Courtyard Houses: Starting with Li Yunlong's Comrades-in-Arms

After driving for nearly two more hours, it had become completely dark. Only a hazy outline remained on the Gobi Desert, and the last glimmer of light on the distant horizon had completely disappeared.

Old Sun glanced at the road ahead, then turned to Liu Yuheng and Wu Cheng and said, "The road ahead is narrow, and it's difficult for large vehicles to pass. Let's stop and rest for a bit, let the vehicles behind catch up, and then continue on our way."

Liu Yuheng nodded, and the car slowly came to a stop at the side of the road. Old Sun opened the car door and got out, walking towards the trucks behind him, gesturing to the people in the trucks as he went, indicating that they should stop and rest. The trucks behind him also stopped one after another, their headlights going out one by one, leaving only the headlights on on the first one.

The workers and scientists got off the vehicle one after another and found a relatively flat spot by the roadside to stand. Some stretched and loosened their muscles, some squatted on the ground rubbing their sore legs, and some walked to the roadside to look at the surrounding scenery, only to see a dark Gobi desert and a few scattered stars overhead.

Liu Yuheng looked around and said to Wu Cheng, who was sitting next to him, "This place will have a lot of problems with water supply in the future."

Wu Cheng nodded, his expression becoming more serious. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a puff. "I've looked into it. A little over a hundred kilometers to the west is where the future test base will be located. There will be much more to build there than here: test facilities, observation stations, bunkers, fortifications, dormitories, office buildings—you name it. That'll be where the water demand will be huge. Concrete pouring needs water, construction and maintenance needs water, equipment cleaning needs water, and daily drinking water needs water. The nearby water source simply won't be enough."

He paused, flicked the ash out the car window, and continued, "Besides, the water here can't be used casually. The surface water and shallow groundwater here have too high a salinity and alkalinity to pour concrete; it will corrode the steel bars. Nor can it be drunk; it will give you diarrhea. We can only use water that has to be brought in from afar, transported by water trucks one trip at a time. The water truck takes more than two hours one way from the nearest water source to the base, and a truck can only make a maximum of two trips a day, carrying very little. The more people there are, the tighter the water supply becomes."

After listening, Liu Yuheng remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "We should mobilize some motor transport troops as soon as possible. The existing transport capacity of the engineering corps is definitely not enough. We need to specially transfer a motor transport regiment to be responsible for transportation. Water, food, building materials, equipment—the amount of things to be transported will only increase. Without a professional transport team to support it, problems will arise sooner or later."

Wu Cheng nodded, stubbed out his cigarette outside the car door, and said with a touch of sincerity, "That's what I'm thinking too. I'll contact my old comrades from the military region here in a while and see if we can coordinate a group of people to come over. There are several motor transport regiments in the Northwest Military Region that have been running on the plateau and Gobi Desert for years and have a lot of transport experience. It shouldn't be a problem to send a company or two over. If we can put together the transport capacity of a battalion, the infrastructure construction at the front can get going."

As the two were talking, the car door was pulled open from the outside. Old Sun stood outside the car door, carrying two military water bottles in one hand and two steamed buns in the other. The wind made his hair under the brim of his hat a little messy.

He handed the water bottle and cornbread into the car, saying, "This will have to do. There's no village or shop in sight here, so there's no hot food. Let's just grab a bite to fill our stomachs first, and we'll have a proper meal when we get to the base."

Liu Yuheng took a cornbread and a water bottle without ceremony. He unscrewed the water bottle cap, took a sip of cold water, and then took a bite of the cornbread. The cornbread was made of cornmeal and was hard, a bit difficult to chew, but in this remote place, having something to eat was a blessing.

Wu Cheng took a portion and started eating it by the car door. The three of them stood on the gravel road next to the car, eating cornbread with cold water, and no one complained.

After finishing their cornbread and drinking water, everyone got back into the vehicles. The convoy set off again, the headlights turning on once more, forming a string of flickering lights in the darkness of the Gobi Desert, slowly moving forward along the gravel road.

After driving for nearly two more hours, a different scene finally appeared ahead of the headlights. The roadbed was no longer an empty Gobi desert, but rows of wooden stakes and barbed wire could be seen, and faint lights could be seen in the distance. Rows of barracks showed gray outlines in the night.

The convoy slowed down and slowly drove into the base gate. Sentinels stood guard on both sides of the gate; their upright postures and the guns in their hands could be seen when the headlights swept across the area. The vehicle stopped in the open space in front of the barracks. Liu Yuheng opened the car door, got out, and stood still on the firm sand, looking around.

Several rows of barracks stood neatly arranged, with gray bricks and gray tiles. Warm yellow light shone from the windows, and several enamel mugs and towels hung at the doorways. Some building materials were piled up in the open space between the barracks.

Before Liu Yuheng could even stand up straight, he saw several people hurrying towards him from the barracks.

"Commander Wu, Minister Liu, you must be tired from your journey!" The middle-aged man at the front spoke first, extending his hand to Wu Cheng and Liu Yuheng. "I am the base's chief of staff, surnamed Zhou. This is Director Ma from our logistics department. The conditions at the base are simple, and we apologize for any shortcomings in our hospitality."

Liu Yuheng shook hands with him, then with Director Ma, and said in a friendly tone, "Chief of Staff Zhou, Director Ma, thank you for your hard work. You've put in a lot of effort to get this place to this level."

Chief of Staff Zhou waved his hand, saying "Of course, of course," with a reassuring expression on his face.

Liu Yuheng released his grip and took two steps toward the two elderly gentlemen behind him, his expression more relaxed than before: "Mr. Guo, Mr. Zhang, it's been a long time. When did you arrive? Was your journey smooth?"

Old Guo pushed up his glasses, smiled, and extended his hand to shake hands with Liu Yuheng: "Minister Liu, you arrived last month. The train ride was so bumpy it almost broke my old bones."

Old Zhang nodded in agreement: "Minister Liu, it's been several years since we last met. While you were busy at the ministry, we in Chang'an were also working hard, finally managing to compile all the preliminary data. Now that we're here, we can continue the work."

Liu Yuheng shook hands with each of them, exchanged a few brief pleasantries, and then turned and walked towards the trucks behind him. The workers and scientists had already gotten off the trucks and were standing in rows in the open space in front of the barracks, waiting for instructions.

Liu Yuheng walked up to the row of workers and stopped, his gaze sweeping over their faces one by one. He had picked these people out one by one from the files of various factories. He had met some of them in person, and had only dealt with others on lists and in performance records, but he remembered every single name clearly.

He cleared his throat, raised his voice slightly, and said to the crowd, "Comrades, we've arrived. This is where you will live and work from now on. The conditions are indeed rudimentary, not as good as in Beijing or your old factories. But the work done here will be of great use. Settle down and get a good night's rest today. Tomorrow someone will give you a detailed explanation of your tasks and arrangements."

He paused, then gestured with his chin towards the barracks: "Come with me now, I'll take you to the barracks. The bunks have been arranged in advance, six people per room. After you put your luggage away, go to the mess hall for dinner; there will be hot food tonight."