Bright Sword: I built Italian cannons for Li Yunlong

As the wheels of history keep turning, Zhou Zhen, like a butterfly, remains insignificant in the face of the grand sweep of history.

Even though Zhou Zhen risked being suspected by the organization, he asked Li Yunlong to remind Kong Jie to be wary of Japanese sneak attacks.

However, Kong Jie did not take the matter too seriously, which meant that the Independent Regiment could not escape being ambushed by Yamamoto's special forces.

Fortunately, Zhou Zhen's reminder made Kong Jie more cautious, and he set up more hidden sentries, which reduced the casualties of the Independent Regiment by a lot compared to the original record.

The Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

Upon learning that the Independent Regiment had suffered heavy casualties in a surprise attack by the Japanese troops, the deputy commander-in-chief turned ashen with rage.

The boss slammed his fist on the table, angrily berating, "What kind of lousy main force is this? I think it's just dough!"

"It was utterly idiotic command; an entire regiment was wiped out by a small Japanese unit."

The room was completely silent; the staff officers dared not utter a sound.

"A commander like that is only fit to feed livestock. Go, get rid of that commander for me."

However, after the commander-in-chief finished venting his anger, he quickly calmed down and discussed with the commander of the 129th Division how to find someone to reorganize the Independent Regiment.

The division commander also nodded in agreement.

"Yes. Those who wish to govern an army must first select the right generals."

After much deliberation, the boss finally thought of someone.

He turned to the clerk beside him: "Where is Li Yunlong now?"

The clerk immediately stood at attention and replied, "Reporting, the punishment imposed on Li Yunlong by headquarters has not been lifted yet. He is still the factory director of the clothing factory in the border region."

The commander immediately ordered, "Tell him to stop embroidering and stop pretending. He should go to the Independent Regiment as its commander right now."

When the order reached the border region's clothing factory, Zhou Zhencai learned from Li Yunlong that the Independent Regiment had been attacked.

He couldn't help but sigh that even if he, like a butterfly, flapped his wings desperately, he could hardly change his predetermined fate.

As expected, Li Yunlong, who always liked to cause trouble, threw a tantrum when it came to taking up a post in the Independent Regiment.

Zhou Zhen, standing to the side, showed no intention of offering any advice. Instead, he adopted a wait-and-see attitude, patiently waiting for the plot to unfold.

As Zhou Zhen predicted, Li Yunlong, full of complaints, was severely scolded by the brigade commander who happened to arrive.

At the same time, this also allowed Zhou Zhen to witness what it means to change one's expression to the extreme.

Li Yunlong, who was originally arrogant, shouted, "Even if the Heavenly King himself came, I wouldn't go."

As soon as the brigade commander entered, the guy acted like a mouse seeing a cat, bowing and scraping non-stop.

After reprimanding Li Yunlong, the brigade commander personally went to find Zhou Zhen.

"brigadier!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, Zhou Zhen quickly stood up and saluted the brigade commander, mimicking Li Yunlong's manner.

At that moment, he had the illusion that he was eating melon seeds, but the seeds fell on him instead.

Instead, the brigade commander, who had just been extremely hot-tempered, now said with a smile, "Advisor Zhou, please sit down, don't stand."

Seeing the brigade commander, who had just been serious, now looking all warm and friendly, Zhou Zhen finally understood where Li Yunlong had learned this skill of changing his expression.

"Advisor Zhou, first of all, on behalf of all the Eighth Route Army soldiers, I would like to thank you for your contributions."

After speaking, the brigade commander gave Zhou Zhen a serious military salute, which made Zhou Zhen feel flattered.

Zhou Zhen was startled and quickly returned the greeting: "Brigade Commander, you flatter me. I can't accept such a courtesy."

The brigade commander then pulled Zhou Zhen down to sit and continued, "Advisor Zhou, you don't need to be nervous. Your boric acid solution and new cotton-padded clothes have solved a lot of problems for us. You deserve this bow from me."

"Li Yunlong just made a request to me, wanting to take you with him to the Independent Regiment. I didn't agree immediately; I wanted to hear your own opinion."

"Brigade Commander, I am willing to follow Regiment Commander Li to the Independent Regiment."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhen quickly responded. Through their time together, he had become familiar with Li Yunlong and had also figured out Li Yunlong's temperament.

The other party's daring and aggressive personality, as well as their strong execution ability, are extremely suitable for me.

Especially when faced with matters of principle, Li Yunlong was not lacking in the courage to break the mold.

The brigade commander seemed both pleased and troubled by Zhou Zhen's answer.

After a slight pause, he then shared his own opinion.

"Our base area is in a difficult situation, and what we lack is a young, promising intellectual with revolutionary enthusiasm like you."

"Considering your professional background and role, both I and the boss personally hope that you can stay in the back office. After all, you can better utilize your expertise in a relatively stable environment."

"But the front lines are dangerous, and we have to consider your safety."

Zhou Zhen himself knew that the rear was relatively safer, but the commanders wouldn't let him access the military industrial base. Although he knew that logistics and production were equally important to the Eighth Route Army, given the current situation, it would be difficult to develop heavy industry relying on the base area's own strength.

Therefore, the best way is to seize the equipment and materials that the Japanese have on hand.

With the current equipment of the Eighth Route Army, it would be very difficult to attack a county town.

The Eighth Route Army's operations were mostly guerrilla warfare, mainly attacking key transportation routes and weakly defended strongholds. For example, when Li Yunlong attacked Ping'an County, it was Chu Yunfei, Ding Wei, and Kong Jie who helped to besiege the stronghold and intercept reinforcements.

Therefore, Zhou Zhen was eager to get involved in the Eighth Route Army's military industry as soon as possible, and to improve the Eighth Route Army's equipment strength under the existing conditions.

As long as someone has the ability to attack a county town, a person like Li Yunlong who dares to fight and take risks will definitely go to the county towns occupied by the Japanese to do some side business.

With his advanced knowledge and the gradually improving industry, he could definitely achieve a chemical effect where one plus one is greater than two.

He provided the frontline soldiers with more powerful weapons and equipment, and the soldiers, armed with even stronger weapons and equipment, then went to plunder the Japanese industrial equipment and supplies. This snowballing development was the only way to achieve his goal in a short period of time.

It's even possible that he hoped to leave more Japanese soldiers on this devastated land as fertilizer, since there's a saying in later generations: "Kill more Japanese soldiers—prolong life."

He ignored Li Yunlong, who was constantly winking and gesturing at him from the side. Without even looking, he knew that Li Yunlong definitely wanted him to quickly refuse the brigade commander and go with him to the Independent Regiment to do something big.

Zhou Zhen straightened his clothes and said solemnly, "Brigade Commander, I appreciate your kindness. Although the front line is dangerous, I still want to stay there. Only on the front line can I know what the soldiers urgently need."

The brigade commander was amazed that he had such courage and boldness at such a young age.

He stopped insisting and agreed to Zhou Zhen's request.

Finally, he turned his gaze to Li Yunlong, his tone becoming stern again: "Li Yunlong, I'm giving you the man. But remember this: Comrade Zhou Zhen is a valuable talent, not your soldier! You must guarantee his safety and respect his professional opinions! If he loses even a single hair in the Independent Regiment, I'll hold you responsible!"

"Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!" Li Yunlong snapped to attention, then grinned, "And Brigade Commander, Zhang Dabiao…"

"I'll arrange Zhang Dabiao's transfer paperwork." The brigade commander waved his hand. "Hurry up and pack your things. Report to the Independent Regiment first thing tomorrow morning! Don't let me hear you complain again!"

"Yes!" Li Yunlong replied.