Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 497: Declaration of War by the Eastern League of Nations

“You think these helmets can drastically reduce soldiers' casualties?” General Bolognick has recently been somewhat dissatisfied with the reform of the military uniform under Claude's auspices. In his view, the change of the red military uniform to the brown grey colour of the dirt bars is truly a sign of the bravery of the defectors. Wearing the great red uniform of the kingdom of Orvillas, General Bolognick was always a little resistant to the colour of the new uniform.

Claude doesn't have much of a choice of fabrics in this era, either. Summer linen, winter wool, spring and autumn are the only fabrics to choose from. As for dyeing, Claude wanted to find the most familiar olive green. The problem was that it was not available, and he had to choose brown grey for the last time. Compared to the original bright red uniform, it's like a soldier lined up at the palace gate suddenly turning into a guard arm hired by the country's wealthy owners.

Fortunately for the lack of color, Claude borrowed directly from the German SS uniforms of the previous World War II era, one of the two most beautiful military uniforms he thought was in his mind, and was recognized by Internet users in previous life. Another is the military uniform of the former homeland, which is the most regrettable thing about Claude's previous life. He always thought he should have enrolled in the first year of college, but unfortunately he didn't seize that opportunity...

I don't care about General Bolognick's grievances, Claude. The soldiers who have been born and died several times on the battlefield don't care if the uniform is pretty or not, but if it reduces the casualties among the officers and soldiers. At least the brown grey uniform won't be as prominent a target for the enemy on the battlefield as the big red uniform, and the concealment is good. Claude was unfortunately unable to make camouflage clothes, but he did make gilly clothes out of a variety of fabrics for snipers.

Now that Claude is replacing his straight hat with this bald brown grey helmet, General Bolognick feels even worse. Isn't he wearing a tortoise shell? Don't tell me this helmet does look like a turtle shell...

“These are helmets worn only in time of war, and they can usually be worn in military caps. Claude answered carelessly:" As for the ability to drastically reduce soldiers' casualties, let's take a battle test to see if it works. ”

Senior officers of the Military Region Command then moved collectively to the campus of the military industry in Lanhu City, where there were ready-made trenches and ammunition testing sites. More than a dozen wooden men were dressed in military uniforms, fitted with helmets and placed in trenches, revealing only the part of their heads wearing helmets.

The first was firearms, not with newly equipped new rifles, but with replacements for the Obash Trio. One squadron soldier was 100 meters apart, and three rounds of shooting were fired, and the soldiers ran over and carried the dozen wooden men from the trenches to the generals.

The facts are right in front of us, except for the three wooden men who were shot in the face and found dead on the spot. The rest of the wooden men left scratches on the helmets, but none of the guns penetrated the helmets, not even the pits. Helmets are indeed their stars in these days when they are used to using lead as a gun...

General Bolognick wiped the bullet marks on the helmet with his finger head, and saw that the gun had hit the helmet and shaken off, erasing the brown grey colour painted directly on the helmet. General Bolognick then suddenly wondered, instructing the soldiers to put a wooden man back in the trenches with a helmet, and he himself shot himself with a new rifle.

General Bolognick quickly finished shooting a magazine with a good shot, basically hitting targets 100 metres away. After six shots were fired, the soldiers retrieved the wooden man's target. As previously reported, two of the six rounds were rubbed over by the helmet, and one bullet was rubbed over the helmet, leaving a long bullet mark. The remaining three bullets hit the front of the helmet, leaving three small recessed bullet holes, which still did not break through the helmet.

“Looks like you're right, this thing is ugly, but it works great, and it does allow our officers and soldiers to keep their lives on the battlefield.” General Bolognick also maintains a straightforward military style, to be honest.

“Relax, we haven't tested the impact of the projectile yet.” Claude commanded the soldiers to rearrange more than a dozen timbers in the trenches, put on helmets, and then ordered the projectiles to be fired three bursts.

This is a team, four projectile groups, three bursts indicating that they were to throw three rounds at each of the trenches in the shortest possible time, for a total of twelve bursts.

After the deafening explosion, the soldiers went forward to bring back the broken wood man in the trenches. This time, more than a dozen wooden men appeared to have been damaged, three or four wooden men were missing their hands and feet, and their uniforms were torn apart by the shrapnel of the explosion, leaving a crack in the lane. On the basis of these cracks, it can be concluded that, under such fierce projectile attacks, at least half of the casualties of this team of woodworkers were also sustained.

To the surprise of the senior officers of the Military Command, the heads of all the timbers remained intact, and traces of the various pieces of shrapnel crashing past could be seen from the helmet removed, the most obvious example being a piece of shrapnel the size of a thumb inserted on a helmet, which penetrated the helmet but penetrated less than a centimeter deep inside it. If a soldier had been attacked by such a projectile, the wound on his head would have represented only minor injuries, but only a little bleeding from a broken scalp.

General Bolonik wore a helmet in his hand: “This thing doesn't seem to be heavy, Claude. Have you ever thought about making a chest armor out of this steel plate so that our lightweight cavalry would have good security during a raid? ”

“Ah?” Claude stunned: “Well, I really didn't think about this...”

