The councilors and party members from the agricultural regions hadn't expected He Rui to be so blunt in proposing that the army take charge of demarcating pastures. This would undoubtedly stir up conflict. The participating councilors looked toward the regional councilors dressed in Mongolian attire, only to see these individuals first show surprise, then their narrow eyes widened, revealing expressions of pleasant surprise. The leader among them couldn't help but ask joyfully, "Is it true? Chairman, you want the troops to be responsible for demarcating the pastures?!"

He Rui stood up. He was tall, a full head taller than many of the Mongolian councilors. Standing before the blackboard, he commanded the attention of everyone present.

"Sending troops is not just to demarcate pastures, but also to solve the problem of transitioning from nomadic herding to livestock farming," He Rui stated.

The councilors from the agricultural regions had all seen the newly built feedlots in their local areas. In everyone's impression, feedlots involved fencing off flat land with barbed wire. The land was covered in grass, and the cattle and sheep lived in pens for the majority of the time. Whenever the weather was good, they were driven out to the pastures to graze. If the weather was bad, they ate prepared hay and fodder in their pens.

The pig farms, on the other hand, were quite bizarre. Entering a pig farm was like entering a restricted military zone; one had to change into specialized clothes and wear specialized shoes, a process called 'disinfection and sterilization.' The food for those pigs also underwent 'strict sterilization,' seemingly to prevent the pigs from catching swine fever.

In ordinary households, a person raised one pig on average. In the heavily guarded pig farms, one person raised dozens of pigs on average. The pigs in the farms were confined in small pens, unable to even turn around. They could only stand up and lie down. The purpose was to fatten the pigs as quickly as possible and send them for slaughter.

From what He Rui was saying, it seemed he intended to do the same in Inner and Outer Mongolia. The councilors from the agricultural regions simply felt that He Rui's attitude was firm, indicating he had made up his mind.

Looking at the councilors from the Inner and Outer Mongolia regions, every one of them looked delighted. Although the councilors from the agricultural regions didn't know the reason, they knew that He Rui's proposal had struck a chord with the councilors from the pastoral areas.

He Rui, of course, knew that the councilors from the pastoral areas were greatly looking forward to such changes. The process of establishing grassroots organizations in the pastoral areas was similar to that of the Northeast Government. After political background checks, personnel went into the grassroots level to select small tribes that were law-abiding and had no obvious history of looting. From these, leaders were chosen to serve as grassroots organizations and personnel.

The natural environment and production model of the pastoral areas determined the cruelty of survival. Trying to find prestigious good people using the standards of the agricultural regions was a very difficult task. However, at least these selected people hoped to obtain a stable life through honest production. That was enough.

Just as He Rui had anticipated, the pastoral councilors were truly inspired with positive emotions by the future He Rui described. There was light in their eyes, the light of expectation. For herdsmen, nomadic life was an activity full of danger.

In the cruel environment of the steppe, plunder became a necessary means to possess a higher probability of survival. The more powerful a tribe was, the more it could obtain resources by plundering others, allowing itself to live better.

The small tribes had suffered enough at the hands of the large tribes. Once settled ranching could be realized, coupled with the suppression of the Northeast Army, the large tribes would no longer be able to commit crimes against the small tribes as they had in the past. The benefits therein were simply earth-shattering.

These small tribes had resisted, shed blood, and experienced a cruel past. Therefore, they knew exceptionally well that they could not change the traditions of the steppe by themselves; a more powerful military force had to intervene.

The subsequent meeting did not mention military struggle. The councilors from the agricultural regions were not quite clear on how the military struggle would erupt. The councilors from the pastoral areas, however, decided to hand over the military struggle for changing the pastoral areas to the Northeast Army. As small tribes, they would simply provide assistance to the Northeast Army in exchange for a better future.

He Rui likewise did not mention military struggle, only recounting the better future of the pastoral areas.

If these oppressed people could not be made to understand the future and believe in the future, the Northeast Army's military operations would only turn into a war against the entire pastoral region.

The general direction was formulated by He Rui. After listening to He Rui's narrative, the councilors all felt that such a future was completely acceptable. Then, other specific work would be the responsibility of specialized departments.

After He Rui left, regarding the issue of kidnapping, the councilors from the agricultural and pastoral regions were no longer in an adversarial stance. Although for different reasons, both sides reached a consensus on combating crime and optimizing public security. They began to propose bills regarding this issue, preparing to submit them to the Northeast Assembly.

