Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 194 Something More Valuable Than Sugar

"Hurry, hurry, hurry up and move them!"

"Hurry up, faster, you idiot, what are you dawdling for!"

"Baka! Anyone who's slow is shot!"

On a certain section of railway, Japanese soldiers forced laborers to hurry up and unload their vehicles from the military train.

There wasn't enough labor, so they even brought in puppet troops.

Even so, there was still a severe shortage of manpower due to the large volume of goods.

After all, things happened too hastily; the Eighth Route Army's attack on the railway was too sudden, and there was no prior preparation.

……

Gao Liujin and Gao Xigang led their troops and rushed over quickly.

The scout reported to Gao Liujin, "Commander, there's a Japanese warehouse nearby. I've located it. However, the defenses there are too tight; I can't get close."

"We have the Hell Cannon, so their heavy defenses are nothing!" Gao Liujin was very happy.

We can rob the military train's cargo and even take over a warehouse while we're at it; this is sure to be a huge profit.

The scout continued, "Commander, the Japanese military train is fully loaded with goods, and they are severely understaffed in loading and unloading. Even with our two regiments combined, we might not have enough manpower. We can only choose one: either rob the goods on the train or rob the warehouse. And even then, we can't take everything."

Although Gao Liujin's team now has nearly two thousand people.

The 28th Regiment also has more than 3,000 troops.

These two combined make a force of five thousand.

But the military train was fully loaded; the cargo alone must have weighed one or two thousand tons.

Even at the lowest possible weight, it's impossible for 5,000 people to move 1,000 tons of goods, meaning an average of five people would have to move one ton.

Gao Liujin and Gao Xigang's troops were, after all, combat troops, not transport teams. Without transportation vehicles, they couldn't carry things by hand.

Not to mention that carrying such heavy goods would slow down the troops' march and make them vulnerable to being caught by the Japanese.

"Damn it!" Gao Liujin cursed immediately upon hearing this. "Is God really going against me? Either he gives us troop transports, and I can't even get a drop of soup. Or he throws in a huge amount of oil and fat, and I can't eat it all even if I'm stuffed!"

Gao Xigang quickly said to Gao Liujin, "Let's just rob the military train. There aren't many troops guarding it, so it'll be easier to take it. If we rob the warehouse, we'll have to fight a siege, which will waste time."

Although the Japanese rapid deployment force has been driven away, their infantry is still on its way, and we must race against time.

"Damn it!" Gao Liujin cursed again, saying, "Looks like we can only seize the military train first. As for that warehouse, it won't escape either. We'll deal with it when I get back. Let's go see what's on that military train that made the Japanese so desperate to relocate halfway through the journey."

"Let's go." Gao Xigang and Gao Liujin led their team and quickly moved towards the cargo train.

They arrived at a hilltop, and Gao Liujin took out his binoculars and looked around.

Through the telescope, the Japanese soldiers were urging the laborers and collaborators to urgently unload things from the wagons. Due to the lack of transportation, their unloading efficiency was very slow.

"Gao Xigang, let's split up," Gao Liujin immediately said to Gao Xigang. "I'll lead the troops to capture the Japanese military train, and you'll lead the troops to intercept those porters. The puppet troops and laborers are valuable transport personnel. Do you understand what I mean?"

“Okay, no problem.” Gao Xigang understood what Gao Liujin meant.

Our two regiments together have a total of more than 5,000 people, but we still don't have enough manpower.

There's so much profit to be made on this military train. If we take over these puppet troops, we can get them to help transport goods.

As for the laborers, once we rescue them, they will volunteer to help transport goods.

And so, Gao Liujin and Gao Xigang split up into two groups, with Gao Liujin leading his men directly toward the military train.

Some people were still puzzled and said to Gao Liujin, who was running, "Commander, have these Japanese devils lost their minds? Why don't they use another locomotive to pull this military train away directly? Why go through all this trouble to move the cargo?"

"How would I know what's going on in the Japanese devils' heads?" Gao Liujin said casually. "Maybe their locomotives are still on the road, maybe there are military trains blocking the way behind them and the locomotives can't get through, maybe there aren't enough locomotives, or maybe there are other reasons. Anyway, who cares why the Japanese devils don't use another locomotive to pull from behind? Now that we've been given a free lunch, we have to hurry. The Japanese infantry are still behind us."

"Yes, Captain."

The Japanese soldiers and their bunkers along the way were as fragile as paper under Gao Liujin's rocket launcher and infantry gun attack.

Gao Liujin didn't even use the Hell Cannon; he simply led his troops and pushed forward.

"Damn it, those damned Eighth Route Army soldiers! They really did find their way along the railway line! How hateful!" The Japanese officer escorting the shipment was so angry that his eyes turned red.

The cargo train had to stop abruptly due to an attack on the Wangzhuang Railway by the Eighth Route Army.

This is a curve, so the front of the car can't reverse directly; the new front of the car is still behind and hasn't come over yet.

Fearing that the Eighth Route Army would come looking for them, they decided to move some supplies in advance.

If the Eighth Route Army attacks, it will at least reduce the losses.

Unexpectedly, all of this was ultimately in vain.

Gao Liujin shot and killed the Japanese officer escorting the goods. He showed no interest in the officer's sword and tossed it to his guard. Gao Liujin shouted, "Open all the carriages as quickly as possible and see what the goods are. Then we'll take the most valuable ones."

