I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 47 The Long, Sandy Road (Part Two)
After taking a deep drag on his cigarette, Commander Chen's expression suddenly became somewhat heavy.

He looked down at the cigarette, which was already mostly burned, between his fingers.

Commander Chen seemed to be lost in some kind of memory.

The Chule River flows at the foot of the Yin Mountains.

The sky is like a dome, covering the vast wilderness.

The sky is green and the fields are vast.

However, what Commander Chen saw at the foot of Yinshan Mountain, in the Chulechuan Plain, was not the scene of cattle and sheep grazing amidst the swaying grass.

There was only that vast, sandy Gobi Desert.

The spring breeze hasn't reached here yet, and even the grass hasn't turned green.

"Commander, is that Yinshan over there? It doesn't look very high."

"Don't call him 'Commander,' call him 'Manager.'"

I can't remember it even after I've told it several times.

"It's not that the mountain isn't high, it's that it's quite far away, you idiot."

Commander Chen really couldn't do anything about his bodyguard, Dazhu.

This kid is as cunning as a monkey when fighting, and he's also very alert in ordinary times.

Sometimes I'm just stubborn and can't seem to break my habits.

"Master, how many days will it take us to reach the pass?"

Among the four guides found by the comrades from Yanchi, the oldest, Old Man Niu, is a veteran of the caravan.

Back then, the furthest he ever went with the caravan was Moscow.

In the northern Xinjiang region, he can be considered a seasoned geographer.

Because of his years of driving cars, he looks like he's in his sixties or seventies, even though he's in his early fifties.

Because I'm no longer young, I plan to retire at home.

But retirement requires a lot of money.

Although Old Man Niu had been a cart driver his whole life, he had always lived a life of danger and never thought about the future.

The money I earned didn't go into my stomach to feed my alcohol-loving worms.

They were easily fooled by a few sweet words from Yao'er.

When you're too old to run anymore and want to retire, you realize that the little money you have isn't even enough to live on for a year.

Faced with the high-salary offers from Commander Chen and the local comrades, he had no choice but to return to service.

Because the journey was too long, and they were worried that he wouldn't be able to handle it alone, the local comrades asked him to introduce three more guides.

These three younger ones could be considered Old Man Niu's unofficial disciples, since he had never actually made them kowtow.

But these three also call him master.

Now, Old Man Niu is the advisor to Commander Chen's new car gang.
"Shopkeeper, now that we've crossed the Yellow River, we can't just head north anymore."

After crossing the Yellow River, heading north would lead to General Fu's territory.

He and we don't get along.

Moreover, the soldiers under his command are ruthless towards the merchants in the cart gang.

We need to head west, roughly 300 li, then north, and finally west again.

That is the Kundulun Pass.

That place is where the Daqingshan Mountains and the Wula Mountains meet.

However, there are soldiers stationed there.

We cannot cross there yet.

We had to continue westward, until we were almost at the middle of the Wula Mountains.

There is a Sudulun Pass there.

Although it is one of the main passes through the Yinshan Mountains, the path there is narrow and the road is rugged.

It is very difficult to get through the main force.

Therefore, there are no troops stationed there, and even if there are, they are at most small units of a dozen or several dozen people.

Their main job is early warning.

They didn't dare to inspect our caravan of over a hundred people too carefully.

We'll just pass through there and give them ten or eight dollars.

Show some consideration to both sides.

If they really dare to make things difficult for us, it's questionable whether they'll even survive.

The soldiers were aware of these things as well.

Old Niu, sitting on the carriage, was smoking his pipe as he spoke.

Commander Chen, who was on horseback, nodded after hearing this, and then looked back at his troops.

The procession of over a hundred people included twelve large horse-drawn carriages.

Six of the wagons were loaded with salt provided by comrades in Yanchi, while the remaining six wagons carried food supplies for the soldiers.

There were also two mortars and three light machine guns, as well as ammunition.

Wearing a sheepskin coat, Commander Chen said to Old Man Niu, "Master, you're an old hand at geomancy. We've listened to you on everything we've done along the way, from finding the mountains to asking for directions. This time, all we need is for us to find what we're looking for."

