Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

After analyzing the distribution of power, Angel Eye continued, "After laying the groundwork for so long, they mobilized a large number of Pinkerton detectives under the guise of suppressing bandits."

"Damn it, it's those hounds again." Calaway, having experienced the Pinkerton detectives' tenacity firsthand, gritted his teeth and said, "Rich people's dogs, always at your beck and call, how convenient!"

“Evans Osborne, the fifth son of his family, holds a high position in the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He used his power to mobilize 600 Pinkerton detectives, fully armed, forming a fairly large anti-bandit team, and they traveled by train through New Elizabeth to come here.”

600 people.

To say it's few is an understatement; even at its peak, the Pinkerton Detective Agency only had around 2000 employees, roughly 30% of whom were mobilized for this operation.

“In addition, Roanok has connections with several bounty hunter organizations, including the largest bounty hunter group in America, the ‘Winking Dutchmen’.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of it.” Theon suddenly remembered that back then, in order to avenge his brother, he personally went up the Grey Wolf Mountains, only to find a field of corpses when he entered Scar Village.

The corpses were dressed identically, all belonging to the "Winking Dutchman." Their sense of smell was incredibly sharp; they must have heard that a $7000 bounty had appeared in Scarface Village, and rushed there in droves, only to be wiped out by Angel Eye.

However, I haven't seen these people much since I entered New Orleans, so this probably isn't their territory.

"They used newspapers to publicize it extensively, definitely wanting to spread the information to the ears of bounty hunters. Cooperating with the Osborn family would naturally involve a lot of money. Bounties became mercenary fees, and bounty hunters became hired thugs."

"Currently, these bounty hunters are spontaneously gathering in New Elizabeth, and their numbers are estimated to be around 500."

"So, we're going to face... about 1100 enemies?" Estimating that it would be roughly another ten percent, Xiaomei's tone softened considerably.

“This is just the vanguard,” Angel Eyes added calmly. “The team is led by the fifth and sixth sons of the Osborne family: Evans Osborne and Tolman Osborne. The former is a high-ranking member of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, while the latter studied at a military academy abroad.”

"Their plan was to let this vanguard fight and wear us down first. Once they were nearly exhausted, their fourth son, Byron Osborne, would step in from an official standpoint. He was a candidate for senator from New Elizabeth, so he had natural authority in this regard."

"We can't count on the military. After we're half-dead, he'll step in and do everything in his power to mobilize state police, mounted police, and sheriffs to form a force. They'll fight their way through and wipe us out. That way, it can be considered his own achievement and give him an edge when he runs for senator."

"Ha, trying to make the most of everything. Even at a time like this, he's still calculating these benefits and advantages. That's typical of him." Zhang Renfeng sneered, already secretly arranging good things for the Osborne family in his mind. He muttered, "Alright, then let's have a go at him!"

----

"Um, Mr. Hongzhong..."

Halfway through the conversation, David suddenly came in from outside. "Besides ammunition, supplies, and weapons, a box was also delivered. I looked at it, and there was a note on it. It was sent from Numa Town by a blacksmith named 'Blackhand,' who said it was specially made for you."

"Why don't you go take a look?"

"Sent by Black Palm?" Zhang Renfeng suddenly remembered something, his eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up. "I'll go take a look!"

Chapter 529: The Army Approaches the City

"Who gave you permission to drink? I've emphasized this more than once: drinking is not allowed on a march!" Tolman, sitting high on his horse, rebuked sharply. "Drinking leads to gatherings, and gatherings lead to trouble. You bunch of good-for-nothings, it's one thing if you can't read, but can't you even understand human language?!"

It was late at night when the massive procession of a thousand people arrived by train at the border between New Elizabeth and New Orleans.

After crossing the border and traveling a distance, the open plains grew smaller and smaller. Before them lay a mountain range, not high, but beyond which lay Lagras, the city of Lagras, the end of their journey, the place where they would fight the enemy.

Tolman was filled with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. After graduating from the military academy, he had the intention to showcase his talents, but he could never find the opportunity.

Now, I can finally command an army and put my knowledge to use.

Even before the march began, he had drafted the army's regulations and established discipline. Unfortunately, the members of the Pinkerton Detective Agency didn't seem to care much about them.

At that moment, he was reprimanding a Pinkerton detective who had been secretly drinking while on his journey. Although the detective put down his bottle, his face was full of resentment. Several detectives gathered around from the side, their words carrying a hint of hostility, though they didn't say anything.

"What are you trying to do? Rebel?" Tolman pulled on the reins, looking at them with an air of confidence, his brow furrowed, and he shouted imposingly, "Where is the supervisory team!"

Like him, the supervising team, riding tall horses, immediately emerged from the ranks and surrounded Tolman, forming an insurmountable human wall.

Roanoke naturally wouldn't allow his son to participate in this battle alone. The so-called oversight team consisted of trusted confidants from the Osborn family. They were better equipped and more skilled in combat, with only one purpose: to ensure the safe return of the two Osborn sons. At this moment, the presence of the oversight team gave Tolman the confidence to issue orders.

"I am the commander of this campaign. Open your eyes and see! To disobey me is to disobey military orders!"

