Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 66 The New Practice Method of Skew

"How could General Serbia mutine just because of a few crazy words? Your Excellency knows this." In the slightly swaying cabin, Count Narzia took out two glasses from the cabinet and poured wine in a tone. Ask lightly, "I just don't understand why you're telling him this."

After the    honey-colored liquid was poured into the cup, Narzia took a few ice cubes from an iron can covered with a cotton cover, added it to the wine, and handed it to Lionel.

  Lionel is very different from the demeanor in Antonio's study, and now he looks like the chief civil servant of the province who is known for his shrewdness and courage.

The secretary of state took the glass and shook it a few times, and said calmly: "I failed to convince Debella. The rest are all minor repairs, and nothing will help. It's all expected... but you guys. The corrupt behavior of these nobles can always surprise me a bit. Isn't it too extravagant to use court mages to make ice just to drink some ice wine?"

   "It's not even a luxury, after all, I'm also one of His Majesty's most trusted 'doglegs'." Count Narzia replied with a smile.

  The day after the sudden visit of the Secretary of State, the Virtue left Seablue City carrying the Emperor's embassy. She will stop at Guitu for supplies and drive straight back to the Empire. Veneta's dispatch to the Taniria Islands is a foregone conclusion.

When the   Virtue left the dock, an enlarged meeting of senior officers attended by all the generals of Veneta was in progress. The atmosphere in the Throne Hall of the Army Headquarters was extremely tense. The meeting had been held for a morning, but there was still no discussion about the reason.

"...mobilize three more legions, clear the outer islands in one month, capture the Golden Port in two months, and smash the Taniria Islands in three months..." Major General Layton, who was appointed as the commander of the First Reserve Legion, was blushing. He sprayed saliva at his colleagues around him.

"Fuck you! If you can't solve the Federation in three months, will you apologize?" Another general sitting opposite Leighton pushed back unceremoniously: "Open your mouth to mobilize three more legions, a total of five Legion, dig money out of your ancestral grave?"

  Layton was yelled angrily, and he drew his sword and stood up. Not to be outdone, the general on the opposite side drew his saber. Seeing that the military council hall was about to turn into a gladiatorial arena, the officers on the side quickly held down the two of them.

   The senior officers who were sitting farther away were not surprised by this situation for a long time. For more than 30 years after Veneta founded the country, far more generals died in duels than in battles. Seeing the infighting of the army, the admirals of the navy were even more calm and enthusiastic to enjoy the good show.

   "Shame in front of the friendly army!" Zio, the army general and military governor, couldn't see it, and scolded: "Give me their swords!"

   The immediate boss was really angry, and Layton and his opponent did not dare to be arrogant. The two handed over their swords and sat on the chair angrily, trying to burn each other to death with the anger in their eyes.

Another army general said: "Letton is right. If you don't fight, you will kill the Federation. Sending five legions in one go is better than one legion and one legion. It's good to go up. The longer you delay, the more likely it will be variable."

   "The strength of five legions can solve the Federation in three months?" Someone else retorted.

   "The Federation is scattered, why not?"

The    refutator sneered: "The pseudo-emperor also thinks the same way. The pseudo-emperor claims to be able to destroy us before the Spring Festival, and as a result, the sovereignty war has been fought for eleven years!"

   "Why are the pirates and slave owners in the Federation compared to us?" The general who supported Layton was also aroused: "And the Federation chose war, not Veneta!"

   "Stop arguing!" Admiral Zio interrupted the two and called the other person's name: "Antonio, you say it!"

   "I want to hear what other colleagues think."

   "You can say what you want! The main force to attack Taniria is your Third Army."

  Antonio cleared his throat: "Then I'll say something of my own."

  The conference room fell silent instantly.

"I agree with the point of view mentioned earlier. The longer the war against the Federation drags on, the worse it will be for us." Antonio said solemnly: "But I absolutely do not support the idea of ​​a quick victory. After the war begins, the most important thing is The matter is how to end the war. But I have no idea now how the ruling council wants to end the war.”

