When you're in the Wolf Pack, your ability to obey orders becomes stronger.

Chapter 235 Letter.

After Guo Yuanshuai and his group left, Zhou Qiang took Xu Ge to familiarize himself with the environment of the military post.

In Xu Ge's view, the layout here is similar to that of the Thirty Mile Barracks military station, with a dining area and accommodation area specifically provided for passing troops. However, Zhou Qiang said that generally no troops would choose to stay here.

The most important facility in the entire outpost was the boiler. Zhou Qiang instructed Xu Ge to check the boiler water temperature every day and to add water on time.

Once the boiler room shuts down, the entire Sweetwater Marine Station will turn into an ice cave!
"Can you drive?"

Zhou Qiang pointed to an old military pickup truck in the garage and asked.

Xu Ge nodded: "Yes."

"Good!"

Zhou Qiang took Xu Ge back to the dormitory, where Baihu was already asleep on the floor, warmed by the heating.

A telephone, radio, and map were placed on the table, and a complete set of repair tools was underneath.

"Bring me the map." Zhou Qiang sat on the bed, took out his phone, added Xu Ge's contact information, and said, "Now I'll tell you about the area our outpost is responsible for."

"We are mainly responsible for communication lines within 150 kilometers of the surrounding area. The superiors require each station to patrol the area they are responsible for every day, but our situation is special, so we only need to make two trips a week."

"Especially in this kind of weather, if no one notifies us to report a problem, we can just stay at the station."

Then Zhou Qiang went on to explain in detail all the things that needed to be paid attention to inside the military station, and Xu Ge silently memorized them all.

"Oh, right, do you see that room by the door? There are a few empty beds inside."

"Yes, got it."

Zhou Qiang: "That place is specially prepared for passing tourists and drivers. A bed costs 40 yuan. If someone wants to buy instant noodles, it costs 10 yuan for hot water and noodles."

Xu Ge glanced at Zhou Qiang: "Isn't this turning into a hotel? Why should we charge money?"

Zhou Qiang took out a cigarette and gave one to Xu Ge. He saw Xu Ge take out a lighter and was waiting for him to light it for him. Unexpectedly, the kid lit it for him first and then put the lighter back in his pocket.

Zhou Qiang: ...

Thinking of Guo Yuanshuai's instructions, Zhou Qiang sighed inwardly, took out his lighter, lit it, and said, "Xiao Xu, you are still young, inexperienced, and don't understand human nature yet."

Xu Ge didn't understand: "What do you mean?"

"Do you think I really want to get rich with those few dozen yuan? The instant noodles and water were transported up from the foot of the mountain with great difficulty; the actual cost is more than 10 yuan! Besides, how many times a year do I encounter people coming to ask for lodging?"

Zhou Qiang casually flicked his cigarette ash onto the ground. Xu Ge frowned, found a disposable cup, and used it as an ashtray.

Seeing how much the other party cared about cleanliness and hygiene, Zhou Qiang smiled and continued, "People are strange. If you charge them money, they won't say anything, but if you offer something for free, they'll immediately feel like you owe them something. Charging a few dozen yuan can save them a lot of trouble."

"I still don't understand."

"It's okay if you don't understand, just do as I say!"

"Ok!"

Xu Ge glanced at the radio and telephone on the table and asked, "Is the Sweetwater Marine Station also part of the Wolf Brigade's organization?"

Zhou Qiang shook his head: "Definitely not. All the supply depots are logistics departments, while the Wolf Brigade is a front-line combat unit, so they're not adjacent."

"Then where do we belong?"

"All the military stations along the national highway all the way to Shiquanhe are under the jurisdiction of the General Military Station in Yecheng. We report to the General Military Station for anything, as it is directly under the Army Group."

Xu Ge arrived at the answer based on his own understanding: "So I now belong to the 76th Army?"

Zhou Qiang was taken aback for a moment: "What you said is not wrong."

. . .

. . .

The following days were rather uneventful. Xu Ge spent his days idly at the military post, and sometimes when he was bored, he would take Baihu for a stroll around the neighborhood.

However, it was too cold outside, and he couldn't stay for too long. Several times, Baihu was the one who couldn't stand the cold and urged him to go back.

