Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 68 Expedition

   "It's not bad to have this kind of energy just after the assembly." Admiral Zio said to Antonio while riding in front of the phalanx.

   This is the first time in ten years that the Third Corps has returned to full capacity.

   This is also the first time that the assembled "Great Veneta" has lined up with all the equipment to be inspected by Admiral Zio and Major General Antonio.

   One chief infantry brigade, nine infantry brigades with more than 5,000 infantrymen, and two cavalry battalions with more than 600 cavalrymen, this is the total combat strength of the Third Army.

   Except for the five infantry brigades, which were temporarily recruited reserve soldiers, all the other soldiers were the standing army who exercised once a day.

   There is no artillery, because artillery can greatly slow down the march, so the auxiliary artillery units of the Republic of Veneta are divided into separate troops.

   Winters, Bud, and Andre are now three little apprentice officers in the Chief Infantry Brigade. Stand proudly at the front of the infantry line, but at the same time stand humbly behind the regular officers.

   After the review, Admiral Zio didn't talk nonsense, just gave Antonio a solemn salute.

  Antonio solemnly returned his salute and entered the legion phalanx. With an order, Antonio led the entire legion out of the barracks in four columns.

  No one knew where to go, but the atmosphere was chill, and no one dared to talk to each other. The soldiers followed those in front of them with mechanical strides, as did the officers, only on horseback.

   The three apprentice officers didn't even know where they were going, and according to Winters' observation, several regular officers were also questioning each other with their eyes, obviously they didn't know where to go.

The    Third Corps left the station without a word, bypassed Hailan City, and walked all the way east.

   goes farther and farther, but Winters is more and more familiar. He and Andre looked at each other with a heart-to-heart look, and it was obvious that Andre also recognized this road, which was the road to Haidong Port.

   Finally, nearly 6,000 officers and soldiers of the Third Army arrived at the Haidong Port.

   The battle is over long ago, but it will take a long time for the wounds of Haidong Port to heal. Looking around, there are burnt black and broken walls everywhere.

  This original military pier has now basically lost its function. Whether it is officers or soldiers, they don’t know why Antonio brought the Third Army here.

  Antonio leaped to the heights so that all the soldiers could see him.

He glanced at the soldiers under his command, and said aloud: "It is here that the Tanilla Union launched a shameless sneak attack on us. They did not declare war, they burned our warships, and they slaughtered unarmed civilians. Despicable. of the islanders thought this would scare off the Veneta, and thought it would delay the trial by a few days."

   Every time he said a word, the messenger of the caster beside him would repeat it using the amplification technique, and the amplified sound resounded throughout Haidong Port.

The    legion phalanx was silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on the legion commander on the high platform.

"That's why I call you, Veneta's bravest and best men. The Republic has trained you from ignorant children to real men. And the Republic needs you now, she looks forward to it. Each of you can do your best."

  The soldiers under the stage clenched their weapons involuntarily, and Winters clenched the hilt of the sword involuntarily.

Antonio paused and roared: "Today! At this moment! I will lead you from here! Revenge on Taneria! Blood debts can only be paid in blood, and we will never forgive! The Taniglia Federation must be destroyed! Destroy the Federation!"

   "Destroy the Federation!"

   "Destroy the Federation!"

   "Destroy the Federation!"

  …

   In the voice of the sky, a huge ship with the flag of the Veneta Navy sailed into Haidong Bay, and its fully deployed sails were like white clouds floating on the sea. Behind it, one large ship followed the giant ship into Haidong Bay.

  Antonio raised his hands and pressed down, the legion phalanx fell silent again.

  Antonio gave the first order sharply: "There is no light load for a long distance. Cross-sea expeditions, supply lines are a matter of life and death! All excess transport capacity must be used to load food and gunpowder. All officers obey orders! Dismount!"

   After saying that, Antonio was the first to leave the saddle and stand on the ground. With him taking the lead, at least the general of the Third Army, down to the warrant officer, all dismounted.

   "The officers' warhorses are kept in the garrison, and they can fight without a mount. All the 3rd Corps obey orders! Except for weapons, ammunition, tents and cooking utensils, none of them are brought, and they are all thrown at Haidong Port!"

