Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 175 Old man, are you playing me?

The spring-sown potatoes are harvested at the end of June, so Chen Chengxing was not present during the harvest. However, by the time of sowing in August, Chen Chengxing had returned.

When the local people learned that the New Second Regiment had such a high yield of potatoes, they went crazy. They had never heard of any grain with such a high yield, and that it could produce a lot on such poor land.

Therefore, when preparing to sow in August, Hongni Bay was directly surrounded by the people.

Even people from Jiaozi Mountain, more than 50 miles away, have come here, and I don’t know where they got the information from.

The village heads and clan elders from each village kicked down the door of the New Second Regiment’s headquarters, expressing their willingness to assist the New Second Regiment in growing potatoes at all costs.

"Captain Chen, just say the word and we can plant as much as you want. We will provide the land and the people, and we can split the profits 30% to 70%. We take 30%." said the head of Liujia Village.

"Old Liu, your abacus beads are falling on my face, and you still want a 30%-70% split? Captain Chen, if you go to our village, we only want 20%." The head of Xiasha Village said immediately.

"Sha Dabao, you want to go against me?! We want 10%!"

"Xiasha Village will help for free, as long as they can leave some for us!"

Not to mention 10%, as long as seeds can be left for Xiasha Village, the village chief of Xiasha Village will dare to contribute manpower and land for free. This one potato may be the life of Xiasha Village in the future.

"We worked for nothing!"
"Everyone! Everybody!" Seeing that the old men below were about to fight, Chen Chengxing hurriedly spoke out to stop them.

"Don't worry, I know how you feel. Please rest assured that I have already made arrangements. Each village will be allocated dozens to hundreds of kilograms of seeds according to the population, and the New Second Regiment will also send people to help you."

"As for the profit sharing, there is no need to do that. When the harvest comes, everyone can return the potatoes."

At the end of June, the New Second Regiment harvested 6 to kilograms of potatoes, so many potatoes could be planted on hundreds of acres of land.

Although it is not impossible to grow the new second group, it takes too much energy to take good care of it.

The New Second Regiment is a regular army, not a farming unit, so it is impossible for them to focus all their energy on this.

When potatoes are distributed to each village, the villagers will definitely worship them as their ancestors. The harvest in each village may not be much this year, but by June next year, the output will definitely show explosive growth. By then, the local government will just need to collect taxes according to the standards.

As long as potatoes come in, the output of the New Second Regiment's wine and medical alcohol factory will increase significantly, the breeding team's breeding volume will also increase, and the people in each village will start raising chickens or pigs. This is a positive cycle.

As long as this cycle begins, even during the most difficult times in 41 and 42, the New Second Regiment can rest assured and slowly accumulate strength.

When they heard Chen Chengxing say that each village would receive at least several dozen kilograms of potatoes, everyone immediately stopped arguing and started chatting normally, as if nothing had happened just now.

Chen Chengxing and Luo Ping looked at each other, it seemed that these old men were acting like them.

After finishing the potato planting, it was soon the end of September.

Since the failed mopping-up operation in August, the Japanese have made small moves from time to time, but there is no sign of launching another large-scale mopping-up operation.

Even when it was the autumn harvest season, the Japanese did not take action, but only let the puppet troops in various places cooperate with the local government to collect taxes.

The Japanese didn't care that they couldn't get food from the base and pretended they knew nothing.

During this period of more than a month, the New Second Regiment recovered and its combat effectiveness returned to its peak.

The main battalion began to cooperate with the guerrillas and the county brigade in frequent dispatches. The good days of the Japanese transport teams and artillery towers in various strongholds on the highway were over.

Half a year later, the Japanese invaders and traitors around Dayun Mountain once again felt the care and love shown to them by the New Second Regiment.

Just when the Dayunshan base was thriving, Ma Youfu came over.

When Chen Chengxing led his team to Ji Zhong, he often saw Ma Youfu in Hongni Bay, but when he returned to Dayun Mountain, he hadn't seen him for a long time. This was the first time the two met.

At this time, Ma Youfu looked much better than before, and he looked much more energetic.

"Captain, look!" Ma Youfu put a paper bag on the table as soon as he entered the door.

"What is this?" Chen Chengxing opened the small paper bag with some curiosity, and a small handful of white stuff appeared in front of him.

"White sugar!" Chen Chengxing excitedly picked up a little and tasted it. It was indeed white sugar.

"The beets have been harvested. This is the first round." Ma Youfu said with a smile.

"Great, that's great! What's the yield? How much sugar can be produced?" Chen Chengxing asked. This was what he cared about most.

"The land is still somewhat barren and lacks necessary fertilizers. According to my estimation, one acre can produce about 200 kilograms of sugar. I divided the seeds I brought back from the Northeast into two parts. This year, I planted a total of 2 acres, which means I can produce one ton of sugar. But I am already preparing to save seeds, and I should be able to plant 5 acres next year." Ma Youfu explained.

Beet is a biennial crop. If you want to plant it, you have to replant it next year, and then the seeds will be produced in July and August.

"One ton." Chen Chengxing thought about it. Although it was a little little, it was just the beginning after all. It should be enough for his temporary use.

"Director Ma, is there anything the sugar factory needs my help with now?" Chen Chengxing asked.

