Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 417 Shovel Harbor

  [Outskirts of Shovel Harbor]

   "Click."

   "Click."

   Accompanied by the crisp sound of the machine, the hands of the Nurem Clock faithfully jump forward.

   Yet in Andre’s world, the luminous stone-encrusted hand was unbearably slow—especially when Andre was staring at it.

   Coincidentally, there is also a guy who doesn't know how to poke at his sore spot.

"Tribunal, what kind of good thing is it?" Turin led Aima Mo Lan Hei to Andre's side, stretched his neck, and looked curiously at the Nulen clock in Andre's hand: "You all I've been staring at this all morning!"

  Andre snorted coldly, handed the Nurem Bell to Turin, and asked angrily, "Do you know what this is?"

   "No...I don't know." Turin scratched his head in embarrassment and said flatteringly, "But it must be very valuable."

"It doesn't matter if you don't know." Andre said without saying a word, and shoved the Nurem Clock into Turin's hands: "From now on, you will stand here for me! Stare at it! Until the needle reaches Stop where the cross is! Don't move a single step until the needle reaches the place! Start now!"

  Tulin did not understand the situation for a while, and when he came back to his senses and wanted to beg for mercy, he found that the Cellini tribunal was lying in the shade of the cypress tree where the horse was tied, and he covered his face with his hat.

   Unknown birds were chirping, and a few Dussac cubs with no long hair on their foreheads smirked.

  Turin froze in place, neither walking nor sitting. He could only stare at the silver box, praying that the infantry regiment would move faster.

  …

  [Inside Shovel Harbor Town]

   The process of occupying Shovel Harbor went extremely smoothly.

Eight companies of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Iron Peaks Infantry Regiment went downstream in twelve barges and captured the pier without any resistance.

   The barge they were riding on was secretly remodeled in Oxhoof Valley using the building materials left over from the battlefield. The order to build the barges came directly from the Tribunal Winters Montagne, after the Battle of the Gore.

The defense of Shovel Harbor focused on the inland direction. The commander in charge of deploying the defenders tried his best to make the land passage into an impregnable wall, but he did not expect that the rebels entrenched in Revodan not only dared to take the initiative to attack, but even specially prepared for Shovel Harbor. A set of amphibious tactics.

  Unpredictably, important locations such as the town hall, church, barracks, and arsenal were easily occupied by the new army of Tiefeng County. Many of the garrisoned militiamen were still sleeping soundly, and became prisoners of the "rebels" in a daze.

  Peter Bunier, carrying his halberd and holding his helmet, ran from the Shovel Harbor Barracks back to the pier, and a suit of ill-fitting armor made a "squeaky" sound.

   He ran to the appearance of several officers who were directing the unloading of the ship on the pier and trestle, and asked in a panic: "The battalion commander! The enemy has surrendered! What should I do?"

After asking   , he remembered that he had not salute yet, so he quickly raised his hand to salute.

   "Surrender?" The iron masked officer asked suspiciously, "No resistance?"

   "No blood." Peter Bunir said in a daze: "As soon as we rushed through the gate of the barracks, they surrendered, and some people offered to help us tie the ropes..."

   "Bonehead." The masked man sneered and stopped talking.

"Shovel Harbor has recently recruited a lot of robbers and bandits who were driven away by us." Bart Xia Ling, the acting battalion commander of the second battalion, said with a chuckle, "Those guys are used to seeing the wind and are afraid of dying. "

  Another unsmiling officer, Tamas, the acting battalion commander of the first battalion, nodded and simply encouraged his subordinates: "You are doing well, Sergeant Peter."

   Hearing Tamas' praise, Peter Bunier stood up happily like a puppy being praised, and saluted again.

   With credit for his achievements during the Battle of the Blood Mud, Peter Bunir has been promoted to the first batch of full sergeants of the new army, and has been appointed to command two soldiers.

   Even the most envious people can't deny that Peter's gains are real, at most secretly scolding a few "guys who have lost their luck".

   No one calls Peter "Short" again with contempt. When the recruits saw him, they raised their hands and saluted him respectfully, calling him "Sergeant Bunnier"; the veterans would put their arms around his shoulders and call him "Brother Peter" affectionately - in fact, Peter Bunnier Only in his early twenties.

   Although Peter Bunnier was a little caught off guard by the changes in the world, he still kind of liked the feeling of being respected.

  …

  [Shovel Harbor Barracks]

   "All kneel for me! Hold your head in your hands!" The monkey walked back and forth with a spear in hand, shouting arrogantly: "That bald head! What are you messing with? Kneel for me!"

   A group of Shovel Harbor militiamen who disarmed and surrendered knelt in a row facing the fence, no one dared to complain, and no one dared to look back at the skinny soldiers who scolded them.

  This made the monkey even more proud, after all, this was his first "real" victory - the blood and mud battle certainly didn't count, because he was scared to pee his pants and he didn't win anything.

   Veteran Roussillon came out of the barracks warehouse with a roll of hemp rope, ready to tie the captives.

