Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Whack!

The vine whips kept breaking so often that the warriors attending the class secretly nicknamed Xial "Another One" behind his back.

Because every time Winters broke a vine whip, Xial would immediately hand him a new one.

Tamas, Bart Xialing, Samujin... They were all made into "Centurions" by Winters through relentless beatings with the vine whip.

Since a crash course accounting school could be set up, setting up a crash course military school didn't seem too difficult either.

The more Winters thought about it, the more elated he became.

"We must have an Infantry Department! I'll be the headmaster," Winters muttered to himself as he wrote on the paper, "The Cavalry Department is a must, too! Andre, well... let's have Bard do it. Artillery Department, Senior Mason! Even though we don't have a single cannon right now..."

Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery, the classic triad of the Ned Smith military system.

Winters stared blankly at the three words on the paper, and a bold idea sprang up in his mind, "Maybe... I can break free from the old Marshal's shackles."

This thought made him feel guilty—how dare he compare himself with the old Marshal?

Yet, the idea thrilled him to the core.

Winters realized he was starting from scratch, with a blank slate before him. So he could do things any way he wanted!

He crossed out the words Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry with force. He took a new sheet of paper and, in the most solemn font, wrote first:

Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery.

These three categories were fundamental.

Chewing on his pen, he remembered the sieges one after another in the battle of the islands, the attacks on Bianli in the Great Wilderness, and firmly wrote down a fourth word—Engineers.

In Ned Smith's military system, the Engineers and Artillery were not separated; the Artillery Department was responsible for everything other than infantry and cavalry.

That wasn't a problem, because back then artillery units were small; for many lords, maintaining an artillery unit was too expensive. So they didn't establish artillery units and hired artillery battalions from outside when going to war.

Turning artillery into a regular branch of the military, on a par with infantry and cavalry, was already a leap forward by Ned Smith.

Winters Montagne planned to take an even bigger step—he wanted to separate Engineers from Artillery, making it a distinct academic discipline.

Every siege battle he had experienced reminded him that the role of engineers in war could no longer be overlooked.

Chances for the ancient style of open-field battles where two armies would line up in formation were now pitifully rare. Siege warfare was the main theme! Engineers deserved their own branch.

After writing down Engineers, Winters thoughtfully wrote down a fifth word—Logistics.

In the current military system of the Republic, whoever was appointed by the "Legion Commander" to manage logistics would do so. It was mainly people from the Artillery Department, because with so few cannons and so many artillery soldiers, who else would take care of it if not them?

Some unlucky cavalry and infantry officers would also be assigned to transport logistics, like the once Jeska's unit.

Now that engineers had been separated, logistics should also be singled out for specialized training.

In that case, artillery would simply be artillery. Artillery officers wouldn't have to be bothered with all sorts of miscellaneous tasks anymore; they only needed to focus on handling the cannons.

Winters pondered for a moment longer, then carefully folded the white paper and tucked it into his little notebook. This was a big deal, and he needed to consult with comrades like Bard, Andre, and Mason.

By comparison, the crash course accounting school was a minor issue.

"Let Anna be responsible for planning the accounting school," Winters thought. "I'll just implement it."

...

Early the next morning, a convoy departed from Revodan.

Winters set off for Wolf Town with over four hundred horses, seven carts of axes, shovels, rakes, plows, and a death row prisoner.

There was no special ceremony. Just a few people like Mason, Anna, Shao Sha, and Carlos came to see them off.

"Safe travels," Anna carefully smoothed out Winters' collar and lapels. "May the wind be at your back."

"What's there to worry about?" Winters laughed heartily. "Back in the day, I would ride alone, and in just two days, I could make a round trip between Wolf Town and Revodan. Now it's become troublesome, and not in the least bit free."

The prospect of getting out of the city and breathing some fresh air made Winters practically radiate with joy. The Little Lion insisted on coming along... He was also dying of boredom.

Anna gave a light snort and stealthily pinched Winters' waist with her nail, causing him to sharply inhale from the pain.

"Come back early," Anna's smile was as pure and spotless as that of a saint.

Winters nodded fervently.

Their movements were subtle; those beside them didn't understand what had happened. But the brief scene did not escape the blacksmith Shao Sha, who had been sneakily observing. To him, it looked as if the she-wolf gently moved a finger and the Blood Wolf trembled all over, immediately begging for mercy.

This made blacksmith Shao Sha empathize with the poor Public Protector and admire Lady Montaigne even more.

Winters approached Shao Sha and Carlos, sensing an inexplicable hint of pity in the middle-aged blacksmith's eyes.

"Give it your all, you two," Winters said with a smile. "When I come back, I hope to see at least enough raw ore and charcoal for one trial production."

"Rest assured!" Shao Sha and Carlos nodded vigorously.

...

Yesterday afternoon, unable to contain himself, Winters took a map and headed straight for Tie Feng Mountain. Along the road paved with slag, he easily found the abandoned mine shaft.

Just as the old blacksmith Poltan had said, the entire Tie Feng Mountain was a "mountain of iron." Standing on top and plunging a shovel into the ground, the shovel's tip would hit the hard bedrock before it was fully submerged in the soil.

That's why Tiefeng was bare, not a single tree grew. At the base of the mountain, the situation was slightly better–the weathered rock debris blown to the foot of the mountain formed soil. As one went higher, Tiefeng became more desolate, with just a few stubborn clumps of grass managing to survive in such harsh conditions.