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

Chapter 247 A Powerful Weapon Acquired, an Unexpected Joy
The details released are, of course, details of the early planning of the Chahar-Suiyuan Campaign, such as how Chen Ming used his marriage to deceive the Japanese and make them run around in circles.

The other unit designations and operational details were not disclosed; this is truly top-secret information that could never be leaked.

Releasing part of Chen Ming's deceptive scheme was also a form of compensation.

After all, everyone knows that Chen Ming got married.

But on the eve of their wedding, the groom was nowhere to be found, leaving the bride alone.

In this era that is both progressive and open yet conservative, there will certainly be no shortage of gossip about Cheng Qingrong.

This is a contradiction between folk ethics and national sentiment.

Some people think Chen Ming did the right thing, saying that the best red candle for their wedding night was the coffin lid of a Japanese soldier.

There were also conservatives who condemned Chen Ming for "sacrificing folk customs and ethics in exchange for war results."

In particular, a newspaper in Chongqing directly and publicly criticized Chen Ming.

Releasing this information is to make amends, to let the outside world know the truth, and to prevent them from being misled by those with ulterior motives.

The release of the content by major newspapers controlled by our party immediately caused a huge reaction.

"Ms. Qingrong is truly a woman who is just as capable as any man. She sacrificed her family for the greater good and, together with General Chen, cleverly used strategies to manipulate the Japanese devils, causing countless Japanese soldiers to perish on the grasslands. She deserves our respect."

A student looked at the newspaper and sighed.

He had changed his address for Cheng Qingrong to "Mr." instead of "Mrs." of Chen Ming.

This is a very high compliment for her.

"Yes, Mr. Qingrong is a role model we should learn from, sacrificing himself for the country and the nation."

Another student agreed.

"Hmph, I feel sorry for her. We can fight the Japanese anytime, why did it have to be on our wedding night?"

"If a bride is left alone on her wedding night, how much gossip and rumors will she face?"

A discordant voice arose; a student spoke up from a corner.

He represents the views of a small group of people.

As soon as the voice appeared, all the students around stopped their discussions and stared at the student.

The student felt uneasy seeing so many people staring at him with dangerous eyes.

But to save face and to highlight his uniqueness, he still stubbornly said:

"Am I wrong? I admire Chen Ming's ability to fight, but I think it's wrong of him to abandon his bride on their wedding night, and I'm going to scold him."

"Snapped!"

Suddenly, a shoe slapped him in the face. A burly student was holding the shoe, patting the sole as if he had just slapped the other person and dirtied his own shoe.

"Classmates, beat him up! Let him dare to slander our heroes!"

The student suddenly spoke and kicked the other person to the ground.

Seeing that he had taken action, only a few of the other students followed suit, while the rest remained hesitant.

“Come at me together. My dad is the discipline director, and my uncle is the vice principal. I’ll take responsibility for anything that happens.”

A student shouted loudly from the crowd.

Upon hearing this, the remaining students no longer hesitated and swarmed forward, brutally beating the student who had been knocked to the ground.

This person often makes outrageous remarks, and they've long disliked him.

With a safety net in place now, how can we not seize the opportunity?
People are generally herd-oriented. Once most people have joined in, the remaining small group will also join in, otherwise they will seem out of place.
The student who had been knocked down, facing such a brutal beating from so many people, kept begging for mercy:
"Stop hitting me, I was wrong. I admire Mr. Cheng Qingrong and General Chen."

His attitude changed very quickly; he hadn't maintained it for even half a minute since then.

"Hmph, how dare you call me Mr. Qingrong? I think you don't know you're wrong, you're just scared."

The students ignored his explanation and continued to beat him.

When the people who had gathered around saw this, they were initially confused about what had happened and tried to stop it.

But after learning the specifics, they cheered and said it was good that they beat this kind of monstrous thing to death.

"What are you doing? What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket?"

A teacher walked over, saw the gathered crowd, and frowned as he asked.

"Teacher, it's like this,"

One of the students explained this to the teacher who had arrived.

"What did you say? I didn't hear you. I still need to prepare my lessons, I'm leaving now."

After hearing the whole story, the teacher pretended not to have seen it, made up an excuse, and left.

Now is the time to celebrate this great victory, and the students are the most enthusiastic group of people.

He's not going to wade into this muddy water.

