Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 416 Holy Land

  [wilderness]

  A naked man carrying a machete, lying on the back of a saddled red-and-white horse, fled to the depths of the mountain like a lifeless one.

   While beating the warhorse with a machete, the man kept looking behind him in horror, as if he was being chased by some kind of terrifying beast.

   This man is Chi Lian, the nobleman of the Jinren clan, the archer of the Teltown Department, and the personal servant of the fire roaster.

  Because he has been in charge of guarding the Holy Land for many years, Chi Lian usually does not participate in looting, so he did not experience the battle of blood and mud, and fortunately escaped.

   But it was precisely because he had never experienced the tragic battle that turned the permafrost into a swamp, he did not know the need to be afraid of blood wolves.

  Without a saddle, there is nowhere to borrow. Every bump on the horse's back makes Chi Lian in pain, but he doesn't dare to stop. He clamped the horse's ribs tightly with his legs, and beat the mount under him even harder.

"[Hede] Hurry up! Hurry up!" Chi Lian shouted in his heart: "[Hede] Heldun Mountain! Save me! Protect my ant-like life, and my descendants will sacrifice your morning sacrifices for you every day. I will gather the lost children, the herd and the tent, and I will rise again like the sun! Hurry up! Hurry up!"

   However, the pursuers still came.

   There was a series of intermittent, inaudible muffled noises from behind Chi Lian, and then the sound of the rear hoofs became clearer and closer, even the hoofs of the red and white flowers riding on Chi Lian could not cover it up.

   Chi Lian's actions were concealed enough. He walked through streams and over valleys, without any guards, and acted alone.

   But the pursuer had a better sense of smell, and he followed the hoof prints, hair and broken grass stems and branches all the way.

   Chi Lian looked back and found that there was only one chasing soldier on the horizon, so he ignored it and continued to gallop. Because his red and white flower is a good horse, it is easy to get rid of the stalker.

   However, it backfired. Although the chasing horse was not as good as Chi-Lian, he was a calm and calm rider. He carefully chooses the route that saves the most horsepower, instead of recklessly racing like Chi Lian.

  So the figure of the pursuer disappeared several times behind Chi Lian, but reappeared on the horizon again and again.

   Finally, the stamina of the red and white flowers was gradually exhausted, and the rhythm of the four hoofs slowed down involuntarily.

  The pursuers who had been casually following Chi Lian suddenly moved their horses, closing the distance with Chi Lian like lightning.

  The chasing rider stepped on the stirrup and stood up from the horse's back, drawing a bow and arrow. Chi Lian couldn't react in time and fell within the range of the bow and arrow.

   Hearing the sound of "Zheng" behind him, Chi Lian screamed in horror, but he didn't feel the pain of the arrow piercing the flesh on his back. Instead, the red and white flowers under his crotch let out a scream, and the speed suddenly accelerated.

   The chasing rider did not aim at Chi Lian, but instead hit the red and white horse hip with an arrow.

   Chi Lian turned his head to look at the place where the arrow was in the red and white flower, and was completely desperate—because the chasing soldiers were obviously not using ordinary arrows, but specially-made bloodletting arrows.

  This kind of arrow is specially used for hunting large beasts, and you don’t want to pull it out if you pierce the flesh. The arrow was forcibly pulled out, and the wound could not be closed on its own. But if the arrow is not pulled out, the sharp edge of the arrow will continue to cut new wounds in the prey. So as long as the arrow hits the torso of the beast, the hunter just has to wait patiently for the prey to die from unstoppable blood loss.

   Chi Lian gritted his teeth, yanked the reins, and turned his horse to face the enemy.

The    tracker also stopped and rode with Chi Lian.

   With the rising sun, Chi Lian finally saw the appearance of the pursuers: about sixteen or seventeen years old, with fine fluff just growing on his lips - he was still a kid between an adult and a child.

The most incredible thing is that the chasing soldiers wore robes in the style of various tribes, combed the braids of the children of various tribes, and used a saddle in the style of the wasteland. a musket.

   The wolf dog who had been biting him all the way and wouldn't let go, was actually a disciple of various tribes? !

