"So I have heard. But why not put explosives under the bridge so that you can keep on using it until you need to blow it up?"
"The little bridge is just as convenient."
"But if the electricity ever goes on, everybody on the little bridge will be killed."
"The electricity will not go on."
"How do you know, comrade? Somebody might connect a connection." Dugan sounded as plaintive as he could.
"You are a Soviet soldier. You should understand these things. Electricity must have a wire all the way. If the wire only goes part of the way, the spirit does not go through."
"But the wires are truly there. I saw them."
"They hang over the river, indeed," said the Chinese Communist chief, "but we took them down elsewhere. The wire was useful for other purposes."
"Why take it down? Why not use it for your own convenience? Put electricity through it."
"We have no make-electricity engines." said the chief. "The Red Army took them away to Siberia. When you go home you can send me one."