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

Inside the front-line command post of the 33rd Army Corps, the staff officers' reports rose and fell.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the 1st Guerrilla Division has captured the main peak of Black Mountain."

"Report from the newly formed 16th Division: to eliminate the remaining enemy forces on Hill 803 in Pingshan."

"Report: The 112th Division has sent a telegram that the Niujiaoling position has been completely captured and the Japanese defense line has collapsed."

On the other side, the operations staff were all smiles as they kept planting their own blue flags on the sand table.

Lin Feng stood in front of the sand table, listening to the continuous stream of good news, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Have the battle results been tallied yet?"

Lin Feng turned to look at the operations staff officer beside him.

"The preliminary statistics are in."

The staff officer brought over a document and reported directly:

"After these few days of relentless bombing and multi-dimensional assault."

We killed nearly 10,000 Japanese soldiers in the Pingshan and Heishan areas.

Based on assessment, the enemy's 114th Division had suffered more than half its casualties, and all of its regiments had been decimated.

They have completely lost their fighting ability.

According to reconnaissance reports, the remaining Japanese troops had abandoned all their heavy equipment and were fleeing in disarray towards Qizhou City.

An uncontrollable cheer erupted from the command post.

Destroying an entire division that was holding a strategic advantage in one fell swoop would be a glorious achievement that would shake the entire country in any war zone since the start of the War of Resistance.

Only in the 33rd Army Corps, with its outstanding combat record, does this achievement seem somewhat natural.

"Your Excellency, should we press our advantage and march directly to the gates of Qizhou?"

One of the staff officers made an excited suggestion.

"Pursue? There's no need."

Lin Feng waved his hand and walked to the large military map on the wall.

"Qizhou City has strong walls, and the Japanese still have a large number of troops guarding it."

The people in Jiangcheng are hoping we'll go to Qizhou and fight the Japanese to the death. If the Japanese, who have already moved south, turn around and attack us from both sides, we might end up losing more than we gain.

We can't do something that loses us money.

Lin Feng picked up a red and blue pencil and drew a heavy red circle around Zhibo County and Boshan area on the map.

"Order all units to cease pursuit towards Qizhou."

They built defensive fortifications on the spot to guard against a Japanese counterattack.

Our core objective has been achieved.

Lin Feng looked at the red circle and let out a satisfied sigh.

He never intended to launch a full-scale attack on Qizhou City.

With the collapse of the Pingshan and Heishan defense lines, his troops have firmly occupied the Zhibo and Boshan areas.

The best coal and iron ore areas in the entire Shandong Province have now all fallen into the hands of the 33rd Army Corps.

This is the greatest spoil of war.

With these mineral resources, his steel mill could start operation, and his heavy industry plan could officially begin.

Just then, the black crank-operated field telephone on the command post desk suddenly rang urgently.

A communications officer strode over and picked up the microphone.

"Huh? This is the front-line command post of the 33rd Army Corps."

After listening to a couple of sentences, the staff officer immediately covered the microphone and turned to look at Lin Feng.

"Commander, this is a call from the Qingcheng Port headquarters. Director Zhao is looking for you."

Lin Feng put down the red and blue pencils in his hand, strode over and took the microphone.

"Hello, Yushu? This is Lin Feng."

Amidst a faint static noise, Zhao Yushu's excited voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Cousin, this is wonderful news!"

Zhao Yushu was left by Lin Feng to oversee the overall situation in Jiaodong, specifically in charge of industrial construction and logistical coordination. He has been keeping a close eye on the newly planned industrial zone these past few days.

"The smokeless gunpowder production line at the arsenal has been initially completed and has successfully completed trial operation."

Upon hearing this, Lin Feng's face instantly broke into a smile.

Smokeless gunpowder has been put into production.

This means that the 33rd Army Corps is about to break free from its absolute dependence on system ammunition.

They can reload bullets themselves and produce their own shells.

This is a crucial step towards logistical independence for a large army.

"Well done."

Lin Feng praised him into the microphone.

"How are those experts from the White Eagle doing? Are they adapting well?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yushu on the other end of the phone couldn't help but laugh.

"Cousin, you weren't there, you didn't see what happened."

The group of White Eagle Chemical experts and engineers recruited by Pan Asia Company arrived in Qingcheng Port just two days ago.

When they disembarked, they all looked down on us, as if they were here to provide technical assistance to our poor, remote Far East region.

As a result, when I brought them into our arsenal...

Seeing all those advanced chemical equipment and precision machine tools you've created...

The foreigners' jaws nearly dropped to the floor in astonishment.

Zhao Yushu vividly described the scene over the phone.

"Especially that chemical expert named Gladstone, when he saw our reaction vessels and purification equipment."

He knelt down on the ground, touching the machine, repeatedly calling out "God" and asking if it was alien technology.

They said that even the most advanced DuPont chemical plant in White Eagle is a whole generation behind ours in terms of equipment.

After hearing this, Lin Feng couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The industrial equipment produced by the system in the 1950s was naturally a game-changer for these foreign experts from the 1930s.

"And now?" Lin Feng asked.

"Now?"

Zhao Yushu snorted.

"These top talents who were unemployed in the White Eagle are now receiving high salaries from us."

Looking at those cutting-edge devices, everyone was full of enthusiasm.

We didn't even need to urge them; they volunteered to work overtime.

They were afraid we'd chase them away and prevent them from touching those precious machines.

"Very good, I'm at ease leaving the rear to you."

Lin Feng gave a few instructions on the subsequent allocation of supplies and then hung up the phone.

Lin Feng walked out of the command post, the early summer breeze blowing on his face, carrying the freshness after the smoke of battle had cleared.

He looked eastward, towards Qingcheng Port.

The victory at the front secured valuable mineral resources for him. Meanwhile, the industries in the rear, aided by top talent from the major powers, began operating at full speed.

In fact, with the system at his disposal, he could have easily bought everything he needed through the exchange points.

But he knew very well that while buying ammunition through the system was convenient, it was ultimately expensive. In the event of war, the massive consumption of ammunition could bankrupt people.

The purpose of developing industry, building steel mills and gunpowder factories, was to produce shell casings and reloaded bullets at the lowest possible cost, so that the saved system points could be used to build more advanced tanks, aircraft, and warships.

More importantly, since he has traveled to this era, he should leave behind some heavy industry foundation for this country that can't even build trucks, right?

Now that we have smokeless gunpowder, once Zhibo's iron ore is transported back and the steel mill starts operating, his long-brewing "cost-effective weapon" plan can be put on the agenda.

The Japanese tanks had armor as thin as sheet metal; to deal with them, there was no need for expensive anti-tank guns at all.

A gun barrel capable of withstanding high chamber pressure, even one with a caliber of only 37mm or 50mm, is extremely difficult to produce, both in terms of cost and manufacturing complexity.

Conversely, all that is needed is an ordinary seamless steel pipe, plus a stamped cone-shaped armor-piercing projectile, to create a "handheld cannon" that can be carried by a single soldier—a disposable anti-tank rocket launcher.

Like the Panzerfaust series of rocket launchers that Hans developed in the later stages of the war (pictured).

This thing is inexpensive to make and simple to manufacture; dozens or even hundreds can be made in a day.

With hollow-charge anti-tank warheads, they can destroy bunkers and Japanese tanks; with high-explosive warheads, they can destroy Japanese infantry.

Once this thing is mass-produced and equipped to every infantry squad of the 33rd Army Corps, it will be equivalent to each infantry squad having an extra "hand-held cannon" that can accompany the attack.

At that time, he wanted to see if the Japanese tanks, bunkers, and fortifications could still stand up to the overwhelming rocket launchers.