Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 207 Finale (Part 1)

   The southern highland fortress that once belonged to the Paratus people is now quiet.

  The barbarians have learned and imitated, not lighting lights or raising fires, so that the attackers cannot see the layout of the wall. However, the fire is arranged in the open area outside the trench, which makes people have nowhere to hide.

The   Platoons must retake the Southern Highlands, and the Hudds know this too.

   Under the night, the dark tide surged.

  A meteor dragged a long trail across the sky and disappeared in an instant.

   "Kill!" A man's desperate roar came from out of nowhere.

   The snare drums rumbled and the horn stings everyone's eardrums.

   A group of humans jumped out of the darkness, carrying a simple wooden ladder, and roaring towards the fortress: "Uukhai!"

  The red light of the North Highland Fortress flashed, and there were scattered gunshots.

   But the range of the muskets is not enough to hit the southern highlands from the northern highlands, and the troops there can only give strength to the friendly forces.

   Amid the deafening cries of killing and drums, the fortress remained silent like a beast lurking in the shadows.

The moment the   Platoons crossed the fire, the beast stretched out its fangs.

   A series of bowstring vibrations resounded on the fortress wall, and the Platoons who rushed in front were shot down one after another.

  The fire was quickly extinguished, and everyone in the darkness turned into blurry shadows.

  The shaved Platoon soldier with a red ribbon on his left arm leaped over the corpses of his comrades and charged into the trench shouting.

  The battle had begun, but Winters stood still.

   He crouched on the dirt slope, listening to another battle with his head sideways.

   Gendarmerie and flag-bearer Charles and Heinrich stood behind Winters, followed by two other centurion soldiers, and then Andre and Mason's troops.

   The Jesska Brigade ambushed 200 meters away from the southeast corner of the fortress, and it would be exposed if they went further.

  According to the original plan, the death row camp took the lead in feigning the northeast corner of the fort.

   After the barbarian's attention was drawn away, it was the turn of the Jesska team to launch.

The    kill call fades away - this is normal.

  Because once they started fighting face to face, everyone clenched their teeth and pursed their lips, unable to utter even the shortest cursing.

   Instead of the screaming, the muffled sound and screams of the blunt weapon hitting the human body.

   Winters rubbed his thumb lightly on the hilt. He was still nervous, excited, scared, but he had learned to be patient.

   All of his men except the Musketeer had changed into one-handed swords and shields, and wore all the armor they could find.

   Super spears are not useful in night battles, so is the halberd.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska came up from behind, bending over.

   Winters turned around and gave a small salute.

Lieutenant Colonel    patted Winters lightly on the shoulder and asked in a low voice, "See where the cannon is?"

   "No... it doesn't matter, it's there anyway."

   Nominally, the raid on the southern highland fort was commanded by Colonel Laszlo.

   However, Colonel Laszlo is basically a walking dead at present, so the battle plan is actually drawn up by Lieutenant Colonel Jesska and Lieutenant Colonel Robert.

   The two lieutenant colonels agreed that capturing the southern highland fort was an impossible task.

  Take it tonight, and the Hurds can take it again tomorrow. With only the strength at hand, it is impossible to fight a war of attrition.

   But you can think about it differently: the threat of the southern highland fort is not the fortress, but the cannon on the highland.

After    captured the fort, the white lion immediately pushed the cannon to the heights and bombarded the "pontoon bridge" over the Campo Plato.

   It was only a test launch before dusk, and two pontoons were sunk. This is a threat that the Platoons cannot bear.

   On the other hand, as long as the cannon can be destroyed, it doesn’t matter if the highland fortress is given to the barbarians.

  What the Paratu people need most now is time. As long as they can buy two more days, the bridge will be able to reach the other side of the river.

   The frontmost bridge pile is less than 50 meters away from the east bank, and it is really only a little short.

  Someone waving a torch under the hillside disappeared again in the blink of an eye.

   This is the agreed signal, and Winters and Lieutenant Colonel Jesska exchanged one last glance.

