Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1493 Spring at Lake Baikal

"My goodness, this place is colder than I thought. Is this where Su Wu grazed his sheep? A-choo!"

When Wen Yuan walked down from the plane, the cold wind penetrated directly through her military coat.

Even though summer was approaching in the south, Lake Baikal was still covered with a thick layer of snow. It was noon, and the temperature was just above zero, but when the sunlight shone on the snow, the entire ground was white and painful to the eyes, and the freezing temperature formed a double magical attack.

But he couldn't tremble here. He was an instructor, and behind him were 1193 students who had just enrolled in the Imperial College this year.

"Yoho!" Gao Shiyu, who followed him off the plane, slapped him hard on the back - Gao Shiyu was not cold at all, because he was wearing the winter windproof school uniform of the Northern Imperial College. The Imperial College in Yingtian did not have this school uniform.

"What are you doing, little blind man!"

"It's really refreshing in the north! Don't you think so?"

The scale of the operation was expanded. Originally, Shangluo and Wen Yuan planned to take the freshmen of Yingtian Imperial College this year to experience the fun of magic, just as a spring outing. But after Elder Wen agreed to provide an unlimited budget, the scale of this training was expanded to the Northern Imperial College.

Both the northern and southern capitals had their own Imperial Colleges, and they were of similar size. Generally speaking, the Imperial College of Southern Zhili recruited students from all over the country, while the Imperial College of Northern Zhili recruited students from Northern Zhili - because Northern Zhili had now expanded to almost all areas north of the Huai River, so the 4 million people of Northern Zhili accounted for nearly half of the total population of the capital.

The Imperial Colleges in the north and south of Zhili each covered half of the population. In theory, the two schools were two campuses of the same school. However, the courses on both sides were almost overlapping, so except for the transfer of teachers, students were generally not transferred.

The two groups of students in a school usually don't have the opportunity to meet each other, so the school will occasionally take the opportunity to let the two sides meet. Since this activity has mobilized all the staff of the Nanzhili Imperial College and has an unlimited budget, there is no reason not to expand the activity to the other side as well.

"You guys are such a hassle. 1193 people are already troublesome enough, and now there are 1224 more. Adding together there are more than people. I don't know if I can handle them all."

"The more capable you are, the more work you should do. After all, our principal is your grandfather."

"Why didn't he think of bringing us winter windproof school uniforms?"

"Actually, I brought it for you."

"Huh? Where is it?"

"On the plane. It's more than ten degrees below zero. If I don't give you more clothes, you will all freeze to death."

"Then why don't you take it out?"

"Ahh! I can't see anything. Someone, help me. I can't see anything!"

The next second, Shangluo, who had just gotten off the plane, appeared in front of him.

He raised his hand and waved it in front of Gao Shiyu's eyes: "Are you okay?"

[This kid is fine. His artificial eye can now zoom in 20 times, has phlogiston vision that works both day and night, and can even export in video format, which is more convenient than the eyes of the gods.]

Since he got his artificial eye last time, Gao Shiyu can not only see things, but now he has gained far sharper vision than ordinary people through Tianyi Guiren. It’s just that because it is rented, he has to pay a monthly fee.

Normally, he would not be able to participate in such a training camp. But this time, not only could he participate, but he could also participate as a main player. So he was extremely excited the moment he got off the plane.

This batch landed at the No. 187 Field Military Airport around Lake Baikal. There were a total of 5 transport planes, carrying a total of 500 people. After dropping them off, these planes had to return to Shuntian again, a total of four round trips. It would take a whole day to transport 2000 students. Two batches will arrive before sunset today, and one batch each in the early morning and afternoon tomorrow. The relevant activities will officially begin the day after tomorrow.

"Shangluo, do we have any activities today?" Gao Shiyu was extremely excited.

"Today? Let's have a barbecue. Since we're out for a training camp, we must have a picnic. Didn't I apply for a field dining car? The ingredients are ready, so let's have this as well."

"Well, it's a picnic."

