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

Chapter 214 The Armory Cannot Hold Back
“Okay, no problem, I can go see Brother Li right now.” Li Yunlong took a step to leave.

"Halt!" The brigade commander called out to Li Yunlong. "What's the rush, kid? I have something to say."

"Brigade Commander, please speak." Li Yunlong stopped in his tracks.

"The director of the Cui Village arsenal has spoken. The location of the Japanese's next large arsenal is Yanzhen, south of the 21st Brigade's defense zone," the brigade commander said solemnly. "The 21st Brigade will also be deployed during this Japanese sweep. Once it comes out, the defense zone will inevitably be empty. Therefore, you must take advantage of this opportunity to seize this large Japanese arsenal."

Then, the brigade commander said, "Of course, this large arsenal has a lot of equipment. You also have the important task of disrupting the Japanese rear, so you don't need to bring the equipment with you. Find a place outside in advance to hide these supplies. After the Japanese mopping-up operation is over, we can find an opportunity to retrieve them."

Normally, once you've succeeded, you should take it back immediately.

If the equipment Li Muzhi needs is available, then the development of this new type of rocket can begin immediately.

But no!

With 60,000 to 70,000 Japanese troops watching, we had no choice but to hide.

"The 21st Brigade?" Li Yunlong exclaimed upon hearing this. "The former brigade commander of that Japanese brigade was named Hattori Naotomi, wasn't he?"

“Yes, that’s right. The original brigade commander of this brigade was Hattori Naotomi, the commander of the observation group, the Japanese major general you took down.” The brigade commander nodded. “The new brigade commander of the 21st Brigade is named Muto Juichi.”

"Yes, Brigade Commander, I guarantee I will complete the mission," Li Yunlong assured.

The brigade commander's tone remained solemn as he said to Li Yunlong, "Comrade Li Yunlong, your mission this time is extremely arduous. If things go wrong, you may face the possibility of your entire army being wiped out. You'd better be mentally prepared in advance."

If it weren't for the production needs of the border region's arsenal, or to minimize the need for relocation, why would the brigade commander have agreed to let Li Yunlong play with fire?

Putting aside the danger of Li Yunlong venturing deep into Japanese territory, even if he manages to disrupt the Japanese rear, it will be very difficult for him to escape when the 60,000 to 70,000 enemy troops rush towards him.

"Brigadier, can't you say something nice about me?" Li Yunlong joked with a smile. "Maybe I can bring back that little Japanese devil Shinotsuka's head for you to use as a chamber pot."

"Okay, I'll wait for you." The brigade commander nodded and said, "Then go to the border region's arsenal right now and find Xiao Li. Ask him to give you all the weapons and ammunition he's producing."

"Brigade Commander, aren't you coming along?" Li Yunlong said.

"You can go." The brigade commander waved his hand; he still had work to tell Zhao Gang.

"Yes, brigade commander, I'll go..." Before Li Yunlong could finish speaking, the voice of the logistics transport captain came from outside: "Regimental Commander Li, come out for a moment, the horse feed that Minister Zhang asked me to deliver to you has arrived."

When Li Yunlong came out and saw that the horse feed really was only enough for three days, he immediately cursed, "That stingy old Zhang! With a major battle imminent, he only gives us this little bit of horse feed. He's really stingy to the extreme!"

The brigade commander said, "Li Yunlong, what are you complaining about? When you went to the 21st Brigade to set up the arsenal, didn't you have to pass by Kuroshima Morita's garrison? You could have just taken advantage of the situation and robbed Kuroshima Morita of his horse feed. That would have been fine."

Although the brigade commander was also complaining in his heart about Old Zhang's stinginess, the troops were about to go into battle, and he was still being stingy with the horse feed.

However, if Zhang Wanhe provided enough horse feed, it would be a burden for Li Yunlong to carry, affecting the speed of the troops.

It would be better to take advantage of the situation and snatch Kuroshima Morita's horse feed.

"When we get to the border region's arsenal, I still have to tell Brother Li to ask his old Zhang to give the horses more fodder. Damn it, he wants the horses to run but doesn't feed them properly. That old Zhang is really cunning." Li Yunlong cursed as he led his guards toward the arsenal.

