Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 195 Contact

   Walking, camping, resting, walking… day after day.

The exhaustion and dullness of the    march can be seen through Winters' records:

   On the first day, along the south bank of the Confluence River, the crows pecked the floating corpse, and nothing happened.

   On the second day, we continued to the east, the weather turned cold, and nothing happened.

   On the third day, I walked [Alpad] to cross the river in Zushechang, but the water did not have horse knees; I set up a fort on the north bank of Zushechang, and nothing happened.

   On the fourth day, we continued our march, nothing happened.

   On the fifth day, we marched without incident.

   On the sixth day, nothing happened.

   On the seventh, eighth, and ninth days, no records were written.

   On the night of the tenth day, Bud, Andre, and Mason slipped quietly into Winters' tent.

   With the dim light, several people spliced ​​the small map into a large incomplete map.

  Want to see a small scale map of the Legion, their level is not enough.

   Fortunately, their immediate boss is John Jesska. Lieutenant Colonel Jesska used to give his subordinates large-scale tactical maps to illustrate and explain the terrain.

   A map is a route.

   After looking at it for a long time, Andrei came to the conclusion: "We are heading northeast."

   "Bullshit, why do you want to go northeast?" Mason propped his chin up, his thumb rubbing his beard unconsciously.

   "The River Styx, it's all because of the River Styx." Winters yawned so sleepily, he pointed to the space outside the map and said, "The pontoon bridge is gone, so we can only go upstream and find a narrow place to cross the river."

  Andrei also yawned. He got up and moved his stiff muscles, and asked impatiently, "How far do we have to go to get back to Palato?"

   Winters raised his hand slightly.

   "Hey."

   "Hey."

   Twice a small cracking sound.

  The small circle representing [Bian Li] on the map has an extra steel nail, and another steel nail flew into the ground outside the drawing.

   If it is an unfamiliar officer, seeing this scene may think that Winters is showing off his skills.

   But several people in the camp knew that Winters was playing hard.

   The more tired he is, the more often he uses magic outside of combat.

  The phantom pain made the drowsy Winters slightly awake. He propped his forehead and said in a low voice, "From Styx Camp to Bianli, I remember we walked for 18 days when we came."

  Bud thought for a moment and replied, "Yes, eighteen days."

   "Eighteen days, considering the marching speed of the cargo team, it is better to calculate more than a little, even if it is 200 kilometers."

"almost."

  Winters got a pen and paper, and said as he wrote: "After crossing the Styx, it's a no-man's land, and it's another 100 kilometers. Add it up, and it's 300 kilometers in full."

   "It's just 300 kilometers, there's no need to be so precise." Mason also picked up the rope ruler and began to measure with the help of Bud.

  Mason and Bud are in charge of the measurements, Winters is in charge of the calculations, and Andre is in charge of watching the fun.

   Several people finally came to the conclusion that they are still about 210 kilometers away from Matoupo Town and about 98 kilometers away from the Styx River.

   "Not too far." Andrei estimated optimistically: "Twenty days?"

   The eyes of the other three all turned to the river Styx that was not within the map, but was there.

   210 kilometers, the journey by force will not exceed four days, and it can be faster if there is a spare horse.

   But marching is not a race, the problem is not the distance, but the terrain.

  Rivers, hills, and swamps are just a little trouble when they come, but they are obstacles when they go away.

  Other roadblocks are easy to deal with, Curvallea-Styx is the key.

   The Jesska Brigade came on the supply line, which was the closest route in theory.

Because the Paratus planning the supply line is simple and rude: the line between the two points is the shortest, and draw a straight line for Bianli and Matoupo town on the map with a charcoal pen, which is the supply line in principle, and the actual route is the straight line. correction.

The intersection of the supply line and the Styx is where the pontoon once existed.

  Although that intersection was not the best location, with early reconnaissance and planning, well-trained sappers, and a large number of prefabricated components, the Palatine army was able to build bridges where they were not suitable.

   But it was possible at that time, but it did not mean that it could be possible at this time. The retreating Palatine army did not have as much room as when it came.

   Several centurions guessed exactly the same: the original pontoon bridge was destroyed, and only with existing resources, the Palatine sappers were unable to build a pontoon bridge of the same scale.

   So Plato's army had to go upstream, to a shallower and narrower crossing.

   Then you have to take a detour.

   "I don't know." Winters shook his head and said, "Where is the bridge? We don't know. Are there pursuers behind? We don't know either."

   "Annoying!" Andrei complained aloud: "Hidden, don't tell us anything, we have to guess for ourselves!"

