Outside Gu Nuo City, a convoy was advancing in the dark.
The lantern hanging in front of the carriage swayed constantly, the copper pull ring made a fine crashing sound, and its corners were also full of dents and polished.
It was very late, and it was hard to imagine such a team rushing through the night.
There are many riders on both sides of the team. They seem to be guards, but they are more well-trained and watch their surroundings vigilantly.
A rush of hooves came from the front, making the group tense, and their hands unconsciously touched their waists.
But when I saw that the visitor was wearing the same uniform as myself, this eased a little.
The scout-like rider drove his horse to a carriage and stopped, panting heavily, and then reported the situation ahead.
"There is no abnormality in Gu Nuo City. Those legionnaires who are stationed are still the same as usual, and they are taking a break at the moment."
According to recent intelligence, this 5,000-6,000-person legion generally has 3,000 permanent residents in the camp, a small number of about 400-600 people perform tasks in the surrounding counties and territories, and the other 2,000 people will be on vacation.
But it is hard to imagine that there will be vacations in this era, but this is also the product of the empire that had to compromise after learning the military reform. .
In the past, most of the soldiers in the empire were conscripts during the war. Many of them had to pay for their own weapons and horses, and a few were elite private troops raised by nobles.
After studying the Crancia system, the new legions established today are all professional troops, but if such an army wants to have the combat effectiveness of Clancia soldiers, it must be trained for a long time, and such a life is extremely difficult. Even painful, like going to jail.
Most of the people who join the army are from idle people in the society. It is difficult for them to adapt to this kind of life, because the essence of their joining the army is to make money or avoid crime. It’s okay in a short time, but it will cause various problems in a long time, and the imperial officers who lack the coping means and experience have to compromise, and promise to make time every month to let these soldiers go out of the camp to vent out in turn, so as to maintain a high-intensity situation. Military training, and will to fight.
And the reason why Roland Hill thinks that the Empire has only learned the fur is that.
The construction of a new type of army is actually a whole set of social mechanisms behind it, not simply pulling people to train. Solving ideological and spiritual problems is even more difficult than solving treatment problems.
After listening to the scout's report, the figure in the carriage nodded, and the scout went on to report another matter.
"In addition, we found a pair of mother and son on the road ahead. In order to prevent the two from leaking military information, they have been temporarily controlled."
"Did it hurt them?" the voice inside the car asked.
"No, but the mother was emotionally unstable because her child was running a fever and she was in a hurry to send the child to the city for treatment by a priest."
"She told that she was from a village more than 20 miles away and had been walking all day."
"Where are they?"
"In the woods on the roadside about a kilometer away, there are now three riders looking after it."
"I see."
Immediately, the curtain behind the car was lifted, and a girl in a skirt with wide sleeves jumped out of the car.
At night, the long cyan hair showed a light blue, which was very dreamy.
"You inform the Chief Guhuas at the rear of the convoy and let him lead the team temporarily, while I will rush over to take a look."
"Yes, Mr. Jialan." The rider then saluted, and then drove again thinking about the end of the convoy.
After getting off the carriage, Roland Hill glanced at the caravan that was still advancing, nodded slightly, and then his body slowly floated up, and then suddenly disappeared into the air.
After more than ten seconds, Loren Hill slowly descended above a beech forest.
The white shoes stepped on the light yellow and green leaves on the ground, making a soft sound, the skirt moved slightly, several soldiers turned their heads when they heard the sound, and immediately aimed their muskets until they saw the still moving night. The figure slowly put down.
They stood at attention and saluted, before being stopped by the girl's raised hand.
Beside the three of them, a mother was squatting under a big tree with her child in her arms, trembling nervously. Her rough hair was messy, mixed with grass clippings and mud, and the clothes she was wearing were also very shabby, exuding a smell. The greasy smell of beef and sheep seems to be someone who often works on the farm.
Seeing a few 'fierce' soldiers in front of her get out of the way, she raised her head tremblingly and looked carefully, and then saw the girl who had just arrived.
After seeing the mother and son, the girl discovered that the other party was wearing a rope around his ankle, as if to prevent the other party from escaping suddenly.
"Treading the Stars"
"Sorry, I am frightened. I heard that your child is sick. Can you show me? I think I can help treat it." Loren Hill leaned down and spoke softly.
The mother seemed to be startled by the girl's face, she sat back on the ground, and the child in her arms threw herself in her arms in fear, not daring to raise her head.
"You... you are... what... a ghost... a man-eating witch... a devil." For the mother, the teenage girl's outrageous features terrified her.
This kind of appearance is not something normal people can have. She has worked in the village all her life, and she has seen almost the same people with rough skin, calluses and ravines on her hands.
