Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 229 Squirrel Village

Originally Claude thought he could have had a break after taking over Castle Blackmaple, because the orders from above, besides letting a battalion of Rangers take over from Billy Town to take over Castle Blackmaple, were to clean up the resistance in the Picklet Mountains. The Picklet Mountains, which are flanked by large armies, are remote and have nothing to say about acts of resistance, both townspeople and villagers in seven mountain villages in mountainous areas, have peacefully accepted the fact that they have been ruled by foreign occupation forces.

The only thing that did not occur to the officers of the 1st Battalion of Rangers was that they had just sent out the war newspaper and received another order from it less than three days after the garrison who had forced Castle Black Maple to land completed its occupation mission. This order does not reward the completion of the mission, but requires a battalion of soldiers to immediately dispatch personnel to find out about the smuggling trails leading to the Principality of Eskilin, while sealing off the mountains so as not to divulge information...

The map reveals what the idea is, but the military commands are like mountains. In the cold weather and heavy snow of this winter, the soldiers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion of Rangers still have to look for the smuggling corridors hidden in the mountains, wearing cold leather coats. Half a month later, the Blue Feather Regiment pulled into Billy Town and took over the task of the 1st Battalion of Rangers, while treading the ice and snow into the mountains and pushing east along the clear-cut smuggling trail.

The first Battalion of Rangers became a pioneer and scout camp for the Blue Feathers Legion, and even a new night was spent in the wilderness of the mountains. Major Ledfank took out a bottle of good wine that he was carrying and gave each Ranger Battalion officer a small sip, even if everyone was celebrating the coming of the new year.

On January 7, 579, the Blue Feather Regiment's Wonder Soldier descended, overturning the Picklet Mountains, regarded as heavenly during the cold winter months, in the southern three counties of the Principality of Eskirin, and easily seized the three major counties. The 1st Battalion of Rangers, on the other hand, was ordered to guard against escape and resistance attacks by enemy agents and small local guard units.

“Lieutenant Claude, why don't you take a squadron and let someone else go? I'm not sure.” Major Ledfank frowned and stared at the map.

Claude nodded, and he knew Major Ledfunk was talking about this place, a hill, on the edge of the Picklet Mountains. There is a highway that leads to the Kanas Prairie and an eastern passage to the Duchy of Eskilin, which is a triple fork. Although the narrow highway prevents the passage of large four-wheel carriages, a small number of squadrons and horses can still pass from there. It is not surprising that Major Ledfank attaches importance to this crossroads, given that the Bluefeather Regiment can cross the Picklet Mountains from smuggling trails.

“I will equip you with two more light infantry artillery and two more artillery units, plus a group of pigeons and a telecommuter, and you will bring three large squadrons of Markzi that squadron. You will be supplied once a week from now on…" Major Ledfank has simultaneously reinforced this squadron's fire and strength.

“Okay, I'll leave in the afternoon.” Claude accepted the order without hesitation.

Markzi is a veteran oil, and he joined the Rangers' Battalion only after he was rewarded by Lieutenant Colonel Rossler, the first officer in charge of the Rangers' Battalion of Greed. Lucky at first, his comrades ambushed the scouts of four enemies and won their first prize. But then, instead of taking advantage of it, he was chased by the enemy's scouting team, and the three soldiers he was working with died and even his head was cut off. He was also stabbed to death and was rescued by soldiers from the subsequent guerrilla barracks.

After three months of injuries at the treatment facility, he was unexpectedly promoted to the first level and became a sergeant chief. After listening, he learned that the guerrilla battalion had excelled in the battle to regain his position in the Vilph, was rewarded by the Grand Prince, and ordered all the soldiers and soldiers of the guerrilla battalion to be promoted to the first rank, and even his wounded soldiers from the guerrilla battalion who had been cured had taken advantage of it.

After Markci recovered and reported from the treatment facility to the guerrilla battalion, he happened to run into a new recruit who had been promoted to the rank of chief sergeant, so he was also appointed as acting squadron chief and was diligent in training the recruits, eventually removing the agent's hat. But after all, it was veteran oil. It was inevitable that they would be lazy to rape each time they took up a mission. Every time their squadron went out on a mission, there would always be some leakage. This is also why Major Ledfank decided to let Claude lead the team. He had no confidence in Marquette, veteran oil.

But in front of Claude, McKee was more honest. Though he was seven years older than Claude and served longer than Claude, his rank was lower than Claude's, and Claude's plot to take over Castle Black Maple gave him great admiration. For veteran oils like Mark's, less dead is the most important thing, and whether dates are too long is not his consideration. Because he is the most grassroots officer, a little better than a soldier, but the fate of going into battle cannot be avoided.

Originally entering the southern three counties of the Principality of Eskirin, the first battalion of Rangers and the Blue Feather Regiment would have gained a lot of military merit if they had attacked the city's razed land. However, the Blue Feather Regiment did not want to share its military merits with the Rangers' Battalion. Everyone knows that the Principality of Eskirin is unprotected and exposes its soft hinterland to the Blue Feathers. The Blue Feather Regiment can then sweep the entire Principality of Eskirin, enclosing the anti-Olympic alliance alliance of the Principality of Rimodra from the rear to create a memorable tribute to defeat the anti-Olympic alliance.

