Canteen System Assistance Notes

Wang Shunfeng's face turned pale! His confidence and cleverness just now disappeared in an instant. Everything around him seemed to be making a loud noise under the weight, and he was so scared that he grabbed the car door tightly.

The car is going to overturn! The car is going to overturn!

The slight feeling of weightlessness and the seemingly rotating perspective made the new mechanic and driver, who had only driven a few cars, completely lose his mind and didn't know what to do.

"You little thief! Look out, you little idiot!"

At the moment the strong wind hit, Yu Weifu's whole body suddenly tensed up, holding himself firmly against the driver's seat, but his posture did not seem stiff and hard to move, as if he was exerting force. Old Yu's voice came out from behind the mask, with a bit of the ease of a seasoned veteran.

"In this case, crosswind! Remember! Loosen the steering!"

He actually took his hands off the steering wheel, which controlled the fate of the car. "Don't! If you turn the steering wheel too quickly, the car will flip over!"

The sudden surge of wind battered the side of the vehicle, sending the five-ton truck sliding sideways like a toy on the dry Gobi Desert road. However, the freed front wheels twisted left and right, searching for a secure grip under the unstoppable laws of gravity, bringing the vehicle to the brink of total loss of control.

"Don't step on the brake, release the clutch!"

Yu Weifu pressed the clutch pedal, and the car suddenly broke free, lurching forward. He regained control of the steering wheel and steered smoothly toward the side that was skidding, like a pastry chef kneading dough.

As he moved and Xiao Wang continued to scream, the scenery through the windshield swirled and changed. Amid the shrill sound of tires rubbing against each other, the Ford 917, although already off the road, miraculously turned around, controlled its posture, and saved itself from the brink of rollover!

"Just like this! Steer correctly! Control the car well, don't panic! Wait until the front of the car is stable, then stop the car. Remember, face the direction of the wind, press down with one foot, and then brake slowly with the other foot!"

As the strong wind blew pebbles and salt particles straight into the front of the car, Yu Weifu slammed his foot on the brake pedal again, gently pressing it like an egg, bringing the vehicle to a stop. Finally, with the brake hubs threatening to burst into flames, the Ford truck's sideways slide finally subsided, and it came to a steady stop in a safe, open space beside the road.

At this moment, a belated order came from the vehicle's radio. It was Lao Qiu's anxious voice:

"Shear wind, instantaneous wind force 8! All vehicles, please be aware of the crosswind and keep safe!"

Chapter 172: Yiwu's Tank Soldiers

"Each team will count the number of people and check the status of the vehicles in front and behind."

After narrowly navigating the Dabancheng wind zone, the entire convoy, after several days of stopping and starting, finally passed through the dangerous areas later known as the "30-li Wind Zone" and the "100-li Wind Zone." After passing the area called Shisanjianfang, known as the "windy zone within the windy zone," the Baishan Mountains to the north gradually rose, finally acting as a windbreak, blocking the violent northwest winds from the road.

"Car 46 is in good condition, and the cars in front and behind are in good condition. Ha, if Captain Qiu had let me overload it a little, it would definitely be even better. Not even the wind can blow us away!"

The convoy was now approaching Yiwu, a major rest stop. As they were about to arrive at the road maintenance station, Lao Qiu issued a statistical instruction over the FM radio covering the convoy.

After shouting to the communicator on a small motorcycle outside and chatting for a few minutes, he handed over the driving record board, said thank you, and then Master Yu closed the car window: the strong sunlight outside had long disappeared, and the rolling clouds blocked the sun. However, this blockage caused the temperature of the entire car to drop sharply, and for a moment he felt a little cold.

"Master, will it rain now?"

"No, this cloud is the Dragon King passing through, it can't come down."

The wind chimes in the car chimed crisply. Without the wind, the sound of this little gadget finally caught people's attention. Master Yu touched the sticks under the wind chime string. "You can also remember this. If you drive a car so much, you'll become half the weather." He pointed to the roof and stuffed a handful of raisins into his mouth. "I can't predict when it's going to be windy, rainy, or snowy, but I can guess pretty close."

