Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 81 A First-Class Thief
About an hour after the Venetta fleet withdrew from the bay, a group of Tanirians escorting prisoners was swaggering toward Chiliu Port on the main road connecting Chiliu Port and the fortified area at the entrance to the bay.

Less than twenty people formed a single file on the rammed earth road. Half of them were Tanilian sailors who were escorting the people, and the rest were Venetians whose hands were tied together in a string.

A skinny, gap-toothed pirate, looking like a monkey, strutted arrogantly at the head of the column, carrying a long spear with a head wearing a Venetta cap protruding from its tip. The face beneath the cap was sickly pale, having been drained of blood.

There was even a large cart in the procession, and the poor mule pulling it was so exhausted that it was foaming at the mouth.

The bodies of several Venetians were hastily covered with straw mats, leaving only their lower bodies exposed, and were thus brazenly thrown onto the cart.

There were many heads piled up next to the corpses. The truck creaked and groaned as it drove along, leaving a trail of blood behind it.

There were almost no civilians on the road. When a few pedestrians saw the group from afar, they hurriedly hid in the woods by the roadside.

Martial law had already been declared on Chiliu Island, and the island's civilians knew that the Venetians were coming to attack. However, the island's civilians were more afraid of these pirates who were gathering on Chiliu Island from all directions than the Venetians.

At this moment, the garrison on Chiliu Island consisted not only of militia guards and plantation private soldiers, but also of roving soldiers and pirates recruited by the Federation at great expense.

These pirates styled themselves as protectors of Chiliu Island, and charging extra fees seemed perfectly reasonable to them. Unable to provoke the large plantations, the pirates turned their attention to harassing ordinary civilians.

Within just two or three days, the militia and pirates had clashed several times, resulting in casualties on both sides. If the Venetians didn't arrive soon, Chiliuta Island might descend into internal strife.

Now that the garrison has won a great victory, the pirates are even more arrogant.

The pirates escorting the prisoners paid no heed to the spying in the woods and simply continued along the main road toward Chiliu Harbor.

The skinny, monkey-like pirate leader got excited and, as they walked, suddenly started singing a pirate chant in a hoarse voice:

"When eating meat, eat the rib tip!"
Marry a big thief!
I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a steel knife.
The girl wore silk robes, and the brother beheaded her!
......"

A wailing, howling voice emanated from his leaky mouth, spoken in a thick, unmistakable Tannrian accent. Aside from the pirate himself, probably no one else could understand what he was singing.

The farmers hiding in the woods looked at each other, wondering whether the pirates with their heads on spears were more terrifying, or the braying song was more frightening.

Another group of pirates, heading to reinforce the fortress, came towards them. The two groups of pirates passed each other by. Those pirates who hadn't gotten a chance to fight or capture prisoners looked enviously at the prisoners being escorted by their allies, as well as the heads on the cart.

"Brother, you've got quite a haul!" A busybody shouted, half envious and half jealous, to the pirates escorting the prisoners. "You guys are really rich. Give me a few heads too!"

"There are plenty of heads ahead, go ahead and chop them off!" The skinny, gap-toothed pirate laughed loudly, "Don't you dare try to steal my goods."

"Brother, I think some of you guys probably have the brains of old farmers from the island."

"[A vulgar expression commonly used among sailors]!"

The two groups passed each other, quickly leaving one behind. The dirt road wound its way around, and after each bend, the other's figures were obscured by the trees.

"Those bastards must have chopped off a few farmers from the nearby village to make up the numbers." The pirate who had been shouting at the skinny, gap-toothed monkey earlier said jealously to the man beside him, "How many people actually made it ashore? I bet there were at least fifteen heads on that cart!"

The pirate next to him nodded in deep agreement.

"Hey! Why don't I have that kind of luck?" the pirate shouted, lamenting. "We should also figure out where to get a couple of heads."

Time goes back to a while ago.

With two explosions, a fresh force rushed out of the dense forest, and the morale of the Tanirians, who were caught in a pincer attack, collapsed immediately.

A few quick-witted individuals on the edge of the battlefield turned tail and ran, immediately triggering a chain reaction, with the numerically superior Tanirians all scattering and fleeing.

The Veneta officer with the bow and arrow ignored any of the Tanilians who tried to fight back, and only shot down the pirates who were trying to escape.

"Chase them! Don't let them get away! If they get away, we'll all die!" Andrei urged the exhausted Venetas on.

Having been chased all the way to this low cliff, the Venetians were fighting with sheer willpower. When their opponents turned and ran, they simply didn't have the strength to give chase.

