Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 560 Siege (XII)

[Outside the Castle of Kings]

"…When you use the shovel, remember one thing," Mason lay on the ground and turned to look at the trainees behind him, "never expose any part of your body outside the shelter."

After that, Mason began to demonstrate how to use a shovel in a lying position. He changed from lying down to lying on his side, holding a sawed-off pointed shovel horizontally, and his arms flew up and down, constantly filling the soil into the woven basket next to him. In the blink of an eye, he dug a shallow pit under him.

During the whole process, Mason's body was almost pressed against the ground, with even his elbows not exposed outside the basket.

Behind Mason, the reserve officers of the Second Army Academy, including Holder, lined up to watch the general manager rolling in the dirt.

The reserve officers who were attending Major Richard Mason's class for the first time looked at each other, finding it both funny and incredible.

A reserve officer named Richard snickered and whispered to the student next to him, "Why do you look like a maggot?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Richard felt an external force coming from his knee - the person behind him kicked him without any warning, causing him to stagger and almost fall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Richard stood up again and asked the person behind him with gritted teeth.

The student who kicked Richard had an indifferent expression and looked at the person who spoke provocatively.

Richard recognized the man who kicked him: a peasant from Tiefeng County named Houdel.

He was about to argue on the spot, but changed his mind and did not get angry. He just sneered, turned around, and said contemptuously in a voice that could definitely be heard by everyone around, "That's right, you are all maggots rolling in the mud."

The next second, Richard was pushed down from behind.

Holder rushed towards Richard in a rage and hit him in the face with his fist.

But before he could beat Richard to his heart's content, he was pulled away. Houdel tried to break free and continue beating Richard, but the arms holding him were as hard as iron and did not move at all.

Holder turned his head and looked at the person who was holding him - it was Doug.

Doug shook his head silently but firmly at Holder, and Claude and little Madia also rushed over one after another, standing between Holder and Richard's friends.

The conflict between Holder and Richard was like throwing a grenade into the queue, and the shock wave instantly spread in all directions.

Everyone was looking in their direction; even the instructors around them noticed the small commotion. Only the General Manager at the front was still digging the soil intently, not noticing that the trainees' attention was no longer on him.

Being stared at by hundreds of eyes made Houdel sober up a little. He whispered to Doug, "I'm fine."

Doug nodded and let go of Holder.

On the other side, Richard was also helped up. He shook off the arm that was holding him up and rushed towards Houdel in anger.

Just then, the baby-faced voice rang out, "Haudel, you lose five points."

The district captain's voice calmed everyone down, and under everyone's gaze, the baby-faced man walked out from between the queues.

He was not anxious at all, nor was he angry. Instead, there was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

  But when it comes to deducting points, Babyface is not polite at all.

"Lentel Richard, you lose one point." The two dolls walked between the two sides who were vaguely confronting each other. "Everyone else, within five counts, return to your original positions."

"Will I be deducted points too?" Richard asked in disbelief.

"Who made you lose?" The baby-faced man said with a smile, "I'll deduct one point from you because you questioned the deduction."

The reserve officers present were stunned.

"Three..." The baby-faced man looked around at the students who had not moved, and counted down from "three", "two..."

Everyone fled back to their original locations. Claude and little Madia looked at Houdel worriedly before leaving, while Doug just patted his childhood friend on the back.

The students' queue was immediately restored to order.

On the other side, Mason finally finished digging the demonstration tunnel. He stood up, brushed off the dust on his body, pointed at his work with satisfaction, turned around and explained to the students, "Dig half a meter deep and half a meter wide, enough for you to move on your knees. The first step counts..."

The more he spoke, the quieter Mason's voice became. Even though he was slow-witted, he could tell that the atmosphere was a little weird.

"What's wrong?" Mason turned his head and asked the faculty member around him in confusion.

"It has been resolved," Kadar stepped out of the queue and replied loudly, "Sir."

The reason why Kadar said this was not because he liked to show off, but because none of the other junior faculty members present could walk without a cane. He was the only one with agile legs, so he had to go around putting out fires.

Kadar strode to the senior's side and explained cryptically, "There is a small conflict between the students."

