The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Late at night, the air in the mountains behind the independent regiment's base was filled with a damp coolness. All around was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of insects breaking the silence.

This was originally a desolate mountain area, but now it has become a warehouse area and a small industrial area for the independent regiment.

The moonlight sparsely sprinkled on the mountain, outlining the outlines of the caves, making it look somewhat mysterious.

Since the well-educated young people from the Overseas Chinese Volunteer Army joined the Independent Regiment, the construction of the garrison has entered the fast lane.

During this era, many of the young generation of immigrants in Nanyang had received a Western education. After receiving basic education, many of them, who came from wealthy families, went to study abroad at European universities at their own expense.

Among them, there are only a few like Zhang Guangsong who study ancient John drama.

More young overseas Chinese still choose to study science and engineering subjects with the ambition to keep up with Western technology and develop themselves.

In order to maximize their abilities, Zhang Chi rejected the requests of these high-end talents with university and high school education to carry guns to the front line. (In the Republic of China era, high school students were considered educated, high school students were considered technicians, and university students could lead projects.)

At Zhang Chi's request, they combined the advanced technologies they had learned with the actual needs of the independent regiment and quickly advanced the infrastructure construction of the base.

These young people had various generators and parts provided by Zhang Chi that they had obtained for free from the John airport and war reserve warehouses, as well as a steady supply of cheap fuel from the system. Soon, the independent regiment's base entered the era of electrification.

He used explosives and excavation equipment to dig out several large caves in the mountains behind Xinwangping Village. Using the small machine tools and lathes left by the Johns, he established a simple industrial zone, where he began repairing weapons and casting mortar shells. (Casting mortar shells was considered the simplest military industrial project, and the Eighth Route Army had successfully accomplished it in their cave dwellings.)

The popularization of electrification and the start of industrial production have gradually brought vitality to this originally monotonous military base.

At this moment, Zhang Chi was walking on a mountain path leading to the warehouse area, his steps steady and powerful.

The chill of the night set in, but his heart burned like a raging fire.

He went forward alone, leaving Xiao Qi and several guards to stand guard outside the warehouse area.

His mission tonight was very clear, which was to absorb the gold and silver into the system under the pretext of personally inspecting the spoils that Bai Minghui had just sent back.

In order to prevent being discovered by the Japanese reconnaissance planes, Zhang Chi had to impose a nighttime lighting control on the base, and all lights were tightly concealed.

However, the warehouse and industrial areas in the cave are a different story.

There is no blackout here, and incandescent lamps hang high on the cave ceiling, illuminating the entire cave as bright as day.

Zhang Chi walked into Warehouse No. 9. More than a dozen heavy wooden boxes were neatly stacked in the corner. Each of these boxes carried a dangerous and deadly adventure in a temple deep in the mountains.

Perhaps many years later, when Bai Minghui has descendants, they can write a popular tomb-robbing novel based on this unknown underground adventure.

But for Zhang Chi now, these are just the fuel and firewood for his independent regiment - this war machine.

Zhang Chi's eyes swept across the wooden boxes, finally stopping on one that was particularly conspicuous.

He walked forward and gently pushed the lid of the box with his finger. He looked inside and saw that it was indeed the golden Buddha.

He then opened several boxes nearby, which were filled with various gold, silver and jewelry.

The golden and silver lights intertwine with each other, which is dazzling.

Zhang Chi didn't hesitate at all. He raised his hand and placed it on the box, silently chanting the word "absorb".

As he moved, the gold and silver seemed to be attracted by an invisible force, disappearing into the box one by one and transforming into resources within the system.

"[Ding, 145 kilograms of gold obtained.]"

"[Ding, 734 kilograms of silver were obtained and converted into Silver Lions."]" (Based on the calculation of 26.7 grams per dollar and 1 dollar = 1 Silver Lion)

The system's prompt sound made Zhang Chi feel even happier.

Looking at the empty box with only some gems, jade and pearls left, Zhang Chi smiled slightly and had a plan in mind.

Although the system does not accept these gems, he is not worried. These luxury goods can also be exchanged for a lot of money on the black market in Mandalay, Yangon and Chuncheng. When he has time, he can send his confidants to exchange them for hard currency such as gold and silver.

But now, the priority of these materials is no longer high. After all, in troubled times, the prices of gems and jade are suppressed very low, and he has more important plans.

For Zhang Chi, the most important thing at the moment is how to maximize the use of the resources in his hands, especially the silver lion coins converted from this silver.

In the previous battles, he had already tasted the benefits of amphibious warfare and surprise attacks.

He is now very concerned about expanding his amphibious transport capabilities, so the cheap initial vehicles LVT-A1 amphibious tanks and PT-6 torpedo boats, which only cost 700 Silver Lions, have become his favorites.

He felt that taking advantage of the tail end of the rainy season and launching a surprise attack along the extensive waterways in the Kingdom of Pegu would be a brilliant and unexpected move.

Soon, General Stevenson's 100-ton air transport plan will begin, and he must first eliminate the Japanese front-line airports near the bases.

In this era when the Japanese had no ground radar, if they wanted to intercept the Allied air transport, they had to send planes to patrol near the Himalayas and Gaoligong Mountains.

This means that the Japanese need to have a continuously operational frontline airport north of Pegu.

Otherwise, if the Japanese Army's Nakajima Type 1 fighter planes took off from southern airports such as Mandalay and Rangoon, the remaining fuel would not be enough to support their patrol flights for several hours when they arrived near the Allied air transport routes on the northern border.

Zhang Chi quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and decided to leave 1 Silver Lion Coins in case of emergency.

In this way, if his relationship with Stevenson breaks down in the future, he can use these silver lion coins to buy food and ammunition on his own to maintain the combat capability of the independent regiment.

He did not plan to use the remaining 17,000 Silver Lions to purchase an air force. After all, in the War Thunder technology tree, the initial American aircraft were all P-26 fighters of the pre-World War II level, which had no ability to fight back against the Japanese Zero and Type 1.

He planned to add the several thousand silver lions he had obtained in previous battles and directly purchase 20 LVT-A1 amphibious tanks and 10 PT-6 torpedo boats.

The LVT-A1 amphibious tank is inexpensive and has a very high cost-effectiveness. It can not only fight as a single tank, but also transport a squad of soldiers for amphibious delivery.

The PT-6 torpedo boat was a weapon he prepared to raid the Japanese's sea transport lines and airports. Its two 533mm torpedoes could cause fatal damage to the Japanese ships.

Although there may not be many Japanese ships in the rivers inland from Pegu that need to be dealt with by torpedoes.

But in the vast South China Sea, in the neighboring Strait of Malacca, relying on these flexible small boats, Zhang Chi felt that he could completely use the advantage of the small to defeat the big and attack the Japanese merchant ships.

"We will definitely catch the Japanese off guard this time." Zhang Chi whispered to himself, with a glint of determination in his eyes.

He knew very well that the Japanese's current ground defenses in Pegu were all aimed at the land.

Since the Japanese navy currently controls the sea power in the entire South China Sea, the Japanese army believes that an independent regiment without a sea route will not be able to obtain replenishment of ships and tanks.

They had no idea that someone could use the system to create a large number of speedboats and amphibious tanks in the deep mountains. Therefore, the Japanese army was completely unprepared for large-scale waterway raids in history. Currently, their defense focus is on the Qian army across the border.

After analyzing the situation of both sides, Zhang Chi's thoughts gradually became clear, and he was full of confidence in this surprise attack plan.

So, he pressed the buy button on the system interface in his mind.