The councilors from the agricultural regions felt that things would improve from here on out, not realizing what scale of struggle was hidden under the proposal to improve public security. This struggle would thoroughly change the production model of Inner and Outer Mongolia.

He Rui was very clear about such changes, so he was very confident that Zheng Sirang, who was responsible for this matter, could complete the task. Although Zheng Sirang had lost interest in galloping across the steppe—his attention having been captured by industrialized warfare, in which he never tired—as a senior officer, he had to undertake the tasks handed down by the organization.

He Rui's task was to assess the final bloody battle between Kolchak and the Red Army.

Kolchak did not know He Rui's thoughts. At this moment, His Excellency the Admiral was directing fierce fighting. He contracted the defense lines, shortening the distance between the front lines and the rear. After the troops received sufficient rest and replenishment, they would return to the front to replace the exhausted frontline troops and continue fighting.

Winter brought many troubles to the war. The White Army, with shorter battle lines and supply lines, demonstrated a huge advantage. The Red Army was exhausted, while the White Army troops were full of energy. They would often launch sudden counterattacks just after the Red Army had finished a battle in a state of exhaustion, causing more losses to the Red Army.

Even if the Red Army knew the White Army's tactics, they had no special countermeasures. Deploying more troops to set up secret sentries instead provided convenient conditions for the White Army to ambush the sentries and capture prisoners.

By interrogating prisoners, they obtained the Red Army's unit designations, troop sizes, and operational times. With this intelligence, they could judge the Red Army's combat effectiveness level and specifically strengthen the troop deployment on the defense lines.

On the snow-capped plains, in the crisscrossing trenches, the White Army soldiers cursed the weather and the Red Army. When they saw Admiral Kolchak inspecting the front lines in person, the White Army soldiers still had the spirit to stand up and salute Kolchak and his entourage.

This made Admiral Kolchak very satisfied.

Even though he knew that the White Army soldiers actually loathed the war, and even though he knew that some in the White Army believed victory was impossible, these were not jobs for Admiral Kolchak to be responsible for; the officers of the various units would solve these problems naturally. What Admiral Kolchak had to do was let the White Army soldiers see that the supreme executive of the Provisional Government had not only not fled but was walking in the frontline trenches, standing together with the White Army soldiers.

Admiral Kolchak walked among the White Army soldiers in the winter wind, encouraging them, while simultaneously looking forward to the arrival of spring in his heart.

At this time, the vast land of Russia was also wrapped in silver. In Kiev, All-Union Communist Party member Nikolai Ostrovsky was stomping his feet on the freshly frozen ground. His thick foot-wraps were cold, wet, and slippery. Comrade Nikolai looked down to see a large hole in the front of the leather boot on his right foot, which was covered in thick mud and stains. This pair of leather boots was a trophy he had seized in his second or third battle, belonging to a tall White Russian officer. This pair had followed him from Kiev, participating in many battles and traveling many roads.

It had been patched many times in between. This time, the boot finally couldn't hold out any longer. It wasn't a simple matter of patching it up to use again; the entire boot was too severely worn. Many places were worn to the point where inserting a coarse string would tear off a piece of leather.

The auntie who cooked happened to come out to call the Komsomol members working with Comrade Nikolai to eat. Seeing Nikolai's boots, the auntie crossed herself over her chest. "Oh God, Comrade Nikolai, I have a boot here, please change into it. This weather, you are suffering too much."

Comrade Nikolai Ostrovsky hurriedly followed the auntie into the dining area. At this time, the beet soup was already cooked, emitting a hot fragrance from the pot. He filled a bowl and ate wolfishly. The auntie had already brought a boot over and handed it to Nikolai.

Nikolai quickly took it and took off the boot on his right foot. Perhaps he used a bit too much force, but he actually tore the entire sole of the shoe like paper.

Seeing this pitiful state, the auntie couldn't help but cross herself again. "Mr. Nikolai, you'd better take off your foot-wraps too. I have a dry strip here, put it on. Oh God, you really are working too hard."

Soon, Nikolai received a brand-new foot-wrap, dry and warm. After carefully wrapping his foot and putting on the new boot, all fatigue seemed to fly beyond the highest heavens.

