Chapter 39

Looking at the dust rising in the distance and the roar of engines in his ears, Dongku shouted, "They're here!"

Everyone, upon hearing the shout, quickly took their positions, crouching down where they had shot before, waiting for the arrival of the Japanese army.

Soon, as motorcycles approached, two trucks appeared in their line of sight...

"What happened, Lieutenant?"

A sergeant saluted and asked.

"The Chinese bandits have been defeated by us."

Dongku put away his pistol and said, "We need to guard the supplies, so we didn't pursue them."

"Lieutenant, please rest assured, we will be responsible for pursuing these bandits."

The sergeant stood at attention and ordered the gathered Japanese soldiers to chase in the direction Dongku had indicated.

"My car's tires were damaged by the bandits..."

The sergeant looked in the direction Dongku pointed and saw that the car's tires were flat, with several bullet holes in the truck bed and the tarpaulin.

"You, get the tools and spare tires, and repair this car."

The sergeant waved to the drivers of the two trucks behind.

Soon, two drivers grumbled as they brought two spare tires to the car, skillfully jacked up the truck with two screw jacks, quickly changed the tires, and pushed the old tires back to their trucks. The whole process took less than ten minutes, showing their professionalism.

"I need Tai Shōichi from the motorcycles to stay with me. I also need five rifles and ammunition to make up for the lack of long guns. The security here is really poor!"

Dongku did not thank the sergeant but directly asked for weapons.

"Hai!"

The sergeant stood at attention, ordered the nearby soldiers to comply, and then asked, "Lieutenant, do you need an escort?"

"No need for an escort. I believe a few bandits won't stop the steps of the Imperial Army!"

Seeing the guns being handed over to Zunzi and the others, Dongku said before getting into the car, "This group of bandits must be eliminated. The security here cannot be compromised."

"Hai!"

The sergeant remained at attention until the convoy disappeared, then relaxed and stood straight.

The strict hierarchy made him, the sergeant responsible for the surrounding security, extremely anxious after such an incident. He feared angering the lieutenant whose convoy had been intercepted. If anything happened to the lieutenant, he would face severe punishment.

"Brother Dong, why are those little devils so obedient? You ask for guns, they give guns; you ask for bullets, they give bullets?"

Shanzi was very puzzled. Were these devils stupid?

"The Japanese have a strict hierarchy. I am two ranks higher than him. He is just a sergeant. For an incident like intercepting a military convoy in his area of responsibility, he feels lucky not to be slapped."

Dongku said this with ease.

"Ah..."

Shanzi finally understood.

He knew the reason, but the others did not, and they were all guessing. How could the devils not only repair the car for free and provide spare tires but also give guns and bullets? This completely颠覆ed their impression of the Japanese as fierce and cruel.

In the front, Dongku said casually in the swaying car, "Free repairs are small matters. In the future, they will be our logistics support. If we need anything, we can just go to them..."

"Brother Mori, thank you for your hard work."

Dongku was genuinely surprised to see over a hundred horses lined up and greeted Mori, who had been waiting for two days, with a bow.

"Brother Dongku, it's no trouble to help a brother. Don't be so formal," Mori said, then led two horses to the truck and joined the unloading team.

Liu Zhong, unlike Zunzi and the others who were already accustomed to the amount of supplies, was initially surprised to see four trucks winding their way into the forest. When Dongku gave the signal and he came to the trucks, he was truly stunned to see the trucks full of rice, flour, and various supplies.

"Brother Dong, how did you get so much stuff?"

"The devils sent it. We'll talk about it after we finish. This place is less than a kilometer from the road. We need to unload quickly and move the supplies inside, then transport them back."

"Understood!"

Dongku called Zunzi, Shanzi, Sun Tao, and Mengzi and gave them orders, "Zunzi, Sun Tao, go to the woods on both sides of the road to provide cover. Do not fire randomly. Shanzi, Mengzi, stay 500 meters away to provide support. Do not fire randomly."

"Understood!"

The four men took their long guns and machine guns and went to their positions.

Dongku's luck held. Until all the supplies and the steel that could be dismantled from the trucks were moved over ten miles into the mountains, no vehicles or devils passed by on the road. Everything went smoothly.

When the last load of supplies was loaded onto the pack animals and Dongku and Liu Zhong were clearing the traces, Dongku finally understood why so many horses had come.

It turned out that when Liu Zhong arrived at the Ewenki camp, Mori's father not only gave him over sixty horses from the tribe but also sent Balibatu to borrow seventy more horses from another tribe over a hundred miles away, and sent all the hunters from the tribe.

Dongku knew they were grateful for the dozens of guns and bullets they had given. While he appreciated this, he was also worried. One tribe was manageable, but the gunshots from two tribes hunting could trigger a large-scale search by the Japanese.