"Oh, by the way, there is something I need to inform you about later. Let me ask you first, how is it calculated over there? We have four courtyards here, as you know, with nicknames like Watermelon and Lychee. How is it organized over there?"

"We have five courtyards here. As for nicknames, they are calculated according to the five elements flags."

"What is the source of that? Is it also a superior supervisor or a hidden supervisor?"

"No, that's not the rule for us - we divide them according to household registration. The railway system has one courtyard, the power system has one courtyard, the petrochemical system has one courtyard, the coal and steel system has one courtyard, and there is one courtyard reserved for civilian households. The first four of us are all from military households and artisan households, which is consistent with the population ratio."

"Wait. You are all government-funded students, right?"

"Oh, yes. Shuntian Imperial College does not accept self-funded candidates. Those who pay for their studies have gone to your school. We are all government-funded students. The specific quota is determined by each system. For example, the railway and water transport system has its own school and its own management department. The number of people recommended to the Imperial College each year is determined through internal recruitment and they have allocated quotas."

As far as Northern Zhili is concerned, this should basically cover the entire society, because the society in Northern Zhili is not organized according to provincial boundaries, but according to industrial categories.

From the beginning of industrialization, Northern Zhili did not allow cities to expand disorderly, but carried out precise regulation and control under the calculation of the Great Difference Engine, and gradually absorbed all the population into the industrial system. The past administrative divisions based on regions have lost their meaning, because the population and output value are no longer arranged according to regions, but developed according to the categories of industries. Historical cities still exist, because historical cities are the optimal logistics solutions after thousands of years of development.

However, in addition to the historical cities, many new cities have sprung up, replacing the status of the original regional central cities. For example, the seat of Zhending Prefecture in Northern Zhili was moved from Zhending City to Shijiazhuang.

Because of the change in the regional center, a large number of new administrative divisions also appeared in Northern Zhili, such as Wuji, Shenze, Luquan, Zanhuang and other emerging cities. Generally speaking, these cities developed around railways and water transport, and generally had their own pillar industries. Each city can provide sufficient public services within itself, and does not need to extend in circles with Yingtian as the center like Southern Zhili.

Of course, although there is no competition in the region, the competition between departments is more intense.

Therefore, the contestants from Shuntian Imperial College, like the watermelon people and lychee people in the south, all came here holding their breath.

The nine colleges of the North and South Zhili Imperial College, the nine grade leaders, and the nine military instructors from the military academies were all present. They were the first to arrive among all the students, and they had to be the first to endure the cold, because the first to arrive in each college had to prepare everything in advance for the students behind them.

"Ahem," Shangluo coughed. "Now, everyone, please allow the person in charge of this drill, Mr. Phaethon Yulisia Helios, a graduate student in the Applied Chemistry Laboratory of Yingtian Imperial College and an assistant professor of the School of Engineering, to announce the important arrangements of the school."

Phaethon is here as an assistant teacher, so he should be respectfully addressed as "sir".

"Hello, sir." Everyone bowed to her. "Well, hello, everyone. Well, the following news may surprise you: According to the request of Wen Zhongwen, the Minister of Rites and the Imperial College, this confrontation exercise will not be carried out between the colleges of the two campuses, but..." She turned a page:
"Instead, it took place directly between the Imperial College in the southern and northern Zhili regions."

After she finished speaking, she closed the file and said, "So, this time, instead of each academy forming a team, we will have a team from the Southern Imperial Academy and a team from the Northern Imperial Academy. You will have 1193 people against 1224 people, and will fight a battalion-level actual combat. There will be no punishment for losing, but there will be a mysterious reward for winning. Elder Wen will come to reward everyone in person."

“???” Everyone except Shangluo was stunned.

They came to this icy and snowy place to take revenge on their old enemies after conducting drills. Because everyone heard before they came that they could fight as much as they wanted and no one would be killed.

However, this time, the colleges that were originally in competition with each other were required to cooperate to fight against the other half of the Imperial College, which they were not familiar with at all.

"Wait a minute." Wen Yuan asked, "Aren't you guys going to have a social gathering?"

