Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 232 Quicksand
Inside the main tent of the Wolf Town military camp, Lieutenant Colonel Moritz sat at the table, resting his chin on his hand, gently swirling his wine glass.

On the table was a small dish of almonds and green olives, all of which someone had bought from afar in Thervadan.

The man who bought these items is now holding a bottle of wine and carefully recounting his experiences over the past year to Moritz.

Moreover, he would immediately refill Moritz's glass whenever it was even slightly empty.

Don Juan burst into the tent and, upon seeing this scene, was absolutely furious: "It's not even noon yet, and you two are already drinking?"

“No, not him.” Moritz took a small sip of the pale golden nectar of life and smiled. “Only me.”

"We invited you here to get rid of him! But what you've done is foolish; a few bottles of wine were enough to bribe you. Have you forgotten the General's orders?"

Moritz yawned, looked at Lieutenant Juan, and answered slowly, "His father asked me to collect his body. Killing him and taking a corpse back, I could try, but I can't guarantee I'd succeed. But if you want me to twist his will and force him to do something he doesn't want to do, that's beyond me."

Winters then found another cup and invited Juan to sit down.

Juan threw his head back in a fit of rage, downing half a glass of strong liquor.

“Drink sparingly.” Moritz said with a hint of regret, “I was planning to drink for many days.”

"Many days?" Juan slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

"Senior," Winters earnestly requested, "I have something I'd like to ask for your help with."

……

At the wading site of the torrential river, Winters was seeing off the old pirate.

“No need to send it any further, sir.” Gold’s front teeth weren’t in place yet, and his smile revealed a lisp. “It’s already been delivered to Blackwater Town. You can go back now.”

When they arrived from Veneta, Gold, the two ladies, and Juan's men made up a total of sixteen people.

When they returned, there were only three of them: Gold, one of Juan's light cavalrymen, and one of Winters' dussacs.

"Take care on your journey." Winters said apologetically, "Lieutenant Juan will be staying here for a while, so there will only be two people to escort you."

Gold laughed heartily: "I know this road better than the back of my hand, there's no need for guards. As long as I'm alive, I guarantee I'll bring your letter back to Hailan."

Juan had come looking for someone, but Winters detained him instead, forcing him to explain the situation to Antonio.

Winters only had Gold as a messenger and guide, so he had to send the old pirate on another trip.

Winters and Juan selected two capable young men for the old pirate, partly as guards and partly to familiarize more people with the [New Territories-Veneta] route.

Once others have mastered the route, the old pirate will no longer need to travel it.

"I'm off, don't worry!" Gold laughed loudly, spurred his horse, and galloped away.

Winters watched them go until the three riders disappeared into the woods.

Then he rode back to Wolf Town, his will was firm, he still had things to do.

……

Barley takes about six months to grow from sowing to maturity. It is sown at the end of February or the beginning of March when the weather warms up, and harvested in September.

Oats vary by variety. The Paratau variety is a late-maturing oat, taking about four months to grow. It is generally sown in May and harvested in September.

Plato agriculture typically employs a three-field system. The arable land is divided into three parts: one part is used for winter wheat, another for supplementary grains, and the last part is left fallow.

Barley, oats, and rye, along with some legumes and vegetables, are the main crops for the Paratine farmers during the spring-autumn agricultural cycle.

However, before the grain was fully ripe in September, a new round of taxation had already begun.

The reason is simple: if the wheat were to be fully ripe, would the farmers still have any left for the harvesting team? They would have already harvested everything.

The term "rush to harvest" means that the wheat must be harvested before it ripens.

Before long, the wheat was ripe.

These are valuable experiences accumulated during the [Sovereignty War] thirty years ago, and bringing them out again today is still relevant.

Although unripe wheat is inedible, it is still a good thing and can be used to feed horses; it is a high-quality horse feed.

Warhorses love and need this kind of fine feed that is both nutritious and rich in moisture.

Because crops that have not yet been dehydrated are difficult to store, the Parat people used silage techniques.

The process involves chopping, sealing, and fermenting still-green crops, somewhat like making yogurt. This process preserves the nutrients and moisture of the crops while simultaneously "detoxifying" them, hence the name "silage."

