Chapter 349 – A New Home
There was an incident in the past where children had to eat bread instead of rice due to a school lunch strike.
At the time, the media attempted to publicize this negatively. Is it okay to let a growing child eat bread?
However, it became a laughing stock because all the children in the photos were happy and eating their own food.
Comments like ‘my mouth is watering’ are plastered all over the portal news comments.
For young taste buds, the sweetness of cream and the savory taste of bread will be more appealing than healthy foods such as poop soup, vegetables, pumpkin, and prickly fish.
Today, a long time later, a similar incident is occurring in the military after the world was cut off.
This is because a huge amount of canned food was taken out of a North Korean air raid shelter and released to military units.
[Dedicated to the soldiers of the Armed Forces. From the terrible infection war to today when everything is lacking, the dedication to fulfill one’s duties in each position! I can’t thank you enough!]
Since Kids announced this on the radio, soldiers have been waiting for the supplies to arrive.
Soldiers full of anticipation are lining up in the kitchen during lunchtime.
The feeling of ‘I have to eat to survive’ that I usually had has completely evaporated.
“Is there any strawberry cream bread? “I just ate the cream yesterday.”
“Please wait a moment.”
In response to the sergeant’s question, a cook wearing an old apron rummaged through a pile of cans. But his thick hand grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
Sigh!
And then a hand blade hit the sergeant’s head.
“Aya!”
“Eat whatever you give me!”
“Oh, Hangbo Officer, wait a minute!”
When the sergeant who was pushed by the administrative supply officer’s rough hand disappeared, the soldier in the back row quickly filled the line.
“Bread! Stew! Processed meat! “Choose 1 out of 3 types!”
The governor shouted.
“If you happen to be caught messing with soldiers who don’t have enough time, you will be punished by me. I’m not kidding. I’m really falling behind.”
The old non-commissioned officer thrust a stone fist that looked painful just by looking at it.
There is a rumor that he killed an approaching walker with his bare hands during a shooting jam. The veteran soldiers nodded obediently.
Normally, a non-commissioned officer at the level of an administrative officer is not on standby in the kitchen, but since special meal distribution continued every day, there was no choice.
If this small number of executives are not holding on, control will not be possible.
“Give me the stew!”
Corn cheese with bacon fell from the private’s hand
“Processed meat.”
The corporal received seasoned minced meat.
“Bread.”
“Bread.”
“Stew.”
“Processed meat.”
Surprisingly, soldiers did not focus solely on processed meat, as military bases had fairly good access to meat.
Thanks to excellent firearms and observation equipment, they have an advantage in hunting wild animals, and they are raising pigs, chickens, and even rats for shelter.
Thanks to this, there was a greater craving for a type of taste that cannot be replaced by farming or hunting.
Soldiers’ plates basically contain potatoes, a few vegetables, and some fish.
In the place where the ten-year stew of unknown ingredients was, canned food that each person had chosen was placed one by one.
Everyone enjoys their meal in their own way, such as eating potatoes dipped in corn cheese or topping potatoes with tuna.
Among soldiers, there are some who hide the canned food they are issued in their bosom in order to take it to a nearby civilian camp.
“What is going on, brother?!”
A revealing woman smiles broadly, holding her canned fruit in both hands.
She closed her curtains and took her soldier’s hand, leading him into her own guest room. This camp was set up on a stopped train.
Since it stopped just while passing the bridge over the river, it was advantageous for supplying drinking water, surveillance and defense of the surrounding area.
A watchtower was built at the front and back of the train by knitting together car bodies, iron plates, and tree trunks brought from all around.
If it were three years ago, I probably wouldn’t have set up a base in a place right in the middle of the outdoors.
However, after the distribution of vaccines, the conditions under which people camp are becoming more diverse.
We abandoned the standard that prioritized only safety and began looking for positions with excellent other requirements.
And the direction is not limited to east, west, and south. The number of people looking towards the North also began to increase.
* * *
-Only soldiers have mouths, and we have mouths?!
-Acknowledging credit is acknowledging it, but isn’t giving 100% too much?
I was reading a collection of anonymous submissions in the central control room.
One week after North Korea ordered military units to release long-term preservation food from air-raid shelters. A huge amount of letters poured in.
“I expected there would be complaints.”
