Production Self-Rescue

Since everyone had reached a consensus, France and Britain reached a peace agreement in Amsterdam.

"I know that our France friends and the Britain have reached a peace agreement, which has shaken some of our comrades. Some are even worried that we have been betrayed by our France friends, because the Britain claim that, according to the agreement, the France are no longer allowed to sell us military weapons. But, comrades, the ships that have arrived today, and the new cargo they have brought us, prove that this is nothing but a rumor. Alright, come and see our new stuff."

The soldiers gathered around Joyce, staring at the wooden crates beside him. These crates hadn't been opened yet, so their contents were hidden; only a large sign on the outside read, "Agricultural Supplies."

Below this large text, there is another line of smaller, bold text that reads, "High-efficiency bird deterrent device for farmland."

"'High-efficiency bird deterrent'? What's that?" a soldier asked.

"The crowbar's over there, why don't you just open it and see for yourself?" Joyce said, waving his hand dismissively.

So the soldier picked up a crowbar and pried open the crate. Inside, as usual, was a layer of well-wrapped oil paper; once the oil paper was removed, there were wood shavings used for cushioning; and beyond those shavings was a long, thin object wrapped in tarpaulin. Everyone was so familiar with this object that they knew what was inside even before the tarpaulin was unwrapped.

"This thing is the 'highly efficient farmland bird deterrent'?" The soldier skillfully took the rifle out of the tarpaulin bag, held it in his hand, and aimed it.

"This thing is really effective at scaring away birds," another soldier laughed. "John, there are ten birds in a tree. You shoot one of them, and there are still a few birds left in the tree."

"What the hell! I'm not stupid," John said, putting the gun back into the oilcloth bag.

"And this, what's this?" another soldier asked, pointing to a different box. The box was labeled. "High-Efficiency Farmland Wild Boar Deterrence Device."

"Open it and see!" someone said.

"Hold on a minute, let's make a bet on a bag of captured Britain tobacco. I bet it contains Claymore. Anyone object?" Squad leader Oha shouted.

"Oha, you still have more here? Just how many good things have you hidden away?"

"Those who have money, speak up; those who don't, get out of here!" Oha said disdainfully.

"Oha, how much do you have left? I'll bet you. I'll wager my collection of France brandy," Joyce suddenly said.

"What? Commander... Commander, you can't cheat me! I worked so hard to save all this stuff..." Seeing Joyce speak, Oha immediately realized he might have made a mistake and quickly said.

"Commander, don't believe him. That scoundrel Oha took my last bit of tobacco yesterday under the guise of sharing, and now he has more..."

"Exactly, he didn't save that up himself; he amassed it entirely by eating and drinking our food."

Joyce laughed along, "Oha, you'd better take out your pack of tobacco, and I'll take out my bottle of brandy too, and then we can all share it. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

So everyone started to egg him on, and Joyce generously had someone bring out the brandy. Amid the commotion, Oha had no choice but to bring out his own pack of tobacco.

"Commander, what exactly is this 'highly efficient farmland wild boar deterrent'?" At this moment, someone finally returned to the original question.

"How would I know? I haven't opened it," Joyce said. "But I guess it's just a regular landmine. There are two other boxes over there that look similar, also labeled 'Wild Boar Destroyer.' But unlike this one, the 'wild boar' on that one is in the plural. I bet that's where the Claymore Mine is."

"Open it and see, open it and see," everyone said.

The box labeled "Wild Boar" in the singular form opened, and sure enough, it contained a regular landmine that could only destroy one boar's hoof; while the box labeled "Wild Boar" in the plural form opened, and it was full of Claymore. However...

"Commander, look, the words on this are different now." A soldier picked up a Claymore and shouted to Joyce.

"Let me see..." Joyce looked at the Claymore Mine and saw the following words printed on its front. "This side faces pigs!"

"Comrades, as you've all seen, the rumors about the France selling us out are just that—rumors. If you believe that, you'll really become something that deserves to be blown up by this thing!" Joyce laughed loudly.

"Commander, if that's the case, then why did the France comrades want to cease hostilities with the Britain, and even suggest that we temporarily cease hostilities with the Britain as well?" someone asked.

