Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 109 Potatoes
Just as the First Army stationed in Shanxi was busy recruiting locust soldiers, the high-yield potatoes arranged by Chen Chengxing had reached the harvest season.

Although this batch of potatoes were planted at the same time as sweet potatoes, the growing period of potatoes is about one month shorter than that of sweet potatoes.

Therefore, sweet potatoes can only be harvested at the end of September or the beginning of October.

Chen Chengxing was very excited standing in front of the potato field. This was not just potatoes, it was life.

As long as these potatoes can be popularized, by the 42nd year, the people of Henan will be able to enter Shanxi from the Taihang Mountains.

At that time, not only will a large number of civilian lives be saved, but the Eighth Route Army will also achieve extremely rapid development.

For Chen Chengxing, if he can do this task well, it will be worth the time travel.

"Let's start!" Chen Chengxing went down to the field and started working himself. He couldn't just stand by and watch at this moment.

As a result, as soon as Chen Chengxing got off the ground, he saw a gray figure suddenly rushing out not far away.

"Snapped!"

Chen Chengxing was quick-witted and quick-handed. He took out the Ma brand pistol seized from Qin Youde and shot him.

Luzi was the name for a small pistol with a magazine inside the grip during the Republic of China period. The three most famous types were 'One Gun, Two Horses, and Three Flower Mouths'.

Among them, the flower-mouthed pistol is the one that Chu Yunfei gave to Li Yunlong. It is a Belgian FN1910 pistol. This gun is relatively small and easy to hide.

At this time, Chen Chengxing was holding a Continental pistol, a Colt M1903 pistol, which is also the most powerful military pistol among all the pistols.

At that time, some of the Northwest Army's broadsword teams were equipped with this type of pistol.

During the attack on Shenkou Town, Qin Youde and Jia Junfei ran into Chen Chengxing while escaping, so all the Ma brand rifles equipped by the two fell into Chen Chengxing's hands.

Chen Chengxing kept one for himself and sent the other one along with the gold to the brigade headquarters. As for who the brigade commander wanted to give it to, that was not something he could control.

Chen Chengxing is currently equipped with two pistols, a Mauser pistol, and a 2-shot Mauser pistol.

The Lurex pistol is excellent for self-defense, but it is slightly inferior to the 20-shot revolver in front-line combat.

In addition to its range and power, the LSR is semi-automatic, while the 20-shot can be adjusted to fully automatic and used as a submachine gun. This alone establishes the status of the Mauser C in China, even though the Mauser C is much more expensive than the LSR.

Wei Dayong ran to the field excitedly and brought over the prey that Chen Chengxing had caught.

"Captain, look! A wild rabbit! It's so fat, at least 5 kilograms!" Wei Dayong said excitedly.

"Send it back and ask the kitchen staff to make braised rabbit meat today." Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

"Hey!" Wei Dayong's mouth almost stretched to the back of his head when he heard about braised rabbit meat. If the commander had something to eat, then he, as a guard, would also have something to eat!

"Kong Hanwen!" Chen Chengxing waved his hand to signal the commander of the supplementary battalion to come over.

"Captain."

"Are there often wild rabbits in potato fields?" asked Chen Chengxing.

"It happens all the time, and there are a lot of them in the sweet potato fields. If they are not discovered in time, a lot of them can be wasted in one night," said Kong Hanwen.

The soldiers of the supplementary battalion do not have the marksmanship skills of the regiment commander, and they are reluctant to use bullets, so they can only arrange more people to patrol.

"Lao Luo, what do you think about us raising some rabbits?" Chen Chengxing suggested to Luo Ping who was standing beside him.

Wild rabbits have amazing reproductive capacity. Although they don’t have much fat on their bodies, they are a rare source of protein for the Eighth Route Army.

And it is entirely possible to cut grass for feeding.

"We can try it." Luo Ping said, looking at the potato field. It would be a great thing if it could provide more nutrition to the soldiers.

"I think we can set up a breeding team. In addition to wild rabbits, we can also raise chickens and pigs," said Chen Chengxing.

If you are raising chickens, you can use humus and leaves to raise earthworms, and then cook the earthworms and feed them with some vegetable leaves. Using earthworms to raise chickens can not only reduce breeding costs, but also improve the growth efficiency and egg production of chickens.

For pigs, you can cut grass for them. Although this will slow their growth, you can still get 70 to 80 kilograms of meat in a year.

"Well, I support this matter." Luo Ping said.

Luo Ping has already thought that once the breeding team is on the right track, he can encourage villagers to raise fish on credit, so that the villagers can have another way to generate income.

"Okay, let's harvest the potatoes first, and then discuss it in detail." Chen Chengxing said.

The most important thing now is to see how the potato harvest goes.

"Okay, comrades, let's go together and see what we have harvested." Luo Ping called.

"Okay!" Everyone started to move forward.

However, after just a few minutes, everyone's expressions changed.

