Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 374: Beast Tide in Late Winter
"Don't shake your hand holding the gun!"

"Keep the butt of the gun firmly against your shoulder, otherwise the impact of the magic bullet will make you lose your shooting accuracy!"

"The reloading speed is too slow. By the time you finish loading the magazine, the enemy will rush in your face and chop your head off!"

"Don't look left or right. Keep your sight, muzzle, and target straight!"

In the camp of the outpost fortress, Wayne, who had just finished his vacation, was strictly supervising the new recruits to complete their daily training for their first rotation on the front line.

Benny, who had just joined the army for less than three months, was one of them. He was originally an ordinary porter at the dock of Bass Town in the suburbs of Jinhui City. Since the outbreak of the plague, he was swept north along with a large number of fleeing civilians. Finally, he was lucky enough to make it to the vicinity of Jackdaw Town and received treatment and shelter from the lord.

Compared to his hometown, Bass Town, the Frontier Territory couldn't have satisfied Benny more, except for the much colder climate. At least here he doesn't have to worry about going hungry because of no work, and he doesn't have to worry about not having enough food at any time.

The only pity is that he is really not good at learning knowledge. After three months of literacy education, Benny tried his best to retake the exam four times before he barely passed. He even suspected that he passed by luck the last time because of the teacher's pity for him.

The reality is so cruel. With a barely passing cultural level, it is naturally impossible for him to get a job contract with good salary and benefits. With the mentality of "as long as you have hands and feet, you won't starve to death", Benny actively applied to join the newly formed garrison corps - the salary of agricultural soldiers is actually not as high as that of regular soldiers, but the advantage is that food and accommodation are provided, and the food treatment is said to be very good.

In Benny's own words, this is much more promising than carrying heavy bags at the dock for the rest of his life.

Unexpectedly, not long after he joined the garrison corps and completed the new recruit training, he was inexplicably picked out by two battalion commanders of the Northern Army during a surprise inspection by the commander, and was transferred directly to the Northern Army without any explanation.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk! Long arms and legs, and a strong body... It's such a waste to stay in the garrison and farm!"

Benny still remembers the moment he was chosen at first sight, the fierce-looking officers looked at him and had the same expression as if they were selecting breeding cattle and horses.

He was then taken directly to the outpost fort in the Ice Valley and became a new recruit in the regular army.

According to the custom of the Northern Army, whenever a new recruit completes his training, he will be directly pulled to the front line of the battle with the evil orcs. At the same time, some veterans will be arranged to serve as instructors for the new recruits. Unfortunately, Benny was directly assigned to the team directly under Battalion Commander Wayne, and received more cruel and strict training than other recruits.

"Benny! What are you daydreaming about?" Benny was immediately caught off guard the moment he lost his focus. "Practice the squatting shooting maneuver fifty more times!"

The new recruit standing behind him immediately gritted his teeth and whispered, "Damn Benny, he made us practice more again!"

Wayne quickly walked up to Benny's team and stopped. He said coldly, "Stop whispering. And you... practice the quick reload movement fifty times!"

A young recruit finally couldn't help himself and grumbled, "Sir, it's really too cold. My fingers are so stiff that I can't move them... How long do we have to practice?"

Wayne sneered, "Practice until you can complete a quick reload in five seconds with your eyes closed."

There were immediate gasps from the team.

……

After finally getting to the end of the extra training, the veterans were able to move their hands and feet freely and chat from time to time, but Benny and his group of new recruits still had to sit cross-legged on the open ground, gritting their teeth and using their frozen fingers to remove the bullets that had been pressed into the magazine one by one.

Someone suddenly murmured, "I wonder if tonight's dinner will be like yesterday, with fried pork chops and salmon chowder..."

Everyone around him gulped as they heard this. Benny also secretly swallowed, a look of longing on his face. Back home, he had been called up by the lord and worked as a baggage carrier in the army, but it was always unpaid labor for the nobles, and he had to provide his own food.

But being a soldier in this frontier territory in the northern wilderness is very different. Although the officers and veterans are ferocious all day long and sometimes you get a beating for doing something stupid, the food is really good.

Toasted wheat cakes and bacon were standard provisions, and there was additional food allowance during training marches or sentry rotations, sometimes half a pound of fried pork chops or hot salmon soup. Although it was a military rationing system, the soldiers were allowed to eat as much as they wanted without any unreasonable deductions or cuts.

He was distracted again, which immediately attracted the old soldier waiting on the side to ruthlessly hit his head with his fingers.

"Benny! Is the magazine in your hand stuck? You can't remove the bullet for such a long time? My eighty-year-old grandfather is more agile than you!" The old soldier rubbed his hands together and threatened with a wink, "Don't delay dinner, or I'll have the cook cancel your extra meal tonight!"

The recruits immediately lowered their heads and quickly removed the bullets. No one wanted to be targeted and have their extra meal share cancelled.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded from the fortress's lookout tower.

Enemy attack?

The heavy snow has stopped for several days, but the evil orcs haven't started migrating back yet?
"Everyone! Get ready for battle!" Wayne shouted. "The new recruits, led by their respective instructors, will ascend the fortress walls one by one and be ready to engage the enemy at any time!"

The veteran standing next to Benny swiftly swung his magic gun over his back and urged calmly, "Did you hear me? Take your guns, and don't forget your magazines and bullets. Follow me closely as you've been trained. Our combat position is on the northwest wall. Let's go!"

……

After arriving at the designated combat position according to the commander's orders, the veterans skillfully completed the final weapon inspection before the battle, then placed the guns on the parapets and instructed the new recruits following behind them to reload the magazines with bullets.

This was Benny's first time experiencing such a situation, so he was a little nervous. However, when he looked up and saw the relaxed expressions of the veteran instructors, his surging fear was quickly calmed down.

If only I could hold a magic gun, stand on the wall and fire a few rounds at those hateful, barbaric and brutal aliens...

A dark shadow appeared faintly in the dense forest on the opposite bank, and there seemed to be several extremely large targets mixed in it.

"Humph, they gathered a few more stitched corpse puppets and gave them to us for free..." The old soldier tucked the gun under his armpit, reached into the pocket of his military uniform and took out a cigarette, but just as he was about to light it, he suddenly narrowed his eyes.

"Wait! That's not a stitched corpse puppet! What is it?"

The huge black shadow was obviously several times faster than the corpse puppet. It quickly rushed out of the dense forest and plunged into the frozen glacial river with a bang. The thick ice surface of the river seemed unable to bear its weight and directly collapsed, causing the terrifying monster to sink into the river with a thud.

The battalion commander, Wayne, was clearly more knowledgeable. He frowned and shouted in a deep voice, "It's a demonic mounted beast! It's several sizes larger than ordinary mounted beasts. It must be an untamed wild beast!"

When he was escorting Lords Egno and Chris to explore the depths of the ice field, he had accidentally encountered these terrifying beasts. It took more than a dozen bloodline warriors to cooperate with the continuous shooting of magic guns to barely kill them.

If you are not careful, the magic attacks spewing out of this guy's mouth will cause terrible casualties among ordinary soldiers.

But why are they here?
(End of this chapter)