Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 245

   As soon as the sun rose, the Qingfeng township camp fell into riots.

   Soldiers with flat-ended spears drew nets and sternly drove the refugees out of their tents, forcing them to gather in the clearing.

   Peter Black and Peter Fisher were among them.

  Bud stood on the carriage in front of the clearing, waiting for the refugees to arrive.

   He held a flagpole in his hand, which had no flag on it, but was covered with a sackcloth.

  The homeless people in ragged clothes stood quietly. They were hungry and exhausted, and their eyes were numb.

   Seeing that all the people in the camp have been brought over, Bud flattened the flagpole and slowly removed the burlap bag covering the top of the flagpole.

   The refugees couldn't help but whisper.

   The dirty burlap was ripped off.

   A large sacred emblem made of gold gleamed in the sunlight.

  Twelve rubies the size of pigeon eggs are inlaid vertically and horizontally on the holy emblem, reflecting a breathtaking halo.

   There is no shortage of discerning people who have already recognized what it is.

   "This is the holy emblem of Saint Aldous! The relics are preserved in it!" Bud stood the flagpole with both hands in front of him, glanced at the crowd, and urged: "Those who believe in the only savior! Kneel down and salute immediately!"

   An old woman in front of the crowd was the first to crawl on the ground,

  Like a giant wave, others knelt down with her, even the soldiers fell to one knee.

   "Our Lord in heaven!" Bud recited the Lord's Prayer aloud.

  The crowd read in a low voice: "Our Lord in heaven."

  Budd continued to chant: "May people respect..."

   He recited a sentence, and everyone followed it: "May people respect..."

  The people prayed in unison, the voices came together and became louder and louder, and many people even shed tears.

   Even refugees from other camps flocked to the fences of each camp, wanting to take a look.

   "Forever!" After chanting, Budd bowed: "Get up!"

   "Forever!" The crowd followed the salute and stood up.

  Bard gave the [Emblem of St. Aldous] to Ish next to him—Ish in Ganshui Town.

  Ish from Ganshui Town looked excited and held the flagpole tightly, preventing it from tilting half a point.

   In the riots on the day the city was broken, the Cathedral of Gervoudin was first sacked and then set on fire. Although the fire was quickly put out, the precious sacrificial utensils in the church were also looted.

  The emblem of St. Aldous in the hands of Bard was recovered from the criminals.

   "Those who follow the will of the Lord, you will be saved!" Bard, who led the prayers of the people, naturally began to preach to the people: "Many centuries ago...the prophets separated the sea and led the people into the wilderness..."

   His sermons are very simple, just telling the story of the scriptures that "the prophet separated the sea and led the people to wander in the wilderness for forty years, and finally reached the "land flowing with milk and honey".

  Bard was not a Protestant, nor a clergyman of the Old Church, and he had no authority to perform ceremonies.

   But when he preached, everyone listened.

   After the sermon, the son of the tenant of Green Heart Monastery, Bard of Girard Village, looked into the eyes of the refugees, and announced the fate of the latter with a blank expression:

   "Yesterday, the Tiefeng County Military Government passed the "Poverty Relief Decree". According to the Decree, all refugees will be subject to military law immediately, and the Military Government will provide you with food! Housing! Farm tools! And land!"

​​​​​​

   Even the most ignorant of the refugees was taken aback at the moment.

  The crowd murmured at first, the voices continued to spread, and the camp became more and more noisy.

   Bud shouted sharply: "Quiet!"

  People slammed their mouths shut, and the camp became silent for a while, this is the aftermath of stick education.

   "The Prophet led the people to walk in the wilderness for 40 years before they entered the Promised Land." Bard, like a sermon, unquestionably pronounced judgment on the refugees: "By the grace of the Republic and the Lord, you only need seven years!"

  The refugees were a little confused, and even the soldiers were listening carefully.

The autumn wind swept across the camp and sent Bud's voice to everyone's ears: "Under the testimony of the Lord, the Republic has made a pact with you. After three years of labor as serfs, you will become tenant farmers on your own, and you will no longer be subject to military law. Constraints. Working as a tenant farmer for another four years, you will be eligible to redeem the land, restore your full free status, and become a true homesteader.”

Bard opened the Book of Judgment and handed it over to the announcer brought from Gervodin: "Whoever's name is called will come forward. Kiss the holy emblem, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Pledge allegiance !"

  The Announcer took the "Judgment" with both hands. He just earned extra money by singing votes at the town assembly and reading the notices at the market. Where has he experienced such a scene.

   With his Adam's apple twitching, he struggled to pronounce the first name: "Peter Black of Shibi Village!"

   Hearing his name being called, Peter Black's legs trembled uncontrollably.

   He didn't expect that the first person to be called was him, and he didn't even hear what the priest was saying.

   He only vaguely heard "to distribute food", "to distribute land" and "to be a serf".

   "Live well, there will be a way to survive".

  Peter Black suddenly remembered what the unknown gentleman had said.

