eurekapd Chapter 1402 Halim pleads for help in the snow, Li Long leads his men up the mountain
Chapter 1402 Halim pleads for help in the snow, Li Long leads his men up the mountain
Leaving aside the intimate details between Xu Haijun and Liang Dacheng, after this meal, the cooperative members took turns treating each other.
Of course, before the dinner party, on November 20th, after Jia Weidong had thoroughly sorted out the cooperative's accounts, a meeting was held under Xie Yundong's organization to distribute the dividends.
After receiving his dividends, Li Long went to his elder brother's house to give him his share. However, Li Jianguo, just like last year, made Li Long keep the 30 yuan. Then he took out another 10 yuan from his own home and gave it to Li Long, saying, "We made a lot this year; this 10 yuan is your dividend." Next, he took out another 25 yuan and said to Li Long, "This is the cost of a high-horsepower tractor. Adding that to the 30 yuan, it's like returning the cost of two high-horsepower tractors to you."
Li Long declined, saying, "This high-horsepower tractor sells for 26 yuan to others, but it's impossible to sell it to family members for that price."
Li Jianguo laughed and said, "Don't talk so much. With this machine, we've already taken over nearly half of the farmland in the whole township. People only recognize our high-powered machine, so don't be shy with me."
Since his elder brother insisted, Li Long accepted the money. He filled a large bag with the money and then asked Li Jianguo, "How's Junhai and the others' profit sharing? Have they all received it?"
Li Jianguo said with a smile, "They've already been distributed. Everyone worked very hard this year, taking turns driving the high-horsepower tractors, and no one slacked off."
So, even the lowest-paid person received over 8000. Xiang Junfeng's parents farm his land, while he works here, and this time he received 15,000.
Those who take the money and want to go home can build a house; those who don't want to go home can find someone here to look for a place, but it's quite far. It's just that settling down in our team is difficult, so I still need to figure something out.
Li Long then told his older brother about it: "Let me think of a way. Anyway, there's something I need to talk to the captain and the others about right now. If we can get it done, we might be able to get a few more spots."
Li Jianguo said, "That's great! They wanted to contact you, but they were worried you were too busy to handle this. What is it?"
"Okay, let's find the team leader." Li Long then explained the large-scale farmland renovation project to his older brother in detail.
Li Jianguo said, "Our team's total arable land is only about 7000 mu, which is still far from 10,000 mu."
Li Long said, "Didn't our cooperative make money this year? I told everyone not to announce the specific dividends, but the amount is right here."
In addition, the Navy has been doing very well with the Second Squadron this year, so Da Cheng and his team also want to take charge of a separate area.
I told him that there was a large area of wasteland on the east side of the tripod, near the lake, where at least one or two thousand acres of saline-alkali land could be reclaimed. If that were done, we'd have about ten thousand acres of arable land.”
Li Jianguo asked, "How much did each of them receive this year?" Li Long replied, "Eight thousand yuan per family. Last year it was 55,000 yuan, so this year it's much more. That's why everyone is very motivated and thinking about expanding production."
Li Jianguo nodded and said, "If we really do it this way, it's because we're afraid the other side won't let you have a monopoly."
Li Long didn't care much. He smiled and said, "This is something that whoever has the ability can do. The cooperative has already grown up and has the capital to open up one or two thousand acres of land at once." Even if others are envious, there's nothing they can do. At most, they can only manage one or two hundred acres.
This is like big fish eating small fish, and small fish eating shrimp; whoever has more capital makes more money. If the cooperative grows bigger and stronger, it can attract all the idle labor from the team when there's a shortage of workers, and paying wages every month is quite good.
Hearing Li Long's words, Li Jianguo felt relieved. He nodded and said, "Then take some time to talk to the captain. I think the others really want to stay."
This is a rare opportunity. If you can really help secure this project, the village representatives shouldn't have any objections. After all, this benefits the entire village, and if they still have objections, it would really be unfair to such a big project.
However, if the entire team's land were to be converted and irrigated using the cooperative's drip irrigation method, the costs would be so high, could everyone afford it?
