Apocalypse Rebirth: 3000 million won at the beginning

northwest.

The sun was blazing, the sky was cloudless, and the scorching sun was baking the earth.

Jiuquan Base.

Luo Sanchang gripped Shan Zimo's hand tightly, his expression one of great excitement.

"Chief Engineer Shan, the railway tracks in the Northwest are finally finished! You deserve all the credit! When I write the follow-up report, I'll definitely give you the highest score!"

Shan Zimo was somewhat taken aback by Luo Sanchang's enthusiasm and had to pull his hand away several times before he finally managed to do so.

"Manager Luo, you're too kind. It's just my job and duty."

After more than four months, the entire Northwest Line is now open to traffic.

Three days prior, Shan Zimo and Luo Sanchang had taken the SX-1 train for its first test run.

There are four branch bases in the northwest, and each base is far apart from the others.

The core reason hindering the development of Northwest China is the inconvenient transportation, which takes an extremely long time to transport goods.

Not to mention the distance to places like the oil city and headquarters base.

The Zhangye Agricultural and Livestock Base, which is also a base in Northwest China, is more than 500 kilometers away from the Wuyuanshan Base.

Now, the four branch bases in the Northwest are fully connected to the oil city!
This means that the amount of oil that the Yumen oilfield base can transport to other branch bases each month will be more than five times that of the previous road transport.

The importance of oil is self-evident.

Whether used to make solid napalm bombs or for industrial development, it is an indispensable material.

Moreover, in addition to the Yumen oilfield base, there is also a steel plant in Jiuquan, and Jiuquan Iron and Steel Group's production capacity has now reached the highest level among all steel plants in Dazhangshu.

Other branches of the Zhangye Agricultural and Livestock Base are not suitable for large-scale grazing and animal husbandry development. Only the Zhangye Agricultural and Livestock Base, due to its unique geographical location, has been able to develop animal husbandry on a relatively large scale.

With the railway line now open, the Northwest Base is completely connected to other branch bases, which explains why Luo Sanchang was so excited.

"Shan Gong, the headquarters is facing a zombie horde right now. Why don't you just stay here at the Northwest Base? It's sparsely populated and far from the sea, so not many zombies will likely come here. It's relatively safe. What do you think?"

Shan Zimo shook his head firmly.

“Manager Luo, you don’t need to persuade me anymore. My wife and children are at the headquarters. Besides, I’ve only been back once in the past year because of the railway construction. I’m definitely going back to the headquarters.”

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Luo Sanchang could no longer persuade him.

"Alright, a train will come from Yumen this afternoon. You can take this train back to headquarters."

Upon hearing this news, Shan Zimo's expression shifted slightly. "Thank you!"

"That"

Eager to return home, Shan Zimo said to Luo Sanchang:
“Then I’ll go back and pack my luggage. There are personnel stationed every hundred miles along the railway tracks to watch over it. I’ve also instructed Gao Xu about train maintenance and repair. If you have any problems, just contact him.”

Luo Sanchang nodded and said, "Okay, Shan Gong, you go ahead and pack. I'll have someone pick you up half an hour before the train arrives."

"Thank you." Shan Zimo clasped his hands in thanks, then turned and left.

Luo Sanchang watched his departing figure, stroking his chin and beard, his eyes full of admiration.

This Shan Zimo is quite talented. He personally led the construction of most of the railway tracks in the Dazhangshu area, and completed it with high quality and quantity.

If it weren't for him, the flow of supplies between the various bases of the Great Camphor Tree faction would probably have been suspended during the Sea Fog Disaster.

Before I knew it, it was already 2 p.m.

When the train was less than 50 kilometers away from the Jiuquan base.

An electric pickup truck drove up to the residential building in Area A of Jiuquan.

A young man got out of the car and came to pick up Shan Zimo as ordered by his superiors.

"Shan Gong, Director Luo asked me to come and pick you up."

"Is this your luggage? Let me help you put it in the car."

As he spoke, he picked up the two large bags of luggage from the ground and walked towards the pickup truck.

Shan Zimo was about to stop him, but the young man was too fast; his luggage had already been loaded onto the pickup truck bed.

"Thanks."

The young combatant smiled and opened the car door.

"Thanks to you, we were able to complete the construction of the Northwest Route so quickly. Now that it's open to traffic, we can rest assured."

As Shanzi listened to his praise, a strong sense of accomplishment inexplicably arose in his heart.

He hadn't really taken Luo Sanchang's praise to heart before, thinking it was just polite talk.

Only now did he begin to realize how important this train track was to the personnel stationed at the Northwest base.

Because of this railway line, those stationed at the Northwest base are able to take leave at any time to return to their families at headquarters or in the oil city.