  Monkey saw this and ran to Roussillon's side quickly to take the hemp rope from Roussillon's hand: "Sergeant! I'm coming!"

   "Don't call me sergeant. The Volunteer Unit has been disbanded." Roussillon said with a dark face: "I'm not a sergeant now, just a sergeant. Sergeant Peter Bunnier is the sergeant."

   "You have been a sergeant for me for a day." The monkey snatched the hemp rope from Roussillon's hand with a smirk: "You are my sergeant for life! Don't move! I'll come!"

   Having said that, the monkey picked up the twine and swiftly tied the captive's hands one by one from behind.

Lu Xirong looked at the back of the recruit he brought out for a long time, and finally said helplessly: "Monkey, you are a good boy... but your mouth is too broken and your heart is too high! If you are half as stable as your fellow countryman, you can be better than him. developed."

   Unlike the monkey who has not achieved an inch of merit, his friend Doug array slashed a green feather. After the two were recruited into the Progressive Corps, Doug was directly transferred to the battalion commander and became a guard.

   Hearing Roussillon's words, the monkey's movements stopped for a while, and soon resumed. He smiled and said, "Everyone has their own destiny. The dog has a future. I'm happy for him... He is better than me."

   Lu Xirong smacked his lips and said nothing, just patted the monkey on the shoulder.

  …

  [Shovel Harbor Wharf]

   "What are you doing?" Seeing the happy smirk on the face of the little sergeant in front of him, Morrow felt an inexplicable anger in his heart: "You have nothing to do?"

   "Oh... oh oh oh." Peter came back to his senses, hurriedly straightened his helmet, and asked in a low voice, "battalion commander, what about the surrendered enemy? Do you want to **** over?"

   "No. Disarm them and put them in the barracks first. We don't have time to deal with them now..." Tamas's gaze extended from the pier to the outside of the town along the road: "The real opponent hasn't come yet."

   Hearing this, Morrow hummed disdainfully again. He looked at the soldiers who were unloading the ship and ordered in a loud voice: "Put down everything else first - push the cannon down!"

  …

  …

  The garrison of Shovel Harbor is divided into two parts: the smaller one is stationed in the center of the town, and the larger one is stationed at the Portal Manor outside the town.

   As a veteran of the war, the mayor of Portar is not ignorant of the truth that "scattered troops will be destroyed individually".

  So...he originally wanted to put all the troops and supplies in his manor.

   Or because of the insistence of "Mr. Alpha", the mayor of Portal reluctantly dispatched a hundred militiamen to the town center, and mobilized the townspeople to build a wooden wall around the town center as a fortification.

   The development of events proved the "prescient" of the mayor of Portar, but he was not in a complacent mood.

The routed soldiers who fled back to the manor brought very bad news: a "big army" raided Shovel Harbor by boat, and the more than 100 militiamen stationed in the town were instantly routed. Report to the mayor...

  Portal used a few silver coins to send away the deserters who "desperately break through the siege and get back to the letter" - he could see at a glance that those guys were all blood smeared, but he didn't want to expose them.

   After driving away the others, the worried Portal looked at the handsome young man beside him: "Mr. Alpha, what do you think we should do now?"

"No way. The township has been lost, and now we can only defend the manor." Alpha replied decisively: "Your manor is backed by the river and adjacent to the swamp, so it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Coupled with the preparations and renovations during this period, Even if the rebels come out in full force, don't think about taking the estate easily. We can defend here."

   "How long can we hold on?" Portal asked anxiously.

   "Considering the reserve situation." Alpha wanted to say an optimistic number to boost the opponent's will, but his rigorous character still led him to say the most conservative number: "At least half a month."

  Alpha's answer obviously could not satisfy Portal, he asked disappointedly: "What about half a month later?"

   "Half a month is enough time for a lot of things to happen." Alpha explained: "The rebels may not be able to afford the loss of the siege and retreat on their own initiative; Maplestone City, who got the news, sent reinforcements and cooperated with us to defeat the rebels - it is also possible."

   "But as far as I know." Portal's brows furrowed even tighter: "Maplestone City probably doesn't have the power to take care of us now."

  Alpha's tone was calm: "So I said maybe."

   Portal was silent for a moment, then asked, "What if the reinforcements don't come and the rebels don't retreat?"

"Mayor Potar." Alpha slowed down his tone as much as possible, and replied solemnly: "From a manor to a fortress, there is no fortress that will never fall. However, as long as the fortress causes the enemy to suffer more losses before it is breached, The fort fulfilled its mission."

  Portal lowered his head and thought for a while, then suddenly raised his head and said incoherently, "Mr. Alpha, I have an idea..."

  Alpha pursed his lips.

"You know, Portal Manor cannot be defended forever." Portal gestured with both hands: "She is not next to the lake, as long as she is surrounded by rebels, even if we have a boat, it is useless... You know what I mean Bar?"

"Yes." Alpha thought: "That's why I suggest that you transfer all personnel and materials to the town and fortify in the center of the town. Backed by Shovel Lake, you can attack and defend. But you can't bear your bottle. Bottles and cans, in the end, only a pitiful force was sent to the town."

