Canteen System Assistance Notes

Accountant Chen put a five-pointed star in the consumption column.

"How do we accurately measure consumption? Or, in other words, how do we accurately know 'demand'?"

"From a Western perspective, this is the area governed by the 'invisible hand' of the market economy. It's an untouchable, inaccessible place that should be free to generate waste, lags, and internal friction to achieve a balance between domestic consumption and production."

"There's an economist in Britain named Keynes who's trying to reform the capitalist economy. He believes that it's necessary to measure the needs of society as a whole. When demand is insufficient and economic growth is weak, the government needs to stimulate the economy through deficits, create investment, and then control unemployment, thereby avoiding the periodic economic crises of capitalism."

He paused, looked at Minister Deng who was becoming increasingly serious, and Director Zhou who was a little confused, and continued.

In a planned economy, we need to address the issue of how to align plans with domestic demand. If the plan doesn't match accurately, then the black market will inevitably have room to survive, and even become necessary. The greater the mismatch between economic development and planning, the more necessary the black market becomes.

The root of all this, or perhaps one of the most significant factors, is that we cannot, and it is impossible for us to, monitor every single transaction in the economy, accurately assess market demand, and then rationally and dynamically adjust our economic interventions or plans. This massive amount of data exceeds the limits of human statistical capacity.

"Even powerful nations like the US and the Soviet Union took at least six months to produce economic data and reports for the previous year. How timely and effective could such data be?"

"Only now..."

Before Accountant Chen could finish his words, Minister Deng clapped his hands:

"Now we have the initial ability to manage and even mine this massive amount of data... Comrade Chen, do you intend to widely deploy these terminals to achieve real-time control of economic flows in border areas, or within our region, and use this as a basis to adjust corresponding economic policies?"

"This isn't an easy task... To be honest, Xiao Liu and his team haven't fully achieved this yet." "But our current situation is different from theirs."

Accountant Chen's eyes lit up. "Our operation is small, and the structure is relatively simple. Furthermore, the border areas and base areas are still completely blank, so development is actually much simpler. ... I know this won't be easy, but we can do it bit by bit."

He smiled, with a hint of bitterness in his smile, but his eyes were extremely firm.

"In this digital age, to have such an entry ticket...how can one be so unsatisfied?"

Chapter 139: New Clothes After Training

Compared to Accountant Chen, who is worrying about the future in several years or even decades, his friends at the Artillery School are more focused on the present.

After years of arduous training, the artillery school's infantry artillery department has increasingly ample teaching aids. From having very few 60mm mortars, they now have more than enough for 60mm mortar training. From requiring leadership approval to use 82mm mortars, they now have plenty. From having no infantry guns at all, they now have access to Soviet-made 45mm anti-tank guns for crew training. Students learning infantry artillery can now rotate two crews on a single teaching aid.

Considering that there were more of these things that could actually be fired and exploded on the heads of the Japanese invaders and stubborn soldiers on the front line, they felt extremely gratified: this situation of being able to feel that their efforts were actually having an effect was quite encouraging. They trained hard, studied actively, and even had the motivation to study mathematics.

Although after completing plane geometry, there are still crooked trees like trigonometric functions waiting for them - and this thing cannot be rushed, it has to be done slowly.

But this was only for the students in the "Infantry Artillery Department." For those soldiers who had been admitted to the "Barreled Artillery Department" due to their good grades, the teaching aids related to infantry artillery and mortars could not make their already overly excited blood boil.

Now, the largest teaching aids in the "barreled gun series" are a 75mm Shanghai-made mountain gun without wheels and two 76mm mountain guns purchased from the Soviet Union, as well as their corresponding 6 "wooden cannons tied to rifles" type teaching aids.

After repairing the artillery wheels, which had been replaced by pot lids, the bored comrades in their spare time were all talking about the long and thick tubes in the picture albums and "teaching film expansions": those fixed on the battlefield, towed behind trucks, and even installed on trains and fortresses. They imagined that one day, after those things would come into our hands, we would use them to install the thick and big "justice" and finally use the propellant wrapped in copper and silk to mail the warheads to the Japanese dinner table.

Oh! When can I play with the new big cannon?