Li Long said, "I heard from my second brother that the Dushanzi Petrochemical project has started producing raw materials. I plan to go and take a look when I have some free time."
Once the raw materials are produced here, the cost of the drip irrigation tape will definitely decrease. I can earn a little less profit here, but sell it at a price slightly higher than the cost, just to cover my labor costs.
Then have them pull back the used drip irrigation tape for recycling, so that it can be reused and the total cost will be reduced.
Think about it, given the current trend, cotton prices are unlikely to drop; they'll stay above 2.5 yuan per kilogram at the very least, and probably above 3 yuan per kilogram for the next few years. At the very least, breaking even won't be a problem; it's better than growing wheat or corn.
After this analysis, Li Jianguo had no objections. However, he did not tell his cousins and grand-nephews in advance, but waited until the definite results came out before informing them.
Right then and there, Li Long drove the large bag of money to the bank and deposited it. Xie Yundong said he would treat everyone to lunch the next day, so the next day Li Long arrived at the team early and went to the team leader Xu Chengjun's house first.
He brought over a few cans of meat, which he had grabbed from the purchasing station's warehouse. Xu Chengjun was wiping his car in the yard.
Seeing Li Long carrying gifts, he smiled and said, "Oh, Little Long even brought me a gift! Is there something you can't do for me? Tell me quickly."
Li Long handed the canned food to Ma Hongmei, who came out of the house, and said to her, "Sister-in-law, this is canned beef produced by my cannery. You should try it."
After Ma Hongmei smiled and took the canned goods away, he said to Xu Chengjun, "Captain, I have some great news for you. Logically, you should be the one giving me a gift."
Xu Chengjun picked up a towel from the car to wipe his hands and asked with some curiosity, "Hey? I'm giving you a gift? What big news have you gotten this time?"
"Come, let me hear your opinion. If it's really worth it, I'll send you a gift. I have two bottles of good wine that Huang Xinping gave me in my room; you can take them then."
Li Long then told him about the large-scale transformation of 10,000 mu of farmland.
After listening, Xu Chengjun pondered for a moment and asked, "Is this true?"
Li Long nodded and said, "It's definitely true, and this project will last for a long time, not just one or two years, but possibly seven or eight years, or even more than ten years."
He wasn't exaggerating, because as far as he knew, back in the early 2000s in his previous life, some production teams had successfully applied for this project.
Xu Chengjun then asked, "So you mean that as long as our team expands the land area to more than 10,000 mu, it might be possible to get approval?"
Li Long nodded again and said, "Yes, I will prepare a detailed application report on this."
"What about the difference in land area?"
Li Long then recounted to Xu Chengjun the entire conversation he had with his elder brother, including the cooperative's plan to reclaim several thousand acres of wasteland above Dahai Lake as an expansion project.
After he said that, Xu Chengjun asked one last question, the same one Li Jianguo had asked, which was about the cost of farming.
Li Long also answered in detail.
Xu Chengjun stroked his chin and said, "According to you, this is really a great thing. If it succeeds, our village may become the benchmark for our township."
"No problem, I'll bring you two bottles of wine later. This is definitely something worth giving as a gift."
Li Long said to him, "Captain, are two bottles of wine not enough to satisfy me?"
"You're still not satisfied, kid? What more do you want? You're probably the richest man in our county, right? Who in the whole county is as rich as you? What more could you possibly want?"
Li Long then mentioned the household registration issues of several of his cousins and grand-nephews.
Xu Chengjun scratched his head and said, "It's not easy for me. I need the consent of the village representatives."
“The total value of this project I brought in is at least several million, maybe even tens of millions. Tell me, if the representatives in our village can’t even do this simple calculation, then is it worth it for me to bring in this project?”
Xu Chengjun pointed at him and said, "You're forcing me to explain to those village representatives. Oh well, if we can really get this done, I'll actually go talk to the village representatives about your relatives' household registrations."
"This one project alone can directly boost the village's economy and help us achieve a moderately prosperous life ahead of schedule. I don't believe those few would oppose it at the meeting."