   "[Hede] Beast!" Chi Lian yelled furiously: "[Hede] Why do you want to help a two-legged man?!"

  The pursuer ignored Chi Lian, and after confirming that Chi Lian had neither a bow nor an arrow in his hand, he lightly pulled on the reins and distanced himself from Chi Lian again.

   "[Hede] Come on!" Chi Lian waved his machete and roared towards the stalker: "[Hede] fight to the death with me."

  The pursuer tapped the horse's rib, turned and left. He deftly controlled the gray horse under his crotch, keeping an arrow distance from the red and white horses. Until Chi Lian stopped, he also stopped, and continued to stare at Chi Lian not too close or far.

Chi Lian was so angry that he had nowhere to vent, he frantically hammered his chest: "[Extremely vicious Heard swear words]! Come on! Come on! Don't you want to take my life for a reward? Come and take it! Come and get it!"

   However, the chasing soldier is like a stone without emotion, even if the waves beat it, it will not move. No matter what Chi Lian did, the young disciple with the musket on his back didn't react, just looked at Chi Lian silently.

   Another series of hoofs came from behind, and another rider appeared on the waterline of the hillside. Seeing Chi Lian and the young man under the hillside, the rider immediately rushed towards them.

   "Brother [Herde]!" The new rider could be heard shouting excitedly from a distance: "[Herde] Did you catch the headless man?!"

   Chi Lian stared at the pair of brothers in front of him with ashes as his heart. The new rider looked seven points similar to the youth, but he was obviously younger. Horned bows and quivers hung from the side of the saddle, and a musket was slung in the back.

   The new rider happily galloped up to the confronting two men. He was overjoyed to see that Chi Lian only had a machete but no bow and arrows. Turning his head, he found that his brother was slow to act, and he was a little more puzzled.

   But he quickly decided - not so much.

  The new rider untied the ropes, held the bow and arrow, and volunteered: "[Herde] If my brother doesn't want to do it, then I'll come!"

   But his brother's hand pressed down on his horned bow.

   The half-eldest looked at his brother in confusion, while the young man just shook his head.

   "Wait." The young man told his brother with his eyes.

   Chi Lian begged for death, and shouted in grief and indignation. Then he wiped a handful of tears indiscriminately, got on his horse, and walked towards the depths of the mountain persistently.

   The two brothers who caught up with him neither stopped nor helped, but were not too close or far behind him.

   After an unknown amount of time, the tranquility of the wasteland was once again shattered by the rumbling sound of hoofs.

   A group of black cavalrymen appeared in the field of vision of the three of them. This time, it was no longer the disciples of various tribes, but the genuine Palatine cavalry.

   The young man fired a loud arrow into the sky.

   The Platoon cavalry who followed the mark left by the youth and arrived here heard the sound and rode their horses towards the position of the three.

The leader    is none other than Saber Cerber.

   Chi Lian knew that his death was coming, and turned his horse to face the enemy.

   Seeing the desperate savage chief and the guide brother monitoring the savage chief, Sebo laughed: "Leave it to me? Very good! Very good!!"

   Immediately afterwards, Sebo saw the barbarian chief pointing a knife at himself, and murmured a lot of Heard words.

   "Huh?" Seb couldn't help raising his eyebrows and asked his guide brother, "What did he say?"

  The elder brother of the brothers listened to Chi Lian's scolding and explained in half-familiar two-legged language: "Chi Lian-headed man... wants to fight with you... warriors and warriors... an arrow against an arrow..."

  Cerber was interested: "Duel?"

   "Major, please don't be impulsive." When Anglo heard something bad, he hurriedly spoke out to dissuade him: "The barbarian chief knows that he can't escape today, and is trying to break the net, please don't give him a chance."

   "When are you qualified to control me?" Seber squinted at Anglo.

"The tribune of Montagne ordered me to protect your safety." Anglo replied humbly: "I am no longer a soldier of the Palatine Army, so your rank of major has no meaning to me, but the instructions of the centurion are my mission."

  Cerber snorted softly and waved his hand nonchalantly: "I'm measured."