   "Go!" Winters ordered softly.

   He took off his shield, lowered his body as low as possible, and approached the trench.

  Charle carried five spare weapons, Heinrich rolled up his flag, and the two followed closely behind Winters.

   Winters' actions were the silent signal that his warriors filed out of cover.

  Different from the death row, the Montagne team did not play trumpets, drums, or shout to kill, but just lowered their bodies and walked quickly.

  More than a hundred infantrymen pulled into two loose straight lines on the hillside, and the footsteps were rustling.

  The wall was still silent.

The quieter the   , the more nervous Winters became.

   is less than ten meters away from the fire, and now even the figure can no longer hide.

   "Wet blanket!" Winters ordered in a low voice, reaching out without looking back.

  Ciel unfolded the wet blanket, ignoring Winters' request, and strode forward to smother the fire.

   There was a sour sound of a bow drawn on the wall.

   "Raise your shield!" Winters rushed over and pulled Ciel behind him, and immediately shouted with loudspeaker: "Be careful with bows and arrows!"

   Before he finished speaking, arrows came like rain.

   Winters raised his shield to protect his visor, three crisp sounds, and three arrows bounced off his shield and breastplate one after another.

   He felt like he had been stoned three times, and he was fine.

   Other nearby fires have also been smothered.

   Winters shouted: "Attack!"

   It was no longer necessary to cover up, Heinrich unfurled his flag, and the piercing charge horn sounded.

   "Uukhai!" The Montagne team let go of their footsteps, shouting and rushing towards the base wall.

The   Platoons considered the loss of the fortress, so the wall on the side of the fortress toward the camp was shorter and the trench was shallower.

   But it's still a daunting fortification that will take your life to fill.

   Running forward twenty steps, another round of arrow rain.

   This time Winters only heard a crisp sound, he was not afraid of bows and arrows, he was waiting for the sound of gunfire.

  The Montagne team all wore armor, and some even put on a tie in addition to the plate armor. Bows and arrows don't want to kill unless they hit straight or aim precisely.

   Less than ten meters away from the trench, Winters saw a flash of red light on the wall in front of him.

   "Raise your shield!" He shouted, subconsciously raising the shield.

   The sound of gunshots resounded on the wall.

   "Boom!"

   Winters only felt his left arm go numb from the shock, and the buckshot penetrated the outer iron and inner wood of the shield, and finally shattered on his left breastplate.

   Even though the breastplate was not penetrated, Winters still felt a tightness in his chest.

   The thing he was most worried about was still here. Only the Chihe Division of the White Lions of the allied forces would be equipped with muskets in large numbers, and only the Chihe Division had enough gunpowder in reserve.

  There is a musketeer on the wall, which means that it will be a head-to-head with the Chihe Department tonight.

   In the face of the Montagne team, who had no casualties with bows and arrows, a dozen people were knocked down by muskets in an instant.

   "Cloud Ladder!" Winters' eyes were splitting, but at this moment he could only move forward bravely: "Grenade!"

   "Uukhai!" The warriors carried ladders across the trench.

  The top of the ladder is equipped with an iron hook, which cannot be pushed out if it gets stuck.

  Montagne's fighters began to climb up with their shields on.

   "Uukhai!" Eighteen grenadiers threw their hissing iron shell bombs into the wall.

   A series of dull explosions sounded inside the fort.

The    grenadiers were sturdy men selected from the entire squad, and Winters gave them a simple order: throw all four grenades in one minute.

  The two-pound iron-shell bombs drew arcs and flew behind the wall, but they failed to kill the enemies on the wall as effectively as Winters expected.

   At the same time, the musketeers and archers on the wall returned fire.

   Lead bullets and arrows flew horizontally. Even though Winters' deflecting technique had achieved a little, he was still unable to deal with so many stray arrows and stray bullets.

   He simply stopped maintaining the deflection technique, waved his arms and shouted: "Climb the wall! Climb..."

   "Be careful!" Ciel exclaimed from behind.

   The next second, with a loud noise, Winters was overturned by the air wave.

