Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 122 Give Me a Little Sunshine and You'll Shine!
On the way back.

The brigade commander asked Li Yunlong, "Li Yunlong, I heard from Gao Liujin that when you attacked the ironworks, Gao Liujin fired two of your assault shells. What happened?"

If Gao Liujin hadn't fired those two shots, I could have gotten 80% of the ironworks' share.

How could you be so careless and make such a basic mistake?

Upon hearing what the brigade commander said, Li Yunlong immediately slapped his forehead: "Hey, brigade commander, why didn't you remind me sooner? That kid Gao Liujin used two of my assault shells and I forgot to ask him for them back."

We were so focused on the equipment that was missing parts that we overlooked this detail.

Damn it, Gao Liujin didn't even mention it himself, thinking he could renege on his debt.

I'm going to come back to you no matter what.

Ding Wei explained to the brigade commander, "Brigade commander, it's like this: at that time, several hidden bunkers exposed their firepower over the ironworks, suppressing the troops. In order to prevent further casualties, Gao Liujin was ordered to fire two of Li Yunlong's Hellfire cannon shells at the same time. Li Yunlong did this for the greater good, to prevent further casualties."

"If you don't get the shells back, I'll deduct them from your quota." Upon hearing this, the brigade commander didn't say anything more, but still spoke seriously to Li Yunlong.

"Don't worry, Brigade Commander, I guarantee that Gao Liujin won't renege on his debt." Li Yunlong nodded emphatically.

"Where did you steal that batch of large-diameter steel pipe equipment that you handed over to the arsenal?" the brigade commander asked again.

If we can get Li Yunlong to go there and rob it again, then we'll win too easily.

Of course!
There is still one chance.

That's the Japanese army train.

We've already gathered intelligence on this beforehand. If we discover any military trains carrying large-diameter steel pipes, we'll seize the opportunity to strike while the iron is hot.

“Brigade Commander, didn’t I tell you? In Luye.” Li Yunlong replied.

"I know you're talking about Lu Ye, but I'm asking where exactly in Lu Ye?"

“There’s a General’s Temple over in Luye, right next to the main road.” Li Yunlong looked at the brigade commander. “Brigade commander, you’re looking for another chance to rob large-diameter steel pipes from there, right? Luye is a bit far.”

If we seize the Japanese train, the Japanese will definitely mobilize more troops to deal with us.

They might even launch a brutal sweep against the base area immediately.

If we were to launch a long-range attack as far as Luye, the risks would be extremely high.

“Nonsense, of course I know it’s far.” The brigade commander nodded solemnly and said, “Let’s send people over there to do some reconnaissance and search beforehand, to see if we can find any clues.”

"As long as there's a clue, I'll go through fire and water to get you the large-diameter steel pipe!" Li Yunlong immediately declared.

"I don't just want large-diameter steel pipes, I want the equipment to manufacture them!" the brigade commander said solemnly.

Since the Japanese had large-diameter steel pipes being transported, they must have had the equipment to manufacture these things.

Large-diameter steel pipes cannot be obtained by simply seizing them; the real key is to acquire the equipment and be able to manufacture them ourselves.

"Yes, Brigadier."

"You managed to steal equipment from the Japanese, tell me, how exactly did you and Chu Yunfei do it?" The brigade commander was still very curious. Li Yunlong had actually managed to snatch chestnuts from the fire, which involved three Japanese regiments.

"Brigade Commander, what's so difficult about this..." Li Yunlong began to boast about his glorious deeds.

"Well, you've gotten too big for your britches, aren't you? You can even command Chu Yunfei now." The brigade commander scolded, "Since you're so awesome, I'll give you another mission."

"What mission?"

“This time when we attack the Zhengtai line, the Japanese will definitely send a lot of reinforcements again. You kid, think of a way to get Chu Yunfei out there to keep the Japanese reinforcements occupied,” the brigade commander said. “If you can do that, then I won’t hold it against you for skipping out this time.”

Chu Yunfei's Jin-Sui Army has 5,000 men. If they can help hold back the Japanese reinforcements, that would be excellent.

"Hahaha." Li Yunlong laughed heartily, patting his chest: "No problem, Brigade Commander. It's just a matter of letting Chu Yunfei cause trouble. It's a piece of cake. Leave it to me!"

"I still need to make this clear to you beforehand!" the brigade commander said sternly. "How you handle this is none of my business, and I don't want to know. But one thing is for sure: if the Jin-Sui Army loses, I'll be..."

Before the brigade commander could finish speaking, Li Yunlong interrupted him arrogantly: "Brigade commander, don't worry, I guarantee that Chu Yunfei won't lose. Besides, brigade commander, your vision is actually a bit narrow."

"My vision is too narrow, what do you mean?" the brigade commander asked.

"Our operation against the Japanese on the Zhengtai front is causing too much of a stir. If things go wrong, even the Japanese in Taiyuan might come to reinforce us," Li Yunlong said confidently. "So, just getting Chu Yunfei involved isn't enough. We need to get more of the Jin-Sui Army involved, and even our own troops—we need to bring them in too. Let's pull off a real heist..."

The brigade commander was terrified: "Li Yunlong, you son of a bitch, shut up! Just pretend I didn't say anything!"

You're really something else! Give a little sunshine and you'll shine like a bastard!
You brat, dragging Chu Yunfei into this mess! You son of a bitch, always making things this big. I really want to live a few more years.

