Chapter 1063, 178 Outposts

Before this, Ren Xiaosu had never been further west of the 178th Fortress.

The places beyond the fortress were not as desolate as imagined, and Ren Xiaosu and Zhang Jinglin could still see many northwesterners farming and grazing in the wilderness as they walked.

Zhang Jinglin explained, “The factories are all within the fortress’s protection, you should have seen those factories when you came from Barrier 144, but for farming and grazing, it’s still more suitable for the Northwest. The significance of the existence of the outposts is not only to inform the fortress in advance to prepare for battle, but also to buy time for the evacuation of these people who are engaged in production.”

Ren Xiaosu nodded his head silently, 178 The fortress had a special environment, and there were relatively few places that could be cultivated and grazed, so it had to be fully utilized.

He suddenly asked, “When was the rule that the person who succeeds the commander must walk through the post?”

“A long, long time ago,” Zhang Jinglin said calmly, “The outposts were very hard, some soldiers stayed there for years at a time, suffering from the sun in the summer, ice and snow in the winter, and a lack of resources. The more important outposts may have five or six people, so it’s not too lonely, but some outposts only have two people, so they have to endure the loneliness.”

Zhang Jinglin continued, “Of course the commander is comfortable in the fortress, but you must understand that those 178 posts carry the most dangerous responsibilities of the war and what they are going through. For the same reason I put you in the Point Company, you can only understand what every decision you make means if you’ve been in the most dangerous places. The man who has been born and died with all of us is the one who is qualified to be this commander.”

It had to be said that it was probably this people-oriented spirit that made Fortress 178 able to attract Ren Xiaosu places.

Zhang Jinglin laughed, “And there’s also a psychological effect to this, I don’t know if you can understand it, hardworking people will look down on lazy people from the bottom of their hearts, and a commander who has been to the sharp knife company and walked through all the outposts will look down on those bureaucrats who are afraid of death and don’t do anything from the bottom of their hearts. I didn’t notice it at first, but later I realized that if I found out which general was cheating, I would subconsciously say ‘think of those outpost warriors who are suffering from loneliness, and then think of those brothers who were born and died on the front line, won’t you be ashamed of yourself like this’.”

“All in all, this is to make the fortress commander understand what a commander’s responsibility really is, right,” Zhang Jinglin said.

Walking the outpost and entering the sharp knife company, these two things were like a unique inauguration ceremony.

In fact, Ren Xiaosu didn’t quite understand at first, since he was a candidate for Commander, what if he was sent to the Pointed Blade Company in case he really died, knowing that the kind of combat sequence of the Pointed Blade Company, it was not uncommon for one out of ten to survive in a battle.

The new commander also needs to be accompanied by the old commander, is not afraid of what will go wrong during the delay of such a long time?

But now he suddenly realized that the practice of 178 Fortress is to select a candidate who is worthy of a great responsibility from the most difficult road, and then go to carry the fate of the entire Northwest.

When he was on the Daxing Northwest 2.0 Turn Refugee Road, Big Snub told Ren Xiaosu about the time he went to the outpost back then.

Big Huyao said that when he was at the post back then, his daily work after waking up from sleep was not to stay at the post, but to go out on patrol with a firearm on his back.

In the cold winter season, one would walk up the mountain all day with a gun on one’s back, leaving before dawn, and by the time one returned to the post at night it would be dark.

The runny nose would be frozen on the face, the shoes would be covered with a thin layer of icy sand, and the cheeks would be red from freezing.

When roasting inside the post at night he didn’t even dare to get too close to the campfire because the sudden warmth would make his body swell up.

On the way to the patrol, the only chance he had to communicate with the outside world was to walk up a hill called Tiger Ridge at 12 noon and wave to a sentry on another hill.

There was no overlap in patrol routes, and these two hills were the closest.

We all agreed to arrive at the hill at 12:00 noon every day, and then waved and continued on their respective patrol paths.

No matter how windy, rainy or snowy it was, the two sentries had to be on the hill at 12 noon, and only when they saw each other there could they find some solace in their hearts.

It was not that people were too idle, it was because they were too lonely.

If this sentry’s service is over and he is ready to leave, he will tell the new sentry: every day at 12 o’clock, you must arrive at Tiger Ridge and wave to your comrade on the other side of the hill, because he is waiting for you.

In these hundred years, there had been 178 sentries since the establishment of Fort 178, and these 178 sentries were like lonely stars and torches in the wilderness.

Ren Xiaosu curiously said, “I don’t think Mr. Zhang understood my strength in the first place, aren’t you afraid that I’ll just die if you send me to the Sharp Dagger Company?”

Zhang Jinglin calmly said, “I’m only in my early forties, which is still relatively young for a commander’s age when all is said and done, so if you were to really die in the war, I should still have more than enough time to pick the next one. You know some commanders don’t find a suitable candidate until they’re in their seventies, I’m considered relatively lucky.”

Ren Xiaosu raised an eyebrow, “Is it too late for me to run away?”

“Of course it’s too late,” Zhang Jinglin laughed, “Didn’t we all say no turning back?”

Many people thought that Zhang Jinglin was serious and proper, but Ren Xiaosu had seen Zhang Jinglin’s appearance when he was in the market town, and actually understood that the reason why this bastard could be the 178 Fortress Commander was because this bastard was also a rogue in his bones.

……

The first outpost was 80 kilometers northwest of Fortress 178, and Ren Xiaosu and Zhang Jinglin expected to leave in the morning and arrive at night.

Then Zhang Jinglin realized that he was already tired to the point of being a little dehydrated, but Ren Xiaosu still didn’t have a care in the world.

This plan of walking through the outposts was itself meant to sharpen the minds of successive commanders, which was why it was required to be on foot.

But I guess the old commander who set this rule in the past did not expect that this commander would even drill out such a physical strength with livestock and beasts like a transcendent, the so-called training of the mind simply can not play a due role …….

In Zhang Jinglin’s plan, Ren Xiaosu had experienced too many battles in recent years and had killed many people, so he hoped that Ren Xiaosu’s temperament could calm down on this trip, so that Ren Xiaosu could have a chance to calm himself down.

As a result, Ren Xiaosu did not have any problems, and this hike was more like a training program for Zhang Jinglin himself. ……

In the afternoon, Zhang Jinglin looked at the lively Ren Xiaosu and finally couldn’t help himself: “Go carry a rock!”

Ren Xiaosu froze for a moment, “There wasn’t this rule before, was there?”

“There is now,” Zhang Jinglin said seriously.