While crossing the Flaming Mountains, someone in the team bought some dried fruit and distributed it to everyone as a snack. It was one of the few snacks available on the road. Master Yu ate it freely, but Xiao Wang treasured it all and put it away, saying he would bring it back to his father on his way back. The many experiences along the way had changed this cheerful boy considerably. He wasn't sure if he'd matured or grown up, but Master Yu simply felt that he'd been a lot more melancholy these past few days.

"Remember that earthen walled village we saw on the road? The foreigner I was pulling over said that it was the Gaochang Kingdom from Journey to the West!"

Yu Weifu chewed some salted raisins to liven up the atmosphere. He had driven the road after passing Dabancheng before, a route he had taken when he was driving "Mr. Sven," and was considered an expert in the team.

"Back then, I heard students and professors from Peking tell me that many years ago, this Western Region was home to all sorts of small kingdoms, all listening to the Li Emperor of our Haojing City. Back then, this place wasn't so desolate. Oases like Yiwulu were probably dotted everywhere."

Beneath the swirling clouds, the Northwest Passage had long since lost its former grandeur. Looking out, all that was visible was the desolate Gobi Desert and the massive wind-blown impact fans that sprawled down from the mountain passes. Hearing his teacher's words, Xiao Wang couldn't help but recall the pictures from his training class: the endlessly winding "Silk Road" of camel caravans, like fleets of trucks, carrying a myriad of goods to places he'd never been.

Wang Shunfeng sighed, rubbed his scarf, and muttered a little melancholy,

"Then how did the Western Region become like this... It's been so long, and apart from the people in the caravan, the last time I saw anyone was in Chaiwo Fort."

This poor, remote place, where ghosts could not stay? If the Japanese hadn't cut off the sea and the preserved fruit hadn't allowed the Eighth Route Army to import supplies from the south, why would they have to travel thousands of miles to Xinjiang Province to transport goods? Master Yu thought so in his heart, but looking at the lonely eyes of this lively and bustling little guy, he didn't say these words out loud.

"Who knows? Maybe it will be better in the future. If the Eighth Route Army is in charge, maybe by then a railway or highway will be built here, and there will be more people here... Speaking of which, we can reach Yiwulu tonight. There are people there. Besides the Russian soldiers, there are also Eighth Route Army soldiers there. There are people to play with you."

Many drivers who travel along the Northwest Passage know that there are Russian soldiers in Yiwu and Xingxing Gorge. Since 38, the Soviet "Red Eighth Regiment" has been stationed in this oasis.

In addition to tanks, there are also airplanes.

The pilots discovered that the faces of the Eighth Route Army began to appear over there.

Although in name, they are all soldiers of the "Northwest Passage Highway Security Corps".

"Zizizizizi........Attention all vehicles, on the north side of the road, on our left, there will be a tank running past. Those are the tank soldiers of Yiwu in training, please keep driving normally.

Don't panic.

"They are not horse bandits. If horse bandits came to rob us with tanks, we would have to give our all today."

Old Qiu's voice came over the radio again, with a hint of teasing and lightheartedness—encountering tanks meant they were close to Yiwu Station. Seeing this, Master Yu cleared his throat, pointed to the side of the road, and beckoned the groggy Wang Shunfeng to look over: "Little Wang, look! Tanks!"

"where?"

"Right there!"

Xiao Wang finally perked up. Following his driver's instructions, he squinted his eyes and peered out the window. In the distance, across the endless Gobi Desert, something was advancing in unison, trailing clouds of dust and smoke. He strained to discern it, but the rapidly moving clouds cast a swiftly shifting camouflage over the otherwise desolate landscape. After a long look, Wang could only make out a row of tiny, dark dots.

"Look... I can't see it, Master. Is that thing really a tank? Are you kidding me?"

"'How could it be false? Horses don't run like this. Besides, even the best horses can't possibly outrun those tanks. I'm telling you, I've seen Eighth Route Army tank crews drive past a convoy. They were so fast, even with the trucks fully fueled, I don't think you could even see the exhaust."

Master Yu spoke vividly. Although he didn't know that the tank used by the Eighth Route Army in training was the famous "King of Speed ​​Racing" BT-5, and he obviously didn't know what the inside of the tank looked like, he was still impressed by the extremely fast speed of that small car.

"There's a turret on top of the tank, and on top of that turret is a gun, a cannon! The tank driver gets inside the turret, drives, and fires from outside, da da da."