   He swallowed hard, stepped forward stiffly, kissed the holy emblem made of gold and precious stones, and swore allegiance.

   "Peter Campbell of Linshui Village!" Bud said the second name.

  No one came out.

  Bud narrowed his eyes and repeated: "Peter Campbell of Linshui Village!"

   A young man stepped out of the crowd reluctantly. He was thin and thin, but his eyes were big and he was rolling. His mouth was a little crooked, so he was registered as Campbell.

The young man walked to the carriage, but did not want to kiss the holy emblem. He glanced at the face of the "priest officer", and said hesitantly: "My lord, I am not a farmer, I am from Gévordan, I will not farming."

   "Then why did you call yourself a farmer when you registered?" Bud asked blankly.

   The young man could not answer.

   He was originally an idle and rogue from Gervodin. Cheng Po wanted to take advantage of the chaos to make a fortune, so he tied a red rope around his shoulders and went to the street to rob.

  However, the siege army quickly turned around to suppress the riots, restore law and order, and round up the looters.

   He was afraid, so he followed the refugees out of the city and hid in the refugee camp. He was fooled by the screening process, and he reported that he was a tenant farmer when he registered.

   Seeing that the other party didn't speak, Bud asked kindly, "You don't want to farm?"

   "Sir." The rogue man replied bravely, "I don't know how to plant."

"Can."

  The rogue man was overjoyed: "Thank you for your kindness! Thank you..."

  Bud pointed at the other party, but could not see a trace of emotion: "Arrest him!"

  Ish threw the flagpole to the others, kicked the rogue man down, and tied the latter firmly with a few strokes.

  The young rogue was completely panicked: "My lord! I am willing to work on the farm! I am willing to go!"

   "Shut him up!" Bud ordered.

  Ish, who was wearing iron gloves, slapped him hard, and the rogue man was beaten to the point of fainting.

   "If you don't accept the poor contract, you are a criminal." Bud ruthlessly sentenced the scoundrel who had passed out: "According to the power granted to me by the Poor Law, I sentence you to twenty years of hard labor. Take him away!"

  Ish drags the rogue Gervoudan, who goes by the alias Peter, all the way out of the camp, as if he were dragging a corpse.

"You only have two ways to go!" Bud looked at the refugees again: "Either, go to reclaim the farm and cultivate land! After seven years, get back your status as a free man; or, go to serve twenty years of hard labor, twenty years later No more freedom! Whatever you want, you choose! The next one!"

   "Peter Fisher of Stonewall!" cried the announcer, trembling.

   Peter Fisher, who was pity for Peter Black just now, was so frightened that he was about to wet his pants.

   He gritted his teeth and moved his steps, but he didn't understand, but only understood the two words "seven years" and "land".

   He is a long-term worker who has nothing, and he will never lose more.

  Peter "Dead Fisheye" Fisher walked to the carriage, bowed his head and kissed the holy emblem, swearing his allegiance.

   Led by Peter Black and Peter Fisher, the others, willingly or not, accepted their fate in obedience.

  Even if they wanted to resist, they couldn't.

   Winters and Bard's control of the refugees was divided into three stages:

   One stage [encirclement], not letting a refugee get away;

  The second stage [screening, registration], find out those bandits and hooligans who have mixed into the farmers, select the craftsmen and self-cultivators among the refugees, and register the remaining landless farmers;

  Three-stage [diversion], dismantling the large army of refugees, blocking each part from echoing and connecting with each other.

   In the third stage, more than 20,000 refugees were divided into 16 battalions.

   Each camp has as many as 2,000 people, and as few as 900 people, nearly one-third of them are children.

  Although the number of refugees in each battalion still far exceeds the number of soldiers in Bard’s hands, with three centenarians, they can easily suppress any single camp.

   In addition, many refugee farmers brought their families with them. Even if they wanted to resist, they had to worry about their families. They were powerless to fight.

  The peasants who bring their families and families do not contradict this "contract", they are eager to find stutterers for their wives, children and children.

  There are farmers who are reluctant, but after being named, they still walk to the carriage like others, kiss the holy emblem, and swear allegiance—even they themselves don’t know why they do it.

  …

  Bud watched the refugees come forward one by one. He remembered what he said to his partners in the conference room of the garrison yesterday:

   "Where? Where? We're not building a utopia!"

   "The peasants need land, so how can we give them any land? There are owners of the arable land, and if there is no owner, it is wasteland! The peasants need houses, so how can we give them houses?

   "We can't turn homeless people into homesteaders! Not to mention I never thought of doing this!"

   "Don't think about saving the world, being a savior is more hated than being a pure bad guy. The peasants can accept you treat them like a nobleman, but they can't accept that you are a good guy!"

   "They can accept a **** as a savior, but they can't accept a man as a savior!"

   "You give them land and food, and they may regard you as a **** for a short time! But when one day they find out that you are human, they will immediately spurn you and betray you."