Li Long smiled. Overall, the production team leader was responsible and willing to do practical things for everyone. As for the exchange of benefits involved, that was a matter of mutual consent.
Xu Chengjun also reminded Li Long that he had made a boast, and if the matter couldn't be resolved in the end, then he shouldn't even think about getting his household registration.
Li Long naturally understood, and he also said that he would do his best to handle it, and would communicate with the team leader in a timely manner about the extent to which it was accomplished.
Li Long knew that as long as the basic requirements were met, it was relatively easy to get things done by asking around and finding connections. After all, in the entire autonomous region, there were very few single production teams with more than 10,000 mu of arable land.
The autonomous region launched this project as a major initiative to transform large-scale farmland and promote agricultural mechanization and scientification. It needed to have demonstration projects, and Li Long was vying for this one.
Xu Chengjun wanted to invite Li Long inside for tea to discuss the development of their cooperative in detail, mainly because he was interested in the cooperative's dividends this year.
However, Li Long said he had other matters to attend to and left first. Xie Yundong and the others were already waiting for him.
During the meal, Li Long said to Liang Dacheng, "If you want to be in charge of a piece of land, like the Navy, then go to the captain as soon as possible to apply and have Lao Xie take you under his wing."
Although our team still has a considerable amount of saline-alkali land left, it's all in large tracts. If someone were to cut off a piece from the middle, breaking it into fragmented plots, it would be very difficult to manage.
Liang Dacheng had already discussed this matter with his family. He was just about to speak when Li Long's reminder made him immediately say:
"Yes, yes, yes, Lao Xie, you'll come with me tomorrow to apply to the team leader. We'll definitely need to go to the township to sign the contract."
I'm also afraid that someone will take a liking to that piece of land and carve out a section with better soil, making it impossible to connect the surrounding land into a continuous stretch.
"I plan to cultivate 2000 mu at once. Old Jia, you need to prepare the cost of mechanized farming for me. We'll start cultivating in the spring, and plant the cotton as the first crop next year."
Tao Daqiang interjected, "After the land reclamation is complete, we need to quickly draw water from the small lake and flood it to wash away the alkali, otherwise the cotton harvest that year won't be very good."
Liang Dacheng nodded and said, "That's right, I'm also slow to react. If we had opened up the land when Xiaohaizi was filled with water this year, we could have irrigated it once and then again next year, that would have been much better."
Li Long said half-jokingly, "The soil on your land is better than the one the Navy reclaimed in the Second Team. If you grow cotton on that land next year, and the yield per mu of 2000 mu reaches more than 100 kg, then we'll give you a reward of 1 yuan according to the Navy's standards. What do you all think?"
The others immediately replied, "No objection, no objection, absolutely." They were absolutely sincere in saying these words.
After all, when Li Long and his team first started the cooperative, it was only 1000 mu of saline-alkali land. At that time, everyone worked together and were full of energy, which is why they were able to increase the cotton yield per mu to more than 100 kilograms.
Now Liang Dacheng is in charge of this alone, and it involves 2000 mu of land. If he can really get this done, then giving him a reward of 10,000 yuan is not unreasonable.
Liang Dacheng immediately became excited. He asked Xie Yundong, the wine commander, to fill his glass, then stood up, raised his glass, and said to everyone, "Next year, like the Navy, I will devote all my energy to improving the land and planting cotton."
If our yield per mu does not exceed 100 kg by the end of the year, I will be embarrassed to say anything to everyone and will not accept any hard-earned compensation.
If the yield exceeds 100 kilograms per mu, then I won't hesitate to take the 10,000 yuan. I'll treat everyone to a meal then. Come on, let's drink this wine and see how I do it!"
Everyone toasted together. After finishing his drink, Tao Daqiang wiped his mouth and said:
"Why are you getting so worked up? Now that things have turned out like this, I feel a little embarrassed if I don't go out."
To be honest, I really don't want to go out and do it myself. I'm not the kind of person who can make a name for myself on my own. So you guys do your best, and I'll just enjoy the bigger share of the profits.
