Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 129 Kong Jie Reveals His Wealth, His Smile Hard to Suppress
"Old Kong, do you have this many men in your reinforced battalion? Can your reinforced battalion really take down a county town heavily guarded by the Japanese?"

Li Yunlong and Ding Wei asked the questions that concerned them most.

Sure enough, Kong Jie was overjoyed to hear his two old comrades ask him that question.

"Old Li, Old Ding, you're overthinking it."

"Our independent detachment is strong and well-equipped, with two main reinforced battalions, plus other cavalry battalions, special operations battalions, and other combat units. We are not afraid of the county town garrisoned by the Japanese at all."

"This doesn't even include the troops under the Fourth Military Sub-district. If you add them all up, even if the Japanese force doubled, they still wouldn't be enough to defeat them."

"Don't we have a guerrilla brigade operating in the Ping'an area in our Fourth Division? Old Li, your unit should have made contact with them."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong immediately became restless.

"What? Two reinforced battalions? That's impressive?"

"Goodness, they're living the life of a division commander now."

The term "Li Yunlong" refers to the size of the Nationalist army's forces. The size of our army's divisions was much larger. For example, the 129th Division had more than 120,000 men!

"By the way, Lao Kong, the guerrilla brigade you mentioned, could it be the unit that operates around Shuanglu Town?"

Li Yunlong asked the question.

“Yes, that’s our Third Guerrilla Brigade of the Fourth Division, they operate in that area,” Kong Jie nodded and said.

"Goodness, you call that a guerrilla brigade? That unit's weaponry is so advanced, they even have a mortar, it's not much different from my Independent Regiment before our counter-mopping-up operations."

"I thought it was some main force regiment, but I didn't recognize their commander. When I asked them, they said it was the Fourth Division."

"I thought it was one of the main regiments of the Fourth Division, but I didn't expect it to be a guerrilla brigade!"

When Li Yunlong heard Kong Jie say this, he realized just how well the Independent Detachment had developed.

This local guerrilla brigade was equipped with weapons and equipment that were no less than those of his main regiment.

There was more than one such guerrilla brigade in the Fourth Division.

This left Li Yunlong somewhat frustrated.

It's hard to imagine how strong the main force of the Independent Detachment really is, given that even a guerrilla unit in the Fourth Division has such strength.

Compared to Li Yunlong's shock, Ding Wei's reaction was much better.

Although he was also incredibly surprised, he didn't show it on his face like Li Yunlong did.

"Old Kong, tell us, how strong is your Second Reinforced Brigade of the Independent Column?" Ding Wei asked.

Kong Jie didn't hide anything and said frankly, "Our Second Reinforced Battalion of the Independent Column has five infantry battalions, one artillery battalion, three heavy machine gun companies, plus other support companies, with eight hundred soldiers in each battalion."

"There are 3,600 rifles, 120 light machine guns, 36 heavy machine guns, 120 grenade launchers, and the artillery battalion has six Type 92 infantry guns and twelve mortars."

"Adding the other mortars that were assigned to the company level, we could put together more than 30 artillery pieces."

Kong Jie proudly talked about his family's wealth, and with each sentence he spoke, the corners of his mouth turned up a little more, which he couldn't suppress.

Li Yunlong and Ding Wei were equally astonished.

They knew the Independent Detachment was wealthy, after all, they had annihilated so many Japanese soldiers, and the spoils alone amounted to a huge sum.

Not to mention they even captured a county town and seized a large amount of supplies from the Japanese.

Unexpectedly, the independent detachment was so wealthy.

With each word Kong Jie uttered, the shock in their hearts increased.

By the end, Li Yunlong was green with envy; he was extremely envious.

With so much equipment, any one of it could make the Independent Regiment rich overnight.

If the entire regiment were given to the Independent Regiment, Li Yunlong would even dare to attack Taiyuan!
Chen Ming was unaware of Li Yunlong's thoughts.

Even if they knew, they wouldn't be as bold as Li Yunlong, who thought he could attack Taiyuan with such limited equipment.

What were they thinking? Putting aside whether they could capture it or not, even if they did, they couldn't hold it. Moreover, the troops would suffer heavy losses, possibly even being wiped out.

Chen Ming would not risk the precious lives of his soldiers to enhance his own reputation.

After Kong Jie finished speaking, Li Yunlong finally spoke, saying in surprise:
"You, Old Kong, have become a damn rich man. No wonder you pulled out four hundred rifles and sixteen light and heavy machine guns without batting an eye. Your equipment is almost as good as an entire Japanese brigade."

“Yeah, Lao Kong, out of the three of us old comrades, you’re doing the best now. Lao Li and I might need your help sometime in the future,” Ding Wei said.

Hearing the two say that, Kong Jie smiled and said, "We're comrades-in-arms, so let's talk about anything in the future. As long as it's possible, I, Kong Jie, will definitely lend a hand."

Hearing Kong Jie's bold statement, the two of them were filled with envy.

The Independent Detachment is incredibly well-equipped. Even one of Kong Jie's reinforced battalions is equipped with such luxurious weaponry, which demonstrates the Independent Detachment's formidable combat strength.

Correspondingly, Li Yunlong and Ding Wei admired Chen Ming more and more.

The Independent Detachment didn't acquire so many weapons and equipment from the sky or from the ground; they were all seized from the Japanese soldiers after they were defeated.

Kong Jie's Second Reinforced Battalion was equipped with roughly the same equipment as a Japanese brigade, which meant that almost an entire brigade of Japanese soldiers had been wiped out.

