Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 244 Land Reclamation
The sun had just risen when the refugee camp in Qingfeng Town descended into chaos.

Soldiers with long spears stretched out in a net, sternly driving the refugees out of their tents and forcing them to gather in an open space.

Peter Black and Peter Fisher were among them.

Bard stood on the carriage in front of the open space, waiting for the refugees to arrive.

He was holding a flagpole, which was covered with a burlap sack instead of a flag.

The ragged refugees stood silently, hungry and exhausted, their eyes numb.

Seeing that everyone in the camp had been brought over, Bard lowered the flagpole and slowly removed the burlap sack covering the top of the flagpole.

The refugees couldn't help but gasp.

The dirty burlap was torn off.

A large golden emblem gleamed in the sunlight.

Twelve rubies, each the size of a pigeon's egg, are inlaid across the emblem, reflecting a captivating glow.

Many people with good eyesight have already recognized what it is.

"This is the emblem of Saint Ados! Fragments of the holy relic are preserved inside!" Bard held the flagpole up in front of him, scanned the crowd, and sternly urged, "Those who believe in the one Savior! Kneel down and pay homage immediately!"

An elderly woman at the front of the crowd was the first to prostrate herself on the ground.

Like a giant wave sweeping across the land, everyone else followed her to their knees, even the soldiers knelt on one knee.

“Our Lord in heaven!” Bard recited the Lord’s Prayer aloud.

The crowd whispered in unison, "Our Lord in heaven."

Bard continued reciting: "May people respect..."

He recited a line, and everyone repeated it: "May people respect..."

The crowd prayed in unison, their voices growing louder and louder as they merged together, and many even shed tears.

Even refugees from other camps flocked to the fences of each camp, eager to see what was going on.

"Forever and ever!" Bard finished reciting, then gestured: "Rise!"

"Forever!" The crowd rose to their feet as the hand gestures were made.

Bard handed the [St. Adoth's emblem] to Ish, the Ish of Ganwater, who was standing beside him.

Ish from Ganshui Town looked excited, gripping the flagpole tightly to prevent it from tilting even slightly.

During the riot on the day the city fell, the Gevordan Cathedral was first looted and then set on fire. Although the fire was quickly extinguished, all the valuable religious objects inside the cathedral were stolen.

The emblem of Saint Ados in Bud's possession was recovered from the criminals.

“You who follow the Lord’s will will be saved!” Bard, who was leading the prayers, naturally began to preach to the crowd: “Many centuries ago… the prophet parted the sea and led the people into the wilderness…”

His sermons were simple, merely recounting the story recorded in the scriptures of "the prophet parting the sea, leading people to wander in the wilderness for forty years, and finally arriving at the 'land flowing with milk and honey'."

Bud was neither a Protestant nor a Catholic clergyman, and he had no authority to perform the ceremony on behalf of others.

But when he preached, everyone listened.

After the sermon ended, Bad, the son of a tenant farmer at Greenheart Monastery and from the village of Gilad, looked into the eyes of the displaced people and expressionlessly announced their fate:

"Yesterday, the military government of Tiefeng County passed the 'Poverty Relief Ordinance.' According to the ordinance, all displaced people will be subject to military law from this moment on, and the military government will provide you with food, housing, farm tools, and land!"

Bard gave them no time to think; his voice was cold and ruthless: "But from this day forward, you will no longer be completely free men. Your status is equivalent to that of serfs, and from now on you will cultivate and reclaim wasteland on the settlement farms!"

Even the most ignorant refugees were taken aback at this moment.

The crowd began to murmur, and the sounds gradually spread, making the camp increasingly noisy.

Bard roared, "Quiet!"

People suddenly shut their mouths, and the camp fell silent in an instant, a testament to the lingering effects of corporal punishment.

"The prophet led the people through the wilderness for forty long years before they entered the Promised Land." Bard declared to the refugees with an unquestionable air, as if preaching: "By the grace of the Republic and the Lord, you only need seven years!"

The refugees were somewhat bewildered, and even the soldiers listened attentively.

The autumn wind swept through the camp, carrying Bard's voice to everyone's ears: "Under the witness of the Lord, the Republic makes a covenant with you. After three years of labor as serfs, you will voluntarily become tenant farmers, no longer bound by military law. After another four years of labor as tenant farmers, you will be eligible to redeem your land, regain your complete freedom, and become true self-sufficient farmers."

Bard opened the Judgment and handed it to the proclamator brought from Ghevodan: “Whoever’s name is called, come forward. Kiss the holy emblem and pledge allegiance in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!”

The clerk took the "Judgment" with both hands. He only earned extra money by counting votes at city assemblies and reading notices at markets, and had never experienced such a scene before.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he struggled to utter the first name: "Peter Black of Stonewall Village!"

Peter Black’s legs trembled uncontrollably when he heard his name called.

He didn't expect to be the first one called on, and he didn't even hear what the priest was saying.

He only vaguely heard "distribute grain", "distribute land" and "become serfs".

"Live well, and there will be a way out."

