[Infrastructure] Rose kissed Barcelona

The war seemed to come in an instant.

For Joey, this feeling is very unreal.

In fact, for all the young people in this city at this time, it is very unreal.

Children who grow up in peaceful times will never understand what war means.

Not a "war lasted for several years".

It is not "tens of thousands of deaths and billions of economic losses".

When the deadly weapon fired in his direction, the walls under his feet and around him vibrated with the sound of gunfire.

The cold, iron-like aura that belongs exclusively to war spread out slowly and irresistibly, covering everyone silently.

It was the terror that life could disappear at any moment.

People seem to have run out of strength to scream and fear.

When another shell fell into the castle, causing vibrations buzzing all around, everyone fell into an eerie silence for a moment.

Ada suddenly came close to Joey's ear, and hesitantly said: "Your Highness, please forgive me, I have something to hide from you - please don't scold me."

Joey turned around in surprise and saw her sticking out her tongue apologetically.

Afterwards, Ada picked up the kerosene lamp and waved to everyone: "Gun | Armory is on the basement floor, I will open the door. Those who can use guns will follow me."

"And a gun?!"

"Oh my god."

"Thank goodness!"

Joey's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

She, the owner of Montjuic Castle, didn't even know the existence of the castle's underground gun | armory.

She turned her head just in time to see Antonio give her a meaningful glance.

Rumble.

The sound of another shell stopped everyone from questioning.

All the men immediately stood up and followed the shaking kerosene lamp.

Joey thought for a while, and just took a few steps forward when he heard a familiar voice from the side: "Can we also have guns?"

That's Miss Mira.Fire danced in her large, bright eyes.

"You'd better not." Ada shook her head. "I don't intend to offend—but untrained civilians holding a gun temporarily is no different from a monkey holding a gun. It will only make yourself more dangerous."

A tall gentleman with a gray beard nodded: "Miss, all the men in the city have served in the military. We have at least learned basic weapon operation."

"But are we doing nothing here?" A blond woman with a thin voice trembled, "You are all gone... Listening to the sound of shells, it's too scary..."

"Of course we have something to do." Joey said suddenly.

"Everyone," she looked around, "how many of us are there?"

"Ah..." Everyone immediately looked around.

"128 people." A calm voice came.

Meeting Joey's "ah, I knew it" gaze, Antonio raised his eyebrows very lightly: "54 men, 47 women, and 27 children."

"Yeah." Joey nodded.

Most of them are not combat power, which is really great.

"Now, anyone who knows how to use a gun follows Ida—the lady with the lamp up front."

She listened to her calm voice, which was so strange that it was dominated by another decisive soul, "Others follow me, let's go to the communication room of the tower."

"I'll see you in the tower in 10 minutes - 128 people, I hope there will be none less."

……

"Miss Mira, are you not afraid of heights?" Joey asked.

"Me? Of course I'm not afraid of heights!" Miss Mira brushed her hair boldly, "If you need me to do anything, just ask me!"

There was another loud bang, and the whole tower trembled.

"..." Miss Mira shrank her neck, and solemnly slowed down her speech as if she was cheering herself up, "It's okay, I'm not afraid."

"Okay. There's a telescope hanging on the wall over there—take it, and go up to the roof and have a look."

"Ladies with children, please take care of your children first and don't let them run around." Joy turned around and said to the crowd who followed, "Others go to collect candles and kerosene lamps. Several people act together, don't let them run away." Gone."

There was a fire in the power plant in the city, and I don't know if it will affect the power supply in the castle.In the long night when the enemy is unknown, the lighting in the castle is very important.

Joey called City Hall.

"Joy Gordy, Montjuic Castle."

The background sound on the other end of the phone was very noisy, and it seemed that many people were shouting. "We saw the fire, how is the situation in the city?"

"City Hall! This is City Hall!"

"Miss Gordy, there has been some disturbance in the city, and the police department has dispatched to maintain order—"

"Joy, Joey!" Miss Mira screamed from the winding staircase on the tower, "I see the red and white cross of Burgundy!"

"It's Carlos' army!"

"Oh my God! Carlos called here?" A middle-aged woman who hadn't gone far cried out in horror.

