Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 129 The brigade commander personally oversees the operation
"Brigade Commander, if you're worried, you can call Brother Li and ask him."

Li Yunlong was playing hard to get; he knew that if he said that, the brigade commander would definitely not make a phone call.

Brother Li is such a busy person, the brigade commander wouldn't easily bother him.

Sure enough, the brigade commander shook his head: "Forget it, forget it, I'd better not call Xiao Li. As long as you don't cause me any trouble, that's fine."

Little did the brigade commander know that Li Yunlong had not only caused trouble, but had caused an utter disaster.

They actually dared to instigate Li Muzhi to sell the division commander's cannons; aren't they doomed?

In fact, this kid is still hiding it from us.

As a result, when the division commander angrily investigated, the brigade commander was still in the dark and received a severe scolding from the division commander without even knowing what had happened.

Of course, that's a story for another time.

"Of course, how could I possibly cause trouble for you, Brigade Commander?" Li Yunlong immediately retorted.

"Alright, enough of this nonsense." The brigade commander cut short the conversation and decisively turned to the deputy brigade commander, saying, "Now that the shells have arrived, let's immediately convene a meeting with the other three regimental commanders besides Kong Jie."

Although the battle plan had been finalized in advance, a pre-battle meeting was still necessary.

"Okay." The deputy brigade commander nodded and immediately sent someone to inform them.

Li Yunlong asked with a grin, "Brigade Commander, judging from your tone, we're going to make our move tonight. How much profit is on the Japanese military train?"

"Bad luck," the brigade commander cursed. "Those Japanese devils don't know how to behave. Lately, no good stuff has been transported by military train. Tonight, we'll just have to barely manage to steal a grain wagon."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong couldn't help but be taken aback: "Brigade Commander, you're not kidding me, are you? Stealing a grain transport vehicle, isn't that a bit petty?"

"What can we do? Unless you, Li Yunlong, have the ability to get the Japanese to move their good stuff onto the train!" the brigade commander said.

"Brigade Commander, why don't you try a different approach?" Li Yunlong leaned closer to the brigade commander and said, "There's something I've been thinking about for several days now."

"What's wrong, you son of a bitch, trying to cause trouble again!" The brigade commander glared and said solemnly, "Our most important mission right now is to successfully seize the Japanese military train and get the arsenal to dismantle the locomotives and refit them. Don't you dare cause me any more trouble. I'm telling you, I'm going to this operation personally. If you dare to slip away, I'll kill you!"

The brigade commander knew exactly what Li Yunlong was going to do the moment he stuck out his butt.

In this operation, as long as the locomotive can be successfully moved back, everything else is secondary.

We can't be confused about what's important and what's secondary.

Therefore, the brigade commander must personally oversee operations!

"Brigade Commander, I..." Li Yunlong was about to say something more.

The brigade commander interrupted, "Shut up!"

"Yes, Brigade Commander." Li Yunlong shut up, thinking to himself, "If you won't let me talk now, I'll talk once the Japanese have seized the locomotive and brought it back."

Your brigade commander always says that I, Li Yunlong, am prone to daydreaming. I just don't believe that you, brigade commander, won't daydream when the time comes!

"Oh, right, also send someone to the arsenal to let Lao Zhang know that I'm going to be working here tonight, and ask him to bring the transport team over." The brigade commander remembered this and sent someone to contact the arsenal.

"Yes."

"Li Yunlong, you go to the meeting room and wait for the other three regimental commanders to arrive. I'll hold a meeting for you all."

"Yes, Brigade Commander." Li Yunlong walked into the conference room, and as soon as he felt sleepy, he simply lay down and fell fast asleep.

……

Border Region Arsenal

"Minister Zhang, our brigade commander sent me to inform you that he will be intercepting the Japanese military train at 7:30 tonight. Please have your transport team prepare in advance." The brigade commander's man arrived at the logistics department on horseback and reported to Zhang Wanhe.

