My soldiers are all Fourth Calamities!

17. Iron Heel and Gunpowder

The player shop doesn't have a lot of items, but what it offers is all practical and represents essential currency in the battlefield.

For players, this means they can finally buy some items to strengthen themselves.

The "F-1 fragmentation grenade" naturally caught the players' attention. As we all know, when encountering cavalry, nothing is more reasonable than stuffing a high-explosive grenade under the horse's hooves - as long as the "timing" is right, everyone is equal.

Moreover, the price of the F-1 fragmentation grenade is not expensive for players. It takes [50] merits to revive once, while the F-1 fragmentation grenade only takes [5] merits. The only problem is that it has a cooldown, or more precisely, a very long cooldown during the mission.

This design is reasonable, as the preparation phase before the mission is an unavoidable part for players.

A player can carry a maximum of two F-1 fragmentation grenades at the same time.

For Rochester, the price of the F-1 fragmentation grenade was not so affordable. He currently had [2000] reputation points, but it would cost 5 reputation points to buy a single grenade.

100 F-1 fragmentation grenades would cost 500 reputation points, which would be a huge expense for Rochester. But when he thought that the canned food would cost 2000 reputation points and the grenades would only cost one-four-hundredth of that, it suddenly seemed much cheaper.

Nevertheless, Rochester gritted his teeth and bought a full 200 F-1 fragmentation grenades and put them in the warehouse.

After all, given the players' combat strength, grenades can definitely have a greater effect.

The moment the stock was replenished, all players bought two and then proceeded to purchase CDs.

The initial players also have [60] merits after purchasing the grenade - just enough to buy one resurrection. Some players, including the free resurrection they received earlier, have a total of two resurrections.

Guo Ruhe, who had the most merits, still had [260] merits left after purchasing the grenades.

Rochester quietly took two F-1 grenades from the store's inventory. "Everyone, get ready. That cavalry unit might..."

Just as Rochester was speaking, gunfire erupted from the woods to the east of the village. Because most of the White Army cavalry were still reeling from the captain's suicide, several were sent to meet the Tsar by a few bullets before they could react.

All eyes were drawn to the advancing White cavalry. They could see the furry sheepskin hats, distinguish the officers and Cossacks, and watch their sabers clatter against their riding boots.

"A White bandit!" a company commander of the support force shouted to the soldiers behind him.

He and the other company commanders heard the gunfire erupting in the village and immediately led their men to the scene.

To be honest, although they had a tactical disagreement with Rochester, it was only a tactical disagreement. When they heard the gunfire coming from Rochester's village, they quickly led their men to the scene.

Unsurprisingly, their method of support was to charge, with the two company commanders at the forefront, shouting, "Follow me! Go support Company Commander Rochester!"

To the White Army soldiers, this was undoubtedly a terrifying scene: a "Red Witt Alliance" force had appeared out of nowhere, and they were already very close—close enough to clearly identify the "Red Witt Alliance's" bullet belts, red shoulder patches, and even their faces.

Rochester instantly realized that the captain's high value meant this unit was no ordinary force, and now was a time when prestige was desperately needed. He looked at the remaining horses of the White Army and quickly commanded, "Everyone, mount up!"

"Holy crap, finally! I've been wanting this for ages!" one player exclaimed, grabbing the nearest horse.

As it turns out, players are quite efficient at acquiring "new unit types".

To motivate players to continue the chase, the rewards are given out instantly, and Rochester has created an achievement for them this time.

[Cavalry (Unlock new unit)]

[Awards of Merit[50]]

Rochester has offered a price for one resurrection. Although the player is incredibly strong individually, it's not so certain once they're on horseback.

Marco isn't as durable as a player, and he doesn't have the ability to breathe to regenerate health.

Rochester also mounted the horse, and in that instant, he achieved his goal.

Iron Hoof and Gunpowder

In people's minds, cavalry has always been an overly romanticized figure. The ornately dressed hussars, the dashing dragoons, and the imposing cuirassiers have all become iconic images of bygone eras.

However, the reality was different: cavalry comprised only a small portion of the total army and had limitations in tactical maneuverability. Most casualties were caused by firearms, rendering the close-quarters combat, the cavalry's forte, less important. Although vulnerable to fire, the cavalry's casualty rate was actually not high...

[Gained Reputation [100]]

When Rochester took a look, what he noticed first wasn't the reputation, but rather how well-written the achievement name and description were. With the mindset of not wasting anything, he directly synchronized it to the player's achievements as well—saving him the trouble of giving the player something more impressive.

Soon, the player's achievement name and description also became exactly the same as Rochester's, without any modification.

After everyone was mounted, Rochester opened the minimap. "Everyone, listen up! We're going to intercept those White bandits!"

Pursuit is the decisive action to expand the results of the battle and completely annihilate the enemy. Its key lies in using the cavalry's rapid mobility to keep a close watch on the enemy, making it unable to catch its breath, reorganize its defense, or escape.

A successful pursuit requires speed and ferocity, forcing the enemy into disarray during the maneuver and rendering them incapable of organized resistance.

For Rochester, this is exactly the time. With their minimap, there's no such thing as getting lost or not being able to find anyone.

Although the forest temporarily concealed their location, it wasn't a large forest, nor was it a single, monolithic area; rather, it was a typical "fragmented woodland." It consisted of five separate woodlands of varying sizes and shapes, crisscrossed by several wide dirt roads. They could now rush north into the forest to intercept them.

If you encounter other units that you cannot defeat, they will also be displayed on the minimap.

Therefore, Rochester issued a mission to search for the enemy forces.

One unit began to charge forward, following the main force.

...

A White bandit corporal on horseback could clearly see an enemy company commander, whizzing through the bushes and charging at the very front of the column, while a cavalry unit seemed to have emerged from the village.

The corporal, who had been leading the column, galloped through the forest and soon ran into the main force of the White Army. His officer, on horseback at the head of the column, was leading the way. The corporal frantically shouted to his officer, "Sir! Sir! It's the enemy! The enemy! They're coming!"

And so, while his superior was still in a daze, the corporal and the few remaining wounded cavalrymen behind him quickly passed by without looking back.