Xu Baisheng heard the sound of drums in his sleep, opened his eyes suddenly, stood up, and hurriedly put on his clothes.
"Are you respectful?" A soft female voice came from the side.
Xu Baisheng turned his head and glanced at the woman on the pillow, and said in a low voice: "I'm going to train."
She was a petite and exquisite woman, surnamed Xue, from Peixian County. She fled south with her parents and brother. Both her parents died on the road, and the brother and sister entered Longtan Village together.
With the help of the month-old Guo Niansheng, Xue and Xu Baisheng were arranged to live in a room.
Both of them survived the catastrophe, so they didn't have to pay much attention to it, so they lived a small life together. Xu Baisheng was taciturn, and Xue was timid and shy. They lived together for half a month and said less than fifty sentences. Xue didn't ask any more questions, stood up and silently helped Xu Baisheng get dressed, and then sent him out.
It's Mao time now, it's hazy outside the house, and the roosters are crowing like a relay.
Xu Baisheng came to the school grounds with a wooden stick. When he looked up, he was the fifth to arrive.
There is an additional vertical drum and a lattice on the stage. Zhang Yangquan and the Qin sisters stand next to the lattice.
Qin Lingsi was dressed particularly energetically today, wearing a blue skirt, a red jacket, and a red scarf tied on her forehead. She was talking in a low voice to Zhang Yangquan and Qin Lingjun.
Except for the three people, only Shanzhu arrived earlier than Xu Baisheng.
Xu Baisheng stood still at his position. After a while, Li Er, Wang Da and other centurions came over, and then ordinary soldiers and captains also gathered one after another.
Today is the second morning training. Xu Baisheng found that everyone gathered much faster than yesterday. It is no wonder that those who were late yesterday were not allowed to eat breakfast by the military counselor, so they went into the morning training hungry.
For people who come from refugee backgrounds, there is nothing more terrifying than being hungry.
Two quarters of an hour passed quickly. At this time, there were still several village soldiers running towards them at a sprinting speed, but it was already too late.
"Dong dong dong!"
Qin Lingsi used a drumstick to beat the drum to signify the end of the assembly. The latecomers all stayed in place and stood in a row next to the queue.
Zhang Yangquan said to these people: "Let's all join the queue. No breakfast is allowed this morning. The centurions of each team will supervise the execution!"
One of them happened to be a captain in Xu Baisheng's team. Xu Baisheng remembered his appearance and was very puzzled: "I was punished once yesterday, but there are still people who are late today. I really don't know what they think!"
Zhang Yangquan said loudly: "The running training is still the same as yesterday. The centurions of each team will lead the team to run around the back mountain. Those who leave the queue will be punished by ten laps!"
Hearing the last four words, everyone felt a chill. Yesterday, the penalty was five times, but today it was increased to ten. Even Xu Baisheng swallowed his mouth and spit.
The penalty of ten additional laps starts after training. In other words, during lunch time after training in the morning, you have to run circles around the back mountain.
You will definitely not be able to eat, which is worse than being late.
Seeing the hundreds of troops lined up and starting to run, Qin Lingjun couldn't help but glance at Zhang Yangquan. It only took him one day to make many village soldiers fear him more than himself.
Qin Lingsi had already run down. She ran at the front of the team, slowing down from time to time to check whether the queue was neat and whether anyone had left the queue, just like a shepherd dog guarding the sheep.
Zhang Yangquan ran behind the last hundred-man team, with Qin Lingjun accompanying him.
After a few laps, Zhang Yangquan started to blush, sweat profusely, and his breathing sounded like a bellows, and he could hardly lift his legs.
He was like this yesterday. Qin Lingjun advised him not to force himself, but he was very persistent.
Qin Lingjun stopped trying to persuade him and took Zhang Yangquan's gown, silently accompanying him.
The morning training ended quickly, and no one left the team.
When Xu Baisheng returned to the school grounds, he found that there was no military advisor left, and only Qin Lingjun and Qin Lingsi were left on the general stage. Qin Lingjun asked everyone to disperse, leaving only those who were late to run around.