One thing puzzled Xu Ge: when he was sitting in his dormitory daydreaming, Baihu always liked to come and bother him.

To be precise, this guy always likes to act like a jerk.

First, it barked at Xu Ge a few times to attract his attention, and then it started sitting down and squatting on the ground, sometimes even rolling around.

Xu Ge ignored him, so the white tiger kept whipping him with its tail.

At first, Xu Ge thought that the guy wanted to go out and play, or wanted him to scratch his itch, but after trying a few times, he realized that the white tiger's purpose did not seem to be like that.

One time, when Baihu was being naughty again, Zhou Qiang was also there. Xu Ge got annoyed by this guy and said, "Baihu, if you keep being naughty like this, I'll lock you outside and let you freeze!"

"Woof!"

The white tiger jumped, leaped, and rolled around, even bumping its head against Xu Ge's shin.

Zhou Qiang asked uncertainly, "Baihu is a military dog. Is it restless and wants to do some training?"

Xu Ge was taken aback: "Training? I don't know how to train!"

White Tiger: "Woof!"

Zhou Qiang shook his head helplessly: "There's nothing I can do. I don't know how either. We can only wait for your squad leader and the others to come and take it away."

As for meals, Zhou Qiang has never cooked noodles since he discovered that Xu Ge could cook.

In order to give Xu Ge time to cook, he even took the initiative to take on the inspection and maintenance work of the station's boiler room.

You know, back when he and Xiao Cao were on the mountain, they ate noodles until they were sick of them.

Xu Ge had also gone out with Zhou Qiang to maintain the lines twice during this period. Both times, they would drive the car to the location of the fault, climb up the utility pole, and replace the cables. It was quite simple.

Zhou Qiang discovered that Xu Ge learned things very quickly. He only taught him once, and Xu Ge's pole climbing speed surpassed his on the second try!
This made Zhou Qiang sigh again, thinking, "What a promising talent!"
January arrived quickly, and several heavy snowfalls blanketed the mountain, completely closing it off.

Fortunately, the supply depot had a lot of supplies, so there was no need to worry about resupply. The only problem to solve was water.

It's not just about the drinking water for the two people and the dog, but also the energy consumption of the boiler room.

Early that morning, Zhou Qiang filled up the pickup truck with gas and started it to warm up.

After breakfast, the two moved five large buckets from the cafeteria entrance to the car. Zhou Qiang then found a water pump, a hammer, and other tools. Once everything was ready, they set off to fetch water.

"Shall we go down the mountain?" Xu Ge asked, carrying the white tiger to the passenger seat and closing the door.

Zhou Qiang shook his head: "The roads down the mountain are blocked by heavy snow, so we can't go down. Let's go to Quanshui Lake, it's not far from here."

Xu Ge tilted his head and thought for a moment, then asked curiously, "Where is Spring Lake? I've never heard of it before?"

“Quanshui Lake is Dead Man’s Gully, you’ve probably heard of that, right?” Zhou Qiang said with a smile.

Xu Ge suddenly realized: "I've heard of it!"

Dead Man's Gully is a relatively well-known place on this route. It is said that the name comes from the fact that so many people died there!

Although it is called a ravine, it is actually a canyon area with changeable climate, extremely harsh conditions, and great danger.

The altitude here is over 5100 meters, the bends are very steep, and there is a lake next to the national highway. If someone accidentally overturns in winter or has a physical condition that prevents them from continuing and they choose to stop, they will basically be found dead the next day.

"Is it really that strange?" Xu Ge was somewhat surprised after hearing Zhou Qiang's story.

"Take a bath in Dead Man's Gully, sleep on the Sweetwater Sea. Haven't you heard that saying?" Zhou Qiang said with a smile. "Many veterans consider this kind of experience an honor!"

It's winter now. If it were summer, we'd go take a bath every week, hahaha!

As the two chatted, after turning a corner, a huge lake suddenly appeared in front of them!

We've arrived at Quanshui Lake.

Guardrails had been installed along this section of the national highway by the lake. Zhou Qiang parked the car close to the guardrail and began to signal Xu Ge to put on a hat and gloves.

"It's too cold outside, put on your coat too."

"Ok!"