Xu Haijun laughed and scolded, "You lazy coward, you used to make money by following Xiaolong around. Xiaolong didn't treat you badly. Later, you worked in the cooperative and did a lot of work. You weren't as bad as you said."
Tao Daqiang chuckled and said, "It's because I'm not the leader, and I'm not suited for this. I'm afraid that once the land is cleared, I won't be able to cultivate it well, and I'll waste the capital the cooperative has invested. That would be a real problem."
"Planting so much land definitely requires managing people, but where will those people come from? Even if I bring them in, I won't know how to manage them."
Everyone knows he was telling the truth. If you let Tao Daqiang do the work, he'll definitely do it well; he has strong execution skills, so he's definitely not a leader.
So nobody really expected him to go out and manage a piece of land. Li Long's idea was that the cooperative would eventually have to bring in other people.
When the time comes, we'll see who has the ability and skills to be assigned to other production teams to contract land and expand their operations and production.
Over the next few days, the cooperative members treated each other to meals, with a day or two in between to sober up and rest. Since the busy farming season was over, it was now the most comfortable time of the year for the farmers, and with nothing else to do, gatherings became the most frequent activity.
Li Long and Xie Yundong continued to remind everyone: "Don't gamble, and don't spend money recklessly."
Everyone nodded and listened. Then, Xu Haijun sold his car to his cousin Xu Feihu and spent 15 yuan to get a Land Cruiser from Li Long.
When he drove back, Xu Haijun was extremely proud. He drove around every alley in the village and even set off firecrackers at his house, making it a much more grand occasion than when he drove his first car back.
In November, there were two snowfalls, neither of them heavy, but because the temperature was low, the snow stayed on the ground and didn't melt. After the snow fell, the earth was finally covered in a white blanket, so clean.
Occasionally, on some sunny spots on the earthen ridges, bits of soil are still visible, like black mud spots on a white cloth, quite conspicuous.
The members of the cooperative treated each other to meals, and by the time they finished eating at each family's house, it was already early December.
The snow fell even heavier in the mountains, and Halim and his men moved from the summer pastures to their winter huts early. After descending the mountain, Halim went to the purchasing station to find Li Long and asked him to bring some more sugar residue to the courtyard to use as feed for fattening animals in the winter.
Li Long drove to see Song Ming and asked him to send a car to Qingshuihe to pick up sugar residue, once a day.
Now, the sugar factory delivers three or four truckloads of sugar residue to Li Long every day. One truckload goes to Lao Ma's place without fail; the other goes to Li Xia's place.
Li Xia's farm has expanded. She has built a sheep pen in the yard with dozens of sheep, and rented a large yard to raise pigs, keeping dozens of pigs year-round. There is also a truckload of pigs going to Yushanjiang.
Yushan Jiang no longer raises sheep in his large courtyard in the county. He rented a vacant lot near the county town and built a huge cattle and sheep pen. Song Ming also delivers a truckload of sugar residue to him every day as reserve feed for the cattle and sheep.
The extra load of sugar residue for Halim was nothing special; one more or one less load wouldn't make much difference. After all, Li Long was a major client the factory had already secured, something Song Ming knew very well, so he took care of it without even needing instructions from the factory leaders.
On December 10th, Li Long was sitting in the reception room of the purchasing station. He was flipping through a thick magazine, the contents of which described how Chinese People's Volunteer Army prisoners of war resisted and struggled in American POW camps during the Korean War. It was tragic and very shocking.
Just as they were looking at it, they heard a car outside, and a moment later, Harim hurriedly walked in.
Li Long put down the magazine, stood up, and shook hands with Harim.
Harim took off his leather coat and said, "I have something urgent to discuss with you."
Li Long immediately said, "What is it? Tell me."
"Could you find me some bullets? And preferably a couple of guns too," Halim said, sitting down, taking a sip of the teacup Li Long offered.
“Something happened in the mountains. Ever since we moved to our winter pastures, the wolves have gathered there. This year, I expanded my sheep flock and bought some cattle and sheep from other people.”
