Canteen System Assistance Notes

"Go call Jingguo over here! And Mr. Bray, ask him to come over too!"

Military means were practically impossible to resolve. Despite racking his brains, Chang could only resort to patience. So, while preparing to have Chiang Ching-kuo flaunt his Communist Party membership and travel to the Soviet Union to intercede with Dalinzi and the Soviet ambassador, he also had his "literary advisor" prepare materials and organize a propaganda offensive to accuse the Eighth Route Army of attacking friendly forces and provoking civil war. No, declaring, "The Party and the state are benevolent and cannot bear to see our brothers crossing the wall" became his only option.

Next, the Communist Party should propose negotiations... Then should I fly to Luoyi? To meet Li Desheng? Yes, a resolution must be issued to restrain the Eighth Route Army from fighting southwards, and large-scale military exercises must be organized in Fangcheng and Wuyang to "deter the Communist Army"... Chiang Kai-shek leaned back in his chair with a headache, thinking about what would happen next.

There will always be a way... There will always be a way...

"Report to the President! New telegram!"

The aide-de-camp who had just run away returned, bringing with him another officer from the telegraph room. Chiang Kai-shek glanced over and saw that neither He Yaozu nor Xiong Huiquan were there. His already depressed mood grew even more discontented. He reached out to take the telegram and asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

"Report to the President, Song Xilian of the 71st Army has just issued a telegram in Nanyang." The two aides looked at each other for a few seconds before one of them reluctantly began to report.

"Power on..."

"He said the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth War Zone and the 71st Army shared the concerns of the people of Henan Province and the disaster situation, and would hold a handover ceremony with allied forces in Fangcheng... Song Xilian also stated that the Fifth War Zone would assist the Communist Army in providing relief to the victims via Nanyang, Shangluo, and Guanzhong, not only setting up no obstacles along the way but also providing relief at porridge stalls. He would also represent the Fifth War Zone in receiving the troops and weapons sent back by the Communist Army...

Puff!

Chiang Kai-shek's vision spun, and he immediately sat down on the ground!

Chapter 680: For Hope (1) Ordinary High Spirit

Zhao Shitou sat down on the stool at the doorstep.

He placed a small bag on his lap, opened the drawstring, and peered inside—a bag of slightly crimson-yellow corn seeds, the grains plump and intact, clearly having been carefully selected. Zhao Shitou gently stroked the surface of the corn, letting it slip through his rough fingers like a stingy merchant counting his gold and silver.

These are all top-quality corn kernels. Zhao Shitou thought that he would definitely be able to grow good corn.

He grabbed a handful of corn kernels, kneaded them gently, then turned his palm upside down, spread his fingers, and watched the seeds tumble under the force of gravity, falling back into his pocket or remaining on his calloused hands: it was like watching hope that would not slip away from his hands.

"Gone, gone!"

Zhao Shitou put the corn kernels back into his pocket, twisted the bag a few times, and tied it tightly. He stood up, facing the sun, and walked along the rushing Wei River toward the east end of the village.

Zhao Shitou was a farmer in Weinan, Guanzhong. Before 1940, he was a tenant farmer who rented land. Unable to repay the loan sharking him, he suffered a tragic loss of his family. To make matters worse, while on the run, he was caught by a Nationalist conscription team and drafted into the Third Reserve Division.

Fortunately, Zhao Shitou survived the conscription and marching period when the mortality rate of young men was the highest, and lived to see the Eighth Route Army annihilate their troops and capture him.

"No, no, sir... Oh, not sir, but Eighth Route Army comrades. I... still want to go home."

During the post-war inventory, Zhao Shitou received nearly a month of physical conditioning and medical care, which cured him of tuberculosis and gastritis. However, when questioned by the Eighth Route Army recruiting officer, he ultimately felt he couldn't handle the heavy rifle and the job of having his head pinned to his belt.

"It's okay, it's okay. Everyone has their own aspirations. Farming well is also a contribution to the country."

