Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 150 Extra Long Spear

For the governments of the allied countries, and even the militaries of each country, stripping an officer of their military status is an almost impossible task.

The story begins in the early days of the alliance.

At that time, the nobles, both large and small, within the various republics were unwilling to have their privileges abolished and raised their banners to establish armed separatist regimes.

In an instant, war broke out in the Gulf region, and the nascent alliance was as fragile as a candle in the wind.

It seems that the republican regime is about to face its end as soon as it was born.

But the Cynas Alliance also had an army, an army led by Ned Smith. At that time, there were no separate republics, and the Cynas people simply called that army the "Alliance Army."

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. At that time, the nobles and rebels in various places had not yet realized this: the Allied forces themselves were the most powerful rebels in this land.

Faced with the Allied Forces, forged in blood and fire, even the "Butcher" Duke Arlian could only suffer defeat and commit suicide in the end. Who else on the shores of the bay could stand against the Allied Forces?
Cannons blasted the towers flat, tunnels shattered the castle, and the armed nobles who held sway were easily suppressed and wiped out by the allied forces.

As one count after another who openly rebelled was hung on the city walls by the Allied forces, the remaining old ruling class finally realized that armed resistance was tantamount to suicide.

So, relying on their deeply entrenched local power, they took the initiative to enter local councils and start playing partisan politics.

During those years, the political landscape of the various republics was quite comical and absurd.

As aristocratic power gradually took over local councils, the large cities where the newly established republican government was located became like isolated islands in a vast ocean.

The so-called elected members of parliament are nothing more than old aristocrats in different clothes, while the military has become the mainstay of the democratic republic.

Calls for “holding the Allied forces accountable for their crimes during the Sovereign War!” and “Trial Ned Smith!” were commonplace.

The shores of Cenas Bay have a distinct feel to them: the countryside surrounding the city, the peaceful evolution of the regime, and the joyous welcome of the emperor's return.

Out of consideration for protecting the military, and also out of concern that the old aristocratic forces might seize power and then use the military to launch a counterattack, the governments of the various republics granted their own armies a considerable degree of autonomy during those years.

The Allied forces at that time were indeed the last line of defense for the newly established Republic.

The old aristocratic forces repeatedly attempted to reverse the course of history, but were ultimately crushed by the military forces of the various republics.

The Supreme Council of Guanglian Province was forcibly shut down by the military three times, and the story of "bombing the State Palace" is still being told by word of mouth among the citizens of Gui Tu.

However, this drastic measure also had many side effects, one of which was that the United Provinces Army eventually became an independent system, to the point that it is now too big to be controlled.

The constitutional amendment stipulating that "except for crimes of treason and espionage, officers shall not be deprived of their military status" was also passed during the same period.

As long as an officer has not committed treason or espionage, no matter what he has done, even if his mismanagement has resulted in the deaths of thousands of soldiers, he cannot be expelled from the army.

This is the ultimate protection for Allied officers.

However, this amendment also indirectly led to a result: no matter how badly an officer offends a powerful figure, that person cannot discharge him from the military.

Therefore, lower-ranking officers who are disliked by their superiors only have two options:

They could either be sent to an overseas military region and become a glorious overseas dispatched force;

They were either transferred to the war history department, where they were relegated to the sidelines and tasked with compiling war history.

These two are unwritten customs of the armies of the various republics.

Overseas deployment forces are military organs directly under the Union government and are not under the jurisdiction of any member state. Going there means losing one's status as a soldier of any republic, and it is always a one-way trip.

Historians in later generations who are unaware of the unspoken rules often find the history of the Allied forces during this period quite strange.

Compared to the Imperial war history's praise and boastful military achievements, the Allied war history is written in a sour and sarcastic tone, with the sourness between the lines almost liquefying into a tangible form.

Our Lieutenant Colonel John Jessica was among the most disliked officers by the higher-ups.

So twelve years ago, he was transferred from Plato's army to the overseas military headquarters, where he was in charge of compiling war history.

