Lin Dengwan, Captain 95, Jiang Xue Diaoweng, Book Friend 120325172509365, Book Friend 20191007064305842, Kun Kun, Storm Freezing Point, agent12580, Soda Bird, Pants are a little tight, Book Friend 20181105235059673 recommended tickets, thank you all.

   (end of this chapter)