Even if we need more horse feed now and can't bring it with us, I can leave it at the regimental headquarters or hide it.

Once the Japanese encirclement and suppression is over, this horse feed can be extracted and used to continue supplying the army horses.

Li Yunlong went to the border region's arsenal. The brigade commander said to Zhao Gang, "Comrade Zhao Gang, I have a few important instructions for you. Please write them down in your notebook."

"Yes, Brigade Commander." Zhao Gang took out his notebook and immediately listened attentively, taking notes.

"The first issue is the bait from Sato Haruno's side. I know you're in charge of that too, but it's highly likely that this is Sato Haruno's scheme. His target is our arsenal." The brigade commander said seriously, "Just do what you're supposed to do, and don't alert him."

"Yes, Brigade Commander." Zhao Gang wrote it down.

"Secondly, Li Yunlong has left with his troops and probably won't be back for a while. What about your situation..."

……

Border Region Arsenal

Even though Li Muzhi was busy preparing flashbangs, he could still sense the tense atmosphere in the air when he heard that the Japanese were planning a counter-encirclement campaign.

When Comrade Lao Zhang reappeared before Li Muzhi, he was no longer filled with the same intense excitement and anticipation as before; instead, he was filled with worry.

Li Muzhi asked directly, "Minister Zhang, are the Japanese about to launch a large-scale mopping-up operation?"

“Yes.” Zhang Wanhe nodded and said, “That little devil Shinotsuka has mobilized three Japanese brigades, and Okamura has mobilized a division, plus the puppet troops, bringing the total force to 60,000 to 70,000. The headquarters has already issued instructions for all units to quickly prepare for relocation. You know, the arsenal here is huge and powerful, it’s not something you can just move on a whim.”

Then, Zhang Wanhe added, "Fortunately, you, Xiao Li, transported some machinery to the Huangyadong Arsenal in advance. It's outside the encirclement, but the equipment you transported is still a drop in the bucket. If the border region arsenal stops production, it will have a huge impact on the combat troops."

“Minister Zhang, let’s not be too lacking in confidence,” Li Muzhi said. “Things are different now. In the past, the reason we had to relocate when facing the Japanese sweeps was because our troops were outdated and lacked ammunition. But now our troops have weapons and ammunition, although not in large quantities, but enough to cause trouble for the Japanese and buy time for the border region’s arsenal to produce more.

Warfare is all about logistics. As long as our border region's arsenal can provide the troops with a continuous supply of ammunition, we can hold out.

"That's true, but the disparity in strength between us and the Japanese is still too great..." Zhang Wanhe didn't finish his sentence.

Li Yunlong arrived on horseback and shouted to Zhang Wanhe, "The disparity in strength isn't that big anymore, don't talk nonsense, Old Zhang."

Li Yunlong arrived at the open space in front of the arsenal, stopped his horse, dismounted, and his bodyguard Wei Dayong quickly led the horse. Li Yunlong said to Zhang Wanhe in a serious tone, "Every time we launch an encirclement campaign, what we hate most is the Japanese mechanized forces. Their wheels are too fast, their mobility is too great for encirclement, and our two legs are at a huge disadvantage. Now we have the Hellfire Cannon and rocket launchers, right? We can contain the Japanese mechanized forces. As long as we don't engage the Japanese head-on and utilize our guerrilla warfare advantages, why worry about not breaking this mopping-up operation!"

Immediately afterwards, Li Yunlong cursed at Zhang Wanhe: "You old Zhang, the war is about to start, and you're only giving our horses three days' worth of feed? Do you really want to starve our warhorses to death?!"

“Commander Li, weren’t you going to rob Morita’s base on Kuroshima?” Zhang Wanhe said. “Even if I give you extra horse feed, you won’t need it.”

"If I can break through this counter-encirclement, you give me all the horse feed you have, okay?" Li Yunlong didn't want to waste time arguing with Zhang Wanhe.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanhe immediately replied earnestly, "No problem, Commander Li. If you can really break the Japanese's mopping-up operation this time, then without a doubt, I will not only give you all the horse feed, but I can also give you more bullets."

If we can break through the Japanese sweep, the border region's arsenal won't need to be moved. Comrade Zhang isn't incapable of doing the math.

This is a huge profit.

