Chapter 1484: Chapter 40: Siege (10)_2
Houdel picked up the white powder that formed a line.
Hmm? Lime?
With a pre-planned route in mind and recalling the first debrief from the Quartermaster, Houdel’s anxious heart finally calmed down—he had thought that baby-faced Kadar Lagray was going to lead them to defect.
Sure enough, after walking a short distance further, the baby face finally found what he was looking for.
He stopped in front of a small pile of stones.
It was a small triangular pile made of stones, very inconspicuous. If it weren’t for the lime on the side facing everyone, it was uncertain if Kadar would have missed it.
“Alright, this is the spot,” Kadar turned and beckoned to the cadets: “Sit down, rest on the spot.”
“Rest here?” a cadet exclaimed, “But the cannon…”
Kadar hid his contempt for the half-baked ones, still smiling brightly, “Didn’t I already say? At this distance, you are safe.”
“But…”
Kadar sat directly next to the triangular pile, picked up a stone covered in lime, and gestured to the cadets present:
“See this stone? Major Richard Mason placed it here himself. If Major Mason can come to the danger zone in person, what do you have to worry about?”
With that said, Kadar blew out the lantern, “Rest on the spot.”
With the sole light source gone, the surroundings fell into complete darkness, only the distant flickers from Kingsfort could be seen.
Leaving was impossible, so whether they liked it or not, thirty cadets sat down.
Houdel was the first to sit down, or more accurately, he simply lay down—anyway, it was so dark that no one would deduct points even if he was in disarray.
Claude quietly crawled to Monkey’s side and whispered, “Do you know why the baby face brought us here?”
Houdel thought for a moment, then chuckled, “I guess to dig a latrine.”
“No, you…” Claude was getting anxious.
“Don’t believe me?” Houdel pretended to be profound, “Let’s wait and see.”
The Kingsfort garrison seemingly realized “Rebels” were too far from the walls, firing now would just waste ammunition.
It might also be because the baby face extinguished the light, they completely lost their target.
In any case, the garrison cannons did not fire again, not even the firelights on the walls were visible, allowing Houdel to sneak a nap.
While Houdel was half-asleep, someone else crept beside him and patted his shoulder.
“Who?” Houdel was startled and nearly bounced up.
The person also got scared but quickly recovered and identified himself, “I wanted to thank you.”
It was then Houdel realized that the person waking him was the guy he pressed down during the first shelling.
Being disturbed during the most critical moment of sleep made Houdel a bit upset, but he held back and didn’t snap. He wiped his drool and gave a perfunctory nod, “No big deal, that shell probably wasn’t even aimed at us.”
The cadet who came to thank him realized he had interrupted Houdel’s dream, so he tactfully apologized again and left.
Houdel lay back down on the ground, and when he opened his eyes again, dawn had begun breaking.
Two carts arrived beside them, baby-faced Kadar woke the cadets, leading them to unload shovels, pickaxes, and stacks of half-person high woven baskets from the carts.
After unloading, the carts left; they couldn’t stay here long, else the shelling would soon come.
“Rested well?” Kadar picked up a shovel and casually drew a line on the ground, “Then start digging.”
“Dig…what?” a cadet asked in confusion.
“Dig a shelter,” Kadar said with a smile, “First dig a trench, then stack up walls. It doesn’t have to be large, just a surrounding dirt wall measuring ten meters in diameter.”
Seeing many cadets still looking bewildered, Kadar seriously reminded them: “Completion depends on yourselves, but I’d suggest you finish before dawn because if the enemy in the city launches an assault—though unlikely—this dirt wall will be your sole refuge.”
“So, everyone,” Kadar clapped his hands, “Get started!”
…
Bread could be shared among the whole class, but digging the earth couldn’t be done all together, so forming work groups was a natural course of action.
Houdel became one of the team leaders as expected, given his status as “Blood Wolf’s elite,” everyone instinctively held him in higher regard.
Houdel naturally chose Claude as a teammate.
Just as he was about to bring in the cadets from the Iron Peak County Military, an unexpected person appeared in front of him.
“Can you take me in?”
The cadet whom Houdel pressed down face-first earlier but came to thank him gathered his courage and asked, somewhat embarrassed.
Houdel exchanged a surprised glance with Claude.
Because this volunteer cadet was Majia Lauer.
Majia Lauer was somewhat of an oddity among the “gentlemen’s sons.”
He had a wealthy father—rumored to be a famous landowner in Vernge County;
And a brother who bought an office—now allegedly weaving baskets in a POW camp.
From his background, Majia Lauer was undeniably a “gentleman’s son,” meant to affiliate closely with the “boot-kids.”
But among the cadets with “commissioned officer” backgrounds, little Majia was out of place.
Because he volunteered to take the entrance exams.
When some commissioned officers desperately wished to submit blank papers, hoping to escape the army but unable to do so, a fellow who volunteered naturally wouldn’t be welcomed.