“Not yet.” Ma Youfu shook his head. The sugar factory’s current equipment was sufficient. Although many of them were built using primitive methods and had low efficiency, with such a small output, not much manpower and equipment were needed.

"Okay, you can come to me anytime if you need anything. After the sugar is produced, send it directly to the regiment headquarters. I will need it." Chen Chengxing instructed.

"The first batch is 5 kilograms. I'll have someone deliver it over later." Ma Youfu nodded. The sugar factory has small and few equipments, so it can only produce this much at a time.

"That's enough." Chen Chengxing nodded. Chen Chengxing, who had a mortar, did not plan to make rockets. Although he knew how to produce Kassan rockets and could already produce them, the hit rate of this thing was really touching.

The Eighth Route Army is different from Xiaoha. Xiaoha fights outwards. As long as they fight outwards, they don’t care where they go.

But the Eighth Route Army was fighting at home, and it would be troublesome if the bombing hit civilians.

After getting the sugar, Chen Chengxing turned around and went to the logistics department.

"Lao Luo!"

"Captain, are you looking for me?" Luo Yongan heard someone calling him and hurried over.

"Well, I have a task for you."

"You said that you would guarantee to complete the task." Luo Yongan said, patting his chest.

"Okay! This is for you. You can make compressed dry food according to this." Chen Chengxing handed the sugar and a piece of paper to Luo Yongan.

Because Chen Chengxing did not expect to have a long-distance march, he did not take the issue of field rations to heart. However, this time on the way from Dayun Mountain to Jizhong, Chen Chengxing had already noticed this matter.

When marching long distances or fighting wars, eating is a big problem.

With the current capabilities of the New Second Regiment, they can produce compressed dry food. Although the taste may not be very good, it is easy to carry and has a long shelf life. A palm-sized piece of compressed dry food should be enough to fill the stomachs of several people after being soaked in hot water.

"Compressed dry food?" Luo Yongan was confused. He had never heard of it before.

After opening the paper that Chen Chengxing handed to him, he found that it was simple. He only needed to fry the flour, mix it with ground dried fruits or beans, dried vegetables, dried meat, etc., blend it with lard, and add salt and sugar, and finally press it.

"Captain, this..." The logistics department now has all these things, and the craftsmanship is also the traditional fried noodles craftsmanship, but Luo Yongan can't guarantee that he can make it.

"You can try it first. I have already drawn a blueprint for the pressing equipment and handed it over to the machinery factory. They will make one for you using rail steel. You should first confirm the proportions and try the taste. Once the machine arrives, you can start experimenting with the specific formula."

This equipment was very simple. Given the ability of the workers in the arsenal to make their own processing equipment, it was only a piece of cake for them to make a few compression devices.

"Compress the dry food. The key is compression. Compress it as hard as you can." Chen Chengxing instructed.

The New Second Regiment does not have the ability to vacuum pack, so the drier and harder the compressed dry food it produces, the longer it can be preserved.

"Yes!" Luo Yongan had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Fortunately, this thing can still be eaten even if it fails, so it’s not a waste, at most it just tastes bad.

Of course, Chen Chengxing did not let Luo Yongan do it alone. In the next few days, as long as he has time, Chen Chengxing will go to help with logistics.

The progress of compressing dry food was also smooth, and the finished product was produced in just a few days.

“Lao Luo, let’s produce it like this first. We can add other good things later. The first batch will not be sent out for now. Leave it in the warehouse and see how long it can be stored.” Chen Chengxing said after tasting the compressed dry food.

Although the taste is not very good and it is dry and makes the throat hurt, it is almost as hard as a brick and should be able to be stored for a long time.

"Yes!" Luo Yongan looked at the compressed dry food in his hand and felt like a new door had opened.

He knew before that fried noodles were easy to store, but he didn't expect that the noodles could be compressed after being fried. This would be of great benefit in both transportation and storage.

As for the storage of compressed dry food, just wrap it with oil paper and seal it in a wooden box. This will prevent moisture and extend the storage period.

After Chen Chengxing explained some precautions to Luo Yongan and was about to return to the regiment headquarters, he heard the system's voice rang.

[Side quest: Standard rifle. Completed! ]

【Rewards are waiting to be claimed! 】

【Please select the size of the bullet mold! 】

Chen Chengxing had already made the decision on the mold: 7.62*39 mm.

If the system does not reward molds, it would be more appropriate to choose the 1938*7.92 mm invented in Germany in 33, because part of the original production line can be utilized.

But since the system directly gave the mold, there is nothing much to say. After all, 7.62*39mm is the most successful intermediate-power bullet.

Moreover, we may be able to obtain a new bullet production line from the Soviet Union in the future, so we don’t have to change the caliber later.

[Rewards are being distributed]

【Get the 7.62*39mm bullet mold! 】

"Monk, don't go back to the regiment headquarters, go to Erlang Mountain." Chen Chengxing said.

Now that the mission is completed, the gun must have been produced, and I must go and take a look.

"Oh." Wei Dayong hurried to find a horse.

Erlang Cave is so far away that you have to ride a horse to get there. If you rely on your own two feet, it will be dark when you get there.

(End of this chapter)