After speaking, Antonio left his seat, walked to the large inland sea map hanging on the wall of the Military Council, pointed to the Taniria Islands and said, "Where can this battle end? Occupy the Golden Port? Surrender of the Federation? Capture the entire archipelago? Turn Taniria into a province of Veneta? Our task now is to figure out our strategic goals."

   "Didn't Consul Debella say 'The Taniria Federation must be destroyed'?" Someone interrupted Antonio.

"That's right, but what does it mean to destroy the Federation?" Antonio asked back, "hang the head of the Federation? Disband the Federation? Arrest all the members of the Federation? Also, after destroying the Federation, we will What to do with Taneria? Maintain its independence? Take over the Federation? Or turn the islanders into Veneta citizens?"

In the end, Antonio concluded: "Strategic goals are different, strategies are different. Without clear strategic goals, there can be no real victory. In addition, Veneta should be prepared for a long war in any case. War is the decision of a country. The greatest matter of life and death, there should never be any fluke mentality of quick victory."

   Having said this, Antonio thought of the insane words of Secretary of State Lionel, and added heavily: "Because our greatest threat is not from Taniria, but other... potential enemies."

   At three o'clock in the afternoon that day, an order signed by the consul De Bella and the four governors was sent to the military council of thirteen:

   "The war budget has been approved in full;

  The Army's Second Reserve Corps began to recruit, and the preparation plans for the Third and Fourth Reserve Corps were prepared;

   Authorize the navy to attack any vessel owned by the Confederation of Taniria;

   Organise a retaliatory strike against the Tanilla Confederation as soon as possible. "

   Accompanying this order was issued a public statement from the ruling council:

   "The Venerable Republic of Veneta and the Federation have entered a state of war, and all treaties, contracts, and agreements have been voided.

   Any Veneta who supports or assists the Federation will be considered traitors.

  Any Taniriya who supports or assists the Federation will be regarded as an enemy.

   Captain Taniria and the Association of Planters must be destroyed.

   Victory belongs to Veneta.

   That evening, Winters, Bud and Andre, who were also apprentice officers under Lieutenant Colonel Comteier, received formal orders: to bring all the equipment and gather at the West Camp at 8:00 the next morning.

  —cut—

   The next day, in the apartment of Major Moritz.

  The half-drunk Major Moritz hugged Winters tightly. No matter how Winters refused, the major was determined to teach Winters how to use the "Deviation" as a goodbye gift.

  The three officers from the Military Police Department of the former Army Headquarters gathered again at Major Moritz's apartment, but this time it was not a meeting, but Field and Moritz saw Winters off.

   "How can I use the deflection technique?" Winters asked Lieutenant Colonel Field for help with a wry smile.

   But Field was so drunk that his eyes were straight, he couldn't understand what Winters was saying.

   "Relax...don't worry...what I'm going to teach you is my original training method." Moritz burped a long hiccup: "Deflection...deflection doesn't require any explosive force, the key is precision...accuracy understand?"

Major    let go of his hand, turned his head and started looking for something: "Where's the chair? Where's the chair?"

   Winters hurriedly handed his chair to Major Moritz, although he hadn't figured out how to practice deflection with a chair.

  Moritz took the chair and staggered onto it. Winters hurried to support the unconscious man, while Major Moritz reached out and took a string from the beam.

  Deviance teaching suddenly turned into hanging teaching, and Winters was so frightened that he hurriedly lifted the major from his chair.

   The string is very long and hangs from the beam to the height of the table top. Moritz tied a small table knife to the end of the rope and let Winters back. After retreating until the rope was taut, the tip of the knife was still a finger's width away from the tip of Winters' nose and could not go any further.

   "You stand, don't move." After Major Moritz said this to Winters, he released the knife in his hand.

   Winters watched as the knife in front of his nose swayed like a swing into the distance, and then swung back towards himself from a distance.

   The tip of the knife, which was shining with cold light, drew an arc from the air, and it was about to stab Winters in the eye, and Winters turned his head and dodged to the side.

