The offensive on the eastern and western fronts has stalled, the middle lane has been terminated again, and the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse. The forces of the Rescue Society retreated like a tidal wave, and a second line of defense was built within the control circle one hundred and twenty kilometers north of the core city of Jingjiang.

Matrix radars have been set up in towns such as Mississey Valley, Gerak and Cárdenas, using short-wave detection systems to mark land helicopters within a 100-kilometer radius for precision strikes.

As a top student of the Military Academy, Hilde naturally will not recklessly push his army over and fight a tough battle.

The two sides convived, or arguably agreed, to face off on the line between the Mississey Valley and Cárdenas.

War is not a must for both sides, Hilde does not want to eliminate the Rescue Society, and the Rescue Society also has its own considerations, and the two sides that were killed and revived, a few days ago, suddenly died down.

Taking advantage of the time difference, Hilde took the next step, setting his sights on the mountains south of Katrit; There are only native, outcasts armed with rifles and earthen cannons, but they are rich in mineral resources, his mercenaries are already gearing up, and the employers behind them are also on the move.

With the withdrawal of troops along the border, Catrit had to send his own troops to fill the vacancy, for which Carterit had to again order the conscription of a thousand soldiers.

In compensation, the Habsburgs promised to provide assistance for two more heavy weapons production lines and a modern military factory.

The Catletts wanted more, and their eyes were on the small fusion generator plant, while the Habsburgs had their own calculations, and the two sides were at a stalemate at the conference table.

Of course, these outside disturbances have nothing to do with Hornathan's gang in the small town of Feron at the moment, they are immersed in recruitment.

With the first wave of weapons supplies in place, they erected recruitment flags, and soon the first wave of food eaters came one after another to disturb them.

In this era, for the vast and infinite land, people are pitifully scarce, but for the limited survival materials, there are unimaginably many people.

Faren is a small town with 1,200 inhabitants, and the scarce resources around it cannot support so many people. More than 100 residents of Faeron enthusiastically signed up to join the army.

The market price of an ordinary strong laborer is 200 yuan, while that of a veteran who has had five lives and has participated in a civil mercenary organization is quoted at 500.

Bang, bang! Bursts of noisy noise broke the silence of the early morning. A veteran in his fifties shouted in a hoarse voice while vigorously knocking on an empty iron pipe inserted in the ground: "Get up, get up, let old Carmen see, there are a few more great guys coming over today." ”

More than 100 people jumped up from the ground and ran to this side, all of them had arrived one after another since yesterday, and most of the wanderers who missed the time limit for conscription had rushed over from nearby settlements after hearing the news, and there were also displaced armed people who had wandered here. These wandering marauders will not miss an opportunity to join a large organization or a large settlement. And in the wilderness, such opportunities are often rare.

The crowd was in rags, they carried their shoulders on their shoulders, and they carried their only belongings in their hands, pushing and shoving one by one to squeeze forward. Physically strong naturally have more opportunities, and they brutally push away the emaciated people in front of them, or smash them down with a punch, and squeeze them in front of them with their bodies.

This group of people, from the old to the eleven or twelve-year-old general-horned teenagers, and even stout women.

One by one, they looked forward to it.

Old Carmen was used to this, this damn world. He spat out thick phlegm and shrugged his shoulders indifferently. He wears a bullet-riddled military coat on top, a pair of jeans stained with engine oil, and a pair of high-waisted military boots on his feet.

Compared to the conscripts, who were no different, or even inferior, from beggars, the veteran was as noble as a pampered man.

He was indeed arrogant like a big man. In a way, for those who were conscripted, he really did decide whether they lived or died.

Behind a table welded with angle iron, he took out a stack of identity registration forms, mentioned it, put on reading glasses, wrote something at a glance, and looked up from time to time to ask the other party a few questions.

