The merchant ship Santa Maria of the United States British Tobacco Company is unloading.

Since there was no port for large ships to berth, the whole unloading process could only be divided into two stages, first lifting the cargo on the merchant ship on the small boat, and then transporting it to the dock by the small boat.

In the middle of the morning, the dock in Niutouzui was already full of supplies.

When Huang Baitao came over accompanied by Chen Shizhang, commander of the 40th Division, the entire unloading process was just halfway through.

Looking at the mountains of materials that had been piled up on the dock, Huang Baitao's face flashed a trace of joy that could not be concealed, the current situation of the first army is extremely difficult, food, clothing, and military salaries are all lacking, but the most scarce thing is weapons and equipment, an army, 20,000 people, there are only about 20 Makqin heavy machine guns, which is not as good as a division before the Battle of Songhu.

Walking to the front of the yard, Huang Baitao ordered the accompanying guards to open one of the wooden crates.

The guard pulled out his bayonet and pried open the wooden box in two clicks, and Huang Baitao, Chen Shizhang, and several senior officers of the 40th Division surrounded them one after another, only to see that there were new clusters of heavy machine guns, Type 92 heavy machine guns, and even the oil on the barrel had not been wiped off, obviously just leaving the factory.

Although Huang Baitao doesn't look down on Japanese-made ordnance, but for the current army, this is a much-needed equipment, and at the moment, Huang Baitao doesn't care about oil, dirty hands and dirty military uniforms, so he directly took out the Type 92 heavy machine gun from the box, and the heavy machine gun was held in his hand, which was very textured.

Chen Shizhang and several senior officers of the 40th Division were also excited.

At this time, a middle-aged man wearing a wide-brimmed top hat and a silk robe walked over surrounded by more than a dozen young men in black clothes.

"This must be Mr. Lazy, right?" Huang Baitao put the heavy machine gun back in the box and greeted him

"It's a lazy person down there, and I've seen Huang Junzuo." The lazy man didn't salute either, but just waved at Huang Baitao

Huang Baitao returned the military salute, and said to the lazy man and the military commander agent behind the lazy man: "Brother of the military commander, I have worked hard for you along the way, and on behalf of the more than 18,000 brothers of the 25th Army, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you. ”

"Huang Junzuo, these kind words will be exempted." The lazy man waved his hand and said indifferently, "As for this batch of supplies, I have safely transported them to the ground, and then it will be your first army's business." ”

"Of course." Huang Baitao said loudly, "You still have to say it, you are tired." ”

The lazy man took out a slip from his pocket, handed it to Huang Baitao and said, "Huang Junzuo, here is a list of these supplies, some of the materials have been landed, and the remaining part is still on the Santa Maria, do you need to send someone to count it?" ”

"Hey, there's no need to count, I can trust the military commander." Huang Baitao waved his hand and said generally.

"In that case, then I'll take my leave." The lazy man shook his head, turned around and left, he came to southern Anhui this time, not only the task of escorting supplies, in addition to escorting military supplies, he also had to kill people.

Seeing the lazy man go away with the agents of the military commander, Huang Baitao turned around and asked Chen Shizhang: "Brother Shizhang, how long will it take to return to the city to unload all the supplies on the ship?" ”

Chen Shizhang looked at the small fishing boats going back and forth on the river, frowned, and said, "It is estimated that it will take three or four hours."

"Three or four hours, it has to be past noon, no, it's too long," Huang Baitao said, "We have to speed up."

Although the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army in southern Anhui is still fighting fiercely with little Japan in Chizhou and Tongling, and the gunboats of the small Japanese navy have also rushed to Chizhou Wharf and Tongling Wharf to help, no one dares to guarantee that there will be no small Japanese merchant ships passing here.

Until now, the Southern Anhui Anti-Japanese Salvation Army has not known that this batch of materials has been dropped, and the merchant ship of the American and British Tobacco Company that is sailing to the Tongling Wharf is actually just a fake target, while the Santa Maria, which is really consigning supplies, has already delivered the materials in Niutouzui.

Huang Baitao was not at ease, and asked Chen Shizhang again: "There is nothing abnormal on the side of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army in southern Anhui, right?" ”

"Nope." Chen Shizhang smiled and said, "They are still waiting for another merchant ship of the United States and British Tobacco Company, and how do they know that the St. Mary, which is really consigning supplies, has already been unloaded in Niutouzui?" Hehe, by the time Xu Nineteen and the others reacted, we would have already transported this batch of materials back to Jing County. ”

"Brother Shizhang, don't be careless." Huang Baitao frowned and said, "Xu Shijiu can make the Japanese fear like a tiger, and call him the tiger of southern Anhui, it is by no means without reason, we must pay attention to vigilance." ”

"Rest assured, the military seat must pay attention to the humble position." Chen Shizhang said.

(Dividing Line)

Yan Yi, the temporary headquarters of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army in southern Anhui.

Although the Japanese troops in Chizhou City knew that Haneda had led the main force of the Japanese army in Chizhou to return, they still did not easily go out of the city to pursue, and obviously, they had also seen that the anti-Japanese salvation army in southern Anhui was taking the initiative to retreat

Chizhou failed to succeed in the sneak attack, and Xu Shijiu was somewhat regretful.

However, Xu Shijiu's attention quickly shifted to another matter, and asked Ye Ruxue: "Director Ye, where has the merchant ship of the United States and British Tobacco Company arrived now?" ”

Ye Ruxue said: "I just contacted the Rose of the American and British Tobacco Company, and they seem to be in a little trouble. ”

"Trouble?" Xu Shijiu's heart sank when he heard this, and Gao Shenxing, Niu Sigen, and Shu Tongwen next to him also looked over.

Ye Ruxue said: "The small Japanese warship that followed the Rose and four other gunboats blocked the entrance to Tongling Wharf. ”

"How so?" Gao Shenxing frowned and said, "Since the beginning of this year, Little Japan has obviously converged a lot, why did it suddenly recur again?" Are they not afraid of offending the Yankees and continuing the oil embargo on the Japanese government? ”

In June this year, after Germany declared war on the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union and Japan hastily signed neutral conditions, and little Japan completely lost the northern threat from the Soviet Union, and suddenly became emboldened, and began to continuously squeeze and seize British interests in the Far East.

Shortly thereafter, the United States, which also belonged to the Anglo-Saxon civilization, decisively joined the ranks of sanctions against Japan, announcing an embargo on Japan's most important war resource, oil

Oil can be said to be the blood of industry, once there is no oil, little Japan's chariots, warships, and planes will all lie on their stomachs, and what worries the Japanese government even more is that there are no oil resources found in Japan and all areas controlled by the Japanese army, and the oil reserves in small Japan can only last for six months.

In other words, in six months' time, the Japanese army, navy, and air force will be faced with the dilemma of having no oil available

It was against this background that little Japan made up its mind to go south to Southeast Asia in order to seize Southeast Asia's much-needed war resources such as rubber and oil, but in order to deceive the Americans, until the moment before the attack on Pearl Harbor, little Japan's negotiators were still negotiating with the US government, trying to persuade the US government to lift the oil embargo.

It was precisely for this reason that Gao Shenxing was puzzled by the interception of the merchant ships of the American and British Tobacco Company by the little Japanese navy.

Ye Ruxue said: "The small Japanese navy blocked the entrance to Tongling Wharf, most of them were using the fighting in Tongling County as an excuse, they may not really dare to board the ship to search, I have sent a telegram to the military command Shanghai station, and the military command Shanghai station will come forward to coordinate and ask the concession Ministry of Industry Bureau to come forward to put pressure on the little Japanese envoy in Shanghai." ”