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

Chapter 128 A small lathe may not be available in exchange.
Seeing this, Zhang Wanhe couldn't help but speak up: "Li Yunlong, aren't you going to go back and tell your division commander in advance?"

"What's there to talk about? You guys just need to communicate with him," Li Yunlong said with a smile, then added seriously, "Since I introduced this business to your logistics department, shouldn't you give me a little something in return?"

“Li Yunlong, you asked us to communicate with your division commander, which means the logistics department is bearing all the risks and pressure. How dare you ask for benefits?” Zhang Wanhe glared at him. You don’t have to take any responsibility, yet you want a thank-you gift. Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?

"Old Zhang, you're wrong about that!" Li Yunlong said seriously. "When I introduce business to you, it's like I'm playing matchmaker. If the matchmaking is successful, shouldn't you give the matchmaker a gift?"

"It hasn't been successful yet..." Zhang Wanhe didn't finish his sentence.

Li Muzhi interrupted with a smile: "Commander Li, just say it, what do you want?"

"I heard your arsenal has made some new hand grenades. Kong Erlengzi used them and said they were good. I don't need many. Give me fifty boxes of these hand grenades!" Li Yunlong said with a grin.

Don't be fooled by how well Old Li is doing on the front lines.

The commotion behind the arsenal couldn't escape Old Li's notice.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanhe immediately started cursing: "Li Datou, you're asking for way too much. You can't even be so open to asking for fifty boxes of grenades? Why don't you just say you want five hundred boxes?"

"If you, Old Zhang, give me five hundred boxes, that'll do too," Li Yunlong said shamelessly.

"Go away, I'll only give you five boxes, that's all," Zhang Wanhe waved his hand.

"Brother Li, what do you think?" Li Yunlong turned to look at Li Muzhi.

“I’ll add five more boxes for you, to make it a round number,” Li Muzhi said.

"Alright, I'll take the loss. Ten boxes it is." Li Yunlong nodded.

If you ask the division commander to sell the hell cannon he has, the division commander will definitely curse you out.

If the division commander scolds the brigade commander, then the brigade commander has to scold us.

These ten boxes of grenades are our compensation for our emotional distress.

It is a bit too little.

But it's okay.

We've got the locomotive. While the arsenal is in a good mood, let's ask for a few more. It shouldn't be a problem.

"Gentlemen, give me these grenades now, I'll take them back with me, along with the artillery shells." After bragging a few more times to the logistics department, Comrade Li was ready to head back.

"Commander Li, make sure you check the quantity carefully. If the quantity is wrong after you leave, I won't be responsible." Zhang Wanhe said solemnly after handing the grenades and shells to Li Yunlong.

Li Yunlong had the people count the items three times to make sure there were no problems. He then said to Zhang Wanhe, "If it's Brother Li giving me something, I don't need to count it; I trust him. But if it's you giving me something, I have to count it three times!"

"Go, go, go." Zhang Wanhe waved his hand. "Go on your own, I won't see you off."

“I don’t need you to deliver it.” Li Yunlong handed Zhang Wanhe a message, then looked at Li Muzhi, “Brother Li, wait for my good news, the locomotive will be delivered to you soon.”

"Alright, Commander Li, I'll be waiting." Li Muzhi smiled as he saw Li Yunlong off.

As soon as Li Yunlong left, Zhang Wanhe immediately turned to Li Muzhi and asked, "I'm afraid Commander Yan might not agree to exchange these small lathes with us, right?"

If the Taiyuan Arsenal were still under Commander Yan's control, then there would be no question.

With such a large and powerful family, replacing a few small lathes was nothing to Commander Yan.

But with the Taiyuan Arsenal lost, Commander Yan's vast fortune was reduced to a pittance, and he became stingy.

“I’ll write the report first, and you can submit it to headquarters,” Li Muzhi said. “I believe that when the Hell Cannon roars on the battlefield again, Commander Yan will give it serious consideration.”

The fact that Li Yunlong and his men were able to seize the Japanese train with their hell cannons must have been a huge shock to Commander Yan.

"Okay, then hurry up and write it."

"Ok."

……

386th Brigade Headquarters

"Brigade Commander, we have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" The deputy brigade commander walked up to the brigade commander, looking both happy and helpless.

"Let's hear the good news first," the brigade commander said.

"The good news is that I've caught Kameda Shigeyoshi, and our veteran comrade has successfully taken his place and gone undercover," the deputy brigade commander replied.

"Was it that smooth?" The brigade commander was surprised; this was indeed good news.

Our veteran comrades were placed near the Japanese train station, where they were able to control intelligence on the Japanese military trains' supply transport. This was of great significance.

"This Kameda Chiyo has a very bad reputation among the Japanese. He doesn't have many friends. He mainly thinks about how to extort money. Those puppet troops and traitors try their best to curry favor with him." The deputy brigade commander laughed. "So, the current infiltration is going very smoothly. As long as we can get information about Kameda Chiyo's life from him as soon as possible, our veteran comrades' long-term infiltration should not be a problem."

Fortunately, Kameda had a bad reputation among the Japanese and didn't have many friends.

Otherwise, if Kameda were to be surrounded by guests, with people coming to drink and chat with him every day, our old comrade would easily be exposed.

"Yes, if this old comrade manages to go undercover successfully in the future, this will also be a source of funding for us." The brigade commander nodded.

We need to have intelligence on the Japanese military train's transport.

But funding cannot be neglected.

When the time comes, the old comrade will use Kameda's status as a traitor to obtain money from the Japanese and Chinese, which will be our precious funds.

"What's the bad news?" The brigade commander turned to look at the deputy brigade commander. "It can't be that bastard Kameda Chichiro is up to no good, can it?"