The Eighth Route Army commander… no, the chief didn't give him a hard time. Not only did he not force him to stay in the army, he even gave him a set of clothes and a few dollars for travel expenses to go home. Zhao Shitou instinctively wanted to kneel down and kowtow in gratitude, but his experience in those few short months told him that if he did so, the Eighth Route Army commander in front of him would definitely not be happy.

After packing up his belongings, Zhao Shitou headed south from Weibei. As his former comrades gradually dispersed, he finally returned to his former home. It was practically a ruin, but it didn't seem desolate. A Communist Party work team had already moved in, carrying out work Zhao Shitou had barely imagined.

The Yan family, the landlords who originally controlled most of the farmland, had long been publicly tried and executed, just like the "tuanfu" (command-in-command). The work team, having long known that Zhao Shitou would return to his hometown, followed policy and distributed a pile of demolished bricks and wood to him, helping him repair his old house. They also gave him a piece of land, some farm tools, and enough food to last until the next autumn harvest.

It’s time to live a good life alone.

That day, Zhao Shitou, armed with his newly acquired hoe, repaired the grave of his wife and unborn child, building a simple pile of stones as a farewell to the old days. Planting, toiling, and harvesting—farming was hard and tedious, but his life was gradually changing.

Zhao Shitou heard from the new village cadres that the land around his village was rather fragmented and the relationships were complicated, so he would not bother with the "cooperatives" and "state farms" in other places for the time being. However, itinerant vendors, itinerant doctors in rubber shoes, and "farmers" wearing glasses would still appear in the village regularly.

Through them, Zhao Shitou, who was originally isolated from information, learned a lot of new things: where the Japanese had now reached/were beaten (the part about preserved fruits and the Eighth Route Army)

How to deal with some daily diseases and bumps (for example, you can't use loess

Furthermore, in 1941, under the guidance of village cadres, Zhao Shitou converted most of his land into irrigated land by building new irrigation canals, achieving a wheat yield of 92 kilograms per mu and a corn yield of 180 kilograms per mu.

This year, Zhao Shitou hopes to harvest more corn—not just for himself, but also for his fellow villagers in Henan Province who have also suffered from the disaster. Although Shaanxi people often discriminate against Henan people at this moment, what did the Communist Party say?

"Class...class brothers?" he thought as he walked.

The summer wheat crops in the village have been harvested, and now is the time to plant summer corn.

In order to increase corn production, the "farmers" who had visited the village before brought a new machine and a bunch of bottles and jars. They taught the village head and village cadres how to use them, saying that it could "coat" the corn, reduce the incidence of insects and fungal diseases, and increase production.

However, because I heard that the corn will turn into a "demonic" color after being "dressed", and can only be planted but not eaten, and will become poisonous. More importantly, there is a very small fee for this "dressing". The fellow villagers who have previously witnessed the power of pesticides and chemical fertilizers have all "shrinked their eggs" and are unwilling to try it no matter what. They say "we have to wait and see".

But if this thing really doesn't work at all, why is the Communist Party still persuading people to use it from village to village? The Communist Party is only interested in getting more food to save people, so it would never lie to people about this.

Zhao Shitou thought simply. After much deliberation, he decided to set aside a plot of his cornfield to grow this kind of corn specifically for clothing. "Give it a try—if it's indeed less susceptible to disease and disasters, I can't say for sure if I can produce more corn, but I can use it all next year." "Okay, you can compare it this year when you harvest the corn, and you can see it clearly."

After explaining his purpose, the village cadres readily agreed to Zhao Shitou's request. Because the Eighth Route Army implemented a policy of lower agricultural taxes and a larger unified purchase ratio for grain in the liberated areas, Zhao Shitou had a considerable amount of "Guanghua currency" after purchasing some of the grain, making payment a breeze. Soon after, Zhao Shitou, squatting in the grain drying area outside the village office, watched as the cadres dragged out a pile of bottles and jars filled with various powders and potions, looking quite mysterious.

