The War of Resistance: From Overseas Chinese Mechanics to King of Nanyang

Chen Shunfa was stunned by this shocking statement. He hadn't expected there to be such a deep reason. He stood there dumbfounded, not saying a word, until Huang Zurong patted him on the shoulder.

"Wake up, Ah Fa, you've read plenty of books, how come you don't understand? People who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts. They are not of our race by birth, so why do you think they will consider us as one of their own?" Huang Zurong felt that many Chinese people were a bit confused.

Although he could make up some lies, there is a saying that lies don't hurt people, but the truth is the sharpest knife.

Rather than letting the other person live in a world of lies, it's better to tell them the truth directly.

"But..." Chen Shunfa wanted to find a reason to refute, but he didn't know how to explain it.

"But what? Think about the color of our skin." Huang Zurong knew that the other party would not be able to accept it for a while, but he didn't care. After all, things would definitely change over time.

"Let's discuss how to deal with this batch of weapons now." Seeing the other party's conflicted expression, Huang Zurong changed the subject and brought up the weapons and equipment they had mentioned earlier.

"We are currently short-handed, and it will probably take some time to transport so many weapons back. Based on the information we have gathered so far, the British army probably won't help us with the transport."

This time, Chen Shunfa did not refute, because the British commander clearly told him that they could not spare more manpower to help transport weapons and had to rely on themselves to solve the problem, which was why they lowered the price.

"Are you familiar with the overseas Chinese and Chinese in the city?" Huang Zurong thought for a moment and could only try to recruit more people. He certainly didn't trust the local natives, so he could only choose those Chinese and overseas Chinese who were about to return to their hometowns.

"It's alright, I know most of them quite well. Ah Rong, are you planning to recruit local Chinese and overseas Chinese?" Chen Shunfa immediately understood what the other party was thinking and asked.

"Yes, after all, they are all our own people. As for those natives, let's just leave them be." Huang Zurong looked disgusted when he mentioned the natives. He knew the reason, though. It was said that the natives in Yangon had formed a unit and were cooperating with the Japanese army to arrest local Chinese and overseas Chinese on a large scale.

"Okay, I'll take care of this, but I'm afraid I won't be able to recruit too many people, since many people still believe that the British army can hold this place." Chen Shunfa hesitated for a moment before explaining the situation.

This problem is indeed somewhat unsolvable. Even if Huang Zurong tells the truth, not many people will believe him. They will only believe that the British army has truly abandoned them when the Japanese army arrives.

Just like when he was in Yangon, he also persuaded many Chinese families to evacuate north with him, but the response they gave was that the British troops had not yet withdrawn and there was still hope of holding out.

As a result, when the Japanese army was still dozens of kilometers away from Rangoon, they hurriedly fled, only able to carry a small amount of gold, silver and valuables. The key issue was that there were many people fleeing, and there were also attacks by troops composed of indigenous people. Many Chinese families died on the road without knowing why, which was truly a pity.

"Forget it, we'll recruit as many as we can. If all else fails, we can find a hilltop, hide the extra weapons, and dig them out when we come back. It'll be the same thing." Huang Zurong thought for a moment and decided that this was the only solution he could come up with.

According to his plan, it would take at most two or three months to win back the enemy. After all, the main focus of the Japanese army was still the Pacific Ocean, and the only troops available in the Burma theater were four divisions, most of which were still defending the Imphal region, which resulted in fewer troops in other areas.

Soon, Chen Shunfa recruited a number of men. With these men, most of the weapons could be safely transported back, while the remaining weapons were hidden in the nearby mountains.

On the way back, Huang Zurong encountered the vanguard of the expeditionary force, which was small, numbering only about 700 men. After some conversation, he learned that their mission was to reach the Pingmana area and cover the main force of the division to assemble in the rear.

At this point, Huang Zurong knew that the war in Burma had officially begun, and if nothing unexpected happened, the fate of the 100,000-strong expeditionary force would not be good. However, his current strength was too weak to save the expeditionary force from defeat.

But looking at the fully equipped and highly motivated expeditionary force, Huang Zurong was truly envious. How wonderful it would be if he had such a force!

Unfortunately, some of these people will not be able to go home, and Huang Zurong felt even more regretful about this.

So on the way back, he wasn't in a very high mood, which Chen Shunfa found very strange.

"Arong, what's wrong? You don't seem to be in a good mood," Chen Shunfa finally couldn't help but ask.

"It's just that watching them go to their deaths makes me feel a little sad." Huang Zurong took a deep breath and expressed his helplessness.

"I don't think so. I heard that they've assembled 100,000 expeditionary troops, along with tens of thousands of British troops, to deal with tens of thousands of Japanese troops. How could they not win?" As the journey back drew closer, Chen Shunfa also learned about the expeditionary force's movements. Knowing that 100,000 expeditionary troops had been mobilized this time, he felt that the chances of defeating the Japanese army were still very high. Therefore, he still disagreed with Huang Zurong's pessimism.

"On paper, we shouldn't have lost. The key problem is that the British don't want to fight. They just want to retreat and dump this mess on the Japanese. Their main target now is Europe." Huang Zurong had a sense of despair and spoke his true feelings.

"Look, this is the battlefield situation, and this is the British army's defensive area. If the Japanese army attacks here and the British army retreats without a fight, what will happen?" Huang Zurong said, taking out a map and pointing to several areas.

Chen Shunfa wasn't stupid. He studied the situation by following the other party's line of thought and found that if they really did that, the expeditionary force at the forefront would indeed be doomed.

"If the Japanese army had sent another small detachment to occupy Lashio, what do you think would have happened to the expeditionary force on the front lines?" Huang Zurong said, pointing to the map as he continued.

Upon hearing this, Chen Shunfa's expression changed. Considering that the British army had sold off the weapons in the armory of Lashio, they really had no intention of defending it.

"Ah Rong, this..." Chen Shunfa wanted to say something, but then he saw Huang Zurong shake his head.

"Before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, many people warned the Americans, but what happened? They still thought it was fake. Now, even if we tell them, do you think they will believe us? They might even kill us as spies."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shunfa remained silent, but as the other party said, were they just going to stand by and watch the expeditionary force die?