Ding Wei is an arrogant man; he doesn't respect many people, and Chen Ming is one of them now. In terms of strategic vision, Ding Wei is no match.

Under Chen Ming's leadership, the Independent Detachment, with its single detachment strength, disrupted the large-scale mopping-up operation of more than 100,000 Japanese troops, preventing the Japanese from achieving their strategic objectives.

If it weren't for the role played by the independent detachment, Ding Wei estimated that the casualties of the troops in the counter-sweeping operation would definitely have exceeded 30%.

In terms of vision for development, Ding Wei is no match.

After advancing into northwestern Shanxi, the Independent Detachment did not take the time to rest and recuperate, but instead pressed on and captured two county towns in one go, forcing the Japanese to cede one of them.

With the help of the two liberated county towns, a production and construction detachment was established to carry out large-scale development.

After this autumn harvest, the independent detachment was not only not greatly affected, but also provided a large amount of food to the rear and other units.

Whether in military affairs or in development, Chen Ming surpassed Ding Wei in every aspect, which is why Ding Wei admired Chen Ming.

At the same time, he was also thinking that if Chen Ming had taken him to the Independent Detachment back then, he could have killed even more Japanese soldiers.

Looking at Kong Jie, the two could only think to themselves, "Kong Erlengzi is a fool with good fortune; he's followed such a capable and insightful leader."

After the three of them had some drinks and finished their snacks, Kong Jie announced that it was time to call it a day.

"We're about to go to war, so let's call it a day. As military commanders, we should just have a few drinks to show our appreciation on ordinary days."

After Kong Jie said that, Ding Wei didn't say anything, but Li Yunlong started shouting first.

"That won't do. It's not easy for us old comrades to get together. How can we just have a few sips? No way!"

Li Yunlong shouted and was about to pour more wine for Kong Jie, intending to get Kong Jie drunk and then steal some supplies or other valuables.

Besides weapons and ammunition, the Independent Regiment also lacked food. He usually only had a small dish of pickled vegetables to accompany his drinks.

Although the Independent Regiment also received a portion of the grain supplied by the Independent Detachment to its brother units, it was enough for them to tighten their belts and wait for the harvest.

However, Li Yunlong was the kind of person who never had too much; he wanted as much supplies and food as possible, but he absolutely could not have too little.

"Old Li, this really won't do. The leaders sent me to the Independent Regiment with weapons and ammunition. Considering that it's a reunion for us old comrades, they've already been very lenient by allowing me to have a little drink. But if I drink too much, I'll get a beating," Kong Jie said with a bitter face.

Kong Jie is an honest man, and he has a combat mission coming up soon. If he gets drunk at this time...

If Chen Ming finds out, Kong Jie won't be allowed to lead the Second Reinforced Brigade of the Independent Column; he'll be sent to the brigade headquarters to feed the horses for a few days.

Kong Jie is an honest man; he would never do something as undisciplined as Li Yunlong.

Moreover, this was in an independent detachment known for its strict discipline.

Chen Ming had recently given the commanders in the detachment a heads-up, warning them that violating discipline at this time would be tantamount to courting disaster.

Wang Gui's example is still there. Back when the Independent Detachment was still the Second Independent Regiment, Wang Gui was the battalion commander of three main battalions.

Because he disobeyed orders on the battlefield and led his troops away from their positions to fight the Japanese, Chen Ming gave him a severe dressing-down in front of all the commanders.

Only now has he rejoined the front-line troops and become the commander of the fourth battalion.

Wang Dafei, who was his contemporary, is now a chief of staff.

Even the former company commander has now become the reinforced battalion commander of a main force reinforced battalion, and has taken over Wang Gui's position.

Kong Jie dared not disobey the rules, so no matter what Li Yunlong said, he insisted on not drinking anymore.

"Alright, Lao Li, Commander Chen is strict in his military discipline, so don't make things difficult for Lao Kong. After this battle is over and all the Japanese devils are wiped out, the three of us old comrades-in-arms will get together again and have a good drink."

Ding Wei also tried to persuade Li Yunlong.

In this day and age, getting drunk is considered a violation of discipline, even if you know you're wrong, and no amount of pleading will help you then.

Although Ding Wei is not an honest kid like Kong Jie, he would not break the rules at such a sensitive time.

Even if Kong Jie didn't bring up the end, he would have brought it up first.

"Alright, alright, that's fine, you won't drink anymore. Your leaders have so many rules, you can't even have a few sips of alcohol."

Faced with the persuasion of his two old comrades, Li Yunlong muttered to himself.

Although he was somewhat dissatisfied, it was clear from this small detail of how Chen Ming addressed him that Li Yunlong respected his superior, Chen Ming.

If it were Blind Cheng instead, even if Blind Cheng became a brigade commander, Li Yunlong would still dare to call Cheng Blind Cheng the right name.

Li Yunlong believed that Blind Cheng was not very capable, not as good at fighting as he was, and also less experienced than him.

Chen Ming was different. In terms of seniority, Chen Ming was a squad leader during the Autumn Harvest Uprising and was a member of the inner circle.

In terms of capability, Chen Ming's troops annihilated so many enemies that Li Yunlong couldn't even come close.

With superior abilities and qualifications, how could Li Yunlong dare to underestimate his superior, Chen Ming?
The party ended, and Li Yunlong stopped drinking. Instead, he naturally put the two unopened bottles of Fenjiu that Kong Jie had brought into the cabinet.

This scene made Kong Jie and Ding Wei smile and shake their heads.

"Hey, look, this is Old Li." Kong Jie pointed at Li Yunlong.

"Hahaha."

(End of this chapter)