Bright Sword: Flesh and Blood Military Industrial Base

Yang Zheng stood on the hillside, biting his lower lip, watching intently as the soldiers poured buckets of kerosene taken from the locomotive's tinderbox onto the mountain of grain sacks.

He desperately suppressed the urge to stop, until the torch was thrown down and with a roar, the flames, like a greedy beast, instantly devoured the golden millet, sorghum, and the corpses of the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators.

"Company Commander..." Chen Xiaoquan stood beside him, his voice hoarse, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.

The usually composed new instructor now had tears in his eyes. Not only him, but many soldiers and villagers helping with the transport also turned away, unable to bear the sight.

That's grain! In those times of widespread famine, when people were gnawing on tree bark and eating clay, how many lives could this grain have saved!

Each bag that turned to ashes in the fire felt like a knife cut into the heart of each person.

Yang Zheng sighed, turned to the crowd, and said loudly, "I know you're heartbroken, and I'm heartbroken too. But if we can't take it with us, we can't leave it to the Japanese."

He pointed to the flames: "If we burn it down, the Japanese won't get it, and we'll give up on our hopes. Only then can we force ourselves to plan more thoroughly next time and move it faster!"

Yang Zheng's gaze swept across the faces of Chen Xiaoquan, Zhao Dahu, Luo Dashan, and the others. "Remember this fire today! Remember why we had to burn it!"

To prevent future fires, we need to be stronger, fight harder, and move faster! Strong enough to protect every single grain of rice we've captured!

"Yes!" the soldiers replied hoarsely, chests out.

Seeing their expressions, Yang Zheng nodded in satisfaction, suppressing his last shred of heartache, and shouted loudly, "Let's go home! Reconnaissance squad, advance five li and be on alert for reinforcements that might come from the Xiyang direction! Cavalry squad, provide mobile cover!"

"yes!"

The team quickly sprang into action.

The journey was more efficient than the trip there, because everyone understood that they had to get away from the railway line and into the mountains before dawn.

Yang Zheng looked back and glanced at the still-burning pile of grain.

In the firelight, he suddenly remembered the grayed-out [Clinic] icon on the system interface.

Five more soldiers were seriously wounded in this battle. Although they received emergency treatment with captured Japanese medicine, whether they could survive depended entirely on their individual physical condition and luck.

"If I could unlock the clinic..." The thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly suppressed it.

Just then, the system notification arrived as expected. After a series of notifications, the total rewards were: Soul Points: 1330, Flesh Resources: 14875.

加上之前的，杨正的灵魂点共计：1760+1330=3090，血肉资源共计：31486+14875=46361。

It can also summon 200 warriors, now the food...

Yang Zheng glanced at the grain carried by the villagers and soldiers, which was in addition to the mule carts that were fully loaded, and said softly, "At least for the next three months, we won't be short of food."

They transported nearly 30 tons of grain on this trip. Although it was only one train carload, it was definitely enough to feed 300 to 400 people for three months.

The group moved at a brisk pace, with the cavalry and reconnaissance squads on guard, and finally made it into the vast mountains before dawn.

Although everyone was exhausted and had bloody marks on their shoulders, they couldn't hide their smiles as they looked at the trucks and loads of golden grain.

Zhou Shunzi, in particular, carrying two large sacks of sorghum, walked briskly, grinning as he said to the railway detachment soldiers beside him:

"Comrade, we've never seen or carried so much grain in our lives! Following the Eighth Route Army has truly broadened our horizons and is incredibly satisfying!"

The soldier laughed, "Brother Shunzi, this is nothing! When our army is strong and well-equipped, and we take over the Japanese county town, the grain in the granaries will be a veritable sea!"

"We believe! I believe in our Eighth Route Army!" Zhou Shunzi nodded emphatically.

In the middle of the column, Zhao Dahu carried a captured light machine gun on his left shoulder and a bag of flour on his right. He walked with his head held high and chest out, as if he were carrying gold ingots instead of machine guns and grain.