He gestured as if he were firing a gun. "Just imagine, if a bandit on horseback charged at us brandishing a knife, ordinary men and horses wouldn't be able to stop him. But if a piece of metal came charging at us, accompanied by gunfire, what could stop it? If a hundred tanks could charge at us, I don't think those little Japs would be able to withstand it either."

"Of course, the tank is the king of land warfare. We learned in class that during World War II, the British tanks were invulnerable and could easily overcome obstacles. They were able to break through the German trench defenses. If we had tanks like those, the Japanese would be in for a real fight." Xiao Wang finally became interested. "But I've never seen an Eighth Route Army tank. The ones in the pictures are all foreign tanks. Professor, could this tank be one of ours?"

"How could it be true? I've actually seen Eighth Route Army tank soldiers," Master Yu assured, patting his chest. "There are quite a few vehicles in our convoy, delivering supplies to the Russian and Eighth Route Army soldiers over there. There are tanks at the depot, you can see them if you look. When the time comes, go and ask Captain Qiu to talk to them. Maybe they'll even let you climb on a tank and take a look!"

"Really? Master, please don't play tricks on me!"

Wang Shunfeng was completely excited. He waved his hands excitedly, but then paused, as if he had suddenly come up with a new pursuit: "Master Yu, driving a tank is so impressive... Do you think I can drive one in the future?"

Chapter 173: Food and Clothing for the Fleet

"Tanks, tanks, drive new tanks..."

This is what Wang Shunfeng looked like on the first day after leaving Yiwulu.

"Master, this BT-5 tank is fine in every way except that it's a little bit bumpy. For a moment, I felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out." This was Xiao Wang on the second day.

"Comrades, the tank soldiers usually drive tanks, so I guess they're not as bored as us..."

Day three.

After the fourth day, Wang Shunfeng only had one sentence left to say, apart from the "OK" and "I understand" he said when his master was teaching him:

"Where are we going to eat today? What are we going to eat?"

"Eat, eat, eat. All you do is eat. Why don't you talk about your big tank?"

Hearing Wang Shunfeng repeating the question of when to eat like a resentful woman, Master Yu, who was facing a long and boring downhill slope, felt that this kind of persistent and persevering pursuit of eating was completely incompatible with himself, and was just annoying noise.

"It's only been a few days since you left Yiwu, and you've become a record player, only able to read the lyrics of this record?"

"Well, Old Yu, I think it's like this: Comrade Wang just married the eldest daughter of the Ford family, and he's been eyeing the girl from the Kharkov family. Now he's too busy to touch the little girl for a while, and he can't eat her either. He can only endure the loneliness in the middle of the night, sitting alone with no way to vent his feelings."

Hahaha!

Hearing this, Wang Shunfeng, who hadn't even married yet, finally lost his composure and started to retort with a red face. The atmosphere in the carriage suddenly became much happier.

After passing Yiwu, many of the vehicles in the first convoy had already emptied their supplies for the tank crews and turned back toward Dihua. Master Yu's "No. 46" became the lead vehicle in the convoy. Team leader Lao Qiu loaded his radio onto the back of his truck and crouched inside to maintain contact with the pathfinder vehicle ahead. Now that the situation ahead was stable, he poked his head through the tarpaulin window behind the truck's cab and chatted with the two drivers along the way.

"The tank is cramped and bumpy inside, where can you get any good stuff?"

Wang Shunfeng was eager to deny that he was hurt by the tank, and cursed as if he was going to kill himself, "I think it's not as comfortable as a truck! I can't even eat naan in there."

"That's not what you said at the time. I took you to see the tanks, but you kept staring at the 45mm cannon and the machine gun, and kept asking questions to the tank driver like a curious kid."

Lao Qiu is a veteran soldier with many years of experience. It is easy for him to deal with such a new recruit who talks big. "That's fine. Next time I go back to Yiwu, I will tell that tank soldier,

It is said that the little brothers looked down on your tanks last time. I see them

Will they drive a tank to your doorstep, lift you up with the tank gun and use you as a target?"

------all

One of the most entertaining things about this road is teasing the stubborn newbies, especially on the desolate Northwest Passage, which is surrounded by uninhabited areas. Although the Nationalist government mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to build this road in 37, it is essentially just a rammed earth road that passes through a large area of ​​uninhabited areas and lacks maintenance.