   "Don't move, it won't hurt you." Major Moritz explained: "The knife will not exceed its original height when it comes back, don't believe me."

   said, Major Moritz demonstrated it himself. I saw him holding the knife against the tip of his nose, backed up until the rope collapsed, and then let go.

  The knife tied to the rope swung out and back again like a pendulum. Major Moritz didn't move, the knife came back only a tiny distance from the tip of the major's nose, but it didn't hurt the major.

   When the knife swung back again, it did not meet Major Moritz head-on like last time, but swayed a distance and swayed to the major's shoulder.

   "Do you understand?" Major Moritz asked with a smile on his face.

   "I...I understand a little bit now." Winters didn't expect that Moritz was not being a drunkard, but brought out the real thing: "Senior, you are really a genius!"

The principle of the    deflection technique is very simple in essence, that is, the horizontal flying arrow technique.

   The real difficulty of this spell lies in the requirement of precision.

  The caster must use the spell precisely on an object that is flying at high speed; it must also be able to change the lateral speed of the object immediately before it hits itself, so that it deviates from its original trajectory.

   And a bigger problem than the difficulty of the spell itself is that there is no safe and easy training method for deflection.

   Deflection itself is a very high-risk spell, and it is used to save lives in critical moments. But even the most powerful kinetic energy casters dare not completely trust this spell, because if they miss it, they will be shot.

   Training with a musket is of course courting death. The existing training program is to use bows and arrows. Shoot arrows at the trainer with a light bow, allowing the caster to get started by practicing deflected arrows, then gradually switch to a hard bow.

   But even with arrows that were broken off and wrapped in cotton, accidents often occurred. The bigger problem is that the caster himself has a hard time discerning whether the arrow missed or was deflected by the spell.

   Using a spell itself is a kind of 'feel' like archery, and the process of practicing the spell is to deepen the feeling. If the archer doesn't know whether the arrow he shoots hits the target every time, how can he find the feel?

   And this training method designed by Major Moritz is very clever:

  The weight attached to the rope will not exceed the original height when it is swayed back, and the trainer will be in an absolutely safe position without any additional psychological pressure;

   In the process of swinging, the closer the weight tied to the rope is to its original position, the slower the speed and the lower the difficulty of using spells, so you can practice step by step;

The best part about    is that the caster can clearly know whether he has successfully used the deflection spell. If the pendulum deviates from its original trajectory, it is a success. Otherwise, it fails;

   Just need to improve the success rate, wait until you remember the feel of this spell and then switch to bow and arrow practice, which is much easier than directly practicing with bow and arrow.

   "Genius? Natural disability is almost the same, it's just some tricks." Major Moritz beckoned to Winters: "You try it yourself."

   This time, when the knife flew towards the tip of Winters' nose, Wenteske suppressed his fear and did not dodge. Sure enough, the knife didn't touch Winters, it reached its limit very close to him, and swung out again.

   Waiting for the knife to swing back again, Winters tried to use the flying arrow technique on the knife horizontally. However, the knife moving fast in the air and the steel cone still in the hand were not difficult at all, and Winters failed several times in a row.

   "Know what's going on, go back and practice more, it's not that easy to master the trick." Moritz stopped Winters: "Still come to a bar!"

   He patted Field, who was lying on the table, on the shoulder, but the lieutenant colonel didn't respond: "Has one already fallen?"

   Winters quickly helped Field, who was already asleep, to lie down on the sofa, worried that the lieutenant colonel would be choked to death by his own vomit, so he adjusted the lieutenant colonel to the side lying position.

  Major Moritz watched Winters adjust Field's sleeping position, and said with a smile, "You have a heart."

After he finished speaking, he lay back on the swaying reclining chair, lay on his back and looked at the ceiling, and said lightly, "You are a good boy, but you must not mix up like me... Haha, don't mix up either. Field looks like this."

   This sentence is a bit too heavy, and Winters doesn't know what to say for a while.

After a long silence, Winters struggled to ask a question that he always wanted to ask, but never asked out of politeness: "I don't understand why a powerful spellcaster like you is drinking...you are me The most powerful spellcaster I've ever seen...why? Have you forgotten what Antoine Laurent said?"

