Chapter 50: The Base Area's Sights Shock the Brigade Commander, You Call This a Few Machine Guns?

"Commander, the interrogation is complete."

"According to the confession of the collaborator, because we previously captured several small towns and numerous checkpoints, we've been targeted by the Japanese 3rd Regiment, whose mission is to gather intelligence."

"They have already learned our military designation, your name, Commander, and some of our outer deployments, and they are currently preparing to scout out the core area of our base."

"There should be more than just this one team, but the collaborator doesn't know the status of the others..."

Li Yunlong nodded slightly. "Alright, I understand. Hand him over to the comrades in the Special Operations Company."

"Also, report to the Special Operations Company, brief them on the situation, and have them conduct a thorough screening."

Chen Ming was momentarily stunned, and then replied with excitement, "Yes!"

In this way, he would become a regular soldier rather than just a militiaman.

For a militiaman, this was both an affirmation and a supreme honor.

Hearing Li Yunlong's arrangements, Commander Chen could not help but wear a look of gratification.

Assigning people on their merits!

This was what a qualified commander should do!

However, thinking about the New 1st Regiment being targeted by a full Japanese regiment, a sense of worry inevitably arose in his heart.

Especially the 3rd Regiment—this was elite Japanese stock.

Back then, this very regiment had relentlessly chased two Central Army divisions, and even the 358th Regiment, the main force of the Shanxi-Sui Army, didn't dare to muster the courage to fight them head-on.

He was well aware of these facts.

Now that they had set their sights on the New 1st Regiment, it was by no means good news.

"Li Yunlong, what are your plans?"

"When the enemy comes, we block them with infantry; when the water rises, we build earthworks to hold it back!" Li Yunlong said with a confident smile. "If those little Japanese devils want to mess with us, they'd better be prepared to have a chunk of meat bitten right off them."

"Our New 1st Regiment isn't made of pushovers either!!!"

"Commander, let's head back to the regimental headquarters first."

Seeing Li Yunlong's confident demeanor, the Commander was startled for a moment, and the worry in his heart seemed to lessen slightly.

He then walked with Li Yunlong toward Black Wind Ridge.

As they entered the core area, the scene before them left the Commander thoroughly shaken.

In village after village, numerous peasants could be seen farming the fields while children played and frolicked—a picture of peace and contentment.

This alone was proof that the safety of the base area was well guaranteed.

At the same time, some people dressed as civilians were undergoing rigorous training.

Some were practicing bayonet drills~

Some were practicing marksmanship~

Some were practicing close-quarters combat~

Some were conducting tactical drills~

Some were...

This sight profoundly shocked the Commander.

Such training was hardly any different from that of regular troops.

"The New 1st Regiment's training really looks the part!"

Li Yunlong smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Commander!"

"I wonder if the Commander has read the Militia Military Training Manual?"

"Their training is conducted based on the contents within it. According to the New 1st Regiment's experience, with rigorous training, a new recruit can master the skills of an ordinary soldier in about half a month."

Hearing this answer, the Commander's heart trembled.

Half a month to let a recruit master a soldier's skills?

That was an astonishingly fast pace!

This made him even more curious about the Militia Military Training Manual.

"Do you have a manual? Let me see if it's truly as miraculous as you say."

Li Yunlong shook his head slightly. "I'll fetch it for you to review and instruct us when we get back to the headquarters."

"I suppose that's the only way!" The Commander nodded, then pointed at the people training and said, "Your regiment's equipment isn't bad at all. Almost everyone has a rifle."

"It's alright!" Li Yunlong replied offhandedly, joking, "I can't very well have them go fight the Japanese holding fire pokers, can I?"

"That would mean we commanders are incompetent."

The Commander glared at Li Yunlong and scolded with a smile, "You rascal, are you cursing the monk by pointing at the bald locust tree?"

"It's not like I don't want to give you weapons, but I don't have any either. You know the situation of our brigade well enough."

