50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 224 What's it like to drive a tank with one hand?

In 12 days, Sun Zhiwei completed three courses: chemical defense, first aid, and combat.

He still needs long-term practice in combat, but that can't be accomplished in a short time. He decided to get up early every day to practice for an hour and make it a habit.

On the thirteenth day, Sun Zhiwei began learning to drive.

Cars, trucks, and motorcycles are three common types of vehicles, and they are not difficult to learn.

The most difficult type is the large truck. Modern trucks don't have power steering, so driving them is really hard work. But this wasn't a problem for Sun Zhiwei; he's just very strong.

He already knew how to drive in his previous life, so he learned quickly again. He basically drove a different car model every day, and once he was familiar with it, he stopped changing cars.

The soldiers in the motor transport unit were not very satisfied with his way of learning. They felt that he was wasting his time, not learning the essentials, and that it would be troublesome if he didn't know how to repair vehicles.

But what they don't know is that there are countless cars abroad. Instead of spending time repairing cars, they should learn how to unlock them so they can easily change cars.

After completing basic driving training in a short period of time, he began to formally learn armored vehicle driving, which means learning to drive armored vehicles, tanks, and self-propelled artillery.

The base's war reserve warehouse stores domestically produced vehicles. The onboard equipment is not very advanced, but it has the basic equipment.

Sun Zhiwei didn't want to be a tank soldier; he just wanted to learn the basic operations.

How to drive the car, how to refuel, how to observe and aim, how to load ammunition and fire.

As for more detailed offensive and defensive tactics, he didn't need to learn them at all.

He wasn't planning to drive the tank into battle; he just wanted to use it as a means of transportation. He just needed to be able to drive it out when necessary, or at least hit its target.

The soldier who taught him tank driving had participated in the battles in the north a few years ago. When he was teaching Sun Zhiwei, he lamented that our country did not have heavy tanks.

"We spent a lot of effort to focus our fire and take down one of those big guys, but then the other side tried to steal our loot."

"Could we agree to that? We could just use artillery to bombard them. As a result, the ice broke, and that big guy sank to the bottom of the water."

"Hehe, in the end we still managed to drag them back."

Photo: A T-62 captured in 1969, currently at the Military Museum of the People's Revolution.

"That thing was really big, six or seven meters long, three or four meters wide, and two or three heads taller than a person. It was also very heavy. We had to mobilize several hundred young men to drag it back."

"I heard that big guy was taken back to a research institute for study."

"I'm not bragging, but I reckon once the research is finished, it will definitely be put on display. You'll see for yourself then."

Sun Zhiwei knew he wasn't bragging; in his previous life, he had actually visited an exhibition hall to see the actual artifacts.

Currently, our best tank is the Type 69, which is not as good as the captured one in terms of performance, and there are very few of them, so it is impossible to store them in warehouses without using them.

Therefore, Sun Zhiwei is currently using the previous generation Type 59 main battle tank—my country's first-generation main battle tank—for practice. Although its performance is not as good as the newer models, it is sufficient for practicing driving.

Tank driving and car driving are two completely different things, because the driver's seat in a tank has a narrow field of vision and requires the assistance of other crew members to observe.

It would be quite difficult for Sun Zhiwei to drive the tank by himself.

But this didn't stump him. The field of vision inside the tank was narrow, but he had a cheat code. With the cheat code, driving in a straight line was still no problem.

Tanks can be driven, so self-propelled artillery and armored vehicles are even less of a problem. After learning all three, Commander An still hadn't returned, and no one knew where he had gone to report.

With things not settled, he couldn't practice on major projects, so he had to return to his department and find Director Xu. He hoped the department could help him find instructors in the fields of lock picking, pharmacology, cryptography, key knowledge, and intelligence gathering and analysis.

Director Xu was incredibly resourceful; he found a locksmith the very next day. This locksmith, Mr. Cao, used to be a locksmith. In those dark times, he was probably not exactly a clean person.

Fortunately, after liberation, the public-private partnership was implemented, and the Cao family's small business became part of the local industry.

The section chief found this person through a friend's connection. He gave the address to Sun Zhiwei and instructed him, "You're going there to learn the craft, so don't say anything else."

Sun Zhiwei immediately realized that the locksmith, Master Cao, was not one of their own.

That makes sense. In terms of social class, Master Cao was a small business owner. Before liberation, if a locksmith like him could make a living in Beijing, he must have had someone supporting him.

Over time, his hands and feet may not be so clean.

The reason they didn't kill him was probably because he was skilled and still somewhat useful.

That morning, Sun Zhiwei brought some gifts and went to Desheng Street, where he was warmly received by Officer Li.

Upon hearing the purpose of his visit, Officer Li immediately understood.

The neighborhood director had already given the order, so he didn't dare to delay and personally took Sun Zhiwei to find Cao the locksmith.

Mr. Cao's family of seven lives in a large courtyard with three rooms.

The officer who brought him here, Officer Li, didn't treat Master Cao with the same enthusiasm he had shown to him; instead, a fierce glint appeared in his eyes.

Master Cao and his family treated Officer Li with a mixture of respect and fear.

"Officer Li is here! What a rare guest! Please come in, let me pour you some tea."

Officer Li said impatiently, "No need, I have something important to discuss with you today."

"This is the commander who has come to learn your skills. You must teach him well. If you don't do your best or resort to tricks, you know the consequences."

"No, no, I will definitely teach the people you brought with all my heart. I, Old Man Cao, guarantee that I will not cheat or shirk my duty."

Only after hearing this did a slight smile appear on Officer Li's face.

"It's good that you know. This was ordered by the director. If it's handled well, your eldest son's matter will be much easier to resolve."

"Really? Thank you, Officer Li. Thank you, Officer Li."

"You silly woman, hurry up and bring the things over."

Sun Zhiwei could tell they had something to do, but he was just there to learn how to pick locks and had nothing to do with local matters.

"Officer Li, is there a restroom nearby? I was in a rush just now."

"Yes, yes, let Old Cao's youngest son take you there. It's just around the corner."

Just as Sun Zhiwei turned to leave with the child, Lao Cao's wife brought out an exquisite wooden box.

Officer Li glanced nervously at Sun Zhiwei, but Sun Zhiwei was only focused on talking to the child and walking out, not even noticing Old Cao's wife coming out from the side.

Old Cao and Officer Li both breathed a sigh of relief and watched Sun Zhiwei leave the house.

(End of this chapter)