I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 48 The Long, Sandy Road (Part 3)
The Tengger Desert is a dividing point; from here, if you take the road south of the desert and north of the Yinshan Mountains, you'll find a clear path.

Commander Chen and his team will enter Wuwei County, the starting point of the Hexi Corridor.

But now, the Qingma army is heavily armed there, blocking the Hexi Corridor.

The reason why Commander Chen chose to detour through the Mongolian Plateau instead of entering the Hexi Corridor from the south was because...

Besides the fact that his mission required secrecy.

The most important thing is the headquarters; hopefully, he can find a new route to XJ.

If a new route connecting to the Soviet Union could be established, the entire team might receive more Soviet aid.

Although the hope is extremely slim, how can we know if we don't try?

Even now, Chen Changzai is developing industry within the team's controlled area.

But it is clearly impossible to fight against the towering trees in the world's jungle with just a newly sprouted seed.

So at this time, it would be best to have a big tree to lean on.

It is also the most realistic.

Only through this temporary reliance can the seed of industry within the team take root, sprout, and slowly grow into a towering tree.

Looking at the endless yellow sand desert in the distance, Commander Chen felt no poetic sentiment.

The setting sun hangs round over the long river, and a lone plume of smoke rises straight from the vast desert.

These are just things to tell those who haven't seen them before.

If you stay in such an environment for too long...

Then all of that is bullshit.

They couldn't even get a dry biscuit in exchange.

Even the roundest sunset can't fill you up as much as a dry pancake.

"Head north, let's go."

Under Commander Chen's loud command, the team resolutely began to advance towards the northern desert.

Their first destination was Dingyuan Camp, located in the northeastern part of the Tengger Desert.

It is the central area of ​​Alxa Banner, a major town in the northern part of the Tengger Desert.

It is one of the important nodes of the entire Northern Xinjiang Ancient Road.

At this time, Alashan Banner was a place where various forces were vying for power.

There is a local force here, led by Darizaya.

There are government forces stationed there by the bald-headed.

With Japanese influence infiltrating the area, Itagaki Seishiro frequently visited Dingyuan Camp and Dali Zhaya's Prince's Mansion.

Furthermore, Ningma's forces are also constantly trying to squeeze in.

At this time, Dingyuan Camp was bustling with activity.

All of this was meaningless to Commander Chen. Apart from recording the terrain, weather, and customs wherever he went, he didn't care about anything else.

He doesn't want to cause trouble, but he's not afraid of trouble either.

When the hundred-plus guards armed with rifles, and the hundred-plus followers carrying various weapons, all wore fierce expressions.

Nobody wants to get into this trouble.

In this desolate desert, any major supply town welcomes large caravans that can bring profits.

Commander Chen traded half a cartload of salt and valuables seized from bandits for enough food supplies.

They then obtained ammunition supplies from the local army through a black market middleman found by Old Man Niu.

They then left Alashan Banner and continued westward.

There were also some local forces that had risen to power through Dalizaya, who wanted to forcibly buy the salt from Commander Chen.

Salt is a valuable commodity here.

Commander Chen did not refuse, but only said one sentence: "This batch of salt will increase in price fifty times when it arrives in Yili."

If you can buy it at fifty times the price, then we'll settle the deal immediately.

I'm sorry if I can't buy it.

Although the other party also wanted to overturn the table and double-cross them.

But when they saw the windows or doors of the other rooms suddenly open in the courtyard of the inn.

When the dark muzzle of the machine gun was revealed inside, they immediately became alert.

A machine gun is not a rifle or a pistol.

Anyone who can get their hands on a machine gun is no ordinary person.

Such a person is not necessarily the receptionist of some top-level figure.

If you really mess with someone you shouldn't, then you can basically only wait for your death and the extermination of your clan.

Don't think that having a light machine gun at this time is a simple matter.

From 1929 to 1945, the total number of light machine guns imported and produced in China that are recorded was only 9.9.

Even including those without records, the total number wouldn't exceed 110,000.

That's sixteen years!

Now, Commander Chen suddenly produced three light machine guns, Czech-made ones at that. This immediately silenced everyone who had been eyeing the salt in his possession, and they all became all smiles.

I left Alashan.

After traveling nearly 3,000 kilometers and taking more than two months, they finally arrived at Commander Chen's destination in early June.

XJ Yili.

The hardships and difficulties along the way cannot be expressed in words.

Just by looking at Commander Chen's team, which had grown from over two hundred people when they set off from Alashan to nearly a thousand, one could tell the difference.

The vast majority of people here were rescued by Commander Chen and his men from various bandits and gangs along the way.

Some impoverished herders who could not survive also joined Commander Chen's team on the road.

At first, Commander Chen was a little worried that this might affect his ability to complete the mission.

In the end, he simply gave up, since he was just herding one sheep or two.

He can't just watch people starve to death without helping them.

If that's really the case.

So what was his original intention in completing this mission?

But what he didn't expect was that although he saved more people, his strength was also constantly expanding.

Among the people he saved, not only could they eat, but they also knew nothing else.

Such people would not survive among slaves.

After he rescued these slaves, the rescued people also put their strengths to good use.

For example, some of them are able to find herds of wild horses.

Some people can deliver calves and lambs.

Some people make mare's milk.

Some people herd livestock and are able to find lush oasis grasslands.

Some of them can even become strong warriors.

In this cruel world, the weak and the old have long been eliminated.

The rest were strong and extremely resilient.

Along the way, Commander Chen neither sought out the bandits nor went looking for them.

Later, when the bandits saw Commander Chen's flag, they took off and fled.

Commander Chen has no choice but to find the bandits.

With so many people to feed, drink, and relieve themselves, relying on a few cartloads of salt to exchange for grain is just absurd.

You have to have some source of income, right?

As a result, the bandits and gangs along the way were in deep trouble.

Their lives came to an end after they met Commander Chen.

After the end of one's life, one must also give away the wealth one has accumulated.

Gradually, a legend arose around the ancient road in northern Xinjiang.

“The Eternal Heaven sent down a general surnamed Chen.”

He came to the grasslands, the Gobi Desert, the desert, and the areas north and south of the Tianshan Mountains.

He saw the suffering poor people, and he became angry.

He picked up the long sword bestowed upon him by the Eternal Heaven and slashed fiercely at the bandits and gangs.

Those bandits and gangs, as well as those tyrants, all turned to ashes when the long sword fell.

The poor people of the grasslands and deserts, once they come to his side, will receive his protection.

This legend has been passed down far and wide.

However, none of these were as important to Commander Chen as the dandelion he held in his hand, which he had dug up by the roots.

After he broke off the thick root of the grass in his hand, a white, viscous liquid kept oozing from the broken end.

Commander Chen and all the soldiers who had followed him here couldn't help but burst into tears.

They endured countless hardships, suffered immense pain, and endured immense torment for the sake of this blade of grass.

Along the way, they buried the remains of twenty-seven of their comrades.

How could this not bring tears to their eyes?!
　Thank you to all my friends who have supported me.

　　Actually, this long stretch of yellow sand road is something I've wanted to write about for a long time.

　　But it was too heavy, and my writing skills were insufficient to express the resolute and tragic sacrifices of our predecessors in the shortest possible number of words.

　　Although this is a fictional segment.

　　But it is something that I have always wanted to write about, but I cannot write about because of the rules—a past event and emotion.

　　So it can only pass by so briefly.

　　Thank you again for your understanding, my friends.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)