That’s too many potatoes!
"Old Chen, we've only planted one acre of land. Based on the current yield estimates, it should be at least 3 kilograms, right?!" Luo Ping said in shock.

You have to know that this acre of land is not fully planted because there are not many seeds, so the seeds are planted sparsely. If it were fully planted, wouldn’t it be 4,000 to 5,000 kilograms? !
"Just collect them all and weigh them and you'll know." Chen Chengxing looked at the pile of potatoes with a look of joy on his face.

Since this acre of potatoes was planted, Chen Chengxing would come to check on it every now and then whenever he was in the base. Now it is finally time for a big harvest.

"Hurry! Dig out all the potatoes, don't leave any behind!" Luo Ping shouted.

Every one of these potatoes is very precious.

"Yes!" Everyone was enthusiastic as they looked at the piles of potatoes.

Dozens of people harvested all the potatoes in less than 10 minutes, and even turned the soil over to ensure that no potato was caught.

After weighing the potatoes in batches and adding up the weight, Luo Ping shouted, "3342 kilograms!"

"Oh!~~" Everyone jumped up excitedly.

They all come from peasant backgrounds and know very well what this means.

"Hurry up and take them back. Go back and dig a cellar for me immediately! These potatoes must be stored well because they need to be planted next year!" Luo Ping said excitedly.

It is a bit late now and there is no time to plant. They can plant one season in February or March next year. After harvesting in June and July, they can plant another season in August. By next year, they can promote it throughout the base.

"Lao Luo, please spare 1000 kilograms and I will send it to the brigade headquarters." Chen Chengxing interrupted.

The New Second Regiment alone is not enough to complete the large-scale promotion of high-yield potatoes, and it must rely on the strength of the headquarters and northern Shaanxi.

"Yes, yes, brigade headquarters, brigade headquarters!" Luo Ping reacted and realized that they could not forget other brother units when they had such a great opportunity.

Luo Ping hurriedly asked people to prepare a team of pack horses.

The distance from Dayun Mountain to the brigade headquarters is not short, and it has to pass through the enemy-occupied area, so it is very inconvenient to drive a horse-drawn carriage.

As the soldiers were preparing to load the horses, Luo Ping asked Chen Chengxing, "Old Chen, I heard that our other troops have built many new bases, and the bases are developing very fast and expanding very quickly. Should we also expand?"

Chen Chengxing did not answer immediately after hearing Luo Ping's words, but thought carefully. Chen Chengxing knew very well that the expansion Luo Ping was talking about was to develop towards the guerrilla zone outside Dayun Mountain, or even further out.

We must destroy the pseudo-regimes such as the Maintenance Association established by the devils in the guerrilla zones, and then have the Eighth Route Army carry out political, military, and cultural construction, rather than simply having guerrillas operate there.

The expansion of the base is beneficial to the development of the New Second Regiment. At the very least, it can collect more public grain.

But after careful consideration, Chen Chengxing said, "Lao Luo, I think we should not expand blindly, but proceed in an orderly manner."

When Luo Ping heard that Chen Chengxing was unwilling, he wanted to persuade him again: "But the other troops."

"Now is not the time. The Japs are not weak, but they don't take the Eighth Route Army seriously yet. It will be disadvantageous for us to expand out of the mountainous area rashly now." Chen Chengxing interrupted.

When the Battle of Wuhan is over, the Japanese will give up the all-out offensive, and their attention will inevitably shift to the security battle in the rear.

If the business is spread too wide, it will likely lead to unnecessary losses. Now is not the time for the New Second Group to develop rapidly.

Chen Chengxing couldn't control other troops, but what the New Second Regiment had to do now was to accumulate strength and wait for the opportunity.

Seeing that Chen Chengxing was determined, Luo Ping said nothing more. He suggested that they first strengthen the control over the guerrilla zone through the guerrillas and then gradually advance outward. Although this would be slow, it would be more stable.

At the brigade headquarters, the brigade commander was talking to the deputy brigade commander about the situation of the troops when they suddenly heard shouting from outside.

"Commander, Commander! I see you are coming."

"Is this Chen Chengxing's voice? Why is he here?" the brigade commander asked in surprise.

The New Second Regiment's base was hundreds of miles away from the brigade headquarters. Although there were always communicators coming and going, Chen Chengxing had never been to the brigade headquarters.

Just as I was thinking about it, Chen Chengxing had already walked to the door.

"Report."

"come in."

"Brigade Commander, Deputy Brigade Commander!" Chen Chengxing saluted with a smile.

"Chen Chengxing, you never come to visit someone without a reason. Tell me, what trouble have you caused this time?" said the brigade commander.

This was the only situation the brigade commander could think of that would cause Chen Chengxing to come here in person from hundreds of miles away.

"Brigade Commander, look at what you said. If I'm fine, I can't come." Chen Chengxing said unconvinced. He was not a troublemaker like Li Yunlong.

