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

Chapter 24 Brigade Commander, Congratulations on Your Fortune!
"When did you learn Li Yunlong's tricks?"

A man wearing a leather jacket and carrying a riding crop entered through the door.

"Brigade Commander, what brings you here? You didn't even tell me beforehand so I could have come to greet you," Chen Ming said with a fawning smile.

"Don't give me that. If I didn't launch a surprise attack, how would I know you've become a nouveau riche?" the brigade commander sneered.

"Tell me honestly, what's the situation in your unit now? How much benefit have you reaped?"

"Not much, just a little bit of weapons and ammunition. How can it compare to a regular army?" Chen Ming began to complain.

"Don't try to fool me. I heard everything outside the door." The brigade commander sneered. "Well done, kid. More than 800 rifles, more than 30 light machine guns, 7 heavy machine guns, 6 mortars, and 1 Type 92 infantry gun."

"Their heavy firepower alone is more than my entire brigade, and they're even planning to form a cavalry company?"

The current 386th Brigade has only over 5,000 rifles, 40-50 light machine guns, 4 heavy machine guns, and only 2 mortars, no field guns at all. Each person has 20 rounds of ammunition and 4 hand grenades.

Chen Ming's district squad alone had more than 800 rifles, and its heavy weapons were more numerous than those of an entire brigade.

The brigade commander felt a pang of sadness, but also a sense of joy.

With so many weapons and equipment, he'll be able to get a lot this time.

"Brigadier, just say what you want," Chen Ming said, his neck stiff and his expression one of utter despair.

"Enough with the nonsense. You leave behind 500 rifles and 10 light machine guns. Send the rest of the machine guns, artillery, and horses to the brigade headquarters," the brigade commander said.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ming immediately shook his head repeatedly: "What are you doing, Brigade Commander? This isn't robbery."

"You might as well just shoot me, no, no, absolutely not."

"No? Then we need to have a serious talk. According to discipline, all spoils of war must be turned over to the public. All of your equipment must be sent to the brigade headquarters."

The brigade commander started to intimidate Chen Ming.

"Brigade Commander, you said back then that we were to develop local armed forces, and if we didn't have weapons and ammunition, we could take whatever we wanted from the Japanese and traitors ourselves," Chen Ming argued.

"Did I say that? Who can prove it to you?" The brigade commander narrowed his eyes.

"Brigade Commander, you're a brigade commander, your word is your bond, you can't go back on your word." Chen Ming said with a bitter expression.

"Stop talking nonsense. You have two choices: either deliver the equipment I mentioned to the brigade headquarters, or hand over all the spoils to the authorities and then distribute them to you," the brigade commander said sternly with a stern face.

"Hey, hey, no, brigade commander, I'll deliver your equipment to the brigade headquarters in a bit."

Now that things have come to this, Chen Ming has no choice but to make the painful sacrifice.

His heavy machine guns and artillery were taken away with "Wishing you prosperity" before they even had a chance to be used.

Upon hearing Chen Ming's agreement, the brigade commander burst into laughter: "You should have said so earlier! Why are you acting like a nouveau riche, being so stingy with such a paltry sum?"

"We were so afraid of being poor before," Chen Ming said helplessly.

"Alright, besides checking on your situation, I also need to investigate your district squad's situation," the brigade commander said.

“In these three months, you’ve almost turned the whole of Northwest Shanxi upside down. Even the commander-in-chief has heard that a very active armed force has emerged in Northwest Shanxi, specifically targeting and attacking puppet troops and traitors.”

"Now that the situation has been clarified, I will report to headquarters and reorganize the district squad into the Second Independent Regiment."

After giving them a good whack, the brigade commander naturally had to offer them a reward.

The district squad now has more than a thousand members, and its combat power is stronger than some main regiments.

It's no longer appropriate to keep it as a district squad; it's better to reorganize it into a regiment.

At the same time, it would also be good to promote Chen Ming's rank.

People with Chen Ming's abilities and qualifications are now at the regimental or battalion level.

Chen Ming, due to his previous injuries, is currently only a platoon-level officer in the district squad.

"Brigade Commander, thank you very much, Brigade Commander."

Chen Ming knew that the brigade commander was showing concern for his old subordinate and was helping him resolve his rank issue.

If he had become a regimental-level cadre now, he would have been able to become a division commander at the very least during the Liberation period.

“Brigade Commander, reorganizing it into an independent second regiment is no problem, but you have to send me some officers. I can’t manage it all by myself,” Chen Ming continued.

"Alright, I'll send a batch over when I see some suitable ones." The brigade commander thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. After all, the district squad was a militia force and lacked political officers; Chen Ming was the only one who knew how to do political work.

"How have you been lately? Has your old injury healed completely?" the brigade commander asked.

"I'm all better now, and my body is in great shape." Chen Ming stretched his body to prove it to the brigade commander.

"Alright, stop jumping around. Get your weapons and equipment ready. I'm taking them with me later," the brigade commander said irritably.

"Yes."

"Big fly."

"To!"

Outside the door, Dafei heard Chen Ming call him and immediately came in.

"Leave 500 rifles and 10 light machine guns, and send the rest of the brigade commander's equipment to the brigade headquarters," Chen Ming ordered with his eyes closed.

"Are you sending them all?" Dafei asked.

"Stop talking nonsense and carry out orders."

"Yes."

After the weapons and equipment were loaded, the brigade commander led his troops away.

"Brigadier, won't you stay for a meal before you leave?"

"I'm not eating, there's a lot going on at the brigade headquarters."

It wasn't that the brigade commander didn't want to eat, but when he saw Chen Ming's sour face, he felt too embarrassed to stay for the meal.

After the brigade commander left, Chen Ming started cursing.

"Damn it, why didn't you stop the brigade commander? Do you know how hard it was for me to save up this little bit of wealth?"

"Captain, we dare not stop them."

The squad leaders and platoon leaders complained.

Didn't you see how Captain Chen Ming bowed and scraped before the brigade commander? How could they dare to stop him?

"Get out of here, all of you. I'm in a bad mood right now, don't let me see you."

Chen Ming chased everyone out and stayed alone.

The moment the brigade commander arrived with the wish of "Congratulations on your fortune," all of his heavy firepower was gone, and even his newly formed cavalry company was wiped out.

However, Chen Ming was not depressed for long.

After all, the brigade commander had exchanged a regiment's worth of personnel for it, and since he had taken the man's money, the brigade commander could take the blame for him if he made any mistakes in the future.

Moreover, apart from weapons and equipment, Chen Ming's biggest gain in these three months was the various badges he obtained through his cheat system.

[Level 1 Artillery Badge: Increases artillery training experience gain by 20%.]

[Level 2 Interweaving Badge: Increases interweaving experience gain by 40%.]

[Tier 3 Trap Badge: Increases trap placement experience gain by 60%.]

[Level 2 Repair Badge: Increases repair experience gain by 40%.]

【.】

These badges, which grant various buffs, are Chen Ming's greatest asset and the source of his confidence that his troops are growing stronger and better with each battle.

It's just some weapons and equipment, we gave them to them anyway, they're going to be used to fight the Japanese.

Meanwhile, the brigade commander had just returned to the brigade headquarters when he received a phone call.

"Chen, congratulations on your fortune!"

P.S.: I couldn't sleep last night, so I wrote today's too.

(End of this chapter)