Xu Ge wrapped himself up tightly, and when he opened the car door, Baihu took the opportunity to jump out.

"Aren't you afraid of the cold?"

"Woof!"

Seeing the white tiger frolicking on the road, Xu Ge didn't bother with it. He and Zhou Qiang moved the water pump down and opened the bucket lid.

Most of the lake was frozen over. Zhou Qiang carried a hammer, climbed over the railing, and stood on the ice by the lake to start smashing the ice.

Boom boom boom!
With each impact, ice shards flew everywhere.

"No, no, I can't smash anymore, Xu Ge, come down and smash for a while!" Zhou Qiang panted and waved to Xu Ge.

At this altitude, any physical labor becomes extremely difficult.

Xu Ge nimbly flipped over with a push, took the hammer, and swung it down on the ice.

Woo!
There was even a whooshing sound as the hammer slashed through the air.

Boom!
Click~ Plop!

With a single hammer blow, the ice surface was smashed open.

Zhou Qiang was startled: "Wow, young people are really energetic!"

A few minutes later, the water pump started working. Zhou Qiang threw the water hose into the bucket and leaned against the railing with Xu Ge, smoking and waiting.

blah blah blah!
The white tiger suddenly appeared out of nowhere and ran along the asphalt road to Xu Ge, barking: "Woof!"

"What's wrong?" Xu Ge asked, puzzled. Baihu's behavior suggested that he had discovered something.

"Woof!"

The white tiger tugged at the hem of Xu Ge's coat, pulling him forward a few steps, then continued walking along the road, glancing back at Xu Ge.

Xu Ge understood what he meant and immediately followed.

"Xu Ge, where are you going?" Zhou Qiang called out quickly.

Xu Ge turned around: "It seems that Baihu has discovered something ahead. I'll go take a look."

"In this weather, there's not a single car on the road, not even a ghost. What could we possibly find?"

Zhou Qiang muttered to himself, then shouted, "Then don't go too far. We'll go back once the bucket is full!"

"Okay, I understand!"

Xu Ge followed Bai Hu along the road and soon turned a bend.

He couldn't see what was happening here because of the guardrail. It wasn't until he turned the corner that he saw a figure in a military overcoat lying on the road, and a green motorcycle lying on its side not far away.

Xu Ge was startled and quickly turned around to shout, "Stationmaster, someone has crashed here, it's one of ours!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qiang rushed over, and his expression changed when he saw the figure on the ground: "That's our military postman! Quick, quick, save him!"

. . .

. . .

Sweetwater Marine Station, oxygen room. Military mail carrier Yi Cheng slowly opened his eyes, feeling pain all over his body, especially in his right knee, which was stinging.

"hiss..."

Yi Cheng gasped and instinctively tried to get up, but was pressed back down on the bed by a pair of strong hands.

"Comrade, who are you? Where is this?"

Yi Cheng looked at the young private first class in front of him and quickly asked.

"Your leg was just treated, and the injury is quite serious. Don't move it yet." Xu Ge handed over a glass of water. "This is Sweetwater Marine Station."

"Sweetwater Sea? That's wonderful!"

Yi Cheng was both surprised and delighted. "Comrade, are you also from the supply depot? I've never seen you before."

Xu Ge: "I'm new here."

Where is Station Chief Zhou?

"He's adding water to the boiler room."

Yi Cheng straightened up slightly, glanced at the wound on her leg, and looked rather pale: "Could you call him over? I have something urgent to attend to!"

"Oh!"

Xu Ge patted the white tiger lying to the side, "Go and call the stationmaster."

"Woof!"

The white tiger lazily got up, walked to the door, skillfully jumped up, unlatched the door, and then hooked the door with its tail.

pat!

The door closed again.

Yi Cheng stared in disbelief. Had this dog become a spirit?!
"Comrade, when did your outpost get such a big white dog?"

“It’s a military dog, temporarily on vacation here,” Xu Ge replied.

Yi Cheng: ? ? ?
"By the way, where's my motorcycle?" Yi Cheng asked nervously. "There's something very, very important on it!"

Xu Ge: "Don't worry, we've towed the motorcycle back for you. The panniers weren't damaged, and nothing is missing."