The young men I hired are now each responsible for a large flock of sheep, and they're finding it difficult to keep an eye on everything. They told me there are many wolves at night, in packs. Since we moved them down here, more than a dozen sheep have already been killed. The young men are also very scared; they hardly dare to sleep at night because those wolves are extremely ferocious. I'm thinking of finding some guns to shoot them at night, otherwise, this winter will be tough.”
Li Long asked, "Why don't we drive all the cattle and sheep back to the courtyards in the village? These wolves certainly won't dare to run into the village."
Halim waved his hand and said, "Didn't I just tell you? This year I bought a lot more cattle and sheep from other people. The big yard in the village can't hold them all, so a large portion of them will have to be kept in the winter pastures to get through the winter."
Li Long understood and said, "Don't worry, I'll call and ask right now."
Then he went to the counter, picked up the phone, and dialed Captain Xu Chengjun.
Xu Chengjun answered the phone and, upon hearing Li Long ask to borrow a gun, hurriedly refused: "Xiao Long, you know that for the past two years, the militia training has been banned from the team."
"When the township conducts basic militia training, they hardly ever handle guns anymore. It's only when the county organizes militia reorganizations that a portion of the basic militia are summoned for training there, and then they might use guns again. Now weapons are centrally stored, and the township armed forces department doesn't even have an armory anymore. Where am I supposed to borrow a gun from you?"
Li Long, somewhat unwilling, asked again, "Do you have any bullets?"
Xu Chengjun hesitated for a moment and said, "If you want me to search, I can find a few dozen for you, but that's all I can find."
Li Long knew that centralized storage of weapons would lead to a complete ban on firearms—an inevitable trend—but the immediate problem still needed to be solved. So he called Li Xiangqian again.
Upon hearing that Li Long wanted to borrow a gun, Li Xiangqian immediately asked, "What do you need a gun for?"
Li Long didn't hide anything from Li Xiangqian and told him about hunting wolves.
Li Xiangqian chuckled and said, "Hey, you've come at just the right time to return the gun. The county armed forces department has already sent us a notice, telling us to hand over all the weapons and ammunition from our supply and marketing cooperative's armory by the end of the year."
If you had called a few days later, you wouldn't have seen these guns. But let's make it clear first, I'm free right now, so I'll get involved. However, I can't lend too many guns, just two semi-automatic at most, okay? Find someone else, and I'll use one of those two semi-automatic guns.”
Li Long thought that two guns were better than none, so he agreed, and then quickly added, "We can't skimp on bullets."
Li Xiangqian said, "Don't worry, I'll bring a whole case of bullets, that should be enough, right?"
After hanging up the phone, Li Long did some calculations. He had a semi-automatic rifle, a hunting rifle, and a small-caliber gun. He could borrow two more semi-automatic rifles from Li Xiangqian, making a total of five guns.
Judging from Harim's tone, he should have another gun. But to be sure, Li Long asked Harim, "Do you have another gun?"
Halim nodded and said, "Our guns were handed over to the township at the time. But these past two years I've had to raise so many cattle and sheep, and there are fewer people at the summer pastures, so I went to the homes of the former herders and found an old semi-automatic rifle. But one is too few."
Li Long nodded and said, "Now, counting the ones I borrowed and the ones I have, plus yours, we have six guns. That should be enough, right?"
Halim laughed heartily and said, "That's enough, that's definitely enough. So when can you get over there?"
Li Long said, "I'll go back to the team to get the bullets now, and then go to the supply and marketing cooperative to discuss it with the leaders. If it works out, we'll go over tonight, or at the latest tomorrow afternoon. You can just wait for us at the winter shelter."
After finishing his cup of hot tea, Halim said, "Alright, I'll go back now and have them keep watch all night."
After Halim left, Li Long drove to the team first. His hunting rifle and small-caliber gun were at his older brother's house; he definitely needed to talk to his older brother about this.
Li Jianguo didn't plan to go; he was getting old and didn't want the hassle. Li Junfeng, however, wanted to go along, so Li Long took him to the team leader's house.
Unexpectedly, not only Xu Chengjun was there, but Xu Haijun was too. Xu Haijun asked Li Long, "I heard you're going to hunt wolves?"
