Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"That's true. Their contribution this time is indeed not small." The commander smiled when he heard this. For the troops under him, no reward is better than a commendation from the entire army.

"Speaking of which, this time Li Jin and his men killed a brigade of Japanese soldiers, which was a heavy blow to the Japanese. In addition, the Osaka Division was only good-looking but useless.
I guess the Japanese will definitely mobilize troops again, and by then, it will be quite troublesome." The leader changed the subject and his expression became serious.

"Yes, I just don't know how many people the Japanese will transfer here. In any case, it will not be less than one division. It is not impossible to transfer two divisions here." The political commissar also responded seriously.

Since the Osaka Division does not like fighting, the Japanese commander there is also aware of this, so there is a high probability that the Osaka Division will be transferred away later.

"Yes, indeed. Therefore, we still have to prepare for the worst. We should remind our troops to be on guard and have our intelligence personnel pay close attention to the situation in Taiyuan.
Once the Japanese have deployed their troops, they need to report immediately." The commander nodded and began to deploy in advance.

He would not wait for the Japanese to transfer all their troops before making preparations, as that would mean there would be no time for deployment and something bad would happen.

"Understood. I'll have someone contact the intelligence personnel in a moment, but I'm afraid the news won't come back so quickly.
The Japanese have just suffered heavy losses and are on high alert. It is risky to pass on the news rashly. "The political commissar said hurriedly that their intelligence personnel had finally penetrated the enemy and could not be exposed like this, otherwise the losses would be too great.

"When they pass on the message, they must also pay attention to their own safety. Unless the situation threatens many bases, otherwise, their primary task must be to ensure their own safety." The chief is also aware of this, so he hopes that the intelligence personnel over there will not expose themselves unless it is absolutely necessary.

"Yes." The political commissar responded.

.........

"Hello?! Chief, Chief?!" On the other side, Li Yunlong heard the busy tone coming from the phone and shouted twice unwillingly.

"What's wrong, Lao Li? What did the commander say?!" Deputy Regiment Commander Qian shouted.

"The commander said that there will be commendations to the entire army, but not so soon. Is he planning not to give it?!" Li Yunlong responded somewhat helplessly, and was even more worried that the commendation would grow wings and fly away.

"Don't worry, we have made such a great contribution, how could the leader not reward us?" Chief of Staff Zhong comforted them. It was unreasonable that such a great contribution of blowing up the Japanese airport and annihilating so many Japanese soldiers was not reported or commended.

Although Li Jin was the one who made the greatest contribution in this mission and it was the Special Operations Regiment that killed the most Japanese soldiers, and it is the Special Operations Regiment that should be commended by the entire army, but doesn't the Special Operations Regiment still have to conceal their identities in order to seek greater benefits?

"Captain, you don't have to worry about this at all. The chief is not that kind of person." Li Jin also smiled. How could the chief not give it?

"Forget it, let's not talk about this. Everyone should have a good rest tonight. Tomorrow I will lead the team to escort the supplies and Japanese prisoners to the brigade headquarters." Li Yunlong skipped this topic.

Especially the matter of escorting the Japanese pilots. He would feel uneasy if he didn't escort these Japanese pilots over as soon as possible.

"Yeah." Everyone nodded.

"Old Li, we'll leave first." Zhao Gang and the others got up and left.

The group quickly left the yard, and Li Jin went to his previous residence. As for the soldiers below, their accommodation had already been arranged.

The next morning, Li Yunlong and his men finished their breakfast and came to the warehouse. Zhao Gang had arrived earlier than them and was now asking the soldiers to move supplies out of the warehouse.

"Old Li, you're here." Zhao Gang greeted Li Yunlong and the others after seeing them.

"Old Zhao, these supplies must be counted carefully and don't take too much." Li Yunlong reminded. His heart bled as he watched the soldiers carry out the supplies.

"Don't worry, it will be distributed according to what you said, no more, no less." Zhao Gang was a little helpless. Looking at Li Yunlong's reluctant look, he was convinced. It was obviously a profit, but Li Yunlong made it seem like a huge loss.

"Old Li, why don't we ask the cavalry company to pick out a platoon to use as horse-drawn carriages to transport supplies? This will save a lot of manpower." Zhao Gang couldn't help but suggest, this way they wouldn't need so many people to escort.