   Not far from where he stood just now, a grenadier was blown off in the middle, and dirt, minced meat, and blood flew everywhere.

   "Are you all right?" Charles frantically rummaged through Winters' wounds: "Blood!"

   "It's alright! It's not my blood." Winters felt like he was being slapped in the chest by a lead-filled steel pipe, his breathing was stuffy, and his tinnitus even covered Ciel's voice.

what happened?

   Winters doesn't need to ask, anyone can understand it just by looking at it.

   The grenadier was struck by a lead bullet in the neck just as he ignited the pill. The moment before he fell to the ground, he tried his best to press the grenade under his body.

   That blood-stained face once belonged to a wolf town named Mihaly. Protestant, tenant farmer, nineteen years old, very clean, unmarried.

   Pain, anger and powerlessness, it was all the emotions Winters could feel.

   He strode towards the wall.

   "Lieutenant Colonel won't let you go to the city!" Ciel tried desperately to hold Winters, but he couldn't: "You can't go!"

  Heinrich held his flag and followed the centurion silently.

The    wall was less than three meters high, and the barbarians on the wall knew that this height would not kill anyone, and they had no other defense equipment, so they desperately used muskets and hard bows to kill the attackers.

   Picking up a shield from the corpse, Winters climbed up without saying a word.

  The two warriors who were holding the ladder were stunned for a moment, then they held on to the ladder harder, not letting it shake.

  The ladder was slippery because it was covered in blood.

  The archers and musketeers on the other wall noticed the prominently armored centurion and turned their guns to Winters.

   Winters tried his best to maintain the deflection technique, carrying his shield and crawling upwards through gritted teeth.

   "Why did he go up again!" Seeing this scene, Lieutenant Colonel Jesska was furious: "Didn't I strictly prohibit him from going to the city?!"

  No one dared to answer.

Lieutenant Colonel    ordered the second batch of Cellini teams to arrive at the battlefield: "Lieutenant Cellini! Go and capture another wall!"

  Although the Southern Highland Fortress is very crude, it is still a star-shaped fortress. Attacking any wall alone will expose the sides and even the back to the other wall.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska asked Andre to put pressure on the other wall to reduce the pressure on the Montagne team.

  The Mason team arrived late, and the musketeers formed a formation amid the shouts of Lieutenant Mason, and set about suppressing the barbarians on the wall.

   About to climb to the top of the ladder, Winters looked up, only to see the black muzzle against his forehead.

   A ferocious barbarian with a musket, with a grim expression, was about to buckle down the firing rod immediately.

   Winters was maintaining the deflection spell, and it was too late to switch to another spell.

  In desperation, he grabbed the barrel of the gun and pushed it desperately to the heights.

  Barbarian pressed the launch rod, and the lead flew past his helmet. Through the glove, his palm was also shaken and painful.

   Winters grabbed the barrel and pulled it out with all his strength. The barbarian was also ruthless, gritted his teeth and refused to let go.

   The stalemate lasted for less than a second, and with a loud shout from Winters, the barbarian was "pulled" out of the wall by him.

  The barbarian musketeer fell heavily under the city, and was instantly stabbed to death by the Platonic sword.

   But until the very last moment of his life, he held on to his musket and did not let go.

   "[Hedde] White Lion!" The barbarian squeezed out a discordant voice, and then died.

   "Hooray!" shouted the Platoons under the wall.

  The "feat" of the centurion of Montagne was seen by everyone under the wall.

   "Long live!" The musketeers also shouted desperately.

   Winters didn't even realize it, he didn't even know that everyone was calling for him.

   He leaped up the city wall and drew his sword.

   In his heart there is no joy of success, only endless anger: in the small space inside the fort, there are barbarians everywhere.

  The white lion knew they were coming, and the white lion was waiting for them.

  His warriors were still crawling up the wall, and Winters could not make them retreat.

   Their mission has not been completed and it is impossible to retreat.

   "Come on!" Winters roared towards the enemy on the wall: "Come and kill me!"

   has no reason to say, only one party can survive.