   He waved his whip lightly and rode slowly to Chi Lian. Anglo gestured helplessly to prepare his subordinates.

   However, Seber, who was confronting Chi Lian, did not draw out his weapon, but reached into his arms, fumbling for a long time, and took out a dirty and old pipe.

  He stuffed the bowl clumsily with shredded tobacco leaves, took great pains to ignite the terry cloth with the scythe, and finally set the tobacco on fire.

Chi Lian's eyes widened, and he looked at the inexplicable behavior of the two-legged man until he realized that the other party put the little thing in his mouth, and took a good breath, as if enjoying his despair, his anger, His end.

   "Senior Laszlo, Senior Robert." Seber thought silently: "Did you see it?"

   Immediately afterwards, he coughed violently from the pungent smoke—he didn't actually smoke.

   Chi Lian was furious, shouting and waving his machete and rushing towards the two-legged man who dared to humiliate him.

   However, Cerber, who was still coughing, pulled out the short spear on the side of the saddle like lightning, pointed it directly at the chest of the barbarian, and pulled the trigger firmly.

   There was a crisp sound of "click", the flames shot out, and gunpowder smoke spewed.

   Chi Lian had a blood hole in his chest, and a more terrifying hole was opened in his back. His arms were thrown behind him and he fell off the horse.

   "Stupid," Cerber said coldly.

   Chi practice is dead.

   But it won't be long before Seber regrets letting Chi Lian die so easily.

  …

  [The valley where the Akanebu camp is located]

  The sun is fully up.

   The battle is over, and the brief and **** killing is over.

  The bodies scattered all over the hillside were dragged to the bottom of the valley and counted one by one. The captives—men, women, children—were kept in captivity and kept under the watchful eye of someone specializing in them.

  The wounded cavalry sat resting on the hillside, waiting for the medical officer to treat their wounds. The bodies of the fallen cavalrymen had been loaded into the vehicles, and their black coats covered their lifeless faces.

  The cavalry that can still move, except for a small number of people who went to chase the fleeing enemy, most of the others are rummaging through the ruins of the camp, looking for food, water and loot.

   It was an unquestionable victory, a wasteland victory, and the winner had the right to take everything.

   Unlike the clankingly poor Heard tribe that Winters had ever seen, the Chilian tribe was unusually rich. At least the furs, jewelry, gold and silver utensils, and coins recovered from the camp have been piled up as high as hills.

"Centurion!" Lannis, the former fifth company commander of the infantry regiment and now the temporary cavalry squadron commander, held a machete in a pearl sheath, and the joy on his face could not be concealed: "It should be the saber of the barbarian chief! Dedicated to you !"

   Winters took the machete and asked, "Have you been sent out to ride the post?"

   "Sent out." Lannis immediately put away his smile and replied solemnly: "Riding posts have been dispatched in twenty-four directions, and any cavalry team that appears within 20 kilometers will not be able to escape our eyes."

"Let everyone collect food, water and horses first - these things can't be eaten or drunk, we need to evacuate as soon as possible." Winters threw the machete into the hill where the loot was stacked, and tapped Lannis on the head with a horsewhip: "No need. Worry about the loot, it will be distributed fairly to all."

  Lannis raised his hand to salute and left happily.

   "Your Excellency." Heinrich, the flag-bearer, asked softly behind Winters: "You don't look... as if you're not happy?"

   "No." Winters rubbed his chin: "I'm very pleased. We paid a small price and got a big victory."

   "But you... never laughed." Heinrich pointed to his comrades in the valley: "At least not as happy as everyone."

  Heinrich was right, almost all of the hussars alive in the valley had triumphant smiles on their faces, only Winters' expression was still serious.

   "According to Tai Chi, the Red Training Department should have a large number of slaves." Winters said thoughtfully: "But... do you see slaves that should exist now?"

  Heinrich was startled: "Only female slaves."

   "Yes, only female slaves." Winters squinted his eyes unconsciously: "Call me the guide."

   Just when Winters, who was supervising the cleaning of the battlefield, was still puzzled by the fact that "there are almost no male slaves in the Chilianbu camp", the scout chasing the remnant enemy brought back unexpected enemy information.