The year 38 was drawing to a close, and it seemed that the artillery school would pass this year peacefully. But one day, a rumor spread like a gust of wind throughout the artillery school.

"Comrades! We're getting new guns!"

Zhou Tiancai gasped, stamped his feet, clapped his hands, opened his mouth wide, but lowered his voice. He emphasized again, "We! We're going to have new artillery soon!"

"What?"

"real?"

"Mr. Zhou, don't lie to me! Last time you said we were going to use the Russian Type 76 rifle, but the artillery school only sent two, and the artillery column only had seven or eight left, and that's it!" A classmate stood up and righteously criticized Zhou Tiancai for making the remark, "This isn't your first offense. You've made us excited for so long!"

"That's it! That's it!"

"You have to treat us to a meal!"

"That's not enough! I want noodles with meat!"

In the border region, the most popular snack among young students was eight-treasure rice, while the artillery cadets, selected from among the soldiers, preferred dishes with meat. After the booing, the classmate hooked his arm around Zhou Tiancai's shoulder and, with a frown on his face, added reluctantly but with an air of intense curiosity and anticipation, "This time? Really?"

"It's true! It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!" Zhou Tiancai pointed one hand to the sky and the other to the ground, swearing, "If this is false again, I will be struck by lightning from heaven, and I will also ask old Marx to appear and reject my application to join the party and expel me from the active membership!!"

With these harsh words, everyone finally believed them a little. They all sat down and began to listen to the well-informed Zhou Tiancai. "Wei, a few days ago, I happened to pass by the Artillery School and Driving School! I happened to hear Director Yuan and Principal Huang lecturing the drivers from afar!"

Due to some changes in thinking, the Artillery School of the Artillery Column, in addition to the Mule and Horse Training Department for training horse drivers, also had an "Artillery Driving School." Commander Jin Wu of the Artillery Column brought in his political commissar, Yuan Bangguang, to serve as the principal of the driving school under Huang Nianzhuo's Artillery School. This was also where many young men with good academic abilities who weren't able to become artillerymen went. According to Commander Jin, "Future wars will be artillery battles, and the foundation of artillery battles is transportation."

So, for Director Yuan and Principal Huang to speak on the same stage must be a big deal. Upon hearing this, everyone's ears perked up, like groundhogs popping out of the grass after rain.

"But this artillery unit has its own rules. Don't look at what you shouldn't look at, don't listen to what you shouldn't listen to, and don't ask questions about what you shouldn't ask. As an activist, I must abide by the rules!" Zhou Tiancai became interested. He put one foot on the long bench and patted his chest. "But if someone accidentally overheard, there's nothing I can do about it... The director spoke so loudly, I'm sure he's not afraid of others knowing. Come on, everyone, listen to me quietly."

He lowered his body and whispered to the comrades who gathered around him, "The new gun can fire 18 miles!"

The crowd exploded.

The people in the front didn't hear the key points of how thick the barrel of the gun was and how big the shell was, so they started to make a fuss, thinking that this gossip was not explosive enough; the people behind didn't hear anything clearly.

His nervousness and expectation were in vain, and he slapped his thigh angrily.

They wanted to "rectify" the mysterious Zhou Tiancai in Aruba.

"18 miles! Lao Xi's 88 can hit 20 miles! Are we still equipped with something that's big and heavy and can't hit far?"

"If you have the guts, you can make the mountain artillery fire that far!"

"Hey! No, no, no!" Seeing the situation rapidly deteriorating, Zhou Tiancai ducked and desperately pushed his way through the crowd. But no one was going to forgive this mischievous young man so easily. A group of strong men shouted, reaching out and grabbing his clothes, trying to stop him from trying to get away.

"Stay! You killer! Where are you running to?"

"Hey! Stop it! How can a conflict between comrades be treated like a conflict between enemy classes?" Others remained calm and pondered. Wait... I've learned before that there really are mountain artillery that can fire 9 kilometers. I remember some American camel-mounted gun... But these cries of dissent were quickly drowned out. Despite his diligent training and balanced diet, Zhou Tiancai was immediately grabbed and pinned down by a dozen men of similar fitness, like a hapless bamboo rat.

"Ahhh!" Zhou Tiancai screamed miserably. He was finished!

