Courtyard House: Home Alone

"Buying and selling..." he repeated the word softly, as if savoring a bitter pill, "What do you want?"

Lin Yifan didn't answer immediately. He got up and walked to the wall, looking up at the painting "The Great Wall". The Great Wall meandered and undulated in the painting, with beacon towers one after another, standing silently in the vast twilight.

"Commander Kong, where was your Second New Regiment's original defense zone?"

"The eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains, around Shexian County," Kong Jie answered quickly, an instinctive reaction.

"terrain?"

"The mountains are high and the valleys are deep, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. The main Japanese force can't get in, but we—" Kong Jie paused, "we're also finding it difficult to get out."

Xiao Yifu and Kong Jie exchanged a glance. The latter nodded slightly, and then the former spoke: "Headquarters has strategic considerations for this trip to Beiping, and it is inconvenient to go into the specific arrangements."

But what the young master said is right. We need room to maneuver, but even more importantly, we need the confidence to deter the Japanese from making any rash moves.

Lin Yifan walked back to the table and tapped his fingers lightly on the surface: "I'm too lazy to ask about your specific tasks and deployments. 'Ghost' will give you what you want. I'm prepared to equip you with weapons and equipment according to the scale of a 20,000-strong force."

However, I hope you can expand your troops as much as possible, quickly develop combat capability, and safeguard the Beiping area.

Kong Jie's brows furrowed deeply, as if he wanted to etch those two words into his forehead. He subconsciously leaned forward, his rough hands resting on his knees: "Equipment for 20,000 men?"

"Rifles, light and heavy machine guns, mortars, grenade launchers, and sufficient ammunition." Lin Yifan's tone was as calm as reciting a menu. "In addition, we have twenty Type 92 infantry guns and ten mountain guns, with ammunition allocated at five standard loads."

Xiao Yifu's glasses slipped down to the tip of his nose, but he didn't bother to push them back up. His lips moved slightly, as if he were silently calculating something. Kong Jie, on the other hand, stood up abruptly, the chair legs scraping loudly on the floor.

"You…" His voice trembled, "Do you know what the equipment of 20,000 people means? How many people are there in our entire 129th Division?"

"Commander Kong,"

Lin Yifan looked up at him, his gaze clear. "How many men your 129th Division has is none of my business. What I need is a capable fighting force in the Beiping area, one that can hold onto the gains made by the 'Ghost'. Now that your New 2nd Regiment is here, you must be able to shoulder this responsibility."

He paused, his voice now carrying a deeper meaning: "Besides, even if we give you the equipment, if you don't have enough men, can't you recruit more? How many able-bodied men in central and southern Hebei want to fight the Japanese but don't have guns? Aren't you Red Army members the best at mobilizing the masses?"

Kong Jie's Adam's apple bobbed violently. He thought of the villagers in Shexian who followed behind them carrying hoes and spears, the smiling faces of the soldiers when they exchanged their captured Type 38 rifles for broadswords and spears, and the mobilization speech given by the political instructor before each battle—"Once we have cannons and machine guns, we will no longer have to sacrifice lives."

Those images flooded back like a tide, making his eyes sting.

"Young Master Lin," Xiao Yifu finally pushed his glasses back into place, his voice trembling slightly, "this...this deal, what are we going to offer in exchange?"

Just as Lin Yifan was about to speak, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Old Zhou entered carrying a writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, followed by a middle-aged man in a long robe carrying a sandalwood abacus.

"Young master, the accountant has arrived." Old Zhou arranged the things on the table and then stepped back to the door.

Lin Yifan nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work. You don't need to be the accountant anymore. You can go out now. We still have some things to discuss." After saying that, he pushed the paper and pen to Political Commissar Xiao.

Xiao Yifu took the paper and pen, his fingertips touching the warm patina on the wolf-hair brush handle, and paused slightly. He looked up at Lin Yifan, his gaze behind his glasses carrying a hint of caution: "Young master, what is this…?"

"You can take notes of the list of weapons and supplies prepared for you."

Xiao Yifu spread out the paper, the wolf-hair brush hanging on the Xuan paper, the ink congealing into full teardrops. He suddenly realized that his hands were trembling—not from fear, but from the trembling of a farmer facing the first thunder before a storm, like a parched land finally receiving rain.

"Write it down." Lin Yifan's voice seemed to come from a great distance. "I'll say it, and you write it down."

"Rifles, Type 38 or Type 24, 15,000 units."

Kong Jie's breathing became heavy. He recalled that winter when he first arrived in Shanxi. Of the more than 300 men in the regiment, only about 80 rifles were still operational. The remaining soldiers carried broadswords and red-tasseled spears, ambushing the Japanese transport teams in the snow.

"Light machine guns, Czech-made or Type 91 (or Type 11) light machine guns, 360 in total."

Xiao Yifu's pen scratched across the paper with a soft, rustling sound, like silkworms nibbling on mulberry leaves. He subconsciously added "six guns per company" after the numbers—a standard configuration he'd learned about during his time at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, one he'd never imagined would one day...

"One hundred Type 92 heavy machine guns, thirty mortars, twenty Type 92 infantry guns, and ten mountain guns, with a full five basic loads of ammunition."

In addition, there were 1,000 boxes of hand grenades, 20 radios, and 50 sets of medical equipment and medicines.

Add another 20,000 sets of bedding, 200 tons of rice, 300 tons of cornmeal, and 300 tons of flour.

That's all for now. As for what you'll use to repay the debt, that's none of your concern. Just collect the goods and get a receipt. I'll use the receipt to contact the manager and your deputy commander.

Xiao Yifu's pen tip hovered above the words "three hundred and sixty," the ink spreading to form an increasingly large black dot. He suddenly stopped, looked up at Lin Yifan: "Young master, this number..."

"What's wrong?"

"There are 360 ​​light machine guns. With a force of 20,000 men as you mentioned, that's exactly six per company."

Xiao Yifu's voice was somewhat hoarse, "But a hundred heavy machine guns, that's equivalent to a heavy machine gun company in each battalion. In the Eighth Route Army, that's only at the brigade level..."

"What do you mean, 'worthy'?" Lin Yifan interrupted him. "Only worthy of me?"

Xiao Yifu remained silent, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes behind his glasses. Kong Jie, however, suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse as if squeezed from the depths of his chest: "Young Master Lin, do you know how many heavy machine guns a division of our Eighth Route Army has?"

"How many?"

"The entire 129th Division had fewer than thirty heavy machine guns when it was reorganized last year." Kong Jie's fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "You're now giving a regiment a hundred?"

"That's why I told you to expand your forces."

Lin Yifan's tone remained unchanged. "Twenty thousand is the bottom line, not the upper limit. In the plains of central Hebei and the mountainous areas of southern Hebei, how many guerrilla groups and militias wanted to fight the Japanese but lacked the weapons? Your New Second Regiment has guns, artillery, and radios. Is it so difficult for you to recruit soldiers?"

Kong Jie's lips trembled slightly. He recalled last month in Shexian County, when a squad leader knelt before him, begging him to spare two rifles—behind that squad leader stood more than twenty young men, the oldest eighteen and the youngest only fourteen, clutching hoes and sickles, their eyes gleaming with an alarming light.

"Recruit..." he uttered with difficulty, "We can recruit people, but what about training them? We have the weapons, but what about the ammunition? The five basic units you gave us, are they enough for a few tough battles..."

Although our orders were to protect Beiping, and "Ghost" and the Japanese had an agreement, the Japanese were habitually treacherous...