General Albert took a sip next to him: “This is a really good idea. Although our Thunder Corps is a horseback infantry, talking about aerodynamics and concentrated fire for offensive and defensive combat, we occasionally have light mounting raids. With this steel plate chest armor, it does play a good defensive role when breaking into enemy clusters. ”

The cavalry breastplate is not unknown in the kingdom, but the early breastplate was made of thick iron plate, thin and too heavy to stop the gun from firing, reducing the flexibility and mobility of the cavalry and becoming a heavy burden even when the horse was down. If you make a chest coat out of specially made iron, the cost is too high, and eventually the kingdom eliminates the cavalry's chest coat.

General Bolonik nods his head: “I estimate this chest armor weighs at most four or five kilograms, on horseback immediately. This weight does not affect the flexibility of our generals. Try it first. If applicable, our Rock Regiment can also equip itself with chest armor, so that it can take advantage of a lot of the price when carrying out position raids and bayonet fights..."

Claude grabbed his head and always felt like maybe this was going to be a strange picture of a full-armed soldier with a new rifle with a bayonet in his hand. He thought about it and said, "This is Mr. Viberon's responsibility, and you ask him if he can do it, most importantly, how much of this specialty steel is produced, and I'm going to order 200,000 helmets for the military region. ”

General Bolognick waved at Mr. Viberon and asked him to come over, answering: "No problem, make a helmet first, then try some chest armor, see if this weight was burdensome for our generals, and if it worked in the field exercises..."

In the middle of March of the year 599, a shocking news came to pass. On behalf of the Union of Eastern States of the Farea continent, the Kingdom of Hicks declared war on the Kingdom of Ovieras, which means that the Kingdom of Hicks, the Kingdom of Nasserley, the Principality of Kanas, the newly restored Principality of Siddines and the Principality of Rimodra simultaneously declared war on the Kingdom of Ovieras, which means that the eastern part of the Farea continent was lit for the second time, although it is not known whether the war will also last five years.

The first five-year Eastern War was the anti-Olympic alliance of the Kingdom of Ovieras, which singled out five countries: the Kingdom of Nasseri, the Principality of Kanas, the Principality of Siddines, the Principality of Rimodra and the Principality of Eskirin. That would have been a powerful kingdom for the Kingdom of Orvilas, and the wealth accumulated by the treasury for more than two decades would have given the Royal Army full confidence and fearlessness, as evidenced by the post-war results. It was a tragic victory, but it was a victor after all.

The Kingdom of Hicks now replaces the Principality of Eskirin and is dominated by the Association of Nations of the Eastern Region of the Farea continent. In particular, the accession of the Kingdom of Hicks has enhanced the military power of those four countries. Even though the Kingdom of Hicks had been hanged by two regiments of autonomous military regions during the colonial wars waged on the continent of Nubian, it was humiliating and remarkable that it had become a great joke for other countries. But it is undeniable that, on the Farea continent, the Kingdom of Hicks remains a regional power with an immense military force.

And now the kingdom of Auvellas, arguably the weakest period in history, five years of war in the eastern part of the country consumed all the wealth accumulated by the kingdom, and the outbreak of the colonial war prevented the kingdom from transfusing blood from overseas territories to restore the kingdom's homeland economy. The two kings' rivalry again disrupted the country's stable political situation, and everyone had to stand up. The ensuing civil war in the kingdom turned the kingdom into ruins, and the tyranny of the victorious Sterling XI stirred up the kingdom until the year before Frederick I came to power.

This was followed by the debt war imposed on the head by the Kingdom of Nasseri and the threat of famine caused by the failure of large agricultural crops in two thirds of the counties of the Kingdom's mainland. It was easy to obtain large quantities of food and agricultural supplies from the overseas autonomous territories, to see that this difficult situation could be overcome, and the good news came from the front line, to destroy most of the invading forces of the Kingdom of Nasri and defeat the festivities, and to see that when it was going to counterattack the Nasri Kingdom, it actually got the nightmare of the declaration of war against itself by the State Union of the Eastern Region of the Farea mainland!

No one will look to the next situation in the kingdom of Orvillas, and the contrast between the forces of the state is too wide. The view of bystanders is that the kingdom of Ovieras struggles for months or even six months at most, and then only surrenders or makes peace. Better luck is just cutting off a few pieces of territory, bad luck can even end up in the country...

“It's a trap! This shitty Eastern League of Nations is setting our kingdom up, and the debt war is the bait they unload!” General Bolognick shouted angrily at the table and turned around in the conference room.

Sadly, even though the overseas autonomous territories and the kingdoms were already in navigation, and there were two smuggled sea-going vessels each month, the information available to the overseas autonomous territories continued to come from the colonies of the countries of the West Coast. This bad news is also apparently blocked by the Lizard Corps on the side of the kingdom's native White Deer City, and it appears that they do not want the Overseas Autonomous Territories to hear the news that the kingdom is about to be beaten by groups of five nations.

