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

Chapter 161 That's fucking brilliant!
386th Brigade, New First Regiment

"Commander, let's calculate the time. Our border region's arsenal should have finished producing these artillery pieces by now."

The deputy regimental commander leaned close to Ding Wei and said, "Don't you ever take some time to go and check on the arsenal?"

“I’m not Li Yunlong, who can just leave his regimental headquarters whenever he wants.” Ding Wei said with a very serious expression.

Although the Japanese are currently engaged in fierce fighting with the Jin-Sui Army and their elite troops, we don't seem to pose much of a threat.

But if the Japanese invade, our regimental commander certainly can't leave his post.

Of course, the biggest reason is that Ding Wei knows Li Yunlong too well.

If this guy gets the testing rights for the shoulder-mounted cannon at the arsenal, he'll call me up immediately.

Therefore, Ding Wei didn't need to go to the arsenal at all; he only needed to wait for Li Yunlong's message.

“Commander, when Commander Li led our new First Regiment, although he often missed his post, I was still there. In critical moments, I could help with command,” the deputy commander replied.

If Ding Wei hadn't been assigned to the New First Regiment as its commander by the headquarters leaders, the deputy commander would have been promoted to commander of the New First Regiment by now.

"Regimental Commander, I think you should compete for that shoulder artillery..." The deputy regimental commander didn't finish his sentence.

Then someone ran over and reported to Ding Wei: "Reporting to the regimental commander, Commander Kong of the New Second Regiment and Commander Li of the Independent Regiment are passing by our regimental headquarters with their troops. They want you to quickly gather your troops over there and go make some money with them."

Upon hearing this, Ding Wei paused for a moment and said, "Isn't Lao Kong digging coal for the arsenal? How come he brought his troops out with him?"

"It's time for the Second Regiment to get off work now, isn't it?" the deputy regimental commander remembered.

The Second New Regiment worked at the arsenal, where they mined coal. Not only did they eat well, but they also had time off work, which was truly enviable.

"Hmm, that's true." Ding Wei nodded, then, remembering something, laughed and said, "Li Yunlong even brought out Lao Kong. It seems that this guy really got the right to test the shoulder-mounted cannon. Immediately pass on my order to gather the entire regiment."

"Commander, we haven't received any orders from the brigade headquarters," the deputy commander reminded him.

“It’s alright. The brigade commander said that I should handle things as appropriate in critical moments. You gather the troops first, and then I’ll go check on Li Yunlong and Kong Jie,” Ding Wei said.

"Okay." The deputy commander nodded and immediately went to carry out Ding Wei's orders.

Ding Wei quickly walked out of the regimental headquarters and immediately saw the dozen or so cannons carried by Kong Jie's men. Ding Wei immediately asked Kong Jie, "Old Kong, are these shoulder-mounted cannons made in the arsenal?"

"Yes." Kong Jie nodded and said to Ding Wei, "These shoulder-mounted cannons are called rocket launchers. There are twelve in total. Director Li asked me to bring them out for testing."

"I bet Li Yunlong gave you some bad idea again." Ding Wei glanced at Li Yunlong beside him and asked, "Where are we going to test it? And we're bringing my New First Regiment along too."

It seems that the testing rights for the shoulder-mounted cannon have fallen into Kong Jie's hands, not Li Yunlong's, which is a bit...unreasonable.

However, it doesn't matter to Ding Wei, since these two are old buddies anyway.

"Old Ding, don't you know?" Kong Jie asked Ding Wei curiously, somewhat puzzled. "Li Yunlong said he knows the location of a Japanese arsenal. Such a big thing, and you don't know?"

In Kong Jie's view, Li Yunlong had obtained such important intelligence.

When he goes to work, he will definitely drag Ding Wei along.

Didn't this guy tell Ding Wei beforehand?

Upon hearing that Li Yunlong had secured the location of an enemy arsenal, Ding Wei's expression immediately turned serious. He looked at Li Yunlong and asked, "Li Yunlong, this is no joke, is it? You really secured the location of an enemy arsenal?"

