At 7 a.m., when the sunlight poured into the room, Ruojin opened his eyes, without any of the grogginess that follows deep sleep, and leapt out of bed to begin donning his military uniform.
Ruojin slept lightly, the slightest noise could wake him. Having been trained at the military academy, he could not afford to sleep like a log, especially on the front lines where battle could break out at any moment. He needed to be able to react swiftly and have a clear head.
After dressing in his uniform and holstering his revolver at his side, Ruojin stepped out of the room, breathed in a few mouthfuls of the fresh morning air, and, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, began the routine patrol of the artillery positions.