This is a big deal; we can only notify people in person, not over the phone.

"You're going to make your move tonight? So soon?" Zhang Wanhe was taken aback.

The shells were just delivered to the 386th Brigade, and they're already starting work. That's incredibly efficient.

"Yes." The man nodded, looking at Zhang Wanhe. "Minister Zhang, is it possible that your transport team isn't ready yet?"

"Ready? The transport team just assembled this morning." Zhang Wanhe nodded quickly and said to the man, "Go back and tell your brigade commander that I'll be there with the transport team on time. Oh, and..."

Zhang Wanhe paused here and asked, "Has your brigade figured out what's on this Japanese military train?"

“Our brigade commander didn’t mention that,” the man replied.

"Alright, alright, go back and report." Zhang Wanhe nodded.

The other party didn't say, perhaps because they hadn't figured out what was being transported on the Japanese military train either.

Then it'll all depend on luck.

"Yes, Minister Zhang." The person left.

Zhang Wanhe came over to Li Muzhi: "Little Li, the 386th Brigade just sent someone to inform you that they will seize the locomotive for you tonight."

"Minister Zhang, just to be on the safe side, you should bring all the artillery shells produced here from the arsenal," Li Muzhi instructed. "If the 386th Brigade doesn't have enough shells and something goes wrong at a critical moment, that would be a real problem."

“Of course, of course.” Zhang Wanhe nodded emphatically. “Not only artillery shells, but also all the hand grenades we make, bring them along.”

Although Comrade Zhang is a bit stingy, he still has a strong sense of the big picture.

This is crucial to the future development of the arsenal, and at this critical juncture, we cannot afford to be stingy.

“Minister Zhang, although I don’t need to go, I still think you can bring Lao Qi along. If you encounter any technical difficulties while dismantling the locomotive, let Lao Qi help you solve them.” In principle, Li Muzhi should be involved in such an important operation.

Although we had prior knowledge of the blueprints, disassembling the Japanese locomotive was ultimately not the same as actually working on it.

If any technical difficulties arose, Li Muzhi could quickly find a solution if he were there. But there was no way; it was a combat zone, too dangerous.

Li Muzhi is not suitable to go there, and moreover, not only Zhang Wanhe, but even the headquarters leaders have given the order.

Without headquarters' permission, Li Muzhi was not allowed to go to any front-line battlefield.

Therefore, Li Muzhi suggested that Zhang Wanhe bring Lao Qi over with him.

Old Qi was a senior technician at the former Taiyuan Arsenal, and he had the most experience.

If he encounters any problems, he will definitely be able to solve them in a timely manner.

"I still need to consult with the headquarters leaders about this." Zhang Wanhe understood what Li Muzhi meant.

Old Qi is the precious darling of the Huangyadong Arsenal; he can't be bumped or damaged.

However, if the dismantling of the locomotive encounters a real problem, without a senior technician to guide the process, the lower-level workers will simply dismantle it haphazardly.

If you accidentally damage any critical parts, that would be a real headache.

"Hmm." Li Muzhi nodded. Such a big matter naturally required him to consult with headquarters as soon as possible.

Remembering something, Li Muzhi continued, "The last Hell Cannon is finished. The cutting machine and generator at the arsenal are temporarily idle, so let's take them over. If there's not enough time, we'll use the cutting machine."

“Okay, okay, but we still need to apply to the headquarters.” Zhang Wanhe nodded.

Right now, we only have this one cutting machine and generator, it's the most precious thing of all.

Without the permission of the headquarters leaders, how could the arsenal be taken out so casually?

“Minister Zhang, you go ahead and do your work. I’ll just wait for news at the arsenal. I’m not going anywhere else,” Li Muzhi said.

"Okay." Zhang Wanhe quickly got to work.

Li Muzhi could foresee that the headquarters leaders would approve sending Lao Qi over.