"A small conflict?" Mason understood immediately, and his eyebrows raised unconsciously, "A fight?"

"Yes."

The reserve officers present thought that the chief steward was going to lose his temper, but a jaw-dropping scene occurred - Major Richard Mason's brows slowly smoothed out, and a hint of nostalgia spread across his face.

"It's great to be young," Mason commented with a smile.

Kadar also smiled bitterly.

"Who fought with whom?" Mason asked again.

"Rentel Richard, and Houdel."

"How did you punish them?"

"Five points will be deducted for the one who hits you, and one point will be deducted for the one who gets hit," Kadar answered simply.

Mason looked at Kadar with interest. "You, like your monitor, are cold on the outside but warm on the inside. When I was in school, fights always involved..."

Kadar was sweating profusely and hurriedly stopped the senior from continuing, "Sir, please continue with the class..."

Mason also realized that he had been talking too much, so he stopped immediately, cleared his throat, and looked at the students.

Some sharp-eyed students suddenly discovered that during the entire process, the general manager only asked the district captain "who fought" and "how to punish", but did not ask "why fought", that is, he did not even ask a single question.

Mason used a shovel as a pointer, pointing at the small earth wall he had built outside the tunnel, "When digging, remember that all the excavated soil must be shoveled onto the ground on the side close to the enemy's position. Never do it the other way around."

He looked at the students and asked expectantly, "Does anyone know why?"

The formation of reserve officers fell into complete silence.

Mason felt a little embarrassed because he had never been a teacher, so he had to imitate his teachers in school and tried to encourage the cadets, "It's okay, speak up." The formation of reserve officers was still dead silent.

Mason glanced at the students, feeling frustrated that everyone avoided his gaze.

"First of all, of course, it's because it will waste earth, but the most important reason is..." Mason cheered up and explained with gestures, "If you shovel the earth to the side of the ground away from the enemy's position, when the enemy fires at you, the shells may fall on the earth pile and bounce back into the tunnel.

"Don't think that the shells will sink into the soil. In many cases, the shells are not fired vertically, but at an angle, and will bounce off the wall. And if it rains and the sun comes out, even the soft soil will be hardened by the sun..."

Mason spoke until his mouth was dry and his throat was hoarse, but the students seemed to be wooden and did not respond no matter how hard he tried.

Mason was a little discouraged when he saw this. If it were someone else, he might just get away with it or pass it on to someone else. But Mason couldn't do that. His strong sense of responsibility made him want to do a good job in every task that was handed to him.

He held his waist and thought about it, and decided to change the way of teaching.

"Forget it, don't stand in a square formation. If we stand like this, what can the people behind us see?" Mason laughed and said loudly, "Come on, come to the front, come to my side..."

The students looked at each other in confusion, and the instructors were also confused.

Mason joked, "This is a field, not a classroom. There are no walls on all sides. If you stand like this, I'll have to shout until my throat is hoarse so that the people behind me can hear me. Come forward and save me some saliva."

The instructors understood what the general manager meant. Although they did not understand the general manager's intentions, they still cooperated with the general manager's orders.

So the students stepped forward hesitantly, one person next to the other, and formed a half-moon around Mason.

"Everyone sit down," Mason gestured with his shovel. "If you all stand, won't the people behind you be unable to see even more?"

The reserve officers obeyed the order and sat down, and the temporary playground suddenly became much emptier.

The teachers and students of the Second Academy were gathered in a small open space. Mason could see every student's face without squinting, and every student could hear him without shouting.

Mason's waist was sore from his hard work in the demonstration, so he moved a pile of wicker baskets used for demonstration to use as stools and sat down in front of the students.

"You guys are tired of standing, and I'm tired of standing too," Mason said a little embarrassedly, "so I'll sit and talk, and you guys sit and listen."

After saying this, Mason finally got some response from the students - he saw faint smiles on many people's faces.

"A good start," Mason thought. He pondered for a moment and decided to start from what the students were interested in.

The next second, the reserve officers only heard the general manager say something shocking, "You all should know that I'm from the Federation, right?"