"Old Ding, such a valuable opportunity, if I had enough troops, you and Old Kong wouldn't have had a chance to share it!" Li Yunlong said arrogantly.

"Did you report this to the brigade headquarters?" Ding Wei asked.

"I wanted to give the brigade commander a surprise," Li Yunlong explained.

When Li Yunlong delivered the military dog's carcass to the brigade headquarters, he didn't tell the brigade commander, wanting to give him a surprise.

"You're worried that if the brigade commander finds out, he'll get involved, and then after we take over the arsenal, he'll pocket all the profits, right?" Ding Wei bluntly pointed out, then his expression became very serious. "Such a big matter cannot be left uninformed to the brigade commander."

Li Yunlong said directly, "Old Ding, this time the shells issued by the arsenal first went to the division commander, then passed through the brigade commander's hands, reducing their quantity by half. Old Ding, we definitely can't let the brigade commander handle them again this time. If we don't have enough capital, we won't have enough confidence when we work. Once we get all the profits from the arsenal, our capital will be big enough. Then we must completely suppress that scholar. Damn it, you don't know, that scholar also got another 6,000 catties of white sugar and a lot of large-caliber steel pipes for the arsenal. It's estimated that we can make more than 20 hell cannons. We have to hurry up and get a few more of these cannons!"

Upon hearing this, Ding Wei was also shocked: "Did Liu Weidong really send another 6,000 jin of sugar and large-diameter steel pipes to the arsenal?"

In Ding Wei's eyes.

Li Yunlong and Kong Jie are like brothers; there's no need for them to compare themselves.

Gao Liujin next door was not to Ding Wei's liking.

Ding Wei's real comparison was with Liu Weidong of the 115th Division.

Seeing Liu Weidong make another great contribution, Ding Wei naturally couldn't hold back. "That's right, Lao Ding, you didn't see it. Back at the arsenal, that bookish brat was really infuriating. We have to suppress this bookish guy who's read too many lousy books!" Li Yunlong said, glaring at him.

Faced with Li Yunlong's annoyed attitude, Ding Wei comforted him, saying, "Old Li, let's not be too anxious. The reason why Liu Weidong is making more money than us is not because he is more capable than us, but simply because he is making more money on his side. That's all."

Ding Wei's words struck a chord with Li Yunlong. Li laughed heartily and said, "Yes, yes, yes, Old Ding, you see things much more clearly. How come I didn't see it before? I was just fuming for nothing."

Ding Wei continued, "Since Liu Weidong's side is so lucrative, once we take over the arsenal and have enough weapons, we can totally go and make some money there too. After all, Liu Weidong overstepped his bounds first, so why should he be able to take from our side but we can't take from his? We'll just follow behind Liu Weidong, and whatever he sets his sights on, we'll strike first. That way, the scholars..."

Before Ding Wei could finish speaking, Li Yunlong burst into laughter again: "Hahahaha, yes, yes, yes, you old strategist Ding are right! You've hit the nail on the head! We'll follow that scholar and strike first, hahaha, brilliant plan, damn brilliant!"

Kong Jie said from the side, "Old Li, Old Ding, if we beat the scholar like this, it seems a bit dishonorable for the group of us to team up against him alone and win."

Li Yunlong immediately cursed, "Kong Erlengzi, which side of the ass do you have, you son of a bitch?!"

Ding Wei also said to Kong Jie, "Old Kong, as long as we can beat Liu Weidong, why do you care how many of us team up? If he's so capable, let Liu Weidong find some help too."

Kong Jie smiled and said, "I was just joking, just joking. Haven't the three of us done enough dishonorable things?"

"Hahaha, don't talk nonsense, Lao Kong. I, Li Yunlong, never do anything dishonorable." Li laughed loudly, denying everything.

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic," Ding Wei said with a serious expression. "Such a large operation cannot be carried out without notifying the brigade headquarters. I'll send someone to the brigade headquarters. My new regiment should be deployed first."

