The Female General Dominates All After Transmigration-Chapter 93 - 92: Stuck in a Pit

Ling Chengyan sighed quietly, returned to bed, but already lost any desire to sleep. She glanced at her watch; it was only four o’clock, at least two more hours until dawn.

Lying in bed until six, Ling Chengyan got up and stepped outside to check on the vehicles.

The snow had eased a bit, but hadn’t stopped.

Ling Chengyan circled the three cars once, came back, had some hot soup and rice, and then called a few people for breakfast.

"Eat quickly. Once we’ve eaten our fill, we need to set off early."

No snow fell the day before, and they had run the whole day. Now, with snow making the roads slippery and difficult to navigate, getting back in one day was even harder.

After breakfast, the group divided tasks, installing tire chains for traction while someone else went to the kitchen to fetch hot water for starting the car.

In the cold, old diesel vehicles are hard to start and need a kettle of hot water to warm the engine so the car can start.

With both hot water and a hand crank, after much effort, the three vehicles eventually all started smoothly without too much trouble.

Nearly seven o’clock, the group dared not delay further and set out with the three cars following each other, starting the journey back.

There were already few vehicles on the road, and after the heavy snowfall, it was almost devoid of pedestrians and vehicles, a vast plain of white. In places without trees or road signs, they could only work hard to discern the outlines of ditches along the road.

Thus, the vehicle moved even slower, and after running for five hours in the morning, they covered just over a hundred kilometers, still over fifty kilometers from the border between the two provinces.

In a small town, Ling Chengyan slowly pulled the leading car over to the side, and the other two cars followed suit and stopped.

Ling Chengyan called to the people in the trailing cars: "Get out and rest for half an hour."

Staring for long hours at a road covered in snow led to significant visual and mental fatigue, making rest a necessity.

Each of the three cars carried two people.

Ma Dajun noticed the fatigue on Ling Chengyan’s face and tentatively asked, "How about letting me drive for a while later?"

Before Ling Chengyan could respond, Liu Xianghu and another veteran both said, "No way."

After speaking, Liu Xianghu quickly smiled and explained, "It’s too dangerous on snowy roads."

Ling Chengyan smiled, saying, "I agree with that."

After a meal and a short break, the three cars restarted and continued their journey.

Later, the three vehicles discussed and agreed upon the plan that they wouldn’t make it back that day, aiming instead to reach Qing County, the northernmost place within the province, to spend the night there.

When they set out in the morning, the snow was soft—slippery, but manageable.

After half a day’s drive, with vehicles passing, the snow compacted and turned icy. Though the snow had stopped, the road became increasingly slippery.

Even with tire chains, the cars dared not accelerate and could only crawl along nearly at a tortoise’s pace.

Three more hours passed; with the cloudy sky starting to darken, the three cars finally saw the provincial boundary marker.

It was over fifty miles from Qing County’s town center.

Fortunately, past the provincial border, the trees on both sides of the road were better, which meant they didn’t need to cautiously determine where the roadside ditch was.

This area was a vast plain, village houses dotted the roadsides, so there was less concern about robbers blocking the way.

Ling Chengyan felt slightly relieved, instructing Ma Dajun, "Check if the two cars behind us have followed."

Ma Dajun opened the car window, glanced back quickly, and pulled back swiftly: "Oh, it’s too cold. They’re following."

Just as Ma Dajun checked, Ling Chengyan turned on the signal light and slowly adjusted the direction, veering to the left. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Ma Dajun was momentarily stunned, then admired, "Ling Jie, your memory is truly impressive..."

There was a rather large pothole at this spot when they came before, now covered by snow and becoming increasingly hard to spot as the sky grew dim. Without Ling Chengyan remembering accurately, the car would likely be driven into it...

Such a large car might not fall into the hole, but with slippery snow, it might get stuck if the tire fell into the pit.

Their vehicles smoothly bypassed the pothole. Following them, Liu Xianghu also maneuvered around it, but the last car, whether lost in thought or distracted, didn’t avoid it. The right tire ran over the pit’s edge and, slipping, got stuck.

Hearing the horn from the car behind, without Ling Chengyan’s order, Ma Dajun poked half his body out to check the situation, then returned with a puzzled expression: "The third car is stuck."

Ling Chengyan said nothing, compressing her lips slightly, and slowly brought the car to a halt.

The snow had stopped, and the wind picked up. As soon as she exited the driver’s seat, a gust almost knocked her over.

Supporting herself against the car, securing her balance, she re-wrapped the scarf around her neck over her head and face, knotting it at the neck to keep wind from sneaking into her collar.

Then, donning gloves, she slid slowly step by step towards the back, to check on the third car.

Liu Xianghu and Zhang Wanxiang also came out of their car, joining Ling Chengyan to reach the third one.

Zhao Dahu from vehicle three had already gotten out, holding a shovel, trying hard to remove the snow in the large pothole under the car tire.

Under the tire’s pressure, the snow had compacted into solid ice, and the shovel could only clear a little of it.

Moreover, snow was everywhere on both the vehicle tire and the road, impossible to clean completely, and was rather ineffective.

Ling Chengyan and Liu Xianghu discussed; if it weren’t snowy, one vehicle could simply hitch a cable and pull the stuck vehicle out, quite simple.

Yet in deep snow, the danger of towing increases. It’s uncertain if it could pull the vehicle out, fearing the front vehicle might slip and cause an even worse accident.

Ling Chengyan stared at the icy snow under the car for a moment, seized Zhao Dahu’s shovel, ran to the roadside, shifted softer snow where it hadn’t been trampled down, then dug loose soil under a tree and shoveled it back beneath the tires.

Watching her move, Liu Xianghu, Zhang Wanxiang, and Ma Dajun all returned to their cars to grab military shovels, returning to shift dirt under and around the pit...

Together they managed to soon lay a layer of soil at the front and back of the stuck tires.

Ling Chengyan instructed everyone to step into the safe zone, then moved to the front side of the vehicle to guide.

The car restarted; after laying soil, the icy snow in the pit wasn’t so slippery, and the wheels started moving forward without slipping in place...

Before they could start celebrating, the wheels slipped back again.

The car’s weight exacerbated the road’s slipperiness; the thin layer of soil didn’t provide enough grip to successfully drive the vehicle out of the pit.

Zhang Wanxiang let out a low growl, grabbing the shovel to dig more soil.

Ling Chengyan, however, glimpsed at the car wheel, then threw down the shovel, decisively removed her army coat, and placed it in front of the stuck wheel.

"Come on, try once more!" she signaled from the vehicle’s front with a wave.