Silage not only keeps for a long time without spoiling, but it also has a slightly sour taste that cattle, horses, and sheep love to eat.

However, silage processing requires a high level of experience and technical skill from the operators. In Palatour, it is generally only used in large military horse farms.

No one would be so extravagant as to use immature grains for silage; wouldn't that be a waste?
But this is now a very real phenomenon in newly reclaimed lands—the farmers' rations are less than the feed for warhorses.

The New Reclamation Army initially acted relatively politely, after all, the New Reclamation Province was their own territory.

The Red Rose and Blue Rose conscription teams treated people like dirt, and the New Reclamation Army was powerless to stop them.

Seeing that the grain was being taken away by the other two parties, the New Reclamation Army intensified its collection efforts.

Tiefeng County, located at the southwesternmost tip of the newly established province, is the most remote and underdeveloped county and was also affected by the storm.

Maplestone City gave a direct order to the Revodan garrison, so the collection team once again set off from Revodan, heading towards villages and towns in various places.

However, the collection of taxes in Zhevodan encountered a small problem...

"Sir! Have mercy!" The head of the requisition team—[Sergeant Pete]—rushed forward to kiss Winters' boots. "I was forced into this! I didn't want to leave the city to loot grain. But my wife and children are in Zhevodan. If I disobey orders, my whole family will be punished! Please have mercy..."

Pete's hands were tied behind his back, and he was bound together with four other people, clearly unable to move.

But when he saw the "bandit leader" coming, his strong will to survive made him drag the four men and almost rush to Wintersma's side.

It was Pierre's saber that silenced Sergeant Pitt.

“Take another step.” Pierre, masked, stared coldly at the soldier. The blade spoke the rest of his unspoken words.

Sergeant Pete lay on the ground, crying and begging for mercy, as did the other Zhevodan soldiers.

For a time, pleas for help were heard everywhere, so loud that it was unbearable to listen.

Winters had become numb to what he saw and heard; everyone had their own troubles, and everyone was forced into their own way.

But he didn't come to listen to the complaints of these Zhevodan soldiers.

"Have all the weapons been confiscated?" Winters asked.

"It's been confiscated."

"Wagons, grain?"

"Everything is done."

Don Juan galloped over on his horse, yelling, "What nonsense are you spouting? Get the hell out of here!"

Winters nodded: "Take them all."

Upon hearing the words "take them all away," Sergeant Pete sprang to his feet like a spring: "Take them away? You're not letting us go? You're taking us away?"

“Who said we were going to let you go?” Pierre retorted coldly.

“But, but they always released people before!” Pete shouted hoarsely, “We surrendered our weapons and our wagons, and we didn’t resist. According to the old rules, they should have released us! Why are they killing us? We didn’t do anything! Ah…”

As Pete shouted, he suddenly burst into tears, wailing with snot and sobs, "If I had known, I would have fought you all... Ah..."

The surrounding prisoners, hearing Pete's pitiful cries, also became restless.

Winters, who had already gone some distance, realized something was wrong and rushed back.

He jumped off the saddle and kicked Pete over: "Stop crying! Who said I was going to kill you?"

With tears and snot still on his face, Pete asked in surprise, "You're not going to kill us?"

“If you cry again, I’ll kill you first.” “Then why won’t you let us leave?” Pete wiped away his tears haphazardly, then suddenly overwhelmed with grief, bursting into tears again: “In the end, they’re still going to kill us? It’s just changing the location… Mom…”

Winters didn't have a good way to deal with this rough man who cried at the drop of a hat.

He used a megaphone to announce to the surrounding Zhevodan soldiers: "From this moment on, you are all my prisoners. Those who don't seek death won't die. Take them all away!"

"Do bandits also want to be taken prisoner?" Pete asked, sobbing.

Sergeant Pete's requisition team was taken on the journey.

The further he went, the more he felt that these people who robbed the grain carts were not bandits, because there had never been such powerful bandits in the newly reclaimed land.

This group of "bandits" consisted of about twenty riders, while the remaining thirty-odd people walked.

As soon as the whistle blew, the bandits rushed out from all directions at the same time.