  —cut—

   Taking advantage of the rising tide in the afternoon, the sailors who stayed at Haidong Port to cooperate with the army moved out of the planks and boats that had been prepared, and built two temporary buoyancy trestle bridges for the 3rd Corps to board the ship.

   This is a joint operation of the army and the navy, and the navy showed 12 points of courtesy. The flagship of the Offshore Fleet, the Glory, was sent. The arrival of this ship in Haidong Port means that the commander of the Offshore Fleet has also arrived in Haidong Port.

   In addition to the battleship Glory, there were another twenty-one "voluntarily enlisted" large armed merchant ships as troop carriers.

According to the plan, this squadron will first carry the Third Army, and the remaining warships of the Veneta Navy will join this squadron, and finally form a team with more than 30 large sailboats and a dozen galleys. A powerful fleet of ships.

  Theoretically, this fleet of more than 40 large ships plus the Third Corps riding on it is enough to deal with any enemy in the Inner Sea.

   However, there were some small mistakes in the beginning of the plan...

The naval liaison who was sent ashore looked at the position of the sun in the sky and the sea water, and reluctantly said to Antonio: "Your Excellency, your subordinates need to speed up their boarding. It's very troublesome, we can only wait until the tide rises in the middle of the night."

Antonio has also been worried about this problem. He pointed to the trestle and said: "This kind of buoyancy trestle is low and has to climb on the boat. My soldiers can't be faster. Just relying on these two trestle bridges is definitely not enough. Get off the boat, and row the boat to carry the people up. There must be a co-ordination to transport the people in the small boat, and my personnel system cannot be messed up."

   The naval liaison to the colonel's rank thought Antonio had a point. He nodded at Antonio, hurried to the beach, and rowed back to the Glory to send a message. Veneta army and navy ranks are not common, so soldiers on both sides do not need to salute each other.

   watched the navy liaison leave, and only a few colonels were left by Antonio's side. Looking at Lieutenant Colonel Contell's expression, Antonio patted Contell's shoulder: "If you have anything, just say it."

   "Is it a little too hasty to send troops now?" Contaire asked worriedly: "We just finished the assembly today, so we should let the reserve soldiers practice for at least a week?"

  Antonio looked at the other officers around him. These officers, including Contell, were all Antonio's capable subordinates. If they also question Antonio's strategy, then Antonio needs to explain.

Antonio asked rhetorically: "The key to this war is not how well prepared we are, but the gap between the preparedness of the enemy and ours. Those five reserve brigades are not useful now, but I still have you Five elite standing army brigades. And the Tanirians have nothing now, they are still the captains and plantation owners leading their own small group. Drake preemptively destroyed Haidong Port, and we have to seize the opportunity. "

  Contel still couldn't hide his worries: "But after all, we only have five battalions of standing troops, and the population of several main islands in Taniria is around 100,000, so we are still too few."

"Of course we can't just rely on our army to capture the archipelago. We are now going to fight a victory to boost the morale of the Republic and open a hole for the follow-up offensive." Antonio added: "If you all feel that I shouldn't send troops now, what will the Tanirians think? If we can be surprised, we have already taken the lead."

   "But can we really be surprised?" Contell stretched out his hand and pointed to the colorful figures on the pier of Haidong Port: "There are no secrets in Hailan City!"

   A force of nearly 6,000 people left the garrison, and it was impossible to hide it. When the Third Army was still walking towards Haidong Port, the news that Da Vineta was going to sail at Haidong Port had already reached the ears of the officers' families.

   When an officer's family knew about it, soon all the military's family knew. There has always been a special channel for the dissemination of news among family members of military personnel. Although it is essentially word of mouth, the speed and efficiency of dissemination are astonishingly high.

  The family members of the military set off for Haidong Port as soon as they heard the news. No one would give up the opportunity to see them off. After all, this may be the last time...

So there is this scene in front of everyone: the child is holding on to his father's sleeve and refuses to let go; the wife who is a step late is kneeling on the pier and crying, waving desperately to the boat; Everyone came over in carriages, and these old men who probably lost their husbands in the war 30 years ago are now coming to see their sons off.