Tolman shouted, "What are you doing here? Is this any of your business? Get out of here!"

However, this time, even with the support of the supervisory team, his scolding had no effect.

The Pinkerton detectives, a dark mass, stared at him like a flock of crows.

……

"You can't play cards, you can't smoke, and now you can't even drink alcohol?"

"Damn it, some rich kid who came from who-knows-where, went to some military academy, thinks he's so important... He's worse than an idiot..."

"I wish I hadn't come. I only signed up because of Mr. Evans. Who knew it would turn out like this?"

"They're brothers born of the same mother, so how come they're so different from Mr. Evans?"

……

A discordant voice rang out from the dark mass of people. Tolman heard it clearly and was furious. He drew his gold-plated Colt revolver and fired a shot into the air.

"boom--!!"

The gunshot briefly silenced the murmurs.

At that moment, the supervisory team behind him also drew their guns in unison.

"Who just said that? Get out here and explain yourself!" Tolman looked around, raised his head, and shouted, "Come on! Weren't you so talkative just now? Why are you mute now? Were your balls castrated?"

After such a direct and angry outburst, no one dared to argue with him anymore, but no one seemed inclined to disperse.

"You're so drunk you can't even hold a gun properly. What if there's an ambush? What if the enemy suddenly charges at you? How will you fight them? How will you form a formation? Let's not even talk about whether you can still fight. What if you hit your own people after you fire!"

"Gambling... Gambling involves winning and losing, and if the stakes are high, trouble is bound to happen! How can you lead the team if there's such a commotion!"

"Smoking is even more out of the question. Smoking late at night, are we going to tell the enemy our location? There are countless examples of people lighting a cigarette in the trench and getting shot in the head! You bunch of good-for-nothings, I don't know who taught you to have such stupid habits, but as long as I'm here, these good days are over!"

Tolman raised his voice, launched into a tirade, and finally chose a leader as the "monkey" to make an example of.

"Let's start with this drunken idiot!"

He pulled out the rifle from behind him and pressed it against the unfortunate Pinkerton detective's forehead.

……

"Tolman".

The figure on horseback appeared somewhat unrestrained, because unlike Tolman, he did not keep his upper body upright, but rather hunched over slightly, bobbing up and down with the horse.

However, his voice, when it reached the ears of the crowd, was like a shot of adrenaline.

"Mr. Evans!"

----

"……elder brother."

No matter how unwilling he was, his status was what it was: in terms of kinship, Evans was his brother; in terms of official rank, he was a high-ranking figure in the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He had only come to assist him, and now that the person in charge had arrived, his own status was naturally diminished.

Evans Osborne, seated astride his horse, glanced around at the men and said softly, “That’s enough. Please remember the military rules my brother spoke of and take them to heart. That’s all for now. Disperse and set up camp.”

Picking it up heavily and putting it down gently is certainly not what Tolman wanted.

But the words had already been spoken, and the crowd began to slowly disperse; what else could he do?

"Brother is being far too lenient with them!" Tolman complained as he dismounted and arranged his luggage. "If this were at the Hamburg Academy (the German Federal Armed Forces Command Academy), such lax discipline would have been dealt with long ago..."

"We're almost at Lagras." Evans looked at him with a complicated expression, not giving him a chance to continue the conversation. "How do you plan to fight?"

“Simple,” Tolman said confidently. “I’ll lead a hundred cavalrymen across these mountains to scout out their position. It’s the middle of the night, so their defenses should be weak. We have the advantage in numbers and equipment, so we can just crush them!”

"Let the bounty hunters stay in the rear... After all, they're after the money and not very controllable. Let the Pinkerton detectives and I work together. With the supervisory team, the numbers and firepower should be enough."

"In my opinion, there's no need to wait for Fourth Brother to mobilize the official forces. The people here are enough to take down Lagras in one fell swoop!"

"When the time comes, I will hang Hong Zhongkan's five hundred blades at the highest point in the city... All the lowly people who helped Hong Zhongkan will be hanged, not a single one will be left alive!"

……

Evans scrutinized him as he got excited, then suddenly felt a chill and quickly suppressed his somewhat frivolous smile.

“I am no longer your brother, but your superior.”

"You can go scout ahead, but remember... spread out the people. No matter what you learned in military academy, or what kind of messy formations you made them into, don't use them. Spread out! Divide them into individual points, and make sure that the two of you are not too far apart, just enough to be within sight. Do you understand what I mean?"

Tolman's expression was somewhat uncertain, but he quickly composed himself and nodded. "Understood."

Chapter 530: Line infantry formation, activated!

"All troops, listen to my command! Advance in line infantry column formation!"

Once inside the mountain path and confirming they were no longer separated from their brother, Tolman waved his hand and immediately ordered the troops to change formation. However, most of the Pinkerton spies were unfamiliar with what a line infantry column was, and upon learning it, they wore expressions of utter disbelief, as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"

This time, even his supervisory team no longer stood firmly on his side as before, because they had seen more or less what Tolman was talking about.

The so-called supervisory team was actually a private army of bodyguards sent by the Osborne family. They were of high quality, all of whom were retired members of the Union Army from the Civil War.