……

Upon their first meeting, the three lieutenants were naturally unaware of Lieutenant Colonel Jessica's legendary life of "returning after leaving".

But when the lieutenant colonel said he had just returned home from overseas, Bud immediately understood what was going on.

Bud whispered a reminder: “Sir, this Lieutenant Montagne and this Lieutenant Cellini are from Veneta. I am from the United Provinces.”

"A Venetians coming to Palatour to take up a post?" Lieutenant Colonel Jessica asked in bewilderment. "Is the Army Academy no longer 'returning to where they came from,' but instead reassigning personnel in a scattered manner?"

Alright, it seems this guy really doesn't know the inside story. Bard briefly explained the whole situation to the lieutenant colonel.

"I've heard about the discord between the United Provinces and Venetta while I was overseas." After hearing the story, the lieutenant colonel sighed, "You guys are really unlucky, caught in the middle."

……

After disbanding the ranks, the lieutenant colonel immediately went to inspect the armory.

Since they were not required to be in charge of combat, after arriving at the Twin Bridges camp, Winters and his companions discussed it and decided to collect the weapons and equipment of the three hundred-man squads for safekeeping.

The makeshift armory was housed in a prefab building and was guarded by a seasoned corps leader named Malcolm and his men.

Even during the assembly, Malcolm could tell that the new battalion commander was not an easy officer to get along with.

After the disbandment, he hurriedly went to the armory with his militia, carrying cleaning tools, to thoroughly tidy up the storeroom.

When Lieutenant Colonel Jessica and three second lieutenants arrived at the armory, they happened to run into the armory militia who were cleaning it up.

Seeing his men cramming for battle at the last minute, Winters and his companions couldn't help but blush a little.

The lieutenant colonel waved his hand dismissively: "No need to bother, the armory isn't a banquet hall."

Winters had the warehouse clerk fetch the list: "The spears, halberds, swords and shields, and muskets of the three hundred men, as well as the ammunition, are all here."

"A mixed team?" Jessica raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a mixed team.” Winters nodded.

Normally, each centurion in the legion is equipped with the same weapons and equipment. A halberd squad consists only of halberdiers, a musketeer squad consists only of musketeers, and only at the battalion level are they mixed together.

This design was intended for large-scale battles at the legion level, with soldiers using different weapons organized into separate units, making it easier for commanders to deploy their troops.

However, auxiliary 100-man teams, such as the Wolf Town militia, which mainly do miscellaneous tasks like escorting and road repair and operate independently most of the time, can only be mixed at the 100-man team level.

“Long spears, muskets, heavy halberds, and swords and shields, four to three to two to one.” Winters took the list and handed it to the lieutenant colonel: “Only the corps commanders will be issued half-body armor, the rest will be issued a helmet. There are also sixty kilograms of lead, twelve barrels of gunpowder, and some miscellaneous items, all here.”

Long spearmen, musketeers, and halberdiers are all equipped with a one-handed sword, while sword and shieldmen have a small iron shield in addition to their one-handed sword.

The musketeers also had molds for casting lead bullets, which Winters, fearing the militia might not be able to keep safe, also collected.

Lieutenant Colonel Jessica took the list without even looking at it and asked directly, "Does it mean that each musketeer is only issued one kilogram of lead, or that you each only have one kilogram left?"

"Each musketeer was issued only one kilogram."

"Never had any training?"

“The militia are not trained,” Winters thought for a moment and replied, “but we have conducted a few training sessions on our own, using gunpowder and lead brought from the recruitment areas.”

"Alright." Lieutenant Colonel Jessica's expression remained unchanged, showing little emotion. "Take a look at the things."

Upon opening the wooden box, a pungent smell of oil filled the air. Inside, the box was filled with one-handed swords, each one oiled and wrapped in cloth.

"That's good." The lieutenant colonel nodded. "Let's look at the others."

