Chapter 49: Li Yunlong, I Congratulate You on Getting Rich

The Brigade Commander?

Never in his wildest dreams did Li Yunlong expect to run into the Brigade Commander here.

At first, he thought he was just seeing things.

As he drew closer and took a proper look, it truly was the Brigade Commander!

This caught him completely off guard.

Especially when he saw the militiamen in the middle of disarming the Brigade Commander.

If they actually managed to disarm him, getting him safely escorted back would be no simple matter.

Li Yunlong broke into a run, combining three steps into two, and rushed forward to take control of the situation. Raising his voice, he called out preemptively, "Brigade Commander! Why didn't you give us a heads-up before coming all this way? Look at this misunderstanding we've stumbled into."

Hearing Li Yunlong's voice, Chen Ming, who was reaching out to take the Brigade Commander's sidearm, froze.

He stopped in his tracks.

Turning his head toward the source of the voice, he saw the regiment commander dashing over. Li Yunlong glared at Chen Ming before snapping a crisp military salute to the Brigade Commander, wearing a wide, ingratiating smile. "Brigade Commander, that's a fine-looking sidearm you've got there!"

As he spoke, he helped the Brigade Commander slide the pistol back into its holster while offering an explanation.

"These militia comrades didn't recognize your esteemed self and ended up offending you. Please be magnanimous and forgive them."

Brigade Commander Chen had not expected Li Yunlong to appear so quickly; it completely caught him off guard.

"Li Yunlong, you rascal, you've really grown bolder, haven't you? You even dare to disarm me!"

Before Li Yunlong could reply, Chen Ming hurriedly chimed in, "Br—Brigade Commander, this has nothing to do with the Regiment Commander! It was my own ignorance, I failed to recognize Mount Tai and offended you. If you want to blame someone, blame me. Please punish me, Brigade Commander."

Li Yunlong glared at the blockhead and jumped in, shouting, "What was that gunfire we heard just a moment ago?"

Chen Ming was momentarily stunned. Faced with Li Yunlong's stern face, he could only snap a salute and answer, "We captured a few suspects, suspected of being Japanese puppet spies who infiltrated the area."

"Then why are you still standing around here like a wooden post?" Li Yunlong barked with strict severity. "Go and sort this out immediately!"

Chen Ming blinked, snapped a crisp, "Yes!" and retreated.

As he walked away, understanding finally dawned on him.

The Regiment Commander was providing cover for him.

The Brigade Commander watched the departing Chen Ming, then turned back to look at Li Yunlong, who was fiercely protecting his subordinates, and praised, "This Chen Ming is not bad!"

Hearing this, Li Yunlong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's all thanks to your magnanimity, Brigade Commander. That's why you're the Brigade Commander."

"Being recognized by you is his good fortune."

Brigade Commander Chen glared at Li Yunlong, his smile fading as he warned, "Don't try to change the subject, you rascal. You think you can just brush off the fact that your men tried to disarm me?"

"Since you're so keen on shielding your subordinates, you'll have to accept my punishment."

Li Yunlong knew the Brigade Commander was just all bark and no bite, so he conveniently filtered out the warning, broke into a wide smile, and made a welcoming gesture.

"Brigade Commander, you've had a long and exhausting journey. What brings you all the way here in person?"

Faced with Li Yunlong's evasive tactics, the Brigade Commander didn't expose him. Walking alongside him, he countered, "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, Regiment Commander Li?"

"It's been several months now, and you haven't even bothered to report on the situation."

"Have you gotten so used to playing local warlord that you forgot your duty?!"

Li Yunlong protested with an aggrieved expression, "Brigade Commander, I am wronged!"

"You know very well we don't have a radio, and the Brigade Headquarters' location is always shifting. I've already reported the regiment's situation to the Deputy Chief of Staff and asked the Headquarters to relay it."

"It's not that I haven't been reporting."

"If we had a radio, I'd report to you every single day, right down to what I ate and how many times I used the latrine!"

"Get lost!" the Brigade Commander scolded with a laugh. "You want to drive me crazy with boredom?"

"A mere regiment wanting its own radio? You've got quite an imagination!"

