Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 264 Multiple Ways to Eat Fried Noodles

Right after Wang Gensheng gave the order to eat, Li Xiu, knowing she had talked too much, picked up the bag of fried noodles, grabbed a handful of fried flour, and stuffed it into her mouth.

Dry fried noodles are not so easy to swallow, so after swallowing for a while, Li Xiu coughed.

Immediately, the fried flour sprayed everywhere, and Li Xiu, looking mournful, said:
"Si Ling, I really can't swallow this fried flour!"

Seeing Li Xiu's predicament while eating fried noodles, Wang Gensheng's mind began to recall the reports he had seen before his time travel about the army aiding Chaozhou eating fried noodles.

On the battlefield in Chaozhou, the soldiers of the aid-to-Chaozhou army gradually figured out a variety of ways to eat fried noodles.

The most common way is to swallow in three gulps: first, take a mouthful of snow, then a small pinch of fried noodles, and finally drink a sip of water. This unique way of eating not only solves the problem of choking on fried noodles, but also replenishes the body with necessary water in extremely cold weather.

In addition, there is also snow-cooked fried noodles. During the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, a soldier surnamed Li from the Ninth Army Corps pioneered this method of eating fried noodles.

He filled his enamel mug with snow, and after the snow melted, he added fried noodles, stirred it well, and it was ready to eat. This method quickly spread throughout the army because it solved the drinking water problem while avoiding the danger of starting a fire and revealing the location.

However, clean snow wasn't available everywhere. In some battles, soldiers had to resort to a simpler method: putting the fried noodles directly into their mouths and letting them slowly melt on their tongues. While time-consuming, this was a necessary choice in emergencies, and it meant holding the noodles in their mouths for half an hour before swallowing them completely.
Besides the snow-cooked noodles method, there was also the dough method. As the war continued and winter passed with relatively higher temperatures and melting snow, the soldiers mixed the cooked noodles with stream water to make dough. This method not only increased satiety but also prolonged digestion time, allowing the soldiers to maintain their stamina for longer.

In addition, the soldiers creatively combined fried noodles with spoils of war. After capturing American chocolate, they crushed it and mixed it into the fried noodles. This method not only improved the taste but also increased the calories, providing more energy in cold weather.

As the war progressed, the troops continuously improved their methods of preparing fried noodles. For example, the "two-bag method" involved dividing the fried noodles into two small cloth bags, one for immediate consumption and the other tucked into their clothing to warm up. This prevented the noodles from freezing in cold weather and also made them easier to carry.

Besides these, a method of eating noodles called "fried dough" emerged. Soldiers would mix fried noodles with salt and water to form dough, then put it in their clothing pockets to keep it warm. By mealtime, the dough would have become soft and delicious. This method not only solved the problem of the fried noodles being dry but also prevented them from falling apart and being wasted during consumption.

Some units of the army that aided Chaozhou also summarized the "three no's" principle: no eating too much at once, no swallowing large mouthfuls, and no eating dry food.

These experiences were hard-won, gained through practice. It's worth noting that, according to records, in just the first few months of May, there were hundreds of cases of digestive problems caused by improper consumption of fried noodles.

However, by the latter half of 1951, various military units had established a training system for eating fried noodles. Whenever new recruits joined the army, veteran soldiers would teach them how to properly eat fried noodles. A training manual from the 38th Army even detailed twelve different ways of eating the noodles to adapt to different battlefield environments.

Thus, as the war progressed, the soldiers of the aid-to-Chaozhou army continuously summarized their experiences in practice, creating a variety of unique ways to eat fried noodles. These methods not only reflected the wisdom of the Huaguo soldiers but also provided important guarantees for the troops' survival in extreme environments. According to incomplete statistics, during the entire aid-to-Chaozhou war, the soldiers of the aid-to-Chaozhou army invented at least twenty different ways to eat fried noodles.

It is important to know that on the Chaozhou battlefield, fried noodles were not only a type of military ration, but also a key factor in the success of many major battles for the aid troops to Chaozhou.

For example, during the fourth campaign earlier this year, the 39th Army, which was sent to aid Chaozhou, encountered a large encirclement by US forces in the Hengcheng area. At that time, the troops had been fighting continuously for five days, and their supply lines had been cut off. It was thanks to the three kilograms of fried noodles carried by each soldier that the 39th Army finally broke through the encirclement and severely damaged a US battalion in the counterattack.

These portable military rations played an unexpected role in special campaigns. For example, in April 1951, when the 40th Army was carrying out an encirclement mission in the Baiyun Mountain area, they could not cook for seven whole days to avoid being exposed. The entire army relied on four jin of fried noodles per person to complete this arduous task. This operation not only successfully surrounded the enemy, but also caught the enemy completely off guard because the lack of cooking smoke gave away their position.

Finally, in the latter half of 1952, fried noodles were used more flexibly on the battlefield.

When the 38th Army conducted guerrilla warfare behind the US lines, they sustained their fighting capacity with the fried noodles in each soldier's backpack. This type of food, which did not require open flames, allowed the guerrillas to operate undetected in enemy-occupied areas for extended periods.

Reflecting on the meal of fried noodles and their role on the battlefield, Wang Gensheng made notes and decided to share these methods, along with precautions against napalm bombs, with the commander when he arrived at the front-line command post.

Now, Wang Gensheng took out an enamel mug and a kettle, poured in some fried noodles and some water, and started kneading the dough.

Soon the dry fried flour was kneaded into dough, and Wang Gensheng began to scoop out the dough with a spoon and eat it.

Seeing Wang Gensheng eat like this, Li Xiu immediately followed suit and started eating as well, saying as she ate:

"Si Ling, your way of eating fried noodles is really good. It's clean and you don't have to choke. How come I didn't think of that!"

Wang Gensheng's method was naturally promoted very quickly. Originally, Wu Qianli had the fried noodles in his mouth and was trying to swallow them with the water from the kettle.

However, this method is not very good because it is not easy to control the amount of water. For example, drinking too much water is a waste.

By then, I hadn't even eaten much of the fried noodles! I was already full from drinking water.

If there is too little water, it will be impossible to swallow, and you may even choke.

This method of first mixing the fried flour into a dough is just right; it doesn't waste water and allows you to quickly feel full without worrying about not being able to swallow it.

After eating, they rested for only half an hour before Wang Gensheng ordered them to continue their journey.

After all, Wang Gensheng was still tasked with escorting the radio station, so there was no time to waste.

However, as night fell, Wang Gensheng led his team forward less than ten kilometers before they heard the sound of gunfire.

Clearly, even with Wang Gensheng leading the team, they still encountered the same situation as when Wu Qianli led the team in the movie.

(End of this chapter)