It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 207 (Twenty-Two Chapters) | Making Trouble First Upon Taking Office

Let's get rich together?

It would be more like we'd die together and go to the underworld together!
Shang Ke was greatly dissatisfied with the man's ambiguity and frowned, saying, "Speak clearly! What do you mean by 'find a way to get it'? Where did it come from? Is your older brother in the military?"

The man nodded repeatedly, then hurriedly shook his head, stammering, "No...no...he knows people at the military post...I heard it...I don't know if it's true..."

Song Quan immediately pressed on sharply, "Military depot? Which military depot?"

"The one from Bai... Baima Town."

"Um?!"

Baima Town is located more than ten kilometers south of Taizhou City. There is a military base station next to the riverside highway there.

A base outpost is a medium-to-large military base located in a relatively safe area deep in the rear, with a large amount of supplies and relatively complete comprehensive support capabilities.

Permanent bases and outposts are also established near many important locations and transportation hubs within the Great Unified Federation, containing facilities such as warehouses, clinics, gas stations, hotels, and repair shops.

The main task of these permanent military outposts is to disperse and store military supplies. In the event of unexpected conflict, they can quickly provide medical support, replenish ammunition and fuel, and help maintain the security of rear supply lines.

The permanent outposts are stationed with corresponding independent army garrison units, usually reinforced at the company or battalion level, ranging from one or two hundred to four or five hundred personnel, and are also equipped with several to a dozen armored vehicles.

These independent garrison units and field troops are two separate systems. Although they both belong to the army, their duties are completely different, and they despise each other.

The field troops believed that the garrison troops were a bunch of useless people with third-rate officers and second-rate soldiers. They were too idle and were practically useless. Their pay should be halved.

The garrison troops thought that the field troops were miserable, with high-intensity training every day and long-distance marches to remote wilderness areas every few days. They were tired and dirty, and it was much better to stay at the base and live a leisurely life.

"Wasn't the 33rd Division's blunder last winter enough to make an example of them?" Song Quan sneered. "Anyone still dares to do something like this now? They're incredibly audacious!"

Shang Ke chuckled and then looked at the three bewildered people beside him.

"Hey, I'm asking you a question. Besides gasoline, what else has your boss resold?"

This time it was the leader's turn to answer first. He hurriedly said, "And tires and engine oil... I've also worked on gearbox gears."

"Are they all related to cars?"

"We managed to get two large boxes of medicine before the Lunar New Year, but we didn't have any connections or places to sell them, so we don't know what happened to them after that."

After saying that, the men looked miserable and begged for mercy: "Sir, we were just short of money and got greedy. We will never do it again. Please let us go."

Shang Ke always tries to handle important matters as quickly as possible, and he is currently calculating the time, wondering if he can get to the bottom of this matter on the same day he sets off.

Upon hearing this, he scoffed, "You lot are obviously no good, just idlers. You must have done plenty of bad things in the past, right?"

The men panicked upon hearing this and rushed to explain, spilling the beans like beans from a bamboo tube, almost revealing their childhood memories of peeping at girls bathing.

It simply means that they haven't committed any serious crimes in the past, at most petty theft or dining and dashing at restaurants.

Shang Ke was too lazy to investigate. In fact, just by looking at the three men's cowardly appearance, he knew they were probably not the kind of ruthless characters who would dare to kill and rob.

He threatened you with a combination of threats and promises: "For now, we'll consider you a few accomplices. If you behave well, we can treat you leniently. Otherwise, we'll just shoot you and no one will care."

The three of them were already at a loss, and quickly agreed.

Actually, Shang was just bluffing. It wasn't wartime, after all, so there was no need for double punishment. A few cowardly accomplices wouldn't warrant execution, but the ringleader certainly deserved it. "Commander, we have all the witnesses and evidence. We'll report it..."

"Report it?" Shang Ke waved his hand and said, "That's too boring. Let's get straight to the point. Life is about taking risks."

Since we've stumbled upon the illegal sale of military supplies, we might as well investigate it thoroughly.

In reality, Shang Ke never intended to deliberately and swiftly resolve a matter to establish his authority; he felt that his 'glorious deeds' over the past few months were enough to convince the public.

However, since we've come across them, we might as well deal with them; it's beneficial and we can even have some fun.

"Exhilarating? Or just a hassle?" Song Quan looked puzzled.

"Is the division's directly subordinate units stationed nearby? What about the military police company?"

"Yes, all the directly subordinate units are here. The military police company is stationed just 400 meters to the west."

"Good!" Shang Ke nodded in satisfaction, then instructed: "Now pass on my order: the military police company and the first company of the armored reconnaissance battalion must assemble immediately, collect the 'special ration' of ammunition, and be ready within fifteen minutes so I can see how well they've trained."

"Huh?" Song Quan and the other officers were greatly surprised.

"What are you standing there for? Are you deaf? Execute the order!"

"Yes!"

Special ammunition, as the name suggests, refers to live ammunition that troops can take on their own under special circumstances during peacetime, requiring only the approval of their military commander. The quantity is very small, such as five bullets for a rifle, ten bullets for a pistol, and twenty bullets for a light machine gun.

This tiny amount of ammunition isn't intended for actual warfare; it's purely for maintaining a basic deterrent. Distributing too much freely available ammunition is also unacceptable, because the controlling government won't tolerate any potential mutiny.

An alarm blared, and the units directly under the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division immediately assembled.

There were no routine training sessions scheduled for today, so the soldiers were all free to rest, playing cards, reading, eating snacks, chatting and making up stories, and doing whatever they wanted.

Upon hearing the alarm, the soldiers dropped what they were doing and rushed outside. Even those who were squatting in the toilet hurriedly grabbed some paper to wipe themselves and then pulled up their pants and ran out...

Before long, all the directly subordinate units, including the military police company, chemical protection company, and armored reconnaissance battalion, had assembled, but only a portion of the units received orders.

"Oh? That's great!"

Shank witnessed the entire event from a watchtower.

He put down his binoculars and commented, "The basic framework is there, it looks quite decent. The training section chief did a good job. Let's go, let's set off!"

The 8th Mechanized Infantry Division's emergency assembly speed was better than he had expected. For a unit that had only been formed for a month or so, such results were quite remarkable.

Subsequently, the military police company and the armored reconnaissance battalion distributed a small amount of live ammunition and then headed straight for Baima Town in the south...

Not long after the more than 300 people set off, the car carrying Deputy Division Commander Zhang Anyuan drove back to the division headquarters; he had gone to a meeting that day.

Upon learning that the rumored division commander had led his troops out to cause trouble as soon as he arrived, he asked incredulously, "What's going on here?"

A major staff officer explained, "There might be someone at the military post in Baima Town who's been selling things on the side. The division commander encountered them on his way to take up his post, and as soon as he arrived, he assembled two companies to go and arrest them. Section Chief Song went along too."

"Isn't the Baima Town military post still under Kong Quan's control? Oh dear, our division commander didn't even bother to find out the details before dealing with them..." Zhang Anping, ignoring his fatigue from the long journey, gulped down a large cup of tea and said anxiously, "Quick! Go after them!"

(End of this chapter)