   A barbarian musketeer saw the centurion of Palato rushing towards him, and hurriedly took his gun and wanted to shoot.

   Buttoned down the launch rod only to find that there was no match, and went to touch the handle again. Before he could draw his machete, Winters' cage sword had already been inserted into his chest.

  The blade pierced through the lobe of the lung from between the ribs, leaving a horrific wound. The alveoli were pushed into the trachea by atmospheric pressure, and the barbarian musketeer vomited **** bubbles and slowly fell to the ground.

   And the one who killed him has already drawn his sword to kill the next one.

   As more and more Palatians climbed the city, the barbarian shooters and musketeers suffered heavy casualties, and the pressure on others outside the wall plummeted.

  The archers and musketeers of the barbarians were not armored, and neither was Winters' combined enemy.

   Those non-lethal attacks, Winters did not even dodge, relying on the strong armor to resist.

  The barbarian slashed on his shoulders, armguards and breastplates, which would only cause him a lot of pain.

   In exchange, his sword will kill the barbarian.

   After knocking down more than a dozen enemies in a row, a vacuum has formed around Winters, and the archers and musketeers on the wall are desperately trying to escape him.

  The barbarian leader shouted hoarsely: "[Herde] These two legs are amazing! The musket hit him! The musket hit him!"

  The voice came from under the wall, and Winters on the wall could not see where the barbarian leader was.

   He shot three steel nails in a row in the general direction, and that annoying sound never appeared again.

  The Platoons had already occupied an area on the rampart, and Andrei also climbed up.

   Seeing the large number of brutes inside the fortress, Andre couldn't help but curse.

  The barbarian archers and musketeers have retreated to other areas of the fortress, and the brutes in armor and swords are pouring up from the stairs.

   Winters looked around. There were only gun mounts on the wall, no cannons.

   However, the scouts only saw the White Lion move the cannon into the fort, but did not see the White Lion move the cannon away.

   "The death row is silent! We're the only ones left!" Andre grabbed Winters: "Where's the cannon?"

   "Moved away!"

  Andre was anxious: "What should we do then?"

   "It's in this fortress!" Winters' face was hidden under the helmet, and Andre couldn't see his expression: "Hit in!"

   During the conversation, the barbarians shouted and attacked the upper base wall: "Woo Kaha!"

   The strong brute who rushed in front held his warhammer high, and smashed his head to the Taumash in front of Winters.

  Poor Tamarsh raised his shield to block, only blocking the first blow. He stabbed back with his side sword, but was blocked by his breastplate.

  The strong brute forcefully stabbed with a straight stab, smashing his round arm with a hammer, causing Taomash's brain to burst.

  Winters, who saw all this, threw off Andre, raised his sword and pounced on the hammer-wielding brute, and slashed at the opponent's neck with all his strength.

   His sword was already rolled, and the brute had a neck armor. Only sparks splattered, but no blood was seen.

  The brute wanted to repeat the old trick, but the power of Winters' sword was so great that he staggered under his feet.

   Without waiting for the Brute to regain its center of gravity, Winters grabbed the Brute's helmet and performed an unreserved disintegration.

   The Hammer Brute's head was instantly torn apart in the helmet, and red and white flowed out from the gap of the armor.

The other brute soldiers around    were so frightened that their legs were weak. Not only did they not dare to go forward, they also took a few steps backward.

   Winters reached for the Brute's hammer, his cage sword worn out.

   "Please use this." Someone behind him handed a page hammer.

  Ciel also climbed the wall at some point.

   Heinrich with the military flag also came, as well as Ish, Samukin... those who were still alive came.

   Winters took the page hammer and burst out laughing.

   He tore off the barbarian’s helmet covered in red and white, and threw it at the barbarian inside the fort.

   "White Lion!" Winters Montagne's roar pierced the cloud and cracked the stone: "What if you knew I was coming?! I still pierced you!"

   "Kill!" Winters pounced on the barbarian in the stairs.

