CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER: 82 I’M JUST LUCKY

87,562 tons!

The amount increased again!

Uh...

Fortunately, it’s not too bad—less than a 10% increase.

Letting out a long sigh of relief, the Imperial Uncle and the others felt their hearts racing. The impact of this matter was simply too great—so great that he could hardly accept it.

He couldn’t help but swallow nervously. At the same time, he took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

So many military supplies—even Roosevelt had never been so generous.

As for General Jiang and the others beside him, their expressions were even stranger: surprise, joy, excitement... It was hard to imagine a person’s face could be so expressive.

Actually, the others were much the same, though the Imperial Uncle was a bit more composed—just sweating on his forehead and desperately suppressing the urge to laugh out loud.

"Mr. Pierre, you really have a sense of humor."

"Humor?"

Pierre looked at the Imperial Uncle with a half-smile and said seriously,

"Do you think I would joke about something like this?"

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Pierre said,

"This batch of supplies set off from Italy seven days ago. They have already safely passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Atlantic. They will first sail to Havana, Cuba, to refuel and resupply, then head to Panama. If the homeland wants these supplies, my suggestion is to negotiate with the Americans as soon as possible about allowing aid shipments for China to pass through Panama. Of course, there’s also the matter of escorting the shipment afterward."

The Panama Canal was the biggest obstacle for the fleet to enter the Pacific. After all, the canal was currently semi-closed—only ships with U.S. permission could pass through. Although, through Truman’s connections, permission could certainly be obtained, but there was no need to use that relationship.

After all, there were many ways to get through the Panama Canal, and the person in front of him could get it done.

"Of course, of course. I’ll handle these matters as soon as possible. I won’t let Mr. Li down."

At this moment, the Imperial Uncle was extremely humble. After all, in front of a billionaire, a bit of humility was only natural.

However, even so, the Imperial Uncle still asked,

"Mr. Pierre, do you have an inventory list for the supplies?"

Nodding, Pierre instructed his secretary to hand over a document. The Imperial Uncle froze as soon as he opened it.

"This... isn’t in English?"

"Sir, it should be German."

General Jiang leaned over for a look, took the document and began reading. As he scanned the list of supplies, his brows furrowed slightly.

"Mr. Pierre, there are quite a few German vehicles here."

Not just vehicles, but also half-tracks and tanks—none of which could currently be shipped into the country!

"Is there a problem?"

"No, no..."

The Imperial Uncle shook his head repeatedly, quickly shooting General Jiang a look. But Jiang ignored him, pointing at the list and asking,

"This 15.2 cm KH.433/1(r) cannon—what model is it, and where was it made?"

"A cannon."

"And this 12.2 cm Feldhaubitze 396(r)?"

"A cannon."

The simple and direct answers left General Jiang and the others stunned, while the Imperial Uncle chimed in from the side,

"Mr. Li is absolutely right. The model of the cannon doesn’t matter—what matters is that the shells it fires can kill the enemy. Isn’t that so, General Jiang?"

Closing the file, General Jiang ignored the Imperial Uncle and gently pushed the document back, asking quietly,

"Mr. Pierre, there’s something I’m not sure if I should ask."

"Go ahead."

"May I ask, Mr. Pierre, through what channels did you acquire these arms?"

The reason General Jiang asked was that he had never seen many of these weapon models before. If not for the tens of thousands of Kar.98k rifles, he’d have suspected the models were made up.

However, based on the MP717(r) submachine guns and the artillery models, he vaguely guessed that these weapons were likely captured by the Germans from the Russians, since the calibers matched Russian standards.

General Jiang’s question once again focused everyone’s attention on Pierre.

Indeed, who else but an extraordinary person could get their hands on tens of thousands of tons of arms?

With so many weapons, there had to be an explanation for their origin.

"Well, as for that, they’re all..."

Pierre replied calmly,

"I picked them up."

"What?!"

Everyone was shocked. The Imperial Uncle, who had just lit a cigarette, stared at him in disbelief. The cigarette dropped right onto his lap, and he didn’t even notice.

"Picked... picked up..."

He shot to his feet.

"How is that possible?!"

Facing everyone’s questions, Pierre explained,

"Well, I bought a batch of ships..."

...

A moment later, the meeting room once again fell silent. Everyone was left speechless.

Buying ships with complimentary weapons...

Could such a bizarre thing happen in this world?

It was simply absurd!

Looking at...

Pierre—at that moment, everyone had only one thought left in their hearts: This guy is really lucky!

"Mr. Pierre, your luck is truly remarkable!"

As soon as the Imperial Uncle finished speaking, Wang Peiji, who was sitting in the back row, chimed in as well.

"This is also China’s good fortune! Once these arms reach the front lines, they’ll surely kill many Japanese devils!"

"Haha, exactly, exactly!"

The group burst into hearty laughter, as if in that instant, they could already see the scene of these weapons arriving in China and squads of Japanese soldiers falling under the barrage of artillery fire.

Amidst the laughter, the Imperial Uncle asked,

"Mr. Pierre, your generous donation of arms to support the war of resistance will surely be remembered by all your compatriots. However, I wonder if you have any requests?"

This was the crux of the matter. Although he said he was donating, everyone knew this wasn’t just a few thousand or tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of supplies—this was tens of thousands of tons of military materiel!

Now came the real issue.

This Imperial Uncle was indeed a shrewd man.

"Well, I do have a few requests."

Nodding slightly, Pierre replied,

"These supplies will be shipped to India on my vessels. I hope that, before they enter China, my people can oversee them. For this, we’ll need to coordinate a storage area in India."

"That’s only natural. We’ll find a way to arrange it."

"Also, guarding these supplies will require a lot of manpower. I hope to be able to hire a group of staff from China, preferably retired personnel from the Chinese Expeditionary Force in India. After all, these are munitions—someone must watch over them."

"Of course, of course. I’ll have someone arrange it. With so much materiel, we can’t skimp on guards. How about eight hundred? If that’s not enough, let’s make it a thousand."

The Imperial Uncle’s answer made Pierre’s heart skip a beat, and the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile.

Perfect!

He’d secured the manpower!

He’d made some reasonable requests, but surely the real conditions hadn’t been brought up yet? The Imperial Uncle asked,

"Does Mr. Li have any other requests?"

"I’ve recently acquired a company in Britain—the North Borneo Company."

"The North Borneo Company?"

Unlike the others who looked puzzled, the Imperial Uncle, who had frequent dealings with overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, certainly knew about this company. He exclaimed in surprise,

"You bought the North Borneo Company!"

At this moment, his expression was full of astonishment. Others might not know, but how could he not know what the North Borneo Company was? It wasn’t just a company—it was practically a country unto itself!

"That’s right,"

Pierre nodded and said,

"Before World War I, this company signed an immigration agreement with China to develop North Borneo. I hope the Chinese government will continue to recognize the validity of this agreement and allow the company to recruit Chinese laborers from all over the country to develop Borneo."