There must have been thirty cargo cars, but only a small portion of them were open; the rest were still closed.

"Yes, Captain."

Gao Liujin's soldiers immediately swarmed over. "Commander, this carriage is full of coal."

"This is also coal."

"This must be a die-hard fan."

"This cart is full of cotton."

"This, this looks like vinegar!"

"Screw vinegar! Have you ever seen vinegar corrode an iron bar instantly? This is acid!"

"Isn't vinegar sour too?"

"Can these acids be the same?!"

"Is this white sugar?"

"My God, the entire carriage is full of white sugar, Commander."

"Commander, we've received the reward! Come quick!"

……

Soon, Gao Liujin was called to a carriage where bags were neatly stacked.

A soldier opened the bag, and inside were snow-white granules. He tasted them and found they were very sweet; they were white sugar.

"Hahaha, I'm rich now, I'm rich now, hahaha."

Gao Liujin burst into wild laughter, "This whole train car must have tens of thousands of pounds of sugar. Move it all back for me, hahaha! What Li Yunlong, what scholar, they're nothing but a fart in front of me. The sugar they've got isn't even a fraction of what I have, hahaha!"

That's right, God still favored me after all, as I'm six pounds taller.

It's just that God's favor is a bit too exaggerated, but I like it, hahaha.

"Commander, there are still several carriages of stuff. It looks like iron filings, but it's not. Should we move it?" Someone found Gao Liujin.

"Damn it, what is this?" Gao Liujin grabbed a handful of the grayish-black stuff and looked at it, but he couldn't figure it out no matter what he did.

This grayish-black thing is what the Japanese soldiers were moving from the train carriages themselves.

At first, people didn't recognize it and thought it was coal dust or sand, so they didn't pay much attention.

Looking at it now, it's not iron powder or sand; it seems to be something else entirely.

They didn't move things like industrial acids and sugar in advance; instead, they moved this grayish-black stuff.

This suggests that this grayish-black stuff might actually be more valuable than white sugar.

This gave Gao Liujin a headache.

There are quite a lot of these things in these carriages, each carriage weighs over 100,000 jin (50,000 kg), so they must weigh over a million jin (500,000 kg) in total.

Even with Gao Xigang's troops, we still couldn't move all these gray and black things back.

If we really have to move all of this stuff, we'll have to give up industrial acids and white sugar!

Damn it, this meal God gave us is really infuriating!

"Commander, the Japanese reinforcements won't give us much time. Should we move it or not? Should we abandon the sugar?" someone urged Gao Liujin.

"Damn it, if only I had a radio!" Gao Liujin exclaimed, jumping up and down.

If we had a radio station, we could contact Director Li; he would definitely recognize its value.

"Commander, I think we should give up on the sugar, even though it's valuable. Let's just move this grayish-black stuff instead." Someone suggested to Gao Liujin, "The Japanese value it more than the sugar. If we move it first, it must be the most valuable thing."

"No, we can't give up on the sugar!" Gao Liujin said resolutely. "I finally managed to get so much sugar, I can't give it up. Besides, the border region's arsenal urgently needs this batch of sugar."

"If we move over 100,000 jin of sugar, we'll have to move 100,000 jin less of this stuff. Commander, you'd better think this through."

"Damn it, don't force me. I'm not smart enough to keep up with that bastard Li Yunlong." Gao Liujin scratched his head a few times in frustration, and finally said, "The Japanese are cunning too. What if this grayish-black thing is just a smokescreen? What if they deliberately moved this worthless stuff to lure us in? If we take this worthless stuff back, wouldn't we be..."

"I don't think so." Gao Xigang ran over and shouted to Gao Liujin, "I've found the Japanese warehouse. They looked so anxious when they took this grayish-black stuff. They even sent troops out to try and get it, but I drove them back. In short, this stuff is definitely more valuable than sugar. Commander Gao, let's abandon the sugar and take this grayish-black stuff."

"No, I won't give up on white sugar!" Gao Liujin roared. "This grayish-black stuff may be more valuable, but it may not be something the arsenal will need immediately. White sugar, on the other hand, is something the arsenal will need immediately. Li Yunlong and his men have produced so much fertilizer, and they need a lot of white sugar."

“What you said makes sense,” Gao Xigang pondered for a moment, then said, “How about this, we’ll move the sugar and industrial acid, and finish those two. The rest of the manpower will move this grayish-black stuff. The Japanese warehouse is nearby. When we leave, we’ll destroy the railway and the trains to prevent them from repairing the railway and using new locomotives to pull the military trains away from behind. That way, they’ll have no choice but to hastily move their stuff into the warehouse. Once we’ve taken our stuff back, we can come back and figure out how to take over their warehouse. That way, we’ll still make the most of this opportunity God has given us.”

“Hmm, that makes sense.” Gao Liujin nodded immediately. “Okay, we’ll do it your way.”

Gao Liujin and Gao Xigang's team quickly moved the white sugar and industrial acid, while the remaining manpower carried the grayish-black stuff. Before leaving, they destroyed the train and a section of the railway track.

Of course, they also left enough spies around to keep an eye on things from the shadows.

We need to see if the Japanese really transferred the supplies from the military train to the warehouse.

If it's not moved to a warehouse, but moved to another location, it will still be nailed down.

In short, we can't finish all of this supplies right now. Even if it breaks our teeth, we'll have to eat it all!

(End of this chapter)