   "Long live!" The soldiers of the Montagne team roared in unison.

   The siege who had a disadvantage in numbers not only did not defend the city wall, but pushed the defender off the city wall—partially.

   The stairs and corridors inside the fort are small, and no matter how many people there are, they cannot be used.

   The person at the front who is in contact with the enemy has almost no room to turn around. Under the hammer with a blunt weapon, he could only raise his shield or even his arm to resist.

The    attack has only two lines, one is smashing from top to bottom, and the other is stabbing forward, leaving no room for people to slash left and right.

   In less than three minutes, Winters, who rushed in the front, had been smashed many times.

  Swordsmanship instinctively allowed him to avoid the key points subconsciously, but he still inevitably became dull and numb.

   He uses spells without reservation, reaping his life like a legendary court wizard.

   He no longer uses cracking or other terrifying spells, all his "magic" is used on the most efficient and most practiced spell - flying arrows

   He almost launched the flying arrow technique against the target's forehead, it was impossible to miss, and there was no chance to dodge.

  The number of Paratus people is at an absolute disadvantage, but with the momentum of death and no life, they have faintly overwhelmed the barbarians.

  People stick to people, and the musketeers of the barbarians did not dare to shoot for fear of accidental injury.

  The barbarians also realized this, and a voice shouted desperately: "[Hedde] Don't be afraid! Shoot! Kill them all! Hit that leader!"

  The barbarian musketeers were hesitating, the voice shouted: "[Hedde] Get out! I'm coming!"

   A gunshot rang out in the corridor inside the fortress, and the wooden ceiling trembled.

   The Hurd man in front of Winters was killed on the spot, and the voice shouted again: "[Herd] Go on! Hit him! Hit those two bosses!"

   Under the pressure of that voice, a Heard musketeer gritted his teeth and opened fire. The lead hit the wooden wall, and the sawdust flew.

   The other musketeers also gritted their teeth and raised their muskets.

   Winters and Andre looked at each other and dashed forward in tacit understanding.

   Behind him are all his own people, and there is no way out. Only by desperately moving forward can there be a silver lining.

   Another shot was fired.

​​​​​

   Winters followed closely behind Andre, making sure he wouldn't get hit on the back and the back of his head.

   Winters saw the shouting barbarian. When he was ten steps away from the other party, he grasped the steel nail and raised his hand.

   A cold light flashed, and the barbarian's eyes turned into blood holes. He leaned against the wall and sat down slowly, his head drooping weakly.

  The barbarians in the corridor scattered like birds and beasts, and fled with a scrambling to the ground.

   "Haha." Andre leaned against the wall, his laughter came from his helmet, sounding dull: "Are we buddies okay?"

   "Always the best." Winters bumped fists with Andre.

   "Tick, tick."

   is the sound of blood dripping to the ground.

  Andre raised his arm to bump his fist, then tilted his head and seemed to smile bitterly: "I said...why are you numb?"

   His right arm had turned into rotten flesh, and a 30-gram lead bullet pierced through his arm armor and exploded in his muscle, leaving a horrific wound.

   Blood flowed into Andre's gloves and dripped onto the ground.

   Winters hurriedly took off Andre's cuffs and pulled out the belt to stop Andre's bleeding.

   "Dude, I can't help you." Andrei sat on the ground and said nonchalantly, "The rest is up to you."

   "Stop talking...stop talking..." Winters seemed to be crying, but his face was hidden under his helmet and no one could see it.

  The blood loss made Andre very tired, he whispered: "I want to rest for a while..."

  …

   At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Jesska also climbed the wall.

Lieutenant Colonel    swept the fort with his one eye and already understood the general situation.

   "Sure enough." Lieutenant Colonel asked, "Where's the cannon?"

   "Not on the wall." The wounded soldier beside him replied.

"What about the centurions of Montagne and Cellini?" the lieutenant colonel asked again.

   "Fighting into the fort."

   "It is impossible to retake the Southern Highlands!" Lieutenant Colonel Jesska said to the messenger: "Send the signal!"