The vehicle started and quickly headed towards Jiuquan Railway Station.

When they arrived at the train station, thousands of workers were already waiting there.

To build this railway line in the Northwest, 25,000 workers were recruited. Now that the railway line is completed, most of them were transferred from the oil city or headquarters base.

So they have to go back too.

However, a single train cannot carry tens of thousands of people, especially since most of the space is used to transport raw materials such as oil, so they can only be sent back in batches.

The train station was crowded and noisy.

"Have you heard? The sea fog has reached the headquarters base, and the situation there doesn't seem very optimistic. Are you sure you want to return to headquarters?"

"Of course, my family is all at headquarters. What about you? Aren't you going back to headquarters?"

"Let's go back. I'm not very familiar with the other branch bases, and besides, the headquarters base has better basic conditions."

"Yes, it's been almost a year since we left the headquarters. I wonder how my dad and the others are doing."

"By the way, when we get back to headquarters, let's call up Lao Pao and Sun Gou. We can make a mahjong table. Hehe, we've accumulated quite a few points in these ten months. They'll be so envious when we get back."

The man looked up, a smile playing on his lips. These workers who had been transferred out generally earned three times the wages of those who remained at the base.

Moreover, having accumulated contribution points over the past year, there's a high probability that this time when I go back, I can upgrade the construction department by one level.

This construction team of 25,000 workers came from multiple bases.

Some were recruited by Shan Zimo when he was building the Big Camphor Tree-Oil City route, while others were recruited from Oriental Paradise.

After spending so much time together, the workers from various bases have developed some kind of friendship.

A burly man extended his hand, the size of a prayer mat, and put his arm around the shoulder of a young man with a buzz cut.

"Brother, are you sure you want to go back to Oriental Paradise? The conditions there aren't right. Anyway, you're all alone. Why don't you come with us to Oil City?"

Beside the burly man, an old man wearing a tattered bamboo hat also spoke up to offer advice:

"Yes, Xiao Lu, why don't you come with us to the oil city? Anyway, the ban on the movement of people is now closed, and all we need to do is submit an application."

We're heading to the oil city right now. If you go to the Oriental Paradise after you get there, you'll have to take a train, which is too much trouble.

When you get to the oil city, I'll introduce you to my friend's daughter. She works in a garment factory; she's very pretty and a good person.

The short-haired young man, Xiao Lu, coughed, his dark face turning red, making him look dark red and swollen.

"Alright, then I'll follow you two."

Upon hearing this, the burly man laughed heartily and said:

"Absolutely, Xiao Lu. We've been building the railway all the way from Dashi Railway to Shidong Railway, and then we've finished building the Northwest line. You know my personality after all this time. I treat you like a brother!"

The young man with the buzz cut, Xiao Lu, nodded, somewhat moved.

He wasn't a naive fool; having survived the apocalypse for so long, he'd seen it all. But during that year, working in two shifts on the busy construction work, he spent almost 24 hours a day with the old farmer and Brother Biao.

When they first started working on the construction project, the three of them were assigned to work together.

The two of them took good care of him, and he could clearly see how kind they were to him.

In the end times, such genuine feelings are extremely rare.

Therefore, he cherishes it very much.

The three of them, carrying their own luggage, chatted about their plans after returning to the oil city.

I absolutely have to take Xiao Lu to Tingfeng Tower, and then to a high-end place like Helexuan to spend some money!
Half an hour later.

The train arrived at Jiuquan Base.

The train doors opened, and Zuo Ruxue got off, looking at the workers lining up outside to board the train.

"Left Captain"

Hwang Won-seok from the Ministry of the Interior ran over, calling out to her and waving.

When Zuo Ruxue saw Huang Yuanxi, she also raised her hand to greet him.

After running over, Huang Yuanxi took a deep breath and handed the list to Zuo Ruxue.

"Captain Zuo, this is the list of supplies loaded at the Jiuquan base."

Zuo Ruxue took the list, glanced at it, and then put it together with the list from Yumen Oilfield.

The products produced by each base in the Northwest are different, so the contents of each base are also different.

This train, which departed from the Northwest, has 180 carriages and is the longest train produced at the Dazhangshu headquarters base to date. It is a heavy-haul freight train.

It has 180 carriages, a total length of approximately 3659 meters, and a carrying capacity of 1.5 tons.

This is also because there are many branch bases in the Northwest. Each time, they have to depart from Yumen Oilfield, pass through Jiuquan Base, Zhangye Agricultural and Livestock Base, and Wuyuanshan Base, and transport supplies from various places to the oil city.

If a single train is too short, it will carry very little supplies and be inefficient.

Moreover, the train journey from the oil city to the northwest base is also quite long, and supplies need to be distributed to the four sub-bases in the northwest.