“The cause of the war was the arrival on the front line of reinforcements from two divisions of the Kingdom's Guardian Regiment, which joined forces with the Red Dragon Regiment in Ustia County to lure the enemy deeper, destroying a standing legion in the Kingdom of Nasri, defeating a large part of the enemy and then launching a major counter-attack. The guards of the Kingdom of Nasri defeated and fled, and the Guardian Regiment recovered the last frontier county in which the Kingdom collapsed, and the leading forces in pursuit of the enemy's collapse invaded the Nasri kingdom itself. ”

General Bitchklin, who had just arrived from Rocky Hills, looked at the West Coast newspaper in his hand and continued:

“The Union of Nations of the Eastern Region of the Farea continent, headed by the Kingdom of Hicks, declared war on our Kingdom under the pretext that our Kingdom had unjustifiably invaded their member State, the border region of the Kingdom of Nasri. According to the Pioneer Tribune, the four countries of the Association of Eastern Nations, headed by the Kingdom of Hicks, had long planned to intervene in this debt war, so as soon as the war was declared, eight standing legions could be used to set off on the borders of the Kingdom of Nasseri..."

Claude knocked his finger on the table and asked: "Even if the Association of Eastern Nations had planned to declare war on our kingdom by activating a military accord of common defence under the pretext that our kingdom had violated their member states. So what's the reaction of our kingdom to blockade the news from our Overseas Autonomous Territories? ”

General Bitchklin replied: "Our Kingdom has withdrawn all forces entering the borders of the Kingdom of Nasri and has begun to set up a line of defense in the four border counties connected to the Kingdom of Nasri, while dispatching envoys to the five countries of the Association of Eastern States, respectively, with the intention of putting the war out before it burns.

But the newspaper's commentators were not keen on the Kingdom's quest for peace, and he believed that the establishment of the Association of Eastern States was aimed at the Kingdom of Auvellas, which was not easy for them to find excuses for war and could not be easily spared. As Machid III of the Kingdom of Hicks declared, this time the Origin of War in the East must be eliminated... "

“Bang!”, General Albert punched on the table, frightening everyone. Only General Albert bites his teeth and exclaims: "How can there be this Machid III of the Kingdom of Hicks, who himself is responsible for waging the war! Is there no way to launch an attack on our overseas autonomous territories? That's why the spear head is off against the mainland of our kingdom. If you have the guts to send ten more standing legions to continue this colonial war! ”

Claude laughed, this time not to mention that the Kingdom of Hicks sent ten more standing legions, that all twenty legions could not be autonomous overseas. On the contrary, Claude was confident in destroying the ten standing legions. After more than three years of peaceful development, the military power of the autonomous chiefs has grown fastest. Now let's not say that both regiments, the local guard units, are equipped with new rifles, we are just short of the new infantry light field artillery...

“Don't look at me..." Claude said with a smile: "The Kingdom of Hicks doesn't want to send ten standing legions, but he can't bring ten standing legions, he doesn't have the strength, and there's no place for him to garrison. Why don't we send a messenger to tell that Machid that I gave him the port of Vibato and let him send ten standing legions to continue this colonial war, and you'll see if he says yes? ”

General Bolognick, General Scully, General Bitchlin and General Albert in this room also laughed. As Claude is known to be joking, McGidd III is not that stupid and delivers automatically, adding hundreds of thousands of free labor to the overseas autonomous territories.

General Albert is still unhappy: “Unfortunately, we cannot return to the country to participate in the war. Otherwise, the strength of our Legion of Thunder would be enough to sweep all the armies of this Eastern League of Nations. As a soldier, it feels so uncomfortable to see the war taking place in front of us, but not be among the most visible..."

“You are swollen...” General Bitchklin said with no mercy, “nothing more than to think of the world as invincible by armies equipped with all new weapons, which makes me feel itchy and want to show off on the battlefield. Let us not forget the most important thing, our regiment now relies most on logistics, logistics and strength. Without a word, logistics and supplies, the regiment goes down. Without bullets and shells, our new rifles and new artillery are not as good as burning sticks..."

That's very true. When I used to take a flare rope gun, there was no gunpowder. Anything could fit together, and stones could be used as guns. Gunpowder is even more casual, and even artillery firing gunpowder can be used as a firing powder for a flare gun. Thirty shots from a single battle is an unusually intense battle. But now equipped with a new type of rifle, even if it's a real-time drill, the soldiers pull the trigger and shoot out dozens of bullets just to blink a few times.

And those new artillery shells, which are more than a dozen times bigger than bullets, are far, far, loud, powerful explosions, don't say anything about dropping bullets, even those shield truck wooden platoons that resist solid iron bullets are swept away, this is also General Albert's confidence expanding, he thinks the world is invincible, but if the artillery shells run out and logistical supplies are not available, then it's over, the new type of artillery is not as old as shotguns, can fire shotguns...

General Bolonik hated to say: "We are too far from the mainland of the kingdom to fight..."

Knocking on the door interrupted a meeting and chat meeting between the military region's five giants in the conference room.

“Come in.” General Scully said.

Coming in was the duty staff of the Military Region Command, who sent in a message from the Eagle: “Report, urgent letter from the port of Cobichous, the Royal Envoy has arrived in the Autonomous Territory, they are said to have come to us this time for assistance...”