"No, quite the opposite!" The deputy brigade commander shook his head and said, "This Kameda Chiroichi is a coward who is afraid of death. I caught him and brought him back. I didn't even have time to interrogate him. He confessed everything on his own and cooperated very well. He answered all my questions."

"Is this bad news too?" the brigade commander asked suspiciously. This should be good news, right? "Mainly because of the intelligence revealed by Kameda, the Japanese military trains have been transporting mostly routine supplies lately, nothing we particularly want," the deputy brigade commander explained.

What we need most right now is military supplies!

Machine tools, equipment, and large-diameter steel pipes!
Even if all else fails, you Japanese can use refined steel or copper billets, industrial acids, or even oil.

As it turned out, none of these things were there.

It was just some food, bedding, cotton-padded clothes, and other daily necessities.

"This is definitely bad news." Upon hearing this, the brigade commander couldn't help but slam his fist on the table.

I originally thought I could make a fortune by seizing military trains, but it seems I had too high expectations.

After a pause, the brigade commander turned to the deputy brigade commander and said, "Since luck isn't on our side this time, let's pick the most suitable military train for us. Minister Zhang said that we're short of fine rations."

Although Kong Jie was tasked with mining coal at the arsenal, it was Li Muzhi who facilitated this arrangement.

However, Li Muzhi provided the Second New Regiment with very generous food, which was essentially Zhang Wanhe helping to support the Second New Regiment.

Zhang Wanhe had already spoken to the brigade commander several times, saying that the new Second Regiment was eating too much and that the brigade commander should provide some finer rations, otherwise they couldn't afford to feed them.

It seems we should just rob the Japanese of their fine grains.

In war, provisions are also of paramount importance.

As the old saying goes: "An army marches on its stomach."
This speaks to the importance of food!
The Japanese are now stretched too thin, and their food supply is also strained.

Intercepting a trainload of his supplies was still significant.

If things are done well, it might delay the Japanese devils' large-scale mopping-up operation, giving us more time to deal with it.

"Around which day?" the deputy brigade commander asked.

"Let's monitor all the military trains transporting grain these next few days," the brigade commander said. "Once the artillery shells from the arsenal arrive, then we'll..."

Got it!

Before the brigade commander could finish speaking, someone ran up to him and reported: "Reporting to the brigade commander, Commander Li of the Independent Regiment has arrived and brought back shells for the Hell Cannon from the arsenal."

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "The shells arrived so quickly. It seems the arsenal's production efficiency has improved a lot."

The deputy brigade commander laughed and said, "We are all ready for battle, and the division headquarters is also ready to strike the Japanese reinforcements. Everything is ready, we just need the right opportunity. Now that opportunity has arrived, let's choose the train at seven o'clock tonight. When we reach the Zhengtai Railway, it will be dark, and the Japanese planes will not be able to come. We will have a whole night."

"Let's go take a look." The brigade commander was very pleased and immediately stepped out of the brigade headquarters.

Seeing the brigade commander come out, Li Yunlong quickly saluted: "Greetings, Brigade Commander!"

"Li Yunlong, didn't you go off to hang out with the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army? What are you doing sneaking off to the arsenal again?" The brigade commander asked Li Yunlong while looking at the artillery shells Li Yunlong had brought back.

Good heavens, the arsenal has actually delivered all our artillery shells. Their production efficiency is no joke.

"Hehe." Li Yunlong chuckled and said, "I went to Chu Yunfei's place for a banquet and had some good food. I certainly couldn't forget our arsenal director. So, I packed some food for him and sent it over. You get some too, Brigade Commander."

After saying that, Li Yunlong had someone bring out the portion that was packed for the brigade commander.

"Hmm, that's quite rare. It's rare to see someone as filial as Li Yunlong," the brigade commander praised Li Yunlong.

That's right!
Whenever there's something good, Li Muzhi from the arsenal is always the first person we should think of.

Of course, you haven't forgotten your old man. All those times I wiped your butts before weren't for nothing.

"Haha, that's right, I, Li Yunlong, will never forget..." Li Yunlong laughed heartily.

The brigade commander interrupted, pointing suspiciously at the ten boxes of grenades Li Yunlong had brought back: "Why are there ten extra boxes of grenades? When did Old Zhang from the arsenal become so generous?"

The brigade commander could foresee that with so many shells being fired, Old Zhang would definitely be on site.

Given Old Zhang's stingy nature, how could he possibly give him ten more boxes of grenades? There must be a reason behind it.

"Brigade Commander, this is a gift from Brother Li, who was happy to receive food from me." Li Yunlong dared not say that this was compensation for the emotional distress he was getting from selling the Hellfire cannon from the division commander.

"Is that really true?" The brigade commander was skeptical.

The grenade in front of me looks the same as the grenades I used to see.

But after weighing the two in his hand, the brigade commander noticed some differences.

It's possible that this is a newly manufactured grenade from the arsenal.

Kong Jie has already reported to the brigade commander that the newly produced hand grenades from the arsenal are even more powerful than the Japanese melon grenades.

The brigade commander was thinking that once they captured the Japanese locomotive, they would bring over some new hand grenades to take a look.

Now, Li Yunlong has brought ten boxes of hand grenades, saying that Li Muzhi gave them to him because he was in a good mood.

The brigade commander was still not entirely convinced.

Li Muzhi might really be that generous; the brigade commander was willing to believe that he was going to send ten boxes of hand grenades.

But with Lao Zhang present, would this miser be willing to be generous?
He would definitely stop it.

This is a new type of hand grenade; it's not so easy to get one.

In other words, there must be other reasons behind this.

(End of this chapter)