The other weapon crates were also checked in turn. Everything was kept very carefully; the ironware was oiled, camphor was placed along the sides of the long poles, and the weapons were all properly wrapped.

John Jessica looked satisfied until the box containing the muskets was opened.

The one-eyed colonel's expression was a half-smile: "Hookgun?"

“Yes, sir. We were issued grappling hooks,” Winters replied awkwardly. The lieutenant colonel took out the topmost grappling hook and couldn't help but chuckle a few times: “This thing is probably older than me, isn't it?”

"I don't know," Andrei replied in a muffled voice, "but he's definitely older than us."

……

The hook gun is actually a matchlock gun, an improved version of the matchlock gun.

Early firearms did not have stocks. Until a gunsmith had the brilliant idea of ​​adding a wooden stock from a crossbow to the firearm, firearms could only be fired by hand.

However, it was difficult to hold the gun steady when shooting with the hand, so gunsmiths began to add a small iron hook to the barrel in order to distribute the recoil.

In this way, the user can hook the musket onto objects such as city walls, wagons, and shields.

Therefore, this type of firearm was named the hook gun.

At least in the early stages of the Sovereignty War, both sides were still using grappling hooks.

But war gives rise to more advanced designs, which in turn spread rapidly during wartime.

With the popularization of gunstocks, long barrels, and serpentine firing rods, firearms have gradually evolved from the early matchlock guns consisting of "wooden sticks and iron pipes" to their current form.

In the later stages of the Sovereignty War, both sides were fully equipped with more advanced arquebuses and cannons, and they fought each other to the death.

Therefore, no one has used or manufactured hook guns since then; in other words, this weapon has been out of use for at least thirty years.

That's why the lieutenant colonel asked that question.

Winters's three-man squad of a hundred men was equipped with swords and shields and extra-long spears of the same standard as the legion, but the muskets they were issued were all obsolete models.

There's nothing to complain about here; the militia mostly operate within the inner circle, at most dealing with a few highway robbers.

Having two guns that can make a sound is enough to scare people. In real combat, two crossbows would be more useful.

……

The lieutenant colonel shook his head slightly, put the grappling hook back in the wooden crate, and pointed to the gunpowder barrel, saying, "Open it and take a look."

The lieutenant colonel specifically wanted to inspect the gunpowder barrels stacked at the bottom. Malcolm, who was in charge of the armory, found a crowbar made of hardwood and carefully opened the gunpowder barrels.

Lieutenant Colonel Jessica poured out the entire barrel of gunpowder in one go. The gunpowder was in the form of beautiful black granules, without any separation.

"Not bad." The lieutenant colonel patted the warehouse clerk on the shoulder, a rare occurrence for him: "The gunpowder has been well stored."

Malcolm scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "It was Centurion Montagne who made me turn the powder keg upside down once a day."

Jessica glanced at Winters with some surprise and nodded slightly.

Winters was a little embarrassed, because he had actually learned this trick from the Navy of Vineta.

"I'm done looking at it. That's it." The lieutenant colonel dusted off the gunpowder on his hands and casually said, "Take the men to the legion's armory and replace all the extra-long spears with ordinary spears or halberds. Replace the grappling hooks with matchlock muskets."

Winters paused for a moment, then said, "Uh... can't we just go and exchange it?"

"Just go and exchange it."

"Why change them?" Andrei couldn't help but question, "They're all just ordinary spears or halberds, how are we supposed to set up a formation?"

“Soldiers like this don’t deserve to use super long rifles.” Jessica’s tone was very calm, as if he were saying that the weather was nice today.

Andrei immediately became furious, and not only Andrei, but even the militiamen in charge of the warehouse looked annoyed.

"You're not convinced?" The lieutenant colonel looked at Andrei, raised his eyebrows slightly, and then looked at the militiamen beside him: "Not convinced?"

Andrei snorted coldly and looked to the side. The surrounding militiamen all lowered their heads.

