Double-Cut During the War of Resistance: My Wife Came from 1937

"Bring compressed biscuits and water, and you won't need to cook during the war. Plus, they're nutritious and taste pretty good."

After tasting it, Deputy Division Commander Xu said, "I think we can have Hongwei supply it in large quantities."

"Sir, there's one more question!"

Xia Weiwei said, "These compressed biscuits all have production dates and locations on them. If someone finds out, it will be difficult to explain."

"this……"

Commander Liu stroked his beard with his right hand and pondered, "I think we can do this: have those illiterate soldiers guard and move the goods, and before the battle, have them remove all the packaging and burn it."

"Before setting off or on the battlefield, distribute compressed biscuits to every soldier."

In the early stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, most of the Eighth Route Army soldiers came from impoverished rural areas, with an illiteracy rate of over 90%.

Especially among young people in remote mountain villages, the illiteracy rate can reach over 95%.

Even among the platoon and company-level officers, many came from rural backgrounds and had very limited literacy.

So there are quite a few people who want to find illiterate people.

However, this situation severely restricts the understanding of tactics, political mobilization, and the training of technical personnel.

The Great Leader pointed out: "An army without culture is a foolish army, and a foolish army cannot defeat the enemy."

Therefore, starting in 38, the Eighth Route Army made literacy a core political task of the army.

Literacy was made a compulsory course for soldiers, just like shooting and grenade throwing, and was a mandatory requirement.

At that time, the standard for literacy was to recognize 500 basic Chinese characters, be able to read simple notices, and be able to write notes.

Take the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region troops as an example. At the beginning, their literacy rate was less than 5%, but by 44, the literacy rate had increased to 68%.

"Xia!"

Chief of Staff Ni inquired, "Could you please limit the purchase of goods without any printed text?"

"No!"

Xia Weiwei shook her head and said, "I also asked Hongwei, and he said it's a legal requirement. As long as you don't print the production date and ingredient list, it's illegal."

"Unless we buy our own production line and find people to produce the materials ourselves, and the products are not sold to the public, then we don't need to print them."

Commander Liu shook his head and said, "Let's leave it at that for now. How much would it cost to build our own factory? Besides, we'll need many different kinds of supplies in the future. We can't build factories for everything, can we? That's simply unrealistic."

Xia Weiwei said, "Hongwei said that when the space is bigger, he can provide some machinery and equipment here. As long as the materials are supplied, we can produce all kinds of goods."

"That's wonderful!"

Commander Liu said with deep emotion, "One of my biggest dreams in this life is to see factories everywhere on the land of China. Only by developing into an industrial nation can we avoid being bullied!"

Xia Weiwei said, "I believe that day will come very soon!"

"Sizzle~"

Suddenly, the voice of bodyguard Zhang Xixuan came from the walkie-talkie on Commander Liu's body.

"Hello, hello, calling the commander, calling the commander, please respond!"

"It's Xiao Zhang!"

Commander Liu said with a smile, "He must have suddenly lost sight of us and got anxious."

He picked up the walkie-talkie and replied, "Xiao Zhang, what do you need? I'll be back in a bit!"

Soon, Zhang Xixuan's anxious voice came through the walkie-talkie again.

"Commander, please come back quickly! An urgent telegram has arrived from the 115th Division!"

"Oh?"

Commander Liu's smile faded, and he replied, "Okay, I'll be right back!"

After sending out the message, Division Commander Liu said to the three men, "Let's go back first. There's an emergency at the 115th Division!"

Deputy Division Commander Xu said, "Why don't you all go back first? I'll look after these things."

"No need to look, other things are more important!"

Commander Liu waved his hand and said, "This place is remote, not many people will come here. Even if some mountain people find it, they won't be able to take much."

"Furthermore, once we return, we will arrange for soldiers to come and keep an eye on things here."

"All right!"

Deputy Division Commander Xu nodded.

And so, the four of them set off for the village.

……

Back in the village.

Commander Liu found Zhang Xixuan waiting at the village entrance and asked, "Little Zhang, what's the matter?"

"It's related to Commander Lin of the 115th Division!"

Zhang Xixuan said, "It seems that Commander Lin has contracted malaria!"

"What did you say?"

Upon hearing this, even with the composure of Division Commander Liu and Deputy Division Commander Xu, their expressions changed drastically.

It's important to know that malaria is a very serious disease nowadays.

Although the mortality rate is not very high, it can seriously affect people's lives and work.

When the disease occurs, the whole body will tremble and feel extremely cold. Even if covered with two quilts, it will still feel cold. Therefore, it is also called "shivering" or "chills and fever".

The mountainous areas of North China are mostly forested and have stagnant water and potholes, so there are a lot of mosquitoes and insects, and it is very easy to get malaria.

In the early stages of the War of Resistance against Japan, 25% of the troops contracted malaria, making it the leading cause of all diseases.

Most importantly, the Eighth Route Army was facing a severe shortage of medicines at the time, and there were not many doses of quinine, a highly effective drug for treating malaria.

This medicine was a rare commodity at the time, and only a very small amount could be purchased.

Often, their reserves came from captured goods, but these were far from sufficient to supply the entire army.

Therefore, in order to treat malaria, the only option was to use Bupleurum chinense, which is abundant in the Taihang Mountains, to make an injection as a substitute for quinine.

However, the conditions in the Taihang Mountains are too poor, and the production technology is also poor, resulting in a lot of impurities in Bupleurum injection, and its effect cannot be compared with quinine at all.

Commander Liu arrived at the telegraph office and began to read the telegrams sent by the 115th Division.

The contents revealed that Commander Lin's malaria had indeed relapsed.

In fact, Commander Lin's malaria had just been cured before the Battle of Pingxingguan.

Deputy Division Commander Nie reminded him to take precautions against the cold, but unexpectedly, the malaria relapsed in less than two months.

In the telegram, Deputy Division Commander Nie informed that the 115th Division had run out of quinine, a highly effective drug, and could only request the 129th Division to help find a drug to treat malaria.

Commander Liu knew that what Deputy Commander Nie called a request to the 129th Division was actually a plea for help from Xia Weiwei.

Deputy Division Commander Nie knew that Xia Weiwei could travel to the future, and that only the future world could provide them with the medicine as soon as possible.

After reading the telegram, Commander Liu's gaze fell on Xia Weiwei.

"Comrade Xia!"

Commander Liu said, "I suppose you heard what I just said. When you go back this time, you need to help us purchase a batch of quinine. Otherwise, if our soldiers keep getting malaria, they won't be able to fight at all."

"Yes, sir!"

Xia Weiwei nodded and replied, "I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"