"Okay, okay, sure, sure." What Li Yunlong liked most about Ding Wei was that he didn't hesitate at crucial moments and would cooperate exactly as instructed.

Ding Wei sent someone to report to the brigade headquarters, left some men to guard the house, and led the rest of his troops to the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army with Li Yunlong and Kong Jie.

……

358th Regiment of Jin-Sui Army

"Commander, these Japanese devils are acting like madmen."

Chief of Staff Fang Ligong said to Regiment Commander Chu Yunfei in a serious tone, "Half of our defense zone has been occupied, and the Japanese are still relentlessly attacking us. Their firepower has not only not weakened, but is gradually increasing. Regiment Commander, should we retreat temporarily and avoid a head-on confrontation with the Japanese?"

Despite the combined attack of the Kuroshima Morita Cavalry Regiment, the Ueno-no-mura Mechanized Regiment, and two Japanese infantry battalions, the 358th Regiment put up a fierce resistance and fought bravely against the enemy.

However, Chu Yunfei was on the defensive, and the Japanese troops were also strong. After struggling for several days, the 358th Regiment suffered heavy casualties and lost half of its position.

If things continue like this, it's only a matter of time before the Japanese completely occupy the 358th Regiment's positions.

Faced with Fang Ligong's persuasion, Chu Yunfei's expression was extremely serious: "The Eighth Route Army has sabotaged the Japanese railway transportation, and the Japanese are short of logistical supplies. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Japanese are increasing their firepower every day without weakening it. It's all just a bluff. If we hold on a little longer, the Japanese will run out of ammunition and then they'll be out of options."

Chu Yunfei added, “Our remaining positions are very strong, and we must not give them up easily. Otherwise, without strong fortifications, if we retreat, the Japanese will definitely take the opportunity to ambush us. At that time, we will be fish on the chopping block. Tell the brothers to hold on a little longer; the Japanese will not be able to hold on much longer.”

If Chu Yunfei could have retreated, he would have done so long ago.

The fact that Kuroshima Morita and Ueno no Mura deliberately joined forces to attack the 358th Regiment was mainly driven by a desire to settle scores.

They've got their eyes on the 358th Regiment.

Therefore, Chu Yunfei had no choice but to fight the two Japanese soldiers to the bitter end, even if he couldn't win.

Chu Yunfei also wanted to see who could hold out the longest between him and these two Japanese soldiers!
"Yes, Commander." Fang Ligong nodded, gritting his teeth as he said, "Then let's see who can hold out the longest between us and the Japanese..."

Before Chu Yunfei could finish speaking, someone ran up to report: "Reporting to the regimental commander and chief of staff, Li Yunlong, the regimental commander of the Eighth Route Army, has arrived."

Is Li Yunlong here?
Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong were both surprised to hear that Li Yunlong had arrived.

The Japanese can't find the Eighth Route Army, so they take their anger out on our Jin-Sui Army and our elite troops. Didn't you Eighth Route Army members hide away?

Now, Li Yunlong, you've actually appeared out of nowhere.

Fang Ligong immediately said, "Commander, we sent people to negotiate with Li Yunlong about the Hell Cannon, but nothing came of it. Now that Li Yunlong is here, let's bring it up with him again right away."

Fang Ligong didn't believe Li Yunlong was there to help because the Japanese on the other side had two regiments and two battalions.

"You stay here and take command, I'm going to see him," Chu Yunfei said to Fang Ligong, and immediately walked out of the command post.

Although Chu Yunfei judged that the Japanese were about to give up, the 358th Regiment was not having an easy time either.

Since Li Yunlong has come, he's most likely not here to talk about the Hell Cannon. He's probably here for the sake of these Japanese soldiers.

If Li Yunlong were willing to cooperate with the 358th Regiment to fight these Japanese soldiers, Chu Yunfei would not easily miss out on this rare comrade-in-arms.

"Yes, Commander."

(End of this chapter)