Chapter 678 Little 217s (Thanks to ‘Dentist’ for the 500 reward)

Xinzhou has completely changed.

After being examined by a doctor, the victims outside the city would first go to the porridge stall to get a bowl of millet porridge, thus marking the beginning of the entire day.

Xu Chaoyang put a lot of thought into this bowl of porridge. First of all, the porridge must not be too thick. He was afraid that these people had been hungry for too long and would wolf down the porridge in a hurry. If the porridge was too thick, it would easily burn their stomachs when they swallowed it so quickly. Secondly, their stomachs were already very small due to hunger and had to be expanded little by little. If he fed them enough from the beginning, at least a few of them would die of overeating before they would understand how to eat. Finally, Xu Chaoyang had to save some food, after all, the crops in the fields had not yet been stored.

After eating the millet porridge, the victims, with light in their eyes, will go to the school. What are they taught here? Mine safety knowledge and ideological transformation classes, which also include cultural classes. Anyway, there are two classes every morning. There are quizzes in each class. Those who fail will be replaced immediately. Those who are eliminated need to wait until the next day to go back to class. And, there is no food.

So, who are qualified?
There is lunch at noon. Although it is still millet porridge in the porridge stall, this time the millet porridge is thicker and is served with some salty pickles.

After lunch, they would take a short rest and then go to get tools and work with the Russians in the afternoon. The 217s who had joined the work earlier all became their leaders and began to command this group of people. After the work was finished, a group of workers with good performance would be selected every day. They could go to work in the thermal power plant, eat in the cafeteria every day, get work clothes from the thermal power plant, and live in a dormitory.

This group of people no longer have to be disaster victims and can even receive very meager wages.

Inside the thermal power plant, there was a group of people speaking with a Pingjin accent, who were constantly debugging the machines. Some of them had worked in the Tianjin Thermal Power Plant, while others were reserve college students recruited by the 217th Army in Tianjin. Their education level was more suitable for working here. As for the coolies needed by the thermal power plant, such as coal-related jobs, they all went to these disaster victims.

At this time, no disaster victim came forward to talk to Xu Chaoyang about “human rights”. They just did whatever they were assigned to do immediately, and as long as the next meal could be guaranteed, they would not be picky about what to eat.

Even the women among the refugees found jobs under Xu Chaoyang’s arrangement…

Outside Xin County, the women among the refugees gathered here. The military doctors here gave them medical training and taught them emergency first aid knowledge. People from the clothing factory taught them how to produce, and people from the military food processing factory taught them how to make military food suitable for carrying…

The new recruits with Shanxi accents were training in the wilderness, and those who used to work in the Dagu Factory were assembling machinery in the arsenal. In other words, when the entire Xinzhou was waiting for coal to be dug out and to start complete industrial operations, the Russians finally brought good news.

“Chaoyang!”

“The coal is out!”

“Xinzhou Coal Mine finally produces coal!”

Yang Jingyu rushed into the office excitedly, holding the test report and said, “We have coal. The first truck of coal was dug out at 10:30 this morning. From today on, there will be a steady supply of coal shipped to the thermal power plant. The electricity from the thermal power plant will be fed back to the coal mine and transported to the arsenal, hospital and military food production and processing plant. This time our Xin County is completely done!”

Two days later, as more and more refugees entered Xinzhou and the mine was in the initial stage of excavation and did not require so much manpower, even the people in the county town could speak with a Henan accent!

When the mines no longer needed so many people, the refugees began to participate in the construction of Xin County.

“Chaoyang, why is this county town so full of people now?”

Deng Xihou was puzzled when he saw the changes in Xin County. Xin County was no longer half under construction and half in ruins. Instead, after the refugees from Henan entered, the entire city was under construction. How many days had passed? The ruins in the city had been cleared. Once the Henan people started working, they spared no effort!

If you don’t believe me, just think about how many migrant workers from Henan were employed in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou between 2000 and 2015. How could those buildings have been built so quickly without migrant workers from Henan, Sichuan, Northeast China, and Anhui? How is that possible?

Why don’t you try hiring some local natives and see if anyone is willing to do the job!
At the same time, Xu Chaoyang was also very busy. He had to find time to speak before he opened his mouth to Deng Xihou and said, “Then you just watch? Your Sichuan troops are almost getting lice from the humidity in the mountains, right? Can’t you pull them down to help?”

Deng Xihou was embarrassed by his words, so he sent two regiments the next day. Three days later, four more regiments were sent. It seemed that every county in Xinzhou was filled up.

“report!”

“The coal storage capacity of the thermal power plant and the coal supply from the Xinzhou coal mine after its gradual expansion are sufficient to generate electricity. Please instruct us on whether to supply electricity to the entire county!”

When this exciting moment appeared in front of Xu Chaoyang, the feeling of seeing the results soon after going through so many difficulties made Xu Chaoyang feel excited. He looked at Yang Jingyu at this time…

“Don’t worry, I have checked all the circuits in Xin County. All the aging wires have been removed, and all the hidden dangers from the last power-on test have been eliminated.”

Xu Chaoyang then turned around and said, “Turn on the power!”

“Yes!” Shortly after the soldier turned and left, Yang Jingyu immediately walked to the door and shouted to the headquarters courtyard: “Close the switch!” Immediately afterwards, a sound of electric current came over.

The next second, Yang Jingyu pressed his hand on the light switch in the room – click.

After a crisp sound, in broad daylight, a yellow light was lit at the Xin County 217 Command Headquarters!
At that time, Xu Chaoyang was sitting on a chair, looking up at the lamp. He was reluctant to take his eyes away when he saw the halo of the filament appear in front of his eyes in the blink of an eye.

This is the city built by Xu Chaoyang. Now the city has electricity. That feeling… is awesome!

In the next few days, good news continued to come. The Martin furnace in the arsenal had been assembled and was just waiting for ore. At the same time, the Russians sent the latest news at the copper mine, saying that the first batch of ore was about to be unearthed!
At the same time, there was news about the iron mine in Yan’an…

Bell~
“Hello? 217.”

“Let Xu Chaoyang answer the phone…”

“Chaoyang?”

When Xu Chaoyang answered the phone at the headquarters, a calm and festive voice came over.

“I have good news for you. Our iron mine is ready. Your arsenal can be fully operational.”

The moment he said this, Xu Chaoyang tightly grasped the microphone…

“happy?”

“Ok!”

“are you happy?”

“Ok!”

Can he be unhappy?

It has been half a year, they have been running Xin County for a full half a year!
“Then I’ll tell you another good news.”

“Some of your little 217s are old enough to join the army.”

When Xu Chaoyang heard this, he felt as if he had heard “217 has a successor”. In his heart…

“The organization has decided to send the first batch of children to Xinzhou. This time, Chang Zhan will take them back.”

Is Lao Chang coming back?

“The teaching team led by Comrade Chang Zhan has trained a large number of soldiers for us. Now their combat experience has become the basis for all armed forces behind enemy lines to defeat the enemy. Recently, we have had many exchanges of fire with the devils in Shandong, Chahar, and Pingjin, and have won more than we have lost. Many bases behind enemy lines have developed to a certain scale, and the 217 has made an indelible contribution!”

“it is good.”

The moment Xu Chaoyang sat on the chair, he was like an old father who had finally raised his child to adulthood, full of satisfaction, because this was 217 that he had brought up.

“Now, let’s talk business, shall we?”

Xu Chaoyang looked into the room in confusion. He didn’t expect that after talking about thirteen moves, he actually just got down to business: “Wasn’t what you just talked about business?”

“You were sued by Old Lady Yan.”

(End of this chapter)