   "So everything we do must be based on our interests. Only in this way, when they betray us one day in the future, will we be able to accept it without complaining."

   "If anyone thinks it's oppression! Then I'm going to oppress them!"

"Don't try to save everyone, that's a great deed that only God can do." Bud clenched his fists and looked directly into Winters' eyes: "If we can save half of the people, we can go to heaven or go down to heaven with peace of mind. hell."

  …

   All the refugees in the Qingfeng Town camp took an oath, and Bard ordered the official documents to be posted on the notice board in the camp.

   Early in the morning the next day, [Qingfeng Camp] will set off to migrate to the southwest of Tiefeng County, and the other fifteen "battalions" will also start in turn.

  Budd wants to bring all the refugees to Langtun Town, Heishui Town, Wuzhen Town, Niuti Valley and Xiaoshi Town.

   There is the most southwestern and most desolate land in Tiefeng County, and it is also the farthest place from the enemy.

   He knew that most of the refugees didn't listen to what he was talking about, and he didn't have time to explain it carefully to the refugees. But it doesn't matter, they will gradually understand.

   "Go!" Bud stepped on his horse and took the emblem of St. Aldous: "Go to the next camp."

  …

   Compared with the chill and dullness of the refugee camp, the atmosphere in Winters is relatively relaxed.

  The battle is imminent, and the large and small affairs of the exile camp are taken over by Bud and Mason.

   Winters' energies were devoted to rearranging the army.

The main content of    is to actually turn the captured Ronald's prisoners into his soldiers.

   Originally, Montagne's garrison wanted to select the strongest refugees to join the army, but he soon found that there was no need to do so.

   Because Major Ronald has done the job for him.

   Ronald's troops consisted of the strongest adult males among the refugees.

   And the officers of the former Gervoudan garrison also conducted basic military training for these "recruits".

   Recruiting and training troops, the venerable Major Ronald did it all, saving Winters a lot of trouble.

   Originally belonged to Ronald's four brigades, but now there are four whereabouts.

   Three Centurions were taken by Bud, Andre and Mason;

   There are also a small number of "labor farms" currently in Wolf Town - those who were ambushed by Winters when they went out of the city to collect food.

  Samukin led the militias in the villages of Wolf Town to take care of them. According to Winters' arrangement, they should be cutting down trees and building houses.

   The other small group deserted on the retreat, when they were still Ronald's soldiers.

   The rest were captured by Winters, totaling 1178.

   Winters first eliminated all the soldiers from Revodan.

   Then, it was added to a small number of refugees.

   Finally, he appointed his old division as the ten and centurion of the new army.

  According to Winters' method of organization, the new troops were reorganized into a hundred arrows, 1200 men.

   If it is a standing army, this size can already use the phalanx tactics.

   But Winters lacked muskets, so the hundred arrows were all spearmen.

  In the past imperial military system, soldiers recruited from different fiefs, counties, and states were separately organized into regiments [Regiment].

   "Regiment" is not only a military establishment, but also a recruiting and administrative unit, which is in line with the current situation of Winters' army.

   The so-called tentative designation given by Winters to these 1,200 soldiers is [Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment], which tentatively consists of ten centenarians.

   In addition, there are three "old divisions" of Bud, Andre, and Mason, which are organized outside the infantry regiment.

   Winters originally planned to incorporate these soldiers with combat experience into the new unit, but the counterattack of the New Reclamation Corps came too quickly, and it was too late for the new unit to form combat effectiveness.

   So instead of loosening your fingers, you should clench your fists.

   Therefore, Winters did not move the three most reliable centenarians under his command for the time being, but only selected some of the veterans to serve as sergeants of the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment.

  His army now has flesh and bones, but the army is still a walking dead, not even an army.

   They are just a group of refugees who eat bread.

   This army lacks soul.

   Next, Winters must make these soldiers truly his "fighters".

   [Thanks to the leader of the book friend [sonnet], thank you]

   [The oath of allegiance may not seem binding, but it was indeed the most direct means by which the regime demanded the allegiance of the people during the feudal era, the Renaissance and the bourgeois revolution. After all, in theory, the witnesses of the oath are not humans, but gods. For believers who dream about going to hell, the oath is actually binding]

   [Until now, "swear by the scriptures" testimonies will be accepted. There is nothing strange about taking an oath of allegiance]

   [For Winters, the concept of the Iron Peaks infantry regiment is not abrupt, because it is logical to organize soldiers from one area into a regiment]

   [It is not very accurate to translate the military units of "tuan" in different countries into "tuan". This concept is somewhat related to the region. A large number of soldiers recruited from a certain area can be called a "regiment". There is no precise regulation on how many troops a regiment has. Renaissance mercenaries also took part in warfare with the concept of a "regiment"]

   [However, a regiment usually has the name of the colonel, the commander of the lieutenant colonel, and the adjutant of the major]

   [After taking the garrison officer, Captain Montagne once again boldly "overstepped"]

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, reward and comment]

   (end of this chapter)