Besides the desolate, deserted, and even terrible road conditions, the entire convoy also had to face enduring loneliness. "But what are we eating today?"

Old Qiu, who was playing with the cat in the back of the car, also said something, as if he was infected: "We have to spend the night in the campsite today. Dinner will be soon?" "Old Qiu, why are you like this too?"

Hi, Master Yu, the world is vast, but eating is the most important thing. Captain Qiu lifted the radio onto his lap, lowered his mask a little, and spoke into the microphone: "Attention, convoy, this is Liu Xuande, reporting your respective situations, over." "This is Guan Yu, everything is normal, over."

"This is Zhang Yide. Everything is normal. Over."

"This is Zhao Zilong. Everything is normal within the next twenty miles. We have arrived at our designated campsite. The dugout we dug last time is still there, but the firewood is gone. Over." "Maintain speed. Camping tonight is Camp 49. Please reply if you receive any. Over."

"Received" x3

There are four radios in the convoy, three of which are shortwave stations, one of which is being carried by the vanguard convoy; and one is an advanced station.

In addition to voice calls, it can also send shortwave telegrams for external communication, as well as

The FM transmission capability directly reaching the receiving end of each vehicle exceeded the radio configuration level of the general battalion of the Japanese army and the reorganized division of the National Army, which was enough for Lao Qiu to command the entire convoy with ease.

After the FM transmitter sent the instructions to the radios in each vehicle, it basically meant that the day's journey was drawing to a close. After all, the transport team was not an army, so there was no need to drive overnight. Old Qiu leaned back against the wooden sideboard of the cargo bed and said, "People have to eat. I came to your place today to get some food and try your cooking. Hey, what did you bring?"

-One by one, one by one, one by one

"What else could it be? It's just that little thing."

At Camp 49, a convoy stretching for several kilometers was parked in a neat formation. It faced a spring, sheltered from the wind by a mud fortress that looked like it belonged to an indeterminate dynasty. The convoy's water tanker stopped by the well, pumping water for replenishment; the oil tanker found a high slope and used a rubber hose to pump oil out to refuel the trucks in the convoy.

Old Yu and his friends prepared to cook in the dugout they had left over from their last camping trip.

"In the past, the carts basically had the same three things: pancakes, dried meat, and chili oil."

The three men dug out the accumulated sand from the cave, set up their tent, and lit the oil stove to boil water. Xiao Wang brought bags of dry food from the truck and spread them out by the fire. Captain Qiu listened to Old Yu recount his experiences while watching with interest as he rinsed the water from the truck through a cloth once or twice before pouring it into the pot.

Seeing Captain Qiu staring at him, Lao Yu sighed: "Now that I'm driving with Master Ba, the situation is much better. Just look at this water." He pinched and rubbed the gauze, squeezed out a finger's worth of white powder, and showed it to Captain Qiu and Wang Shunfeng.

"The water in the Western Regions is all hard. Mr. Ba was thoughtful enough to even add some alkali to soften it. This is much better than what we had back then. Once the water in the truck ran out, we'd just have to make do with what we had—the soft water in the tanker truck was reserved for the truck. Iron isn't as durable as a person. If you add too much hard water, the pipes will get clogged with dirt, and the truck will break down..."

"And in the Western Regions, if you were left on the road, you'd be waiting for the King of Hell to call you back!"

The water in the pot with soda ash began to boil. Master Yu rolled up his sleeves and began to take things out of his bag: "Let me show you my skills this time, Captain. Let's be a little extravagant and eat something good. In the past, if drivers wanted to camp in the wild, they could only eat dry biscuits and dried meat with water.

"Today is different. When I came out of Guanzhong, I was able to spend my allowance to buy some new goodies to bring back. Captain Qiu, please take a good look. What exactly is this Old Yu going to cook?" Captain Qiu nodded, sitting cross-legged by the stove, waiting for the old driver to take out his "goodies".

After searching for a long time, Yu Weifu finally pulled out a small package from his bag. The small package contained a small quilt, which was then wrapped in a layer of cloth. Master Yu carefully spread out the quilt, unfolded the cloth, and carefully took out two yellow packaging bags. Old Qiu narrowed his eyes and took a closer look:

"Three Fresh Yi Noodles"!

