Steel steam and flame

Cassia sped up and caught up. After about ten minutes, the traces of progress had become obvious and could be seen clearly even under a heavy snowstorm. Continuing to walk, Cassia mentally estimated the distance between herself and the team based on the changes in these traces. When it felt like it was very close, the trace left the river at the foot of the mountain and entered the woods. The sky became very dark at this time, and the team was probably about to take a rest. During a heavy snowstorm, the temperature at night will drop several degrees. If the team in front is really a volcano base, their outdoor cold-proof clothing cannot withstand such low temperatures well, and they need to find a windproof place to burn solid fuel for warmth to survive the coldest part of the night.

At this time, she climbed up the ancient tree standing next to her. Cassia opened her eyes wide and followed the traces to see that there were indeed shadows of a group of people among the overlapping woods. They found a stepped terrain in the woods and were ready to use it as a place to spend the night. People who looked like black dots were walking up and down there, probably clearing the snow in that area or setting up defense work.

Cassia carefully swung from the ancient branch. A few minutes later, he finally saw the faces and equipment markings of those people clearly, and after confirming that it was his team, he followed the order of the bird calls that the captain had originally told him, and sent a signal to the team in the spotlight. . Now that it's a heavy snowstorm, paying attention to the sound doesn't make much sense anymore.

But even with the sound of birds chirping, the attitude displayed by this team was not gentle. It is the third team. It is neither a firepower team nor a search team. It is more suitable to be regarded as a transit and support team. There were only eight people left, looking particularly lonely in the woods in the blizzard weather, and everyone's face looked tired from traveling for a long time.

After confirming the signal, Cassia came down from the ancient tree and was immediately pointed at by several guns, but there was no sign of hostility from the guns, and some people did not even pull down the safety bolt. Then I exchanged code words with the captain of the third team, and then I felt completely relieved.

"There was a brief communication two days ago, and Colonel Barron contacted us. Each team had more or less losses, and there were also several teams that were completely wiped out by the enemy." The captain said.

It was now evening, and nine people were sitting around a makeshift stone campfire, burning solid fuel to keep warm. There was no suitable position, and the top of the flame was just blocked by something to prevent the fire from shining too much. Even though they had just built a temporary resting place, the team had no mood or energy to pay attention to other details.

An iron container was used to boil water on the bonfire, and some pieces of meat from an unknown animal were boiled in it to make a tasteless broth. Apart from the high-energy food that comes with it, it is the thing that makes people feel the most heat.

After cooking for a long time, Cassia felt this way. Before the broth was completely cooked, he and the captain talked a lot, exchanging intelligence with each other and summarizing some of the information that was currently known.

"They are indeed gathering towards Xuefeng. According to the order given by Major Barron, the enemy's airship is very likely to be there. The teams that can still be contacted are rushing there." The two talked. After a long time, the captain sighed and stirred the broth in the small iron pot-like container with a spoon. Only then did Cassia see clearly what it was. It was a cannon shell with a model number that had been corroded. After simple processing, it turned into such a small pot.

"I picked it up on the road. At that time, we were going to bury the bodies of our teammates. When we were digging a hole, we dug this thing out on the surface of the shallow soil, so we took it with us. The enemy we encountered a few days ago was where the team became Like this. Fortunately, we occupied a good position at that time, and our team members also went through several days of training. The combat effectiveness was not what the enemy expected. They were well prepared and attacked. We fought for a long time and wiped out the enemy. In the end, there are only eight left on our side." The captain couldn't help but sigh when he said this, "A person's power is limited after all. Whenever he participates in any mission, he can always realize this deeply. "

The broth in the cartridge case had been boiling for a while, and a fragrance filled the air. It barely spilled a little near the campfire, and was ruthlessly blown away by the wind.

"It's your portion, bring something to fill it up. It's so cold, it's very comfortable to have a sip." The captain was serving broth to a few other ordinary veterans. After finishing it, he wanted to give Cassia some, but there were still two or three people left in it. , "It's not easy to find these little animals in this kind of weather. After that, they won't be around anymore."

Cassia shook her head and glanced at the captain with a smile. Only then did the captain realize.

"I was also wondering how you escaped the enemy attack. It seems to be what I thought. According to theory, if the captain who is the captain of a team is dead, just like me." The captain smiled boastfully. Laughing, "Then the others don't have much chance of surviving."

The broth was quickly distributed, and of course until the end, the captain, like Cassia, didn't drink it. But later I took some clean snow on the spot and drank some hot water.

The night passed quietly, with nothing but the cold wind blowing around.

We set off the next day around five in the morning, because the wind finally stopped by then, and it was just the right weather for the journey. The bite wound on Cassia's arm was completely healed. He and the captain shouldered most of the team's load, and their speed increased a lot.

At about 2:00 noon, the Xuefeng Mountain had already become huge in their eyes. In another day or so, they would surely be able to reach the foot of the Xuefeng Mountain. For more than half an hour after that, they also saw another team resting on a mountainside.

Soon after, an integrated team discussed the route and officially moved cautiously towards the snow peak. It can be said to be a collection of three teams, but the number of people is only twenty.

Heavy snow blocked the mountains, and although the wind died down, the team was quickly swallowed up by the white scenery.

"About this time tomorrow, we can walk to Xuefeng." Someone in the team said.

"Not necessarily." Some people are worried, "If the enemy's airship is really parked there, the chance of us encountering the enemy will become very high. And if our whereabouts are exposed before encountering the enemy, the enemy will It is also possible for airships to launch carpet bombings. Regardless of the power of the aerial bombs, just the smallest caliber artillery shells loaded on them can bombard a large crater of more than ten meters with one shot. We simply cannot do that kind of attack. You can’t dodge it, and one shot can turn the entire team into minced meat.”