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

Chapter 38 The Brigade Commander's Visit
"How do you train normally? You have so many soldiers with excellent marksmanship," the brigade commander asked Li Yong.

If this training method, which can improve soldiers' marksmanship, were promoted throughout the entire army, it could greatly enhance combat effectiveness.

Upon hearing the brigade commander's question, Li Yong dared not conceal anything and recounted the entire training process in detail:

“We usually practice aiming. Every now and then, the regimental commander organizes live-fire training and selects talented soldiers to form a sharpshooter company.”

"Each soldier in the sharpshooter company uses at least three hundred rounds of ammunition during training, and they are also issued a lot of ammunition during combat. They all fired hundreds of shots to get the skills they need."

"As for the other soldiers, after each live-fire training session, the company and platoon leaders would organize exchanges and discussions to learn from each other's experiences and make up for their own shortcomings."

Upon hearing Li Yong's report, the brigade commander nodded.

He said that apart from talent, which sharpshooter isn't made by being fed bullets?

The sharpshooters of the Independent Second Regiment have developed such excellent marksmanship through countless practice shots.

However, this method is not suitable for widespread adoption across the entire army.

The Eighth Route Army was too poor. When the bullets were distributed to each soldier, they usually only had a dozen or even just a few.

The only way is to select talented soldiers and train them intensively, like the Second Independent Regiment did, through limited live-fire training.

Although they couldn't afford to be as extravagant as the 2nd Independent Regiment, which provided hundreds of rounds of ammunition for their training.

But firing a hundred or so shots shouldn't be a problem.

In addition, exchanging and learning from each other after training is also a very good method, allowing us to learn from each other's strengths and make up for our weaknesses, and thus maximize the effectiveness of live-fire training.

After observing the training of the sharpshooter company, the brigade commander walked in another direction.

When Li Yong saw the direction the brigade commander had gone, his heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself, "This is bad."

"Go find the regimental commander right now, or rather, the brigade commander. He's gone to our artillery training area," Li Yong immediately called over a soldier and said.

"Yes."

The young soldier immediately ran towards the regimental headquarters, ready to tell Chen Ming that the brigade commander had arrived.

Meanwhile, Chen Ming was at the regimental headquarters, exchanging pleasantries with the captain of the Ping'an County Brigade.

"Old Zhao, you've heard about the situation in our unit. We're in dire need of soldiers to fill our positions."

“Old Chen, I know you’ve had a tough time, but our county brigade is also struggling. We’ve only just recovered from the last sweep, and now you’re asking for sixty soldiers. It’s putting me in a difficult position.”

The man Chen Ming called Old Zhao began to complain.

His name is Zhao Dajiang, and he is the captain of the Ping'an County Brigade.

Back when Chen Ming was the squad leader of the district, the other party was Chen Ming's superior.

However, Chen Ming has now transformed himself into the Second Independent Regiment and become its commander.

In terms of rank, Zhao Dajiang should address Chen Ming as Chief.

Hearing the other party's complaint, Chen Ming knew what the other party was thinking and immediately said, "How about this? The county brigade is short of weapons and ammunition, right? I will provide the county brigade with twenty rifles and four hundred rounds of ammunition."

"Add a hundred more hand grenades." Zhao Dajiang held up one finger.

“No, eighty at most,” Chen Ming retorted.

“Okay, deal.” Zhao Dajiang’s face showed a sly smile.

Oh no, I gave it too high!

Chen Ming sighed inwardly.

“A man’s word is his bond, so Commander Chen, don’t go back on your word,” Zhao Dajiang said immediately, worried that Chen Ming might change his mind.

The rifles and bullets Chen Ming proposed already met Zhao Dajiang's standards, and proposing a hundred hand grenades was just a matter of taking a shot, even if there was no guarantee of success.

I didn't expect there to actually be dates!

Eighty hand grenades could kill a lot of Japanese soldiers and traitors.

Besides, it was a political task for local troops to supply soldiers to the main force. The lads in the unit were eager to join the main force and fight the Japanese in real battle.

Zhao Dajiang's ideological awareness must be quite high to have become the captain of the Ping'an County Brigade.

"Don't worry, since I've said it, I definitely won't go back on my word," Chen Ming said. Giving weapons and equipment to the soldiers of the county brigade was also for fighting the Japanese, and as long as it was for fighting the Japanese, Chen Ming was willing to give them away.

It's just a few grenades, here you go!

This also serves as an encouragement to local troops.

"But Lao Zhao, you can't fool me. You've picked out the best soldiers for me," Chen Ming continued.

"Am I, Lao Zhao, that kind of person?" Zhao Dajiang glared at him directly.

Main force troops are different from local troops. The intensity of combat is high and the danger is greater. If the selected soldiers do not meet the combat skills standards, it will only harm them.

At that moment, a soldier rushed into the regimental headquarters and shouted:

"Something terrible has happened, Commander!"

"What's wrong? I'm perfectly fine!"

"No, brigade commander, the brigade commander is here, and he's heading towards Platoon Leader Zhang Yousheng's side," the young soldier said, panting heavily.

"what?!"

Chen Ming slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

Zhang Yousheng was the best artilleryman in the entire regiment. He was selected by Chen Ming from among the puppet army prisoners and incorporated into the army after passing the assessment.

Right now, he should be teaching the new recruits how to aim.

If the brigade commander sees this, the fact that the 2nd Independent Regiment has four mortars will be discovered!

If the brigade commander congratulates him on his fortune, Chen Ming will have nowhere to turn to cry.

"Old Zhao, I have something urgent to attend to. I'll have someone send you the weapons and equipment later. Let's call it a day."

Chen Ming said to Old Zhao.

"Da Biao, prepare the equipment that Captain Zhao wants, so he can take it with him later."

"Yes."

"Okay, Lao Chen, you go ahead and get busy."

Zhao Dajiang readily agreed, saying that as long as the weapons and equipment were in hand, catching up with old friends was irrelevant.

Chen Ming hurried towards the artillery training area, not daring to delay for even a moment.

Meanwhile, the brigade commander had already quickened his pace and arrived at Zhang Yousheng's location.

Along the way, he saw the soldiers of the Independent Second Regiment hiding themselves and not daring to look at him as they passed by. They seemed a little anxious, so the brigade commander knew something was wrong.

So he quickened his pace, not giving the Second Independent Regiment a chance to hide anything. He wanted to see what shameful things the Second Independent Regiment was hiding.

Sure enough, when they arrived at the artillery training area, the brigade commander saw a soldier giving a thumbs-up and teaching the soldiers next to him how to measure distances.

Next to it was a Japanese 81mm mortar.

"Oh, I wondered what it was, but it turns out to be artillery training!" the brigade commander chuckled.

Just as the brigade commander was about to go and inquire about the situation, Chen Ming finally arrived.

"Brigade Commander, what brings you here? You didn't even tell me you were coming so I could have welcomed you."

"I told you, can you see this mortar?" The brigade commander said with a smile, looking at Chen Ming who was covered in sweat.

"Look at you, so pathetic. It's just a mortar, why are you being so secretive? Is that how you see me?"

The brigade commander admitted that he did have a slight liking for congratulating his subordinates on their good fortune, but only a slight liking.

Why would a brigade commander like him ask for a mere mortar?

"Yes, yes, brigade commander, we're just hopeless. We're terrified of poverty," Chen Ming said with a bitter face.

"Alright, I'm here to inform you of the results of headquarters' handling of your case."

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(End of this chapter)