The reinforcements that rushed out later desperately intercepted the pirates who were trying to escape, and the officer from Veneta, who was armed with a bow and arrow, even took down several of them.

However, two pirates still managed to slip into the dense forest, their figures quickly disappearing into the leaves and bushes.

"It's over!" Andrei thought desperately in the center of the battlefield. "The second wave of pursuers will wipe us all out."

But the officer who led the reinforcements into the battlefield, covered in blood and mud, followed the pirates' footprints and disappeared into the broadleaf rainforest.

I don't know how much time passed; it seemed both very short and very long.

Footsteps and the sound of branches rustling came from the woods again, and the officer emerged carrying two heads.

The clothes and shoes worn by the two fleeing pirates, along with their heads, were thrown heavily to the ground.

Andrei had countless things he wanted to say, but he swallowed them all back down. All his words turned into a bear hug and a teasing remark: "Winters, do you...do you have some kind of peculiar fetish for beheading people?"

Winters glanced at the Venetta soldiers behind Andrei, their expressions complex, and sighed inwardly that his reputation was completely ruined.

"If the pirates want to exchange our heads for money, they'll have to provide our clothes and shoes as proof as well." Winters explained with a wry smile, trying to prove his mental state was sound. "Leaving a headless corpse, they won't be able to tell who died."

The Venetian soldiers relaxed a little upon hearing this. Even the Venetians were terrified by the sight of Winters slashing at the enemy. The man who was now explaining things in desperation had transformed back into the gentle Warrant Officer Montagne he always was.

"How did you find us?"

“With all that commotion, it’s hard not to notice,” Bard said with a smile as he walked over.

Andrei excitedly gave Bader a bear hug.

While the others were cleaning up the battlefield, the three warrant officers of the 100th squad quickly held a meeting.

Winters succinctly recounted how he gathered the remnants of his army, encountered Bard, and captured and interrogated the two enemies.

“These Tanirians are all pirates. The Federation has offered a bounty of two gold coins for each head, and double for a live one or an officer,” Winters said gravely. “All the long-legged pirates on Red Sulphur Island have come to cast their nets to hunt down those of us who haven’t drowned.”

"You're the highest-ranking person in command now. Whatever you say, we'll do it your way." Finally, he didn't have to think anymore, and Andrei was very happy.

Lieutenant Colonel Contaire wasn't dead. The pirate's gun hadn't been loaded with much ammunition, leaving a small hole the size of a fingertip in his abdomen. The bleeding stopped on its own, but the lead bullet remained inside. The situation inside his abdominal cavity was unknown, but the lieutenant colonel was in shock. Winters and his two companions were at a loss; being half-dead was the most troublesome thing. Bard had already arranged for soldiers to make a makeshift stretcher.

“There’s no other way but to run. The key question is, where to run?” Winters found a rock and sat down on it. “Besides, with wounded soldiers in our ranks, we can’t run fast at all.”

"Then what should we do?" Andrei was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice with a troubled expression, "Or else..."

He made a gesture.

“No.” Bard calmly pressed down on Andrei: “The soldiers are watching. If we abandon the wounded, morale will collapse. Either take the wounded with us, or don’t take any at all.”

Five people died and four were seriously wounded in the previous battle—those who needed to be carried were considered seriously wounded.

Winters knew very well that this small group of wounded soldiers not only had wounded men slowing their march, but their numbers also made them a large target. If only three warrant officers were involved, their chances of escape would be much greater.

Almost every soldier cleaning up the battlefield was wounded, but none dared to show it, fearing they would be abandoned. A seriously wounded soldier was sobbing quietly, while the others remained silent; everyone knew how things were going to turn out.

All the wounded will be abandoned. If they are lucky, someone will help them get a quick death. Those who are too weak will fall behind one after another. In the end, only a few people will be able to escape to the west coast of the island. They will need to pray that they can find a small boat to take them out to sea.

"Are my soldiers destined to receive only this much?" Winters gritted his teeth and thought, "Even if fate truly exists, I will never surrender!"

All the surviving Venetians present were gathered around Warrant Officer Montagne, including soldiers from the Hundredth Company and naval sailors.

“I, Warrant Officer Bud, and Warrant Officer Cellini have decided that we will not abandon any wounded soldier,” Winters stated bluntly.

In the soldiers' eyes, Winters saw gratitude, but also anxiety and confusion.

“Look at this map, we’re roughly here now. If we flee southwest, we might reach the coast.” Winters carefully wrapped the pre-battle map of Chiliu Island in oilcloth and tucked it into his pocket, thankfully preventing it from getting wet. “But I’ve decided we won’t flee southwest. We’re heading northeast, towards Chiliu Harbor. Listen carefully, not flee, but advance!”

