The vanguard team walked one day ahead of the large army.

On the first day, they marched along the south bank of the confluent river.

The lower river beaches were filled with dead Hurds washed ashore. Every few steps, Winters could see new swollen bodies.

Many crows and vultures came to enjoy a meal. They pecked at the carrion without restraint and stared at the living people walking in front of them.

"What are you looking at!" Charles couldn't bear it anymore and picked up a stone and threw it at the crow.

The black birds made an unpleasant cry, flew and took off, flying above the Palatu army.

Other militiamen also picked up stones and hit crows and vultures.

Winters did not order to stop it.

"What are you looking at?" he thought gloomy: "Food."

...

Shortly after the dispute between Winters and Haugwitz ended, the messenger brought back the final verdict of the two generals.

A word is scribbled on the parchment paper of the paint seal:

[wheel]

A wheel means that a man who is higher than a wheel will not leave any man.

The orders were executed efficiently, and the remaining Heard women and children were driven across the river and fend for themselves.

Monk Reed looked down on General Paratu's decision.

Monk Reed asked Winters: "Absolute cruelty and absolute kindness can only choose one. What is this to kill the father and let his wife and son go?"

Winters couldn't answer.

But Alpad and Sekler have their own reasons.

For the Hed tribes, women are precious resources and property.

Only women can have men, and no one knows this better than the Hed, who has a difficult living conditions.

"Give Chihe a headache." Alpad said indifferently when the senior officer was in the meeting: "Look at whether Yasin can hold these women. Humph, I'm sorry, I'll have to fight another battle."

...

In the field marching without roads, the commander usually controls the daily itinerary to 20,000 steps.

Take one step at a time, and 20,000 steps are about 24 kilometers, so that the soldiers have the spare energy to fight.

If you have a hard road under your feet, you can walk up to 30,000 steps a day, about 36 kilometers.

But on the first day of departure, the pioneering team where Winters was only walking more than ten kilometers, less than 15,000 steps.

The reason is that the speed of the carriage cannot keep up.

The supply camps along the line that were built when they came were burned, and the Palatu army was unable to obtain food and fodder on the spot.

So the carriage pulling the baggage becomes the shortest board of the wooden barrel.

Seeing the sun set, Colonel Bord Gates, the commander of the vanguard team, ordered camping.

[Note: Colonel Bod Gates is the commander who defends Beizhai]

The short journey does not mean that the day will end easily.

The soldiers also had to dig trenches and build camps that were enough to accommodate large troops.

No matter whether the standing army or auxiliary troops are distinguished, everyone has to work.

The groom wanted to untickle the horses and feed them. The soldiers responsible for cooking were busy collecting firewood and making fires, while others were burying their heads to dig trenches and build walls.

The fortifications were divided into sections and distributed to each 100-man team.

Winters inspected and supervised labor in the sections his team was responsible for.

Everyone in the vanguard team was assigned a shovel or a pickaxe, which greatly accelerated the excavation speed.

Never underestimate shovels and pickaxes. Distributing tools to ordinary soldiers is a major "revival" of the army's tactics and one of the contents of [Ned Smith's military reform].

However, because of the size and weight of the tool, only one ten-person team can have two shovels, a pickaxe, an axe and a saw.

The night before leaving, Sekler concentrated most of the tools of the two legions into the vanguard team and specially arranged for carriage transportation.

Even though everyone has handy tools, the troops worked until dark before they could be completed.

Afterwards, Colonel Bode personally checked and passed the qualification, the militia under Winters finally heard the order to disband.

The militia who returned to the camp fed a few bites of food and drink and began to set up tents.

Everyone is extremely tired and just wants to go to bed and rest quickly.

Winters also returned to the brigade headquarters and wanted to find something to eat.

The team headquarters was very deserted. Lieutenant Colonel Jeska had finished his meal and left, and the other three centurions had not returned yet.

There were only three people in the tent: Father Kaman, Monk Reed, and Blacksmith Bellion, who was guarding the stew pot.

Since Lieutenant Colonel Jeska transferred the blacksmith to the brigade as a cook, Father Kaman and Friar Reed also came to the brigade headquarters to start a group.

Winters served a bowl of soup by himself and asked Kaman: "How is it?"

Father Kaman put down his cutlery, bowed, and whispered: "Today, there are five believers who have come to rest with the mercy of the Lord."

Monk Reed sighed: "You said that you can just die five, don't have to be so twisted. This kid doesn't understand."

Most seriously injured people will die within seven days, and some of the mildly injured people will also suffer from fever, shock and then die.

Winters saw too much and was already a little numb.

He comforted Kaman and said, "Don't think too much, if you weren't there, there would be more people who died."

Kaman remained silent.

...

The injury rate of officers is much higher than that of soldiers, not only because officers are stronger, but also because officers are injured and can receive good care.

If soldiers are treated the same way, the minor wounded will have a high possibility of survival.

But the actual situation is that the wounded are basically not cared for, because the legion has only combatants.

There were only a few doctors who accompanied the army full-time, while the others were soldiers and officers.

Thank God, if someone can stitch the wounded and take the arrow, the rest can only depend on the luck of the wounded.

The Jeska Brigade is an exception because Kaman presided over the medical center, and the wounded in the Jeska department have received the best care they can get.

But even so, many wounded people still can't hold on while trekking, which is an inevitable situation.

...

Winters thought for a while and asked Kaman again: "How many personnel will I add to you?"

Kaman gave a gift in silence.

"Okay, I'll pick a few honest and reliable ones for you." Winters sipped the broth and continued: "I'll take people to dig a grave pit later, using the funeral of the Legionnaires..."

Andrey walked into the team headquarters in a blink of an eye, and his nose wings fluttered and asked the blacksmith: "What did you stew today?"

"Horse meat." Berryon replied.

"Which day isn't it?" Andre sighed and sat at the table.

Berryon served a bowl of horse broth and served it to Andre.

Andre began to suck his head, and he asked Winters without raising his head: "Have you arranged for the night stand?"

Winters nodded and asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

After drinking a bowl of soup, Andre Gudong handed the empty bowl to the blacksmith with his left hand, and reached into the bread basket in the middle of the dining table with his right hand, saying, "It's a marching again and working again, where can we get the strength to stand guard? I asked me to say that the team of ten people responsible for standing guard does not need to participate in the construction of the camp, so that they can rest well. Otherwise, they will have to doze off when standing guard."

"Yes...but how do you calculate the people standing at night guard today?"

"Today's Yegang?" Andrey sneered: "They're unlucky."

Even if the day of the soldier is over, the day of the centurion is not over yet.

The blacksmith's horse broth cheered Winters up and filled his stomach, and he walked towards the camp of the Jeska Brigade.

He was not going to sleep, because the officer did not live with the soldiers, and his tent was in a separate camp in the middle of the camp.

He just used to having dinner and walking around the barracks.

Now is the easiest time in the military camp. The soldiers sit around the warm campfire and share warm food with their comrades in the same tent.

Warmth, food, campfires, and these can all make soldiers unblocked the shackles of discipline.

After walking around the camp at dinner, Winters can get some vague sensory perceptions: cold? hunger? fear? angry? excitement? depression? war-weary? dare to fight?

Winters went to the horse pen first, and the horses were well taken care of, with materials and water.

In the horse pendant, he accidentally ran into Lieutenant Colonel Bard and Jeska, and the ponytailer Angelo was there.

Angru was picking the horse's left front hoof tied to a wooden stake.
To be continued...