You won't have to worry about the rest of your life.

While I cannot guarantee you wealth and luxury, I can certainly ensure you have enough to eat and wear and live a peaceful and safe life until your death.

"Thank you for your patronage, shopkeeper. I entrust the rest of my life to you." Old Man Niu bowed to Commander Chen from the carriage.

Guided by Old Man Niu, they managed to avoid most of the local powers' territories along the way.

At Sudulun Pass, they did not encounter any guards.

However, they did spot a small camp that appeared to be where troops were stationed.

However, that camp had long been deserted and dilapidated.

It took ten days to cross the rugged mountain pass that stretched for dozens of kilometers in the Yinshan Mountains.

After leaving the Yinshan Mountains, we officially entered the Mongolian Plateau.

After passing Yinshan Mountain, the entire landscape changed.

When you are in the Chulechuan area in the southern part of Yinshan, there are still some sparse low trees, and you can still see some grass tips stubbornly pushing out of the frozen soil.

But after passing Yinshan, all that could be seen was desolation.

Here, there is only gravel and Gobi desert, with sandstorms blown by strong winds obscuring the sky and the sun.

Even at the end of March, the wind here was still like steel needles, piercing to the bone.

In the howling wind, every step forward was an extremely difficult movement.

If it weren't for Old Man Niu, an experienced driver, guiding the way...

Before the wind reached its strongest point, they led Commander Chen and his men to a sheltered spot.

So, when Commander Chen and his men first entered the Mongolian Plateau, they might be given a shock by the "greeting" they received there.

This strong wind lasted for four days.

On the first night, Commander Chen asked Old Man Niu if the wind had died down and if they could travel at night.

Old Man Niu simply told Commander Chen, "If you don't want to search for the soldiers' bodies all night, you can leave."

After hearing what Old Man Niu said, Commander Chen curled up and went to sleep without saying another word.

Sure enough, in the latter half of the night, it was as if a swarm of ghosts had emerged from their lair, with all sorts of strange cries rising from the sky.

This is springtime on the Mongolian Plateau.

Amidst the overwhelming atmosphere of destruction, there was also an indomitable vitality.

As Commander Chen and his men continued westward, approaching the edge of the Tengger Desert...

Everyone was extremely exhausted.

Commander Chen estimated that they had traveled at least six or seven hundred kilometers.

Along the way, we encountered more than thirty groups of bandits.

There were more than twenty battles, both large and small.

More than 100 bandits were eliminated.

On their side, five soldiers also perished in the desolate Gobi Desert.

But now Commander Chen's team has grown to more than two hundred people.

These people included men, women, and teenagers, but no elderly people or children.

These people were herdsmen whom Commander Chen and his men rescued from the bandits during their battle.

Those bandits roamed around, plundering everywhere.

They dared not store the looted goods in their own makeshift hideout.

Even the slaves they captured would be tied together with ropes, strapped to the back of horses, and taken around.

They would only tie the slaves together when they went to raid the next caravan or tribe.

Commander Chen originally intended to give these people some food and the valuables seized from the bandits, and let them find their own way to survive.

Because he still has his own tasks to complete.

But when Commander Chen learned through Old Man Niu's translation that these people were slaves prostrate on the ground, shouting at Commander Chen.

They shouted: "We beg the general sent down by the Eternal Heaven not to abandon us. We are willing to die for the general of the Eternal Heaven."

Our home is gone. If we return home alone again, we'll only be waiting to die.

After translating, Old Man Niu said to Commander Chen, "In this harsh and cold place, the only way to survive is to join a group. A few people cannot survive here."

And so these people became members of the team.

They divided the bandits' dead warhorses among themselves, and each person carried on their shoulders and in their hands all the supplies they could take with them.

He steadfastly followed Commander Chen.

They firmly believed that this person was sent by the Eternal Heaven to save them.

They must stay close to him and protect him.

　Thank you to all my friends who have supported me.

　　Sorry it's late today. I'll try to post another chapter before midnight. Thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)