Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Judging from this, the speed at which they're forming the team is a bit too fast," Fang Ligong frowned.

"They are very popular with the people, so they are willing to join them, and their ranks grow quickly. This is why that person has always been wary of them," Commander Zhang remarked.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Chu Yunfei was also chatting with Li Yunlong.

"Brother Yunlong, the speed at which your team has developed is indeed very fast. You've grown so much in such a short time," Chu Yunfei said with a hint of admiration.

I remember when I first met Li Yunlong, his new regiment only had three thousand men. Now, in the blink of an eye, Li Yunlong's troops have almost doubled in size.

Although the 358th Regiment had a significantly larger number of members, it was still far inferior to the New 1st Regiment, and the difference in firepower between the two was also considerable.

"Brother Yunfei, your 358th Regiment is not bad either, it's just a pity..." Li Yunlong shook his head after saying that and did not continue.

"What's a pity?! Brother Yunlong, you might as well speak your mind." Chu Yunfei frowned; Li Yunlong had actually become serious.

"It's a pity that Yunfei has made so many contributions and killed so many Japanese soldiers, but he hasn't been promoted. He's been resented by those above him," Li Yunlong said.

"Brother Yunlong, you jest. We are all soldiers. We should be thinking about killing the enemy and serving our country, not about getting promoted and making money," Chu Yunfei replied. Li Yunlong was actually trying to sow discord between him and Chu Yunlong.

"That's true, but merit should be rewarded, not suppressed and ignored. Wouldn't that discourage people from contributing?"
Brother Yunfei, you are a man of noble character and integrity, naturally indifferent to promotion and wealth. But what about your men?! They risked their lives fighting the Japanese!
"As a result, they still couldn't get promoted. Do you really think they weren't upset at all?!" Li Yunlong retorted.

Chu Yunfei didn't care about promotions, but what about the officers below him?! Didn't those battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders want to advance further?!

"Brother Yunlong, you're overthinking it. The officers of the 358th Regiment are all wholeheartedly dedicated to protecting our country!" Chu Yunfei said, though he himself didn't quite believe it.

"Brother Yunfei, I feel sorry for you. You've made so many contributions and killed so many Japanese soldiers."
"Anyone else would probably be a division commander by now, but you're still a regimental commander. To be honest, your superiors are utterly despicable." Li Yunlong said, feigning concern for Chu Yunfei.

"Brother Yunlong, I don't quite agree with what you're saying. You say I didn't get promoted despite making contributions, but what about you?! Didn't you also make a lot of contributions? Your contributions are much greater than mine, yet you're still just a junior regimental commander," Chu Yunfei retorted.

Li Yunlong killed far more Japanese soldiers than the 358th Regiment, yet the enemy was also a regimental commander.

“My promotion is a matter for the future, not now. But what about you?! Do you even have a chance for promotion?! You’ve offended both sides, so your chances are practically nonexistent,” Li Yunlong calmly replied.

He knew Chu Yunfei would ask that question, so he had already thought about what to say. Besides, what he said was true. He would have plenty of opportunities after his promotion; it just wasn't the right time yet.

But what about Chu Yunfei?! He's suspected by Commander Yan, and by that other person. To put it bluntly, he basically has no chance of being promoted. Unless one day there's really no one left in the Nationalist army and that person remembers Chu Yunfei, it will probably be very difficult for Chu Yunfei to get promoted.

Chu Yunfei fell silent. What Li Yunlong said made sense. Although Commander Zhang said that he would apply to the Commander for a promotion after this battle, the final decision was still made by the Commander.

Especially after he learned the reason why he couldn't be promoted, he lost hope.

"Brother Yunlong, what exactly are you trying to say?!" Chu Yunfei frowned, clearly somewhat displeased.

"Brother Yunfei, why don't you come work for us? Although I, Li Yunlong, can't guarantee you a direct promotion, your position won't be lower than mine."

Moreover, there will definitely be opportunities for promotion in the future, far greater than your opportunities in the Jin-Sui Army! Li Yunlong revealed his purpose, wanting to win over Chu Yunfei.

"Please don't say such things again, Brother Yunlong, just like you wouldn't come to the Jin-Sui Army!" Chu Yunfei answered almost without hesitation, which surprised Li Yunlong.