Li Long nodded: "What, you want to go too? There aren't enough guns left."
Xu Haijun smiled and said, "I'll handle the gun issue myself. Can I go?"
Li Long said, "Of course you're welcome. You've been in the army, so your marksmanship is definitely better than ours. You have an advantage when it comes to shooting this stuff."
Xu Haijun asked him when he was leaving. Li Long said, "Wait for my notification. I'll go to the county now to find someone else to borrow from. I'll ask around then, and then we'll act together."
Xu Haijun said, "Then I'll wait for your call."
After getting the bullets from Xu Chengjun, Li Long quickly drove to the supply and marketing cooperative. After hanging up with Li Long, Li Xiangqian went directly to the head of security and asked him to retrieve two guns. He asked the head of security, "How many loose bullets are left in the ammunition room?"
The security chief said, "There are still 300 rounds left."
Li Xiangqian said, "Then bring them all to me."
The head of security went to prepare guns and ammunition. Li Xiangqian thought for a moment, then called Director Qian to report the matter. He actually wanted to ask Director Qian if he wanted to go, since Director Qian was much more interested in hunting than he was.
However, Director Qian had his own considerations. He told Li Xiangqian, "Helping herders kill wolves is a good thing. Although wolves are now protected animals, they threaten the property safety of herders, so they should be eliminated. I support you in this matter."
Li Xiangqian understood the implication in Director Qian's words: the leader certainly didn't have time to go, but he supported Li Xiangqian's actions.
When Li Long arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Xiangqian had already prepared his gun and bullets, and his luggage was packed. On the sofa in his office were a leather overcoat, a leather hat, a felt tube, and a bucket of compressed dry rations.
Li Long entered the office, looked at the guns and equipment, and said with a smile, "Director, you're planning to be fully armed? Can we leave this afternoon?"
Li Xiangqian asked him in confusion, "Didn't you say that? Does that mean we can't leave today?"
Li Long hurriedly nodded and said, "Let's go, let's go, sure, definitely let's go. But let's forget about the compressed rations, I'll go to our cannery and get some canned meat later."
Li Xiangqian gave him a disdainful look and said, "You're obviously an amateur. When hunting wolves on a cold winter night, you have to lie in ambush. Those canned meats, beef, mutton, and pork, they're all frozen together in that cold weather. How can you swallow them with a mouthful of oil?"
"These compressed rations, tucked in my pocket, mean that when we're waiting for wolves, I can just pop a piece in my mouth and let it dissolve slowly to provide energy."
Li Long nodded in agreement and said, "Hey, the director is really thoughtful. I plan to take the canned food up and put it in the winter kennel, keeping it warm on the stove. That way, the aroma will attract wolves."
Li Xiangqian glared at him and said, "You're full of tricks." But he didn't object to his plan.
Li Long then said to Li Xiangqian, "Director, please wait here for a moment. I will go prepare the supplies and then gather the others."
Li Xiangqian nodded, and Li Long quickly went out. He first went to the purchasing station to call Xu Haijun and asked him to come up quickly, and then went to the department store to buy some chocolates.
Li Xiangqian's words gave him an idea. It would be quite cold to lie there waiting for the wolves, so eating compressed rations would be a good idea, but he thought eating chocolate might be even better.
As for manpower allocation, in addition to Li Xiangqian himself, Xu Haijun and Li Junfeng, Li Long also called two demobilized soldiers from the purchasing station.
Li Long knew the workers the purchasing station recruited quite well; the two he called were former combat soldiers with excellent marksmanship. Knowing that Li Long was taking them on a mission to hunt wolves, the two workers were overjoyed.
After gathering everyone at his purchasing station, Li Long instructed them to prepare similar supplies as Li Xiangqian. Xu Chengjun wore the military overcoat he had brought back from the army, and Li Long also prepared a leather overcoat for him; the others received the same. Then, each person was given a box of chocolates to put in their pockets, to be prepared for the situation.
The guns were now in their hands. One of the workers received the small-caliber one, and Li Long gave him a whole box of bullets. Although he was a little dissatisfied, he quickly adjusted his mindset and said with a smile, "As long as you aim accurately, this gun can kill a wolf just like that."