"Find a pole! Find a pole!"

"A door frame will do!"

The crowd cheered, grabbed him by the arms and legs, and hoisted him up. They rushed toward the playground, but just then, a line of trucks drove in at the entrance to the artillery school's main playground. Those with sharp eyes quickly recognized them as the Ford trucks they'd seen in picture books, called the G917T.

"Look! What is that!"

Everyone turned their heads in that direction. Inside the backs of those trucks were strange-looking cannons with curved roofs. It was strange; shouldn't these cannons be towed behind trucks? The co-driver jumped out and ran toward the students, shouting,

"Comrades! We have new guns!"

Chapter 140: Preparing to Soar in Anticipation

Wow, the American MT camel-mounted mountain artillery weighs about 600 kilograms and can be disassembled for transportation, yet has a range of 9 kilometers. This can be used as a divisional artillery piece here, and can suppress the Japanese mountain artillery.

Most of the Eighth Route Army's air force had ample experience in the army. Lü Jixi himself had participated in the Long March, conducted reconnaissance missions, and even received a gift from Governor Long to the Red Army. After seeing the information reported in the internal reference, he quickly understood the significant value of this equipment to the army.

"Our overseas comrades have also equipped them with trucks. Great, Ford trucks are great. But it's a waste to use a truck that can pull two tons to carry such a small cannon..." Behind the hangar, Wang Qifu was directing the members of the mechanic team to use a wire hoist to lift the tail of the plane and then install it on a movable steel frame. Listening to the internal reference newspaper read by Lu Jixi, he chatted while busying himself.

"Oh, I think I know why. This gun has steel wheels, right? It can't be mounted on a car, so no wonder it has to be loaded onto a truck and sent here. It's just like the tractors we use to repair the airport, with tracks, they can't travel that far, so they have to be pulled here on a flatbed."

The plane was quickly hoisted. The short body of the "donkey" was now supported only by the front landing gear, and the tail was hoisted up by the steel frame. The fuselage was level and pointed at a small mound in the distance. Some ground crew members came over with ladders and

The "Skas" on the nose and the "M2" on the wings were filled with some ammunition.

"Don't load the ammunition incorrectly!" Wang Qifu howled.

"Ow!"

The L-16s sent by the Russians were relatively new Soviet fighters, similar to those received by Guosu, mostly Type 10 L-16s. Because the Eighth Route Army, after receiving some aircraft, mainly turned to buying trainers and maintenance equipment that Guosu didn't want, Guosu's L-16 inventory far exceeded that of the Eighth Route Army—this also made the maintenance tasks of Wang Qifu, the Eighth Route Army's chief maintenance expert, less heavy.

However, the 16 received by the Eighth Route Army was a bit strange. The nose of the aircraft was equipped with a common Scars* machine gun, while the wings were equipped with very rare "Schwark" 12.7mm machine guns. This type of machine gun used 12.7×108mmR ammunition, which even the Russians themselves had very few in stock, and the entire gun weighed 42 kilograms.

To ensure the aircraft's continued combat capability, Wang Qifu and his comrades took the trouble to install American-made M2 ​​aircraft machine guns purchased by comrades overseas—and surprisingly, they were lighter. Therefore, each modified I-16 required a recalibration of the cannon.

"Tune up!"

The ground crew member in charge of the repair took a transparent tube with an air bubble and pointed it at the "Scars" extending from the wing. After making sure that the bubble in the tube was roughly in the middle,

He waved a small flag towards Wang Qifu who was standing on the sidelines.

There were two calls on the phone and then the airport bell rang.

"Aircraft target test! Non-essential personnel, leave immediately!"

The plane and the steel frame were pushed onto the test target position marked with white lines. The pilot of this plane ran over, checked the propeller, and then swiftly got into the cockpit from the boarding ladder. He waved his hand to his comrades beside him, and when the small flag indicating that it was okay to fire was raised, he pressed the trigger button.

Dadada bang bang bang!

The fast-shooting Scars and the hammer-like M2 aircraft machine gun fired together. The short tracer bullet chains merged into a continuous light chain, accurately passing through several large rings of trees in the shooting range, hitting the distant earth slope, and accurately hitting an earth hole that was already riddled with holes, splashing a burst of yellow earth flowers and smoke.