After a brief encounter, Winters began to understand Lieutenant Colonel Jessica's personality:

This officer speaks his mind, and perhaps he meant no harm, but there is no sound more jarring than the truth.

"You lot, grab your super long rifles and come out with me." The lieutenant colonel called on a few militiamen in charge of the armory. He picked up a super long rifle and was the first to walk out of the armory.

The militiamen stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

Andrei frowned and urged, "Don't be afraid, go, do whatever you're told."

Sergeant Malcolm gritted his teeth, picked up an extra-long rifle, and walked out. The other militiamen picked up their rifles and followed.

Eight militiamen stood in a row outside the armory, their guns pointed at the sky.

"Ready to fire!" the lieutenant colonel ordered.

Following the centurion's instructions, the militiamen held their rifles level, with the shafts at neck height.

The five-meter-long spears were neatly pointed forward, looking rather imposing.

“Not bad,” Lieutenant Colonel Jessica said. “Not completely untrained.”

After saying that, the lieutenant colonel also raised his rifle in the same posture.

The next second, the one-eyed veteran, holding a long gun, charged straight into the militia's ranks.

The gun tips passed each other, approaching each other's chests. Blood was about to be drawn, but the lieutenant colonel neither dodged nor avoided.

Malcolm was startled and hurriedly backed away.

The lieutenant colonel persisted, viciously thrusting his spear downwards towards Malcolm's throat.

In a panic, the quartermaster dropped his spear, dodging the fatal blow. However, a gap appeared in the ranks, and the lieutenant colonel charged into the hail of bullets.

The lieutenant colonel also threw down his rifle and drew his saber. He grabbed the rifle shaft of another militiaman with his left hand and slashed at him with his saber in his right.

The sudden attack caught the Wolf Town militiaman off guard. He only came to his senses when the blade stopped an inch above his head, and he stumbled back several steps and fell to the ground.

"In ancient times, when troops were arrayed for battle, losing a spear was not punished, but losing a shield was a capital offense." The lieutenant colonel sheathed his sword and asked unhurriedly, "Do you know why?"

The open space was quiet for a moment.

No one answered, so Lieutenant Colonel Jessica answered his own question: "Because the purpose of a spear is to kill the enemy, and the purpose of a shield is to protect your comrades. Losing a spear simply means one less person to kill the enemy, but losing a shield will cause the entire line to collapse."

Winters roughly understood what the lieutenant colonel wanted to say, and he noticed that Bud and Andrei also seemed thoughtful.

“The long spear line has no shields, so every spear in your hands is a shield for your comrades.” Jessica picked up her long spear and coldly said to the militiamen in front of her, “The retreat of one coward could cause the collapse of the entire formation. Only veterans who receive double pay are worthy to stand at the front with spears. You are not worthy now. Still not convinced?”

None of the militiamen answered, and Malcolm lowered his head in shame.

The lieutenant colonel clicked his tongue, turned around and tossed the long spear to Winters, saying calmly, "Once they lose their formation, an extra-long spear is no better than a dagger. Give them weapons that they can use for one-on-one combat; we're not expecting them to fight in formation anyway."

“Yes, sir.” Winters saluted.

"Oh, right, there's something else." The lieutenant colonel turned to leave, then turned back and casually asked, "Why are there so many Dusa people on the roster?"

I actually write much slower on weekends.

It seems that I only find inspiration on weekday nights, when I'm sitting in a chair and watching the clock face get closer and closer to midnight.

Thank you to all the readers who voted for the book before;

Thank you Captainjavk and Jiangxue Diaoweng for the monthly tickets;

感谢书友agent12580、种花家的黄兔子、54月、Captainjavk、不知道叫啥、淡定的灰过、仙剑私契h、槐姜蒜、书友20200819012002799、正义纯洁是考拉、书友20191007064305842、天镜头、书友20181010005850390、书友120325172509365、黑色电脑配件、江雪钓翁的推荐票，谢谢大家。

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(End of this chapter)