  Winters couldn't hold back his anger: "It should be reported more or less. Not saying anything makes people panic."

  Andre was complaining about the Plato army, but the Veneta army was similar.

   In order to prevent leaks and panic, combat intentions and intelligence are strictly blocked. Never tell the next officer until the last minute.

  Most of the time, soldiers don’t know the ins and outs when they go into battle.

  Military maps are secrets among secrets.

   Going back thirty years, drawing maps and charts was theoretically the prerogative of the clergy, because "mortals have no right to depict the world created by God".

   The Paratus Army stipulates that centurion-level officers are not allowed to use or consult small and medium-scale military maps, but can consult and use large-scale tactical maps.

   But in practice, the centurion can't see any map at all—there's no need for the centurion to execute strategic maneuvers anyway.

   The reason why Winters and the others have maps is because they were drawn by Lieutenant Colonel Jesska.

   While drawing maps for his subordinates, Jesska was the only one in the Palatine army.

   "Secrets should be kept." Bud said a fair word, and he started to clean up the map: "After the meeting is over, go back to rest quickly."

  The oil lamp was extinguished.

   In the darkness, Andre's indignant voice could still be heard: "Walk, walk, walk, every day in addition to walking or walking, I don't know where to take us, why don't we have some Heders for our entertainment."

   His wish came true.

   On the eleventh day, the Jesska team encountered Hurd's light cavalry.

   Few people saw the figure of the Hurd cavalry, but most of them heard clear gunshots.

   As soon as the horn of the sentry rang behind him, several Dussacs at the rear of the team immediately jumped onto the saddle and ran towards the source of the gunfire.

   As the closest officer, Winters rushed to the end of the team first, and he could only see the backs of a few Dussacs getting further and further away.

   "Who went to?" Winters asked coldly.

   "Mr. Mitchell." A wolf town militiaman replied: "And Vasya, the Dussacks in their tent have gone."

  Andre arrived quickly with two dozen Dussacks.

   "What's the matter?" Andrei asked.

   "The horn went off, nothing else," Winters replied.

   During the conversation, Pierre and the others had already crossed the hillside and were out of sight of everyone.

   "Don't be stupid!" Andre threw his whip around and ordered loudly: "Go and see! Follow me!"

   Before he finished speaking, Andrei rushed to the hillside. The other Dussacs did not hesitate, urging their horses to follow.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska was the third officer to arrive at the scene.

   Lieutenant Colonel's one-eyed glance at the four fields, except for the desolation, there is only desolation. He asked Winters in a deep voice, "The Hurd?"

   "I don't know." Winters shook his head: "Lieutenant Cellini just brought someone over there."

   "No more than a few sentries at most, let your people keep going without stopping."

  The roar of hooves came from far and near, and the cavalry squadron assigned to the vanguard galloped.

  The hussars passed the Jieska brigade like lightning, and galloped straight to the hillside behind.

   "Kill all the Hurd barbarians!" Some militiamen shouted at the hussars.

   It stands to reason that his voice should be completely obscured by the sound of horse hooves.

   But the cry entered the ears of the hussars.

   A hussar took off his beautiful cap and waved at the militiamen of the Jieska brigade, as if to say "Look at us".

The queue of the    militia suddenly burst into cheers.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska sighed softly: "You're dead or alive... You're dead or alive."

   "What did you say?" Winters couldn't hear.

   "It's nothing." Lieutenant Colonel Jesska glanced at Winters and instructed: "Let your people keep going, don't prepare for defense, the Hurds didn't follow so quickly."

   Winters nodded, and gave the order to the team with amplifying: "Keep going! Don't stay!"

  The hussars in gorgeous military uniforms also disappeared on the hillside. The vanguard did not have time to wait for them, and continued to walk forward firmly.

  About an hour later, a cavalry figure appeared again behind the Geschka brigade—the Platoon cavalry.

   "Five people." Pierre reported to Winters with three horses: "They're all done."

   "Well done. You captured these two horses, you keep them."

  Pierre saluted and turned to leave.

   Five Hurd light cavalry collided with the Jesska team and were all killed.

On the side of   Platou, only the sentry who fired the gun and the six Dussacs who arrived first actually participated in the battle, and the others were chasing behind to eat ashes.

The    hussars chased after them for a while, and quickly withdrew.

​​​​​​

After he came back, he had a lot of trouble with Winters: "The Heards are like rabbits. Five people run separately. That boy Pierre chased the two alone. I was afraid that he would suffer a loss, so he followed all the way. What happened to the boy? I don't even know how to give me one!"

