Chapter 51: The Filthy Rich New Regiment Stuns the Brigade Commander

The brigade commander never expected that the machine guns Li Yunlong mentioned would be in such staggering quantities.

Right before his eyes, there were roughly thirty light and heavy machine guns in total.

And all of them were Type 11 light machine guns and Type 92 heavy machine guns.

Such an arrangement effectively resolved any logistical supply concerns.

Li Yunlong had not anticipated that the brigade commander would stumble upon this scene, so he could only nod and reply with a forced smile, "Brigade Commander, what do you think of the nest-egg I've managed to accumulate?"

"I didn't lose face for you, did I?"

The brigade commander cast a sideways glance at Li Yunlong, then stepped forward with his eyes gleaming.

After inspecting the weaponry and equipment, he was utterly astonished.

His count revealed four Type 92 heavy machine guns and twenty-six Type 11 light machine guns, all of which were remarkably well-maintained.

"With this many machine guns, did you kid raid an enemy arsenal?"

"As if!" Li Yunlong muttered vaguely in explanation. "Maybe our New Regiment has just been having some good luck. We seized these bit by bit while ambushing Japanese and puppet-regime transport teams and strongholds, slowly building it all up."

"You know how it is—we've had to endure plenty of hardship just to get our hands on this equipment..."

In truth, this was merely the result of Li Yunlong secretly drawing items from his system and supplementing the regiment's inventory over time.

That was how they had reached their current scale.

Naturally, to facilitate operations and ease transport pressure, Li Yunlong had not retrieved all the ammunition at once, saving the rest for critical moments.

Listening to Li Yunlong's grievances, the brigade commander understood his motives all too well, yet chose to ignore them entirely.

"A single battalion has this many light and heavy machine guns, which means the three battalions combined must have nearly a hundred of them?"

"Your weapon and equipment standards are even more affluent than the Central Army's!"

"How could we ever compare to the Central Army? No comparison, none at all," Li Yunlong said evasively, before quickly changing the subject.

"Brigade Commander, we are both honorable men who keep our promises."

"Rest assured, your old Li here isn't someone who forgets a favor; I've already prepared the portion meant to support the brigade headquarters."

"I was just getting ready to send it over to the brigade, too. I never expected you to arrive so coincidentally."

"Heh, heh, heh... Isn't that a coincidence?"

A coincidence?

If he hadn't come himself, or rather, if he hadn't bumped into it by sheer accident, there wouldn't even be a hair left to spare!

Didn't he know what kind of character Li Yunlong was?

Choosing to ignore Li Yunlong's hint completely, the brigade commander cut straight to the chase. "You aren't planning to fob me off with some paltry scraps, are you?"

"How could that be?" Li Yunlong assumed a heartbroken expression.

"Does your old Li really look like that kind of person in the brigade commander's eyes?"

"That truly breaks my old Li's heart!"

"All right, cut the act," the brigade commander said, laughing and scolding in the same breath. "When have you ever failed to hide away the good stuff? I know you inside and out."

"Still... I'm willing to trust you just this once."

"Let's go, take me to see our equipment first!"

Li Yunlong couldn't help but roll his eyes at the brigade commander.

Your equipment?

That is some truly thick skin!

No wonder he's the one who gets to be the brigade commander.

"Brigade commander, providing the equipment is not a problem, but could you possibly grant me one small request?"

The brigade commander paused slightly, stopped in his tracks, and looked at Li Yunlong. "Let's hear it. Though I'll make it clear beforehand—I don't necessarily promise to agree."

Though filled with speechlessness on the inside, Li Yunlong kept a smile on his face. "Actually, this matter is a mere trifle to someone of your stature, Brigade Commander."

"While the New Regiment has seen decent growth in troop numbers, we lack personnel with specialized skills."

"Take exceptional machine gunners, for instance~"

"Brigade Commander, do you think it might be possible to transfer a few machine gunners over?"

"We aren't asking for many—just twelve men will do. Distributing four to each battalion will allow them to provide professional guidance."

Seeing that the brigade commander was about to refuse, Li Yunlong hurriedly cut him off and continued, "Brigade Commander, don't rush to say no."

"Let's inspect the weaponry and equipment first, and we can discuss it then. How about that?"

At that, the brigade commander's interest was instantly piqued.

"Very well, let's take a look first, then!"

"After you!"

