The Transport Route

Amid Japanese air raids, rampant banditry, and internal power struggles, how can the lifeblood of China’s air defense, 91-octane aviation gasoline, be transported safely from faraway Xingxingxia in Xinjiang to Lanzhou, the vital hub on the front lines of the War of Resistance?

Zhu Shaoliang, chairman of the Gansu provincial government, issues a strict order: recruit ten thousand camels and four hundred carts within a set deadline, and form a massive transport convoy to rush the fuel to its destination. The mission is code-named “Camel Ridge.” But the Japanese military’s “Lan Agency” has already obtained the intelligence and is determined to destroy this lifeline at any cost. The Military Statistics Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation strive to protect the convoy, while also keeping a close watch to prevent Communist forces from expanding their influence. The Communist underground party has a dual mission: help keep the lifeline open, in accordance with the united front against Japan, while winning over the people, securing supplies, and building up its forces along the way. Thus begins a covert struggle across a thousand miles of desert and the Hexi Corridor.