Phaethon explained, "It's true that we want to have a social gathering, but what Elder Wen meant is that we can't get to know each other without fighting. The fastest way for everyone to get to know each other is, of course, to have a good queue shooting together."

"Wait!" Gao Shiyu raised his hand, "But I don't want to fight Shangluo. We have agreed to fight together against the Ruijin Banner."

"Huh? So you guys have agreed to fight us together? Gao, can you tell me again?"

"Don't talk yet." Gao Shiyu pulled him to the back and asked Phaethon, "Can we discuss this? It would be better for each family to fight against each other."

"No." Phaethon pointed upwards, "If he wants you to fight, then fight. If you don't fight, he won't feed you."

"Above?" Gao Shiyu looked up and was stunned at the first sight:
"There are people above us!!!" he said in surprise, pointing to the sky.

"Ah???" Everyone looked up suddenly, but there was nothing in the sky except the blue sky, white clouds and the bright sun.

"Let me explain." Shangluo said, "Although it looks like there is nothing, there are a lot of surveillance equipment shining above our heads. These devices will also play a vital role after the drill officially begins. So, even in this wilderness, please abide by the school rules and regulations."

"By the way, who are you?" Some people in the Northern Imperial College still didn't recognize Shangluo.

"I am. Um. I am just an ordinary watermelon man. If I must say, I am Mr. Phaethon's assistant."

"Oh~~~" Everyone looked at the positions of the two people and suddenly realized.

Someone whispered, "Is this in accordance with Zhou rituals?"

"She doesn't teach me, so it doesn't matter."

"Oh~~~" Everyone suddenly realized and nodded.

"So this is the relationship between you two." Although they knew each other before, Gao Shiyu hadn't realized it before.

"Let me say this first." Phaethon interrupted them, "You don't have much time left. The drill will officially begin the day after tomorrow - I don't think you can solve the internal problems before it officially begins. But I think you'd better study how to set up the tent first. Do you see the seals on the lakeshore over there? If you think your fat is a little thinner than that of a seal, then you'd better start setting up the tent now. According to the weather forecast, there may be strong winds here tonight."

Everyone looked at each other and stood up to leave. There were not many places suitable for setting up tents. If they didn't choose a good location first, they would suffer for the next period of time.

Gao Shiyu didn't leave, he was still standing there.

"Why don't you go set up the tent?"

"My sister will take care of it. She is the head student and I am just her assistant. But she will come on the next flight, so I will attend the meeting on her behalf."

"So what are you doing here?"

"There's something I want to ask - you said we can fight however we want, is that because of the introduction of some new simulated confrontation system?"

"I guess so." Shangluo nodded.

"But there seems to be another problem that has not been solved - where are the cavalry? If there are no cavalry in the line-up shooting, it will definitely become a skirmish in the end."

This is true. The purpose of lining up to shoot is not only to facilitate command, but also to facilitate fighting against cavalry. Because if there is no cavalry on the battlefield, then lining up in a skirmish line is obviously the most correct choice. In fact, using skirmishers to fight against line infantry was a common practice in that era.

After all, common sense tells us that shooting is an isolated incident. The accuracy of line infantry shooting is obviously lower than that of scattered soldiers who lie down, find cover and slowly aim.

But this drill was to compete with the shooting in a line. And the shooting in a line without cavalry was obviously incomplete.

In addition to cavalry, artillery is also important.

Artillery restrains line infantry, line infantry restrains cavalry, and cavalry restrains artillery. This is a simplified model. Although it is not comprehensive, the three are indeed indispensable.

Of the three, cavalry is the most difficult to train - because people who can ride horses obviously cannot form a cavalry unit.

"You can rest assured about this. We will make sure everyone fights with flying colors." Shangluo replied, "In fact, we have external aid in this exercise. Each family has an extra team of cavalry support, and they can appear in any direction on the battlefield."

"Really? Where are the cavalry? Why can't I see them?"

"Don't worry. There will be cavalry, but you may not dare to use them when the time comes. After all, they are the Wild Hunt."

"Wild Hunt? What is it?"

"It's a ghost~~~"

(End of this chapter)