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

Inside Lashio City, Huang Zurong listened to his subordinates' report with a furrowed brow.

First came the problem of weapons and ammunition. Although he had sent people to retrieve the weapons hidden in the cave, another piece of bad news came.

The fierce fighting over the past two days has not only consumed a large amount of ammunition, but also depleted food reserves. If they cannot be replenished in time, morale will soon collapse.

"Commander, not only that, the Burmese in the city are also running out of food. We were originally planning to requisition a batch of grain, but after the investigation, we found that there wasn't much left at all," the logistics officer reported helplessly.

"Commander, if this continues, things will get out of hand."

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong fell silent. He wasn't worried about going hungry, since the Pin Di System had everything, and he could buy anything as long as he had money.

The problem is that his balance is almost empty now, as his previous large-scale purchases had nearly depleted his savings.

His current balance has fallen below six figures, which is simply not enough to feed and drink nearly 10,000 people.

Not to mention there are quite a few Burmese people in the city.

So he had to find a way to make money.

As for how to make money?

That's even simpler. Just send people to keep cutting down trees. To increase efficiency, they bought another batch of axes, aiming to cut down enough trees in a day to increase their own balance.

"I will have someone take care of the logistics. The supply of materials must not be interrupted," Huang Zurong instructed.

"Yes," the logistics officer could only reply.

With a large number of trees in place, Huang Zurong's balance increased again.

So without saying a word, he immediately placed an order on the Pindi system.

Five tons of rice, three tons of flour, two tons of canned goods, and a large quantity of compressed biscuits, dried meat, and pickled vegetables.

These supplies are enough to feed his troops for a week.

In addition to food, he also ordered a batch of special items—hundreds of gas cylinders, dozens of pressure cookers, and large quantities of industrial alcohol and fertilizer.

These things would be unremarkable in later generations, but in this era, they were deadly weapons.

The previous stockpile of gas cylinder cannons and pressure cooker landmines was almost depleted, so we're replenishing it with another batch.

The Japanese counterattack will inevitably be fierce, and he must prepare in advance.

After replenishing his supplies, Huang Zurong remembered other things in the Pindi system.

Besides weapons and ammunition, the system also contains many other items that can enhance combat effectiveness.

For example, bulletproof vests, night vision devices, and communication equipment.

These things are a game-changer in this era, but they're not cheap.

Especially walkie-talkies, which are great for maintaining communication, and night vision goggles, which are absolutely amazing for night combat and surprise attacks. However, to make them combat-ready, these people need to familiarize themselves with the equipment.

Therefore, Huang Zurong only purchased a small portion in the early stages, intending to equip his own elite troops.

In addition, Huang Zurong purchased a large amount of cement, sand, steel bars, and steel plates, naturally to reinforce the positions outside and inside the city.

He plans to transform Lashio into an iron fortress.

The city of Lashio was bustling with activity from then on.

The soldiers were building fortifications and training at the same time, and everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

However, the scouts soon brought the latest intelligence: the Japanese 18th Division was approaching Lashio with more than 15,000 troops and equipped with a large number of artillery and tanks.

"Mutaguchi Renya?" Huang Zurong squinted as he looked at the intelligence report. "This guy personally led the team?"

Upon hearing Mutaguchi Renya's name, Gao Jiren's expression changed: "Mutaguchi Renya is a ruthless character; he's fought many tough battles in North China."

Huang Zurong sneered: "A ruthless character? That's true."

After all, someone who can say something as outrageous as telling his own people to eat grass is definitely a ruthless character.

"But we'll deal with whatever comes our way. We'll have to stay in Lashio for a while longer." Huang Zurong wasn't worried at all. After working overtime for the past two days, many fortifications had been reinforced. Unless bombarded by heavy artillery, ordinary infantry guns simply couldn't destroy them. That was the reason for his increased confidence.

Just as Huang Zurong was preparing to fight the Japanese 18th Division, a turmoil was also taking place on the Japanese side.

On a mountain road leading to Lashio, the Japanese 18th Division was marching rapidly.

Division Commander Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi, mounted on horseback, had a livid face.

Three days ago, he received a report that the 56th Regiment's attack on Lashio had failed and resulted in heavy losses.

He was furious and immediately decided to personally lead the entire division to Lashio to recapture this strategic location.

After all, this fact is too shameful. If he doesn't wash away his shame, he will become synonymous with incompetence.

But when he was halfway there, he encountered the remnants of the 56th Division headquarters.

The soldiers were ragged and looked dejected, clearly having suffered a crushing defeat.

"Stop!" Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi roared.

An officer ran up and saluted: "Reporting to the division commander, His Excellency Masao Watanabe, commander of the 56th Division, is ahead."

Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi got out of the car and strode forward.

Masao Watanabe was sitting on a rock, covered in dust and looking tired.

"Watanabe-kun, explain to me why the 56th Regiment failed?" Mutaguchi's voice was filled with suppressed anger.

Watanabe Masao stood up, smiling wryly. "Mr. Mutaguchi, if you went to Lashio yourself, you'd understand."

"What do you mean?"

"I underestimated this expeditionary force, no, I should say that militia. They were not only well-equipped, but also tactically flexible." Watanabe Masao sighed. "Before this, I thought they were just defeated soldiers, but they really surprised me."

Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi sneered: "Elite troops? Even the 200th Division couldn't withstand the Imperial Army's attack."

Watanabe Masao shook his head: "Mr. Mutaguchi, you've underestimated them. The Chinese army in Lashio is different from our previous opponents; they have many weapons we're unfamiliar with."

"An unfamiliar weapon?"

"Yes, they had a cannon that was incredibly powerful, like a heavy artillery piece. The reason my troops were defeated so quickly was because they were crushed by this weapon." Watanabe Masao recalled the battle with lingering fear.

Lieutenant General Mutaguchi Renya frowned. If what Watanabe said was true, then Lashio was indeed difficult to deal with.

But he refused to believe that the other side could pose such a great threat to the Japanese army.

"Any other situations?"

"Yes," Watanabe Masao continued, "We must take them seriously and not be careless. The enemy is extremely cunning, and if we underestimate them, we will pay a heavy price."

Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi was silent for a moment, then asked.

"How many Chinese troops do you estimate there are in Lashio?"

"At least eight thousand men, maybe more." Watanabe Masao thought for a moment, "And their morale is very high, and their fighting strength is also very strong. It will be difficult to take them down without deploying enough troops."

Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi nodded. Eight thousand men, that's quite a number.

Moreover, judging from Watanabe's description, this unit's combat effectiveness far exceeded that of ordinary expeditionary forces.

"Thank you for the information, Watanabe-kun." Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi patted Watanabe on the shoulder. "Take a good rest. Your mission is complete. Now, I'll deal with Lashio."

Watanabe Masao smiled wryly: "Mr. Mutaguchi, let me remind you, don't underestimate the enemy. The Chinese army in Lashio is not as simple as you think."

Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi did not answer and turned to walk towards his unit.

"Pass down the order to speed up the march and reach the outskirts of Lashio before nightfall."

"Hai!"