"The sentinels of the Hurds have already touched us, and the large army will not be far away from us." Winters stroked the mane of Qiang Luck lightly, and he could hear clearly now: "You are dead and alive... pushed to this point. Location, only you live and die..."

   "Huh? What? Did you hear what I said... I'm talking about Mitchell!"

  …

  The vanguard is on a hillside twenty kilometers to the southwest.

   Regardless of cavalry, infantry, and sappers, all the colonels of the Palatine army were present, and the two generals were surrounded by colonists.

"Wow! Turdun, Haidong, and Suzi are here! The rest are all odds and ends, not worth mentioning! Just in time to have a good time!" General Arpad laughed, and he put his hand into his breastplate I tried to touch the jug, but I didn't find anything.

Arpad shook his hand a little uncomfortably, and said with high spirits: "We have to fight another battle, otherwise we won't be able to walk away. We have to strike hard, knock out the front teeth of Heard Barbarians, and let them find out who the hunter is. , who is the prey."

"General Arpad and I have discussed it." Sackler's speech was steady and his words were clear: "The current situation is very similar to when we were outside the city of Bianli. If we don't repel the pursuers, even if we want to retreat, we will We can't get away. The only ones biting behind us are the vanguards of Heard's clan, and this battle can be fought."

  Sekler pointed to the river valley and woodland in front of him: "It's good here, just start the war with the Hurds here."

  …

   Thirty kilometers to the west of the location of Palatu's main force, several men were arguing in the tent of the Central Army in the east of the sea.

  The tent of the Chinese army in the east of the sea is very simple, even simpler than the tent of the Praetorian officers.

  If a Platonic walks in here, he will be disappointed.

  Because the golden wine glasses, silver chopping boards, and vulgar beauties, which are common in the imagination of the majority of the people of Palato... These extravagant and corrupt things are not available.

  There were not even tables or stools in the felt tent.

  The floor was covered with woolen blankets, and twenty or so men sat on the floor, standing in a circle, regardless of whether they were high or low.

  [Note: The following conversations are in Hedde]

  Suddenly, the felt tent curtain was pulled open, and a beam of light shot into the tent, stabbed people to the point of being unable to open their eyes.

  Two men of similar appearance walked into the felt tent.

  The man who came in first was tall and steady.

   His bones were as strong as hammered with lead, he had thickly kneaded hands, and calm brown eyes.

The man who came in later contained an enviable and exuberant vitality, which was called the magic of youth: no matter what injury he suffered, he could grow up after a good night's sleep; no matter what setback he encountered, he could crawl after wiping away his tears. stand up.

  Other men in the felt tent once had this kind of magic: not afraid of falling, not afraid of bloodshed, crying hard, laughing hard... But that is all in the past.

   Now, their every move is careful, because every wound takes a lot of time to heal.

   Every time they opened their eyes, they could feel that there was less life force in their body than the last time they opened their eyes.

   Years bring wealth and power, they console themselves.

   But they know it in their hearts: Shit! I would like to take a switch and be young again.

   So they look at the young man jealously—though they hate to admit it.

   The young man also had brown eyes that looked like awls and gleamed under his short, straight eyebrows.

  The two men walked into the tent, and it suddenly became quiet inside.

   The red-faced men pursed their lips tightly, waiting for the master here to break the silence.

   "Majestic white lion, you are finally here." An old man with gray beard and grey eyes stood up and hugged the white lion enthusiastically: "I and the leaders of all the tribes are waiting for you."

   The "grey eyes of wisdom" white lion also hugged the old man warmly and gave the old man a golden eagle statue: "I give you this eagle spirit, may your eyes always be as sharp as an eagle."

  The old man smiled and accepted it.

   Then, the white lion hugged and gave gifts to each leader in turn.

  Giving gifts is an important custom of the Hurd people. The gifts are not important, but of course the more expensive the better.

  The more precious the gift, the higher the status of the giver and the more important the recipient.

   After the whole process is over, the white lion also sits in the circle. The young man who followed him—his younger brother, the little lion, sat next to him.

   Sitting in this circle means you can say anything.

   When Bai Shifu opened his mouth, it was like igniting an entire powder storehouse: "The women and cubs of the Chihe tribe that the tribes kidnapped, I want the tribes to return."

  Other people's reactions are either flat, resentful, or interested, and they all want to speak.