I heard the old man say that people who are too beautiful are generally not people, but the demons of hell who come to seduce people, especially their husbands, so be extra careful.
It used to be that some strong men in the village went far away, and when they came back, they couldn't stay away, and then they went out again and didn't come back. I heard that they were fascinated by such a woman with an abnormal appearance.
Such a woman is fake, definitely a devil, not a human being.
They are followers of the devil and demons, it's over, my child, it's over.
The mother's body was shaking, her head was lowered, her body kept retreating, her nerves were highly tense, one hand began to grope for the rope on her foot, and she began to tear it desperately.
"Don't move!" Seeing the woman trying to escape, a soldier firmly pressed her to the ground with one hand, and in desperation, the woman began to bite the hand on her shoulder with her teeth.
"Okay, don't be afraid." Looking at this scene, the girl knew that her words were useless in a short period of time. She raised her hand, and a colorless air flow suddenly rose in the forest. Dead leaves and dust floated along with it. Start swimming.
"We're not bad people, and I'll heal your child."
Accompanied by the voice, faint emerald light particles danced in the forest, and then converged to form a water-green ring around the girl's wrist, in which the brilliance flowed, and a feeling full of vitality and freshness rushed towards the face.
Then this ring, with a starting point of fluorescence, flew towards the child in the mother's arms, and before the other party had time to pull it, it submerged in the body in time.
A cool and gentle magic circulated in the boy's body, dispelling heat, killing viruses, and healing all kinds of dark wounds and scars.
Afterwards, the light dissipated, and the girl opened her eyes again. Those pale blue pupils were as clear as jade in the dark night.
"Okay, just rest for a while." She wanted to step forward to comfort her, but seeing that the mother was still frightened, she could only shake her head helplessly.
"Just stay and take care of you. After tomorrow, the matter should be over."
"Yes, Lord Jialan." Several people stood at attention again.
"Let's do it first, remember to find something to eat, so they don't get hungry."
After speaking, Roland Hill slowly floated up again and disappeared into the night sky, and in a corner of the sky, a city with sparse lights could already be seen.
About 3 kilometers outside the city, the convoy stopped, and then a whistle sounded in the mountains, like some kind of bird song.
After a while, the 'woods' on both sides of the road swayed, and then a group of soldiers who had been on standby walked down the mountain quickly.
They arrived a few days in advance, came to the vicinity of the city in several batches, and gathered here tonight.
If a large number of soldiers are marching on the road, it is too easy to be exposed, so the 'Fairy Wood' organization let these thousands of soldiers disperse and advance separately, and then meet here.
It has to be said that the implementation of such a plan requires a strong subjective initiative, but this group of soldiers with faith did it very well.
Under the command of the captains, they methodically unloaded the wooden box loaded on the car, and then pryed open the horizontal bars on the wooden box, revealing a handful of cold muskets.
After the rifles were handed out to the soldiers, they began to check one by one, and then the captain handed the soldiers boxes of bullets wrapped in greased paper.
Most of the bullets in the territory are produced by themselves, but there are also a small number of them shipped from the sea by the Karites Chamber of Commerce. Compared with the bullets produced locally, these bullets have been simply enchanted. The gunpowder in them It is also more stable and more explosive, suitable for use in decisive battles.
"Start counting!"
After sorting out the weapons in their hands, the non-commissioned officers began to sort out the formation and inspect the personnel.
"1"
"2"
"3"
…
"14"
"15"
After a row is finished, the following queues continue to start from 1, and so on.
"Report! After the whole team is completed, there should be 3112 people, and there are 3106 people."
A Master Chief stood at attention, and then waited for the three members of the 'Fairy Wood' organization in front of him to issue orders.
Guhuasi was also standing in front of the battle at this time. He was holding a giant axe in one hand and a special heavy firearm in the other hand. This was a shortened magic machine gun. The enchantment in it could make the firearm Automatically reloads, and he has a large circle of bullet chains wrapped around him, looking rude and violent.
As an imitation of the secret weapon "Ranging through the Organ" of the Clarets Chamber of Commerce, such a firearm does not have the terrifying lethality of the original, but it also has the advantages of lower cost and easier production. "Only" requires two It can be done with the cooperation of high-level alchemists.
And if you want to have the lethality of the original version that "sounds through the organ", you need a complete industrial chain behind it, whether it is the smelting of alloy steel, the production of chrome-plated barrels, enchanted engraving, and the production of a large number of enchanted bullets, no longer It can be done by a simple workshop.
At this time, it was already more than 2 o'clock in the evening.
After confirming that the preparation was completed, a magical firework slowly rose in the night sky, and then suddenly exploded in the night sky. Hundreds of thousands of sparks roared across the sky, leaving a long trail, forming a delicate flower shape.