"Forget it. I'm afraid the commander will regret it after seeing these horses and then seize them from me. Then I will suffer a great loss." Li Yunlong thought about it and then decisively refused.

"How is that possible? The chief has already agreed to give us these horses, so why would he want them back?" Zhao Gang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In his opinion, the chief would not go back on his word because of these horses.

"That's not necessarily true. Even if the horses are not detained, these good horses might be replaced. No, no." Li Yunlong shook his head repeatedly as he spoke. He didn't want the good war horses to become ordinary war horses, as that would affect their combat effectiveness.

"Okay." After hearing this, Zhao Gang didn't say anything more.

Half an hour later, all the supplies that should be taken to the brigade headquarters had been moved out of the warehouse. At this time, the warehouse looked a lot emptier.

"Do you want us to leave more supplies?!" Li Yunlong couldn't help but say when he saw this. He wanted to leave more supplies.

"No, we have agreed on so much and we cannot go back on our word. Besides, didn't the leader call and tell you not to cause trouble?" Zhao Gang refused decisively.

"Oh...what a pity." Li Yunlong couldn't help but slap his face a few times. Why didn't he say before that he should leave a little more, even 25% would be fine.

Li Yunlong had no choice but to leave the regiment headquarters with so many supplies.

This time when going to the brigade headquarters, Li Yunlong mobilized several hundred people, and specially asked Zhang Dabiao to mobilize a company for escort. With all the members of the Gray Wolf Squad, the escort mission would not be a big problem.

Li Yunlong was riding a horse, and Li Jin and Monk Wei were also riding horses beside Li Yunlong.

"Li Jin, this trip to Yan'an will take at least a month before you can leave and return from there.
You should pay more attention to your words and actions over there, and don't say the wrong thing, and don't be disrespectful, understand?" Li Yunlong couldn't help but remind him again.

Even he didn't have the opportunity to study in Yan'an, which shows that being able to study in Yan'an is something many officers dream of.

"Yeah, I understand." Li Jin nodded. In fact, he was a little nervous. This time, he would have a high probability of seeing that person. Just thinking of that person standing in front of him and calling him "little comrade" made him feel excited.

“When you get there, you must study hard. There are many great teachers there. Of course, maybe you know more. You may not be there to study, but to teach others.” Li Yunlong couldn’t help laughing when he said the latter part.

"It shouldn't be the case. With my ability, how can I be qualified to teach others?" Li Jin thought it was unlikely. There were many people who were more capable than him. He didn't think he had the ability to teach those future elites. "It's hard to say. You can make a lot of useful things. You are also very good at training soldiers and fighting. Among your peers, no one can compare with you. Even those who are older than you may not be able to compare with you." Li Yunlong said with a serious face.

When it comes to commanding troops in battle, there are still many people who are as good as Li Jin, or even better than Li Jin, but if he really wants to find someone as versatile as Li Jin, he really can't think of anyone else who can do it.

Li Jin felt a little embarrassed by being praised.

"Captain Li, no, Captain Li, there are not many people I admire. Besides the captain, you are one of them." Monk Wei also spoke, and he was very serious when he said this.

"Besides me and the captain, who else do you admire?" Li Jin asked with a smile.

"Political Commissar, and Xu Qingfeng, I admire these two people too." Monk Wei thought for a moment and replied.

"What do you admire about the political commissar?!" Li Yunlong was also a little curious and wanted to know what Monk Wei would think of Zhao Gang.

"The commissar's shooting skills are very accurate. I feel that few people can compare with him. I used to think that scholars are weaklings who can't carry anything on their shoulders or lift anything with their hands.

After seeing the political commissar, I realized that I was a little too narrow-minded. There are still some very capable scholars. The political commissar is such a person who is both civil and military. "Monk Wei thought for a while and said slowly.

"Boy, you can use idioms when speaking. It seems you have studied a lot." Li Yunlong said with a smile. Monk Wei used to be illiterate, but after just over a year, he can already use idioms.

"There's no other way. I didn't have the conditions to study before, but now that I have the opportunity to study, I naturally have to study hard. What's more, Captain Li also reminded me to study more and be educated, which will always come in handy in the future." Monk Wei chuckled.

"I'm right. Future development cannot be separated from educated people. If they can't read, they can't even understand the orders from above. How can this work?
You don’t need to be literate to fight, but what if there is no war in the future? !” Li Jin said with a serious face.

