The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 342 Different Preparation Methods (Two-in-One Chapter)

Time: A little after 10 p.m. on the second day after the time travel back.

Location: In a residential area in Xuzhou City.

With a 'smack', Lao Yu, affectionately known as the taciturn one by his teammates, slapped his right hand hard with his left palm.

At the same time, he muttered a curse to himself in a tone of disappointment and frustration:
"You're a grown man, how can you be so careless? Didn't you know to tie that thing with a rope beforehand?"

The reason why Lao Yu became so ruthless, even cursing and hitting himself, is because something serious had happened.

More accurately, ever since he traveled back from the past, he'd felt that something was off.

But I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and tending to become a greasy middle-aged man, but my memory is getting worse and worse. Anyway, I just can't remember the specific things.

Until twenty minutes ago, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he finally remembered what was going on:
He's going to die! He lost the Leica camera he borrowed from Hu Biao in the world he traveled to.

To elaborate further: during the final ambush, he managed to press the shutter button and take a close-up photo of the Japanese colonel, at which point the last breath he had been holding in was released.

His body went limp and he fell back into the snow pit he had been using to lie in ambush, instantly entering a near-death state.

As a result, he loosened his grip on the old Leica camera, causing the precious item to slip from his hand.

Although he was teleported back to the modern world a dozen seconds later, he not only avoided falling into the hands of the Japanese, but also successfully survived.

But perhaps for this very reason, that Leica camera was left behind in that other world.

By the time they crossed over again, who knows how much time would have passed; even if the camera hadn't been picked up by anyone else, it would have been soaked in snowmelt and mud for days and would be unusable.

Just thinking about this makes Lao Yu want to slap himself a few times.

It wasn't a question of how he could compensate Hu Biao for this, or whether he could afford to compensate him.

He lost this camera by accident while fighting the Japanese; that damned bastard was extremely stingy, the kind of guy who would stop a manure cart passing by his door to taste its saltiness, otherwise he would feel like he had lost out.

However, when it comes to crucial matters, that guy is frighteningly generous and is a qualified team leader.

Presumably, this was done to maintain the unity of the time-traveler team, to avoid dampening everyone's enthusiasm for fighting the Japanese in the future, and to better leverage their initiative.

He will absolutely not blame himself for the lost camera, nor will he make himself pay for it; instead, he will treat it as normal battle damage and will not make him personally compensate for it.

But even if he doesn't have to pay compensation, Lao Yu can't help feeling the pinch!
After some time of exploration, the group of time travelers discovered that there were actually significant limitations to utilizing the camera's wicked properties.

The most crucial point is that you need to get close enough to the target to clearly photograph their facial features in order to trigger some strange and eerie events.

Furthermore, the clearer the footage, the more intense the eeriness and sinister the atmosphere becomes.

However, if you get close enough, you can take down the other party by shooting or throwing bombs, so this camera seems to have a kind of useless function.

Even so, this old Leica camera remains a treasure, proving incredibly effective in certain special situations and environments.

This is also the biggest reason why Lao Yu had such a strong reaction after remembering it.

He reasoned that if he had been more careful and tied a rope to the camera, he might have been able to bring it back instead of losing it.

Old Yu's constant sighing changed around 10:30 p.m.

It's not that he's already figured things out and let go of the regret of losing the camera.

Instead, at this point in time, a video conference is about to begin, which all members of the time travel team, regardless of whether they can participate in the next time travel, need to attend.

The meeting's topic was, of course, what equipment and supplies everyone needed to prepare in advance for the next crossing.

So Lao Yu planned to finish the meeting first before telling Hu Biao this terrible news...

At the same time, in a small boss's office on the second floor of the Deyuelou Panjiayuan flagship store, Hu Biao and Annie sat side by side behind the desk.

After checking the number of people in the current web conference room, Annie said to Hu Biao with a helpless tone:

"Everyone else has arrived, but Squid still hasn't accepted my friend request. It seems like he really doesn't plan to keep in touch with us or get involved in time travel anymore."

Upon hearing this, Hu Biao couldn't help but sigh, his expression somewhat bleak.

Back when they were at the Zhangjiayu base, Hu Biao had written down the phone numbers and other information of five new recruits who had performed well during this trek in his notebook: the warehouse manager, Xiao Cui, Lao Ma, Xiao Henan, and Mo Yu.

The purpose is to be able to bring them into the group of transmigrators after returning to the modern world.

As for Mina's contact information, why didn't Hu Biao write it down? That's a terrible question! Hu Biao already had all the contact information for his cheap sister-in-law.

Yesterday morning, after Hu Biao woke up, the first thing he did was send a friend request to the above five people on WeChat.

The warehouse manager, Xiao Cui, Lao Ma, and Xiao Henan all quickly passed the approval process and were subsequently added to the group by Hu Biao. Mo Yu, on the other hand, remained silent for a long time.