He first inspected the corn brought by Zhao Shitou, weighed it, and confirmed that it was seed corn of good quality.

(At this time, the golden corn lineage planted by the Eighth Route Army was not yet a hybrid corn, so the shape of the offspring would not be significantly deteriorated.) Then, he introduced a machine with a large bucket.

Then he took out his bicycle.

Under Zhao Shitou's bewildered gaze, the cadre formally pulled out a length of belt, attached a flywheel to the rear axle, and connected it to the machine. He climbed onto the machine to test it out, then jumped off and, muttering something, mixed the powder and liquid on the millstone. Finally, the cadre measured the mixed suspension into a measuring cylinder and poured it into the machine along with the corn.

"Shitou, ride your bike!" The cadre wiped his sweat and gave the order in a majestic manner.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shitou started pedaling his bicycle.

The chain drives the flywheel, and the flywheel drives the roller mixer through the belt. Amidst the creaking sound, the mixer keeps the corn intact while

The coating agent is evenly covered on the surface of the corn seeds.

"It's done! Stop the car!"

The village official disconnected the bicycle from the mixer, placed his foot on the chassis, and lifted the handlebars. The corn seeds poured out of the drum. By this point, the once golden, crimson-tinged corn seeds had transformed into strange, bright blue granules, damp and sticky, looking inedible.

"Spread the seeds out! The weather's nice today, and the coating will be dry in a few hours!" The cadre had obviously done this several times before, and immediately took out a rake and spread out the strange blue seeds. "Why... is this blue?"

This rumor does seem to be somewhat true... Chuan Shitou squatted down and wanted to grab a handful of seeds to take a look, but the color really put him off. "They look disgusting..." "If I don't make them into something weird, what if someone eats them?"

The village official pushed a wooden rake and said as he worked, "This corn coating has medicine added to it. It's specifically designed to kill those root-eating insects and also sterilizes and disinfects. After the seeds are planted, your corn will be protected from root rot and mold. But if people eat these drugs, won't they die? It's like right now. We both need to wash our hands."

"I think they deliberately made it so ugly. The uglier the better, so that people won't want to eat it at first sight." "That's true..."

The two men quickly spread the corn out on the threshing floor. The June sun showed its scorching power shortly after dawn, and Zhao Shitou and the village cadres retreated to the eaves, sipping tea and gazing at the pool of blue corn lying in the sun. The cadre began to lecture Zhao Shitou, reciting the key points of planting this coated corn, from the importance of "picking seeds well before planting" to "remember to wash your hands after planting," nagging like an old mother. Finally, considering that Zhao Shitou couldn't read and write down the key points, the village cadre insisted that when Zhao Shitou planted the seeds, he must call for his help to prevent any problems.

"...In short, follow this guide and you'll be in for a surprise when you harvest corn this fall."

The village cadres confidently promised, "Last year, they planted this kind of coated corn in Shandong Province, and one mu of land yielded over 500 kilograms in one season. Last year, if you harvested over 300 kilograms, you were overjoyed. This year, let alone 500 kilograms, if you can get over 400 kilograms, you'll be delighted."

"That's great..." It's of course good to have an "expert" to help. Zhao Shitou thanked them repeatedly and agreed to the village cadres' "door-to-door service."

It was the busy season of summer planting and harvesting, and everyone was very busy, so this kind of leisure time couldn't last long. However, despite being busy, everyone's faces were filled with an upbeat mood that I had never seen before.

Why was this? Was it because the family finally had some food in stock, or because of the machines rumbling in the fields, or because of these seeds that revealed something he couldn't explain? Zhao Shitou looked towards the horizon. In the distance, at the boundary between heaven and earth, a high-wing propeller plane flew over, with the distant roar of the engine, flying towards the east.

"What are the planes going to do?" Zhao Shitou had been to the Eighth Route Army and knew about planes.

