The train driver in the courtyard

Off-road training races emphasize off-road driving, involving riding motorcycles through mountains and forests, specifically navigating bumpy roads.

In later generations, it would definitely take a lot of effort to find a suitable location.

In these days, it's not so troublesome. Once you leave the capital and get onto the auxiliary road, the road becomes extremely rugged.

In particular, the route Li Aiguo chose largely overlapped with the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway.

For a long stretch of the route, the riders followed a maintenance road alongside the railway, a rough and uneven path that quickly provided them with an intense massage.

"How are you doing? Can you still hold on?" Li Aiguo checked the time and caught up with the unlicensed car expert ahead on his motorcycle.

This guy wasn't a formally competing rider, but he persisted for most of the race.

"Not bad. The purpose of this training exercise is to toughen up our spirits, so we have to persevere." The wild car expert twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle sped away, billowing black smoke.

"You're still being tough, kid." Li Aiguo didn't participate in the race. He handed his motorcycle to a railway soldier and got on a large off-road vehicle by the roadside.

This time, the locomotive depot in front of the gate sent two trucks as support vehicles, and Li Aiguo also brought his own SUV.

Sitting comfortably in the spring-loaded leather seat, Li Aiguo squinted his eyes and said, "This thing is still the most comfortable."

"Aiguo, the next rest stop is Baoding Locomotive Depot." Zhang Yazhi handed over the map along with a water bottle.

Because of the long journey, the section also sent support personnel.

These people were recruited from various workshops and crew groups of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, and Zhang Yazhi volunteered to participate.

"Have you made all the arrangements in Baoding?" Li Aiguo waved his hand, not taking the map, but instead took the water bottle and drank a few sips of water.

"Don't worry, everything is arranged. The Baoding Locomotive Depot is fully committed to providing supplies and facilities," Zhang Yazhi nodded in reply.

The most troublesome part of organizing a long-distance cross-country training race is finding rest and logistical support points.

The railway authorities don't have this concern, as all the locomotive depots along the line serve as supply points.

The riders were very fast, arriving at the Baoding Locomotive Depot around 10 a.m.

The Baoding Locomotive Depot was also prepared, with banners displayed along the road and several tables set up with large kettles of cold boiled water and donkey meat sandwiches on them.

Time was of the essence, so the riders grabbed donkey meat sandwiches and quickly swallowed them, then filled their bowls with hot water and set off again.

It just so happened that the person in charge of providing supplies was Deputy Section Chief Liu of the Baoding Locomotive Depot. The two had met a few times in the ministry before, and Li Aiguo stopped to chat for a while.

“Patriotic, what you’re doing isn’t very ethical!” Deputy Section Chief Liu’s eyes were fixed on the motorcycles that roared away.

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

“This training race is a major event for the entire railway. How can your Qianmen Locomotive Depot monopolize all the slots?” Deputy Depot Chief Liu was particularly envious.

The training race has now spread throughout Baoding, causing a huge sensation. For example, the donkey meat sandwiches served this time were provided by Baoding's largest state-owned restaurant.

He would look incredibly impressive if he could compete on a big motorcycle.

"Old Liu, don't be envious. If you want to participate, you need to know how to ride a motorcycle and how to fix it, right?" Zhou Ke, who was in charge of security, also came over while munching on a donkey meat sandwich.

Deputy Section Chief Liu was speechless for a moment, then patted Li Aiguo heavily on the shoulder after a long while: "Hurry up and build the motorcycle! Ignore those people from the Ministry of Machine Building who are making a fuss! I've already prepared the money, and I'm just waiting for your big motorcycle!"

The leaders at the Baoding Locomotive Depot were also aware of the conflict between the Qianmen Locomotive Depot and the First Ministry of Machine Building.

The fact that such a large-scale event was made could be seen as a show of support.

"Don't worry, I estimate we should be able to build the workshop when we get back this time."

Looking at the crowd cheering them on, Li Aiguo felt that the training exercise had far exceeded his expectations.

Things went as Li Aiguo had predicted.

At first, the person above just thought rally racing was novel and had no intention of getting involved.

When they saw how enthusiastically the crowd welcomed the training race, and even some young people waiting at the supply points in advance to cheer on the race, they realized that the training race's effect on boosting morale far exceeded expectations.