Joey's heart sank.

Previously, the news that Carlos successively occupied many important cities in northern Spain had reached Barcelona.

But Joey didn't take it seriously - in the history of another world, Carlos failed to reach the east coast where Barcelona is located.But in this world, many things obviously happened differently from that timeline.

"Carlos? Did I hear you say that it's Carlos' army?" The operator was also frightened, "They've already called?"

"I don't think so." Joey said coldly, "Please help me find Mr. Mayor."

"Ah, this, wait a moment..."

The operator seemed to yell several times in the chaos, and someone else yelled something from a distance.

"Carlos!" Someone's broken scream was distorted by the sizzling electric current, and the tinkling paper products and the collision sound of the table came in disorder, and Joey had to stay away from the receiver.

What the hell happened to City Hall?

"Ah, wait a moment," the operator's voice came again, "Mr. Speaker wants to talk to you..."

"Miss Gordy?"

There was a crisp sound of "snap", and the phone sounded like it was snatched by the irritable Manolo, "Ah, thank God, fortunately, you reminded us before that the fire brigade made preparations early, and several places have been extinguished so far. fire..."

"Mr. Speaker," Joey quickly interrupted him, "Has the city been attacked by the enemy?"

Mr. Fat's wheezing sound came from the receiver, "Enemy attack?...No. But we also heard the number of enemy attack over the southwest barracks. You just said that the castle is under attack now?"

Joey roughly sketched out the current situation in his mind.

Carlos' army appeared without warning and raided the Southwest Barracks.

Some people mixed into the city and set fire to key infrastructure and buildings.

In addition, there are people attacking Montjuic Castle in the south-but so far, the attack momentum does not seem to be violent.

It's a bit of a bluff.This idea suddenly appeared in her mind.

"Mr. Speaker, do you know that the telegraph line with Madrid was cut off a few days ago?" Joey asked suddenly.

"Ah, I know...it's not just Madrid. Last night, our fucking telegraph lines to other directions were actually down too...We should have known something was wrong then! Damn it!" Manolo muttered furiously.

"Okay, it's already the night of September 9th, the past cannot be changed, please calm down." Joey said indifferently.

"Is Mr. Mayor not here?"

"We can't find him! Damn it!" Manolo said angrily.

"So, please listen to me." Joey cut off the momentum of his rage and wanted to curse again, "Barcelona is probably about to usher in a war. But we may still have a little time."

The sound of Manolo's excited breathing showed how much effort the fat man had used to restrain himself.

"Right now, that's my guess. But I think we'll be testing that soon."

Carlos secretly attacked, first targeting the lifeblood of the city.

He clearly knows that if a big city like this loses its basic resources, without the support of strong stability maintenance, emergency repairs, material deployment and medical capabilities, it does not need others to attack, and it will collapse.

His move was really clever, and the effect was very significant.

For Barcelona, ​​it was almost a completely unprepared battle.

But the coin always has two sides-this means that Carlos can only send a small number of concealed personnel, while the large force is still a certain distance away from Barcelona.

Otherwise, the city's scouts would have discovered them and sent an alarm to the city.

"Mr. Speaker," Joey asked as soon as possible after briefly introducing her considerations, "I want to know, how long can the early warning of an enemy attack in Barcelona be?"

"That determines how much time we have."

"...One day." Manolo replied irritably, "If you count tonight, the enemy army may reach the edge of the city as early as tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay, I see." Joey quickly replied, "Before Mr. Mayor returns, please be sure to command the city hall to stop the riot."

"There's a war coming, if people get their way, Barcelona will die."

She hung up the phone with a snap.

At this time, the people who had just gone to the gun store came back.

Joey simply explained the current situation to everyone.As if to confirm her words, the sound of the cannon became more and more sparse.

The firelight from the city also dimmed, and the night was too thick to melt away.

"After the real fight, this castle will become an isolated island. I suggest retreating to the city before dawn." Joey said finally.

"Wait, someone must stay here." Ada said suddenly.

In the eyes of everyone, she did not flinch: "You have all seen that if you fire from here, you can hardly escape anywhere in the whole city. This place must not be occupied by the enemy."