  The messenger listened to the order and carefully took out a wooden box, which contained three flares.

   The messenger found fire and set it off with his hand.

   A series of three green flares screeched into the air and exploded.

   After a while, another red signal flare screeched into the air and exploded.

   Not from the east of the fort, but from the west of the fort!

   "Uukhai!"

   "Uukhai!"

   "Uukhai!"

   The terrifying battle cry of Palatu sounded, not from the east of the fortress, but from the west of the fortress.

  The sound of landslides and tsunami-like hooves is approaching the southern highland fortress.

   "Uukhai!" A black-armored cavalry with short guns leaped into the fort, not from other places, but from the place where the barbarians attacked during the day.

  The gap where the barbarians collapsed was repaired only with wooden fences. Because the gap in the west was closer to their camp, it was just right for the transport of troops and artillery.

  The Hurds attacked from the west and the Palatians attacked from the east, which is a mental trap.

   And the Platoons are going to hit through the gap in the west today.

  The black-armored cavalrymen who jumped into the fort held a short gun in each of their left and right hands. After firing the two guns, "Bang, Bang", they immediately drew out their sabres and slashed.

  After him, more black-armored cavalrymen leaped into the fortress, and they all slashed with their knives after firing two shots.

  The barbarian defenders of the fort also noticed the difference, and the musketeers and archers ran to the west to build the wall.

   After the forty or so black armored cavalry, there were more than thirty Dussac light cavalry, including Pierre, Anglo, Bell, and Wasika.

   After that, hundreds of Platonic swordsmen and halberdists poured into the fort.

   Laszlo Brigade is here.

   The death row was a feint attack, and the Jesska Brigade was also a feint attack.

   Colonel Laszlo's standing army brigade and Lieutenant Colonel Custer's pistol cavalry were the main attacking force.

  Robert's brigade is in charge of the rear.

   This was originally a plan of "Death Row and Jaskar Brigade to attract the enemy's attention, the main force to sneak attack from the side and rear, and to retake the fort in one fell swoop".

   But this plan has now gone bankrupt, because there are too many barbarians in the fortress, too many for the Paratus to clear in a short time.

   And reinforcements from the White Lion will arrive at any time.

The    plan can only be turned into the main force to attract the attention of the enemy and create opportunities for the Jesska Brigade to destroy the artillery.

   Hundreds of cavalrymen rushed into the narrow fortress, which suddenly became extremely crowded.

  The cavalry was inconvenient, but was dragged off the horse by the barbarians fighting on foot.

Lieutenant Colonel   Custer also found that the situation was not right. He originally planned to smash the defenders with a charge, but the number of defenders was unimaginable.

   It is impossible to withdraw from the situation until now. The battle has completely turned into a big melee, and it depends on who can't hold back first.

  …

  The brutes defending the fort were attacked from both sides, and the pressure on Winters dropped sharply.

  He led the surviving people on a rampage inside the fort.

   "Cannon!" Someone suddenly shouted in surprise from behind.

   In a large warehouse inside the fortress, four golden twelve-pound bronze cannons lay quietly on the ground.

   "Nails! Hammers!"

  Ciel searched desperately to find six large steel nails for destroying artillery.

  Each nail is thicker than a thumb, which is ideal for bronze guns with better toughness.

   "All crucified!"

   Without a hammer, the handle of a knife, a stone, and the fire doors of the four bronze cannons were quickly nailed to death.

   Winters took out the casting materials and filled each cannon with a shot of molten iron to ensure that the shells could not be stuffed into the barrels.

   After doing all this, he seemed to be drained of all his strength in an instant, "Come on, our mission is over."

   Originally wanted to finish writing a chapter, but found that I still couldn't write a chapter, the emotion was too long...

   Thank you book lovers for reading, subscribing, recommending tickets, monthly tickets, tips and comments.

   [Draw a map of the Battle of Styx, which can be found in this chapter and in the circle of book friends.

   The battles in this chapter are also sketched, but they will be drawn a little later. ]

   (end of this chapter)