Therefore, they requested local cooperation in publicity and even sent television reporters to film the competition.

The riders sped along the rugged roads, and crashes occurred frequently.

The person who crashed was an assembler at a workshop. He and the bike slid half a meter away, tearing a large patch of his trousers and leaving bloodstains.

Ignoring his knees, he hurriedly picked up the bike, checked the brakes and chain, spat out a mouthful of muddy saliva, straddled it, and revved the engine, drawing cheers from the onlookers on the roadside.

The reporter, carrying a camera, chased after the car for a couple of steps, his lens glued to the disappearing silhouette, muttering, "That's some serious drive! That's impressive!"

The riders sped off and disappeared into the wilderness. The reporter found Li Aiguo, who was planning logistical supplies, and held out the microphone: "Captain, what do you think of our riders' performance today?"

In interviews, this is called elevating the theme, and Li Aiguo understands this rule.

Li Aiguo wiped the grease off his hands and spoke loudly into the microphone: "Look at them! They fell into the mud without a sound, got up, gritted their teeth, and charged forward!"

This is the spirit that runs deep in the bones of our railway workers! Laying railway tracks deep into mountains and forests, digging tunnels through rock strata—which of these tasks wasn't a tough nut to crack?

Today, they conquered the bumpy road on their motorcycles, relying solely on their indomitable spirit!

He pointed to the riders climbing the hill in the distance: "These young men are usually skilled at inspecting railways. Today on the track, they fall and get up, and they endure the pain."

It's not about winning or losing, it's about showing everyone that railway workers not only drive trains smoothly, but also have the courage to face any challenge! This spirit is more valuable than winning first place.

The reporter, with a sharp mind, immediately sensed that this was a profound statement and quickly followed up with, "So, what do you think is the most important significance of this training exercise?"

"Let's go for it!" Li Aiguo declared resolutely. "The railway needs to be extended, technology needs to be advanced, and people need to be bold and daring!"

This road, stretching for thousands of miles, is the toughest touchstone!
It tests not only the vehicle's performance, but also the driver's will! Let's see if we can withstand the pressure and apply the same drive we have in off-road racing to laying railway tracks and undertaking construction!

Behind me were motorcycles speeding by, and in front of me was the dark railway.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on Li Aiguo's face, where sweat mixed with mud glistened.

The photojournalist quickly adjusted his lens to capture this wonderful moment.

Facing the camera, Li Aiguo waved his hand and said, "True spirit isn't something you can just shout slogans for! It's about not bowing your head when you fall into the mud, wiping away your blood and getting back up, and forging ahead step by step!"

"Breakthrough! That's a very good word." In a study in Beijing, a superior leader, unusually, sat in front of the television, his eyes glued to the screen.

The assistant brought tea: "I didn't expect the training race to attract so many people. The young people in the lake were all talking about it just now."

"You haven't seen through it yet." The superior took the enamel mug, took a sip of tea, and said in a deep voice, "Right now, our situation is the same as these workers and delivery riders!"
To break through the encirclement and stand up, we must overcome these obstacles.

Hard work alone isn't enough; you also need that adventurous spirit, that fearlessness of heaven and earth!

Seeing that the leader was taking it too seriously, the assistant quickly smiled and said, "Comrade Patriot has a particularly farsighted vision."

"Notify the newspaper to write an article with the word 'breakthrough' as ​​the title, combining it with this training exercise." The superior nodded.

"Yes," the assistant wrote down and prepared to leave.

The superior called the assistant again: "Old Teng reported that someone named Sadam wants to see Li Aiguo. What's going on?"

"The foreign affairs department has already reported Sadam's situation. Becker has become the head of the Yi family. This person is Becker's relative and also the representative of the Yi family this time. He is particularly fond of vehicles, which is probably related to the large off-road vehicle that Aiguo built."

The superior tapped his fingers on the table and uttered a sentence: "We need to pay more attention to this Sadam."

"Yes"

The assistant didn't understand why the leader was paying attention to Sadam.

Saddam is only just beginning to emerge; he is merely a general leader within the Islamic family and has little influence in the Middle East.

