Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

Chapter 465 Chapter 464, Battalion-Level Support Artillery Fire
Li Yuexuan wanted to go out and take a look at the First Battalion, and Minister Zhang would not stop him. Since Li Yuexuan started working at the Arsenal last year, he has only been out once. After the Lijiapo battle, he has been staying in the Arsenal for more than half a year. Therefore, Minister Zhang approved the note very readily and also thoughtfully asked Li Yuexuan to bring the special service team with him to join the special operations team.

"Minister Zhang, I haven't asked about the situation of our first battalion. Are there any 82 mortar artillery over there now?" In Minister Zhang's office, Li Yuexuan took the note and asked for some unknown reason.

"No!" Minister Zhang answered decisively without any hesitation, which showed that he was very familiar with the situation. After saying no, Minister Zhang saw that Li Yuexuan wanted to ask something else, so he said directly: "I won't say much about the training situation of your first battalion. It's all from the training plan you made at the beginning. Just tell me about the equipment you want to know."

"Your First Battalion, now temporarily designated as the First Mobile Battalion directly under the Logistics Department, has a staff of 603 people and is stationed at Nanweiquan in Xijing Town, responsible for the defense of the Sanchakou from the south to Licheng. As for equipment, the original veterans, except for those who served as heavy machine gunners and machine gunners, now use assault rifles. Then, these veterans are scattered among the three companies as company and platoon leaders, team leaders and backbones."

"Under their leadership, the 460 new recruits formed three companies, a guard squad, a direct platoon, a transport platoon, and a heavy machine gun platoon."

"In the beginning, Battalion Commander Zheng Changfeng had been refusing to incorporate heavy machine guns because he was pursuing high mobility, but we overcame him. So now a company is equipped with two Civilian Type 3 heavy machine guns, and the heavy machine gun platoon is equipped with three heavy machine guns. This is the result of everyone's discussion."

"That's the general situation. You'll understand the rest after you get there! For example, the squad's firepower includes a grenade launcher, a Qi Lali light machine gun, and four assault rifles. There will be some differences, and each class may have different specifications, but the standard is this."

"But no matter how you calculate it, this 1st Battalion is indeed the best-equipped battalion in our Eighth Route Army! By the way, what do you want to do by asking about the mortar?" asked Minister Zhang.

"It's like this, Minister Zhang..." Li Yuexuan organized his words and said, "We now have 120 heavy mortars, and as the workers gradually become familiar with the production process, the output is still increasing. This month, about 30 mortars will be off the production line. So, can we transfer two of our newly made 82 mortars to equip this first battalion?"

"In my opinion, the 120mm heavy mortar is a support artillery at the brigade and regiment level, and the 82mm mortar should be a support artillery at the battalion level. Therefore, it is very appropriate to equip a battalion with two 82mm mortars, and we can also use it as a pilot project."

"You mean to equip battalion-level units with 82 mortars?" Minister Zhang looked at Li Yuexuan and smiled, "Little comrade, you have to understand that many basic regiments don't have mortars now!"

"Our team must always develop. Equipping battalion-level units with 82 mortars may seem a bit strange now, but this will be our direction and trend in the future!" In fact, Li Yuexuan really wanted to tell Minister Zhang about the equipment of the later combined battalion, but was afraid of scaring Minister Zhang, so he did not dare to mention it.

"Okay, I'll approve two mortars for you to equip the first battalion!" Minister Zhang thought about it and agreed, then continued: "There must be a pilot unit, and your guerrillas are a special unit. Equipping them with more heavy firepower will not be a problem for other units! Anyway, if I don't equip you now, I'll probably equip you when you return to the Liangjia Village base."

"So, I might as well equip you now, so you don't have to worry about it from morning till night! Well, if you have nothing to do, go ahead. I've approved a seven-day vacation for you. You can go to Xijing Town to see your comrades, or go to the headquarters, or go to the field hospital to see Comrade Xu Hongying. Well, now your guerrillas are a regiment-level unit, and they are half a level higher, so you are also a regiment commander."

"If you want to get married, you can write a report. Your situation is special, so you can get married!" Minister Zhang said with a smile. "Get married?" Li Yuexuan was a little confused when he heard this. Why did they even mention getting married? However, at this time, it was really difficult for the Eighth Route Army to get married, which made it difficult for these comrades.

"Haha, it's normal for a young man full of vigor and vitality to want to get married. It's human nature. Okay, go ahead. You must bring the special service team and the special operations team with you so that everyone can feel at ease." After Minister Zhang finished speaking, he handed a piece of paper he had just written to Li Yuexuan, then waved his hand and let him leave on his own.

Li Yuexuan left Minister Zhang's office with two pieces of paper, and then started to prepare for leaving.

Well, there was nothing to do. It was just a matter of getting up and leaving. All he had to do was take the paper written on it and go to the warehouse to get two 82 mortars and 160 rounds of ammunition. Because the distance was short, Li Yuexuan had to go to the first battalion. The warehouse was very enthusiastic and carried out two brand new mortars, and also arranged four carriages to help transport these things.

So, under the escort of the special forces who had been assembled urgently, four carriages rumbled out of the narrow gap and headed straight for Nanweiquan in Xijing Town in the south.

It was hot in June, not the hottest, but not so cool either, just hovering between hot and not hot. Of course, this was because it was in the mountains, the plains were probably already very hot. But that was not the point, the point was that when Li Yuexuan and his party arrived at Nanweiquan Village, they saw the soldiers working on the training ground that was being built in the threshing ground.

The team stopped by the roadside, and Li Yuexuan watched the soldiers training without any sign of anxiety. And it can be seen at a glance that these soldiers are very good, the camouflage training uniforms are already soaked, highlighting the soldiers' strong muscles and powerful arms.

That’s right, the focus is on camouflage uniforms, mountain camouflage uniforms. I didn’t expect that the first battalion also changed into camouflage uniforms. This is something worthy of praise.

Look at the soldiers' equipment: assault rifles, semi-automatic rifles, grenades, tactical knives... They are exactly the standard for special forces, except that there are fewer pistols.

Therefore, there is still a big difference between merely listening to Minister Zhang’s introduction and seeing the soldiers’ equipment with your own eyes.

"The team is conducting obstacle course training, and this time the focus is on the grenade launcher charge!" On the training ground, an old soldier who looked like a platoon leader shouted loudly.

Then, some soldiers began to cross obstacles and provide various covers for the soldiers carrying the grenade launcher, including putting their backs on high walls, etc., to ensure that the grenade launcher's advance was not affected. This scene reminded Li Yuexuan of the special forces carrying rocket launchers forward. This was learned from experience.

(End of this chapter)