  The original permanent camp located in the open area of ​​the valley is only a part of the old camp of the Chilian Department, mainly for the tribe's guards, servants, slaves in the tent and female relatives.

   In the depths of the valley, where the terrain is steep, there is another permanent camp for garrison.

   "You told me..." After listening to the report, Winters narrowed his eyes slightly to look at the guide sent by Tai Chi: "There is only one fortified camp."

Cold sweat broke out on the forehead of the guide, and he suddenly knelt on the ground, explaining incoherently: "Chi Lian is the most trusted friend of the fire roaster, and the fire roaster trusts him the most, and he is ordered to guard the Holy Land. Therefore, except for Chi Lian No one can enter his pasture! Even the location of this camp was discovered by King Taichi with great effort! Batu, King Taichi... No, no, I, I really don't know there is A fortified camp! Batu! I really didn’t lie! Batu…”

   Winters judged that the guide was telling the truth, but he was noncommittal. After a moment of contemplation, he gave the order: "Assemble the entire army! Leave the first and second squadrons to clean the battlefield, and the other squadrons will follow me - it seems that today's battle is not over yet."

  …

  The further you go deeper into the valley, the narrower the mountain becomes and the higher the terrain.

   The second permanent camp of the Chilian Department is located on the high ground, backed by mountains and forests, and protected by natural watersheds on both wings. Only one side is open—or uphill.

  Some of the Chilian tribes who managed to escape had brought the news of the enemy's attack to the highland camp, so when Winters arrived, there were already many heavily armed archers standing on the wall of the highland camp.

   Winters roughly counted the defenders on the wall. The number was not large, but for the light cavalry he led, a permanent camp that had entered a state of alert would be a very hard bone to crack.

Major   Cerber chased down the savage chiefs, but he didn't know where to go, and even Anglo went with him, so at the moment Winters didn't even have anyone who could discuss strategies together.

   So he ordered that the temporary squadron leaders of the four cavalry squadrons and all the senior sergeants should be called together.

"Judging from the situation in the valley camp, the Red Training Department is very rich, it is impossible to have so few slaves, and it is impossible to have only female slaves." Winters simply drew a topographic map on the ground: "Then all male slaves may be imprisoned in In the highland camp, the expeditionary army prisoners obtained by the Chi Lian Department the previous year may also be inside."

   Hearing the word "Captive of the Expeditionary Force", the eyes of several old sergeants instantly turned red.

   "Tell me." Winters looked at his subordinates: "What are your thoughts?"

   This is a meeting and a test.

   "The warhorse can't have such a high wall." Someone asked tentatively: "How about... try the bag soil?"

"Where can I find so many bags for soil at a time?" Lannis retorted, and he looked at the tribunal: "Centurion, you still have to use infantry to attack the city. There is wood in the valley camp, which can be made into ladders. You Pick some good players, and I will lead them directly to the wall with ladders. If possible, I will send some people to go around the mountain from the back. I don’t believe the barbarians can hold the attack from both sides.”

   Winters looked at the subordinates he had cultivated: "You should know the risks of climbing the wall."

"Of course I do." Lannis replied nonchalantly. He wiped his nose and smiled: "Didn't you capture a lot of barbarian armor? Just send me a set in advance. I'm the only one here from the infantry regiment. I can't lose the face of the infantry regiment. You gave me my life, and it's not a pity to die."

   Winters silently recalled the old marshal's admonition: "If someone is willing to die for you, let's not easily put them in danger."

   "Silly words." Winters scolded with a stern face: "If your life is mine, it's even more shameful to waste it."

   Winters thought for a moment before making a decision. He tapped the ground with a stick: "Gather wood and kerosene, and prepare for a fire attack."

   "No!" An old sergeant from the expeditionary force present became anxious when he heard this. He was not a direct subordinate of Winters. He was willing to participate in this surprise attack entirely because of Major Seber.

   The old sergeant blushed and shouted loudly with his neck stuck: "There may still be our people there! Are you going to burn them to death together?!"

  Lannis and other Winters' direct descendants instantly changed their faces, and their fists clenched tightly.