Li Long gave him a thumbs up. Li Long then took his usual Type 56 semi-automatic rifle and gave the double-barreled shotgun to Li Junfeng. The other worker would take the other semi-automatic rifle that Li Xiangqian had prepared, and that would be enough guns.
Xu Haijun also arrived in a Land Cruiser, and they split into two vehicles to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to find Li Xiangqian. When Li Xiangqian saw that Li Long had brought so many people, he smiled and said, "Hey, quite a large group. Since you've brought two vehicles, I won't move."
After loading the supplies from Li Xiangqian's place onto the truck, everyone drove together towards the mountains.
By the time the car reached Halimu's wintering grounds, it was almost dark. As soon as the two cars stopped, Li Long heard wolf howls coming from the southeast woods. Judging by the sound, the distance was less than 500 meters—quite close indeed.
After hearing the commotion, Halim and the others came out of their winter shelter and were delighted to see Li Long.
After Li Long introduced the people who had come from this side to them one by one, everyone squeezed into the winter shelter to listen to Halim's explanation of the situation.
“Every wintering den is harassed by wolves. But the wolves are most ferocious in two places: one is here, and the other is near Buick’s wintering den.”
My idea is that we split into two groups: one group stays here, and the other ambushes at Buick's winter lodge. If we kill a few wolves tonight, they won't dare come over tomorrow.
"Then, with the bullets you left behind, Li Long, if we make a few more moves these next two nights, we should be able to scare these wolves away."
Halim clearly felt it was impossible to kill all the wolves; he only needed to eliminate a portion of them to instill fear and drive them away.
Next, they discussed how to allocate manpower. Li Long's idea was to have Halim take a few men to Bek's winter camp, while he would stay behind to ambush them. Li Xiangqian immediately said he would stay with Li Long. Xu Haijun, however, wanted to go there.
Then Li Long told Halim to take Xu Haijun, Li Junfeng, and another employee over there, while he, Li Xiangqian, and another employee stayed behind. There was also a young man left behind by Halim who helped Li Long and the others prepare supplies.
Because Harim had brought his own Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, the workers he brought with him carried smaller caliber ones. So, there were three Type 56 semi-automatic rifles here, two Type 56 semi-automatic rifles there, one shotgun, and one small caliber rifle, which was about right in terms of firepower.
When Halim and the others left, Li Long gave them bullets, some canned food, and a few pieces of chocolate. After they left, Li Long also left a few pieces of chocolate for Li Xiangqian.
It was just getting dark, not the time to ambush. Li Long told the young man who stayed behind to add some coal to the stove, make the fire burn brighter, set up the pot, and heat up the canned food.
The aroma quickly wafted through the cracks into the air. Just as the broth in the pot began to simmer, the howling of wolves came from outside again, the sound now very close.
Li Xiangqian said, "Li Long, listen to this noise. Should we ambush those wolves now? Will they come over right now?"
Li Long shook his head and said, "No rush, it's not time yet. Let's eat first and then talk about it."
Since Li Long said there was no rush, Li Xiangqian listened to him. Li Long went out and got the prepared enamel basins, giving one to each person. Halimu and the others had prepared naan bread, which they could eat with meat and broth, and it was quite delicious.
The temperature here is almost 10°C lower than in the plains. In temperatures below -20°C, a bowl of hot meat soup with a fire burning around you is truly comforting.
After finishing eating, he went outside and wiped the enamel basin clean with snow. After cleaning up, Li Xiangqian leaned against the wooden bed and said, "I feel sleepy after eating so much. I feel like if we don't go out and lie in ambush soon, I'll fall asleep."
Li Long glanced at his watch and said, "It's not even 10 o'clock yet, Director. If you're sleepy, take a nap. We'll set up the ambush after you wake up."
Li Xiangqian asked doubtfully, "Would the wolves arrive so late? I felt they were all around us."
Li Long pointed at the herdsman and said, "Director, if you don't believe me, ask him when the wolves usually come."