Comrade Nikolai felt himself filled with confidence again. Entrusted by the Kiev Party Branch and the Komsomol Branch, he was building a temporary railway leading to the timber factory to provide firewood for the city of Kiev, which had almost completely cut off its fuel supply.

Sitting back in his seat, Party member Comrade Nikolai continued drinking his borscht. The comrades participating in the construction work got up one after another and entered the canteen to eat.

At 8:30 in the morning, the Party members and Komsomol members who had been rolling in the mud for a month were already busy at the construction site. The frozen ground was much better than before; they only needed to lay the sleepers and fix the rails on the sleepers. Such a railway would have all sorts of problems when it thawed next spring, but that was not a problem that needed to be considered. Comrade Nikolai believed that when tomorrow's spring arrived, everything would get better.

At lunch time, everyone packed the canteen until water couldn't trickle through. The auntie had also resumed her identity as a strict maintainer of order. Her loud voice was clearly audible in this small space, making all the unruly lads behave themselves.

Many people even revealed smiles. Compared with the cold weather, the heat in the canteen, the comrades squeezed together, and the auntie's scolding actually gave a feeling of home.

Comrade Nikolai finished his meal, walked out of the canteen, and prepared to head to the construction site. Just then, someone walked over quickly from outside and shouted, "Comrade Nikolai, please wait a moment."

The newcomer was the Deputy Secretary of the Kiev Youth League, also named Nikolai. As soon as the two Nikolais met, Assault Team Leader Comrade Nikolai asked directly, "Secretary Nikolai, we need supplies. The rails and sleepers are running out."

"Rest assured, Captain Nikolai, these will arrive immediately," Secretary Nikolai displayed a rare straightforwardness.

Assault Team Leader Nikolai was stunned. For this Secretary Nikolai to be so straightforward meant that a batch of supplies must have arrived. Since that was the case, Assault Team Leader Nikolai felt he absolutely could not let the Secretary Nikolai before him walk away so easily. "Comrade Secretary Nikolai, are there any leather boots and gloves? We need foot-wraps too, and underwear. We lack everything right now."

Secretary Nikolai sighed deeply, his face full of smiles. "Captain Nikolai, please rest assured. Send someone to the warehouse with me now. The things you mentioned, a batch has just arrived. I will prioritize providing them to you."

Such a straightforward answer gave Captain Nikolai confidence. To dare to say this, it must be true. Assault Team Leader Nikolai felt that perhaps the problems of Soviet Russia would be solved without waiting for next spring.

The people sent out returned to the camp with a small cart not long after, piled high with paper boxes. Everyone gathered around. Opening the paper boxes, they saw all kinds of leather boots in all sizes. Besides that, there were thick gloves.

Amidst his joy, Assault Team Leader Nikolai continued to open boxes one after another. However, he didn't see the foot-wraps he wanted. With anticipation, Assault Team Leader Nikolai opened the bottommost box. As soon as he opened it, he smelled a special scent. It was the smell of the wool scarf worn by Assault Team Leader Nikolai's ex-girlfriend, the engineer's daughter Monika.

In the bottommost box, a whole box of wool scarves was neatly arranged. The comrades of the assault team cheered, distributed the scarves, and replaced the cotton scarves wrapped around their necks and faces.

These cotton scarves were already tattered beyond recognition, and even their original colors could no longer be seen. Putting on the brand-new wool scarves, they immediately felt warm.

Just then, someone opened another box and took out a short wool thing in surprise. This thing was short and wasn't a scarf. But they didn't know how to use it.

Assault Team Leader Nikolai looked over and was somewhat startled. At first glance, he also thought this box contained wool scarves or something, but looking again, he realized they were actually wool socks. These were the wool socks his ex-girlfriend Monika had worn.

For a moment, a faint sorrow pervaded Assault Team Leader Nikolai's heart. If he hadn't chosen to participate in the war, the war for the Russian Motherland, Assault Team Leader Nikolai would have had the chance to marry Monika. On that night, Monika shyly took off her leather boots, revealing wool socks.

Assault Team Leader Nikolai felt as if he knew, yet seemed not to know. In short, he had left that young girl just like that. He hadn't looked back.

"Captain, what is this?" The team members had already discovered that this thing could be put on their hands. But the wool socks didn't have separate fingers, so they could only simply be put on the hands.