  Although the boarding process is still going on in a tense and orderly manner, the solemn and solemn expedition has become sad and desolate, and anyone who sees this scene will have tears in their eyes.

  Antonio couldn't order the dispersal of the family members who came to see them off. These women, children, and children were weakening the morale of the Third Legion, something Antonio didn't want to see. But if he orders the dispersal of the families, he will permanently lose the respect and trust of his soldiers, which is worse than a weakened morale.

   And...for many, this could really be the last chance to see family. As long as the boarding is not delayed, Antonio can only sigh and let him go.

"The thirteen-member committee has discussed the fact that it cannot be kept secret." Antonio turned away and stopped looking at the scene on the dock: "As long as we send troops, it is impossible to keep it completely secret, but we can still fight Taniri. There is a time difference between the Asians. The faster we act, the less time we have for the federation to react. So the key is not secrecy, but how we can get to the archipelago as soon as possible.”

   Several lieutenant colonels were thoughtful.

  Antonio said quietly: "After all, there are no secrets in the sea blue city."

  —cut—

  While the third officer was busy boarding the ship, a sheriff of Hailan City was leading the patrol to carry the body out of the house after the fire.

one two three four…

   A total of twenty-five corpses were found from the burnt houses, and the charred bodies were placed on the street, like some kind of pagan sacrificial ceremony, which soon attracted crowds to watch.

   "Fire?" a patrolman asked coldly.

   The sheriff also felt panic in his heart, but still insisted on reprimanding his subordinates: "Not even one of the twenty-five people in the fire meeting escaped? These corpses have fatal injuries, and they must have committed the murder first and then set the fire."

"Look at this man, the neck was enough to kill him, but his head was split open." Another patrolman's lower teeth bumped his upper teeth uncontrollably, and he was about to cry: "This is dead. Who is it? Does it have to be killed twice to die? Didn't we meet a cultist?"

  A patrolman squeezed his way through the crowd and handed a letter to the sheriff.

  The sheriff lifted the paint, glanced at the contents of the letter, and said with a smile: "We don't need to worry about this case. The sheriff in the dock area is willing to take over this case. He said it was a family vendetta."

   "Do you think this is a family vendetta?" asked the patrolman who kept fighting the Cold War.

   "Will the family feud kill the whole family? Are all men who will die?" The sheriff said nonchalantly, "But since someone is willing to help us share our worries, even if they say it's self-inflicted, I don't care."

  —cut—

   Until they came to the dock, none of Winters, Bud and Andre thought that they would set off today.

  Andre was looking forward to seeing his family before leaving, while Winters and Bud had little expectations.

  Bud is not from Veneta, and Antonio strictly forbids Kesha and Ella to see them off. For this kind of behavior that will dampen the spirit of the army, Antonio has always been extremely disgusted.

Even if    doesn't come, Winters doesn't know how to face parting.

   It was finally the turn of Winters' centurion to board the boat, but a strange woman stopped Winters who was about to set foot on the temporary trestle.

   "Mr. Montagne, please stop." The stranger said respectfully.

"you know me?"

   "Someone wants to see you, please come with me."

   "Who? Mysterious." Winters shook his head and followed.

   As long as it wasn't a sheriff with a few patrols coming to arrest him, Winters didn't worry about anything else.

  The strange woman led Winters to the side of a carriage that was all black and decorated with silver trim, indicating that the person who wanted to see Winters was in the carriage.

   Seeing this carriage, Winters took a deep breath and quietly took out a steel cone and held it in his hand.

   opened the carriage door with the other hand, at the same time Winters was ready to use the flying arrow technique, and the steel cone in his hand was ready to go.

   However, there was a person in the car that he didn't expect.

   "Miss Anna? How about you?"

  Ana asked nervously, "Why can't it be me?"

   "Um...are you telling me one thing?" Winters knew that he was probably misunderstanding.

   "What are you talking about? Come in and close the door." Anna grabbed Winters' arms and pulled him into the car: "Don't let anyone see... I'm not married yet."

  The two sat in the carriage, and the atmosphere became a little awkward.