"Tell me, what's the current situation of the New First Regiment?"

"How is the development coming along?"

Li Yunlong chuckled and gave a brief summary.

"Things are going all right. The whole regiment has about two thousand men, and our weapons and equipment are passable."

"Currently, our area of responsibility covers Heifengling, Huangyadong Town, Tongyu Town, and Matian Town..."

Two thousand men?

That was actually quite decent!

The Brigade Commander inwardly praised.

Realizing that Li Yunlong had glossed over the weapons and equipment with a vague sentence, and recalling the intelligence he had gathered previously, he already had a rough idea in his mind.

After all, for the New First Regiment to capture so many small towns and uproot numerous Japanese-puppet strongpoints and checkpoints, their equipment level couldn't possibly be poor.

Not to mention, scraps of conversation from the locals indicated that artillery had been used during the assaults on those towns.

Was this rascal trying to guard against him taking a cut?!

"Li Yunlong, I heard you casually handed out two platoons' worth of weapons and ammunition to the Xi'er River Militia. Your New First Regiment must be rolling in wealth!"

"Let me congratulate you on getting rich!"

Li Yunlong pulled a long face and argued, "Bah! What getting rich? I just figured they were helping protect the Headquarters' leaders, so I scraped together some weapons and ammo for them."

"Brigade Commander, you know how it is—I have to feed and clothe several thousand mouths..."

"Alright, alright, that's enough~" The Brigade Commander waved a hand to cut him off, giving him a meaningful look. "Stop trying to pull wool over my eyes, you rascal. Do you really take me for a fool who knows nothing?"

"I've heard that during your battle to capture the town, you deployed quite a bit of artillery."

"What, do you think I'm going to rob you of your equipment?"

As if you wouldn't!

Li Yunlong muttered inwardly, then laid the groundwork defensively. "How could that be? You're a man of such high integrity, Brigade Commander, right?"

Knowing Li Yunlong was reminding him of past promises, the Brigade Commander glared at him and said, "Relax, I don't have my eyes on your meager scraps."

Hearing the Brigade Commander's promise, Li Yunlong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

In truth, even if the Brigade Commander hadn't brought it up, Li Yunlong had already intended to allocate a portion of the weapons to support the Brigade Headquarters.

After all, the New First Regiment could now be considered the wealthiest regiment in the entire military without exaggeration.

Using those weapons and equipment to support fraternal units was far better than letting them gather dust in a warehouse.

At that moment, the Brigade Commander continued, "The reason I came this time is to inspect the development of the New First Regiment, especially since you're now tasked with the outer perimeter security of the arsenal."

"There's also the matter of the *Militia Military Training Manual* that the New First Regiment submitted to the Headquarters. What's that about?"

"Who compiled this manual?"

Hearing this, Li Yunlong was slightly startled.

Understanding dawned on him immediately.

It seemed the *Militia Military Training Manual* had already drawn the attention of the Old Chief; otherwise, he wouldn't have sent the Brigade Commander here to inquire about it.

"Well... Brigade Commander, if I told you I wrote it, would you believe me?"

You?

The Brigade Commander paused, looked Li Yunlong up and down, and couldn't help laughing. "Li Yunlong, you really have no shame when it comes to gilding your own lily!"

"Would you even recognize a character if a carrying pole fell flat?"

"Brigade Commander, now you're just looking down on people," Li Yunlong retorted unconvinced. "Back in the day, across ten miles and eight villages, I was a famously handsome and capable young man."

"As long as I, old Li, want to learn something, it's a piece of cake."

"Alright, alright!" The Brigade Commander shook his head with a smile. "Would you die if you didn't brag?"

"A handsome young man across ten miles and eight villages, no less!"

"You're trying to kill me with laughter!"

"I simply can't hold it in... Hahaha..."

Seeing the Brigade Commander's exaggerated amusement, Li Yunlong wore a look of utter helplessness.

"Sigh, why is it that when a man tells the absolute truth, nobody believes him?"

Just as the two of them were bantering, Chen Ming walked over and reported, "Regiment Commander, the interrogation results are in."

...

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