Chapter 174: A Well-Intentioned Mistake

In this year and this month, and even many years later, there is always a type of dish that "transcends the eight major cuisines and serves the people who travel the world" - it is the so-called Jianghu dishes in the streets and alleys and roadside stalls. Although the times are different, they all have the characteristics of heavy oil, salt and strong taste. The "Spicy Fried Noodles" made by Chef Yu at this time is one of them.

He poured the oil for the "Three Fresh Yi Noodles" into the wok and stir-fried it. Then he added sliced ​​dried meat and stir-fried it, adding the spicy pickled beans from a small porcelain jar. Over the small oil stove, Yu Weifu used chopsticks as a spatula, stirring the ingredients until they sizzled and glistened with oil. Once the aroma of the dried meat and beans had risen, he scooped the softened noodles from the nearby pot of boiling water and added a large spoonful of chili oil. After a few stirrings, the pot of fried instant noodles, coated in chili oil and fragrant, was ready.

"Come on! Captain Qiu, Xiao Wang, try my cooking!" "Huo, that's great, come on, I won't be polite!"

Captain Qiu took the handle of the small pot, picked up some noodles with chopsticks, and gave them to Wang Shunfeng who was squatting on the side. He also filled himself with half a bowl. The three of them sat down at the edge of the cave and started eating.

I don’t know how many years ago this fried instant noodles was invented.

The beans are sour and spicy, the noodles are oily, and the red chili oil adds a stimulating flavor to the noodles. There is also some fried dried meat to look forward to. The instant noodles are chewy but not difficult to chew, which makes people's appetites whet. They can't help but swallow the noodles that should have been savored carefully, leaving only a mouthful of spicy breath.

The only drawback is that the temperature drops very quickly at night in the Gobi Desert. Not long after the sun went down, the noodles were a little cold when I took them out of the bowl and put them into my mouth. By the time I finished eating, the entire iron bowl was ice-cold, and the only thing providing a false sense of heat was the chili in the noodles.

As for the greasiness problem, comrades these days don’t care about it.

After devouring the entire pot of five-pack noodles, the three men felt their stomachs growl less loudly, yet they still weren't full. Seeing this, Master Yu turned back to search his small bag, but found nothing. "Oh no! Where are the noodles? There are only five packets in total! Xiao Wang, go get a few more from the car!"

"Hey, wait!"

Captain Qiu, who had been staring at Yu Weifu, spoke up. He reached out and stopped Wang Shunfeng who was about to stand up: "It's not good to always let the master spend money. Come, try my cooking skills too!"

He took out a bubble-filled box from the large backpack on his back, placed it on the ground, and then took out all kinds of things from it. Like a treasure chest, large and small packages were spread all over the ground: wide vermicelli, vegetables, meat slices, meatballs, sausages... and even a soup spoon.

Old Qiu poured the water from the water lift into the upper and lower boxes, and then threw all the things that the master and Wang Shunfeng could name and those that they could not name into the upper boxes. Not long after, the hot water in the boxes actually started to emit steam as if there was fire burning on it.

"Come, it's hot, eat quickly, there are braised pork slices in here!" Braised pork slices! Wood ear mushrooms! And crispy things with holes in them!

Using chopsticks, Wang Dingshunfeng was given some wide vermicelli noodles and a spoonful of a red oil broth so fragrant it was almost cloying and intoxicating. His defenses collapsed. Compared to the refreshingly spicy fried noodles, the spiciness, numbing flavor, and aroma of this wide red oil vermicelli, which he didn't know what to call it, seemed designed to target all his human weaknesses. It rushed down his burning throat, like hot oil filling his spine.

His chopsticks and hands were shaking, but his mouth remained throbbing. The scalding meatballs and sausages rolled across his tongue before slithering down his esophagus. Honestly, Xiao Wang's life hadn't been bad before: the favorable conditions of Saishang Jiangnan had at least allowed him to eat his fill, occasionally enjoying some fish. After joining the trucking team, the meals were rich and nutritious. But this intense onslaught of taste buds had once made his mind, which he had once thought was living a life of luxury, swell again.

What kind of crap is that? How can it be as delicious as this? "You starving ghost! You won't lose anything, eat slowly!"