"Ah..."

Dongku sighed inwardly. He knew that in the current situation, he could not yet make a significant impact. He could only stabilize his position and plan for the future...

Watching Mori lead the horse team disappear into the forest, Dongku exhaled deeply. Besides bringing back thirty pounds of grain and a total of two thousand bullets for each horse, he could do nothing more. He could only pray that Mori would follow his advice and use bows and arrows as much as possible to avoid gunfire and trigger a Japanese crackdown...

Huzi and Goudan listened to Mengzi and Zunzi's story. Goudan, while kneading dough, was excited beyond measure. Huzi, with a resentful look, glanced at Dongku and muttered, "The first time I was assigned to provide cover, I didn't get to fire a shot. This time, I'm just watching the house again..."

Dongku smiled and patted Huzi's head, saying, "Huzi, this time it's not suitable for you to go. The Japanese don't have child soldiers yet. You would stand out too much."

"Then next time, I must go. I won't just watch the house."

"Alright, tomorrow you'll go with me to Heizui."

"Really!"

Huzi perked up, "Brother Dong, will I be bringing back things from the devils again this time?"

Dongku shook his head and was about to speak when Sun Tao handed the sliced frozen mushrooms to Shanzi, saying, "Huzi, Heizui is our base. How can we make the devils angry? Didn't you see how Brother Dong went to such lengths to bring back things from so far away?"

"Ah..."

Huzi scratched his head, half understanding, but still excited.

Dongku did not join their conversation. After Sun Tao spoke, he found paper and a pen and, under the light of the gas lamp, began to draw diagrams.

Seeing Dongku busy, Liu Zhong and the others stopped talking and, carrying oil cans, began to pour oil into the corners of the cave to prevent ants from waking up and eating the grain and nesting.

In no time, with the cave filled with the aroma of oil cakes, Dongku had finished drawing several diagrams.

"Goudan, I heard your family is a blacksmith. Can you make these?"

Dongku handed a stack of drawings to Goudan.

Goudan patted the flour on his hands, took the drawings, and carefully examined them. After a while, he looked up and said, "Brother Dong, these are simple except for the one that looks like a coupling. I think some of them are for traps."

"Um."

Dongku nodded in approval. Since Goudan could see the general purpose, it showed that his blacksmithing skills were solid. "You can start working on these now. Study the coupling. Once you finish these, we'll start working."

"Working?"

Everyone gathered around, both excited and puzzled.

"Um, working."

Dongku looked at everyone and said, "In half a month, the mountains will be green. Within this half month, we will prepare everything. When the mountains turn green, it will be the time for us to officially eliminate the devils!"

"Great!"

Everyone rubbed their hands in excitement.

Although they had been constantly engaged in skirmishes with the devils, and the number of casualties had exceeded their expectations, it had always felt forced. Even in Dahu Town, they had never taken the initiative to attack.

"Now I'll assign tasks." Seeing the excited group, Dongku smiled and said, "Tomorrow, Mengzi, Mengzi, Liu Zhong, Zunzi, and Huzi will go with me to Heizui to get an anvil and hammer for Goudan. Shanzi and Goudan will build a bellows. Sun Tao and Liu Hai will set up an ammunition depot and racks inside the two side caves, and a place to store the grain."

At this point, Dongku asked, "Have the inside been cleared? Be careful of the soil balls and pheasant necks. Make sure it's clean."

As soon as Dongku finished speaking, Goudan suddenly remembered something and said, "Brother Dong, when I pushed firewood into the cave yesterday, I found what Shanzi needed. There were a lot of them."

"What?"

Dongku asked in surprise.

Shanzi also looked at Goudan, not knowing what he needed.

"There were a lot of snake skins inside, especially in the two side caves. They were piled up enough to make nests."

As soon as Goudan finished speaking, Shanzi stood up, "Why didn't you say so earlier? Did you burn them?"

"No." Goudan looked at Shanzi and said, "I know these are for your medicine. I always pick them up for you when I find them. I was busy moving things into the cave yesterday and didn't have time to say. But none of them were burned, and I didn't push the firewood any further."

"Phew..."

Shanzi exhaled in relief upon hearing that they were not damaged.

"Snake skins for medicine?"

Dongku, who had not spoken, finally understood. It turned out that snake skins were one of the ingredients in Shanzi's medicine.

"Alright, Shanzi and Goudan, you should be able to build the bellows quickly. Remember not to leave wood chips outside. When cutting trees, try to cut close to the roots to avoid leaving traces. After building the bellows, help Sun Tao and the others clean the cave. Be careful."

"Understood!"

Everyone responded enthusiastically, picked up the golden oil cakes, wrapped them with dried meat and frozen mushrooms, and found a place to enjoy this rare delicacy...

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