Peter Black suddenly remembered what the stranger had said.

He swallowed hard, stiffened, and stepped forward to kiss the golden and precious emblem, swearing allegiance.

“Peter Campbell from Linshui Village!” Bud read out the second name.

No one came out.

Bud squinted and repeated, "Peter Campbell from Waterloo!"

A young man reluctantly stepped out of the crowd. He was thin and bony, but his large eyes were darting around. His mouth was slightly crooked, which is why he was registered as Campbell.

The young man dawdled to the carriage but refused to kiss the emblem. He glanced at the "priest officer's" face and stammered, "Sir, I am not a farmer. I am a Zhevodan. I do not know how to farm."

"Then why did you register as a farmer?" Bud asked expressionlessly.

The young man couldn't answer.

He was originally a lazy rogue from Revodan. On the day the city fell, he wanted to make a fortune in the chaos, so he tied a red rope to his shoulder and went out to rob people.

Unexpectedly, the attacking army quickly turned around to suppress the riots, restore order, and capture those who took advantage of the chaos.

He was afraid, so he followed the refugees out of the city and hid in a refugee camp. He managed to slip through the screening process, registering as a tenant farmer.

Seeing that the other person didn't speak, Bard asked kindly, "You don't want to go farming?"

"Sir," the rogue man replied, forcing a smile, "I don't know how to plant."

"can."

The rogue man was overjoyed: "Thank you for your kindness, sir! Thank you..."

Bard pointed at the man, his expression devoid of any emotion: "Arrest him!"

Ish tossed the flagpole to someone nearby, kicked the rogue to the ground, and quickly tied him up securely.

The young rogue panicked completely: "Sir! I'm willing to work on the farm! I'm willing to go!"

"Shut him up!" Bud ordered.

Wearing iron gloves, Ish delivered a powerful slap, knocking the rogue unconscious.

“Not accepting the Poor Law is a crime.” Bard ruthlessly handed down his sentence to the already unconscious rogue: “By the power granted to me by the Poor Law, I sentence you to twenty years of hard labor. Take him away!” Ish dragged the rogue, who was using the alias Peter, out of the camp as if he were a corpse.

“You only have two paths!” Bard looked at the refugees again: “Either go to the settlement farms and work the land! After seven years, you will regain your free status; or serve twenty years of forced labor, and after twenty years you will be free! The choice is yours! Next!”

“Peter Fisher of Stonewall Village!” the clerk cried out, trembling.

Peter Fisher, who had just been pitying Peter Black, was now so frightened he almost wet himself.

He gritted his teeth and moved forward. He didn't understand anything else, only two words: "seven years" and "land".

He was a penniless farmhand to begin with, and he couldn't lose much more than that.

Peter Fisher, with his "dead fish eyes," walked to the carriage, bowed his head, kissed the holy emblem, and swore allegiance.

Led by Peter Black and Peter Fisher, others, whether willingly or unwillingly, obediently accepted their fate.

Even if they wanted to resist, they couldn't.

Winters and Bard's control over the refugees was divided into three phases:
The first phase of the siege was to prevent even one refugee from escaping.
The second stage [screening and registration] involves identifying bandits and hooligans who have infiltrated the peasantry, selecting artisans and self-cultivating farmers from among the refugees, and registering the remaining landless peasants.

The three-stage [diversion] process breaks up the large group of migrants, preventing the various parts from responding to and connecting with each other.

In the third phase, more than 20,000 refugees were divided into sixteen battalions.

Each camp has as many as two thousand people and as few as nine hundred, of whom nearly one-third are children.

Although the number of refugees in each camp still far exceeds the number of soldiers Bard has, with three hundred-man squads, he can easily suppress any single camp.

Moreover, many fleeing farmers had families with them, and even if they wanted to resist, they had to consider their families; they were not capable of fighting.

The farmers, who had families to support, did not object to this "contract" because they were eager to find food for their wives, children, and elderly parents.

Some farmers were unwilling, but when their names were called, they still walked to the carriage, kissed the holy emblem, and swore allegiance, just like the others—they didn't even know why they did it.

……

As the refugees walked forward one by one, Bud recalled what he had said to his comrades in the meeting room at the garrison yesterday:
"Land? Land what? We're not building a utopia!"

"If self-cultivating farmers want land, where are we going to give them land? All farmland has owners; land without owners is wasteland! If self-cultivating farmers want houses, where are we going to give them houses? If self-cultivating farmers want livestock and plows, we can't give them those either!"

“We can’t possibly turn refugees into self-sufficient farmers overnight! Besides, I’ve never even considered doing that!”

"Don't think about saving the world. Playing the savior will be more resented than being a purely evil person. Farmers can accept you treating them like nobles, but they can't accept you being a good person!"

"They can accept a god as their savior, but they cannot accept a human being as their savior!"

“You give them land and food, and they may briefly regard you as a god! But when they discover that you are just a human being, they will immediately despise you and betray you.”

"Therefore, everything we do must be based on our own interests. Only in this way can we accept their betrayal without complaint one day in the future."

