Chapter 1066: Fortress 178’s flag
Translator: Legge
The outpost was situated in the undulating mountains. Zhang Jinglin and Ren Xiaosu followed the sentry and walked along the patrol route. As they stood on a mountain peak along the way, they got a sense of magnificence.
The sentry said to the two of them, “Commander, Future Commander, I can only see you two off to here. Follow the mountain path that I pointed out for 30 kilometers, and you’ll reach the next outpost.”
Zhang Jinglin and Ren Xiaosu respectively shook hands with the sentry and said, “It’s been tough on you.”
The sentry smiled and said, “It’s nothing.”
Zhang Jinglin patted the young sentry on the shoulder and said, “How can it not be tough?”
After that, they parted ways.
When they reached the base of the mountain, Zhang Jinglin sighed and said to Ren Xiaosu, “If conditions allowed it, I would’ve liked to have spent a few more days with them. Y’know, every outpost here has a telephone line that connects back to the fortress headquarters. At the beginning, the soldiers at the outposts would always call back when it got too lonely. They would even purposely call back to report that a sheep was lost. The sheep would go missing in the morning and be found by the afternoon, but they never got tired of reporting such incidents.”
Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. He knew some of the larger outposts here would rear a few cows and sheep. However, the livestock were not to be slaughtered and were considered the property of Fortress 178. The soldiers would only use them to get milk for consumption.
Zhang Jinglin continued, “Although this can dispel the sense of loneliness among the soldiers, we can’t afford to be so casual in the face of war. If the landlines were kept occupied and intel was not delivered in time, it could end up becoming troublesome. So we requested they not make such calls anymore. After that, the fortress stipulated that if there were no signs of the enemy, each outpost could only make a call back to the fortress at a scheduled time each week. The soldiers at the outposts also constantly look forward to those days and take turns to make calls back to report.
“There’s operators at the fortress who’re in charge of answering calls from the outposts, and there’s both men and women working among them. To the sentries, if they encounter a female operator, they count themselves really lucky. But it doesn’t matter even if their calls are answered by a man. They can still chat for a full hour…”
Ren Xiaosu listened quietly. During this period, he had heard about many things from the Great Hoodwinker and Zhang Jinglin.
But what left the deepest impression on him was the loneliness these sentries felt.
Ren Xiaosu spun around and saw the sentry who had come to send them off was still standing at the mountain peak and saluting them. His posture was ramrod straight.
“They’re the flags of Fortress 178. As long as they’re still here, this northwestern territory will remain Fortress 178’s land,” Zhang Jinglin said.
“They’re flying the flag of the Northwest by sacrificing the best times of their life?” Ren Xiaosu said.
Zhang Jinglin sighed and said, “They’re all such great youths. If it weren’t for the sake of protecting their homeland, who would be willing to come to a place like this?”
With that, Zhang Jinglin and Ren Xiaosu saluted back at the sentry before turning around and continuing on their way.
Ren Xiaosu suddenly said, “I have some ideas about the Prosperous Northwest 3.0 plan, but I haven’t worked out the details yet. I’ll let you know when I’ve thought of it.”
“Sure.” Zhang Jinglin smiled and said, “Your 1.0 and 2.0 plans were very surprising, so I’m looking forward to your 3.0 plan.”
The scenery in the Northwest was different from that in the Central Plains, because every inch of land here exuded a vast and lofty aura.
Sometimes, dark clouds would drift by in the sky. The clouds would be very far away a minute prior, but a moment later, they would be floating overhead. Then a huge ray of light penetrated the dark clouds, making it look like a huge hole had appeared in the sky.
Sometimes, fiery crimson clouds that looked like fish scales appeared in the twilight sky, creating a magnificent oil painting. The colors were absolutely enchanting to see.
Such strange sights were rarely seen in the Central Plains.
Ren Xiaosu and Zhang Jinglin had not ventured too deep into the wilderness yet. Therefore, they could still occasionally see flocks of sheep raised by the herdsmen. They could also see the herdsmen riding on their horses galloping past in the distance.
Ren Xiaosu said, “The Great Hoodwinker told me a story that circulated in the Northwest Army. He said that there used to be a sentry who did not have anything to eat during one winter as the mountain got sealed off by a blizzard, making supplies impossible to transport in. As such, he traveled for over 40 kilometers on foot and found a herdsman’s house to ask for some food. In the end, the herdsman’s youngest daughter took a fancy to the sentry, and he said that he had to marry her before he would give him something to eat. As a result, the sentry had no choice but to comply.”
Zhang Jinglin’s lips curled upwards slightly. He probably had heard this story too.
Ren Xiaosu continued, “After the Great Hoodwinker heard that story, he volunteered to become a sentry. But when he arrived at the outpost, he realized that the fucking herdsmen were all male, and their families were all living in the fortress. That story was a lie!”
Zhang Jinglin belly laughed and said, “That story was fabricated by the old commander to get everyone to be sentries!”
“How evil!” Ren Xiaosu also started laughing. “But the Great Hoodwinker also said later that he regretted the five years after volunteering to be a sentry. But if it weren’t for those five years, he would surely have regretted it for the rest of his life.”
Ren Xiaosu seemed to be looking around for something when he saw a herd of sheep.
Zhang Jinglin asked, “What are you searching for?”
“I’m looking for those two sheep that I saw yesterday.” Ren Xiaosu said, “I didn’t see them following us again yesterday, but I somehow feel like there’s something wrong with them.”
However, Ren Xiaosu could not find them even after looking for a long time.
It was mainly because there were several hundred sheep scattered across the grassy slope. As the sheep all looked similar, it was very difficult to differentiate them.
Ren Xiaosu picked up the large boulder again, upon which Zhang Jinglin quickly sat again. Then he continued to admire the beautiful scenery leisurely.
After they disappeared over a small hill, two sheep suddenly broke away from the herd and chased after them.
The two sheep looked at each other with lingering fear in their hearts.
Earlier, they were trembling when Ren Xiaosu searched for them with his trenchant gaze. However, they could not figure out why that servant had such sharp perception.
The two sheep trotted along and continued keeping watch around them. Although their legs were short, they were able to run rather quickly.
But when they went over the hill Ren Xiaosu and Zhang Jinglin had disappeared over, they were immediately greeted by Ren Xiaosu staring down at them with a smile.
“Surprised? Shocked?” Ren Xiaosu chuckled.
The two sheep were shocked and immediately lowered their heads and started grazing. After eating a few mouthfuls of grass, they even raised their heads and bleated, giving a look of innocence to Ren Xiaosu.
But Ren Xiaosu did not care. He strode forward at lightning speed and grabbed one of the sheep’s legs. The sheep that was caught struggled hard, but no matter how hard it tried to break away, it could not free itself.
When the other sheep saw the situation was not looking good, it turned around and ran away. Ren Xiaosu did not go after it. Instead, he smiled at the sheep he had caught and said, “You’ve walked right into our trap!”
Ren Xiaosu then punched the sheep in the head and knocked it unconscious.
Before the sheep fainted, it used its remaining consciousness to pray it had better not wake up in a pot.