In fact, most of them are not necessary, the low-level people born in the automatic swing era are almost illiterate, and they don't even have names, and the registration form is more of a formality. Old Carmen would often give them a name to fool them around, and sometimes he didn't bother to think about it, just write a number instead of a name, whatever, no one cares anyway.

He stamped a qualified red mark on the opponent's arm with a stamp and waved his hand, and two soldiers with big shoulders and round waists behind him would arrange for them to go to a nearby camp, and some of them were marked as unqualified, this kind of watermark is difficult to clean off, and will remain on the body surface for three days. This avoids the need for a repeat screening process. Of course, only God knows whether it will work or not, and some people will often do everything they can to erase the mark in order to circumvent this censorship, and then continue to apply the next day.

The queue was very long, old Carmen was like a butcher picking livestock, glanced at their physique, skin and complexion, the focus was on the teeth, good teeth often mean that they can eat, can work, can fight, bad teeth will be eliminated, in this era, bad teeth often represent weakness, because it is difficult to find food in the wasteland, even if it can be found, most of them are rough and unbearable, and it takes a lot of effort to be able to tear and swallow, which is a test of the chewing ability of the teeth. He casually instructed while inspecting: "You can, go over there and find the instructor to get something!" Or, "You can't!" ”

Theoretically, only some sturdy young men are needed, not children, not even more women and old people, they are not charities, although the fate of these women, children and old people who have not been selected means that they have lost their husbands, brothers and fathers will usher in the darkest moment, but in this damn era, no one has extra sympathy to give them charity.

There is often no shortage of troublemakers anywhere, but in order to maintain order and stability, Jonathan sent twenty heavily armed guards, and their swarthy muzzles warned these daring guys to stop and be careful.

The qualified applicants roared loudly, repeatedly pointed to the scars on their bodies, and debated how experienced they were, hoping to get more paid, while those who did not pass hung their heads, like mourning.

Children and women lingered near the camp, reluctant to leave.

Behind old Carmen, a bald strong man trotted over and whispered a few words to him, old Carmen turned back in surprise, and under the flagpole waving in the wind in the distance, Tong Yao, who was dressed in a gray tweed major's military uniform, stood outstanding.

Her face was resolute, cold as water, and unrefutable. The pace is calm and powerful, each stroke is like a knock on the heart of the old Carmen, although she is pacing leisurely, but her whole body exudes the depressing aura condensed by the sea of corpses and blood, even if it is far away, it still makes people feel palpitations and panic.

I saw her nod slightly at old Carmen, and old Carmen's face became as if she had just eaten a bed bug.

"Okay, okay, damn it." He shook his head in annoyance and beckoned to the lingering children and women, "Blessed are you, come here." I only need twenty women and fifty children, and I don't have enough people in the kitchen, so I need helpers, and I need to take care of food and housing,, and I'm cheap for you. ”

Old Carmen knew very well that arranging these bed bugs in the wilderness into the back kitchen had simply allowed a group of rats to sneak into the granary, but even so, he was helpless, the big leader above nodded, did he dare to do it? Although he is a subordinate of Hornathan, he can't offend Tong Yao for these trivial things.

The children cheered and scrambled to be the first to come.

The homeless people of the wilderness tend to be organized in a family organization that is different from the monogamous relationship of the old days. Four or five related male young adults form a large family of wilderness wanderers, and they will have a dozen female dependents, and of course there are also old people, although there are very few. They do not have a fixed partner, and theoretically, a dozen or so women belong to all adult men, as long as they are not direct descendants.

The women are responsible for the basics of gathering, cleaning and sewing during the day, and of course, they don't mind earning a small income when they meet travelers who are willing to pay. At night, he sleeps with the men. Men are tasked with feeding a large family, and they will go hunting or looting. The looted goods are fed back to the family, and they will raise their offspring together, and the male offspring will be carefully cared for, and these will be good warriors, while the girls will mostly be abandoned or sold to the settlements.

The two sides have a clear division of labor.

In the face of survival, in fact, many things can be discarded.