"That's good, that's good! Thank goodness!" Yi Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Squeak!

Baihu pushed open the door and came in.

"Xiao Yi, you're awake? The mountain is closed off, why did you still run up there? Are you crazy? If Xu Ge and I hadn't been fetching water from Dead Man's Gully, you would have frozen to death by now! Honestly, why can't you wait until the weather is better to deliver packages..."

As soon as Zhou Qiang came in, he started rambling on, looking reproachful.

You can't blame him for being long-winded; going up the mountain in this weather is extremely dangerous!
Yi Cheng gave a wry smile: "Station Chief Zhou, please don't criticize me! I'm not new to this job, I know it's dangerous to go up the mountain at this time, but the military situation is urgent, I have to deliver the documents to Thirty Mile Barracks before tonight!"

Zhou Qiang was taken aback: "Send documents? What era are we living in? Fax, email, telephone, and the internet are so advanced now. If all else fails, you can send a telegram! Do you really need to ride a motorcycle into a deserted area?"

"Actually, I've already been slacking off for more than a week. A lot of soldiers' packages have arrived at my place, especially those from the recruit company. I should have made a trip there by now."

Yi Cheng paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Not to mention, this document was personally handed to me by our army's chief of staff!"

Zhou Qiang suddenly realized something and asked, "You mean, the documents to be delivered are related to this year's opening exercise?"

Yi Cheng nodded: "Now both the red and blue sides have fully infiltrated each other's communication systems. They're basically fighting openly and honestly. Otherwise, they wouldn't need manpower to run errands!"

Zhou Qiang clicked his tongue and said, "It seems that both sides are taking this exercise quite seriously!"

"That is!"

Yi Cheng nodded, "I didn't originally plan to leave so early, but when they heard that I was going up the mountain to deliver a package today, the headquarters specially sent a car to pick me up, and the chief of staff personally handed the package to me!"

Xu Ge, who was listening nearby, found it strange and asked, "What opening exercise? How come I don't know about it?"

Yi Cheng laughed: "Isn't that normal? There are only two people in your station, so it doesn't matter whether they know or not, since the military won't let you participate anyway."

Xu Ge didn't say anything.

Zhou Qiang glanced at Xu Ge and took the initiative to explain: "Actually, I know about this exercise. It's a confrontation between our army and the 75th Group Army. We are the home team, the Blue Army."

"The 75th Army?" Xu Ge was surprised. "Aren't they from the Southern Theater Command?"

Zhou Qiang: "Actually, they came to participate in our winter training last month. I don't know their exact location. As for the exercise, it should have just started not long ago."

Yi Cheng interrupted Zhou Qiang and Xu Ge's conversation: "Station Chief Zhou, given my current situation, I might need to trouble you to make a trip for me!"

"I just added water to the boiler, keep an eye on the temperature!"

Zhou Qiang looked somewhat embarrassed. "I've already reported the situation to the main station. I estimate that someone else will come to pick you up soon."

Yi Cheng: "But I'm afraid we won't have enough time! Station Chief Zhou, don't you have a car? It's not far from here to Thirty Mile Barracks, it only takes two or three hours to drive there!"

"But..."

"I'll deliver it!" Xu Ge suddenly said.

Both of them looked over, and Yi Cheng asked, "Do you know how to get to Thirty Mile Camp?"

"Ah."

"What does 'um' mean?"

“He was transferred from the Wolf Brigade, so he’s definitely more familiar with that area than I am,” Zhou Qiang explained.

Yi Cheng immediately perked up: "What a coincidence! Comrade, then I'll have to trouble you!"

Zhou Qiang hesitated and looked at Xu Ge: "Xu Ge, Lao Guo told me that I can't let you act alone!"

Xu Ge frowned: "It's not like I don't know the way. Aren't the documents urgent? I'll be back after I deliver them."

"Woof!"

The white tiger immediately roared.

"Oh right, White Tiger is with me too!"

"Then you must come back quickly!" Zhou Qiang made his decision. "Take the radio and your cell phone with you. Contact me anytime if anything happens!"

"Ah."

Xu Ge nodded and prepared to leave.