The fact that the third person in name was from the front of the mountain was one of the open secrets of the Second School. From teachers to students, everyone knew it, but no one mentioned it.

On this occasion today, Richard Mason took the initiative to clarify this relationship, which caught the students off guard.

Even the instructors looked surprised.

Mason did not get entangled, but asked again: "You should also know that the people of the United Provinces are called 'mud men' because they are good at earthwork, right?"

Everyone in Palatine present knew the derogatory term "Mud Man", and many people had used it frequently recently, but many people were hearing about the origin of this nickname for the first time.

"But do you know why it's 'Mud Man' and not 'Mud Man'?" Mason continued.

This really stumped both the students and the instructors.

But Mason wasn't here to ask questions, so he quickly answered, "Because the terrain in front of the mountain is very low, the groundwater level is very high. One shovel down, you can see mud; two shovels down, you can see water; three shovels down... you can raise fish."

A low laugh came from the crowd of reserve officers.

"So digging trenches in front of the mountain is very painful. Every shovelful of digging will bring water and mud." Mason smiled and made a digging motion with the shovel in his hand. "It's not as comfortable as in Plato."

The reserve officers looked at the dust on the general officer's uniform and couldn't associate "comfort" with digging.

Mason said: "In fact, the word 'mud man' was originally used by the nobles in the front of the mountain to belittle the farmers, because farmers in other places dig in the soil for food, while farmers in the front of the mountain have to 'dig in the mud for food' every day.

"During the Sovereignty War, the term was used by the royalists to humiliate the mountain front militia. Because the mountain front militia was good at digging, they were called 'mud men' by the royalists.

"The excavation techniques you learned today all originated from the mountain front militia under Marshal Ned Smith."

People will feel sleepy when learning knowledge, but everyone is very interested when listening to short stories, including the reserve officers present.

"Since digging trenches in front of the mountain is so torturous," Mason asked, "why did the old marshal still lead the militia to dig trenches?"

After a pause, Mason emphasized his tone and answered his own question, "Because digging trenches can reduce the number of deaths, because digging trenches can narrow the gap between militia and knights, and because digging trenches can help them win.

“So, when the royalists use this term, it’s more like humiliating themselves.

"They despised the militiamen who wielded shovels and dug in the mud, but the 'mud men' defeated them and drove them out of the piedmont.

"If you laugh at others and are not as good as them, isn't that the same as belittling yourself? Don't you think that's the truth?"

The dark crowd in front of Mason responded with low murmurs of approval.

Houdel was also one of the people who spoke up. He was originally full of anger, but after listening to what Lord Mason said, the depression in his chest dissipated a little.

In fact, Houdel was very dissatisfied with Lord Mason's personal demonstration of digging in the prone position.

In his opinion, it was really embarrassing for the Tiefeng County Army for a tribune to crawl on the ground and move around - especially in front of outsiders.

So when the boy in leather boots in front of him spoke rudely, Houdel's anger was completely ignited.

From this point of view, Rentier Richard only offended Houdel. Houdel's real dissatisfaction was actually directed at the Tribune.

But after listening to the words of the tribune of Mersenne, Houdel vaguely understood the profound meaning that the tribune wanted to convey.

Houdel has always been resistant to digging and digging jobs.

His joke revealed his true thoughts: "I was digging the soil every day before I entered the military academy, and I am still digging the soil every day after I entered the military academy. So what is the point of me entering this military academy?"

But after listening to the tribune's explanation of the origin of the nickname "Mud Man", Houdel instinctively developed a sense of closeness to the "piedmont militia" mentioned by the tribune, and also developed a sense of pride in the "digging trenches" that the militia relied on to defeat the nobles.

  At this moment, Houdel heard the voice of the tribune coming from the front:

"Enough of the small talk, it's time to learn some real skills. Who was fighting just now? Come to the front and I'll teach you step by step."

  [My pace has slowed down again recently, I’m very sorry, I think it has something to do with my poor work and rest schedule (T_T), I’m sorry again, I will try my best to get back on track next time]

[Thanks to all the book lovers for their collections, readings, subscriptions, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments. Thank you all]