"I heard they were going to Henan Province to spray pesticides. After a severe drought, there will inevitably be a locust plague. Using airplanes to spray pesticides can kill locusts much more effectively than manual swatting."

"Oh, that's right. The locusts are overwhelming. Only flying insects can deal with them." He nodded, took a sip of the bitter tea in the enamel pot, and exhaled. Perhaps it is "hope"?

Chapter 681: For Hope (⑵) Like Fire

After the disaster relief channel in western Henan was opened, a large number of refugees gathered around Luoyi were picked up by the Eighth Route Army and began to be registered, rested, screened and evacuated one by one. After completing all this, they began to move towards the safer Guanzhong and Northwest Liberated Areas like migratory birds.

The Eighth Route Army and administrative systems in the border areas, Guanzhong and Northwest Liberated Areas successively accepted and resettled these refugees according to plans that had been determined long ago and had undergone many adjustments.

In addition to the party and government agencies in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, the former New Fourth Army's 5th Division in the southern part of the province was also not idle. As an anti-Japanese base adjacent to Henan Province, they also actively participated in this huge disaster relief work.

During the combined natural and man-made disasters of 194-1943, not only did those who fled westward into Guanzhong and eastward across the Yellow River floodplains, but some also fled southward. After crossing Nanyang and encountering resistance from the Nationalist forces in the Laohekou area, or losing nearly all their possessions, they continued southward, hoping to find hope in areas further south, not yet occupied by the Japanese.

To be honest, the demands of the people in Henan Province are as low as they can be - if the Japanese army is willing to give them a bite to eat, many of them are even willing to live under the rule of the Japanese and puppet troops - but even this humble and insignificant wish is often not met.

So the victims continued to move south, like fish swimming towards the end of their lives.

Compared with the drought-stricken northern Henan, the situation in southern Henan is slightly better.

There are more water systems and more rainfall here. However, under this indiscriminate "man-made disaster," southern Henan has also become a victim of this disaster. In many places, crops have dried up and almost no harvest has been achieved.

However, the people in Anbei area (around the present-day Anlu City) were able to benefit from the Huwangxue, Hexiyang, and Lijiazui dams and supporting water conservancy projects built under the leadership of Wang Libo, secretary of the Anbei Working Committee and political commissar of the Anbei Brigade, and had a good harvest in 1942 when there was little rainfall.

Water conservancy projects can not only regulate water resources, alleviate floods and droughts, and promote agricultural production, but also absorb a large number of labor forces and educate the originally loose and independent masses through collective labor.

Therefore, in 42, in Anbei, Yingnan, Xiaogan and other counties, the "Thousand Ponds and Hundred Dams" water conservancy project plan, based on the experience of dam construction in Anbei, was rolled out earlier than the original historical time and space. Relying on loans from the financial system, transportation support from the Eighth Route Army in Guanzhong, and material assistance from certain "unusual channels", the movement to build water conservancy projects was underway in the former location of the New Fourth Army's Fifth Division.

The disaster victims heading south were quickly accepted by the working group sent by the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army. After the necessary rehabilitation treatment and screening registration, the victims were quickly diverted across the Huai River and the Fu River. This was the scene that appeared before all the disaster victims.

"Comrades, come on, work harder!" "Di Hai!"

"Pound it down tightly!"

"Hey!"

Almost countless workers gathered along the river banks, ridges, ditches and ponds, and accompanied by singing and shouting, they lifted the heavy tamping blocks and then slammed them down heavily, allowing the gravity to compact the originally soft soil and build a skeleton to tame the water flow.

"What's the point of building a dam?"

"Ho hi!

"Good life for our descendants!

"Ho hi!

Here, water is no longer a disaster or an unattainable treasure, but a slowly flowing stream. It brings greenery, food, electricity, and ultimately transforms into precious vitality - the most common and lightest life in China at this time.

Cheap, but also the most precious thing.