"Because whether it's the Britain, the France comrades, or us, we all need a good rest. You should know that the France comrades overthrew their domestic tyrant and established a republic. For this reason, under the leadership of the Britain, all the feudal tyrants in Europe have united to wage war against our France comrades, wanting to turn France back into a tyrannical kingdom."

But our France comrades defeated them. Through several years of war, those feudal monarchs who initially waged war against France were defeated one by one. However, the scale of the war in France was much larger than on our side, and the France comrades suffered equally heavy losses. You see, this year we've been constantly fighting counter-encirclement operations, each lasting for months on end; we've almost run out of time to plant potatoes. Our France comrades have been fighting counter-encirclement operations for years. Nobody's made of iron; everyone needs a breather."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and together they imagined how difficult it must have been for the France comrades after years of fighting the encirclement. They all agreed that the France comrades deserved a breather.

"And then there's us. The Britain are ruthless. Over the years, they've been raiding us either during potato planting or just before harvest. What are they after? Just to prevent us from growing potatoes properly and starve us! This year, the Britain pulled this stunt again during potato planting. Although we've driven them out of our base, the potato planting has still been significantly delayed. If the Britain cause trouble again during harvest, our lives will be even more difficult."

Then let's talk about the Britain. This time, we killed more Britain than ever before. They were afraid of dying too. The reason they dared to keep raiding us was because they thought they could blockade our sea routes and starve us. A few days ago, our France comrades fought a battle at sea and broke through the Britain. They knew they couldn't blockade us anymore. They had suffered many defeats elsewhere, and they were also struggling to breathe, so they needed to stop and catch their breath.

Comrades, this is why we, our France comrades, and those damned Britain all need a ceasefire. This ceasefire is not the end, but merely a respite. Everyone is using this respite to try and catch their breath first, and then kill the one who hasn't caught their breath yet.

So comrades, the ceasefire is not a rest. We cannot think that just because the war is over, we can relax and go to sleep. Chairman Russell said that we must seize this time to resume production, make our potatoes grow as many as possible, and fill our warehouses to the brim with potatoes, so many that we can't eat them all in a year or two. That way, even if the Britain catch their breath and come back to launch a major sweep, we won't be afraid of them.

However, comrades, many of the potatoes we planted this year have been destroyed by the Britain and their scoundrels. Even if we replant now, the harvest will inevitably be affected. If we continue in the old way, the potatoes we can harvest per acre this year will certainly be less than in normal times. We're struggling to breathe. Comrades, we must find a way to breathe freely again. We must not only recover the losses caused to us by the Britain and their scoundrels, but we must also strive for a bumper harvest. Only in this way can we catch our breath first, grow stronger, and finally defeat the Britain and achieve national independence."

"Commander, what do you suggest we do?"

"Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say, Commander, we'll do."

The soldiers said one after another.

Seeing everyone's enthusiasm, Joyce climbed onto a crate containing multiple "high-efficiency farmland wild boar deterrents" and said, "The comrades of the Federation are mobilizing the people in various villages to replant crops and try to make up for the losses as much as possible. They are also opening up more wasteland, expanding the planting area, managing the fields more, weeding frequently, and watching over the land to prevent rats, rabbits, and wild boars from appearing and harming our potatoes. We are trying to make up for the losses."

Comrades, the comrades in the local area are working very hard, and our fellow villagers are working very hard too. They are now sleeping in the potato fields day and night, working like crazy on the farm. We can't just stand by and watch, can we? So, Chairman Russell asked me, 'In addition to military training, do the comrades in our division have the energy to plant some potatoes themselves, to lighten the burden on the local comrades and our fellow villagers?' Tell me, what was my answer?

"Commander, what did you say?" the soldiers asked one after another.

"What could I say? Would I back down at a time like this? Of course I'd say, 'Commander, my soldiers and I used to grow potatoes. Growing potatoes is our specialty. If it weren't for those damn Britain, who the hell would want to fight all day and not grow potatoes? No problem. Because the lads in our division are the best farmers. When it comes to growing potatoes, nobody in the world can compare to our division. Just wait and see, we can not only grow enough potatoes for ourselves, but we can also support the Irish Second Division!'"

The chairman said, "The Irish Second Division also said that they are definitely better at farming than us, and they will support us." Do you think we can get the Irish Second Division to support us? We need to let them know why we are the First Division and they are the Irish Second Division. Don't you agree?