One letter even criticized North Korea’s style of military-first politics.
“It’s because the favor continues. “They’re acting as if it’s their right to receive, aren’t they?”
Artemis looked at Tuseo with displeased eyes. It seemed like he wanted to take it away and tear it into two or four pieces.
However, she never touches the document being reviewed in my hand.
“The problem is that this isn’t just complaining.”
At first glance, why are only soldiers given delicious food? We want to eat delicious food too! It appears to be the same type of request.
However, as you read it, you can see that the feeling is subtly different.
“There is a hint of a demand for fair distribution as a leader and representative of the government.”
Even before, it was clear that Shelter and Police were regarded as potential ruling forces on the Korean Peninsula.
However, the war was won against the remnants of the Chinese army and Kim Jong-un was executed.
It felt like these two events symbolically changed the mindset of survivors on the Korean Peninsula.
In fact, after this, the number of people leaving Jeju Island increased rapidly. The government’s authority, which had remained as small as a feather, had completely evaporated.
There were quite a few soldiers among them, and seeing that even the execution ceremony that was held when they were bored was cut off, it seems like the organization was almost disintegrating.
Even a high-ranking power family member was arrested after entering Yeosu Port by hiding his identity and disguising himself as a refugee.
I sighed after reading the last letter.
“There is no change in plan. As scheduled, the materials collected from the air raid shelter will be sent to the garrison troops.”
Even if there are complaints and backbiting, there is nothing we can do.
In the current situation, soldiers maintaining security in each region were the ones to be treated with top priority.
However, there is one more group of people that we need to pay attention to.
“Set aside about 30%.”
“Is this for pioneers in the former North Korean territory?”
“Yes.”
I pointed to the top of the map of the Korean Peninsula displayed on the central control room screen.
“Because it has become difficult to keep it empty like before.”
It would be a waste to leave North Korea’s few grain producing areas and coastal fishery resources idle.
Moreover, it is not only food production that needs to be concerned now.
As the Chinese army, which was like a pack of hyenas, disappeared and the number of infectious agents in North Korea decreased due to the influence of vaccines, new neighbors began to descend.
As I operate the button on my seat, I see people moving about busily at the border of North Hamgyong Province. They are the Russians.
This is not the first time that teams are gathering near the border for hunting or exploration, but the number is increasing.
“I don’t know if they are staying temporarily or if they are aiming to settle down in North Korean territory, but it’s something we can’t just ignore.”
Artemis nodded at my words.
“Compared to eastern Russia, North Korea will have an easier time surviving. The climate is warm, and it is easy to secure food by launching fishing boats on both sides. Above all, there is police, right? “Whether you’re aiming for the safety that comes from here or trading supplies, you’ll want to make a base nearby.”
“There are people who want to come to the city and live there.”
Smuggling of people into the country has already begun.
However, having a few refugees come in and settle down in a Russian camp on North Korean soil is a completely different matter.
What is the relationship between South Korea and North Korea like from a Russian perspective?
They may think, ‘It’s another country anyway, so it wouldn’t be a big deal if we occupied part of North Korea, right?’
I thought that the reason we faced the Chinese army was simply because of the North Korean air raid shelter materials.
Even if we drive them out right away, problems will inevitably arise if North Korean land remains empty.
There was a need to establish a camp both in terms of food security and defense.
But who would want to abandon the somewhat stable South Korea and settle in North Korea? In the end, we have no choice but to give incentives.
“Is history repeating itself like this?”
I inadvertently remembered the history lesson about the 4th division and 6th division that I learned in school.
“Don’t worry.”
Artemis realized what I was thinking and laughed.
“Unlike 600 years ago, there are many things prepared now. GMO crops that grow well even in barren lands, edible rats that convert even waste into flesh, edible livestock that are being developed further, fishing boats in the best condition, and even the supply of sufficient medicine and synthetic oil. “Those who take on the challenge will be given adequate support and recognition of their rights.”
Artemis’ voice was full of confidence.
There is no one in the world who can follow her in making her plans and preparing and distributing her supplies.
“I hope it works out well.”
However, unexpected variables always appear in large-scale plans.
Russians in a photo of a frozen border area. I was concerned about the anxiety on their faces.
Is it because they are in a foreign land without permission, or is they afraid of something else?
