You are ordered to support the War of Resistance against Japan; China enters Level 1 combat readines

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The deafening roar of cannons rang out one after another, and the earth trembled violently.

One after another, shells trailed orange-red flames, slicing through the sky and flying toward the target range more than ten kilometers away.

A few seconds later, a series of explosions could be heard in the distance.

The entire hilltop was shrouded in thick smoke and flames, and the bunkers and targets that had just stood there were instantly blasted to the ground.

"Good! Well done!"

The new recruits cheered and clapped enthusiastically.

Some veterans looked at the distant flames, their eyes slightly moist.

He had fought in wars for half his life, and he had never felt so triumphant.

We used to be constantly bombarded by the Japanese artillery, but now it's finally our turn to use cannons to blow up the Japanese.

……

As the sun sets, its golden rays bathe the training field.

The bugle call signaled the end of training.

The soldiers, carrying their rifles and singing military songs, marched in neat rows towards the barracks.

"The sun sets in the west, its glow a fiery red; the soldiers return to camp after target practice, return to camp..."

The resounding song echoed through the valley, filled with hope and strength.

This land, once scarred and ravaged, is gradually coming back to life.

. . .

Command Headquarters for City Governance.

Shen Wang and the brigade commander sat facing each other, with a pot of tea in front of them.

The brigade commander picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp. He put the cup down, his face still showing barely concealed excitement.

"Mr. Shen, your 122mm self-propelled howitzer is too powerful! I thought it was just a little bigger than 105mm in caliber, at most it would be more powerful."

"Yesterday I went and tried it myself, and that's when I learned what a self-propelled gun is! What a howitzer gun is!"

The brigade commander became increasingly excited as he spoke, gesturing wildly to indicate the name:

"The Japanese 150mm heavy howitzer required more than a dozen people to maintain, had to be transported by truck, and took half a day to find a position. After firing it, it had to be dismantled before it could be moved."

"Our artillery? A crew of four can drive it anywhere and fire anywhere. Once it stops, it can fire, fire, and then just floor the gas and drive off. Plus, it's highly accurate; it can hit exactly where you point it, even from over ten kilometers away!"

"As expected of Mr. Shen's products, they are always top-notch!"

Shen Wang smiled and took a sip of tea, thinking to himself: What's so special about this?

When I finally get the 122mm rocket launcher, that's when I'll truly be a king.

A single vehicle can fire 40 tubes of 122mm rockets, enough to cover several football fields in a single salvo, with a maximum range of 40 kilometers.

We'll get a few 10,000-ton freighters, loaded with 122mm guns, and even if the Yamato battleship comes, we can blow it to shreds from beyond the range of its main guns.

However, he didn't tell these words to the brigade commander, lest he frighten him.

As the two were talking, the door to the command post was pushed open.

A communications officer strode in, carrying a telegram:

"Reporting to Mr. Shen! Reporting to the brigade commander! Headquarters has sent an urgent telegram seeking Mr. Shen!"

As he spoke, he handed the telegram to Shen Wang.

Shen Wang took the telegram and glanced at it.

The note read: "Representative of the Little Mustache, von Richthofen, has called to offer to purchase 1 million individual self-heating rations at a price of 3 marks per ration, payable in gold."

Another Soviet representative called, offering to purchase 2000 million copies at the same price, with payment in gold.

A faint smile appeared on Shen Wang's lips. Sure enough, the fish had finally taken the bait.

He handed the telegram to the brigade commander next to him.

After reading it, the brigade commander burst into laughter:

"Mr. Shen is still a cut above the rest! When you said you would send them a batch of rations for free, I didn't understand what you meant."

"Now it seems you were playing the long game!"

"But let alone those foreigners, even I can't forget the food you brought. The braised pork was absolutely delicious!"

"Haha, want some? That's easy." Shen Wang waved his hand with a smile. "There's plenty in the warehouse. Just have the guards get as much as you want anytime."

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the table as he quickly made calculations in his mind.

Shen Wang had done his research on this beforehand. In the early stages of World War II, the food allowance for soldiers of the great powers was mostly between $1 and $2.

At the current exchange rate, 3 marks are equivalent to 1.2 US dollars, which is roughly equal to 1 gram of gold.

The Germans just asked to buy 100 million servings, which is 100 million grams of gold!

A full one hundred tons of gold!

Worth hundreds of billions!

And what about a modern individual soldier's ration?

Even at market price, it's only a few dozen yuan per serving, and even 100 million servings wouldn't amount to more than a few billion!

Besides, with senior students involved, internal procurement will only result in lower prices!

Thinking of this, Shen Wang raised his head and said to the communications officer, "Report back to headquarters and have them tell the representatives of Little Mustache and Big Mustache that the price is too low."

"At least 6 marks per serving, not a single mark less."

Although the price of 3 marks already represents a profit of several dozen times, we can't just agree to it so easily.

If you agree too easily, the other party will feel like they're being taken advantage of.

Even if the final price is only 3 marks after several rounds of negotiations, the other party will still feel like they've made a profit.

. . .

Berlin, Imperial Armaments Department.

"Robbers! Blatant robbers!"

von Richthofen slammed his hand on the table, clutching the telegram from southeastern Shanxi, his face ashen.

"Six marks a ration? Why doesn't he just rob someone! He dares to charge six marks for a tael of rations, doesn't his conscience hurt?"

"But what can we do?" the logistics minister asked with a pained expression.

"The Supreme Command has issued a direct order to resolve the food shortage problem at all costs. Field Marshal Bock personally sent a telegram saying that if there is no more food supplies in the East, the offensive on the Eastern Front can only last for another week at most."

"I know! I know it better than anyone else!"

Von Richthofen tugged at his tie in frustration: "But it's 6 marks a serving! The entire army consumes nearly a million servings every day, which amounts to 1.8 million marks a month! Food alone is an astronomical sum!"

"Then let's talk! That cunning businessman must also want to do business; he'll always manage to drive the price down."

……

After several days of difficult negotiations, an agreement was finally reached!

Trade directly with gold; one gram of gold equals one portion of food!

. . .

In southeastern Shanxi, there is a city.

Shen Wang held the telegram he had just received, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

120 tons of gold, secured.

A modern, mass-produced self-heating ration for a single soldier costs only a few dozen yuan, but in this era, it can be exchanged for a gram of real gold or silver.

This isn't doing business; it's robbing people with a money-printing machine.

Even robbing a bank wasn't this fast, this steady, or this blatant.

And this is only the first batch of orders.

Once the soldiers have completely gotten used to this hot meal, and can no longer swallow cold black bread and rotten canned peas, orders will come in like snowflakes.

Germany, the Soviet Union, England, America... the entire battlefields of Europe will become his ATM.

The gold that those great powers plundered from the world for hundreds of years will eventually flow back to him little by little.

"However, rations alone are not enough..."