"Brigade Commander, look, I brought you some good stuff, one thousand kilograms of high-yield potatoes!" Chen Chengxing said as he put a potato in his hand on the table.

"Chen Chengxing, Chen Chengxing, such a small thing has become a treasure?! I remember you seized two or three thousand bags of rice when you attacked the Xiji stronghold? Are you trying to fool me with this?" The brigade commander said, picking up the potato on the table.

Although this potato is quite big, a potato is still a potato. So what if it weighs a thousand kilograms?

The brigade commander casually handed the potatoes to the guard Xiao Qi and asked him to take them to the kitchen to roast them and try them.

"You don't understand this, Brigade Commander." Chen Chengxing looked confident.

"Do you know how many fields produced these 1,000 kilograms of potatoes?" asked Chen Chengxing.

"You still want to test me? Although I have never farmed, the yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes per mu is basically one thousand kilograms. Even if you take good care of yours and make it bigger, it won't be much different." The brigade commander said disdainfully.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes are widely grown in the north, and the yield per mu is basically around 4 kilograms. However, when the actual output is calculated, the water is removed, usually at a ratio of 1:5 or 1:.

The total yield is 200-250 kilograms per mu, which is not much different from the 180-plus kilograms per mu yield of corn and sorghum, but is much lower than the 300-kilogram per mu yield of rice.

"Haha...Brigade Commander, you are wrong. These are the yields of 3 mu of land, and those are 3 mu of land that are not fully planted. The actual yield should be less than 2 and a half mu." Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

The yield of high-yield potatoes is a dimensionality reduction blow to all current crops.

"How much?!" the brigade commander asked in surprise.

"200 kilograms of potatoes, planted on one mu of land, have a yield of 1 kilograms! This is planted on wasteland. If it is planted on fertile land with a windlass well and fertilizer is applied, doubling the yield will be a problem." Chen Chengxing said confidently.

"Is this true? You didn't lie to me?" the brigade commander asked anxiously.

If the output is really that much, it would be a huge deal.

"It's absolutely genuine. Everyone in the regiment harvested it together." Chen Chengxing patted his chest and said confidently. There was nothing worth lying about this matter.

After Chen Chengxing finished speaking, the brigade commander ignored him and stood up and immediately ordered: "Come here, go call Xiao Qi back and bring me the potatoes intact, quickly!"

"Brigade Commander, it's no big deal to eat one." Chen Chengxing said, there are still a lot outside.

"Is this a potato? If you plant this potato in one season, you can harvest more than 100 kilograms. If you plant it in another season, you can harvest more than 1 kilograms. Can I eat 1 kilograms of potatoes in one bite? I don't have that big an appetite." said the brigade commander.

If you want to try it, wait until next year. It’s not too late then.

If the yield of this potato is really that high, then as long as it is not poisonous, the taste doesn't matter at all.

After the brigade commander saw a staff officer running out, he sat down and said, "Chen Chengxing, if this is true, then you have done a great deed."

"But where did you get these potatoes?" the brigade commander asked curiously.

The brigade commander had never even heard of potatoes with such a high yield per mu, let alone seen one.

"It was captured in the war. I don't know how it got here," said Chen Chengxing.

The existence of the system is simply inexplicable, and under the influence of the system, Chen Chengxing couldn't say anything even if he wanted to.

Hearing that Chen Chengxing didn't know the source either, the brigade commander had no choice but to give up. After all, it was a war and who knew what might be captured.

When the brigade commander ambushed the Japanese before, he even seized an antique bronze Buddha statue from the Japanese soldiers. The statue weighed more than 20 kilograms. No one knew how the Japanese soldiers managed to carry it into battle.

I really don't want to carry 20 kilograms of supplies, but I can walk briskly with 20 kilograms of treasure.

Chen Chengxing did not stay in the brigade headquarters for long. After having a meal, he rushed back.

We have to leave. The brigade commander has already started asking about the development status and weapons of the New Second Regiment. If the brigade commander knew about the equipment of the New Second Regiment, I'm afraid we would have to go as a guest of the New Second Regiment.

After Chen Chengxing left, the deputy brigade commander looked at the potatoes in the sack and asked, "Brigade commander, what should we do with these potatoes?"

The brigade commander thought for a moment and said, "Divide these potatoes in half, send half to the headquarters and the other half to northern Shaanxi."

In the Eighth Route Army, the 386th Brigade is positioned as a mobile force. It currently does not have its own fixed base, so it is not very convenient for it to plant crops.

After the potatoes are sent to the headquarters, they can be planted centrally by the headquarters or distributed to various bases for planting as appropriate.

Northern Shaanxi is also experiencing a food shortage now, and sending some potatoes to northern Shaanxi can effectively improve the current situation of the border government.

The 386th Brigade is now closer to northern Shaanxi than to the headquarters, so there is no need to send it to the headquarters for another round.

(End of this chapter)