However, due to the relatively small area of ​​the Jiuquan base, the railway tracks within the city cannot be laid out horizontally from east to west like those in the oil city or headquarters base.

Therefore, a semi-circular circular railway track was built to extend the length of the railway within the city, allowing the entire train to enter the city.

After putting the list in her pocket, Zuo Ruxue asked Huang Yuanxi:
"How long will it take to move supplies from the Jiuquan base?"

"One hour."

After thinking for a moment, Zuo Ruxue nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll let the passengers get on the bus first, so they don't get stuck outside."

“I think there are at least several thousand passengers boarding the train. They need to go through security checks, which will take a while.”

Huang Yuanxi said with a smile, "Captain Zuo, you can make the decision."

Zuo Ruxue then picked up the walkie-talkie and contacted her subordinates: "Bugu, have the station start security checks and let people in. Let the passengers board the train now."

Outside carriage 66, after receiving Zuo Ruxue's message, Bugu immediately replied:

"Okay, Sister Zuo."

She ran to the station security checkpoint and said to the security supervisor:
"I am Bugu, the deputy commander of the SX-1 train. You can start security checks and let people board the train now."

The security supervisor glanced at the purple badge on Bugu's chest, a badge that only Level 2 personnel were qualified to wear.

"Understood, I'll arrange for the passengers to enter the station right away!"

Since most of the passengers returning to the oil city were either Level 3 or above personnel or workers, they did not need to have their tickets checked.

People at or above the Level 3 level do not need to pay train fares.

The reason why the workers didn't need train tickets this time was due to the special circumstances. They were supporting the construction and were now returning to their original residences. It would be awkward to charge them train tickets, so they simply gave them all free tickets.

The train station security checkpoints opened, and huge crowds poured into the ten checkpoints, placing their large and small bags of luggage onto the security equipment.

To ensure the safety of train travel, except for combat personnel on missions in other locations and the train's security personnel, all other passengers are prohibited from carrying dangerous items.

To prevent passengers with extreme views from causing trouble on the train and leading to accidents.

In the middle and rear sections of the train carriages, many transport workers were loading steel materials produced by the steel mill onto the train.

However, it only occupies part of the space, leaving some empty space at the rear of the train.

While steel materials were being loaded onto the train, carriages 100-110 were also opened, and transport personnel from the Jiuquan base simultaneously unloaded oil drums from the train.

One on one.

The Jiuquan base doesn't produce oil, but they still need it.

At each of the branch bases along the train route, there are loading and unloading operations, where materials produced at that base are loaded onto the train and necessary supplies are unloaded.

This facilitated the exchange and circulation of goods among the various branch bases.

After Huang Yuanxi left, Zuo Ruxue went to check the freight train at the back.

When Bugu saw Zuo Ruxue, he quickly went over to her.

"sister."

Zuo Ruxue glanced at her and asked, "How is it?"

“Everything is normal,” Bugu replied.

Zuo Ruxue glanced at the freight car and reminded her:

"Tell the delivery workers to place the items securely and fasten them properly. I'll be checking them later."

Cuckoo nodded and said:
"Don't worry, sis, I already emphasized that to them."

"We have experience!"

"Hmm." Zuo Ruxue stared at the endless train carriages, her eyes gradually becoming unfocused.

The convoy she used to lead was also this long.
Those who used to be in charge of road transport have now mostly been transferred to rail transport.

She, Xiao Hu, Li Qi and Zhu Xiao from the Second Transportation Brigade; Gui Fei and Guo Peng from the Third Transportation Brigade.

They were all broken up and assigned to individual train conductors.

These individuals had prior experience in cargo transportation and possessed strong overall qualities.
The ability to coordinate the handling of supplies, manage time effectively, and respond to unexpected situations during transport.
The convoy I led before was once several kilometers long.

A holistic perspective is extremely important, requiring them to consider both the beginning and the end.

For these people, directing a train is easier and simpler than leading a road convoy.

The road conditions for highway convoys are more complex, and with hundreds of vehicles involved, it is extremely common for one vehicle to break down occasionally, but trains are more reliable.

Furthermore, the train they were traveling on was fully enclosed and armored, making it safer than a regular vehicle.

It also runs on smooth railway tracks, making it much more stable than road vehicles.

So for veterans like Zuo Ruxue in the transportation fleet, working in train transportation now is practically like taking a vacation.

Back when they were in the road transport business, they could even sleep in the swaying trucks.

Now, being on the train is like a joke; the sleeping conditions are much better.

There's no need to worry about finding shelter outside; the time for a single trip has been shortened, and the journey no longer requires two or three days as it used to.

Nowadays, train transportation typically takes a maximum of twenty-odd hours to travel from one base to another.

(End of this chapter)