However, as an assistant, I naturally couldn't ask questions when my supervisor didn't continue the conversation.

After returning to the office, the assistant notified the colleagues at the newspaper.

Under the same night sky, the entrance to the Li family's courtyard house was particularly lively at this time.

Chen Xueru, Aunt Liu, and He Yushui were also watching the rally program.

Seeing a rider fall, Chen Xueru covered her mouth in shock: "This is too dangerous!"

Aunt Liu grabbed Chen Xueru's arm and comforted her, "Aiguo is the captain, he doesn't need to participate in the competition. Look at him driving that big off-road vehicle, he's safe!"

Before he finished speaking, Li Aiguo finished the interview, took the motorcycle from Zhou Ke, got on, twisted the throttle, and sped away, leaving specks of dirt splashing onto the camera lens.

He Yushui was also frightened: "What if I fall?!"

Liu Haizhong, Yan Jiecheng, and Uncle San were all worried about Li Aiguo.

"If you're a patriot, you're the captain; you don't need to do this kind of work at all."

"Yeah, that's too fast. If someone falls, they'll definitely break an arm or a leg."

Hiding in the crowd, Jia Dongxu curled his lip and muttered, "Let's kill that bastard!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the person next to him covered his nose: "Jia Dongxu, you stink so badly, did you fall into the latrine?"

Jia Dongxu actually fell in by accident today, but luckily he climbed back up without anyone seeing it.

Now that people have noticed, he blushed furiously and said, "Who fell into the latrine? Stop framing people."

He left grumbling, and everyone's attention returned to the rally race, worried about Li Aiguo.

Xu Damao suddenly slapped his forehead: "What are we worried about? This is a videotape!"

"Yes, I heard that the TV station filmed it first and then broadcast it. This happened several days ago, right?"

"Yes, yes, since Aiguo didn't call back, it means everything is fine."

Everyone then realized what was happening and breathed a sigh of relief.

The footage was indeed taken two days ago. Li Aiguo was not injured, but several riders crashed.

According to regulations, only the rider can repair a motorcycle that has been damaged in a crash.

As for the injured riders, the medics bandaged them up.

To ensure the safety of the riders, Li Aiguo specially borrowed three medics from Commander Zhang. They were highly skilled in medicine and particularly adept at treating external injuries.

That day, they entered Hunan Province.

Considering that it was at least a three-hour drive to Hengyang Locomotive Depot, and that several riders had fallen and been injured due to the muddy roads, Li Aiguo decided to take a break and set up camp by the railway tracks at the foot of the mountain.

This is also a requirement of this cross-country race; team members must stay overnight near the railway tracks.

The logistics personnel lit a campfire to prepare a meal, using the grain that had been brought in with them.

If you want a change of pace, just pick some vegetables from the farmland next to the railway tracks.

Those vegetables belonged to the locomotive depot and weren't considered a violation. The logistics personnel and railway soldiers at the camp were all busy.

Li Aiguo strolled over to the tent and saw Master Zhou from the line workshop squatting on the ground repairing a broken motorcycle. He had crashed his motorcycle that day, and his arm was covered in bruises.

"Old Zhou, why don't you let the medics bandage you up?" Li Aiguo asked as he walked over.

"It's the captain, you've come over." Master Zhou reached for a cigarette but found his hands were covered in engine oil. Just as he was about to wipe them with a towel, Li Aiguo handed it to him.

Master Zhou accepted the cigarette somewhat awkwardly and replied, "My injury isn't serious, but I need to get the motorcycle fixed quickly so I can't miss tomorrow's competition."

Master Zhou is currently ranked fifth, a result that has exceeded Li Aiguo's expectations. This veteran railway worker actually has the talent of a rider.

With proper training, he might achieve great things.

"The injury can't be delayed; there are still several days of matches ahead."

Li Aiguo called over a medic, who gave Master Zhou a simple bandage.

Master Zhou grimaced in pain, but his heart was warm.

Since joining the motorcycle team and getting on a motorcycle, this veteran lineman has found that he particularly enjoys the feeling of speeding along.

Every acceleration and every turn sends my adrenaline soaring. Now, riding a motorcycle has become a hobby, much like patrolling the route.

Li Aiguo and Master Zhou were chatting.