As for giving more bullets.

That's because the border region's arsenal is now able to manufacture bullets. War is imminent, and bullets are being rapidly distributed to the troops below.

Of course.

Because Li's troops had an abundance of ammunition, the bullets were not issued to the Independent Regiment.

"You old Zhang, you're incredibly stingy!" Li Yunlong cursed again. "I'm breaking through the Japanese mopping-up operation, who cares about your little bullets? You should keep them for your own breeding."

After saying that, Li Yunlong turned to look at Li Muzhi: "Brother, this time the Japanese are coming in with great force. In order to break the mopping-up operation, I need your support."

We don't need bullets, we need to get tough stuff from Xiao Li.

“No problem, I’ll give you all the grenades, bounding mines, rocket launchers, and Hellfire cannons we produce.” Li Muzhi nodded directly. “If you need bullets too, you can have those as well.”

If Li Yunlong can break through the Japanese mopping-up operation, giving him these weapons and ammunition now is nothing.

“We don’t need grenades and bullets. Just give me the rocket launcher, the jumping mine, and the hell cannon.” Li Yunlong nodded and continued, “However, I still don’t have enough troops. Brother, do you think you can report to headquarters and let Gao Liujin and Gao Xigang’s troops go with us?”

Remembering something, Li Yunlong added, "We should also send the scholar's troops along with them."

Although Li Yunlong and the scholar Liu Weidong couldn't get along.

But it must be admitted that this scholar has read a lot of books, and he really does have some skills.

When the time comes, we can stir things up behind enemy lines. Having more manpower and more wisdom will never be a bad thing.

“Minister Zhang, you should apply to headquarters for this right away,” Li Muzhi said to Zhang Wanhe immediately.

Li Muzhi still needs to hurry up and get the flashbangs ready.

Zhang Wanhe looked solemnly at Li Yunlong: "Li Yunlong, with so many troops, how confident are you in breaking through the Japanese mopping-up operation?"

There are so many troops, it seems like quite a lot.

However, it was still not enough against the Japanese army's total force of 60,000 to 70,000 men.

"Old Zhang, you don't understand warfare, so don't ask so many questions. Hurry up and get to headquarters," Li Yunlong urged. "Before the Japanese encirclement is complete, I need to hurry up and get out."

"Okay, okay, I'll go right away." Zhang Wanhe didn't hesitate and left immediately.

“Brother, just focus on your production at the arsenal,” Li Yunlong said solemnly to Li Muzhi. “It’s just a small sweep, nothing to worry about.”

"Commander Li, you are truly a great hero!" Li Muzhi praised.

With the Japanese army pressing in, many people were very nervous. However, Li Yunlong showed no fear whatsoever, only confidence and composure. He truly lived up to his reputation as the Li Yunlong who dared to draw his sword.

"Brother, don't flatter me. In front of you, how dare I, Old Li, be worthy of being called a hero? You are the real hero." Faced with Li Muzhi's praise, Li Yunlong, who was fearless, was still very modest.

"Go, bring out all the bounding mines, rocket launchers, hell cannons, and all the corresponding shells from the arsenal and give them to Commander Li," Li Muzhi instructed his assistant.

"Yes, Factory Manager." The assistant quickly went to carry out Li Muzhi's orders.

“Brother, our brigade commander said that the director of the Cui Village arsenal has already given instructions that the Japanese will build their next large arsenal in the 21st Brigade’s defense zone.” Li Yunlong laughed. “Once we break through the Japanese encirclement, I’ll bring the equipment back to you. When that happens, you’d better hurry up and build these new rockets.”

"Okay." Li Muzhi said expectantly.

They took out bounding mines, rocket launchers, hell cannons, and shells, and Li Yunlong ordered his men to quickly leave with the weapons and ammunition.

Watching Li Yunlong's retreating figure, someone couldn't help but ask Li Muzhi, "Factory Director, can Commander Li break through the Japanese mopping-up operation?"

Every time we were raided, we were forced to relocate.

Can we break the precedent this time?

"We must trust the combat troops," Li Muzhi said solemnly. "They are buying us time with their lives and blood. Therefore, the production and output of the arsenal must not hold back the combat troops!"

"Yes, factory director."

(End of this chapter)