The stars in the sky are like brilliant diamonds that embellish the black canopy, and the Milky Way is as faint as smoke, stretching across the entire sky, making people think about it.

The night breeze in mid-April is not cool, but faintly carries the heat of the sun that has not yet dissipated during the day; The drunken wind mixed with the loud sound of the waves crashing against the reef added to the restlessness of the night.

Under the starlight, a long faint yellow point of light is neatly arranged, which is the air dead wind lamp erected on the ox cart; Next to the ox cart stood a row of soldiers of the Fuliao Army with loaded guns, one by one pursed their lips and looked vigilantly at the dark and dreary earth outside the wharf; The snow-bright bayonet of the Ushijima type fire gun on his back reflected a suffocating cold light from time to time under the light.

"Beware! Take it easy! Be careful not to touch the lights! ”

On the wharf, Chu Ning and the little third aunt were whispering and directing the craftsmen of the gunpowder team to load things into the ox cart - the boxy bamboo baskets were full of porcelain jars the size of ox heads, and the mouth of the jar was tightly sealed with oiled paper and beeswax; In order to prevent the bullock cart from bumping, each stack of bamboo baskets is tied with brown rope to tie it strongly.

The light shone on Chu Ning's face, and the bloodshot eyes were particularly eye-catching, and the same was true of the little third aunt - hundreds of people up and down the gunpowder group were under the control of the two of them, and they were working overtime every day these days, and it could be seen that they were extremely tired.

Finally, after the last bamboo basket was loaded into the car and bundled, Chu Ning came to the lamp and signed his name on the list of material handover, and watched the ox convoy slowly set off, only then did he exaggerate a sigh of relief, and said softly to the little third aunt, "It's over...... In the past two months, I have done all the usual work for half a year, and I am tired to death! ”

The third aunt gave him a blank look and said, "Are you tired?" You just take care of your safety, and you can squint for a while with a cold squeeze...... I'm guarding them day and night, and I can't even get a good night's sleep! ”

"A woman's opinion!" Chu Ning let out a big yawn and walked towards his house, "I am tired, do you know?" You have to worry about it all the time...... That's what Fan'er said, oh yes, safety is everything! ”

The little third aunt followed behind him, and she also completely relaxed, muttering to herself, "I still can't figure it out, why do you say that Fan'er wants so much fire*...... Good guy, it's a hundred thousand pounds! ”

Chu Ning suddenly stood on his feet, turned to the little third aunt and said, "How many times have you said it, don't ask this!" Don't ask about this! After seeing the little third aunt's erroneous expression, he lowered his voice and said, "Fight!" Do you understand how to fight? …… He naturally has a reason for arranging this! ”

Just when Chu Ning was teaching the third aunt, the oxcart team had already left the gate of the No. 1 base and was heading in the direction of Yingzhou City.

With the help of the light, Fu Gou'er walked silently on the dirt road, with a numb expression on his face.

The first battalion has not been out of **** for two months, and most of the veterans in the two companies have been withdrawn, and Fujian recruits like him have been reorganized into a recruit team to do some service work, such as standing guard, sentry, and escorting the ox convoy like tonight.

At first, Fu Gou'er was secretly glad that he finally didn't have to suffer from that terrible training anymore, but after a little time, he began to miss the hard but extremely fulfilling training life when he first entered the camp.

For no other reason, the life of these recruits is too boring now: except for patrolling the camp of the first battalion every day, they can only sleep in their own dormitories, and it is strictly forbidden to leave the camp; What's even more maddening is the maddening secrecy - no one outside the battalion is allowed to talk without permission!

Several times when Fu Gou'er's friends in the second battalion met him to greet him, he could only nod his head and didn't dare to answer at all—just because of this impersonal secrecy regulation, there were already several unlucky guys in the recruit team who had been beaten with military sticks or locked up!

"Stop! Who? ”

A shout interrupted Fu Gou'er's thoughts, and when he looked up, he was already outside the east gate of Yingzhou City; On the gate of the city stood a row of warriors, their guns in their hands pointing downward, as if they were facing a great enemy.

With the help of the burning fish oil torches at the head of the city, Fu Gou'er recognized that the person who drank and asked was a squad leader of the third battalion and three companies.

"Brother, we are from the same battalion, and we are transporting things to the docks," the platoon commander who led the team replied a little angrily, "Didn't you just let us out of the city?" ”

"Hmm...... Everyone stands under the lamp, and we have to take a good look. The squad leader was not accommodating at all, and only after confirming the number of people did he get up and go down to the city and open the city gate.

As soon as he entered the city, he was greeted by a row of black muzzles - he was already familiar with this battle, and as soon as the battle began, the alert level of Yingzhou City was adjusted to the highest, and the inventory in and out of the city was the most strict.

A few fish oil torches crackled and illuminated the city gate, and the squad leader personally went into battle, one by one to inspect the water cards and identity cards on each person's waist - the water card is unique to the Fuliao Army, and it is marked with name, age and position, and the identity card is now a piece of the hand of the people of Udodo and the eastern part of Jeju Island, not to mention the face carved out of charcoal drawings.

The inventory process took a quarter of an hour, until the inspection was completed, and the squad leader finally had a smile on his face, and he gave a standard flat-chested salute to the platoon commander who led the team, "Chu Pai, I'm sorry, brother is also acting on orders, please Haihan...... After this battle, all the brothers are counted, Juxian Lou is counted as me, and I will make amends to everyone! ”

Juxian Lou is a restaurant that has only been opened in Yingzhou City, the capital of the East India Company - the war has to be fought, the construction in Yingzhou City has not stopped, restaurants, rice shops, cloth shops, ready-to-wear shops and something have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

Seeing that this squad leader was on the road, the platoon leader Chu no longer had a dead face, and said with a slight smile, "I can also understand it...... It's not easy to do what you're told, and you still have to drink in the city in the middle of the night...... After the battle, get together and go! ”

The sound of the car was sparkling, and the group went straight to a barracks in the southwest corner of Yingzhou City along the avenue cushioned by the loess.

In the camp of the first battalion, a large barn made of tall logs stood upright, and even in the middle of the night, a whole squad patrolled around the barn - this was the final destination of the jars full of gunpowder on the ox carts, and it was no wonder that it was well guarded.

After opening the warehouse door, it was soon full of gas lanterns, Fu Gou'er followed everyone and began to move the bamboo baskets inside, in the corner of his eyes, Fu Gou'er noticed that the warehouse that was almost full when he came in last time was now not much bamboo basket, and he couldn't help but be quite curious.

Where did all this gunpowder go? (To be continued.) )