Seeing Tolman's impatient gaze sweep over, a capable-looking veteran, around forty or fifty years old, stepped out from the group of supervisors. Half of his face seemed to be blackened by artillery fire, except for his eyes, which were still quite bright.

"What's wrong, Mickey? Why aren't you moving?" Tolman said, displeased. "Do I have to ask you to line up in formation?"

“Mr. Tolman, on this one matter, I hope you will reconsider.” The veteran Mickey’s tone, however, was not as polite as the others. Having been through the blood and sweat of the Union Army, he was very spirited and didn’t lose face. “Line infantry—that’s wartime tactics. I don’t know in what context you learned about it, but…”

"It sounds like you've also studied at some military academy," Tolman said, tilting his head slightly with a hint of sarcasm. "Then, I suppose you must know the glorious history of this most powerful land tactic, right?"

"The Seven-Day War, the Battle of Waterloo... In which of the famous wars in history was there no shadow of line infantry formations?"

"You keep saying you participated in the Civil War, but weren't there line infantry back then?"

“We know what that thing is.” Mickey’s voice was still rough, and his tone and attitude were anything but polite. “To put it nicely, it’s called a military formation; to put it bluntly, it’s called a fucking execution line. Before a person dies, blood, flesh, and excrement will all spurt out of their body. Did your textbooks say that?”

The crowd burst into laughter, including the Pinkerton detectives who had been selected. They didn't really understand what a line infantry formation was, but they couldn't help but laugh when they saw Tolman being rebuked.

Their laughter, in Tolman's eyes, was a catalyst, making his expression increasingly sinister.

"While this formation is highly lethal, it lacks flexibility. Besides, your brother previously instructed us to..."

"Ha... So, I spent four years studying at a military academy outside, passed the exams, and finally got my degree. And in the end, I'm supposed to have those old geezers who can't even read teach me how to fight?"

Tolman didn't want to listen anymore; to him, the matter had escalated from a tactical issue to an attitude issue.

In his view, his father had already arranged jobs for the six brothers: the eldest brother would inherit the company, the second brother would run a casino business, the third brother would work in banking and finance, the fourth brother would take a political position, the fifth brother would work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and he himself was to develop in the military direction in the future, which was why his father arranged for him to study abroad and attend a military academy.

Right now, things have happened so suddenly. I haven't even joined the army yet, and this Red Center incident has already occurred. My father, worried about the repercussions, didn't use his influence in the military and political circles. Instead, he gathered the Pinkerton detectives and bounty hunters as the main force.

As a result, although Fifth Brother's knowledge was inferior to his, his voice in this crucial battle naturally overshadowed his own, which already made him feel somewhat frustrated.

He would never allow a group of illiterate soldiers to trample on his head, so he angrily said, "No need to bring him up. Evans Osborne isn't here right now. I am the highest-ranking officer in this team. If anything goes wrong, I will take responsibility!"

"You are all private soldiers hired by my family. Have you forgotten who is in charge of your expenses and reimbursements? How dare you disobey my orders!"

Tolman had grasped the group's Achilles' heel; nothing else mattered, but the moment money was mentioned, their opposition immediately diminished.

Of all things under the heavens, the dollar is the biggest; at least the Osborne family is genuinely contributing money.

It's reasonable for you to pay to accompany the young master of the family in a large-scale, live-action military enthusiast role-playing game, right?

At least in their understanding, while the Red Center Gang was powerful, their most impressive achievement was merely infiltrating Sanma Town, which led to them being categorized as an internal conflict between the Red Center Gang and the Thunderous Fury Gang. Even if they won, it would only be one gang defeating another, not a threat.

Rather than agonizing over which formation to use, it's more important to be able to get the Osborne family's dollars safely and securely once we get back.

……

"Alright, alright, Mickey, let's just leave it at that."

"Yes, we're just on the road. What difference does it make how we travel? Don't argue with young people. You won't gain anything by winning."

"Think about the compensation..."

……

More and more supervisors began to smooth things over, and Mickey, naturally, couldn't hold out any longer and reluctantly retreated.

Thus, this dispute, which was essentially a battle for military command, ended with Tolman, who had brought his own capital into the group, threatening to withdraw his investment, and Mickey backing down.

With his retreat, the line infantry naturally had no chance of escape.

Seeing the scattered formation transform into a stable stack of cubes, an unconscious smile appeared on his face.

This military formation, which has appeared many times in history, books, and case studies, has a strong symbolic meaning for him, catering to his deepest desire—to win on the battlefield and prove his knowledge and value.

Pinkerton detectives formed the outermost layer, with the oversight team protecting the center, while Tolman positioned himself at the very core of the formation. The mountain path, though not wide, was still wide enough for the army to advance slowly. At this moment, Tolman, at the very center of the formation, mounted on his horse with his eyes slightly closed, truly felt a sense of accomplishment.

"And this is all I'm getting, already! I feel so satisfied..."

So, when I finally lead this invincible army into Lagras, cut off that Red Zhong's head, and hold it in my hand, how majestic and exhilarating that would be!

"what……"

His laughter was completely drowned out by the sudden barking of dogs.