It's snowing.

On the second day after leaving the Thorn Hills, a blizzard arrived. More than 200 workers led by Gastens' Guards Production Regiment and Thomas Gurakos, the former chairman of the maintenance plant union of Slote Power Equipment Company, were trapped on the side of Homesick Road by the blizzard.

It is said to be a homesick road, but in fact it is just a widened and hardened carriage road for the convenience of logistics, relying on the previous roads in Tulucas. About the width of three wagons, already covered with snow. The soldiers on the front line could get food, weapons and news from the rear from this road, and gradually they gave the road its name.

Homesick Road.

"Captain! What are we going to do?! ”

Ivan Warren, commander of the 1st Company of the Production Regiment of the Guards Army, stood beside Gastens and asked loudly. The snow mixed with the storm was so noisy that no one could hear what the other person was saying if it was a little quieter.

"Let's camp! Set up camp on the spot!!! ”

Gastens replied in the same voice. On his shoulders, the epaulettes representing the major were covered with snow, and the silver star above it was not clear to see. However, whether it is Gastens, the commander of the first company, Ivan Warren, or the company commanders of several other companies, they all know very well that Gastens may be the youngest major commander in the Western Theater of Operations.

"Gastens, you are my man, you can help me as much as you can when you go back this time. I, Eliot, am not a stingy man, much less a man who breaks his word and gets fat, promised you the major, and I will give it to you. I promised to give you a regiment, and I will give it to you too. You've surprised me more than once before, and I hope this time, you'll surprise me as well. ”

Recalling the farewell words of Prince Eliot before departure, even Gastens, who had gone through three lifetimes, was somewhat moved in his heart. Although he knew that this was just a leader's manipulation technique, but in the position of his subordinates, Gastens had to admit that this method was really useful.

Fortunately, Gastens had a stronger and stronger belief than his allegiance to Prince Eliot. He turned around, took Ivan by the hand, walked to his team, led them, and with his own hands, began to set up a tent for resting.

As Eliot himself said, he really had little to guard against Gastens. On the one hand, Gastens was just a serf, and now he was just a regimental commander, and compared to his status, there was no need to be guarded. On the other hand, it was also an opportunity for him to show his generosity on a risk-free basis. As a sign of generosity, the Gastens were given five wagons and twenty horses to help them transport tents and supplies.

"My lord! Rest, let's pitch a tent! ”

While Gastens was unloading equipment from the wagon with his old men, Eddie Warren, the commander of the eighth company of the production regiment, Eddie Warren, the new subordinate that Gastens had asked for from Eliot, stepped forward and tried to help Gastens.

"No, I'll come with you!" Gastens replied and continued to work. Eddie Warren froze for a moment, and then tried to take Gastens's hand, but was interrupted by Ivan.

"Add, this is our boss, you have to get used to his style, what he does, as long as he has time, he always does it with us, eating and sleeping. What we eat, he eats. He slept with us as much as we slept. He's different from all the other chiefs, so get used to it! ”

"This ...... How is this possible? ”

Add muttered something to himself, only to find that no one was paying attention to him. Everyone was working, whether it was a regiment commander or a company commander, whether it was a soldier or an officer, as if everyone was equal at this moment. Eddie Warren rubbed his eyes, wrapped the scarf around his neck, and stepped forward to help.

This time, one of the regiments that Eliot gave to Gastens was selected by Gastens himself from the Third Guards Army and the Seventh Combat Army, and he had learned all the information about everyone one by one, except for a few free people, all of whom were serfs killed from death squads, just like him and his old men. These people were often unpopular in the regular army, and they had the same background as the old ranks of the Gastens, which was very much to the taste of the Gastens.

Although the blizzard was manic and the wind was cold, with the joint efforts of more than 1,200 people, the production team quickly set up its own temporary camp. If you just look at the weather outside the tent, no one can guess that it is only morning, and they may not be more than thirty kilometers away from the Thorn Hills, but in the climate of deep winter, no matter how far they go, no matter how long it is sooner or later, as long as there is a heavy snowfall, they must set up camp. And the time of the march can only be during the day when it is not snowing.