They were accompanied by hand tractors and excavators that belched out blue smoke, protected by anti-aircraft guns surrounded by sandbags, brought materials to them by hand carts, and provided with meals by the kitchen with a shed and smoke rising from it.

They just need to devote themselves wholeheartedly to this busy work.

All these changes are so rapid, yet so reasonable.

After all, without Tang Keqin, there would be no nearly 20 stubborn troops attacking the New Fourth Army base; the Japanese army in central China, which had lost several divisions due to reinforcements going north, could no longer exert such a strong influence on the development of the New Fourth Army as in history.

Pressure; and by frightening the "bandits" and Wang Puppet Army who often harassed the base, the county towns inside and outside the base no longer had to change several county governors a day. The New Fourth Army was also able to calmly lay out the administrative system, build water conservancy projects, ensure agricultural production, and more smoothly

The regularization of the troops was carried out in an orderly manner.

Now, taking the former New Fourth Army Fifth Division here as an example, they have basically completed the reorganization according to the field army organization. The original three brigade field forces have now evolved into one Class A field division and two Class B field divisions, belonging to the newly established New

The rest of the local troops and guerrillas in the base area were also gradually re-equipped and strengthened. Now, these old Red Army and descendants who returned to the Dabie Mountains have enough to break the blockade of the surrounding stubborn troops.

The ability to independently carry out offensive operations against Japan.

At the same time, now that the Eighth Route Army has opened up the Henan Province channel in the "armed disaster relief", the New Fourth Army can obtain support from the rear of the Anti-Japanese War more directly from Guanzhong, and naturally can better complete the disaster relief work for the drought in Henan Province.

Disaster relief mission!

"Fellow villagers, look at the pieces of paper in your hands. Those with blue papers go that way, those with green papers go this way, and those with red papers follow me!" Someone stood on the riverbank, shouting through a loud speaker, "Adults walk, and children, the elderly, and those carrying babies get on the cart!"

The number of people coming here is far less than that of those going to Luoyi, but after being taken in and merged, there are nearly a thousand people. They are not yet accustomed to observing discipline, but the long period of fleeing famine has screened out individuals who can keep up with the group's actions.

body.

Next, according to the disaster relief plan, the victims will arrive at the designated resettlement village. After recuperating, they will be assigned to work on reclaiming wasteland, repairing roads, and building water conservancy projects according to the actual situation. If they are willing and meet the requirements, they can also apply for

The New Fourth Army's administrative agencies had already prepared rice and seeds for disaster relief, enough for the disaster victims who were cultivating wasteland and working in exchange for relief to eat until the next harvest.

"Don't panic, don't get confused! The villagers have already boiled water and cooked porridge for everyone! If any relatives or children are separated and need to ask someone to deliver a message... someone in the village will come and ask, so don't worry! Our comrades

It's in the village, you can't escape!

After swaying and turning around, the adults finally followed the hybrid vehicle, accompanied by children, the elderly and breastfeeding mothers, holding their skinny babies and began to move forward. The crowd followed the fork in the road and went along the

The ropes pulled out by the staff began to slowly divert the water.

They were silent, ragged, and although they had enough food to survive, their faces were still pale, with swelling from malnutrition and protruding joints from carrying heavy loads and long distances.

When they move, they are like ants scattered in a line.

But it is people like them who are working together on a construction site not far away, transforming the environment and changing their own future with enthusiasm like the scorching sun.

"The Japanese are so bullying!"

"Ho hi!

"Stand up straight and be the master!"

"Ho-hi!"

"Don't be bullied then~"

"Ho-lo-lo-hi--!"

The melody of the labor song was simple, but the sound was loud and majestic. Among the disaster victims who were walking on the road, some finally raised their heads and looked at the labor scene that was like a flame. In their hearts, the people who had long been killed by drought were

The thoughts in my heart, like weeds after a long drought, broke through the cracked soil and struggled to emerge:

“Can our lives be as good as theirs?”