There is a big locust tree to the west of the school grounds. Zhang Yangquan is lying under the tree, his chest heaving violently and he is panting like an ox.
Qin Lingsi walked up to him, put her hands on her knees, and said with a smile: "Hey! Military advisor, are you okay?"
Zhang Yangquan waved his hand and said nothing.
Qin Lingjun sat down next to him, handed him a water bag, and took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.
Zhang Yangquan drank a few sips of water, his breathing gradually returned to a steady state, and he smiled and said: "Master of Dazhai, what do you think of this training method?"
Qin Lingjun thought for a while and said, "You can't tell it yet, but you are becoming more and more prestigious among them."
Zhang Yangquan laughed and couldn't help but think of the devil instructor in college.
Qin Lingjun put the handkerchief into his sleeve and said: "In a few days, we will be able to produce long guns. Then I want them to train with real guns. What do you think?"
Zhang Yangquan asked: "Is the construction of the blacksmith workshop going smoothly?"
Qin Lingsi leaned against the tree and said with a smile: "That Mr. Hu is very motivated. It will probably take less than five days for the iron-making furnace in the workshop to be started!"
……
Yang Ying discovered that Old Man Hu's complexion was getting better and better recently.
Some time ago, this old man always looked trembling and fearful, and he did not dare to speak loudly. However, in the past few days, he suddenly felt better.
And every day early in the morning, he would run away without a trace and not come back until late at night. He would not rush to do the work in the fields, leaving all the work to Yang Ying alone.
After all, he is an elder, and Yang Ying cannot argue with him, but she is really curious as to what the old man has been doing all day long!
In the early morning of this day, Old Man Hu ate his breakfast quickly, then entrusted his grandson Hu Tong to Yang Ying to take care of him, and went out by himself.
Yang Ying asked his son to take care of Hu Tong and followed him out.
All the way to the west of the village, I saw old man Hu getting into a large wooden house, and Yang Ying followed him in.
When I looked up, I saw Old Man Hu and a group of men building an iron-making furnace. The men were all surrounding Old Man Hu, seeming to be listening to his instructions.
The core of the ironmaking workshop is the smelting furnace. The larger the furnace, the higher the temperature it can reach.
Before forging a furnace, you need to make a furnace blank first, and then continuously pile up clay strips to form the shape of the furnace wall.
Hu Guangcao has been working hard with everyone for four consecutive days. With the current progress, the stove can be finished by noon.
However, having a furnace is not enough. You also need a blast device to send a large amount of oxygen into the middle of the furnace to allow the fuel to fully burn and reach high temperatures.
Longtan Village is located in the suburbs and has no shortage of wood. It only needs to build a pit to continuously convert the wood into charcoal, so there is no shortage of fuel.
The problem is the blower unit.
The best blowing device at present is the bellows. Hu Guangcao knows the structure of the bellows and can make one himself, but he is too late in time.
After thinking for a long time, he decided to make a blower bag for the time being. The bag can be made of leather, which is relatively easy. When he has time, he will make a bellows instead.
Hu Guangcao was so focused on his work that he didn't notice Yang Ying at all. Seeing that he didn't make a sound, the other apprentices just let Yang Ying stand in the room.
Yang Ying didn't know what he was thinking. He looked at Hu Guangcao silently, as if recalling some past events.
After a while, she came to her senses and left the blacksmith workshop silently.
Hu Guangcao and others continued to work. At noon, everyone ate some steamed buns and started making dumplings under the command of Hu Guangcao.
After a while, the bag was connected to a small door in the lower corner of the iron-making furnace, and the iron-making furnace was finally ready.
Hu Guangcao ordered people to put the charcoal prepared in advance into the furnace, and then asked two men to operate the bags. First, they opened the leather bag, and then compressed it hard. The fire suddenly burst into flames and burned fiercely.
Two men kept pulling and shrinking the leather raft, while another man kept adding charcoal, and the temperature in the furnace continued to rise.
Hu Guangcao took a knife and put it on the stove. After a while, he saw that the blade of the knife was gradually burning red and white. Knowing that the temperature had reached the required temperature, he said with great joy: "It's done. Go and invite some village leaders and military advisors."