Making a polite gesture, Li Yunlong proceeded to lead the brigade commander toward the regiment's logistics department.

For Li Yunlong, his current issue was an overabundance of stored equipment coupled with a shortage of skilled machine gunners.

Although the *Militia Military Training Manual* provided guidance that allowed soldiers to master basic skills, there was still a noticeable difference compared to being guided by seasoned experts.

Therefore, Li Yunlong intended to trade guns for personnel.

At least that way, he wouldn't be completely cleaned out by the robbery.

After all, since the brigade commander had laid eyes on these weapons and equipment, it was simply impossible to get away without bleeding a little.

Why not go with the flow? That way, he could recoup some interest while also obliging the brigade commander to owe him a favor.

The feeling of having superiors backing you up was simply fantastic!

Liu Yuan, Wang Huaibao, and the others watched in utter bewilderment as their regimental commander departed in the company of the brigade commander.

Through Liu Yuan's introduction, they finally learned that the person the regimental commander had been entertaining was none of other than the brigade commander himself.

Yet the scene of the two men haggling left them completely dazed.

So the brigade commander was actually this approachable?

...

At the logistics department.

The men from the third battalion had just collected two light machine guns and one heavy machine gun, their faces beaming with broad smiles.

Just as they were about to leave, the brigade commander and Li Yunlong arrived at the department.

Everyone immediately saluted and greeted them, "Good day, Regimental Commander!"

Looking at the machine guns hoisted over the men's shoulders, Li Yunlong waved a hand and praised, "It seems your training results are quite good. Keep up the hard work!"

"Yes!" the third battalion soldiers replied excitedly.

Li Yunlong promptly shooed them away to avoid drawing the brigade commander's covetous gaze.

Gazing at the light and heavy machine guns being hauled away, the brigade commander asked in confusion, "What training results?"

"What is all this about?"

Li Yunlong explained, "To incentivize them to train harder, I've had them claim their weapons and equipment based on merit."

"Units that pass the assessment are permitted to draw corresponding equipment. The training ground we just came from was conducting the machine gun assessment for the third battalion."

A flash of surprise crossed the brigade commander's mind, and he nodded in approval, praising, "That method is actually quite sound!"

At that moment, Zhang Quan from the logistics department learned that the regimental commander had arrived and hurried forward to salute and inquire, "Regimental Commander, what brings you here? I was just about to look for you to report on our achievements regarding land reform and town administration."

Waving a hand dismissively, Li Yunlong said, "We can talk about that later. Are the weapons and equipment I asked you to compile ready?"

Nodding, Zhang Quan replied, "They are all ready. Shall I have them sent to the brigade headquarters now?"

Slightly shaking his head, Li Yunlong introduced, "This is the commander of the 386th Brigade."

"As for when to send them, we await the brigade commander's instructions."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Quan hastily saluted and greeted, "Good day, Brigade Commander!"

"I am Zhang Quan of the New Regiment, primarily in charge of logistics."

Returning the salute, the brigade commander said, "Hello!"

Li Yunlong instructed, "Go retrieve the weapon inventory list."

"Yes!"

Zhang Quan acknowledged the order and hurried off.

Through the exchange between Li Yunlong and Zhang Quan, the brigade commander realized he had truly misjudged him.

It turned out that he genuinely intended to turn over a batch of weapons and equipment to the brigade headquarters.

This rascal's political awareness had certainly improved a great deal!

It was a turn of events he hadn't quite expected.

Even so, he still needed to inspect the condition of these weapons.

Moments later, Zhang Quan returned with the manifest. "Regimental Commander, this is the weapons list prepared according to your specifications. Please check if there are any errors."

After a quick glance, Li Yunlong handed the list over to the brigade commander.

"Brigade Commander, take a look and see if these can be exchanged for some personnel?"

The brigade commander had been dying to examine it for a while now; if he hadn't wanted to maintain his composure in front of other comrades, he would have grabbed it out of his hands sooner.

Feigning calm, he reached out and took the document.

The moment he read the contents of the manifest, the brigade commander couldn't help but wipe his glasses.

Was this... truly the equipment Li Yunlong intended to hand over?

Had the New Regiment really grown wealthy to this extent?

...

Brothers reading this, please click the prompt for more updates and leave a free tip! This book hasn't received any large tips yet—are there any wealthy patrons willing to shower us with gold?