"It's our people too." Winters was actually a little annoyed by the old sergeant's public confrontation, but he explained as calmly as possible: "The key is not to set fire, but to convince the people on the mountain that we are going to set fire - Got it ?"

   The old sergeant instinctively wanted to argue a few more words, but he closed his mouth angrily when he saw Lannis and the others' eyes almost bursting with fire.

   "If there is no problem." Winters sighed secretly and made a final decision: "Just execute it."

  …

   They chopped down trees and dismantled the felt tents. Just as the Tiefeng County hussars piled up the whole vehicle of combustibles down the hillside, the gate of the highland camp opened a small crack.

  Three riders galloped out of the gate. The first rider carried a helmet and a suit of armor with a flagpole—the messenger who came to negotiate.

   So Winters greeted him with an interpreter and guide.

"[The Hurds] This is the blood of the Jin, the nobles of the Teltown department, the descendants of Balaaul, the son of the guest post, the friend of Chilian, the guardian of the Holy Land - White Star." A red plume Yu introduced his own negotiator in a loud voice, and then arrogantly asked: "[Hard people] black-clothed children, let me know your identity!"

   "Batu, don't worry, guest post... I've never heard of it." The guide whispered to Winters: "It's just a little guy."

After that, the guide sent by Taichi beat his horse forward, and declared in an air of vigour: "[Herde] in front of you is the divine choice of the highest heaven, the champion of Palato, the master of Iron Peak County, and the River Styx. The warrior who did not dare to take away, the butcher of Qingqiu—the blood of the blue wolf.”

  The face of the nobleman from the Red Training Department who came to negotiate was obviously a little darker. He cleared his throat and said a lot of Heard words.

   "Badu, White Star greets you and congratulates you on your victory." The guide whispered: "If you allow him and his men to leave with weapons and horses, he is willing to dedicate this camp to you intact."

   "He is not qualified to negotiate terms with me." Winters replied indifferently: "Tell him, or die if you don't surrender."

   is another series of Heddish dialogues.

  The guide wiped the sweat from his forehead: "White Star said that as long as you promise to spare his life, he is willing to dedicate his camp to you."

   Winters squinted his eyes, and directly beat his horse over the guide, looking at the nobleman of the Akanebu who came to negotiate as if he were looking at a corpse: "[Hede] will die if he doesn't surrender."

   The face of the aristocrat of the Red Training Department turned pale, and he eagerly wanted to say something else, but Winters didn't bother to pay any attention, sneered a few times, and left with a whip.

   "Batu!" The overwhelmed guide shouted in panic behind Winters: "White Star asked Batu, there are still Pratu slaves in the camp, does Batu ignore them?"

   But Winters was long gone without looking back.

   Ten minutes later, the horsetail flags of the highland camp were removed, and Bai Xing took all the guards out of the camp to beg for surrender.

   However, Winters, who took down the camp without a single soldier, did not have the joy of a victor in his chest, only an uncontrollable violent anger.

   As he expected, there were slaves in the camp, and there were many, many slaves, not only the Paratus, but also the Heds, and the expeditionary army prisoners obtained by the Chilian Department were also among them.

  The slaves owned by the Hurd tribes generally did not fare well, because the Hurd tribes themselves were poor.

   But the slaves in charge of the Red Training Department had all had their tongues cut off—without exception. Individual enslaved people also had their toes chopped off or were chained to the wall with iron rings.

  Many people have been tortured to the point of being inhuman, dodging desperately like mice in the face of fire.

   The old sergeant who had contradicted Winters before, now holding an old friend who was almost unrecognizable, he burst into tears. And the expeditionary army veteran who just regained his freedom has no more tears to shed.

   Saber Seber, who had just returned, saw such a tragic situation, and shouted and pulled out his saber, to smash the dead Chi Lian into tens of thousands of pieces.

   Shirahoshi and the rest of the Red Training Department guards were all dragged in front of Winters, kneeling in a row.

   "Go ahead." Winters clenched his teeth and pinched Shirahoshi's skull: "Why do you do this?"

