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

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. The Japanese blockade continued, and they were arresting people everywhere. Young and strong men dared not show their faces, and the streets were deserted. Many shops dared not open their doors. The mountain stronghold was now facing a problem. The food they had brought back from the Japanese was running low, and if they held on for another day, they would go hungry!

Zhao Mancang was scribbling in a notebook with a pen he'd captured from the Japanese. The mountain stronghold's defenses needed to be improved. And then there were the weapons; the guns and grenades from the Japanese were simply not enough. Forty-odd guns and a few hundred rounds of ammunition sounded like a lot, but these men had only practiced with them before the big move. Training them to be combat-ready with this little bit of equipment was out of the question. After wasting all that ammunition, they'd be lucky if they could even keep their heads from shaking at the sound of gunfire! Getting more ammunition from the Japanese after that wouldn't be easy!

To improve the overall fighting strength of the village, he needed to find another way. After thinking for a long time, he focused on cold weapons! Since guns and cannons could not be produced self-sufficiently, he would use the wisdom of his ancestors. The village had blacksmiths and carpenters, and as long as there were enough materials, a continuous supply could be achieved. At this moment, what he had drawn in his notebook were several weapons that he had learned from the "Complete Essentials of Military Strategy" in his previous life.

First is the Mo Dao (陌刀), which I've mentioned before and won't repeat here. This weapon is absolutely advantageous in bayonet fighting against the Japanese; if used properly, a single blow can cut someone in half!

The second weapon is the "swarm of arrows," a product of our ancestors' use of gunpowder in weaponry. Gunpowder cartridges are attached to arrow shafts, creating a hexagonal funnel-shaped launcher. Arrows loaded with gunpowder are arranged on the launcher, and once ignited, they fly out in a swarm of arrows propelled by the gunpowder. With an effective range of nearly 400 meters and an attack range exceeding 50 meters! It was an absolute weapon of choice for defending cities; two teams working together could even achieve continuous firing, proving remarkably effective in large-scale battles!

Modern rockets were manufactured based on the principle of mass production, and the word "rocket" itself originated from this!

Many foreigners now mock the Chinese for inventing gunpowder but using it for firecrackers—that's utter nonsense! Let them see what a chaotic scene looks like back then, when they were just blindly hacking and slashing with swords and spears! Doesn't that make them look bad?

However, the manufacture of weapons was always a closely guarded secret of the imperial court, and ordinary people had no access to it, so there was no rush of people to participate in the war of resistance.

Thirdly, there's the wheelbarrow. In ancient times, there were bed crossbows, whose arrows, like spears, could easily pierce a horse. Zhao Mancang combined the bed crossbow with a wheelbarrow, mounting three bows on a single string and linking them together, along with a crossbow mechanism, thus designing a unique bed crossbow. Its exact power remains to be determined after its production, but its ease of use and greater range are certain! It's no exaggeration to say it could be used as a sniper rifle!

Fourth is the repeating crossbow, a formidable weapon of mass destruction at the time! Several versions of the repeating crossbow were later replicated, but Zhao Mancang chose the version that could hold fifty arrows at a time as standard issue for his team, one for each soldier. With an effective range of seventy meters, it was perfectly adequate for use as a rifle!

Finally, there's the hidden sleeve dart. It's concealed in your sleeve and difficult to spot without careful inspection. It's convenient for going out on missions and clearing levels.

He drew all of these and handed them to the carpenter and the blacksmith, but the two of them seemed to be looking at a book written in a foreign language and knew nothing about it. It took Zhao Mancang a long time to explain before they understood.

"Gentlemen, make a list of what tools and materials you need, and try to get them back in the next couple of days. If you manage to get this done, you two will become the weapons makers for our team, and everyone is counting on you!" Zhao Mancang said excitedly.

"No problem! The only tricky thing is the long-handled sword; the others are all arrowheads. They're just different sizes, so they're not too difficult to make." The blacksmith then listed a whole bunch of tools. Once everything was ready, they could start working.

"It's not difficult for me, but I need more wood. There's plenty in the mountains around here, I can just ask everyone to cut some for me when they have time!" The carpenter also showed off his tools.

"Okay! You guys find a venue, and I'll try to get all these things together as soon as possible!" Zhao Mancang was relieved to see that the two agreed so readily. As long as there were people, nothing else was a problem.

"Uncle Cang, we've found out everything! Wang Shuanzhu, the head of Xiaowangzhuang..." Just then, Li Dadi and Gou Mao came in to report the information they had gathered.

The very next day after deciding to stay, Zhao Mancang thought about the food problem. An army marches on its stomach; feeding sixteen people was a considerable expense. If the Japanese hadn't blockaded the area, buying food in the streets wouldn't have been difficult; he still had over a hundred silver dollars from the Japanese, enough to buy quite a bit. But with the blockade, things were different. Even if he could buy food, transporting it back would be difficult; getting so much stuff through checkpoints was a major hassle.

Only then were the two sent out to scout. Xiaowangzhuang was a small village about six or seven miles outside the valley, with no checkpoints along the way. This Wang Shuanzhu was a notorious traitor, and his son was a deputy captain in the county's puppet army, who, relying on the Japanese, had ruthlessly exploited the villagers!

If we don't deal with this scumbag, who should we deal with?

"Alright! This Wang Shuanzhu will do! Tell Hu Zi, Da Zhao, and Third Master to prepare the Japanese soldiers' clothes. We're going this afternoon!" Zhao Mancang decided immediately after hearing their report.

"Huh? I have to wear that leather outfit again?" Li Dadi's face immediately fell. Ever since he paraded around in Japanese clothes last time, he didn't want to look at that thing again. He felt uncomfortable with the way the people looked at him!

"Do you think traitors would obediently hand over the grain if they didn't wear that leather uniform? What are you thinking?" Dog Hair mocked from the side.

"No, that thing looks disgusting..."

"Come on! This is fighting the Japanese and picking on traitors. What's wrong with being disgusted for a while?"

"Haha, just wear it when you enter the village to get the food, and take it off when you leave. Just bear with it! When we become strong, we won't have to dress up as Japanese soldiers all the time!" Zhao Mancang understood. If someone doesn't like you on campus, they won't even sit in the seat you've sat in, let alone wear your clothes!

After lunch, the six men packed up, hitched up their donkey carts, and left the village. Once outside the valley, they changed into Japanese soldiers' uniforms, shouldered their guns, and headed towards Xiaowangzhuang. Along the way, they rarely saw anyone out and about; when they did see some elderly people, they kept their distance.

Upon entering Xiaowangzhuang, they headed straight for the largest courtyard. The servants at the gate, seeing them heading towards Wang Shuanzhu's courtyard, went inside early to inform the owner.

"Hahaha, gentlemen, you must be tired from your journey! It is an honor to have you grace my humble abode with your presence! Please come in!" An elderly man in his sixties, dressed in a luxurious long robe and short jacket, came out to greet them.