You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

Having dealt with the main force, Lin Feng then thought of the three battalions—the 4th, 5th, and 6th—composed of new recruits.

Although these three battalions have a large number of men, their combat effectiveness is worrying. If they are not led, they will be defeated soldiers on the battlefield.

Lin Feng's solution was also very direct:

"Exchange for 3 junior officer command platoons and go to the 4th, 5th, and 6th battalions to serve as battalion commanders and battalion staff officers."

"Exchange for another 10 basic infantry squads, break them up and distribute them to become company commanders, platoon leaders, and squad leaders."

These three recruit battalions are supported by an absolutely loyal and professional system soldier as their backbone.

As long as the core remains intact, this unit can fight tough battles.

Next up is the heavy firepower upgrade.

"System, redeem 18 basic heavy machine gun squads."

"upgrade."

In an instant, the heavy machine gun squad's equipment was transformed into M1919A4 air-cooled heavy machine guns.

"Upgrade again."

Soon, 18 rugged-looking heavy machine guns with thick barrels appeared in front of Lin Feng. They were M2HB 12.7mm heavy machine guns mounted on tripods.

During this period when the Great Xia Air Force was almost completely depleted, the Japanese planes acted with impunity, even daring to fly low and strafe biplanes.

With these 18 "Lao Gan Ma" guns, plus the 20mm autocannons on the armored vehicles, Lin Feng's main force would at least not be completely helpless against the Japanese aircraft.

「这18挺M2HB，分给1、2、3营，每个营6挺，专门负责防空和反轻装甲。」

As for the 18 Maxim and 18 M1919A4 helicopters that were retired during the upgrade process...

Lin Feng glanced at the mountain of machine guns piled up in his space and chuckled.

"They're all treasures; they'll all be distributed to the 4th, 5th, and 6th Battalions later."

In this way, even those three "miscellaneous battalions" could each be allocated 6 Maxim guns and 6 M1919 guns.

Although the militiamen's marksmanship might be lacking, a heavy machine gun, if you dare to pull the trigger, can kill even by spraying water.

Once you've fired enough bullets, your shooting skills will naturally improve.

Finally, there's the artillery.

Lin Feng exchanged for 12 new mortar squads.

Then, for the first upgrade, it was fitted with Hans's sGW 34 81mm mortar.

This classic Hans battalion-class mortar has a rate of fire of 25 rounds per minute and a range of 3km with additional propellant. It can use fragmentation rounds and smoke rounds.

The improvement over the Shanghai-made 82mm mortars used in the basic crew is not significant.

However, the next upgrade will be quite significant.

It only takes another 80 merit points to upgrade to the Granatwerfer 42 120mm mortar.

When those 12 massive cannon barrels came into view, Lin Feng felt his breath catch for a moment.

120mm diameter.

Bigger is better!

This is the German-made PM-38 mortar, a copy of the Soviet model, with extremely excellent performance.

Maximum range of 6 kilometers, rate of fire of 8-10 rounds per minute.

What's most terrifying is its power.

A 120mm mortar shell weighs 16 kilograms and has several times the explosive charge of a 75mm mountain gun shell.

Once the ball is fired, an area the size of half a basketball court is completely devastated.

Of course, the Kremlin mountain guns could fire directly, but they couldn't be strayed either, so Lin Feng exchanged for 8 more, making a total of 12.

This gave him two fully-equipped artillery battalions with ample firepower.

One mountain artillery battalion was responsible for direct fire assaults and anti-tank operations, while one heavy mortar battalion was responsible for indirect fire coverage and demolition of buildings.

This firepower will definitely give the Japanese a big surprise.

As for the 82mm and 81mm mortars that were phased out, Lin Feng didn't waste them; he stored them all in the system space.

After all, the militiamen weren't skilled at using mortars, so he decided to either keep them to use on the battlefield to recruit experienced Nationalist soldiers who had fled, or sell them to friendly forces for money later.

Finally, Lin Feng used the remaining points to purchase a large amount of ammunition, medicine, and dry rations, which he prepared to distribute to various battalions, companies, and platoons as combat reserves.