"Any addiction is poison to the caster, I remember." Moritz sniffed, holding the bottle, his eyes sparkling: "However, Winters, you don't understand, the only thing that can It is bad habits that keep the rational soul from falling into the abyss. Answer me, do you believe in God?"

   "Unbelieve, the caster should be an atheist."

"I don't believe it either. I've visited miracles, studied books, and looked for evidence of the existence of gods. But the more I learned about various religions, the more I couldn't believe in the existence of gods. Winters, answer me one more question, Have you ever lost someone close to you?"

   "No." Unmasked parents are obviously not close.

   "That's a good thing. Have you ever wondered where people go when they die?"

"…No."

"Normans think they can rejoice with the gods when they die; Catholics think they go to paradise when they die; Celicas think they go into a circulatory system and become new animals after death. You know why various religions Are they all depicting the afterlife?"

"…do not know.

"Because people are afraid of death, because people hope that their death is not a real 'death', and hope that their souls can continue to exist. For us spellcasters, these atheists, these rational people, death is a complete consciousness. Dissipate, everything that happens in the world after that has nothing to do with you, you can't feel it... No, death means not even feeling itself. The world scolds you, mourns you, remembers you, it means nothing to you...even The meaning itself is gone. When you die, there is nothing left... Can you understand?"

  The amount of information was too large, and Winters couldn't understand it for a while.

Moritz murmured: "One day you will understand, people will die, and one day you will lose people who are very important to you, and you can't help but start thinking about where they all went? You're going to get a cruel answer, they're not going anywhere, they just don't exist, they're gone..."

   Winters made up his mind and asked back: "Isn't that the case when people who believe in God die? Aren't people who believe in God deceived?"

"Of course he was deceived." Moritz replied softly: "But for a person whose consciousness no longer exists, what's the point of being deceived? Anyway, he will not be angry, regretful, or unwilling. Since it is completely dissipated after death. , it is better to be deceived in exchange for the peace of life.

   "Then why are you still an atheist?"

"Me?" Moritz curled up on the reclining chair and said with a smile, "It's pointless to pretend to believe, you can't deceive yourself. I'm sensible enough not to be deceived by religion, but not brave enough to accept death. To live is to live, and it has no meaning. But I don’t want to die, so I have to live in the dark. You still have very important people to explain that your life has meaning, protect them, and don’t become like me…”

Major   Moritz's voice was getting quieter and quieter, and at last he began to snore softly and fell asleep.

   Winters took the bottle from Major Moritz and found a thin blanket to cover it for the Major. After confirming that both Lieutenant Colonel Field and Major Moritz were asleep, they entered Moritz's bedroom.

  Opening the backpack he brought, Winters took out a beautiful reed gun. After confirming that the lighter could shoot sparks, Winters began to reload the ammunition skillfully.

   Count Narzia brought a pair of reed pistols with exquisite craftsmanship and luxurious decoration. The inside of the gun barrel is polished as smooth as a bronze mirror, and within thirty steps, you can hit wherever you want.

  Antonio gave Winters one, and Winters is now reloading it.

   After loading the bullets, Winters neatly changed into a tight black suit. He deliberately did not wear military boots today, but a pair of moccasins.

   He inserted the reed gun into the holster on his right leg, tied a long dagger to his left leg, and finally slung a belt with a steel cone across his shoulder.

   After reconfirming that the other two officers in the living room were drunk, Winters pushed open the window of Moritz's bedroom and turned to the roof.

   He didn't quite understand what Major Moritz was saying, but he would do whatever it takes to protect those he cared about, and he didn't have to teach him that.

  [Winters Montagne's alignment changed from lawful good to neutral good]

Thanks to the book friends who have voted for the recommendation before, thank the book friend writersblock for the recommendation ticket, thank the book friend Dou Qi Storm for the recommendation ticket, thank the book friend Yan Yunsan for the recommendation ticket, thank the book friend Ami for the recommendation ticket, thank the book friend 20181013204343295 for the recommendation ticket Recommended ticket. thank you all.

   (end of this chapter)