   Shirahoshi trembled uncontrollably, and said everything as if he was pouring beans in a bamboo tube.

  …

   Baixing held a torch and walked in front, leading Winters, Cerber and others into the cave behind the highland camp.

  The cave has a main corridor sloping downward. The walls of the corridor are full of traces of artificial excavation. From both sides of the main corridor, there are many branch lanes sloping downward.

   Some of the alleys have been sealed, but there is still a faint corpse odor escaping from the gaps in the stones.

   There were also the sound of "ding ding ding ding dong" in the depths of some branch alleys.

   has been walking very deep, and then Bai Xing stopped. He flatteredly illuminated the rock wall with a torch, and invited the blood wolf to come forward and watch as if taking credit.

   With the dim light of the fire, Winters saw that there were dark yellow marks like scratches on the quartz section of the rock wall, and those marks were flowing with a breathtaking luster.

   In that instant, Winters understood.

Why is the Terden Ministry able to cast such amazing golden figures, why is the territory of the Chirenbu not allowing anyone to enter, why the slaves have their tongues cut off, why are the hills of gravel piled up around the caves, why the inside of the camp is so dry lots of wool.

   Holy Land?

   is a copper-gold associated mine! Moreover, it is a bonanza—the strength of Chi Lian’s recruitment, the source of power for the fire-boilers, and the biggest secret of the Teltown Department.

  Cerber was a tad slower to react, but he quickly realized what he was seeing. Without saying a word, he drew his sword and slashed towards Bai Xing.

   Yet his arm was held tightly by Winters, unable to move no matter how hard he struggled. If it were the past, he might be able to wrestle with Winters. But after more than a year of being enslaved, Seber's strength is far from what it used to be.

   Shirahoshi was so frightened that he slumped on the ground, but he didn't dare to escape.

   "You can't let other barbarians know the secrets here." Sebo roared: "The prisoners, the guides, all were killed, not one left!"

   "Can you hide by killing?" Winters asked rhetorically.

   "The mine also collapsed! Even if we can't get it, we can't let the barbarians get it! Do you know what will happen if this thing falls into the hands of the white lion?!"

   "Don't worry." Winters grabbed Cerber's wrist and put Cerber's saber back into the scabbard: "Leave it to me."

  …

  [after a moment]

  [Highland Camp Gate]

   "Go and tell Taichi." Winters told the guide, "I need to talk to him about the distribution of the spoils."

   "That's it?" Seb asked angrily, staring, "And then?"

"Things have to be done one by one. Then, we will evacuate as originally planned." Winters looked at the enslaved people who had just been freed, and then looked in the direction of Iron Peak County: "Waiting for Andre and Morrow. Good news for Captain."

   [Please provide the recipient information as soon as possible for those who have not yet registered the receipt information and the list book lovers]

   [Continued from the author of the previous chapter]

[Because it is very difficult for nomadic tribes to maintain a standing army (or very difficult for most tribal regimes), the "permanent escort" becomes very important, often having more power and status]

[Like the "Oath Warriors" of the Celtic Tribes, the "Knights and Attendants" of the feudal era, and the "Friends", "Quizzlers", "Suwei" of the Central Asian steppe nomadic tribes, and even fantasy works& amp;lt;A Song of Ice and Fire > "Bloodguard"]

[These resident guards not only eat and live with the leader, but in order to maintain their loyalty, the tribal leader will use various methods to win over them, including but not limited to religion, oath, honor, and even develop similar brotherhood with them. friendship, often relying more on them in personnel appointments]

   [So is it possible for nomadic tribes to build a large standing army? ]

   [Answer: It is possible that Temujin was established as Genghis Khan. After unifying the tribes of the steppe, he was selected from the children of nobles and free men at all levels to form a "big middle army" of ten thousand people - that is, the Qixue Army. And Qi Xue originally meant the guard.]

   [Before this, Genghis Khan had only "eighty people to serve as resident guards, and seventy guards to serve as alternate guards"]

   [And, before modern times, once a tribe in the Central Asian steppe could maintain a standing army of tens of thousands of people, generally speaking, the countries around the steppe would suffer again...]

   (end of this chapter)