Chapter 8: An Unexpected Gain, Kong Jie’s Belated Arrival

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Artifacts? This was something Li Yunlong had not anticipated. It turned out that after the Japanese invaders occupied Taiyuan, they had looted and plundered these cultural relics. Among them were numerous ceramics, classical books, bronze tripods... All carefully packed into boxes with meticulous protective measures. Li Yunlong never expected the enemy to transport them in such a manner.

During the War of Resistance against Japan, the invaders plundered approximately two million historical artifacts from China, including over 100,000 national treasures. Besides rampant looting, the Japanese army destroyed 741 cultural sites and burned three million volumes of books. The Tokyo Museum alone housed more than 90,000 precious Chinese artifacts.

When Li Yunlong first learned of this, he felt a mix of rage, sorrow, and helplessness. Being backward means suffering defeat—that was an eternal truth. The relics before him were but a drop in the ocean. This time, he vowed to do everything in his power to change this situation, to reclaim the stolen artifacts and make these thieves pay. The Japanese were the first target, and the Western powers like the Americans would be pursued one by one.

At that moment, Shen Quan asked with a puzzled look, "Commander, how did the enemy pack these items so well?"

Snapped back to reality, Li Yunlong sighed and replied, "Because these are our cultural relics!"

"Everyone, be careful not to damage anything."

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers responded in unison.

Li Yunlong then proceeded to inspect the other two trucks. Two of the trucks carried cultural relics, while only one held some ammunition, shells, and food supplies—a truly unexpected gain.

"Zhuzi, these shells are yours now~"

Wang Chengzhu, hearing the word "shells," dashed over excitedly. Previously, they had captured a mortar but had run out of shells. Now, finally, they had some ammunition. Upon inspection, the shells were for 60mm mortars: five crates, each containing twelve shells, totaling sixty rounds. This delighted Wang Chengzhu immensely.

"We struck it rich, hahaha..."

"Come on, help me carry these!" Li Yunlong shook his head but understood their joy—poverty was truly frightening! Having artillerymen serve as infantry was a waste of talent. These shells would suffice for a while.

Besides the shells, there were ten large iron boxes filled with bullets—6.5mm rounds. Each box contained ninety-six paper cartridges, each holding fifteen rounds.

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Altogether, there were over fourteen thousand rounds of ammunition here. Adding the munitions seized from the Japanese and puppet troops, this haul was quite abundant. The amount captured exceeded what had been expended—a good outcome. Most importantly, they had annihilated a Japanese squad, and the soldiers had grown stronger through the fires of battle.

At present, the precise casualties were still unknown.

After a short while, Shen Quan reported, "Commander, casualty count: 62 total. 19 killed, 4 seriously wounded, 39 lightly wounded. Most of the injured are new recruits."

Li Yunlong's expression darkened. He hadn't expected to lose nineteen men under these circumstances, a testament to the enemy’s marksmanship.

"The losses are considerable."

"This group of devils fights fiercely. Everyone must learn from this, especially the new soldiers."

"Yes, sir!" Shen Quan responded firmly. From his perspective, to have destroyed a Japanese squad and many puppet soldiers with relatively low losses was a great victory.

Soon after, Li Yunlong led his men to transport all the relics and spoils away. After draining the fuel from the trucks, they destroyed the vehicles. They also stripped the enemy and puppet soldiers nearly bare, leaving not a scrap of supplies for the Japanese. There was no choice; the troops were desperately short on everything.

Just as Li Yunlong had barely departed, they heard the sounds of battle erupting nearby, prompting them to hasten their retreat.

...

Elsewhere, a few kilometers from Jingxing Ridge, Kong Jie, after receiving permission from the brigade headquarters, hurried to ambush the same Japanese transport convoy but positioned his forces further back. This gave Li Yunlong a chance to intercept the spoils first.

Hearing the fierce fighting ahead, Kong Jie sensed trouble and rushed forward with his men. Unexpectedly, they encountered fleeing puppet troops, resulting in a sudden engagement. Facing these frightened puppet soldiers, the Independent Regiment won decisively.

Upon investigation, Kong Jie realized someone had stolen his thunder. However, since the puppet soldiers were unaware it was the New First Regiment attacking them, Kong Jie had no way of knowing who had outmaneuvered him. He quickly dispatched a battalion to find out.

When Kong Jie arrived, he was dumbfounded. Both the Japanese and puppet troops were nearly stripped down to their underwear. This was... excessively ruthless!

Looking at the scene, Kong Jie sensed a familiar style. Was this the work of a brother unit? Which one, though? He pondered deeply but could not recall any nearby allied units.

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"Damn it! Not a single hair left—this is excessive!" Kong Jie looked helplessly at the empty trucks.

At that moment, a soldier ran up to report, "Commander, not good! Enemy reinforcements of about a hundred soldiers are approaching."

"Damn it!" Kong Jie sighed, "We missed the fish and stirred up a hornet’s nest."

"Order the troops to withdraw!"

"Yes, sir!"

Since the transport convoy had been robbed, it was pointless to continue fighting the enemy. Fortunately, they had not come away empty-handed—capturing many puppet soldiers and seizing some firearms and weapons offered a small consolation. Still, the effort was disproportionate to the gains, leaving Kong Jie unsatisfied.

"I want to see who stole my thunder!"

He immediately arranged for reconnaissance.

...

Meanwhile, Li Yunlong, hearing the battle behind them, muttered to himself, Could someone else be eyeing this convoy too? But right now, there was no time to worry about that. Retreat was the priority.

As Li Yunlong withdrew, a system notification finally sounded:

[Ding! Congratulations, your military strength has increased to two platoons. Rewards are being distributed...]

[Ding! Rewards have been delivered to the system storage. Please check.]

Li Yunlong hurriedly checked the storage. This reward was different from before. It included one platoon’s worth of Type 24 rifles, 6,000 rounds of 7.92mm pointed Mauser ammunition, and a batch of medical supplies.

The Type 24 rifle was China’s version of the standard German Mauser, chambered for the 7.92mm pointed Mauser cartridge. It was shorter and more portable than the original, making it easier to carry and use, but with an extended bayonet to hold its own in close combat. This was a weapon with relatively easy ammunition resupply.

The system’s rewards were quite thoughtful.

The medical supplies came just in time. Many soldiers were wounded—not severely, but without treatment, infections could worsen. Medical standards were still backward, and the army’s medical support was even more lacking.

Back at the base, Li Yunlong promptly distributed part of the medical supplies to treat the injured soldiers.

While he was tending to the wounded, he was taken aback by the person attending to them.

How did she get here?