Steel steam and flame

With skis, the journey becomes easier. Still very tired, but at least everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

"I don't know what the situation is there yet." In the snow, the captain of the third team, now the captain, walked in front to open the way, followed by Cassia and another captain. The time and distance were getting closer, and the three of them couldn't help but feel worried. Because almost a whole day has passed since the meeting time.

The time that Major Barron asked these teams to assemble was set at this time yesterday.

"I think it should be about the same. Maybe we will get there first." The captain of the third team said, "Because of the skis, we must be the fastest."

"It's very possible." Cassia and the others guessed.

Continuing on the road, when the time was approaching, the speed of the team dropped several times, and the skis were also taken off by the veterans. They stopped about a few kilometers away from the meeting point to make final rest and adjustments, and to check the status of their equipment.

"No one was seen." Cassia climbed up a tall ancient tree with the captain of the third team, and used binoculars to look at the gentle slope in front of them at the foot of Xuefeng Mountain. "The color of the snow has some influence." It’s so big that unless you get a little closer, you can’t see clearly whether there are any traces of walking on the ground. The other teams either arrived very early or are still on their way here.”

No useful information was obtained. The main body of the snow peak was pressed in front, but everything was covered up by the white snow and turned into something unknown.

Cassia and the others decided to wait where they were. It was still daytime and others needed a rest. They can also use this time to fully observe the area. Maybe during this period of time, other teams rushed over, I don't know. The closer Cassia and the three of them got to the gathering place, the more uncomfortable they felt. The feeling of dullness and breathlessness was probably related to the motionless snow peak standing in front of me.

Now they could already see the blown-out corner of Xuefeng. Starting from their field of vision, the snow peak was suddenly missing from the mountainside. It was no longer in its natural state and became an obvious gap. There is the mountain that was blown up during the war.

The veterans cleared away the snow between several ancient trees and boiled hot water for drinking again. The weather is cold and hot water has become a precious commodity.

It wasn't until the sky started to get dark that Cassia and his team continued to set off. Everything is ready, and with the current state of the team, it can handle emergencies very well.

The gathering place has no obvious features. To find the specific location, you have to rely on the small angle formed by the compass and the snow peak. Major Barron seems to have been to Xuefeng before and is very familiar with the geographical environment here.

The gentle slopes are also covered with ancient trees, and there are many rivers that are still flowing. Most of their sources come from the ice and snow accumulated all year round on the top of the snow peak. It was precisely because of this that they spent a lot of time hollowing out the mountain to establish the Xuefeng Front Base. Because those huge ice cubes are the guarantee of water sources, water is one of the indispensable things for the normal operation of a base. A large amount of water is necessary to maintain daily consumption. After the war breaks out, this consumption will increase exponentially.

It may be a good way to think of the front base as an efficient and fast water treatment place.

It was already dark in the woods, and there was a slight breeze. The snow was no longer there, but it had not become heavier.

As the team moved towards their destination, the only sounds around them were the scraping of leaves and the subtle "crunch" of the snow as they walked. It was very quiet, and everyone consciously entered a state of alert at this time. The air was cold, and every breath seemed to remove all the heat from the body. So everyone reduced the amplitude and frequency of their breathing, and slowly followed the traces of Cassia and the others in the snow.

At this time, the team divided into three groups, crossing each other and moving forward in coordination with each other, with Cassia and the others opening the way.

Soon we entered the gathering place, which was a slightly ancient and primitive place. The bark of the ancient trees was all cracked and rough and ferocious. It seemed that you could smell the thick historical atmosphere of the soil under your feet through the snow. There was no trace of the other teams, and the snow surface was still in the same mold, all formed into a wave-like shape by the strong wind not long ago.

Continuing to walk another two to three hundred meters, the team spread out a little here and went around the woods to see if there were any traces of snow covering them.

Before long, other team members began to transmit signals through sign language. There seemed to be something in the snow, and a veteran touched it with his foot.

Cassia and the other two captains rushed over immediately and swept away the snow. It was a very heavy cylindrical object. Only one half was exposed, and the other half was still in the frozen soil. The object felt like it was cast directly from steel. The three of them worked together to pull it out. It was almost half the height of an adult and had an unusual weight.

After sweeping away the small piece of snow, rust formed in patches on the pillar, and less than half of the surrounding snow was dyed rusty red.

"Cannonballs that were discarded before?" the captain said, and several other veterans came over and took a look. The appearance is exactly the same as the current cannonball.

"It's a cannonball, and it's a very large caliber one." One of them came over and said, using his hand to pull apart the rust that was stuck together, revealing the uneven shell inside, and wanted to see if there was still any of this on it. Types of artillery shells. But too much time has passed, and the outside of the shell has been completely corroded. The soldier pulled open a large piece of the adhered rust layer, and something immediately fell out. It was gunpowder that was tightly packed inside and turned into concrete fragments.

The hearts of the few people surrounding him beat violently for no reason. Although the gunpowder that looks like a cement block has completely lost its effect and will no longer be ignited to cause an explosion. But the soldier's face still turned a clear layer of red. In such a cold weather, sweat immediately appeared on his forehead, which was then frozen into frost.

"The fuse has been broken for a long time, don't be afraid, it won't explode." Others on the side comforted, but there was still a lot of unconfidence in their words.

"You can't tell the model. Most of the cannonballs in the empire look the same, because the manufacturing process and process have been fixed a long time ago. If you don't identify it based on the model on the cannonball, you can't tell the specific information just by looking at the shape." The soldier continued, roughly measuring the height of the cannonball, "It still has this height after rusting. If it were to be restored, it would be about as high as an ordinary adult. This can also be done on some medium and large airships. It’s considered a shell for the main gun.”