"Alright, anyway, I'll say it again: if Brother Yunfei changes his mind, he can contact me anytime." Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong knew that Chu Yunfei would never join them.

"There will never be a day when I change my mind." Chu Yunfei stated his position definitively.

"Brother Yunlong, do you know the specific plans Mu Jin has made?!" Chu Yunfei changed the subject appropriately, not wanting to continue on this topic.

Otherwise, it will likely affect the cooperation between the two parties later.

"I'm not clear about the specific plan; we'll have to wait for Mu Jin to arrive," Li Yunlong said. In reality, they knew the general outline of Li Jin's plan, but they lied to avoid upsetting Chu Yunfei.

"Haha, it seems we're about the same, but I'm in a better position. Mu Jin was going to tell me about the plan before, but I didn't listen. I thought we'd find out together later," Chu Yunfei said with a smile.

"Is that so?! Actually, we trust Mu Jin quite a bit. After all, we've cooperated many times and understand each other."
"So even if we didn't know the plan, we would still come, because Mu Jin would never harm us." Li Yunlong retorted, not to be outdone.

Since Chu Yunfei wanted to show off this, then don't blame him. If it weren't inappropriate to reveal Li Jin's identity, he would have said it out loud.

"Judging from this, Mu Jin has indeed become quite familiar with you. In fact, I've been wondering if Mu Jin has joined you!" Chu Yunfei's expression suddenly turned serious as he spoke.

"I would like to have Mu Jin join us, but you've met him before and know he doesn't like being controlled, so the matter was dropped. However, he seems to like us quite a bit."
"Maybe one day he'll join us." Li Yunlong suppressed a laugh and talked nonsense with a straight face.

“Indeed, we also tried to win him over, offering him high-ranking positions and generous salaries, but he refused them all,” Chu Yunfei said.

Actually, he was quite worried that Mu Jin would join Li Yunlong, which would greatly increase the strength of that side.

With such a powerful fighting force around, Li Yunlong and his men can fight with complete freedom and peace of mind against the enemy.

"What conditions did you offer?!" Kong Jie asked curiously, as he was unaware of the details and wanted to know what was going on.

"Let Mu Jinlai serve as the commander of the Jin-Sui Army!" Chu Yunfei said slowly.

"What?! The position of army commander?! You guys are really willing to offer such high terms!" Kong Jie was also somewhat surprised upon hearing this. He had expected that the terms offered to Li Jin by the Jin-Sui Army would not be low, but he did not expect them to be this high.

That's the position of army commander, a truly high-ranking military officer. And with Li Jin's abilities, he'll probably be promoted even faster after making meritorious contributions.

Most importantly, Li Jin is still so young, his future is truly limitless.

"Yes, those are very high conditions. I never even thought about when I could be promoted to the position of army commander. Mu Jin could have easily gotten the position if he had just come. With such a great temptation, Mu Jin actually chose to refuse without hesitation." Chu Yunfei sighed. To be honest, without Mu Jin, he would not have been able to make so many contributions.

"This shows that Mu Jin is someone who doesn't care about these things. He only cares about fighting the Japanese. As for other things, he probably won't consider them until the Japanese are driven out." Li Yunlong looked admiring.

He really couldn't hold back his laughter any longer, but if he laughed out loud now, Chu Yunfei would probably notice something was wrong, and the other party wasn't stupid.

"I wonder when the Japanese will be driven out. It's still a long way off." Chu Yunfei shook his head helplessly.

To be honest, many high-ranking officers within the National Revolutionary Army were considering negotiating peace with the Japanese.

If this battle yields significant results, it will increase the people's hope and encourage them to fight more actively, making it easier to defeat the Japanese.

"Brother Yunfei, don't worry, that day will come soon. Compared to us, the Japanese are even more eager to end this battle."
Therefore, at times like these, we must be even more resolute in our stance and absolutely must not entertain the idea of ​​negotiating peace with the Japanese.

You've probably read the book "On Protracted War." If we drag it out long enough, the Japanese will collapse on their own, and in the end, we will be the ones to win!

The Japanese are aware of this, which is why they keep putting pressure on us! We have to withstand that pressure! Li Yunlong continued.

That book on protracted war took them a long time to write, and most of what they wrote is correct.