Winters quietly stuffed the steel cone back into his pocket again, and his tense nerves relaxed, which made him a little tired. He joked: "If you came to pay me for the painting, it's not a coincidence now, I'll be right now. We're going to Taniria by boat."

   In fact, since Ciel found Winters the day before yesterday, Winters' nerves have been tense. Last night was even more tense to the limit. He repeatedly planned, checked the route, and prepared emergency plans, but when he actually started, it was still full of dangers. Now that he suddenly relaxes, a strong sense of fatigue finds Winters, and he really wants to sleep now.

  Anna's eyes turned red: "Why are you always like this? Why are you treating me like this again?"

   "Just joking." Winters quickly apologized, he sighed: "When you first met, you would slap me when you were angry, so why are you crying now?"

   "You just hate that slap! You little eyed guy! I've seen it long ago, you remember everything, just pretend to forget."

   "You say yes, so it is." Winters had no energy to argue now.

   This attitude made Anna even more angry, she suddenly leaned back on the back of the chair and turned her head away from Winters: "You go."

"Okay, I'm going." Winters stood up, he looked at Anna's neck, profile, hair, an idea popped into his mind for no reason: Anna's profile may be my last for peace Memory, it represents a beautiful imagination of another life path.

   "Why haven't you left yet?"

   "Want to see you again." For some reason, Winters especially wanted to touch Anna's hair. So he reached out and ruffled Anna's naturally curly hair: "Because you are beautiful when you are unrestrained and full of vitality."

   Then he opened the door and stepped out.

  A pair of arms embraced Winters from behind. Anna clinged to Winters' back and cried, "I just want you to do one thing for me, just one thing...you want to come back, you just have to come back."

   "This is too simple, will the ashes be counted back?"

  Anna burst into laughter and smacked Winters on the back: "You are really annoying..."

  Then Anna took out a hardwood statue from her handbag. This statue was only the size of a thumb, but the details were complete and lifelike. It was a goddess with a shield and a spear.

  Anna put the statue in Winters' palm: "No matter how far or how difficult it is, Athena can guide those who have departed from their homeland to return to their hometown."

   "When did you learn woodcarving?"

   "I've never learned wood carving." Anna said timidly, "It's not good at carving, right?"

   I'm so stupid, how could I not notice this? Winters thought. There were several more wounds on Anna's left hand and right index finger, and the edges of the wounds were already red and swollen, apparently new injuries.

"This is the most exquisite wood carving I've ever seen, and I'll exchange it with you for the most valuable thing." Winters searched all over and couldn't find anything of value, so he took off the golden honor guard and put it away. In Anna's hands: "This sword is my father's saber, but it has no commemorative significance... Anyway, it is the most valuable thing on my body."

  Today was only scheduled for a review, so Winters wore this honor guard.

Anna was at a loss and said incoherently: "No, this sword is too precious, I can't have it... Why did you give me your father's sword... Is it an engagement token? No, no, I... I... I... We haven't To that kind of relationship... By the way, my family doesn't marry the northerners!"

"Which word did I say I'm going to marry you?! And why do you always say I'm from the 'North'?" Winters almost fainted: "My mother's family is from the United States, and my father's family has always been in Victoria. Neta, how did I become a 'northern'?"

   "Maybe you are taller, but you are not from the north... I don't want to get married yet..." Anna said weakly.

   The chariots, the horses Xiaoxiao, and the pedestrians have bows and arrows at their waists. Father, mother and wife see each other off, and Xianyang Bridge is not seen in the dust. Qianyi stopped the road and cried, and the cry went straight to the sky. (Writing a lot of poems is not as good as the forty-one words of the poet, I can feel the charm of the words, but this poem is best enjoyed with the painting "Soldier's Vehicles" by Mr. Wang Kewei)

   The following plot is no longer implied, in the 1.547th millennium in the dawn, there is only war, war and war.

Thanks to the book friends who have voted for the recommendation before, thank the book friend Ami for the recommendation vote, thank the book friend Kekkkkk for the recommendation vote, thank the book friend writersblock for the recommendation vote, thank the book friend 161120205936216 for the recommendation vote, thank the book friend 20181013204343295 for the recommendation ticket. thank you all

   (end of this chapter)