"If anyone thinks this is exploitation, then I'm going to exploit them!"

“Don’t try to save everyone; that’s a feat only God can accomplish.” Bard clenched his fist and looked directly into Winters’ eyes. “If we can save half the population, we can go to heaven or hell in peace.”

……

All the refugees in the Qingfeng Town camp took an oath, and Bard ordered the official document to be posted on the camp's notice board.

The next morning, the Qingfeng Camp would set off to migrate southwest of Tiefeng County, and the other fifteen camps would also set off in turn.

Bard was going to take all the refugees to Wolf Village, Blackwater Village, Five Mastiffs Village, Oxhoof Valley, and Little Stone Village.

That was the southwesternmost and most desolate part of Tiefeng County, and also the place furthest from the enemy.

He knew that most of the refugees hadn't heard a word he was saying, and he didn't have time to explain it to them in detail. But that didn't matter; they would understand eventually.

"Let's go!" Bard stepped into the stirrups, mounted his horse, and took the insignia of Saint Adorse. "To the next camp."

……

Compared to the somber and oppressive atmosphere of the refugee camp, the atmosphere at Winters' place was much more relaxed.

With a major battle imminent, Bard and Mason took over all the affairs of the refugee camp.

Winters devoted all his energy to reorganizing the army.

The most important aspect was to truly turn the captured prisoners of Ronald's forces into his soldiers.

Originally, the Montagne garrison commander wanted to select strong and able-bodied refugees to enlist, but he soon realized that it was completely unnecessary.

Because Major Ronald had already done the job for him.

Ronald's troops were composed of the strongest adult males among the refugees.

Moreover, the officers of the former Zhevodan garrison provided these "new recruits" with basic military training.

The esteemed Major Ronald handled everything from recruiting to training soldiers, saving Winters a great deal of trouble.

The four teams that originally belonged to Ronald now have four different destinations.

The three 100-man squads were taken away by Bud, Andre, and Mason;
There is also a small number of "labor farms" currently in Wolf Town—those that were ambushed by Winters when they went out to collect grain.

Samukin led the militia from various villages in Wolf Town to guard them. According to Winters's arrangement, they should be cutting down trees and building houses.

Another small group deserted during the retreat; at that time, they were still Ronald's men.

The rest were captured by Winters, totaling 1178 people.

Winters first eliminated all soldiers from Gevordan.

Then, a small number of able-bodied men from among the refugees were added.

Finally, he appointed his old subordinates as deputies and centurions in the new army.

Following Winters' organizational method, the new force was reorganized into one hundred arrows, 1200 men.

If it were a standing army, this size would be sufficient to employ phalanx tactics.

However, Winters lacked muskets, so all one hundred arrows came from spearmen.

In the past imperial military system, soldiers recruited from different fiefdoms, counties, and states would be organized into separate regiments.

The term "regiment" is not only a military organization but also a recruitment and administrative unit, which fits the current situation of Winters' unit.

Winters designated these 1200 soldiers as the [Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment], which was tentatively composed of ten hundred-man squads.

In addition, there were three former 100-man units of Badr, Andrei, and Mason, which were organized outside the infantry regiment.

Winters originally intended to incorporate these combat-experienced soldiers into the new forces, but the New Reclamation Legion's counterattack came too quickly, leaving no time for the new forces to become combat-ready.

So instead of loosening your fingers, it's better to clench your fist.

Therefore, Winters did not make any major changes to his three most reliable hundred-man squads for the time being, but instead transferred some of the veterans to serve as sergeants in the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment.

His troops now had flesh and blood, and bones, but the army was still a walking corpse, not even worthy of being called an army.

They were nothing more than a group of vagrants struggling to make ends meet.

This army lacks a soul.

Next, Winters had to make these soldiers truly his "warriors".

[Thanks to reader [Sonnet] for being the patron of this forum, thank you!]
[Oaths of allegiance may seem unenforceable, but they were indeed the most direct means by which regimes demanded loyalty from the people during feudal times, the Renaissance, and bourgeois revolutions. After all, theoretically, the witnesses to these oaths were not human, but divine. For believers who feared going to hell, these oaths were actually quite binding.]
Even now, testimonies sworn "according to the scriptures" are still accepted. Therefore, swearing allegiance is not surprising.
[For Winters, the concept of the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment wouldn't seem out of place, as organizing soldiers from a region into a single regiment was a logical step.]
Translating all military units called "regiments" from different countries as simply "regiment" is not entirely accurate. This concept is somewhat geographically linked; a large group of soldiers recruited from a specific region can be called a "regiment," and there's no precise definition of how many soldiers constitute a regiment. Mercenaries during the Renaissance also participated in warfare using the concept of "regiment."
[However, a regiment is usually commanded by a colonel, with a lieutenant colonel in command and a major serving as adjutant.]
[After assuming command of the garrison, Captain Montagne once again boldly "overstepped his bounds."]
[Thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, donations, and comments.]
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(End of this chapter)