"It's hard to manage a poor household~"

"Commander, don't get excited, don't get excited," Li Yunlong appeased him. "I was just speaking off the cuff, no other meaning intended."

The Commander looked slightly embarrassed, but quickly brushed it off.

Because the only difference between the soldiers and ordinary civilians was whether they held a hoe or a firearm, the Commander found himself momentarily unable to tell who was a soldier and who was a civilian.

Along the way to Black Wind Ridge, everything he witnessed filled the Commander with deep satisfaction, prompting him to praise:

"You rascal actually manage the base area quite well, and you get along harmoniously with the people."

"The troops are strictly disciplined and well-trained!"

"Walking all the way here gave me the sense that everyone in this place is a soldier."

"You flatter me, Commander!" Li Yunlong smiled and replied, "We're all just striving to protect our homeland."

Seeing Li Yunlong act so modest made the Commander somewhat unaccustomed to it.

In the past, whenever he gave the slightest opening, this fellow would dye the whole room with his arrogance!

Just as the group was walking up the mountain of Black Wind Ridge, a burst of gunfire rang out, startling his guards and causing them to immediately assume defensive postures.

The Commander was also startled enough by the gunfire to nearly draw his pistol, but seeing how calm Li Yunlong remained, he finally relaxed.

"Li Yunlong, what's with this machine gun firing?"

"It's nothing, relax," Li Yunlong soothed, pondering for a moment before saying, "It's probably the 3rd Battalion conducting training tests."

"We recently captured some machine guns, so we're having them train on them."

The Commander stared at Li Yunlong in utter bewilderment and shock for a long while before asking, "You use live ammunition for training?"

"Mm," Li Yunlong nodded generously.

Seeing Li Yunlong admit it, the Commander's expression turned somewhat ugly, but he didn't throw a fit; he wanted to hear how Li Yunlong would explain himself.

Li Yunlong knew as well as anyone that the troops were short on ammunition.

Naturally noticing the Commander's ugly expression, Li Yunlong explained, "There's really no help for it."

"Our troops lack machine gunners. Consuming some ammunition is far better than being unable to kill the enemy on the battlefield, the losses of which cannot be compared to a little ammunition."

"Because of this, we can only put more effort into training so that the machine guns can unleash their proper firepower."

Hearing this, the Commander's expression improved slightly.

Indeed, that was also true.

"You certainly are well-off, being able to use live ammunition even for training."

"Let's go, show me your training."

Seeing that the Commander was already heading toward the shooting range, Li Yunlong had no choice but to follow.

...

The 3rd Battalion's base.

After passing the assessment, Wang Huaibao was overwhelmingly excited.

"Good job!"

"We can finally requisition another 2 light machine guns and 1 heavy machine gun. That way, our battalion will have a total of 33 machine guns."

"This will narrow the gap between us and the 1st and 2nd Battalions."

Liu Yuan praised, "Well done! Send men to requisition the weapons!"

"Yes!" Wang Huaibao immediately ordered his men to go to the logistics department to collect the weapons.

Through this period of assessment, Wang Huaibao had won the recognition of Li Yunlong and Liu Yuan, officially being confirmed in his position as the commander of the 3rd Battalion.

Subsequently, Wang Huaibao assembled the machine gunner squads of the troops to boost the morale of the soldiers ahead of the upcoming weapon distribution.

"Comrades, although our 3rd Battalion was formed later than the 1st and 2nd Battalions, through our hard work, we are closing the gap with them."

"I believe that one day we will have the strength to stand on equal footing with them!"

"..."

Just as Wang Huaibao was delivering his passionate mobilization speech to boost morale, the Commander, Li Yunlong, and the others arrived at the 3rd Battalion's training ground.

Looking at the neatly arranged light and heavy machine guns before him, the Commander looked in bewilderment at Li Yunlong and asked, "Are these what you called 'some captured machine guns'?"

...

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