You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

With the northward march to the Central Plains, the battlefield shifted from the water-rich Jiangnan region to the vast, flat northern lands.

Lin Feng stood on the dock in Jiangpu County, looking at his massive fleet of ships bobbing up and down on the river, and stroked his chin.

Next, when fighting inland, we certainly won't need so many ships.

But it would be such a waste to store all these ships in the system space and let them gather dust.

"Uncle Lin."

Lin Feng turned around, called over Lin Peiji, the former steward of the Lin family and now the director of the army's logistics department, and pointed to the river, saying:

"I plan to leave all those cargo ships, small steamships, and landing craft on the Yangtze River."

Only two of their most heavily armed PT speedboats were retained to escort them.

How about we send the fleet upstream to Jiangcheng or Shancheng, and establish a dedicated shipping company?

Upon hearing this, Lin Peiji's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly:

"Young master, your idea is brilliant."

I just received a telegram a couple of days ago that my father and his family have arrived safely in the mountain city.

The master still had some connections with the upper echelons of the government.

"If you ask me, we should just set up the shipping company's headquarters in this mountain city."

Lin Peiji, a shrewd businessman who had managed the Lin family's businesses in Fenghua for some time, quickly analyzed the pros and cons for Lin Feng:

"Young master, think about it. There are wars everywhere now, and the coastline has been lost."

This Yangtze River is the only major waterway for transportation in our Great Xia rear area.

Whether it's transporting troops, grain, or equipment for factories relocating inland, everything depends on this river.

You are now a high-ranking official, a lieutenant general and commander of the 33rd Army Corps, wielding considerable military power.

In addition, there were the connections the master had back home.

Once our shipping company is up and running, we'll be able to do whatever we want back home. Who would dare to disrespect us?

Leave this to me. I'll have my clever nephew, Chengji, personally go with the fleet. He'll handle it perfectly for you."

Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction; this was exactly the effect he wanted.

"Uncle Lin, we have quite a bit of capital on hand."

Lin Feng counted his family's assets on his fingers:

"We have a full twenty of those shallow-draft LCVP personnel and vehicle landing craft."

This thing is a good one; it's not afraid of getting stranded at all.

No need for any formal deep-water docks; you can just find any muddy beach and unload the cargo directly.

If used specifically for cargo transport, a single ship can carry 3.7 tons of supplies at a time, and it's fast.

"In addition, we requisitioned seventeen or eighteen civilian steamships along the way."

At this point, Lin Feng sighed:

"Some of these ships belonged to owners whose entire families died in Japanese bombing raids, leaving them unclaimed."

Some of them were requisitioned by others when we were evacuating Jiangyin. The situation was so urgent that I forced them to give us a bunch of IOUs.

Now that we have a shipping company and are making money, it's time to pay back these IOUs.

Upon hearing this, Lin Peiji understood the implied meaning and immediately pulled out a small abacus from his pocket. He fiddled with it for a few moments and then gasped.

"My young master."

Lin Peiji was so excited that he slapped his thigh:

"You have no idea how outrageous the water transport prices are right now."

Moreover, what is our biggest advantage in doing this business?

"It's because your brand is strong."

Lin Peiji knew very well that doing business under the rule of the White Party was extremely exploitative.

The checkpoints, water police, and gangs along the way—wouldn't they all have to fleece us?

Various miscellaneous gifts and levies could squeeze every last drop of money out of a merchant.

He pointed to the flags on the ships and said:

"Our ship is flying the flag of the 33rd Army Corps."

Even if those filthy scoundrels had ten times the guts, who would be so blind as to stop your boat and demand tolls?

Lin Peiji held up two fingers and said confidently:

"I made a rough estimate."

As long as these dozens of ships operate at full capacity, they can be used for transportation alone.

Over the course of a year, the net profit is at least 30 silver dollars. It's practically a money-sucking behemoth running on the river!

Lin Feng was immediately delighted upon hearing this.

30 silver dollars?

That's right. Not only can they pay back those IOUs with interest, but they can also have an extremely stable cash flow in the future.

No wonder that during the War of Resistance against Japan, from the generals of the National Revolutionary Army to the secret agents of the Military Intelligence Bureau, everyone was obsessed with doing business. Even Chennault, who led the Flying Tigers, used C-47 transport planes to carry goods.

Moreover, these are just a few dozen small boats, each weighing several tens of tons. He could easily exchange them for larger landing craft to use as transport ships, expand the shipping company, and make even more money...

In the future, if I want to buy something expensive in the system, or give some bonuses to the troops, I will no longer have to worry about calculating it.

Seeing Lin Feng's radiant appearance, Lin Peiji thought for a moment and then cautiously added:

"Of course, this is all predicated on oil prices not skyrocketing and these ships not being sunk by Japanese planes..."

"Oil is no problem."

Lin Feng has a system, so the price of fuel he can exchange here is fixed.

As for being bombed by the Japanese, well, how can you do business without some risks?

"Okay! It's settled then!"

Lin Feng made the decision on the spot and began making arrangements swiftly and decisively.

He quickly selected two naval officers from the system to lead the team, and assigned 300 system soldiers with a full set of weapons and radios to accompany the fleet north to the mountain city.

It served both to pressure the ship and to monitor Lin Chengji, the nephew recommended by Lin Peiji.

"Anyone who dares to mess with our fleet, just shoot them all."

As for Lin Chengji himself, in addition to using the capital given by Lin Feng to establish a shipping company in the mountain city, he also had to be responsible for renting a place in the mountain city for the 33rd Army Corps to serve as the corps' garrison in the rear of the mountain city.

After making the arrangements and waiting for all the irrelevant people to leave, Lin Feng waved his hand and recalled all the remaining gunboats and fire support ships with deeper drafts into the system space.

The surplus naval personnel were also temporarily disembarked and incorporated into the infantry.

Anyway, we'll be fighting around Weishan Lake near Pengcheng, so maybe we can put these sailors to good use then.

With the fleet issue resolved, Lin Feng was finally able to relax completely.

He led his guard company onto a northbound military train.

-----

38 1 Month 4 Day.

With a screeching sound of brakes, the steam locomotive, belching white smoke, slowly pulled into Pengcheng Railway Station.

As soon as Lin Feng stepped off the train, he saw a row of armed military police standing on the platform.

An officer with the rank of major general strode forward and snapped to attention with a military salute.

"Commander Lin, you must be tired from your journey."

The officer in charge was Wu Yuanju, the adjutant of Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone.

Commander Li, upon learning of your arrival today, specially ordered me to prepare a car and have been waiting here for quite some time!

Lin Feng smiled slightly and returned the greeting.

He looked around; Commander Li couldn't afford to underestimate him.

The surrounding area was under lockdown, with special cars providing transportation; the level of prestige was off the charts.

Riding in the headquarters' special car, Lin Feng quickly arrived at the Fifth War Zone Command Headquarters located in Pengcheng City.

Upon entering the operations hall, one is greeted by the sight of generals shining brightly, and the senior staff officers of the war zone are all present.

"Haha, General Lin, you've finally arrived."

Before Lin Feng could even see who it was, a hearty laugh rang out.

A middle-aged general, wearing a woolen overcoat and with a lean face, strode over and extended his hands.

It was none other than Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth War Zone, the bigwig of the Guangxi clique, Commander Li.