Suddenly, a commotion arose in the distance.

The camp fell silent instantly, and everyone turned to look into the distance, only to find the view obscured by a grove of trees.

"I'll go check it out!" Zhou Ke reacted the fastest, immediately grabbing his pistol and running over.

This is a mountainous area with a tough local culture, so Li Aiguo was a little worried and took a few railway soldiers with him to follow.

After passing through the dense grove of trees, Li Aiguo's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the scene before him.

A dozen or so comrades dressed in railway worker uniforms were seen digging a well in a field several hundred meters away from the railway.

Uh... I was about to say it was digging a well.

In those days, there were no mechanical drilling tools; people had to dig wells out of the ground by hand until they reached groundwater.

The depth of wells varies depending on the groundwater conditions, with some reaching depths of over ten meters.

The drilling team has already dug seven or eight meters but hasn't found any groundwater yet.

Since it's impossible to throw the soil out by hand, it can only be lifted out of the ground using a winch and pulley system.

The earth-shaker responsible for stirring the potter's wheel was startled by Zhou Ke's sudden appearance.

With a sudden release, the rope, carrying the iron bucket filled with soil, plummeted downwards, directly below the workers who were still engrossed in digging the well.

No one at the scene noticed.

Zhou Ke saw it, holding a pistol, but it was too late to throw it away and grab the wheel handle.

The person shaking the soil reacted quickly, terrified, and grabbed at it twice, only to be swept away by the rapidly spinning handle.

At this critical moment.

A large hand firmly gripped the handle, and the rapidly descending rope came to a sudden stop, emitting a series of teeth-grinding and heart-stopping creaks.

Fortunately, the rope held up.

The person shaking the soil quickly gripped the rope tightly, afraid of falling again.

Only when Li Aiguo shook the iron bucket up did his hands relax, and his legs went weak, causing him to sit down on the ground.

The middle-aged man who looked like the team leader walked over, grabbed Li Aiguo's hand, and said, "I am the team leader of the well drilling team of the Hengyang Locomotive Depot! Comrade, we really owe you a lot today, thank you so much!"

"It's nothing, just a small favor." Li Aiguo was about to ask the drilling team what the situation was.

The team leader whirled around and kicked the digger hard in the backside: "Chen Xing! What did I tell you on your first day with the drilling team? You must be fully focused on your work! There's no room for carelessness!"

He roared in fury, "If it weren't for this comrade, your brother would be dead! How will you explain that to your mother?!"

He continued to kick Chen Xing several more times while speaking, and did not stop even though Chen Xing begged for mercy repeatedly.

When Zhou Ke saw that the soil shaker had been beaten black and blue, he wanted to step forward to stop him, but Li Aiguo held him back.

"You deserve to be beaten for making this kind of mistake!"

"Aren't you going to thank these comrades?"

The captain finished cleaning up the soil-shaking hands, thanked him again, and then turned around to ask Li Aiguo about his identity.

Zhou Ke volunteered, "We are the motorcycle team of Qianmen Locomotive Depot."

Upon hearing this, the team leader was both surprised and delighted: "Motorcycle team! You guys are really fast! We were just thinking of putting in extra effort tonight to finish this well so we could go to the section tomorrow to cheer you on!"

The team leader was overjoyed, stopped the operation, and pulled the comrades down the mine up as well.

The well-drilling team consisted of young men, and when they heard that Li Aiguo and his companions were from the motorcycle team, they were all very excited and kept talking to them.

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Aiguo took the initiative to invite, "Since we're comrades, let's have dinner together."

"We're sorry to bother you." Railway workers are all one family. Seeing that the team members were interested in the motorcycle team, the captain didn't stand on ceremony and led the team members to the camp.

At this moment, the railway soldiers killed a wolf on the mountain, skinned it on the spot, strung it on steel bars, and placed it on the campfire.

Each of the riders received a large piece of wolf meat to replenish their nutrition.

This is standard practice for the logistics team.

Without refrigerators, it's impossible to carry meat; just bring your guns, as the mountains and forests along the route are excellent refrigerators for preserving food.

"This meat is really delicious." After eating and drinking their fill, the members of the well-drilling team gathered around the rider to chat.