"Hey, kid, you're picking on me, right?" When Li Yunlong heard this, he realized that this was directed at him. He was just good at fighting, but he didn't know many words.

"Captain, I'm not saying anything about you. You know as many words as those soldiers, so you can be considered an educated person." Li Jin said against his conscience. In fact, he added another sentence after that: a rough man with some culture.

"That's pretty good. I learned a lot from others in the past. I even worked as a guard for the old leader!

I learned how to fight from my old commanders, as well as other aspects. If we talk about seniority, you are not qualified.
Back then, Blind Cheng from the 772nd Regiment was still a new recruit, and I was already a squad leader.
There is also Kong Jie from the independent regiment and Ding Wei from the 28th regiment, who is just a deputy squad leader. Compared with me, they are all rookies." Li Yunlong couldn't help bragging about the past.

"Yes, the commander is right." Li Jin nodded in response. Li Yunlong was not bragging. When Li Yunlong was seriously injured, a group of leaders went to the hospital to see him.

"Captain, these people have now become regimental-level cadres." Monk Wei had also heard of these people. Basically, their positions were at the same level as Li Yunlong.

"This is nothing. If I hadn't made a mistake when crossing the grassland, and a few more mistakes afterwards, my position as the regiment leader would have gone up and down several times. How could they catch up with me?!" Li Yunlong said with disdain after hearing this.

In his opinion, if he had not made a mistake, Kong Jie and the others would never have been on the same level as him. After all, when he joined the army, he didn't even know where those people were.

"It seems that our leader is still the most capable." Monk Wei said with a smile.

"Needless to say, Monk, you really don't want to lead the troops?! As long as you say you want to go, I will set up a battalion and let you be the battalion commander." Li Yunlong couldn't help but bring up this matter again. To be honest, Monk Wei is quite capable, and it would be a pity if he had to follow him as a guard all the time.

Moreover, Monk Wei had learned a lot of knowledge, so he was qualified to be a battalion commander. The higher-ups required that officers be educated and literate to serve, and Monk Wei fully met the requirements.

Therefore, if Wei Heshang wanted to lead the troops, Li Yunlong would not keep Wei Heshang by his side as a guard. Li Yunlong also had a purpose in going to the brigade headquarters this time, which was to ask the leaders for conscription quotas and set up a battalion. He has not yet decided who to make the battalion commander.

"Captain, forget it. I'll just stay by your side and be a guard." Monk Wei refused with a smile. In his opinion, Li Yunlong had specially invited him to stay, which was a favor to him. He had to take care of himself and protect Li Yunlong, otherwise he would be sorry for Li Yunlong.

"Kid, what's the good of being a guard? Wouldn't it be better to be an officer and lead troops to fight?" Li Yunlong said unhappily.

"Hehe, Captain, I just want to stay with you." Monk Wei smiled naively.

"You kid, you don't have any lofty ambitions." Li Yunlong shook his head helplessly.

.........

The headquarters of the 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

Chu Yunfei was on the playground, watching the soldiers practicing bayonet fighting against scarecrows. The recruits were all very young, mostly around fifteen or sixteen years old, with the fuzz at the corners of their mouths making them look a bit childish.

"Commander, their current training level is already quite high, much more than before," said Fang Ligong on the side.

Ever since he learned that Mu Jin had recruited a lot of soldiers, Chu Yunfei ordered the soldiers of the 358th Regiment to increase their training.

"Well, as for bullets, give them a few more. They should have at least forty rounds a month." Chu Yunfei nodded. If he wanted the soldiers to improve their marksmanship, how could he do that without live-fire training?

"Ah?! Commander, forty rounds of live-ammunition training a month, that's a lot of consumption." Fang Ligong was stunned when he heard that.

There are more than 5,000 people in their regiment. If each person has 40 rounds of ammunition, they will consume 200,000 rounds of ammunition in a month. With their current situation, they cannot afford this level of consumption for long.

"It's okay. I've already applied to the division commander. Just train according to this level. The reason why Mu Jin's soldiers are so accurate in shooting is that they don't care about consumption. They use bullets to improve the accuracy of the soldiers' shooting." Chu Yunfei said.

Although he could not train the soldiers of the 358th Regiment as accurately as the soldiers under Mu Jin, at least they should not be much worse than the new recruits.

(End of this chapter)