The War of Resistance Against Japan: Starting with a Calm View of Life and Death

Upon hearing Zhou Jindong's shout, Ogawa Kosuke shuddered and quickly led the Japanese soldiers out of the group of porters.

He now admires Zhou Jindong immensely, not only because of Zhou Jindong's ruthless methods, but also because Zhou Jindong's actions are meticulous and thorough.

"Captain Zhou! The warehouse door is open, please give instructions!" Kosuke Ogawa ran up to Zhou Jindong and stood at attention.

"Stop talking nonsense, take your men to open the warehouse door and the ammunition depot over there, and hurry up!" Zhou Jindong shoved aside Fatty Liu who was blocking his way and strode toward the warehouse door.

His leather shoes made a crisp sound on the bluestone slabs, which was particularly jarring in the quiet courtyard.

Fatty Liu stumbled from the shove, but dared not be angry. Instead, he followed with a fawning smile, his fat face beaming: "Commander Zhou, I know this warehouse well! The key is hanging on that sergeant's belt, I'll go get it for you!"

As he spoke, his gaze secretly drifted to the Mauser pistol at Zhou Jindong's waist, and his throat moved.

Zhou Jindong stopped and turned to look at him: "Go, don't try anything funny, or this will be your burial ground."

"No, no! I wouldn't dare even if you gave me ten lives!" Fatty Liu said, bowing and scraping as he ran toward the Japanese sergeant who was already slumped on the ground.

He skillfully rummaged around in the sergeant's waist for a while, and when his fingers touched the holster of the sergeant's pistol, he paused for a moment, and finally only took out a bunch of brass keys, which he handed to Zhou Jindong with both hands.

He wouldn't dare steal a weapon; Zhou Jindong's eyes seemed to see right through him.

Zhou Jindong took the keys and tossed them to Ogawa Kosuke: "Open the door!"

"Hai!" Kosuke Ogawa took the key and led two Japanese soldiers toward the warehouse door.

With a rattling sound of chains, the heavy wooden door was pushed open, and a musty smell mixed with the smell of machine oil, along with the aroma of rice, wafted out.

Those were hundreds of bags of rice and flour piled up in the warehouse, the bags not sealed tightly, revealing the snow-white rice grains inside.

The sight inside the warehouse made everyone gasp.

Rows of wooden shelves were piled high with green ammunition boxes, labeled in Japanese, some of which were marked "Made in Showa 17".

Rice and flour were piled up against the wall, along with boxes of canned beef and compressed biscuits. The beef patterns on the cans gleamed under the kerosene lamp.

There was even a sidecar motorcycle parked at the very back, with several cans of gasoline in the cargo compartment, and the words "military" were clearly visible on the cans.

"My goodness..." Wang Yuan's eyes widened, his mouth almost watering, and he pointed at the pile of canned goods. "Dongzi, this canned beef is good stuff! I've only heard about it from the main force, I've never actually seen it before!"

"My captain, stop looking and get moving!" Zhou Jindong patted Wang Yuan on the shoulder and shouted, "Zhang Fang!"

"Here!" Zhang Fang ran up from behind, gun in hand, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Captain, what are your orders!"

"You and your squad, along with the surrendered brothers, will be in charge of moving ammunition, prioritizing light machine gun bullets and grenade launcher grenades. Remember, each ammunition box needs two people to lift it; don't drop it!"

Zhou Jindong pointed to the pile of ammunition boxes, "Wang Quan, you take the second and third squads to move the grain and canned food, take as much as you can! Use a carrying pole to carry the rice bags, and tie the canned food boxes with rope, so they don't get scattered on the way!"

"Brother Yuan, please bring the villagers from Dongzhai Town to help move the supplies. We probably won't be able to move all of these supplies in one trip!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Yuan immediately agreed and, with a wave of his hand, led more than a hundred villagers from Dongzhai Town to join the team transporting supplies.

"Fatty Liu!" Zhou Jindong turned to look at Fatty Liu, who was staring at the canned food and swallowing hard.

Fatty Liu shuddered in fright and quickly wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth: "Yes, Commander Zhou, what are your orders!"

"Take your men, along with those puppet army cooks who were just drugged, and take all the pots, pans, and leftover liquor from the kitchen. Don't leave a single grain of rice for the Japanese!"

Zhou Jindong squinted his eyes, "Even the iron spoon on the stove was pried off. These are treasures when we go into the mountains."

"Huh? You're even moving the pots?" Fatty Liu was stunned for a moment, looking towards the kitchen. How could he move them?

"Nonsense! What are we going to eat if we go into the mountains? Starve?" Zhou Jindong glared, pulled out his pistol, and patted it in his hand. "Can't move it? If you can't move it, then disassemble it into parts! Pot handles, pot bottom, pot lid—take everything that can be taken apart! If anything is missing, I'll hold you responsible!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Move it! Move it all!" Fatty Liu turned and ran towards the kitchen, kicking the puppet army cooks who had just been woken up as he ran. "Stop playing dead! Get up and get to work! Otherwise, Commander Zhou will cut your heads off and use them as chamber pots!"

The entire Cangshan'ao outpost instantly transformed into a bustling transport site.

Zhou Jindong didn't move anything; he stood in the middle of the courtyard.

At this moment, time is the key to survival for the guerrillas!

"Hurry up! If you can't carry them yourselves, call for help!" Zhou Jindong shouted at a soldier carrying two boxes of artillery shells.

Zhou Jindong walked over, grabbed a corner of the box, and helped him lift it. "Stack the boxes up and carry them with the carrying pole! Two people per group, run!"

The soldier got energized after being scolded. He called over the people next to him, used a carrying pole to hoist the box on, and ran out.

There were two trucks parked in the yard, but Zhou Jindong didn't plan to drive them both away.

Firstly, the target is too large, and secondly, the mountain roads are difficult to travel, so if the truck cannot drive fast, it is easier to be overtaken.

He only allowed Wang Lei to take a few people to unload the tires from the truck and take the spare tire with them—tires are made of rubber, which can be used to make shoe soles or sealing rings, and are a scarce resource in the mountains.

Only one vehicle was left to transport the heaviest shells. The shell boxes were labeled "Type 92 Infantry Shells," and each box contained twenty shells, so heavy that it took four people to lift them.

"Brother Dongzi, this thing is too heavy, even four people can't lift it!" Sun Erniu was carrying a box of Type 92 infantry shells, his face was flushed, the veins on his neck were bulging, and sweat was running down his cheeks and down his neck, soaking his collar.

"We have to lift it, no matter how hard it is! This thing can kill the Japanese, so what if it's a little heavy!" Zhou Jindong walked over, grabbed one corner of the box, and helped Sun Erniu lift it up.

His old military uniform sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms, still covered in dust from moving things. "Let's go! I'll lead the way!"

When Zhou Jindong personally took to the field, the soldiers' morale was instantly ignited.

The surrendered puppet troops, who had initially harbored some complaints, dared not slack off anymore when they saw Zhou Jindong working up a sweat, and gritted their teeth as they carried the loads out.

One of the puppet soldiers muttered to himself, "This Captain Zhou is even more ruthless than the Japanese officers. He's ruthless not only to the enemy but also to himself. But if we follow him, we might actually survive."