At the time, Hu Biao thought that the cuttlefish people were fishing on ocean-going fishing boats, and he had heard that the work was so busy that they worked day and night, so he didn't pay much attention to this situation.

I thought that once the squid had some free time, it would eventually get through my application.

Unexpectedly, last night, amidst a flurry of notifications, he saw that Squid had rejected his friend request.

And above it, he added the following sentence: "Old Hu and all my brothers, I'm sorry! I don't want to get involved in time travel anymore, so let's not contact each other anymore."

Upon seeing this message, Hu Biao's mood became quite bad.

After learning about the situation, Annie sent a friend request, hoping to use her feminine advantage to chat with the other person, but so far she has not accepted.

After a half-minute silence and a deep breath, Hu Biao calmed down and began to comfort Annie, who was standing beside him.

"Forced relationships are never sweet; let it be!"

Even if they die in battle, they can always be perfectly resurrected in the modern world.

However, the inhuman psychological and physical suffering endured before dying in battle, and the sight of brothers wounded and killed around them, is not something everyone can bear.

Therefore, as long as you have contributed your efforts during the journey, you are considered a success.

After the time travel was completed, regardless of whether he continued to participate in subsequent time travels, I expressed my understanding and support, and regarded him as a comrade-in-arms and brother.

Even those who were willing to participate before but now want to withdraw are included.

So before the meeting officially begins, I'll specifically ask the other team members if anyone wants to leave, so as not to put them in a difficult position.

After hearing Hu Biao's statement, Annie instinctively wanted to refute it.

But considering that this kind of thing is entirely voluntary, and that even if one participates reluctantly, it might feel awkward and not be good, one could only nod in agreement.

After that, Hu Biao turned on his camera and appeared on the phone screens of everyone present.

With an unprecedentedly solemn expression, he recounted what had happened to the squid, along with his own considerations, and finally asked earnestly:
"Is anyone planning to quit now? No problem, go ahead and say it, I can totally understand."

It's normal for people to join and leave a team.

Even after we part ways, we'll still be friends. If you ever come to the capital, remember to visit my shop, Old Hu's, in Panjiayuan. I can't guarantee anything else, but I'll definitely arrange the best food and wine for you.

No sooner had the words fallen than Black Star began to complain:

"Forget it! I think you said the same thing when your little shabby shop opened last time, and I ended up serving you food all day."

Then they just fed me some roast duck, braised pig's head, peanuts, and Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) and that was it.

Chaozi: "I remember giving out red envelopes containing 200 yuan each, but ever since I started working in the kitchen, I've been washing dishes so much I'm about to throw up."

AT: "What's this compared to what you've done? I drove all the way from Tianjin, which is almost 300 kilometers round trip."

The gas and highway tolls, plus the cost of hiring a designated driver while I was drunk, really made me lose a fortune. My wife laughs at me, saying that people who know me know I went to a friend's business opening; people who don't would think I did a day of hard labor in the capital.

Faced with the above criticisms, even someone as thick-skinned as Hu Biao couldn't quite handle it for a moment.

He immediately wanted to explain: "Back then, Lao Hu's business had just started, and conditions were very limited, right? Next time you all come, you definitely won't have to do any work," and so on.

However, before Hu Biao could actually speak, AT, who had just finished complaining, added:
"Let me state my position: I don't care what others choose, but I will continue to participate. This experience of traveling through time to fight the Japanese is much more realistic than playing games."

Don't even mention not making much money; I'd be willing to put in some of my own savings too.

Subsequently, the other veterans and newbies in the team all expressed, in almost joking terms, that they had no intention of quitting.

Upon hearing these statements, Hu Biao and Annie couldn't help but exchange a glance, both seeing the joy in each other's eyes.

With these companions by their side, they will not fear any difficulties after crossing the barrier...

******
Amidst a series of coughs, Hu Biao drew everyone's attention, signaling that the meeting was getting down to business.

Considering that everyone nowadays has the habit of exercising early in the morning and cannot stay up too late, Hu Biao got straight to the point without any hesitation:

"Now that we have Pingding County as our base, the situation has fundamentally changed."

Therefore, I think the things I bring with me next time I travel back in time will need to be adjusted.

For example, don't bring light or heavy weapons like machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles.

After all, we just wiped out an independent Japanese mixed brigade, and we were able to capture at least three or four thousand Japanese Type 38 rifles, as well as hundreds of light and heavy machine guns.

Instead of bringing some light weapons, it's better to save the precious amount of supplies we carry and bring some more essential items.

What exactly to bring is the topic we'll be discussing in today's online meeting.

Hu Biao's opening remarks immediately stirred up everyone's excitement. Who wouldn't want a strong and well-equipped force under their command, instead of starting with only a dozen or so people who couldn't do anything?

If their Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment wants to continue to grow and expand...

It's simple in theory; the key lies in three major elements: manpower, economic strength, and weaponry.

Manpower was not a problem at all. After this battle, countless young men from northwestern Shanxi would be willing to join them.