The grain requisition team had no time to react before they were completely surrounded.

In this situation, the temporarily recruited "soldiers" of Zhevodan instantly lost their will to resist and obediently surrendered their weapons.

Although the "bandits" were all masked, the way the "bandit leaders" on horseback spoke gave Pete a sense of familiarity.

As they walked, Pete suddenly realized that the bandit leader had a distinct "officer's accent" and unconsciously spoke with a hint of Gui Tu Cheng dialect.

The further Pete walked, the more familiar it felt: Wasn't this the road to Wolftown?
As they continued walking, Pete became increasingly certain: Yes, this was the road to Wolftown.

Why are the bandits heading towards the town without avoiding people?
Why is there a military camp in the town?
Why are there prisons in the military camp?
Pete cried out that he'd been tricked: "Damn it! What bandits? I was beaten up by the militia of Wolf Town!"

Pete was a little happy, a little angry, and mostly confused.

I'm happy because since the other party isn't a bandit, they won't kill indiscriminately; at least my life is temporarily spared.

He was angry because the militiamen had disguised themselves as bandits and ambushed him, a genuine Sergeant Zhevodan.

His confusion stemmed from not understanding where the Wolf Town militia got such audacity.
Because he was a sergeant, Pete was put in solitary confinement.

He was taken to a secluded, narrow prison cell.

It took Pete a while to adjust to the light in the cell.

He saw two other people in the cell, both disheveled and with messy hair and beards, sitting against the corner of the wall.

Pete was surprised to find that the two men were...weaving straw sandals.

They moved with lightning speed, the straw stalks weaving through their hands like needle and thread, the soles of their shoes extending at a visible pace.

Pete didn't dare to move.

In the cramped prison cell, two disheveled men silently wove straw sandals.

The scene was so eerie and terrifying that it had a mysterious religious atmosphere.

"Huh? Another one?" One of the men finished weaving the soles, glanced at Pete, and calmly knocked on the wall: "Hey! Another one."

A head peeked out from behind the bars on the wall—it turned out the next room was a prison cell.

"Is it also from Thevordan?" the man in the next cell asked hoarsely.

"Yes, I'm Pete from the south of the city." Pete scrutinized the man, then suddenly shouted, "Ivan? Aren't you dead? Killed by bandits?"

The cell next door belonged to Sergeant Ivan, who was known for beating his wife when he was drunk.

However, Pete no longer recognized Ivan at all; the Ivan of the past was a burly, rough, and short-tempered man.

Ivan is now almost emaciated, and his savage spirit has been completely worn away. All that remains in his eyes is endless weariness and sorrow.

"You...you..." Ivan's lips trembled, his voice trembling with tears, "You...why did you come here too..."

……

At the Zhevodan garrison, all the officers were gathered in one room for a meeting.

There was only one issue: "bandits".

Forced conscription inevitably led to bandit uprisings.

The attitude of Zhevodan was to suppress them if possible, treating it as training; if they couldn't be caught, there was nothing that could be done.

However, a band of bandits is rampant in the southwest of Zhevodan, and their actions have forced Zhevodan to take them seriously.

This band of bandits came and went like the wind, and acted swiftly, specifically targeting the grain requisition team of Zhevodan.

Once the grain requisition teams entered their territory, it was as if they had vanished into thin air, never to return.

Initially, this gang of bandits only operated within the area of ​​the three towns of Heishui, Wu'ao, and Langtun.

In less than a month, their reach quickly extended to Niuti Valley and Yuanhua Slope, and people in Shengke Town also reported the whereabouts of this band of bandits.

There's even a growing saying that once you cross the St. George River south of Gevordan, there's nowhere safe to go.

Although robberies of grain carts are not common, they do occur from time to time, and are becoming increasingly frequent.

Because there were too many bandits, and most of the recruits in the area were untrained new soldiers, they were already struggling to defend the local area, let alone suppress the bandits.

However, unlike other bandit gangs, this group of bandits who roamed southwest of Zhevodan not only robbed grain carts, but also kidnapped people.

None of the grain requisition teams that fell into their hands could escape.