After a frenzy of "buying, buying, buying," Lin Feng glanced at the system panel.

Current merit points: 1120

Current exchange points: 480

Although the family's resources have shrunk considerably, Lin Feng feels it's worth it. The equipment of the three main battalions is now no worse than that of the Tax Police Corps.

Considering that he wasn't far from upgrading to Level III privileges, and that he would likely only need to fight one or two more battles in Shanghai to upgrade, Lin Feng decided to save his remaining money to exchange for any new units that might be available once he reached Level III.

-----

After preparing the troops, Lin Feng arranged for their departure while also recruiting more than 300 laborers around Qing County.

On the day of departure, almost all the people in the county came.

When the people heard that the security regiment was leaving, they panicked, fearing that the bandits who had been wiped out would rise again once Commander Lin left.

But when they heard that Commander Lin had been transferred to Shanghai to fight the Japanese, the people's eyes changed.

There was no attempt to persuade them to stay; only a silent farewell.

An elderly woman with a full head of white hair shakily squeezed out of the crowd, carrying a basket in her hand containing dozens of boiled eggs, still steaming hot.

"Commander Lin, take this, eat it on the way." The old woman stuffed the basket into Lin Feng's hand, her eyes red. "Fighting the Japanese is a big deal. We can't help, but we can't let the children go to the battlefield hungry."

Nearby, several young women, blushing, handed over the cloth shoes with thick soles that they had sewn overnight to the passing soldiers.

As Lin Feng rode on his horse, looking at these simple and honest faces, he felt as if a heavy stone was lodged in his chest, both heavy and warm.

He took a deep breath and suddenly spoke:

"Attention! Salute!"

"brush!"

The officers and soldiers raised their right hands in unison and gave a standard military salute to the villagers who came to see them off.

Lin Feng looked around, and, caught up in the emotions, shouted from the bottom of his heart:

"Fellow countrymen, the Japanese devils have gone too far, trying to destroy our country and exterminate our race. I am going here not for promotion or wealth, but only to kill the enemy and serve my country."

Since he has traveled through time once, he has this responsibility:

"I, Lin Feng, hereby swear that I will not return home until the Japanese pirates are wiped out."

The roar of nearly three thousand people coalesced into a thunderous cry: "We will not return home until the Japanese pirates are destroyed!"

-----

Two days later, at the provincial capital's train station.

When Lin Feng arrived with his troops, two other security regiments that had been incorporated into the "Third Anti-Japanese Security Brigade of Zhejiang Province" had already arrived.

According to the established organization, Lin Feng was appointed as the brigade commander and the commander of the first regiment. The other two regiments were reorganized from the security regiments of Ning County and Hai County, respectively.

"This is Brigade Commander Lin? He's truly young and promising."

The speaker was Zhang Wenzhong, the head of the Ning County Security Corps. He was in his fifties, with a graying beard, but his back was ramrod straight.

He was a veteran of the Baoding Military Academy. Although he had spent many years in civilian life, he still retained the discipline of an old soldier.

Another head of the Haixian Security Corps, Li Dadao, was a rough man with a face full of scars and a large, grotesque knife on his back.

He introduced himself as a former member of the Northwest Army, who, after the Central Plains War, led his former subordinates to make a living in the local area.

The two men initially looked down on Lin Feng, the young brigade commander, but when they saw the well-organized and well-equipped battalion behind him, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

They were all wearing M35 steel helmets, carrying brand-new Zhongzheng rifles, with two Czech-made rifles in each squad. The soldiers were all in high spirits and exuded a fierce aura.

Then look at the soldiers under his command, wearing tattered gray uniforms, carrying old rifles and Hanyang rifles, some even carrying opium pipes...

"Goodness..." Li Dadao swallowed hard. "Brigade Commander Lin, this isn't a security regiment, is it? Even the Central Army's Training Corps isn't this extravagant!"

Regiment Commander Zhang was also shocked, then smiled wryly: "It seems that our two regiments are here to assist Brigade Commander Lin."