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

Chapter 18 Li Yunlong Shows Off

They watched as Lao He returned with the workers from the arsenal.

Looking at the guns and ammunition, Zhang Wanhe was very pleased: "Not bad, not bad, there are even two grenade launchers. When I submit my report, even the headquarters leaders will..."

Well, Zhang Wanhe's expression changed before he could finish speaking.

Because he wasn't looking at the Hell Cannon.

Zhang Wanhe immediately questioned Lao He: "Lao He, where's my Hell Cannon? You son of a bitch, did you lose it?!"

Zhang Wanhe was so concerned about the Hell Cannon that he couldn't help but swear.

Making a report at headquarters is not as simple as just submitting the report.

After all, cannons are not conventional weapons. Once headquarters finds out, the top leader will definitely come to see the actual object in person.

If we can't produce the actual items, won't the headquarters leaders misunderstand our logistics?

"Minister Zhang, that Regiment Commander Li is nothing short of a robber and bandit. He forcibly confiscated the cannons and shells." Lao He was very angry. "Minister Zhang, you have to teach this Regiment Commander Li a lesson. If every regiment commander is as lawless as him, just taking whatever he wants from our logistics department, how can our logistics department continue to operate?"

"What?! That bastard Li Yunlong dared to forcibly detain my cannon! Where did he get the guts?!" Zhang Wanhe was furious.

Normally, you, Li Yunlong, would shamelessly ask me for some grenades, or you would steal two hundred sets of my uniforms from the clothing factory. I can overlook these trivial matters.

But this is a cannon!

This is currently the most important artillery piece in our army; you could even say it's the soul of the army! It's a totem!

You, Li Yunlong, have a death wish! Aren't you afraid of my wrath as the logistics minister? Aren't you afraid of the wrath of the headquarters leaders?
Li Muzhi spoke up from the side: "Minister Zhang, please calm down."

Then, Li Muzhi asked Lao He, "Commander Li must have asked you about borrowing the cannons, right?"

Previously, Li Muzhi had heard that when people went to work as laborers for landlords during the busy farming season in the countryside, the landlords should provide tools in advance.

Li Muzhi also intended for Li Yunlong to get the cannon first, so he naturally spoke up for Li Yunlong for the time being.

After all, although Li Yunlong was capable of running a side business, it involved a thousand catties of white sugar. Without the necessary skills, how could he expect someone to take on such a demanding task?

Old He, who was originally furious, immediately changed his expression completely when he spoke to Li Muzhi, and became all smiles: "Factory Director, Li Yunlong did indeed say that he would borrow it for three days, and he will definitely deliver a thousand catties of white sugar within three days."

“Minister Zhang, look, isn’t this it? Commander Li is just borrowing it, and he even said he’d deliver a thousand catties of sugar in three days. Why don’t you give him a chance?” Li Muzhi turned to Zhang Wanhe and said.

“Li Muzhi, do you know how hard it is to get this sugar? Do you really trust Li Yunlong? If this channel is opened, everyone will come to ask for artillery shells in advance like Li Yunlong. How am I supposed to manage logistics?” Zhang Wanhe looked at Li Muzhi. “Besides, artillery shells are precious. What if Li Yunlong runs out of shells and still doesn’t get any sugar?”

“Minister Zhang, it is precisely because sugar is so hard to come by that we should give Commander Li a chance,” Li Muzhi pointed out. “Otherwise, if we build cannons, we will only have eight shells left, which will not be of much use.”

"Forget it, don't worry about this. Now that the workers are back, you should hurry up and finish making the remaining cannons." Zhang Wanhe changed the subject and told Li Muzhi to lead the workers to continue producing cannons.

"Yes, Minister Zhang." Li Muzhi sensed that Minister Zhang should communicate with Li Yunlong's superior.

But it goes without saying what kind of person Li Yunlong's superior was.

After all, the type of superior you have determines the type of subordinates you get.

He stopped worrying about himself and focused on finishing the remaining cannons.

Once all the cannons are made and the raw materials for the shells have been obtained, we can then focus on producing shells at full capacity.

Zhang Wanhe did not immediately return to his logistics office, but went directly to the arsenal's telephone booth, picked up the receiver, shook it a few times, and said into the phone, "Connect me to the 386th Brigade."

……

At the 386th Brigade headquarters, the brigade commander was looking at a map when someone ran over and reported, "Report, intelligence just gathered."

The brigade commander took the intelligence report and glanced at it; his pupils immediately contracted: "Is this intelligence accurate?"

The report stated that the Sunjiabao stronghold had been attacked by heavy artillery from the Independent Regiment!

This puzzled the brigade commander.

Li Yunlong, that kid, has been working his way up from the clothing factory to become the commander of the Independent Regiment for a while now.

But the brigade commander didn't believe Li Yunlong had the ability to acquire heavy artillery!
When Li Yunlong was the commander of the New First Regiment, he only managed to get a few mortars. He didn't even have an infantry gun. How could he possibly get heavy artillery?

"Absolutely true!" The visitor nodded with certainty.

"What a joke! I just don't believe Li Yunlong is that capable." The brigade commander still didn't believe it.

Knowing what kind of person Li Yunlong was, the brigade commander was not taking it lightly and had spies watching the Independent Regiment.

If Li Yunlong were to acquire heavy artillery, the brigade commander would know immediately.

You can't exactly say that Li Yunlong did it behind your eyes, can you?

He didn't know who the informant was.

The deputy brigade commander leaned over and said to the brigade commander with a smile, "That's hard to say. That kid Li Yunlong can easily do something unexpected to us if we're not careful."

The brigade commander shook his head again: "That's not reasonable either."

"What's unreasonable?"

“Sunjiabao is just a puppet army stronghold. There are no Japanese soldiers inside, only a puppet army company. Do you think it’s reasonable for Li Yunlong to use his precious heavy artillery to attack the small Sunjiabao stronghold?” the brigade commander questioned.

“That’s true.” The deputy brigade commander nodded. “Li Yunlong has heavy artillery now. Given that kid’s tendency to take on any task at hand, he’s unlikely to attack the small Sunjiabao stronghold. He’ll definitely pick a lucrative Japanese stronghold to attack.”

"There's another point of doubt," the brigade commander pointed out. "Even if Li Yunlong really did have heavy artillery, where did he get his artillerymen?"

Our army is short of heavy artillery, and artillerymen are even more scarce.

The brigade commander knew exactly what kind of personnel the Independent Regiment had. Apart from a few who knew how to use grenade launchers, they had no heavy artillery at all.

"Could it be that when Li Yunlong captured the heavy artillery, he also captured the artillerymen..." The deputy brigade commander didn't finish his sentence.

Someone rushed over excitedly: "Brigade Commander, Brigade Commander, Commander Li of the Independent Regiment has arrived, and he's brought a cannon."

Li Yunlong brought in a cannon!
Upon hearing this, the brigade commander and deputy brigade commander could not sit still and quickly ran out of the brigade headquarters.

Outside the brigade headquarters, Li Yunlong had indeed brought back a rather strange-looking cannon and was showing it off: "Come and take a look, come and see! What Old Li brought back is the real deal, a real cannon, hahaha."

The brigade commander and deputy brigade commander looked at the cannon with rather strange expressions.

The cannon in front of me is completely different from the heavy artillery I had in mind.

In my mind, heavy artillery was something that had to be towed by cars.

But Li Yunlong brought it back by mule, because the weight of the cannon didn't match.

Even the appearance of this cannon is not what one would expect from a heavy artillery piece; it looks like a hastily cobbled-together product.

Which arsenal produced this? It looks like a joke.

(End of this chapter)