"Ding Wei, after you go back with Li Yunlong, you'll be stationed at Li Yunlong's regimental headquarters. Keep a close eye on him and don't let Li Yunlong cause me any trouble," the brigade commander solemnly instructed Ding Wei. "Yes, brigade commander!" Ding Wei nodded emphatically.

Ding Wei certainly understood what the brigade commander meant.

With Li Yunlong's actions, the more troops get involved, the less pressure we face from the Japanese reinforcements.

But this matter has gone too far, completely exceeding the brigade commander's capacity to handle.

Sending Ding Wei directly with his troops to the Independent Regiment served two purposes: firstly, to keep an eye on Li Yunlong, and secondly...

Ding Wei understood what the brigade commander meant: if conditions allowed, we would cooperate!
Even if the leader doesn't explicitly state something, we still need to analyze and try to understand their true intentions.

"You've worked hard too, go back and rest. Hurry up and get the troops organized. Once the shells from the arsenal arrive, get to work immediately." The brigade commander told Li Yunlong and Ding Wei to go back and rest.

Although the two of them rescued the prisoners of war in the concentration camp and won over their hearts, the prisoners still needed to be reorganized.

We also need to address their mindset.

The fight against the Japanese invaders was not based on personality cult, but on national righteousness!

"Yes, Brigade Commander." Li Yunlong and Ding Wei saluted the brigade commander and led their troops back.

When the brigade commander returned to the brigade headquarters, the deputy brigade commander immediately asked expectantly, "Brigade commander, is there really an ironworks? How many artillery shells did you exchange with the arsenal?"

"There is an ironworks, but the 120th Division got involved. Now we and they are each getting thirty shells. Whoever can get large-caliber steel pipes ahead of time can get another forty shells," the brigade commander said.

"Getting seventy shells would be pretty good." The deputy brigade commander was very confident that we could get the large-caliber steel pipes.

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Could it be that the Japanese have military trains transporting large-diameter steel pipes?"

"We don't have any intelligence on that yet." The deputy brigade commander shook his head. "Didn't Li Yunlong seize a large-diameter steel pipe once? Let's just do what he did."

The Japanese railway intelligence isn't so easy to obtain; currently, we can only control the departure times of their military trains.

But it's too difficult to know exactly what was loaded on the military train.

The Japanese were too cautious; our undercover agents had no chance to get close to the carriages.

"Let's put aside the matter of seizing the large-diameter steel pipes for now. The most important thing right now is to find out the specific cargo that the Japanese military train is carrying." The brigade commander said seriously, "We can't rely on luck like we're casting a castrator. If we're unlucky and end up with an empty train, wouldn't that be a huge loss?"

"Brigade Commander, I understand what you mean. The main problem is that the Japanese are too secretive about this kind of intelligence. It's going to be difficult in a short time," the deputy brigade commander said with a headache.

"Didn't we also capture two enemy spies? One of them seemed to be working on the Japanese railway, right?" The brigade commander remembered this.

"Brigade Commander, although this person has spoken, he is very cunning. The information he gave is three parts true and seven parts false. We don't have enough time to distinguish them." The deputy brigade commander was even more troubled.

This bastard either won't cooperate, or it'll be easier to just kill him.

Either cooperate obediently to save time.

What's most annoying is this kind of cunning enemy who reveals information that's only 30% true and 70% false. You have to send people to verify it one by one, which wastes time and manpower, and your subordinates are at risk of being exposed.

"Put pressure on him. As long as he's alive, I won't know anything. I refuse to believe that we can't get any valuable clues from him!" The brigade commander gritted his teeth. He also hated such slippery people the most.

"Yes, brigade commander." Hearing the brigade commander say this, the deputy brigade commander felt more confident.

"Have you heard anything from Fujita Ichiji yet?" the brigade commander asked again.

"According to intelligence, the Japanese are mobilizing resources to restore the morale of units like Kuroshima and Morita, while Fujita Ichiji has not made any response so far," the deputy brigade commander replied, then asked suspiciously, "Brigade Commander, what's wrong? Does Fujita Ichiji seem to have angered you?"

The deputy brigade commander sensed something was off when the brigade commander mentioned Fujita Ichiji.

This puzzled the deputy brigade commander.

Before, Commander, weren't you always very happy whenever Fujita Ichiji's stupidity was mentioned?

Why isn't it like that now?
"Li Yunlong successfully swallowed the bait that Fujita Ichiji used to lure us, but that little devil pulled out the key parts beforehand. Can you believe how infuriating that is!" the brigade commander said angrily.

"Is that so?" Upon hearing this, the deputy brigade commander immediately followed up with a curse: "I thought Fujita Ichiji was really that stupid. I didn't expect him to be so cunning. I underestimated him."

Immediately afterward, the deputy brigade commander said, "Should we teach him a lesson?"

They dare to play us for fools? They're asking for it!

"The most important thing is to attack the Zhengtai Railway and seize the Japanese military trains. Let's put that idiot Fujita Ichiji aside for now and just keep an eye on him." The brigade commander said in a calm tone. To be honest, although he had been tricked by Fujita Ichiji, the brigade commander did not take this little Japanese devil seriously at all. He was not worthy of being their opponent.

"Yes, Brigadier."

(End of this chapter)