Captain Nikolai silently took off his two boots, which were vastly different in appearance and color, untied the heavy, wet foot-wraps, and revealed his pale bare feet. He took the wool socks from his teammate's hands and put them on. That soft and tight sensation was something he had never experienced before. Just putting them on, he felt the chill on his feet diminish significantly.

He found a pair of leather boots from the shoe box and put them on himself. Captain Nikolai stood up amidst everyone's admiring expressions. This feeling... was very unfamiliar. Brand-new wool socks and leather boots were truly unfamiliar.

Captain Nikolai shouted loudly, "Comrades, hurry up and change. This is sent to us by the Party; we cannot let the Party down."

Seeing the captain do this, the comrades also hurriedly picked out leather boots suitable for their foot size. The wool socks didn't matter much; different sizes could wrap the freezing feet very well.

There was no Russian on the paper boxes, but rather some block characters that Assault Team Leader Nikolai had never seen before. However, Assault Team Leader Nikolai didn't care. Hurrying to complete the temporary railway leading to the timber factory was the most important thing at the moment, and Captain Nikolai also needed to work desperately to dispel that indescribable emotion in his heart.

This emotion made Captain Nikolai feel an increasingly strong sadness. The captain didn't want his comrades to see him crying.

Captain Nikolai didn't recognize the block characters on the boxes, and there weren't many people in the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party who recognized Chinese block characters either. But these were not important. When Commissioner Joffe conveyed the All-Union Communist Party Central Committee's opinion on redemarcating the border to He Rui, the Northeast Government immediately expressed willingness to provide a portion of daily necessities.

This batch of supplies included daily necessities like leather boots, socks, towels, and enamel mugs. There was also a portion of grain.

What surprised the All-Union Communist Party was that the Northeast Government also stated they could provide medical supplies, including 'measles vaccines.' In particular, there was a drug named 'Sulfanilamide' among them. This so-called Sulfanilamide was a specific drug for treating streptococcal infections.

Since it was aid, this batch of supplies was free, and the Soviet Russian Central Committee didn't need to exchange any materials for it.

After the train loaded with goods arrived in Moscow, the unloaded supplies were completely identical to the list. Comrade Lenin was not happy because of this; he immediately agreed to accept a batch of 'Sulfanilamide' trial drugs.

The Northeast Government's official documents had already stated the composition of Sulfanilamide very clearly. This compound was not manufactured by the Northeast Government. One only had to flip through the German Chemical Annual Report to find information about Sulfanilamide, a compound extracted from coal tar.

The drug was immediately tested in Moscow hospitals. There were too many patients infected with streptococcus, and Soviet Russia's currently frail medical system had absolutely no way to cope.

Even so, health experts still introduced the symptoms generally caused by streptococcus to Comrade Lenin.

The most obvious streptococcal infection would cause purulent inflammation. Bacteria invaded through skin wounds, causing purulent inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, such as furuncles, carbuncles, cellulitis, erysipelas, etc.

Acute tonsillitis and angina, spreading to the surroundings to cause abscesses, otitis media, mastoiditis, tracheitis, pneumonia, etc., were often caused by streptococcal infection.

Scarlet fever, which was difficult for doctors to treat, was also caused by streptococcus.

Comrade Lenin did not explain the reason for his concern to other comrades, because Comrade Lenin felt that He Rui was conveying a message to the Soviet Russian government: the Chinese Northeast Government possessed strong power. This power was not only manifested in the Northeast Government possessing strong agricultural strength, but also industrial strength. Even in the field of medicine, which was at the cutting edge of science, they also had sufficient strength.

Since He Rui had expressed such an attitude, it was naturally necessary to verify it. In Moscow's winter, there was never a lack of patients.

In the following days, good news came one after another. Patients who used 'Sulfanilamide,' whether suffering from pneumonia or scarlet fever, not only had their conditions controlled but were also improving rapidly.

Initially, these drugs were given to those patients who were clearly beyond saving. Soon, the scope of use expanded to all patients who needed medication.

Almost without exception, the patients' conditions began to improve. Especially those sick Bolshevik Party members, many comrades escaped danger.

Initially, Comrade Lenin would smile because of the good news, but as more and more good news came, Comrade Lenin's smiles decreased.

Commissioner Joffe felt he could understand Comrade Lenin's mood. If the Northeast Government were not so strong, but rather a power with industrial and technological levels weaker than the Soviet Russian government, perhaps it would be a truly good thing.