Yi Cheng quickly took out a sealed document with a fire seal from his pocket and handed it to Xu Ge, reminding him, "Comrade, remember to bring all the packages and letters with you. Just hand them over to the self-defense post at the outpost over there. Give this document directly to the station chief."

"it is good!"

Xu Ge went out and into the yard, where he put all the packages from the motorcycle into the back seat of the pickup truck. He also placed three letters directly on the passenger seat. Bai Hu had already climbed into the truck.

After Zhou Qiang reminded him to take his cell phone and radio, he started the car and drove out the gate.

. . .

. . .

Oh oh oh!
The cold wind howled outside the car.

It was around 11 a.m., and Xu Ge didn't dare to drive too fast. He expected to arrive before 2 p.m. He planned to go to town for lunch after delivering the goods and then come back.

After driving for about an hour, a medium-sized truck appeared on the road ahead. Judging from the license plate, it should have come up the mountain from the snowy area.

Xu Ge found it strange; would any driver really dare to come up here in this weather?
drop!
As the two vehicles passed each other, the oncoming truck suddenly honked its horn.

Xu Ge glanced at the person opposite him and beeped back, taking it as a greeting.

Whoosh!
The two cars passed each other.

Snapped!
Inside the truck's cab, Tian Xiaohu, wearing a down jacket, reached out and slapped the driver hard across the forehead.

"You damn bastard! What are you honking at the military vehicle for? Are you trying to make sure people don't know we're the Red Army?"

The driver, who had just been slapped, quickly apologized: "I'm so sorry, Company Commander, I thought I was driving a military vehicle too..."

Snapped!
Tian Xiaohu slapped him again: "You shit! Pull over right now!"

squeak!
The truck pulled over and came to a stop.

Three heads popped out from behind, and one of them asked, "What's wrong, Company Commander?"

Tian Xiaohu looked hesitant: "Why does that driver look so familiar?"

The others were taken aback: "Holy crap! People from the Wolf Brigade?!"

They came here for winter training, and had not had any contact with the 76th Army personnel beforehand.

If the company commander felt the face was familiar, it could only be a member of the Wolf Brigade who had participated in the joint exercise together at Queshan last time.

The driver scratched his head: "Company commander, but I just saw that the license plate of that car clearly belonged to the logistics department of the 76th Army."

"you sure?"

"Sure!"

Tian Xiaohu was also confused: "Am I seeing things?"

The moment the two cars passed each other was too brief, so it's normal to have misjudged. However, for safety's sake, Tian Xiaohu still requested that the car be stopped and waited for a while longer.

"Wait a little longer. If no car comes after us in an hour, it means we haven't been exposed. Continue with the original plan!"

"Yes!"

Actually, when they were passing each other just now, Xu Ge also felt that the person sitting in the passenger seat of the truck opposite him looked familiar.

But he didn't take it to heart, thinking he had misread it, and continued driving forward.

Another drill?
At this moment, Xu Ge was still thinking about what Zhou Qiang and Yi Cheng had said earlier.

An exercise between two army groups must be on a very large scale!
If I hadn't left the Wolf Pack, I would probably be acting with the others by now, right?
No wonder the platoon leader and the others weren't talking in the group chat, and Lin Wan didn't reply to messages either; they're probably all on a mission.

Huh? How did we get back from the last exercise? I can't quite remember.

Are you taking the train?

Why do I have absolutely no recollection of this?
Lost in thought all the way, before I knew it, the car had arrived at Thirty Mile Camp.

Xu Ge skillfully turned right off the national highway and quickly arrived at the military post.

After getting off the vehicle and explaining the situation to the sentry, the station chief of the Thirty Mile Barracks immediately ran out and took the documents from him.

With the help of the sentry, Xu Ge moved all the packages in the car into the guard post. Just as he was about to leave, he remembered that there were three letters in the passenger seat, so he opened the car door and took them.

"Are people actually writing letters these days? Aren't they afraid of revealing their location?"

Xu Ge was a little curious and noticed that two of the three letters seemed to be credit card bills or something similar, and the handwriting on the third one was quite delicate, clearly written by a girl.

When he looked at the delivery address again, he suddenly froze.

Xu Ge (recruited) of the Sixth Company, First Regiment of the Wolf Brigade!
(End of this chapter)