"Heading towards Chiliu Harbor will be safer, even safer than heading southwest. The pirates' trap is like a net; the net will tighten as it pulls in, but the weakest point is behind it." Under the soldiers' astonished gazes, Winters repeated Lieutenant Colonel Field's instruction: "Third-rate thieves wear night clothes, first-rate thieves wear dresses. Follow me, and I'll lead you out of this net in your dresses!"

Time returns to the present.

Completely letting loose, Winters went all out, leading the remnants of Veneta's army, dressed in pirate clothes, storming into a nearby farm for a meal and drinks, and then stealing a large wagon.

The Venetians who could not speak the Tanilian dialect—including the three officers—were all taken prisoner.

His original plan was for everyone to dress as pirates. However, while the three officers could scare the farmers, anyone with a discerning eye would immediately see through the disguise. So, he had to make it half pirates and half prisoners.

The procession "escorting prisoners" swaggered along the main road of Chiliu Island, attracting attention along the way, but without arousing any suspicion.

The bastion outside Chiliu Harbor was in sight, but the number of Tanirians they encountered was decreasing, as most of them were clearly busy capturing prisoners.

"Whose men are you?" Near Chiliu Port, a large truck and a group of riders collided, completely blocking the road.

Large vehicles cannot leave the road, and drivers recklessly push their vehicles forward, leaving riders with no choice but to leave the road to make way.

"Hareddin!" the lead, gap-toothed, dark-skinned pirate arrogantly announced.

"Oh... Redbeard's men, no wonder." The lead rider said thoughtfully, glancing at the contents of his vehicle and asking with a smile, "Why do you have both loose change and whole items on this vehicle?"

"You think you have eyes under your forehead? Are you blind? Those are still alive!" The gap-toothed, skinny pirate sneered. "The dead are worth two, the living are worth three, you bastard, don't you understand?"

The pirate with the spear protruding from the head was small in stature, but his mouth was sharp and scathing. He spoke in a Tannrian dialect mixed with the crude slang of sailors, and listeners could only tell that he was definitely not saying anything nice; it was almost impossible to understand what he was saying.

"Oh...I see." The lead rider was quite calm.

Winters, who had been walking with his head down, was curious about who the rider was, so he quietly looked up to sized him up, only to find his eyes meeting the rider's.

Winters sensed something was wrong and quickly lowered his head.

But it was too late. The lead rider immediately ordered his men, "Bring out the middle Veneta man; I want to interrogate him!"

"Damn it! What do you want?!" The gap-toothed pirate stood in front of the prisoners and shouted fiercely.

"I need to interrogate this prisoner." The lead rider, no longer wanting to waste time with this lowly pirate, said impatiently, "You just want to exchange him for money, right? I'll just give you the money directly."

"[A sailor's slang term even sailors would find vulgar], who do you think you are? You think you can interrogate me whenever you want? You..." Halfway through his sentence, the gap-toothed pirate suddenly noticed the other man fidgeting with his face and looking troubled. He immediately realized the man didn't have any money and promptly changed his tune: "...Can you fucking afford it?"

“Give him to me, then go to the Gort Hall to collect the money. Just say Captain Kidd sent you.” Captain William Kidd searched his pockets but couldn’t find the money pouch, so he had to come up with another solution.

"I don't care who you are! If you want people, pay up!" the gap-toothed pirate roared. "Five ducats! If you can't pay, get the hell out of here!"

[Ducat here specifically refers to the gold coins minted by the Republic of Venetia]

"Does anyone else have any money?" Captain Kidd asked the other riders.

Unfortunately, no one brought any money with them today, and the other riders could only scrape together a dozen or so large silver coins.

"You can leave now." Captain Kidd was too lazy to argue with this lowly pirate in front of him, and waved his hand: "Anyway, it will eventually end up in my hands, and I will interrogate it later."

After saying that, he led his men away.

The group, who had been on tenterhooks, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’ve probably just run into the commander of Red Iwo Jima,” Bard whispered. “Did you see their horses? They’re top-notch warhorses.”

Andrei nodded in agreement: "We were lucky; they didn't bring any money."

“Of course.” The skinny, dark-skinned pirate grinned, revealing a set of crooked, missing teeth. “I’m ‘Lucky’ Gold!”

The tip of the rib is the crescent-shaped bone, which is very delicious.

Thank you to all the readers who voted for this book before, especially readers 2018101204343295, 正义纯洁是考拉, writersblock, 袁鸿渐, 天水有佳人, and 可kkkkk. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)