Finally, the director of discipline arrived, and the farce came to an end, but ultimately nothing came of it.

Within the base area.

Public opinion was overwhelmingly in favor of Cheng Qingrong, who was hailed as a revolutionary role model and a heroine, and received high praise.

The people in the base area all accepted her and spontaneously requested to hold another wedding.

Chen Ming and Cheng Qingrong both refused, not wanting to spend any more money on extravagance.

Chen Ming advocates for simplicity in everything; his previous wedding was for the purpose of fighting the Japanese invaders.

If another event were to be held now, given Chen Ming's prestige in the base area, who knows how much more resources would be consumed.

A few days later, news came from the Far East Army that the first batch of weapons and ammunition had been shipped.

Chen Ming was overjoyed upon hearing the news.

"The cannon I've been longing for is finally going to be in my hands. I'll feel at ease once I have it in my hands. Otherwise, no matter how much others promise, it's all for nothing."

"Order to send a telegram to Xu Desheng, instructing him to immediately prepare for the rescue and make sure to bring back all of my cannons."

Chen Ming spoke up.

"Yes."

Upon receiving the telegram, Xu Desheng immediately led a team to the agreed location to receive the weapons.

More than two hundred trucks carrying weapons and ammunition lined up along the detective's good road, forming a long queue.

The cannons being pulled along had larger calibers than the last, gleaming with a sharp metallic luster.

When Xu Desheng saw so many weapons, his eyes were wide open and he couldn't look away.

Although he was a cavalryman, it doesn't mean he didn't like cannons!
It should be noted that the largest caliber artillery piece in the Independent Detachment was a 150mm howitzer captured from the Japanese, and there were only four of them.

Ammunition is limited, and it will not be deployed unless there is a major battle. Every shell fired requires Chen Ming's personal approval and signature.

The remaining force was a mountain artillery battalion, equipped with 75mm caliber guns, which were the most powerful and longest-range conventional artillery pieces in the independent detachment.

However, among the artillery pieces transported here, the smallest field gun had a caliber of 76 mm, and the largest had a caliber of 122 mm.

There are ways to replenish key artillery shells, so there's no need to be so frugal during battle.

If this were taken to the battlefield, wouldn't it make the Japanese cry for their parents?

"Oh, my dear Comrade, it's good to see you again. The first batch of weapons is here. You can take a look at it."

"But you'd better hurry, I'm freezing to death, this damn weather."

The Soviet representative in charge of transporting the weapons was a member of the previous expedition team named Pavel, who was acquainted with Xu Desheng.

"Since you've said so, what are we waiting for? Come to my camp for a drink. I've prepared some fine liquor, perfect for warming you up."

"As for counting the weapons, given our friendship, how could I not trust you? We can discuss the weapons later." Xu Desheng didn't immediately order the weapons to be counted, but instead invited Pavel to have a drink.

From his previous experience hosting the elder brother, Xu Desheng learned a lesson: as long as you make the elder brother happy, everything is negotiable.

Pavel's throat bobbed involuntarily when he heard there was strong liquor to drink.

The weather is getting colder and colder; nothing would be more comforting than having a drink.

“My dear Comrade, you are just to my liking.”

Pavel punched Xu Desheng on the shoulder and said happily.

"Let's go have a drink."

So the two of them walked into the camp arm in arm, just like brothers.

After a few rounds of drinks, Pavel got a little tipsy.

Last time, Xu Desheng was able to stand up and walk out of the table after defeating all the heroes. This time, there's only Pavel. Isn't it a piece of cake?
The reason the other party hasn't fallen yet is because they are still useful and can't just collapse like that.

“My dear Comrade, I am so happy today. There are not many people who can outdrink me, but you are one of them.”

Pavel said, his face flushed and reeking of alcohol.

"I also think you're very generous, which suits my taste perfectly. We should have drinks together more often in the future."

Xu Desheng said with a smile.

Next, he started asking Pavel if he could get more weapons.

As it turned out, this inquiry actually revealed that there was indeed a way.

At the dinner table, Pavel patted his chest and assured Xu Desheng that as long as Xu Desheng could provide some wine, he would have a way to get more shells.

If he had enough alcohol, he could even get his hands on a tank.

Of course, this tank couldn't be a T-34, as the Far Eastern Army didn't even have that tank in service.

The dogs on the Eastern Front are practically brainwashed now, so the T-34s will definitely be prioritized for use there first.