"Firing axis correct, intersection point 350! Unit 016, passed!"

Watching the pilots, quality inspectors, and testers sign the registration book, push the plane back to the stand, and then wait for the next plane to be pushed in, Lü Liping and Wang Qifu were unaware that their soldiers had surpassed the historical KMT Central System ground crew of 1945 and had already learned to calibrate the aircraft's cannon trajectory and set the intersection point.

They simply looked towards the other end of the airfield, where several I-16s and I-15s were quietly parked on the open-air stands. More PO2s and Tiger Moths were waiting for the trainees to start their onboard training, while several newly arrived Hurricanes were surrounded by pilots, who appeared to be explaining various aircraft knowledge and techniques.

Seeing this, Lü Liping sighed, "The central government's slogan is 'Don't let the equipment wait for people,' but we're in a tough spot. The comrades from the Overseas Bureau sent us a plane, but it can't fly right away. Old Wang, when will our Hurricane be able to fly? Will it be able to do so in the next few days?"

"Hurricane? Forget it this week. I've only studied Russian. If you expect me to understand such a thick English manual right away, you might as well send me back to the Army. The comrades in the ground crew who received English training have already formed a mutual aid group and are working overtime to learn it."

Wang Qifu was a little dissatisfied with Director Lu's eagerness. "Director Lu, please don't be too impatient. The Air Force is not like the Army. If you buy a battalion of artillery and fire a few rounds, you can just fire by feel. But now we have bought dozens of various aircraft. Who can you let fly by feel?"

Lü Liping chuckled. "Look at what you're saying, as if our fighters rely solely on their instincts. Even though our first batch of comrades were all selected from the army, now they've all completed their studies and are flying solo. According to the Soviet teachers, they've already met the standards of fighter pilots!"

But he didn't continue.

In reality, the joy of the first batch of pilots in the border region's successful "training" was quickly eclipsed by the more mundane daily grind. With the Air Force's expansion, the second batch of seven cadets had completed theoretical and basic training and were entering their initial training phase. This period was the most chaotic and complex. Countless operations and techniques, previously learned only in textbooks and simulators, needed to be translated into real-world actions and instincts, leaving these "rookies" often overwhelmed and prone to numerous errors.

In the past few days, the aviation school has already encountered two dangerous situations. Both were caused by improper operation of the novice pilots flying the primary training aircraft. Fortunately, the low-speed performance of the PO2 and the Tiger Moth is extremely excellent, and the instructor in the back seat rescued them in time, so a tragedy of aircraft destruction and death was avoided.

"If only everyone could reach the level of Tang Lingyun, Chang Tiandi, and An Zhimin," Lü Liping sighed. "There are also a few Anson crews who are familiar with Instrument 7 flight. I think after a few dozen more takeoffs and landings, they'll be able to fly night flights in Lockheed aircraft like some of the instructors... I advised Chang Tiandi not to be so pessimistic. Hey, if it were me, I wouldn't be able to create an air force overnight."

As if sensing the awkwardness of the situation, Wang Qifu came over, patted Lü Liping on the shoulder, and comforted this veteran revolutionary who had gone through the Long March:

It's okay, you have to eat one bite at a time and take one step at a time. Moscow wasn't built in a day, and we can't create our own air force by magic. No matter what, we still have our ground crew comrades to accompany you.

The old aviation expert, who had a degree from the Soviet Leningrad Ground Aviation School and the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy's Department of Aviation Engineering, pounded his chest confidently.

"We can't control what's going on in the sky for now. But the planes on the ground

Regarding the above matters, I can guarantee you that our Eighth Route Army ground crew will absolutely cherish every plane as they would their own eyes.

"Let the kids fly without worries! We'll support them!"

Chapter 141: Facing Failing the Exam Outside of Combat

As a chief officer or leader, if one can give timely and correct command and guidance to subordinates when they are challenging urgent, difficult and dangerous tasks, or avoid causing too much trouble, and fully support them based on their confidence, will and sense of responsibility, then this leader must be a good leader.