In order to wash away the shame of being trapped in the Amelia Plains of the Principality of Siddins, and also to seize the credit for this siege, the Blue Feather Regiment issued an order to the Rangers' Battalion to guard the main traffic gates, treating the Rangers' Battalion as one of the local guard battalions and splitting it up for use. Despite the very strong protests of Major Ledfank, the ranks of the officers were crushed to death, not to mention the orders received by the Grand Prince when the Ranger Battalion overthrew the Picklet Mountains to cooperate with the Blue Feather Regiment's actions and obey their command...

The soldiers of the 1st Battalion of Rangers were very satisfied with the difference they had obtained, as opposed to the unwilling officers of Major Ledfank. Because it means they have an opportunity to earn extra money without risking their lives to fight on the battlefield.

Claude got a lot of quick tips from Marky, the veteran's oil mouth, and the simplest thing was to pass the toll, and of course, some of that income had to be paid. These subordinate rules, which are not documented in the military code, are 30 percent surrender of total revenues, 20 percent for Claude as the lead officer, 20 percent for the rest of the officers, and 30 percent for all soldiers.

This is a subterfuge rule applied by the Royal Auvellas Army in the occupied territories, and all harvests, whether at checkpoints or in civilian robberies, follow this subterfuge rule. It's not just that the army of a country has such subordinate rules. Almost all national armies in this era have such unwritten rules. Different proportions of shares are different...

It took a day and a half for Claude to reach his destination with a Markzi Squadron and two five-man artillery units and two light infantry artillery. According to information from County City, there's also a mountain village of nearly 100 inhabitants called Squirrel Village, a Duchy of Eskirin named Novi Rick. Baron Fringsland's territory. Of course, this Baron Flynnsland is currently in Winter Swanburg, the capital of the Principality of Eskirin. Without territory, his territory, Squirrel Village, naturally becomes a trophy of the kingdom.

After entering Squirrel Village, Makchi became active. He sent someone to capture the distressed mayor of the village and ask him to provide the village's young and strong labor force to build the camp. At the same time, he handed over the food and belongings accumulated in the village's public treasury and handed over the war taxes per household. The final request was to provide a list of the village's widows for him to select...

But the village elder's answer disappointed Markci and jumped like a thunder, because the village elder said that there was no young and strong labour in the village and that soldiers had been forcibly recruited to fight in the Principality of Rimodra. As for the food and property of the village treasury, that is simply not possible. You know, this is Baron's territory, all the food and belongings are Baron's property, and the villagers don't even have enough food to survive the winter, and Claude hopes they can support something to get them through the winter.

So forget about the war taxes. The villagers don't have anything of value in their homes. Look at that shitty wooden house and you can see how poor their living standards are. As for the widows in the village, there are now two, one in his fifties, and one in his forties, with no younger ones.

Claude's weird. What's Marky doing in the village looking for a widow? If you can't squeeze any oil out of the village elder, ask Markchilla what's going on.

Markci replied that this was also a kind of divine rule for occupying forces, stationed in other countries and that nearby villages had to provide widows to military camps. One is to get a job in the barracks, help with laundry, help with cooking and other chores. The second is to solve the soldier's lower body problems and maintain discipline so that they don't spoil big girls and good housewives or anything at the local level.

There are waitresses in towns who can quench the blood of soldiers, and locally, villages without pubs have to provide widows in their villages, which is also an option, of course, and soldiers have to pay a certain amount of money every time they look for widows. For widows in some places, they welcome the presence of troops, which may give them a quick way out of town, but may also give them a child of their own and depend on them in old age…

But the mayor of this squirrel village said that the two widows provided by the village, one more than fifty and one nearly forty, why didn't this old soldier, Marquette, let the oil rush down, scolding the village elder was truly cunning. But the village elder explained how young people might stay in this shitty mountain village, they have long gone to the city to find a way to live...

Claude was kind of an eye-opener, and this was the first time he had ever had some insight into the Royal Army. None of these officers would teach him, and no one would say on the bright side that they would only understand if they touched them, and there were so many unknown tricks underneath.

Markci wanted to put his squadron in Squirrel Village and send someone to set up a checkpoint on the hillside. But Claude looked at the terrain of Squirrel Village, shook his head and rejected the offer, walked around Squirrel Village on a horse, and finally Claude saw a spot.

It is a gentle slope that highlights the cliffs, with a five- and six-metre-high stone warehouse built on it and a row of four rows of double-storey logs next to it, along with a circle of logs fence towards this side of Squirrel Village. On one side is the cliff, facing a three-fork junction with a lag of more than a dozen meters and nearly twenty meters. On one side is the alpine mountain, which also flows down a hot stream to solve the water problem. On one side is the hiking trail, when I went up to Squirrel Village just now, I really didn't notice the curved and accessible carriage road next to it. On the last side is Squirrel Village, with a fence in the middle. This terrain is nice, high and easy to defend.

“What is this place, whose house is it?” Claude called the village elder and asked.

“This is the Baron's vacation cottage, a stone warehouse where he keeps the mountain goods and food he collects from us and sends people to the city every fall when the stuff is full. That double deck of wooden houses is where the Baron sometimes brings his guests and friends to hunt, and he always comes to hunt for a while each year and brings everything back.” The village elder replied.

Claude laughed, “That's fine, we've taken this place. Markie, show them around and we'll be stationed here. ”