Soon, a fire broke out in the city of Gunuo, and bursts of shouting sounded, people running, gun shooting, soldiers shouting, panic and crying, one after another.
The squad that had previously infiltrated the city began to act, fireproofing and blasting in the residential area where the nobles gathered, and even one of the Legion's gunpowder warehouses was set on fire.
The loud noise of the explosion woke up the whole city, lifted many roofs, and the glass on both sides of the two streets was illuminated by the fire.
Many residents of the city woke up in surprise, and then saw that a group of strange soldiers suddenly appeared on the street. These people were wrapped in pale yellow and white silk scarves, holding muskets in their hands, and began to attack the imperial soldiers patrolling the city. Start arming and blocking.
Under such a surprise, many imperial soldiers got up from their beds in a panic, and then quickly dressed, picked up weapons, and ran out amid the officers' curse and rage.
They began exchanging fire with these unknown enemies in the streets.
The sound of pulling the bolt resounded from time to time on the street corner, one by one sparks suddenly lit up and extinguished in the dark night, and then came the sound of a body falling to the ground.
Although in the early panic, these 'fairy wood' members gained an advantage, but as the enemy gradually gathered and formed a number of crushing, the advantage began to disappear.
At this time, they began to retreat step by step according to the previous plan, gradually retreating to the predetermined location outside the city.
However, when these people were fighting, their mouths did not stop. Some specialized personnel took the opportunity to publicize the cruelty and ugliness of the empire. Some of the deeds of the city lord and legionnaires were vivid, as if they were real.
Hearing these people publicize their scandals in recent years, several high-level officials of the empire in the city obviously couldn't sit still.
"Presumptuous, they... they... how could... be so... shameless." For a while, he couldn't find any words to describe it, and the potbellied noble could only pat the table like this.
"Rectify the legion and kill all those who are trying to resist. I see who dares to spread rumors." This noble who was born in the palace usually suffers from such anger, and he is not always flattered wherever he goes. Now he manages this remote area. This small province is still being cursed like this.
"How dare they? I'm the governor of the province, ordered by the royal family, these goddamn pariahs!"
So, at the urging of the governor, the officers had to direct the urgently assembled legionnaires out of the city to meet the enemy.
Anyway, there are only more than 100 people on the other side, and they can't make any waves. It's just that they go into the mountains to search in the middle of the night, and I'm afraid it will take another effort.
No matter who they are, they will not be too happy to get up when they are sleeping in the middle of the night.
But what can be done about this? Who makes the governor beside him a higher status? Although he is also the commander of the army directly under the royal family, he may not have the right to speak in front of the prince regent.
About 3,600 legionnaires began to gather out of the city. They were also cursing and walking, their eyes swept through the night from time to time, looking for the enemies hidden in the corners.
Such a sparse team, walking on both sides of the road, holding torches, spread to the mountains on both sides, sparse and sparse.
And when they gradually arrived more than a kilometer away from the city, an exclamation sounded in the night.
"There is an enemy!" Before the voice fell, a burst of gunfire followed.
Several soldiers in the front row fell, and the soldiers in the back were nervously hiding behind the trees, and then they gathered under the order of the officer and walked up the hillside step by step.
The clouds in the sky gradually dissipated, revealing rows of dense arrays under the cold night. These enemies are not hundreds, but thousands. They held muskets and did not aim at this moment.
The distance is not enough, such a shot is difficult to kill the enemy.
"Let's move forward!" With an order, these soldiers began to move forward step by step under the slogan of the non-commissioned officers.
It can be seen that they are also very nervous, but because of the teammates and companions standing beside them, and because of the previous training, they can only empty their minds and mechanically repeat the past actions.
Seeing these people stupidly lining up to go forward, the commander of the empire felt a burst of laughter, and the originally nervous heart relaxed a little.
This group of barbarians, who don't know where they got their weapons, still lined up so rigidly, it is estimated that they just read a few military books and came to command.
Well, I forgive you country folks for being ignorant and having weapons that don't know how to use them, maybe they don't have that many bullets at all, they just pretend to scare people.
The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and the army commander of the empire also began to give orders.
"Three columns, cross shooting!"
After hearing the order, the originally nervous Imperial soldiers also quickly executed. They trotted and arranged in roughly three rows, and then formed two fronts to target the advancing enemy on the middle road.
The sound of the muskets sounded from time to time, the short fire flashed from time to time, and the bullets flew out.
Unfortunately, at this distance of more than 500 meters, the accuracy of the shooting is really worrying, most of them are shot on the ground or in the air, and only sporadic enemies fall down.
However, the Empire was not in a hurry, and began to reload, taking turns switching the front and front personnel.