Even though recruiting soldiers is easy now, Revodan cannot withstand such constant bleeding with small knives.

"We must eliminate them as soon as possible. These bandits are no ordinary roving brigands; the surrounding villages and towns are protecting them. They're up to something big!" Major Ronald made the final decision: "I suspect they're the ones who ambushed my military police. Their stronghold must be in the forest between Wolf Town and Blackwater Town."

"Is there any other intelligence? For example, what's the bandit leader's name?" Captain Epel asked.

“It’s all a mystery. This gang of bandits has no name.” Major Ronald said thoughtfully, “But according to my informants, the surrounding villages and towns all call them… the Blood Wolf Gang.”

As he spoke, Major Ronald looked at Lieutenant Cellini.

Upon hearing the words "Blood Wolf Gang," Andrei flew into a rage, his eyes brimming with fury and even glistening with tears: "Blood Wolf Gang? Fuck them! Winters Montagne is dead! Dead on the banks of the River Styx! Which bastard dares to impersonate him as a bandit? I'll personally go and wipe him out!"

“You really have to go. The informant said the Blood Wolf Gang has a lot of bandits, and we’ll have to rely on your man Dusac to deal with them.” Major Ronald sighed. “In my opinion, they are probably Winters’ old men who deserted and then became outlaws. Try to recruit them if you can; we need veterans. I’ll decide that as long as they surrender, we’ll pardon them and let them come to Ghevodan to serve in the army.”

Lieutenant Andrea Cellini led his men, furious, on a campaign to suppress the bandits.

A week later, the tragic news arrived.

Cellini's 100-man squad was completely wiped out.

The bandits sent a message demanding that Revodan pay money to ransom the man.

"Sigh, Andrei is just too impulsive. He wouldn't lose in a fair fight; he must have been ambushed because of his recklessness," Lieutenant Bard said calmly as always.

He summarized to the officers at the newly established settlement: "The fact that these bandits want a ransom means that Lieutenant Cellini is still alive. If the bandits fight Andrei's hundred-man squad head-on, the losses will be considerable. This time, Captain Mason and I will go together, first under the pretense of delivering the ransom to scout the situation, and then proceed steadily to wipe out this bandit group."

Captain Mason, standing next to Budd, nodded vigorously.

Aside from the local forces, the only mobile force in Ghevodan consisted of the "militia" units sent back by Blue Rose.

However, Major Ronald was still somewhat uneasy: "I don't underestimate your fighting skills, but you are not natives of Iron Peak County after all. I'll have Lieutenant Akos accompany you and act as your guide. He knows all the towns in Iron Peak County very well."

“Great.” Bard’s smile was utterly sincere. “Perfect.”

Six days later, the bad news reached Gervodan again.

Both the Bard 100 and Mason 100 teams were completely wiped out, with not a single player escaping.

Major Ronald slammed his hand on the table, smashing it to pieces, and began to curse.

Meanwhile, Winters finally reunited with Bud, Andre, and Mason.

"What do you really want?" Bard asked Winters only one question: "What do you really want?"

[There is a map in this chapter; referring to the map will make things clearer.]
[Andrei last appeared at the end of Chapter Nine. As for why Blue Rose sent these "Iron Peak Town militiamen" back to the newly reclaimed land, please allow me to explain later.]
[Thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, donations, and comments. Thank you everyone!]
[History of Silage: The word silage comes from the Greek word (siros), meaning to store human food in a "cellar" or "cave." As early as 4000 years ago, Egyptians silaged millet in stone containers. Initially thought to be for sacrifice, this was later discovered. Around the same time, the Celts of Central Europe began silaging cabbage (which continues to this day as German sauerkraut). About 2000 years ago, the Germanic peoples began storing food as silage, placing whole stalks in a burrow and covering them with manure. The earliest record of hay silage comes from 13th-century Italy. From the 18th century, Northern and Central Europe began systematically producing hay silage, and ordinary farmers already knew that dry hay in the field was not high-quality cattle feed. However, the concept of "control" was lacking at that time; whether what was obtained was silage or moldy, smelly garbage depended entirely on the skill and luck of the operator.]
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(End of this chapter)