Li Muzhi found Lao Qi: "Lao Qi, you should go with the transport team to dismantle the locomotives. Let me add a few points. If you encounter a problem at a critical moment and can't dismantle the Japanese locomotives, you can use the cutting machine. You need to know how to use the cutting machine..."

Before Li Muzhi could finish speaking, Old Qi interrupted, "Director Li, using a cutting machine? Won't that just ruin the thing? Even if we can re-weld it back, it certainly won't be as good as the original. I don't need that thing!"

“Old Qi, of course I don’t want to need the cutting machine, but it’s better to be prepared.” Li Muzhi said seriously, “If the combat troops can’t withstand the pressure, you’ll have to race against time, so it’s best to prepare for the worst.”

Although the 386th Brigade fought fiercely and brought plenty of artillery ammunition.

But on the battlefield, who can be 100% certain of anything?

Therefore, it's always good to prepare for the worst.

It would be best if we didn't have to use it; nobody wants to end up using a cutting machine.

"Yes, yes, then you should tell me properly." Old Qi nodded.

……

Japanese Military Police in Heyuan

"Captain, Commander Kuroshima called to say that the cavalry regiment has basically recovered its combat effectiveness, and Commander Kasahara's infantry regiment has also been replenished with men. It's just that Commander Ueno's tank regiment has not been replenished with tanks and is still resting and unable to be deployed for combat." His trusted aide came over and reported to Fujita Ichiji.

Although Kuroshima Morita's cavalry suffered considerable losses, they were able to replenish their horses through logistics. Furthermore, Kuroshima Morita used his connections to request some cavalrymen from other cavalry regiments.

Therefore, the combat strength and organization of Kuroshima Morita's cavalry regiment were basically restored.

As for Kasahara Koizumi's infantry, the 4th Brigade just happened to have a batch of soldiers.

These soldiers were originally intended to be assigned to the Third Regiment.

However, the Third Regiment suffered a significant loss after losing its new commander, Taro Mita.

In addition to the loss of the ironworks, the commander of the 4th Brigade, Isamu Hiratsu, assigned these soldiers to Koizumi Kasahara's 22nd Regiment.

In other words, the organization and combat effectiveness of the 22nd Regiment have been restored.

“One infantry regiment and one cavalry regiment should be more than enough,” Fujita Ichiji said to his confidant. “Let’s cast the bait now.”

"Captain, aren't these two regiments enough?" the confidant asked, concerned.

Last time, none of the three teams managed to keep an eye on the bait.

Now that the mechanized regiment from Ueno Village is gone, the bait is more likely to be lost this time.

"General Shinotsuka has called me again," Fujita Ichiji said confidently. "He's already mobilizing troops and supplies, and two battalions will be transported over by military train tonight."

The Eighth Route Army seized the ironworks, and the threat of heavy artillery was too great.

So, after calming down, General Shinotsuka quickly allocated troops and supplies to Fujita Ichiji's side.

"Alright, that's enough troops now." The confidant's tone relaxed upon hearing this, but he couldn't help saying, "I wonder if the Eighth Route Army will take the bait this time? If they don't, will they use a diversionary tactic like last time..."

Before his confidant could finish speaking, Fujita Ichiji interrupted, "No matter how the Eighth Route Army tries to lure us away from our mountain stronghold, my encirclement and suppression forces will not move. I refuse to believe that I will not fall for their 'luring us away from our mountain stronghold' strategy, and that the Eighth Route Army can remain inactive!"

Fujita Ichiji had made a firm vow in his heart that no matter what kind of diversionary tactic the Eighth Route Army might use this time, he would remain unmoved and ignore it.

Of course, when he learned that the Eighth Route Army was attacking the Zhengtai Railway and seizing the train, the confident Captain Fujita immediately forgot his oath and lost his bait again in a daze. But that's another story.

“Yes, no matter how the Eighth Route Army tries to lure us away from our base, we won’t move. Let’s see how they can keep up their game.” The confidant nodded in agreement.

……

(End of this chapter)