"Of course, I also agree that this castle will be dangerous after tonight. But there must be someone covering the city back from here, and everyone else, especially children, must return to the city as soon as possible."

Everyone realized what she meant, and fell silent for a while.

Most of the people who will come to watch the fireworks on Montjuic Mountain tonight will bring their families along.

Some people want to flee back to the city through the unknown darkness, and some people want to stay behind in the castle, and this may mean parting life or death—this is unacceptable for everyone.

"All the men stay." The gray-bearded gentleman suddenly smashed the butt of his gun to the ground, and said coldly, "We will use guns and cannons. We will cover women and children and return to the city."

After a brief silence, the men stood up one after another.

The choice took little effort, for those to be protected were not just strangers who could not use weapons, but their wives and children.

The night was getting darker, and in the flickering castle, sadness was mixed with suppressed tension and fear.

Joey quickly led the ladies to replace the original dresses with long skirts that dragged the floor.

Although all entertainment in the castle has been suspended for the past month due to the plague, spare costumes are still available.

There was some shock and reluctance among the ladies when they realized they were changing into men's clothes.

In this regard, Joey had no choice but to explain indifferently: "If you must wear a skirt, that is your freedom. But in case the enemy fires and intercepts along the way, you may never see the person you love again."

The instinct to survive eventually triumphed over everything.After some psychological struggle, the ladies eventually obeyed and changed into the men's clothes of doctors, judges or court officials for a quick escape.

"It's so awkward...but it's a bit exciting." Miss Mira, who was replaced from the lookout post, muttered.

everything's ready.

Under the amazed eyes of everyone, Ada quickly arranged the firepower arrangement in the castle - more than a dozen people went to the fort, bombarded each other with artillery fire, and suppressed each other first; some waited for the enemy on the front tower, and some followed the evacuation The crowd exited the front gate of the castle and retreated back into the castle after completing cover.

During this process, the father is saying goodbye to his wife and children, and the lovers are embracing and weeping.

Joey didn't rush them.

The enemy is not in a hurry for these few minutes, I believe God will give them this time.

"Joy." A familiar voice came from beside him.

Joey turned around and saw the dark red fire hanging on the wall jumping in Antonio's eyes.He rolled his Adam's apple, as if he wanted to say something.

An impulse surged up from the bottom of her heart, and she suppressed the urge to cry: "Antonio, after I return to the city, I will immediately ask the city hall to arrange someone to pick up the castle. We will never leave you behind."

Antonio smiled, "It's okay, you must return to the city safely first."

He blinked, his thick eyelashes trembling slightly, like the wings of a butterfly on a grass branch: "By the way, the light bulb I gave you—"

"Bulb?" Joey was taken aback, "When did you give me a light bulb?"

The sharp whistle sounded, and the watchmen shouted: "The enemy has been found again in the south! They are approaching!"

"..." Antonio lowered his eyes.

The fluttering butterfly wings stopped.The butterfly died.

Joey's heart suddenly ached.

For some reason, she felt inexplicably that she suddenly lost something.

"No." Antonio laughed suddenly, his light blue eyes were like sparkling diamonds, "I misremembered. Let's go!"

He pushed her violently out the door.

The sound of gunfire was deafening.

That is the fortress of the fort opens in another direction, opening up the passage of life for people.

The sky flickered, and the wind was fierce.

Cold blades cut their cheeks.

The people who left didn't dare to carry their lamps, so they could only stumble towards the woods in the dark, and ran towards the city where the fire was still burning down the mountain.

The sound of gunfire, artillery and flashes of fire exploded behind them, as if to illuminate the way ahead for them, and as if to celebrate new life.

The moment he rushed into the woods, Joey couldn't help but look back.

Those who had covered their escape had withdrawn to the interior of the castle, and the gates were being raised.

Among the busy crowd, she saw Antonio's figure at a glance, maybe he was looking at this side, maybe he was just looking at the chain connecting the iron gate, as if it was shining——

The next moment, the iron gate rose, and the light disappeared.

She never saw him again.

The author has something to say: Thank you for the beauty of the water, the landmine of the beautiful sky, and the nutrient solution for Zaixing, Qinghechuan, and Chenyu~