The fact that the Japanese are constantly transporting new recruits to China already indicates a problem. Furthermore, the Japanese logistics are also experiencing some issues. For example, the canned beef that the Japanese are so proud of actually has a significantly reduced meat content and doesn't taste as good as it used to.

This shows that the Japanese were under a lot of pressure, so they could only reduce their burden by cutting corners.

The further they go, the less the Japanese will be able to hold out, and victory will ultimately belong to them.

"I have indeed read the book that Brother Yunlong mentioned. What is written in it makes a lot of sense, and the behavior of the Japanese soldiers corresponds to what is written in the book," Chu Yunfei said earnestly.

He had certainly read it; not only him, but many officers had read it as well. The book wasn't distributed in secret; many people saw it. The purpose was to give the people confidence in defeating the Japanese invaders.

Perhaps the Japanese could have obtained it, but they couldn't do anything about it because what the book said was true: they simply couldn't afford to drag it out. The battle lines were getting longer and longer, and the logistical pressure was also increasing.

If it drags on for too long, Japan, being such a small country, simply cannot sustain such a huge expenditure.

"Then don't think too much about it, just wait quietly! This battle can't be rushed. After all, the Japanese are an industrialized country, they won't collapse so quickly." Li Yunlong laughed, he was still very confident that they would win!

“Brother Yunlong is right. Brother Yunlong, I think you should come to the Jin-Sui Army. Our division commander values ​​you quite a bit,” Chu Yunfei said.

The more he talked with Li Yunlong, the more he felt that Li Yunlong was a true confidant, and that it would be a good thing to work together.

"Brother Yunfei, I'll say it again: I'm not going, no matter the conditions! If I go, I'm not Li Yunlong!" Li Yunlong said earnestly.

He remained steadfast in his conviction that no matter what conditions the Jin-Sui Army offered, he would not go.

"Haha, Brother Yunlong is right. I hope we don't really become rivals in the future, otherwise, I won't hold back!" Chu Yunfei laughed twice and said.

“I’ll say the same to you!” Li Yunlong said with a smile.

"It is truly an honor for Yunfei to have a friend like Brother Yunlong. It's just a pity that we met a little too late," Chu Yunfei sighed, then shook his head, as if he regretted not meeting him sooner.

“It’s not late at all. Let’s have a couple of drinks together sometime,” Li Yunlong replied.

Just as the two wanted to continue their conversation, soldiers from the 358th Regiment came over and called Chu Yunfei away.

"Definitely!" Chu Yunfei nodded. Just as the two were about to continue their conversation, a soldier from the 358th Regiment came over and informed him that his division commander was looking for him.

"Brother Yunlong, then I won't chat with you any longer. We can talk again next time." Chu Yunfei turned and left.

"This Chu Yunfei is quite a man of character," Kong Jie commented at this moment.

From their conversation, Kong Jie could also sense that Chu Yunfei was actually a pretty good person.

"Indeed, despite Commander Li's detailed explanation of the pros and cons and attempts to win him over, he refused without hesitation, firmly upholding his stance."

"People like him are indeed rare," Li Wenying said, adding that he also held Chu Yunfei in high regard.

Frankly speaking, if it were someone else, even if they refused to be courted, they probably wouldn't have made such a definitive statement, unlike Chu Yunfei. This also shows that Chu Yunfei most likely wouldn't choose to side with them.

"I told you Chu Yunfei was alright, but unfortunately, we're not on the same wavelength. He insists on staying on a leaky ship!" Li Yunlong shook his head. A leaky ship will sink sooner or later!
"Old Li, I didn't expect you to refuse so readily! I thought you were going to negotiate some terms with them," Kong Jie said half-jokingly, but in reality, he was praising Li Yunlong.

"Damn it, do you think I'm that kind of person?" Li Yunlong rolled his eyes and said irritably.

“If you say it’s not, then it’s not,” Kong Jie replied.

"However, the Jin-Sui Army's level of attention to Li Jin is truly extraordinary; they've even offered him the condition of becoming an army commander!" Kong Jie added before Li Yunlong could reply.

No matter what, he was still a division commander, and with Li Jin's abilities, he was a division commander with real power.

Having real power and not having real power are two different things, so these conditions are indeed very high.

(End of this chapter)