In this way, the members of the 'Fairy Wood' side faced the speeding bullets, bravely advanced step by step, and no one stopped to fire.
In the dark night, one member fell down, blood splashed on their clothes, and their teammates fell under their feet. They still strode forward, as if lining up to die, and some even sang songs to cheer themselves and their teammates.
The loud and clear singing sounded in unison, with the sound of footsteps stepping forward, making the hands of the imperial soldiers tremble unconsciously, and even the reloading was a lot of panic.
Seeing these people being so brave and not afraid of death, the commander of the empire also frowned, feeling a sense of abnormality and unease, when did these renegade people become so organized and disciplined.
However, at this time, it was too late for him to retreat.
The distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, and even the closest one is only more than 60 meters. At this time, the loud military order sounded in the military formation.
"Stop, raise your rifle!"
The sound of the guns being lifted in unison was shocking. About 2,000 muskets were raised at this moment, and the black muzzle suddenly aimed at the imperial soldiers who were close at hand.
In the face of such a scene, most of the Imperial Legion is still loading bullets. Even if a few people fire, they are extremely nervous and the aiming efficiency is extremely poor.
Before the commander of the Imperial Legion gave another order, an order resounded through the night sky from the opposite position.
"Fire!"
The dense fire burst suddenly, illuminating the road and the woods at night. Under such a close-range aiming shot, the imperial soldiers fell one by one, blood splashed, and a large number of casualties occurred instantly.
A strong smell of green smoke and blood permeated the field.
"No..." Looking at the scene in front of them, the legions of the empire murmured in disbelief, it was obviously a similar number, but the final result was so disparate.
After the soldiers in front fell in rows, facing the densely visible gun barrels in front of them and the neatly arranged enemies, these soldiers could no longer hold back their panic and began to retreat and flee.
Crowds crowded each other, crying and running into the depths of the night without any courage.
"Don't run away!" The officers pulled out their sabres to supervise the battle and chopped down a few retreating soldiers, but soon his side was empty and exposed to the enemy's firing range.
There was another burst of shots, and in the short burst of fire, the Sequence 4 officer was directly beaten into a sieve and fell unwillingly.
Looking at the scene in front of him, the army commander in the rear had to shout.
"Evacuate! Evacuate! Evacuate! Evacuate to the city." They began to retreat voluntarily.
However, when they were about to leave, they discovered that, at some point, two groups of soldiers rushed down the mountain road leading to the city. They occupied the hillsides on both sides and kept firing at the fleeing imperial soldiers, which seemed to dot the mountains in the night. of stars.
The more than 500 meters from the city gate became the road of death. A panicked and chaotic imperial soldier just didn't know how to deal with it, and fell in a daze.
"Damn it! Charge me and kill them." Seeing that the road behind was cut off, the regiment commander finally turned red, and directed the two hundred elite cavalry by his side to rush to the side of the mountain, preparing to ambush the few people. Execute and take cover for the remaining soldiers.
Compared with the infantry armed with muskets, these elite cuirassiers obviously had better resistance to muskets. Under their cover, the remaining people began to retreat to the city step by step.
"Haha, you, Uncle Guhuas, are here." A tall figure smashed into the city gate from the sky, blocking the way of these people, and then the burst machine gun in his hand began to shoot, strafing the approaching enemies one by one.
In the face of such a stumbling block, the army commander of the empire finally made his move. He drove the warhorse to continue to accelerate, and the saber in his hand brought a gorgeous red glow in the night, swaying like a snake.
The warhorse neighed, and he jumped up with it, and then the crimson saber slashed down instantly, splitting the magic-guided machine gun in Gu Huas's hand in two.
Seeing that the toy that had not touched his hand was destroyed, Gu Huasi's eyes were instantly red, and his anger soared.
He threw the broken gun, then yanked the giant axe from the ground and swept it.
The heavy axe ripped out a dull whistling in the air, and the opponent knelt down to dodge, and then the saber slashed heavily towards Gu Huasi's thigh, creating a bloody gap that could be seen deep in the bones.
The saber was stuck on the bone, like the sound of gold and stone, Gu Huasi sighed, his thick palm took the opponent's neck straight, and pressed his face while the opponent was dodging.
With his vision unclear, the officer relied on his intuition to swing the knife again, stabbing the opponent's abdomen.
The sharp and sharp tip of the knife pierced through the gold-copper-colored belly, as if piercing into steel, making a piercing sound. Then, before he could stir or draw it out, Gu Huasi's big axe finally fell, cutting the legion commander in half.
At this point, the morale of the imperial soldiers collapsed, and the remaining soldiers either surrendered or fled, like scattered sparks gradually extinguishing.