You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

The smoke of battle had not yet dissipated, and the crackling sound of burning wood could still be heard occasionally amidst the ruins of Black Cloud Village.

Lin Feng stood in the square in front of the Hall of Righteousness, his feet on a broken plaque that read "Acting on Behalf of Heaven," and the familiar mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

【Ding! 】

[Battle over, proceeding with results...]

[Kill 3 bandit henchmen, Merit Points +1.5]

[Kill 4 bandit henchmen, Merit Points +2.0]

[Kill 2 veteran bandits, +2 merit points]

[Defeat bandit leader "Xie Heizi" x1, Merit Points +15]

……

The dense kill notifications scrolled by like a waterfall, but Lin Feng's brows furrowed slightly.

[Merit points are being calculated...]

Total Merit Points Earned: 459

Current merit points: 568

Current permission level: Level II (466/4000)

"Only a little over 400?"

Lin Feng pursed his lips, feeling somewhat displeased.

This grand undertaking of accumulating merit points is, to put it another way, a bit like a max-level character in a game going to a newbie village to stomp on newbies. It's fun, but the experience points given are just too stingy.

On the one hand, the "bandit" units identified by the system are far less valuable than Japanese ronin who have received formal military training, let alone regular Japanese troops.

Killing a bandit henchman only earns 0.5 merit points, like giving money to a beggar.

On the other hand, these bandits are too weak to fight.

Originally, it was thought that these desperate criminals would rely on the terrain to fight to the death, but as soon as the mountain guns fired and the gate of the stockade was breached, and the armored vehicles fired two bursts, the psychological defenses of these guys collapsed.

Apart from those killed in the bombing, most of the remaining soldiers threw down their guns, knelt on the ground, and cried out for their parents. Their surrender was faster than the French regular army saluting.

In order to score more points, Lin Feng deliberately delayed ordering the capture of prisoners. Unfortunately, these guys had surrendered too thoroughly, and he was too embarrassed to continue shooting them. In the end, he barely managed to collect a little over 400 points.

"Well, every little bit helps. It's still an 'experience point' item, so we can't expect too much."

Lin Feng consoled himself with a remark.

At this moment, Zhao Dashan carried a middle-aged man covered in dust and dirt over like a chick.

The man was wearing a long robe and a pair of half-broken glasses. He was trembling like a leaf, and his fingers were twisted and crooked like Christmas trees. He had obviously just been "tortured" by Zhao Dashan.

"Commander, this is the third-in-command of the stronghold, the accountant." Zhao Dashan threw the man to the ground. "He tried to crawl out through a hole in the back of the mountain, but the reconnaissance platoon caught him."

The third leader looked up and saw the armored vehicle behind Lin Feng, still steaming, and the dark muzzle of the machine gun. He was so frightened that he burst into tears, and his crotch was instantly soaked.

"Sir, spare me! Sir, spare me! I'll confess, I'll confess everything!"

Lin Feng took a half step back in disgust, covering his nose: "Fine, then stop talking nonsense and lead the way. Dig out all the stock you've stored in this rat hole."

For the next two hours, Black Cloud Village underwent a thorough "cleaning".

Under the guidance of the third leader, the soldiers turned the bandit stronghold's open storehouse, the secret storehouse in the back mountain, and even the hidden compartment under Xie Heizi's bed upside down with explosives and shovels.

The spoils of war filled the square in front of the Hall of Righteousness.

Zhao Dashan volunteered, "Commander, the count is complete."

"The cash, small yellow croakers, and silver ingots, all come to about 32,000 silver dollars!"

"As for food, there is enough rice, wheat flour, and various grains to feed a thousand people for three months, as well as several hundred kilograms of cured meat and salted fish."

Lin Feng: "Keep the salted fish, but forget about the cured meat."

Lin Feng dared not gamble on the source of the cured meat from the bandit's den.

"In terms of weaponry, we captured four Czech-made light machine guns, which were a bit old but still usable; more than 300 rifles, homemade guns and hunting rifles of various brands; and more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition."

"In addition..." Zhao Dashan pointed to a pile of boxes next to him, "We also found two boxes of opium, about fifty catties; and several boxes of Western medicine, which look like foreign goods from the packaging. I don't know if they've expired."

Lin Feng went over to take a look.

The two boxes of opium were dark and emitted a foul stench.

"This thing can't be kept." Lin Feng waved his hand in disgust. "Go back and destroy it in public, so the people around can see it."

Of course, opium cannot be destroyed by burning it directly, otherwise the entire population of Qing County would suffer. It is better to have Senior Xue Lin dig a pit and fill it with lime water.

"As for these Western medicines..." Lin Feng picked up a bottle and looked at it. It turned out to be sulfanilamide powder, and there were also a few bottles of morphine.

In chaotic times, this was a hard currency more valuable than gold; it was probably obtained by bandits who robbed some unfortunate merchant caravan.

"Keep this safe, you'll need it later."

Besides the valuables, what shocked Lin Feng the most was the rescue of more than thirty hostages from the dungeon in the back mountain.

There were men and women, barely clothed, and so thin they were skin and bones.

Some women had vacant stares, clearly driven to mental breakdown by the abuse; some men were missing fingers, ears, or even had their legs broken, their wounds festering and emitting a putrid stench.

Seeing this scene, the militiamen who had initially thought the killings were too brutal now had bloodshot eyes.

"Damn it, those beasts."

"Good riddance! They deserve to be torn to pieces!"

Lin Feng took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart.

"Properly resettle these people, give them some travel expenses, let those who can go home go home, and those who have nowhere to go... bring them back to the county town and give them some food."

"Especially a few women, sigh... let's take them back and help them change clothes and cook."

"As for this mountain stronghold..."

Lin Feng glanced back at the fortress filled with sin.

"Burn it all up in one fire."

In this battle, the security regiment suffered 28 casualties, including 5 killed in action.

Despite the casualties, this was an epic victory for a major offensive.

The presence of armored vehicles and mountain guns directly erased the most devastating casualty figures during the assault phase.

The fire shot into the sky, turning half the sky red.

Lin Feng led his team, laden with spoils, and disappeared at the end of the mountain path.

-----

Time flies, and two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the past two months, the outside world has undergone tremendous changes.

With the fall of Beijing and Tianjin, North China is in grave danger.

On August 13, the Battle of Shanghai broke out, with a million troops fighting fiercely on the banks of the Huangpu River, turning the entire "Paris of the East" into a bloodbath.

Meanwhile, Lin Feng was not idle in Qing County either.

He followed suit, using his heavy firepower and system reconnaissance advantages to carry out a massive purge of the surrounding bandit forces.

All those "mountain-drilling leopards" and "river-crossing dragons" were reduced to merit points on Lin Feng's system panel and supplies in his warehouse by the physical power of the 20mm machine gun and the 75mm mountain gun.

Within a radius of a hundred miles, Qing County became a rare bandit-free area in the chaotic world, with an outrageously good level of public security. Even caravans from other counties would rather take a detour through Qing County.