  Although he was unhappy in his heart, Alpha still maintained his last courtesy and did not express his heartfelt feelings.

   Portal said in a deep voice: "The rebels attacked Shovel Harbor, although it caught us by surprise, but it also gave us a chance..."

   "No!" Alpha categorically refused: "With our strength and the rebels fighting in the field, there is absolutely no possibility of victory."

   "Mr. Alpha." Portal looked at the young man in front of him, and suddenly laughed: "You must think I'm frightened? Right?"

  Alpha did not respond.

"Listen, young gentleman. You are learned, you know how to fight. As far as book knowledge is concerned, you are this—" said Portal, giving a thumbs up, and then he changed the subject: "But you don't understand. people's hearts."

   This time it was Alpha's turn to frown.

   "How many people do we have now?" asked Portal.

   "Two brigades and a disgruntled battalion, fourteen hundred militiamen." Alpha gave the answer without thinking: "And half a squadron of riders."

   "The militia?" Portal sneered: "How many of them are real militia? How many are robbers, habitual bandits, murderers who had no choice but to defect to us?"

  Alpha's brows furrowed even tighter.

   "I know you don't want them, and you blame me for taking them in." Portal asked bleakly: "But if we don't take them in, where can we recruit troops? Can't we arrest every farmer in Shovel Harbor?"

  Alpha fell silent.

"Mr. Alpha, you are very brave." Portal patted the young man on the shoulder: "If everyone is as brave as you, if everyone has the consciousness of sacrificing the ego and consuming the enemy, the official hall will definitely win the final victory. victory."

Then Portal pointed out the window: "But they are not, they are scum, they are criminals, they will only kneel at the feet of the winner. When they find out that we can't win, they will not hesitate to turn their knives on you and me. , use our heads to seek rewards from the blood wolf."

  Alpha was speechless because he knew Portal was right this time.

"Those deserters said there were thousands of rebels - they lied! There are only a thousand rebels. If there were really thousands, the blood wolves would have attacked already." Portal tried his best to persuade Alpha: "And the boat doesn't come out of nowhere. It's amazing to be able to bring five hundred people here! Eight hundred at most! Don't forget, they have to keep people to defend Gervodin! So we have twice as many people as them! They are sitting The arrival of the ship means that they have no backup and no way to retreat. If they can eat this rebel army, Gervoudan will also have it at their fingertips…”

   "No." Alpha is still insisting: "Defense is a more powerful form of combat, and it is more suitable for our militia - rashly attacking is tantamount to gambling! We can't pin our hopes of victory on the dice!"

   "Whether you agree or not! I have to bet this time!" Portal roared, took off his saber from the wall, and gave an ultimatum: "If you don't want to command them, let me do it!"

  …

  [Inside Shovel Harbor Town]

   There was not a single passerby on the street, and the doors and windows on both sides of the street were closed. The townspeople already knew that Shovel Harbor had changed owners, but they didn't yet know how the new owner would treat them.

   Tamas, who was putting up a notice with his own hands, got the news brought back by the scout: a large group of enemy troops were heading towards Shovel Harbor from the Portar Manor.

  The Second Battalion Commander Bart Xia Ling, who came over after hearing the news, couldn't help but smile: "The bandits in Shovel Harbor are quite brave... well, so we don't have to fight them. What? Is there a chance to ambush them?"

   "Hmm." Tamas made a simple comparison on the pocket map in his hand, and estimated the enemy's current location: "From where the scout found them... I'm afraid it's too late."

After   , he tentatively asked the iron masked man beside him: "Captain, what do you think?"

   "You are the chief officer, what do you ask me to do?" Morrow's expression was hidden under the cold iron mask, and he patted the barrel of the long gun on his side: "Captain Mason entrusted this to me, and I only care about this."

   "Tamas." Bart Shilling urged: "Just give an order, just a few thieves!"

   "Then..." Tamas made up his mind: "Then we will meet the enemy at Shovel Harbor - array outside the town!"

   "Wait!" Bart Xialing was a little dazed, he hurriedly grabbed Tamas's arm: "Why don't you guard the wall? Why do you have to line up outside the town?"

"Because there are only a few thieves, if we defend against the wall, they will probably collapse at the touch of a button. It will be difficult to catch them all at once." Tamas looked at Captain Morrow a little unconfidently: "Captain, what do you think?"

   An emotionless voice came from behind the mask: "There is some truth to it."

  Bart Xia Ling nodded, although he was a little unwilling.

   "Then form an array outside the town to meet the enemy." Tamas remembered something, and hurriedly asked: "Do you want to inform Lieutenant Cellini and ask him to attack in advance?"

"You decide."

  …

  [Outskirts of Shovel Harbor]

   Just when Turin was already standing with his legs numb, there was a fine snoring sound from under Andrea Cellini's hat.

   [But there is an update on May 8th]

   [37244/100000]

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

   [Today is too late, typos and illustrations will be added tomorrow]

   (end of this chapter)