Although there were only twenty women and fifty children on the surface, in fact, they were all accepted, and the forty-seven women looked like the diligent masters, and they gathered around them in a restrained manner, waiting anxiously for the task to be issued. They already feel extremely lucky to have a bite to eat. There are more than 60 children, most of whom are by nature, but they are also sensible, and they do not shout or play crazy, but snuggle up to their mothers and play with the mud under their feet.

Old Carmen scratched his head, throwing the thorny question to the bald man, and he continued to arrange the conscription, but this time it went exceptionally well, and there were no more people who roared for more pay, and these people began to line up obediently, and looked at him with more gratitude and respect.

Although most men in this era can be morally degraded in the face of survival and abandon their families and children, if they have a choice, who is willing to enlist in the army and live a precarious life, and who will abandon their wives and children and only for their own food, for a meager income.

"Your overflowing compassion adds another burden to our logistics." At some point, Playboy Pat sprang out of the corner, leaned over beside her, and winked at her.

"When I saw them, I remembered when I was a child." Tong Yao did not shy away from it, but said lightly: "I always can't eat, I'm always hungry." ”

"I don't have parents, most of the wilderness girls don't have parents, and the homeless people only have boys, and girls are often discarded or sold to settlements. If you are raised with a good appearance, you will become a sought-after commodity, and if you are too bad, you will be sold to butchers and chopped up and sold. ”

"For as long as I can remember, I was adopted by an organization that lived in a large courtyard with about thirty girls in it, and every month new girls were sent over, and every day, another dead girl was thrown out."

"If you look good, you will be dressed up carefully. Every week, pot-bellied guests come over, some in old-fashioned carriages, some in cars, all of whom are distinguished people. They would pick out the girls in the luxury boxes, and these girls were often under the age of ten, and everyone knew what would happen to them. Once, my best friend was valued by a white man, and he took her hand into the room, and at that time he was not sensible, and some of the girls who had been entertained said that they would give sweets, and they would give cookies, and to be honest, I was very envious of them at that time, that they could follow the charity-faced old man into the box and enjoy fruits and pastries. ”

"After that day, I never saw my good friend again. Soon after, because of playfulness, I sneaked into the back garden behind the courtyard, usually my mother will be very fierce to warn them not to go over, there are also unfortunate people who were caught erecting a typical, was taught a hard lesson, to be honest, usually do not sneak away to that side, that day I don't know what happened, the ghost made the god poor. ”

"I've peeked at it a few times before, or sneaked up close to play. The garden is very large, rockery pavilions, the scenery is unique, quiet and uninhabited, comfortable and serene. But behind the only rockery, there are two tall men guarding it all the year round, I don't know why, but that day, there was no one there. ”

"With your temperament, you will definitely sneak in and have a look."

"Yes, there's a basement down there, a dimly lit cell, and a meter-square iron cage full of girls ready to deal with it." Speaking of this, Tong Yao's whole person was overshadowed, and his expression was a little lonely.

"I found my best friend there, her name was Alice, and she was a beautiful girl with flowing blonde hair and a delicate face, and that day, I saw ......." she covered her face in pain, "and everything was filthy as far as the eye could see. Naked, without a single strand, the prison was very cold, she shivered with her arms in her arms, her lower body was a mess, she could no longer poop normally, and filth covered the small space, on the walls, on the iron railings, on the ground, everywhere, even on the moldy black bread that was provided for them. Tong Yao covered her face, "She has been severely abused, her original long hair has become thin, her scalp is covered with blood scabs, half of her teeth have fallen out, her lips and cheeks are like bellows leaking from the air, her face is swollen, and her eyes are black. She was lying on the ground and was gasping for breath, and when she saw me come in, she was ..... It turned out to be ......."

Tong Yao's voice was choked, and he couldn't speak anymore.

"That's really bad," said most of the people born in this era, who had seen too many human tragedies, and Pat only shrugged his shoulders to show understanding.

"And then?" Pat tilted his head sideways.