Gastens and his nine company commanders sat around a pyroxene stove, each with his own rice bowl and bread in front of him. On the stove, improvised with iron shelves and gravel, there was a huge pot, and the pot was churning with a messy soup that had been boiled to just the right extent. Gastens scooped up the spoon from the pot, filled his bowl with some hot soup, broke the hard, cold bread, put it in the soup, rubbed his hands together, and sighed softly and contentedly.

In the deep winter season, it is already the greatest happiness for travelers to have a mouthful of hot soup and a tent.

"Boss, will you tell us more about the exploitation of serfs?"

It was still Zink Warren who took the initiative to stir up the topic, and he and seven other old Gastens subordinates listened to Gastens talk a lot about class, and had a vague expectation and curiosity about the revolution. From Gastens's narration, they can vaguely realize the problem of the serf class in which they live, and they can probably vaguely feel that something must be done to change the fate of the serf class. However, they did not know what to do, and Gastens, who clearly knew what to do, had become the spiritual leader of these people.

"Okay, there is a newcomer here today, so I will re-talk about Anken Rein's class analysis, and the new brothers can listen to it, and the brothers who have listened to it can also listen to it again to deepen their impression."

The vast majority of the entire production regiment of Gastens were serfs. In the environment of the front-line army, this is the subordinate he is most likely to bring out, and it is also the most likely to return to his heart. Even if Zink-Warren doesn't take the initiative to bring it up, he will talk about class analysis, and the only way to awaken these people is to make them aware of their own situation.

The two rookie company commanders, Eddie Warren, the commander of the 8th Company, and Haba Nye, the commander of the 7th Company, did not understand why the other company commanders around them were so excited when they heard that Commander Gastens was going to talk about class theory. However, Gastens is their commander, and in their limited knowledge and worldview, they must support what the governor wants to do.

So, Eddie Warren and Haba Nye also showed some deliberate interest, listening to Gastens's analysis together.

“…… Therefore, the key reason why the serf class is the lowest class in Ankenrein is that under the production relations of serfdom, they do not control the means of production. They devoted all their lives to cultivating the land and producing enough food to feed hundreds of people, but they could only get their own rations. Do you think that's fair? ”

"But that's the case, the landlords have our slave contracts, and they tell us to do whatever we want, isn't it all due?"

Eddie Warren had already listened to it, and subconsciously spoke his voice. And after he realized that he had interrupted Gastens's speech, he hurriedly covered his mouth, looked at Gastens and smiled a little flatteringly, for fear of affecting the mood of the group leader.

"Why does this have to be the way it should be? Why did a serf have to be a serf? There are no serfs in other countries, and in their country, the income from the peasants' cultivation belongs to themselves! Their land is their own! There is no need to die for the landlord, and there is no landlord who kills if he wants to, and if he wants us to die, he will die! ”

It was Garence Warren who took over the conversation, and the old subordinate who also followed Gastens all the way from the boot camp to the homesick road. He took a large sip of the messy stew and continued.

"We are born equal, we are all two eyes and one nose, nothing is different, nothing determines that we must serve those landlords. It was the serfdom system in this country that tied our whole lives to that contract, and in the final analysis, that contract was nothing more than a piece of paper. Zink, you once got your own contract, was that a piece of paper? ”

"It's a stinky, worthless piece of paper! I tore it and I'm still alive! And get better than ever, all happy! ”

Zink stood up and amplified his voice. Because Gastens had always been with the soldiers during meals, his discussion with the nine company commanders had attracted many soldiers who were also interested in the topic. As a result, the discussion gradually turned into a speech, and the speaker changed from Gastens to his old subordinates. These people followed Gastens all the way, although the theoretical depth is still very shallow, but it is more than enough to popularize science for these soldiers who have never been exposed to communist theory. Gastens took the opportunity to quiet down. He looked at the seven brothers one by one, a little relieved, but also a little embarrassed, the slaves who came out of the new barracks together back then, only these seven people have survived until now.

The blizzard ended two hours later, and the production team was back on its way home. The homesick road, which originally had some traces, has turned into two shallow traces on the endless white snowfield under the ravages of the blizzard. Gastens arranged for two companies of soldiers to explore the road in front, telling them to dig through the snow every once in a while to see if there was any road below. He walked alone to the middle of the line and found the chairman of the maintenance plant's union, Gurakos, and his fellow workers of more than 200 workers.