The Far Eastern Army used T-26 light tanks and BT series light tanks that had been phased out by the Eastern Front troops.

What Pavel promised to provide was naturally this kind of thing.

However, even if it wasn't the T-34, it would have been sufficient for the independent detachment.

Even the tanks retired from the Soviet front-line troops were stronger than the Japanese tanks with their thin armor.

In terms of firepower, armor, and mobility, it is superior to the Japanese infantry.

The best tank is the one that suits you. Given the current situation on the domestic battlefield, even if Chen Ming were given a T-34, he might not be able to handle it effectively.

The Tiger II tank is very powerful, but when it came to China, it couldn't even go two miles before it broke down and became a fixed iron lump.

The T-26, a light tank, is easy to maintain, lightweight, and inexpensive, making it the most suitable tank for an independent detachment.

After receiving the promise from Pavel, Xu Desheng immediately ordered someone to send an urgent telegram to Chen Ming, requesting Chen Ming's instructions.

Inside the Independent Detachment Command Post.

"Report, urgent message from the cavalry detachment."

An aide walked in and reported to Chen Ming, who was formulating a reorganization plan.

Upon hearing the report, Chen Ming put down his work and took the telegram.

After reading the telegram, Chen Ming was somewhat surprised.

"Xu Desheng is truly a lucky general! This time, he was sent out and he even managed to bring back tanks."

"If we can get the tank back, I'll personally treat him to drinks when he returns."

"Call back immediately, put Xu Desheng in full charge, and report the situation to headquarters at the same time."

Chen Ming spoke up.

"Yes."

Inside the camp, after receiving authorization from Chen Ming, Xu Desheng felt more confident and began to talk under the guise of offering drinks.

"No, tanks are military supplies, and the risks are too great. They can't be less than 600 liters each."

Upon hearing Xu Desheng's offer, Pavel spoke, fueled by alcohol.

"There's nothing we can do, we're poor. We can only afford two hundred liters per vehicle at most."

Xu Desheng started playing the victim.

Bargaining is an essential skill.

Every bit of extravagance cut at the dinner table saves a lot of supplies for the base area.

"Two hundred liters is really too little. You have to know that the value of a T-26 can probably be exchanged for at least six hundred liters of vodka."

"Exchanging it for 600 liters of your sorghum liquor is already very cheap."

Pavel insisted.

Xu Desheng's bargaining skills are already as sharp as a dragon-slaying sword.

They cut the price of sorghum liquor from 600 liters to 200 liters, which is like cutting the price right off the bat.

How could Pavel possibly accept that?

However, Xu Desheng still managed to understand Pavel's character.

After a hard-fought battle, they finally settled on a price of 250 liters of liquor for a T-26 tank.

After finalizing the price, Xu Desheng began to confirm the quantity.

But no matter how hard he tried, Pavel insisted that he could only sell 20 T-26 tanks, not one more.

Even when Xu Desheng raised the price, Pavel did not budge an inch.

This left Xu Desheng somewhat puzzled.

They can sell 20 T-26s, but not 21?

He couldn't understand what Pavel was thinking.

After Xu Desheng reported the situation, Chen Ming looked at the price and quantity of the transaction and quickly thought about it.

Twenty tanks, each with 250 liters of wine, totaling 5,000 liters of wine, roughly 4.4 tons.

This deal was definitely worthwhile no matter how you look at it.

Trading alcohol for tanks is simply impossible elsewhere, especially at such a low price.

However, 4.4 tons of wine is not a small amount. After thinking it over, Chen Ming finally made up his mind.

buy!
So, Xu Desheng finalized the deal with Pavel over drinks.

The tanks will arrive with the second batch of supplies, and then they will take the alcohol back with them.

After finalizing the tank deal, Pavel then announced that he could exchange food for ammunition.

At this time, the Battle of Stalingrad is in full swing, and the Soviet army's supplies are all being allocated to the Eastern Front, putting great pressure on its logistics.

The Far East Army, a remote force, lived a very frugal life.

If we could obtain some supplies directly from the independent detachment, it would alleviate the pressure to some extent.

After all, the Far Eastern Army's lifeline depended on the Trans-Siberian Railway, which had limited transport capacity.

Obtaining supplies from the independent detachment is shorter and faster, making it much more efficient than relying on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

(End of this chapter)