I used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) to fight the Japanese.

"Hmm? That's a good idea! Let's do it this way! Paint the arrows different colors and use different arrows for different environments. That's great, there's a lot of potential!" Mancang's eyes lit up, and he fully agreed with Manxiang's suggestion.

"Alright! I'll have the brothers start making these arrows right away! When we fight the Japanese again, we'll blow them to smithereens!" Tiger also strongly agreed to keep all three types of arrows.

"Shouldn't we give it a different name to differentiate it from the previous rockets?" Da Zhao suggested.

"That's right! Such an awesome weapon deserves a catchy name! Brother Cang, what do you think we should call it?" Tiger agreed.

"A rocket! The old kind is called a rocket, so let's call this one a rocket!" Mancang blurted out without thinking. Although this thing was a far cry from a real rocket, the principle was the same! Besides, it could actually explode, and its destructive power was no less than that of a hand grenade used by the army!

"Great! Let's call it rocket! The Japanese devils will be trembling under the explosion of rockets! Dozens of small grenades are fired at once, who dares to challenge our brothers?" Manxiang said excitedly.

"Alright! The rest of the production is up to you. I'll study those Japanese soldiers' bulletproof vests and helmets again, and we'll try to get one for everyone!" Mancang said.

"Great! Don't worry about leaving it to the brothers, they definitely won't waste such a good weapon," Tiger said happily.

The ballista had some rockets, and everyone was rushing to make rockets – that was indeed a significant improvement. In an era of scarcity, being able to develop even these things was a considerable step forward!

Tiger and his men took care of the manufacturing, while Mancang retrieved the bulletproof vests captured from the Japanese soldiers and immediately went into his room to tinker with them.

The Japanese bulletproof vest works on a simple principle: it's a vest filled with ceramic shards. It's obviously not very effective against bullets with high penetrating power like the Type 38 rifle, but it's perfectly fine against their arrows! At most, the arrows can shatter the ceramic shards, but it's impossible for them to penetrate and injure the human body.

However, if you were to use it yourself, the protective power would obviously not be enough. The Japanese Type 38 rifle and Type 96 light machine gun have much greater penetrating power than arrows!

Mancang naturally had his own methods; if porcelain shards wouldn't work, then iron shards would! As long as it didn't affect movement, iron shards could be used to replace porcelain shards. To minimize weight, the blacksmith forged iron shards of different thicknesses and fired them one by one. After an afternoon of experimentation and comparison, they determined that an iron shard slightly thinner than a silver dollar could withstand the impact of a Type 38 rifle; any thinner and it risked being penetrated.

Once the thickness was determined, the rest was simple. Based on the body's curves, over forty differently shaped iron plates were drawn, and the blacksmith was tasked with mass-producing them. Then, several women were instructed to sew short-sleeved shirts—yes, short-sleeved shirts, as his bulletproof vest design included protection for the shoulders as well.

When a bulletproof vest is made locally, it weighs only 3.1 kilograms, and the metal plates are embedded between two layers of fabric, so they don't affect movement at all. It's safe to say the effect is quite remarkable!

Of course, a bullet aimed at a single spot can penetrate a piece of metal, but to be hit by two bullets in the same spot all over such a large area of ​​your body requires incredibly bad luck! Unless you're being targeted by a sniper!

With bulletproof vests in hand, there's no need to bother making helmets anymore; we've captured quite a few over the years, but nobody really likes wearing them. Especially Mancang—those dark green things are really irritating to wear!

However, in order to save his life and fight the Japanese again in the future, wearing a steel helmet was a must!

Having solved the equipment problem, the next step was to figure out combinations of various weapons. This battle made him clearly realize that once a single, concentrated attack became ineffective, his men were at a significant disadvantage. Being outnumbered was one issue, but the lack of better weapon combinations was also a real problem. Back in the cemetery, if there had been five or six Type 96 light machine guns, the Japanese soldiers would never have been able to get close!

Although they had longswords and hunting dogs, their numbers were too small, and they would obviously suffer heavy losses if they fought the Japanese with bayonets.

There were nineteen combatants in them, plus Zhou Xingge and Zhang Jingya, making a total of twenty-one. Since the two of them were going to come along anyway, let's find them something to do!

They were divided into two ten-man squads, each with two swarm launchers. One person fired while the other reloaded, allowing for continuous fire. The two female reporters could be left to reload the swarm launchers. Each squad had two machine guns, with the gunners carrying as much ammunition as possible. This way, there were six firing positions, preventing the Japanese from closing in so quickly in similar situations!

The remaining personnel carried the same four items as before: long-handled swords, repeating crossbows, Type 38 rifles, and hand grenades. Grenade launchers were relatively small and could be carried by those who knew how to use them. Each team was also equipped with a wheeled crossbow for use when precise targeting was required.

"That's all for now! We'll see how it goes after training and then make improvements!" After thinking it over, Mancang felt a little more at ease. He called over Hu Zi and Da Zhao and told them to start training according to this setup. He then buried himself in the covers and fell fast asleep. He hadn't slept well for several days and needed a good rest.

……

Wang Daben, a resident of Xiaowangzhuang, rarely comes home. Wang Shuanzhu prepares a feast as if it were New Year's Day, showing his love for his son. The family sits together, chatting and laughing happily.

"Dad! I'm back on a mission this time! The Japanese have offered a reward of a thousand silver dollars for two people. Could you please keep an eye out for them?" Wang Daben said, taking a sip of his drink.

"A thousand silver dollars! Who is it? It's worth so much!" Wang Shuanzhu exclaimed.

"Have you heard of the Mo Dao Regiment? The Japanese said these two are core members of the Mo Dao Regiment, and the other two are female doctors from the county, who are probably also related to the Mo Dao Regiment!" As he spoke, he handed four portraits to his father.

“I’ve never seen these two women before, but these two men look somewhat familiar…” Wang Shuanzhu took the portrait and looked at the two men, lost in thought.

“Oh? Think about it carefully. If we can follow the clues and find the lair of this Mo Dao gang, your son will have done a great service this time! The thousand silver dollars is a small matter. With this merit, we can also get more benefits, right?” Wang Daben said with a bright look in his eyes.

"What group did you say they were from?" Wang Shuanzhu asked.

"The Mo Dao Regiment! Last time they robbed the Japanese army's rations and killed dozens of Japanese soldiers. This time the Japanese tried to lure them but failed, and instead the Japanese lost over a hundred men! This time they really hurt the Japanese!..." Wang Daben said eloquently.

“Military rations?... Yes, it’s them! These two were the ones who came to our house a few months ago!…” Wang Shuanzhu suddenly remembered the time he delivered rations to some Japanese soldiers.

Later, he told his son about it, but his son thought it was just some Japanese soldier coming to their house to freeload and didn't pay much attention. Now, seeing these two portraits, he immediately recognized the two men as the Japanese soldiers he had delivered grain to!