Chapter 640 Tea

While the Soviet army was making intensive preparations in the direction of Stalingrad, Qin Chuan in Baku received good news...their quality of life has improved.

As mentioned before, the temperature in the Transcaucasus region is very warm because the Caucasus Mountains block the Siberian cold current in the north and there is a warm sea breeze from the Black Sea, which makes the Transcaucasus region very suitable for crop growth, especially tea... 91% of the Soviet Union's tea comes from the Transcaucasus.

When Qin Chuan saw the green tea trees planted on the mountain, he certainly would not let go of his long-lost hobby. He picked a helmet of tea leaves from the mountain and borrowed a pot from the beverage team to stir-fry.

The fragrance of tea soon attracted a group of officers and soldiers around him curiously.

"Major, these leaves are actually food?" Werner looked at the tea leaves being fried in the pot, swallowed his saliva and said, "And it seems to taste quite good!"

"I think it will be better than black bread at least!" The baker looked up at the tea mountain not far from the camp, puzzled: "But why... the Soviets planted so many of these trees, but they have to eat black bread?"

Qin Chuan replied while frying: "Because it is not food, it is tea!"

"Tea?" The soldiers were puzzled.

"It's like..." Qin Chuan explained: "A drink similar to coffee!"

The soldiers understood it after saying this.

Although Qin Chuan loves to drink tea, he doesn't have the skills to fry tea. It is said that the processing of tea leaves requires kneading, rolling, fermentation, drying and other operations, but this does not seem to be a big problem. Of course, there will not be such high requirements on the battlefield. Just fry it for a while and it will be out of the pot. Qin Chuan can't wait to grab a handful and put it in a cup, and then pour some freshly boiled water... Instantly a strong tea fragrance echoed between the nose and throat.

Qin Chuan wanted this kind of taste, the taste from his hometown, which reminded him of the small garden in his modern home, where he always sat and drank tea while reading the newspaper. This was the most leisurely moment in his busy day.

The soldiers followed suit, each brewing a cup of tea, and then tasted it carefully with a suspicious expression as if drinking pesticide, but soon their attitude changed.

"It seems good!" The baker nodded while greedily feeling the fragrance of the tea: "It has a special fragrance. The major is right. It does have a similar effect of refreshing coffee!"

Werner took a sip and nodded: "Although it doesn't have the strong aroma of coffee, I think it is at least much better than artificial coffee!"

There is rarely any rationed coffee on the front line, and even if you can get some coffee occasionally, it is artificial coffee.

Unlike others, Alfredo praised it highly: "I think it is much better than coffee. I am surprised that the Soviets would drink this stuff. I thought they would only drink vodka!"

"It is not from the Soviet Union!" Qin Chuan replied: "It is from China!"

What Qin Chuan said was right. Soviet tea was introduced to Russia from Mongolia in 1638, and tea planting began in 1901. The first tea garden was in Sochi in the Transcaucasus region... The warm climate in the Transcaucasus is suitable for growing tea, and then it quickly spread throughout the region, making it a tea base for the entire Soviet Union.

Qin Chuan decided that he must get more tea to carry with him in his spare time. One day, if he had to fight in the ice and snow like he was stationed in Holm, it would be a pleasant thing to drink a cup of hot tea.

Then Qin Chuan soon found that he was behind, because the German soldiers had taken off their helmets one by one and ran to the tea mountain impatiently, but they didn't seem to know how to pick tea leaves and grabbed those leaves into their helmets one by one.

In addition, the food of the German army has also been improved to a certain extent.

This part is due to the security forces... The reason does not need to be explained. After the security division enters, it will complete the statistics of Soviet people and then ask them to "pay taxes" to Germany.

The Transcaucasus region is not poor. In fact, they can be regarded as rich compared with other parts of the Soviet Union... There are seas on both sides, one is the Black Sea and the other is the Caspian Sea, and there are mountains in the middle. In addition, the climate is pleasant, so fishing, planting, breeding, etc. can make a living.

Before this, most of the food they produced had to support the Soviet front, so they could only eat black bread on average.

But now there is not much difference. If there is any difference, it is that the food they originally used to support the Soviet army has become the food that supports the German army.

In this way, the troops soon ate white bread, vegetables, and citrus fruits that are abundant in the Transcaucasus region, and sometimes even mutton. If it were not for the occasional Soviet submarine activities in the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, the Transcaucasus region would be like a paradise isolated from the battlefield.

But such days did not last long.

That evening, Manstein called Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan to his headquarters.

Qin Chuan and Colonel Slain had basically guessed why Manstein was looking for them.

Sure enough, when Manstein saw them, he stood up and walked forward to shake hands with Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan respectively, then handed over a telegram and said: "Colonel, Major, I'm sorry, this is a telegram from General Rommel!"

Needless to say, the content of the telegram was to ask the First Infantry Regiment to return to the base.

"I can't find an excuse to keep you here!" Manstein said: "Although I really want to do this, you know that I can't do this, the battlefield needs you!"

"Yes, Marshal!" Colonel Slain said, "We understand, this is our destiny, isn't it?"

"No!" Manstein replied, "This is not your destiny. You have made great contributions, and you deserve some rest time and enjoyment, so... the empire owes you!"

After a pause, Manstein said, "Of course, I won't say that in front of the troops!"

Qin Chuan understood what Manstein meant.

There would be no problem saying such things in private conversations between officers, but if they were said in front of the troops...it might affect morale, because the soldiers would think: Since the empire owes us, can we take it for granted that we have some privileges or commit some crimes to get back this "debt"?

So, in front of the soldiers, there will never be a situation where the country owes them, although this is not the case.

Then Manstein took the two men to the map, pointed to a point on the map and said: "The 21st Armored Division is here, Zimlyanskaya, you can take the train there, but be prepared to fight in a few days, because the battle there has just begun!"