Despite its name, the Hard-Dirt Fortress has a bit of a contemporary sci-fi feel, but it is a rough fortress built mainly on rammed earth, reinforced with concrete in some areas. Perhaps the only thing that distinguishes it from the buildings of the Warring States period in Japan is its fortress shape, which is characteristic of the firearms era.

After half an hour's trek, Iwai's company had already walked out of the mountains and into the flat area under the control of the Ao-Song army.

Looking at the friendly soldiers around him, Iwai, who had picked up a small life in the hands of the ninja, finally relieved himself and began to shift his attention from "whether he can survive" to other aspects.

He saw more and more troops retreating from the front line against the shogunate army, marching in neat ranks on the yellow mud road. The uniform pace trampled the dry dirt into the air, staining the soldiers' leggings with the color of mud.

"Your Excellency Second Lieutenant," Iwai couldn't help but ask, walking among his comrades, "so many soldiers have withdrawn, won't the Tokugawa Legion just come in?" ”

Second Lieutenant Sun looked at Iwai with a smile. This stocky Fukuoka hunter behaved well along the way, keeping an eye on his surroundings even when walking in the middle of the company. Considering that this man still survived the annihilation and made a desperate move, he might be able to recommend him to Major Li.

"It's all arranged by the superiors." Second Lieutenant Sun replied cursoryly, obviously not wanting to go into detail about the matter.

Iwai immediately closed his mouth and walked quietly. He was a little afraid that he would annoy his superiors by asking rashly, and began to blame himself in his heart for forgetting his duty as a subordinate.

Second Lieutenant Sun didn't expect his new subordinates to have such a rich inner activity. He looked with amusement at the trench on the periphery of the fortress, where the dirt was still dark red, presumably not washed away by the rain.

He subconsciously shrugged his shoulders, feeling unworthy and unwise for the shogunate army that had launched a storming of the hard earth fortress a week earlier.

Without yet to settle the Void Fortress on the right flank (the sci-fi atmosphere of the name was almost explosive), the military adventurism of Hirotaka Terasawa Tsukasawa, who commanded the Central Front Army, was supported by Toshimori Nakadoi, the old man of the Tokugawa family, and sent more than 3,000 elite soldiers to cross the Yunoda guerrilla zone and forcibly attack the hard earth fortress.

Then these feudal soldiers, who lacked heavy weapons, suffered a crushing defeat under the hard soil city. Terasawa Tentaka was constrained by the terrain designed by the Ao-Song engineers, and was forced to put groups of elite soldiers of the shogunate army into the siege battle with refueling tactics, but was blocked by the crossfire of the fortress and the trenches dug in advance, and was shot in an open area without any obstacles.

The corpses of the Japanese soldiers filled several trenches five meters deep, and the collected blood formed several streams, accumulating a few fingers deep at the bottom of the trenches.

After stumbling under the castle for a morning, the troops descending from the Void Fortress cut off the passage of the shogunate army, and came to the support of the hard earth fortress, kicking Terazawa Kentaka hard.

The demoralized Tentaka Army was completely surrounded under the fortress, and Terazawa Tentaka was spared, and more than 3,000 Shogunate troops were almost killed or wounded.

Smelling the smell of blood at the bottom of the trench, Second Lieutenant Sun remembered the glorious history of his arm cramps that day, and couldn't help but smile.

The flags of various units have been erected at the gate of the city, and it seems that they have arrived relatively late, and it is estimated that only the second regiment that is blocking the forefront has not yet come.

After entering the city, Second Lieutenant Sun was not surprised to see soldiers in gray military uniforms filling the entire fortress.

He smiled and looked at the gray-clothed soldiers who were in good spirits, and listened to the familiar accents that came out of their mouths, and the smile on his face grew brighter and brighter.

"Deputy Ma Lian!" He called out to his men and ordered him: "You take your troops to register, and then let them disband and rest." Iwai—"

He pointed to Iwai, not remembering the other person's name for a moment.

Iwai hurriedly said: "Iwai Jiro, Iwai Jiro..."

"Oh, yes, Jiro Iwai, you come with me." Second Lieutenant Sun took Jiro Iwai's shoulders (Note 1) and dragged him towards the tent near the entrance to the fortress.

Iwai followed the company commander's steps in a bit of a daze, walking in the crowd that was denser than before.

He looked up at the gray-clothed soldier in a trance, and felt in his heart that he might have entered the giant country in the mouth of the Ao Song Dynasty, otherwise it would be impossible to see everyone so tall.

"Your Excellency Company Commander, these are—" He forgot his previous motto of "talk less, do more" and asked with more mouth.

"It's the Dongjiang Army from Liaodong." Second Lieutenant Sun bowed his head and said to Iwai, and then repeated in Chinese with a strong Liaodong accent, "Dongjiang Army." ”

Before Iwai had time to ask in detail, Ensign Sun, who was striding on the meteor, pulled Iwai, who was trotting all the way, to the mouth of the tent: "Report!" The commander of the first company of the third battalion of the first regiment of the Japanese administrative area, second lieutenant Sun Mate! ”

Iwai looked at the young man sitting behind the table in front of the tent, and only felt that this tall young man in a navy blue military uniform with a golden star on his shoulder was shining like the brightest star in the night sky.

