Location: In Hengyang City, it’s still the same one-meter stall.
It's amazing to say that Yang Dongli and the others, who were driven out of the military gate, subconsciously wandered around the streets and came to a roadside rice noodle stall again.
After seeing this, Yang Dongli was as excited as Hu Biao, and he instinctively shouted:
"Brothers, don't ignore those things now. Let's get together and have a bowl of rice noodles. I, Lao Yang, invited you."
So, these five people hugged a big earthen bowl one after another. In the bowl, there were only vegetarian noodles and pickles, and they started eating on the table.
In the same process, Yang Dongli also asked the old man why he didn't evacuate, and got almost the same answer.
Suddenly, the idea of letting Yang Dongli have another bowl felt a little boring.
When they were almost done eating, the translator spoke:
"Lao Yang, I think since we can't start from the top of the 10th Army to quickly develop and promote new defenses, then we should start from the grassroots level bit by bit.
The effect of doing this is slightly worse, but it’s better than doing nothing, right?”
After hearing such a statement, Yang Dongli nodded silently. It seemed that this was the only way now.
Then, while smoking cigarettes and walking like a meander, they came to the Xiaxin Street area of Hengyang City.
Suddenly, by coincidence, I saw a lieutenant of the Fruit Army, commanding a group of workers to strengthen the fortifications.
Specifically, trenches have been excavated on an open ground with a height of about 1.5 meters. Various types of wood are being used to support and reinforce these positions of anti-blast holes in some trenches.
In addition, some barricades arranged with sandbags a little further away are also gradually being formed.
Upon seeing this, Yang Dongli and the others couldn't help but look at each other, knowing that the opportunity had come.
However, before this action, Yang Dongli and a few others figured it out; instead of letting the big liar take action, Yang Dongli showed the attitude that one should have when running business in the modern dimension.
He put on a harmless smile on his face, took out a cigarette in his hand, and took action personally.
The four people, the translator, warehouse manager, Mang, and Dahuyou, didn't need to say hello, they just followed them.
He leaned over and put a whole pack of cigarettes into the hands of the lieutenant, who was probably in his 30s, and said with a flattering look:
"Sir, what you say is how to repair fortifications. We, the errands, don't understand this. But after looking over there for a while today, I happened to have a little question that I wanted to ask for advice on."
"Hardman? It's a nice smoke." The lieutenant who took the cigarette looked at it and said with a bit of surprise.
Based on the current military pay standards, a lieutenant like him can receive a normal pay of 60 French yuan, plus a national disaster pay of 40 French yuan.
After adding them all together, the military salary of 100 French coins seems not low.
But the value of legal currency depends on when. You can buy a cow in 36 years, and you can buy a pig in 39 years.
After all, it's a lot of money.
But at this time in 1944, I can only buy one chicken that is not very fat; even at this time next year, I can only buy two eggs in these years.
Therefore, for the lieutenant who did not have much food left on hand, a whole bag of Hardmen actually represented a great deal of sincerity.
Therefore, the lieutenant said with some enthusiasm:
"It's okay, brother, if you don't understand anything, just ask; I joined the army when the Japanese invaded Wuhan, and then fought in Guangzhou, Guinan and other major battles, as well as many other small battles.
Now I'm 6 years younger, and I really know a lot about war."
After hearing this sentence, Yang Dongli, with a simple and honest expression on his face, immediately asked as if he was pretending to be a pig eating a tiger:
"Sir, although I haven't taken any ordinary courses in the past few years, I have heard many wounded soldiers say many things about the war.
They said that the Japanese had heavy artillery with a caliber of 150 mm, which was as scary as thunder when fired. After the boss's shells were fired, a big pit was created on the spot.
There are other Japanese planes flying in the sky that lay eggs, oh! Those things should be called aerial bombs. It is said that the aerial bombs they drop are more powerful, and after they fall, no humans or animals will be left alive.
No! We started to think about it. Will it be safe to hide in the hole you used to support it with wood?
If it's safe, if we don't have time to run into the air-raid shelter, we can hide in these holes of yours to save our own lives."
"Of course it's not safe. Don't even think about such a good thing."
When he heard such a question, the lieutenant's face could not help but reveal a bitter expression, as if some unbearable past events were echoing.
After a pause, he spoke slowly with a tone of lingering fear:
"Whether it is a 150mm heavy artillery or an aerial bomb of 50Kg and above, no such fortification strength can withstand it. If it is hit directly, it can only be regarded as bad luck.
Because those who hide inside are basically buried inside; even if it is time to dig them out, their internal organs will be shattered, and they will not survive at all."
Fortunately, at this time, Yang Dongli tactfully stated his purpose:
"Boss, let me share my immature views.
A few days ago, weren't the officials worried that after the Japanese seized the railway, they would use the Hunan-Guangxi-Guizhou Railway to advance rapidly? At that time, they called on everyone to dismantle the railway for a long time.
So since so many rails and sleepers were removed, why not reinforce these things over these holes? I thought, they are stronger than these timbers, right?"
The suggestion from Yang Dongli's mouth was made by the Xiongnu Dharma God, a top student who graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology in civil engineering.
Not to be outdone, he added a new point:
"Sir, in fact, I usually just think about it when I have nothing to do, and I also have some immature ideas.
You said that if during a fight, you were faced with Japanese heavy artillery bombardment and aircraft bombing, why did you stupidly get bombed on the position?
Why not send a small number of sentries and security personnel to stand guard at the front line first, while the large troops hide in the strong holes at the back, and when the fighting breaks out, they can come up through the support of traffic trenches."
The words in Cangguan's mouth just fell, and the mouths of Mang and the translator also started to say:
"Yes, yes! The boss still has me, and I have an idea~"
Among the several stories, the second lieutenant was so shocked that his mouth subconsciously grew bigger, showing the overwhelming emotions in his heart.
In fact, in the construction of fortifications, there are many tactical things, which are just separated by a layer of window paper.
After it was truly explained, it was just that, but the huge changes to the war were real.
Therefore, in the huge shock, the lieutenant did not speak for a long time, so that Yang Dongli and the others were a little doubtful whether they had said something wrong somewhere.
The lieutenant slapped Yang Dongli hard on the shoulder and shouted loudly:
"Good boy, you are born to be a war material; no, you are all a war material. Don't worry about other things. From now on, follow me to Xinjie Street."
In this way, although Yang Dongli and the others' process had some twists and turns, they entered normal progress.
I don’t know how the lieutenant named Yang Guodong got in touch.
At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a car loaded with sleepers and rails slowly drove near the position that was being strengthened.
After stretching their bodies for a while, Yang Dongli and others personally participated in the construction of such a brand-new fortification.
A group of several people carried these heavy rails and moved towards the position with difficulty. It can be said that the life of being a cow and a horse has begun again.