But Wang Tiechui did not have such treatment for the time being. His two immediate superiors, the regiment commander Han Xuanfeng and the political commissar Cui Fengji were standing on the stage in front of the playground, facing a group of men with their heads held high below.

A red banner hung on the stage, bearing the large calligraphy-written words "689th Regiment Annual Examination Reflection Meeting." The two characters "Reflection" appeared unusually wild and unrestrained, and more recent than the others—clearly the original characters had been torn off and then replaced. Furthermore, even someone completely unfamiliar with calligraphy could tell that the writer had been incredibly irritable as he wrote them, yet he couldn't let them out. He was holding back a temper like a pot of boiling oil, so he could only muffle his strength, the force penetrating the paper and sending a chill down his spine.

"You idiots, you bunch of bastards!" Han Xuanfeng's voice was fierce, like swallowing a box of 82 mortars, and he blasted everyone's foreheads.

"How am I going to explain this to my teachers when I did so poorly on the exam?"

A bunch of men who had been charging and fighting fiercely on the battlefield, facing the hail of bullets and the flashing bayonets without blinking an eye, were now all weak. Han Xuanfeng scolded them.

They all shrank their necks like chickens, wanting to dig the ground

Dig a hole and bury your head in it.

Over a month ago, according to a divisional order, all officers above the platoon level were required to take a cultural exam. The exam had a broad scope, covering basic cultural knowledge and topics often mentioned in military training. Wang Tiechui, then serving as acting platoon leader, was caught and forced to take the exam as a platoon-level soldier.

Wang Tiechui secretly groaned. If he were still the squad leader and not the acting platoon leader, he wouldn't have to sit here. Did he answer well? Was his grade acceptable? "My ancestors, and Mr. Marx and Engels, please take care of me. I don't need much else. I just want an average score."

On the stage, Regimental Commander Han finally tired of his lecture. He gulped down a bottle of tea beside him, sank down on a chair, and folded his hands in silence. Political Commissar Cui took over the task. He pulled a thick stack of papers from his bag and said with a smile, "Here are everyone's papers. They belong to nearly a hundred people from the entire regiment. I just got them back from Division Headquarters. The comrades there have carefully marked everyone's correct and incorrect answers. I already reviewed them on the way here. As for the results, let's look at them objectively..."

"hehe."

Wang Tiechui gave the envoy a jolt, and Political Commissar Cui's laughter didn't sound like laughter at all, and it didn't even resemble the usual affable leader. For a moment, he almost wanted to jump off his small stool, as if the sturdy canvas seat had become rows of nails, pricking his spine with a chilling pain that almost made him pee.

"First of all, we should praise things that are done well!"

Political Commissar Cui's tone remained calm, as calm as the day before a storm. "We all did well on the literacy test. No one misspelled their own name, nor did anyone misspell the names of their division commanders or regiment commanders. Even the arithmetic test didn't go wrong very often. That's a good thing! Come on, comrades, quack, quack!"

There was sparse applause.

"Ah? We're from the 689th Regiment, haven't we eaten enough? Can't we just clap?"

Everyone clapped their hands with grimace, and only then did Han Xuanfeng's expression improve slightly. After the applause died down, Cui Fengji continued, "This shows that our division's literacy work is worthy of recognition! We can say that, for the time being, there are no cadres in our division who are illiterate."

"But the next part, about 'common sense of dual-use military and civilian use', is a bit off."

Political Commissar Cui stood up from his chair and paced across the stage. His black rubber shoes creaked on the wooden boards, as if he were stepping on everyone's head. He randomly pulled out a few test papers and read aloud:

"The question is, why does a solar eclipse occur? Ah..." the comrade replied, "It's because the long sleeves of the ancients' robes blocked it."

He paused, "Wow! If some immortal had a robe with sleeves that big, and we beat up this rich family, everyone in the country would have enough cloth to wear!"

"Pfft!" Wang Tiechui heard someone chuckle softly. He hurriedly reflected on his own response. He'd learned about this in the "Dual-Use Manual" and in his anti-superstition class, and he still remembered it. "Hmm... well... it's the sun and the moon working together... well, how did it work? What was my response then? The Earth orbits the Sun, the Moon orbits the Earth, so why aren't solar eclipses common?"