Hearing the voice, the young man raised his head from the pile of papers on the table, smiled at Ensign Sun, who saluted him, and got up to return the salute: "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, Second Lieutenant Sun." Your name is interesting. ”

"This man is standing taller..."Iwai struggled to raise his head, looking at the (literally) Major Aosong, who recognized the rank epaulettes of the old men of Aosong, and a feeling of inferiority involuntarily rose in his heart.

Second Lieutenant Sun smiled embarrassedly: "Because my father is from Liaodong in the Ming Kingdom, and my mother is Japanese, I have a Ming surname and a Japanese name." ”

The major nodded and shook hands with Second Lieutenant Sun: "I'm Li Ruchu." ”

Iwai looked at Li Ruchu, who was shaking hands with Second Lieutenant Sun, and when he saw him stretching out his hand to himself again, he hurriedly stretched out his hands to shake him, and at the same time bowed deeply at a right angle: "Hello, respected Major Li Ruchu, the contempt is Corporal Jiro Iwai." ”

Li Ruchu smiled and nodded, but he didn't feel uncomfortable with such a big salute by Iwai, obviously knowing the character of the Japanese.

Second Lieutenant Sun hurriedly said to Li Ruchu: "Comrade Major, this Jiro Iwai is an Orion from Fukuoka, with the identity of a ronin, calm in handling things, a brave personality, and rich in mountain warfare skills, he should be able to meet your requirements." ”

Li Ruchu maintained an impeccable smile, grabbed Iwai's shoulders with both hands, and squeezed it gently.

Iwai felt a strange sensation coming from his shoulder joint, as if his arm was about to be dislocated, and his body naturally exerted force to both sides, bouncing Li Ruchu's hands away.

Seeing Major Li raise his hands, Iwai hurriedly bowed deeply again: "I'm sorry, Your Excellency, please punish you." ”

Li Ruchu was a little surprised. He said, "You put your hands between my arms, and I'll try your strength." ”

Iwai straightened up, and Ensign Sun next to him gave him an encouraging look, and he boldly grabbed Major Li's arm and slammed it into the middle.

At this time, Iwai already understood that this was related to his future, so although he was afraid of hurting Master Ao Song, he was helpless at the moment.

Na Major Li's face remained unchanged, his hands were slightly folded, but he did not move at all.

"That's it." After a while, Major Li spoke, then slapped his arm and smiled, "Very good, the arm is very powerful." ”

He picked up an iron rod from the table and placed it on Iwai's thigh and forced: "Stretch your muscles, Iwai." ”

After checking Iwai's leg muscles, Li Ruchu finally showed a satisfied smile: "Very good, Second Lieutenant Sun, your corporal is very much in line with our standards." ”

After saying goodbye to Second Lieutenant Sun, Li Ruchu bent down again (Note 2) and said to Iwai in Japanese with a Honshu accent: "Mr. Iwai, please go with this comrade." Next, your military registration will be transferred to the team of this comrade, and you will be ready to register. ”

Iwai, who changed his boss three times a day, bowed to the Ao Song Navy Lieutenant in front of him and thanked him, and then strode away with one person next to Li Ruchu - there is a disadvantage in dealing with the old man of Ao Song, that is, he can't walk in small steps to show respect for the old man, because if the steps are small, he will definitely be thrown off by the old man Ao Song.

When Ensign Sun waited for Iwai to be taken away, he saluted Li Ruchu and prepared to leave.

Before leaving, Li Ruchu smiled at him and said, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, you can rest for a while." Get ready to see how we perform. ”

Second Lieutenant Sun also smiled and said: "It's really a pity, it's really unpleasant to have been in a tug-of-war with the shogunate for so long, but it can't be put into the battle in the counteroffensive stage." ”

After sending off Second Lieutenant Sun, Chen Jisheng, who was wearing the epaulette of the lieutenant colonel of the Xiecong Army, came over and reported to me: "Comrade Regiment Commander, the field artillery unit of the Second Regiment has arrived at the mouth of the fortress, and the relevant transport ships are docking, and they can be transported away soon. ”

I nodded, and handed him an order that had just been signed: "This is an order to mobilize cavalry troops to meet it, you go and select some light cavalry in better condition to go out and help the second regiment cover the rear." ”

Chen Jisheng immediately saluted, and then took the order to leave.

Not long after he left, Shang Keyi, who was in charge of transportation affairs in the North Nagasaki Sea, came over again: "Comrade Regiment Commander, a destroyer was scratched by a reef on Katashima and needs to be repaired at the Yushima shipyard, please instruct." ”

I looked at the application form for the maintenance of the warship handed to me by Shang Keyi with some headaches, and simply asked the deputy official Haixian to recruit qualified soldiers here instead of me, and walked to the fortress headquarters with Shang Keyi: "You help me gather the staff committee, I need the help of professionals." ”

"That's right," I looked at the direction where Chen Jisheng left with some pain, remembering that I had forgotten that Mao Wenlong's right-hand man was actually my chief of staff, "You quickly find someone to call Lieutenant Colonel Chen to the headquarters, the chief of staff doesn't do this kind of thing..."

Note 1: Based on Jiro Iwai's description, I suspect that Second Lieutenant Sun should have tried to grab his arm, but he grabbed his shoulder instead because he was too short.

Note 2: Talking to Iwai, who is 146 centimeters tall, I do have to bend down - after all, I am almost forty centimeters taller than him, and the gap is as big as two species.