Li Aiguo offered a cigarette to the team leader: "Comrade Team Leader, what's the deal with your well-drilling team?"

"You probably don't know this, but now, in response to the requirements of our superiors, we are drilling wells near the farmland on both sides of the railway."

We not only drilled wells within our section, but also helped drill wells for nearby communes. Some of our team members were also from the communes; for example, the two brothers were the ones who operated the soil-shaping machine and dug the earth.

Li Aiguo remembered that the drought in Beijing a while ago had caused a lot of trouble.

After the rainfall, the drought was alleviated, and the Ministry of Agriculture required all regions to vigorously build water conservancy facilities to avoid the embarrassing situation of relying on the weather for water.

The most important element is the low-cost water well.

However, drilling this well is extremely difficult.

According to Captain Gen, they still follow the "ancient teachings" passed down from their ancestors when digging wells.

Drilling a well requires a lot of manpower, and the commune also has agricultural production to do. Sometimes, female militia members would pull the rope while male commune members dug the well from below.

The whole process was extremely dangerous and very slow.

If we could build well-drilling machines for future generations, it would definitely make things much easier.

The structure of a drilling rig is very simple: it consists of a diesel engine, a drill bit, and some auxiliary equipment.

Given the studio's current technical capabilities, this thing can be built without external assistance.

Furthermore, most wells nowadays are pulley wells; it would be much more convenient if a manual water pump could also be installed.
Li Aiguo carefully considered the matter and found it increasingly feasible.

The team leader cupped his hands and said, "Comrade Aiguo, we still have work to do, so we won't keep you from resting any longer."

Li Aiguo didn't try to stop them. After the comrades left, he set up sentry posts and then went inside the large off-road vehicle to rest for the night.

The next morning, after breakfast, the motorcycles set off one after another according to the times recorded the day before.

Li Aiguo handed the large SUV to Zhou Ke to drive, while he sat in the back seat, sketching and writing on blueprints.

For a period of time afterward, Li Aiguo fulfilled his duties as the team leader while drawing blueprints for well drilling machines. In his spare time, he would go hunting in the mountains with the railway soldiers, and he lived a very happy life.

He was completely unaware that this cross-country training race, along with the article in Renren Daily, had already attracted widespread attention.

The news spread further and further.

These days, cross-country training races with a distance of up to 4000 kilometers are rare, even abroad.

In particular, the motorcycles used this time were self-developed by the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

"The Dongda Iron Motorcycle Rally is already halfway through, and none of the riders have fallen behind, which is enough to demonstrate the quality of their motorcycles."

This report in the port city newspaper was translated into multiple languages ​​and spread throughout the world.

Benda first noticed Red Star Motorcycle.

For no other reason than that they are currently the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Asia.

Its Dream Model E, HV Super Cub C100 and other models have been best-sellers worldwide.

The emergence of Red Star Motorcycles will definitely have an impact on them.

However, once Bentian realized that Red Star Motorcycles was just a twin-cylinder motorcycle, he immediately sent out the team's previous champion and team leader, Soichiro Honda, to challenge Li Aiguo: "We sincerely invite your team to meet at the Isle of Man TT!"
At first, the onlookers who were just watching the spectacle thought Honda Soichiro was quite polite.

The fact that the previous champion and a motorcycle legend personally extended an invitation shows that Red Star Motorcycle Team has received a lot of respect.

They quickly realized something was wrong.

The Isle of Man TT, the world's most famous motorcycle race, has had only three standards since its inception in 1907: speed! speed! speed!

In this motorcycle racing world where speed reigns supreme, no matter how sturdy and durable Red Star motorcycles are, they are still just twin-cylinder motorcycles and can never compete with Bentian's four-cylinder racing motorcycles.

In particular, the Red Star motorcycle is a mountain bike, and its speed is far inferior to that of a professional racing motorcycle.

Soichiro Honda is just as shameless as his uncle, deliberately targeting his opponent's weaknesses to launch attacks.

Yes, his uncle died in the war.

The situation caused an uproar among the group.

That's so cunning, so incredibly cunning.

All eyes were on the Red Star Motorcycle Team, eager to see how this team, which had been established for less than two months, would respond.

(End of this chapter)