Chapter 381, 178 Fortress!

When Ren Xiaosu saw the 178th Fortress from afar, he was suddenly shocked.

This fortress was different from any fortress he had seen, the lofty and vicissitudes of the fortress was full of scars, and there were even large traces of patching, as if this fortress had long since experienced multiple collapses and rebuilds.

Time and time again, bad luck had come and gone, but it had always stood here.

Although those barriers in the past also had traces of age, the walls of the barriers hadn’t suffered any heavy damage, so they looked very neat.

But the walls of the 178 Barrier were different, and when Ren Xiaosu looked at it at first glance, he suddenly felt that the wall looked like it had a tough life.

He also suddenly understood why some people called 178 Barrier a fortress.

This was a fortress-level barrier that was truly built for war, focusing more on defensive functions than any previous barrier.

Zhou Yinglong proudly said, “We all call this place Fortress 178, it’s not like those weak barriers out there!”

Ren Xiaosu stood underneath the lofty walls of Fortress 178, while on top of the high walls were loaded military personnel on guard, only because they had arrived with Zhang Jinglin, the military personnel on the walls had not signaled an alarm.

According to what Xu Xian Chu said, but any personnel of unknown origin would find it difficult to approach this wall, and it would have been impossible for him to come in without Ren Xiaosu’s letter of recommendation in the first place.

Ren Xiaosu suddenly asked, “I also wrote letters of recommendation to some people before, did they come to Fortress 178?”

Xu Xianchu shook his head, “No.”

“Looks like they had an accident as well,” Ren Xiaosu sighed.

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu gouged a bullet off the wall, “Why are there bullets on the wall?”

The construction of Fort 178 was of course for defense against enemies, but in Ren Xiaosu’s impression, everyone had been saying that Fort 178 was for defense against wild beasts.

Everyone was saying that there were few inland beasts because humans had driven them outside the walled circle, and that Fort 178 stood in the northwest to prevent the invasion of a large number of terrifying beasts.

But how to explain the bullets on the wall, it was clearly left behind by foreign enemies using firearms to hit the wall, right?

Only humans use firearms.

Xu Xianchu laughed, “You’ll understand later, in the era of hot weapons, the true enemy of humans is only humans themselves.”

These words were somewhat familiar to Ren Xiaosu, a librarian called An Yuqian had said the same thing.

Only, An Yuqian’s meaning was that the uncontrollability of science would allow mankind to create forces that they could not master.

And Xu Xianchu’s meaning was even more straightforward, the enemy of Fortress 178, was humanity.

The thick gates of Fortress 178 slowly lifted up, the rumbling sound as if there was a giant dragon roaring in the middle of the wall.

A group of people walked in, and they suddenly realized that although the 178 fortress was shabby in appearance, it was unusually neat and clean.

Originally, Ren Xiaosu thought that the place where a group of northwestern hulks lived should be very dirty and messy, but it turned out not to be so.

Entering the long street where the gate is located, at the end you can see a huge bronze bell hanging high above a tower.

Xu Xian Chu introduced to Ren Xiaosu, “This bell is also not quite the same as our previous barriers, the bells of other barriers are used to tell the time, the bell of the 178 Fortress will only ring when it is signaling an alarm, and by the time the bell rings, everyone in the army will have to prepare for a deadly battle.”

“When was the last time the bell rang?” Ren Xiaosu was curious.

“Sixteen years ago,” Xu Xianchu lamented, “I’m sorry I didn’t get to see that scene, many of us in the interior never even knew that there was a war going on here.178 The fortress is like a wall, keeping the danger and darkness outside.”

There are a lot of people on the street, everyone is wearing rough clothes, and neon lights are rarely seen in front of the stores, there are almost no private vehicles on the road, and occasionally there are military off-road vehicles passing by.

Wang Shengyin curiously said, “Your place looks so primitive.”

Xu Xianchu said, “There’s not enough electricity, and a new power plant is being constructed on the periphery, but 178 Fortress doesn’t have enough talent, so the construction is very slow. There was also a large power station before, but it was artificially destroyed during the war.”

“Resources don’t seem to be very abundant either,” Wang Shengyin said, “The northwest is quite suitable for growing cotton, there’s plenty of light, and there’s plenty of water from the snowy mountains and underground water, why don’t we grow more cotton?”

Xu Xianchu glanced at her and said, “You have to have enough to eat first.”

Ren Xiaosu looked at the scene in Fortress 178, to be honest it was indeed a bit shabby, but for some reason, he felt much more comfortable here than in other barriers.

When the pedestrians on the street saw the convoy that Zhang Jinglin was in passing by, they did not intentionally fawn over him, but instead greeted him as if he were an old friend before going about their business.

Xu Xianchu glanced at Ren Xiaosu: “Xiaosu, can your black medicine be produced, some people on our side got frostbite in the winter, and their frostbite has been unable to heal, and the medicines needed to fight the war have been in short supply, if we can have your black medicine, it would be great news for our 178th fortress.”

Previously Ren Xiaosu had become a doctor in the market town, Xu Xianchu had also heard about it, and Zhang Jinglin knew about it as well.

Ren Xiaosu shook her head, “It can’t be mass-produced.”

Xu Xianchu was a little disappointed, “It’s fine, when the trade routes open up, we can look to the Central Plains to buy medicine.”

This 178 fortress lacked not only medicine, but also clothing, food and so on, opening up the commercial road was an urgent matter for Zhang Jinglin, who had returned to the 178 fortress.

Zhang Jinglin spent a few months to clean up the chaos in the 178th Fortress one by one, and now it is time to consider the development of the Fortress.

Xu Xianchu arranged Ren Xiaosu and the others in a small building, “This is our guest house, it’s a bit humble ha don’t mind.”

Ren Xiaosu shook his head, “It’s already very good.”

Wang Shengzhi and Wang Shengyin might not have lived in such a shabby house, but Ren Xiaosu had even lived in a shack, so of course he wouldn’t care about this.

At this time, Xu Xianchu was a bit embarrassed and said, “Xiaosu, your wounds aren’t healed, I’ll go to the Quartermaster’s Office to apply for some medication for you, but right now, medication in the fortress is too scarce, so it’s not always possible to apply for it ……”

Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “It’s fine, I still have some black medicine with me.”

“That’s good that’s good,” Xu Xianchu rubbed his hands together and laughed, “So do you still have extra black medicine, that ……”

Xu Xianchu was a bit embarrassed to say it out loud, there was a soldier under his command who was injured during training earlier, and the wound couldn’t heal until now, the quartermaster’s office had actually run out of medicines a long time ago, so he could only carry on with it. But Ren Xiaosu just came, he didn’t take good care of him, even if he opened his mouth to ask for something, what kind of thing is this?

Ren Xiaosu stuffed a small porcelain bottle into Xu Xianchu’s hand, “You’re welcome.”

When Xu Xian Chu was the poorest of the poor, he was still willing to give himself half of the leftover nest, so Ren Xiaosu wouldn’t be stingy with Xu Xian Chu.