The herdsman, who spoke Mandarin, said before Li Xiangqian could ask, “Usually, these wolves come to the sheepfold around midnight. As soon as we open the door, they get scared and back away, but they don’t go far. It’s very troublesome.”
This is the most troublesome situation when there are no guns. Because these wolves are very patient and cunning, they wait for people to get sleepy or when their guard is down before they come to raid the sheepfold and kill the sheep.
They take turns guarding the sheep, sometimes waiting all night, or even several nights in a row. But there are only one or two herders watching over the flock, which is far from enough.
This is why Halim came to Li Long to borrow a gun and bullets. Only by killing some of them and making them feel the pain enough will the wolf pack leave this place and go elsewhere to find prey.
Halim only had one gun and not many bullets. He had already used up all his bullets in the previous two days of fighting. Although he had shot down two or three wolves, such a loss was not enough to make the wolf pack leave.
After all, these winter pastures have a large number of cattle and sheep in their pens, and their defenses are relatively weak, making them prime targets for attack.
Li Xiangqian said, "Then you keep an eye on things, I'm going to take a nap." With that, he wrapped his leather coat tighter, leaned against the wooden kang (heated brick bed), closed his eyes, and went to doze off.
Li Long let the other employee rest for a while as well.
The employee shook his head and said, "Boss, I'm not sleepy right now. If you are, you can take a nap. I'll stay here and keep watch."
Li Long himself wasn't sleepy, so he gave some bullets to the employee. The employee, Zhang Shouyi, took the bullets and put them in his pocket. Without actually firing the gun, he just held the gun in his hand and familiarized himself with it.
Since Li Long said there was no need to go out, he simply started disassembling and reassembling the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle on the wooden kang (heated brick bed). After he finished, he said to Li Long, "This rifle is not well maintained. Look at the rifling in the barrel; it's still quite new inside. Fortunately, the firing distance wasn't far; otherwise, it would have been great if we could have tested the gun."
Li Long then started chatting with Zhang Shouyi, talking about his time in the army and asking him if he had ever fought in a war.
Zhang Shouyi waved his hand and said, "No. The training is quite intense, but I haven't participated in any actual combat, so I haven't had the opportunity."
Meanwhile, in Buick's winter quarters, Xu Haijun was chatting with another employee about things in the military. Both of them had served in the army, and both were combat units, so they had more in common.
After Halim led them to finish eating, they also rested and recuperated in the winter nest, waiting for the scheduled time to arrive.
Around 11 o'clock, Li Long woke Li Xiangqian up and told him to get ready to go out and ambush the wolves. The reason for choosing this time was that Li Long noticed the wolves outside hadn't howled for a while.
After waking Li Xiangqian, he and Zhang Shouyi left the winter pasture first. After their eyes adjusted to the dim light, Li Long scanned the area and found no wolves in the open winter pastures near the winter pasture. He wondered if the two Land Cruisers had scared them off; in any case, they were nowhere to be seen.
Of course, now was also the best time to ambush. Li Long pointed out the ambush location to Zhang Shouyi, instructing him to go to the side of the Land Cruiser, where he wouldn't have to worry about the wolves flanking him from behind. Li Long himself went to the sheepfold, which was also the wolves' final target.
As for Li Xiangqian, Li Long's idea was for him to simply lie in ambush in front of the winter hut. The three of them, firing in a crossfire, could completely seal off the area where the old wolf had howled. Of course, the actual results would depend on whether the other wolves came later.
After Li Xiangqian came out, Li Long told him to tell the herdsman in the winter hut to turn off the oil lamp and not let any light shine out, otherwise the wolves would be alert. Then he told him to just lie down in front of the winter hut.
After lying down, Li Long found that his vision was blocked by some snow, so he stood up again and cleared away the snow in front of him. Then he built a gun rack for himself, lay down again, and waited quietly.
I felt the warmth gradually being taken away from my body, and the cold enveloped me. It had been a long time since I had done this, and it actually felt quite uncomfortable.
But it doesn't matter. Let's just consider it a reminder of past hardships and the present happiness.
Next, we just have to wait for the wolves to come. (End of Chapter)