That makes sense, though, for him, guns and food were far more important than gold ingots.

He watched as Luo Dashan and his fire support platoon struggled to carry the two precious Type 92 heavy machine guns, their free hands also holding a small bag of grain. He chuckled and approached them.

"Old Luo, you're doing great! Your firepower platoon has done it again! That heavy machine gun was firing like a whirlwind; the Japanese must have been completely stunned, right?"

Zhao Dahu's words carried a hint of envy, but not much jealousy. A good fight was more important than anything else.

Luo Dashan was sweating profusely, but he didn't bother to wipe it away; the sweat even stung his eyes, but his face was beaming with joy.

"That's right! Don't you even know who's operating it! But seriously, Lao Zhao, your infantry charged pretty fiercely, bayonet to bayonet, they didn't disgrace our Eighth Company!"

"That's right!" Zhao Dahu puffed out his chest. "I'm not bragging, but those few Japanese sergeants in the last carriage tried to organize a counterattack, but I led my men in a charge and took them all down! It's a pity, the commander's sword was stolen by the first platoon..."

"You son of a bitch, all you're thinking about is the commander's sword!" Luo Dashan laughed and cursed. "That stuff makes good steel when melted down, but we're not short of steel right now, are we? I bet you just want to curry favor with the company commander and get a few more grenade launchers, aren't you?"

Caught off guard, Zhao Dahu chuckled, "You're right! Lao Luo, you're rolling in money now, with two Type 92 rifles and eight grenade launchers... How about I trade you one of your grenade launchers? I'll trade you my Type 99 light machine gun!"

"Get lost! Dream on!" Luo Dashan said like a protective mother hen. "These grenade launchers were personally allocated by the company commander; not a single one can be missing! Just imagine, when we're attacking fortified positions, we'll use the Type 92 rifles for suppression, and the grenade launchers for roll call—how exciting will that be!"

The two bickered as they walked, and their fatigue seemed to lessen considerably.

The soldiers around him listened with amusement, and the atmosphere in the ranks was filled with joy.

Yang Zheng, who was walking at the front of the group, was also carrying two bags of grain. He listened to the noise behind him and smiled.

Chen Xiaoquan approached, his expression worried. "Company Commander, we hijacked the train and burned so much grain. The Japanese are definitely going to go crazy. The enemy in Xiyang probably won't let this go."

"When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it."

Yang Zheng's gaze was calm. "Now that we have this batch of grain as a foundation, we're not worried. We should seize the time to train the troops and replenish our manpower. Once our strength has increased and we have more troops, we'll be even more confident."

He glanced back at the winding procession, looking at the soldiers who were tired but had bright eyes, and at the villagers whose faces were full of joy because they were carrying grain, and his confidence grew even stronger.

"Pass the word down: we'll march for another half hour, then rest. Also, when we get back to Changning Village, the whole company will have an extra meal! We'll use our newly captured wheat flour to steam big buns! Let the villagers have a good meal too!"

"Yes!" Chen Xiaoquan replied happily and quickly relayed the good news.

"oh--!!!"

After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in even louder cheers.

Steamed big buns! Made of white flour! In these days, that's a delicacy you can't even dream of during the New Year!

Zhou Shunzi was so excited he almost dropped the carrying pole: "White flour steamed buns! I... I want to eat two more! No, three!"

Zhao Dahu licked his lips: "Damn, just thinking about it makes my mouth water! Old Wang from the cookhouse is a master cook; his steamed buns are sure to be delicious!"

Even the usually composed Liu Tiegang couldn't help but swallow hard, encouraging his soldiers, "Hurry up! Get home sooner, so we can have some hot steamed buns sooner!"

The team's marching speed increased imperceptibly.

The joy of victory and the anticipation of a delicious meal seemed to dispel all fatigue.

P.S.: Please, please, please give me monthly votes, godfathers!