"Don't talk yet, I haven't finished speaking yet." The white lion continued: "Women with children, all the tribes must be handed over; as well as women with husbands and brothers, all the tribes must be handed over; the remaining women must be handed over. , the ministries can take them away.”

  [Note: The brother here refers to the husband's brother]

   A leader with a broad shoulder and a round waist spoke: "White Lion, I ask you. A piece of gold falls to the ground, who should it belong to?"

   "Health eaters, I will answer you, whoever stole it belongs to whoever."

"A group of women ran into the wasteland, and whoever stole it would go to whom. The tribes attacked and killed each other. Today you take a sheep from me, and tomorrow I take a cow from you. Whoever can take it will go to whoever can take it away. Only if you take it back, you won't return it. "

   "That's how it is." The white lion sat upright: "I've already started to grab it."

   As soon as these words came out, the expressions of nearly half of the leaders changed.

   "You've already grabbed it?" The health eater was instantly furious.

   "That's right."

   The other leaders watched the two confront each other in silence.

   "Do you want to start a fight?"

   "If you don't give it to me, call it."

   "The two-legged man is to the east!"

   "So what? All the tribes attacked and killed each other. Whoever took it away went to whoever."

   "The two-legged man is to the east, but you rob me?"

   "The two-legged man is to the east, you didn't rob me?"

  Grey-eyed laughed and comforted the two of them: "The majestic white lion! The eloquent white lion! It's just a few women, healthy eaters, please return them. Where is the fire roaster?"

   "Fire roasters are robbing people."

   "Did you hear that? Return the women from the Chihe tribe. The tribes gathered here not to kill each other."

  Telltown and Haidong voted in favor, and the nervous little lion breathed a sigh of relief.

   "All the tribes handed back the women and children of the Chihe tribe, and I took out my share of the spoils as a gift in return."

   "Okay." The healthy eater also nodded.

The   Suz department also voted in favor,

  The people clapped their hands and swore that this matter was settled.

  The Hurd people discuss matters in the account to resolve the sharpest contradictions.

   So what are the leaders of the various tribes saying, pulling the collar of the shirt and waving fists are also common, but they can't kill people.

   When he got out of the tent, he could either fight or kill him as he wanted.

  The tent was quiet for a while, and the owner of the place, the Khan of Haidong [grey eyes] said, "All leaders, please listen to me. The body should have a brain, and the clothes should have a collar. That's good."

   This is a serious and important event, and it is much more important than a few women. All the heads of the tribes pricked up their ears.

"This is not a big council, you and I are not recommending the Great Khan, but a war leader to lead you and me to win the two-legged man. The tribes are like arrows, scattered one by one, each Arrows are easy to break. If you and I can work together, it will not be easy for anyone to deal with you and me."

   A single one is easy to break, while a crowd is hard to break. The story of broken arrows has been heard by everyone in Hurd, but it is easier said than done.

"You and I have to elect the war chief, and after the election, we must hand over the power of life and death to him. Only in this way can you and I win the battle. Otherwise, it will be the same as before, the pasture will turn green again and again, two The leg people have bullied you and me again and again. The borders of the tribes have retreated to the Styx, do you and I still have a place to retreat?"

Is    the power of life and death to be handed over? The chiefs hesitated.

   Only the white lion looked calm.

Finally, the gray eyes said heavily: "I'm too old, I can't carry a knife, I don't choose. You choose someone else, I carry a bow, ride a horse, and follow him to the battlefield. Don't worry, you and I are not recommended. Khan, only until the battle is won."

   The leaders of the tribes looked at the white lion.

  The white lion said happily: "Many of my troops were killed and injured, so I don't choose either."

   "Then what else is there to say?" The healthy eater said, "I don't choose the white lion, and I don't choose the gray eye..."

   A series of hurried shouts interrupted the health eater: "Khan! Two-legged men have sent messengers!"

   The gray eyes looked very different, and he stood up with one hand and walked outside the tent.

   The other leaders followed and went out.

   "What do they want?"

   "They want to make peace."

   I'm sorry for one chapter. It is expected to be repaid in one large chapter. The ills of the company dog, my efficiency is not bad on weekdays, but the efficiency plummets on weekends.

   Thank you book friends for reading, subscribing, recommending tickets, monthly tickets, tips and comments, thank you all.

   Thanks to the brightest book friends, Tianjin No. 4, Luanhao Niu, book friend 20201116143237600, holding the CD and giving it to the head, Qianshi Nadeko, and Pear Flower Empty Lane, thank you a few.

   (end of this chapter)