"Captain Gastens, thank you for saving us from there, if it weren't for you, we would definitely die over there."

As soon as they met, Gurakos once again expressed his gratitude. He had said the same thing when he had seen him in Gastens two days earlier and told him that he was going to take him away. But this somewhat honest worker obviously felt that a verbal thank you was far from being able to repay the regiment commander who had always thought about them.

"No thanks, I'm going to force you to leave your homeland," Gastens patted Gurakos on the shoulder, and joined him in the demolition of the tents. Many workers recognized Gastens and greeted him with a smile.

"It can't be helped, if it weren't for Ivan and Zink, who were forced to die with guns, we would have died a long time ago. I didn't want to leave home, but it was the only way to go. ”

"It's the depths of winter, and you can't go out without supplies and wagons, and the supplies and wagons we bring are limited, otherwise I would have let you go back a long time ago. Now we are going back to Ankenrein to find a factory in the province of Enspan to continue production, and I need your help to help those new workers get acquainted with the production process. When the deep winter is over, if the conditions allow, I will let you go back, is that okay? ”

"Of course you can, of course you can", Gulasco took the rope from Gastens's hand and rolled it as he rolled it, "Captain Gastens, you are really the best regimental commander I have ever met, you do everything with us, eat and wear the same as us, and you worked with you during the time, although I don't want to admit it, but it was the most comfortable period of time since I became a worker, really, I don't lie to you!" ”

"That's good, that's good."

Gastens smiled, helped the men put away the tent, and talked to them for a while to make sure that everyone was in good spirits before returning to the camp. The queue that had already been packed waited for him to arrive and start again.

This time, they targeted the province of Enspan.

————————————

From the Thorn Hills through the Duchy of Tulucas and the Duchy of Rairim to the border of the province of Enspan, it took the production regiment eleven days. During this time, they experienced numerous blizzards, lost their way, more than a dozen soldiers and workers froze to death, and two carriages broke down halfway. But even so, they finally returned to their own country.

"Look, Anken Rein!"

Standing next to the boundary monument on the border line, the commander of the third company of the production regiment, Binpo Bobruv, as one of the few literate company commanders, pointed to the words on it and shouted. The soldiers and officers, who had deepened their feelings along the way, walked past Bimpo Bobruv, talking and laughing, today was a rare sunny day, although the temperature was very low, but the target was imminent, and there was no blizzard blocking the way, everyone was in a relaxed mood.

After two more days of walking, the production regiment of the three guards arrived on the outskirts of the city of Robida, the capital of the province of Engspan, and set up camp. Yarrow Ross, the governor of Enspen, who had long been informed of their arrival, welcomed the Gastens with a large group of people. They prepared flat land and pitched tents for the production team, and brought plenty of white bread, bacon, turnips, and light ale. These things directly poked the minds of the officers and soldiers of the third production regiment, and everyone let go of eating and drinking after Gastens confirmed, as if they were going to sweep away the hardships that came along the way.

"Major Gastens, it's been hard all the way, and now the front line is so tense, Prince Elliot has sent you back, but what are the arrangements?"

Sitting in the camp tent with Gastens, Yarrow Ross, the governor of Enspen, was respectful. Gastens knew that the other party was looking at Prince Eliot's face, and he didn't deliberately pretend to be a tiger. He took out the letter from Prince Eliot from his bosom and gave it to Yarrow Ross.

"This is a letter from His Royal Highness the Prince, and there are indeed some things to trouble Your Excellency."

"Oh, really, I'll see!"

Yarrow Ross stood up, took the letter, and sat down. He took the knife that Gastens had prepared, unwrapped the hot melt paint from the envelope, pulled out the letter paper, and read it carefully. Gastens sat beside him, holding a large piece of white bread, and waited as he ate.

After a moment, Yarrow Ross looked up and looked at Gastens with a frown.

"It's rare that His Royal Highness the Prince still remembers it, and I am deeply honored. However, the matter mentioned in the letter is not easy to handle......"