Even after the news of the victory spread, some of his former subordinates, as well as students,江湖 heroes, and farmers who had blood feuds with the Japanese, would come to join him.

In terms of economic strength, it mainly consisted of money, grain, and cloth.

Based on their previous arrangements, by the time they traveled back in time, the base area should have achieved some success in production and self-sufficiency, at least enough to feed everyone.

In terms of equipment, the Japanese weapons captured this time alone, along with a few DIY weapons, could arm a division of Japanese weapon equips.

In short, once they travel back in time, given a little time, they can easily muster 20,000 to 30,000 people, forming an army.

Being called by empty titles like "military commander" or "division commander" is not very important.

The important thing is that with such strength, if they were to manage things properly, they might even dare to attack Taiyuan.

With such excitement, Black Star was the first to offer his suggestion: "We really don't need to bring light weapons. Just bring some of the best seamless steel pipes available at the time."

This thing is easy to buy in modern times; you can find it at any hardware market.

However, once we bring them over, we can manufacture better quality mortars, which will solve our problem of insufficient long-range artillery. If we had enough mortars to attack Pingding County, would it be as difficult as you say?
"We can already manufacture mortar shells ourselves, can't we? We just need to increase production."

And you know what? Black Star's suggestion was quite reliable.

The most critical aspect of mortar manufacturing is the barrel, and the high-quality seamless steel pipes available in modern dimensions can fully meet all the requirements.

A 60mm mortar barrel weighs only 5.25 kg, while an 80mm mortar barrel weighs around 26 kg.

This meant that two people were specifically assigned to carry a total of 200 kilograms of cannon barrels over there.

By using cast iron and some base plates, gun carriages and other accessories, four 80mm caliber mortars and eighteen 60mm caliber mortars can be manufactured.

At first glance, 22 cannons doesn't seem like much, but everything depends on comparison.

When our Party began the War of Resistance against Japan in 1938, the three main divisions, the 115th, 120th, and 129th, had only 16 mortars in total.

And in the following two or three years, the number did not increase much.

The sheer number of 22 mortars alone is enough to make several top executives drool with envy.

The big fat Huang Adi then added, "Since we brought high-quality seamless steel pipes, we must also bring some alloy tools that are compatible with the technology of the time, otherwise we will not be able to process them."

“That’s true. It’s really difficult to process the tools made by the Zhangjiayu Arsenal.” Chaozi nodded in agreement.

He then shared some of his thoughts: "We also need to bring some high-quality bearings, ball bearings, and other accessories with us."

Replacing these machines with the original ones significantly improves machining accuracy, efficiency, and runtime, among other aspects.

Thus, the words spoken by these individuals thoroughly opened up everyone's minds.

They knew that if they brought these tools and materials, although they couldn't be used directly as weapons, they could continuously produce more weapons and equipment.

Immediately, everyone spoke enthusiastically, proposing various methods to improve production efficiency.

Of course! I won't completely forgo buying weapons, but the quantity will be significantly reduced; I'll only buy a dozen or so handguns for self-defense.

To avoid the situation where, after crossing over, people end up in enemy-occupied territory around the base area without any defense.

Even the procurement of these weapons doesn't need to trouble Uncle Bo and Zanana, because the warehouse manager, a novice, is currently working in Brazil.

The black market for weapons was rampant there; if you had the money, buying a dozen or so old, antique pistols was no big deal.

After a heated discussion, Hu Biao asked a question in the online meeting room:
"The warehouse manager is responsible for purchasing a dozen or so antique handguns that can be taken over, each with two spare magazines. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The warehouse manager does have them, but it's not a problem that they're unavailable.

Instead, he suddenly thought of something: what if next time we travel back in time, we don’t end up near the base, but on another battlefield thousands of miles away?
With so many materials and accessories, wouldn't it be a waste to have them all unused?

However, a second later he realized that, given the normal course of events, these people had no reason to leave their base and wander off to other battlefields.

The fact that the mysterious place had arranged for them to go there before made sense and had a certain logic to it put their worries at ease.

Another question arose: "We can buy them, but is the team's procurement budget sufficient to purchase so many knives, accessories, and materials all at once?"

"Of course it's enough." Upon hearing this, Hu Biao generously announced the good news:

"The bag of spoils that Annie brought back, after I had it appraised at a shop in Panjiayuan, was worth over ten million."

The shop owner assured me that he was willing to buy it at this price at any time.

Let me calculate how this money will be used. Everyone involved in this mission, including Cuttlefish, will receive 50.

Because the other brothers in the group, although they were not involved in the time travel, provided a lot of help before the time travel, each of them also received 20.

If there are no objections to this money-sharing rule, then it will be settled hereafter.

After everyone has divided the above figures, there will be at least 200 million left for procurement, which should be more than enough.

"After so many time travels, finally someone else's time traveler seems to be able to turn their life around through time travel." This was the most basic thought in everyone's mind after hearing the good news above...

(End of this chapter)