Bright Sword: I built Italian cannons for Li Yunlong

Hearing Kong Jie's teasing, Li Yunlong patted him on the shoulder triumphantly.

"Old Kong, don't be envious. I'm not bragging, but you really can't learn this skill."

"Wow! Political Commissar Zhao, did you see that?" Kong Jie pointed at Li Yunlong and laughed at Zhao Gang beside him, "I told you this kid is like a dog! I just praised him a couple of times and his tail immediately sticks up in the air."

Li Yunlong completely ignored Kong Jie's teasing, and instead raised his chin at Zhao Gang.

"Old Zhao, tell me, isn't Old Li this time like an imperial envoy in a play, carrying out orders?"

He couldn't help but laugh after saying that.

Zhao Gang was a scholar by birth, and his personality was much more composed than Li Yunlong's.

He didn't respond to Li Yunlong's words, but instead earnestly reminded him, "Regimental Commander, headquarters has ordered us to procure raw materials to support the arsenal. It's a major undertaking, a good thing."

"But precisely because it is important, we cannot be careless in the slightest. After all, the Japanese weapons are not to be underestimated."

"Any carelessness could cost our comrades their lives."

"Old Zhao, Old Zhao," Li Yunlong walked over and replied confidently, "Don't worry, when has Old Li ever done a losing business?"

"We're the ones who always take advantage of others, not the other way around. Don't worry, as long as Old Li takes action, I guarantee I'll bring some real stuff back to headquarters."

Kong Jie cleared his throat and smiled at Zhao Gang, "Political Commissar Zhao, on this point, Li Yunlong really wasn't lying. That kid has more tricks up his sleeve than anyone else, and he's full of crooked ideas."

"The one who can make him suffer, I reckon, hasn't been born yet."

He paused, leaned closer to Zhao Gang, and continued, "You wouldn't believe it, back when we were crossing the grasslands, all the other regiments were starving, eating tree bark and grass roots. Guess what Li Yunlong ate?"

He deliberately stopped and glanced at Li Yunlong.

Zhao Gang thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Old Kong, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me what Old Li ate?"

Kong Jie chuckled: "This guy is actually eating beef and drinking alcohol."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Gang's face showed genuine surprise and confusion.

"Oh? That's strange. Where did he get it?"

His gaze swept back and forth over Li Yunlong, full of inquiry.

"At the time, Commander Xu assigned this kid to cover the rear," Kong Jie explained, gesturing vividly. "By the time their troops arrived at the assembly point, the advance troops had already bought up all the available grain in the vicinity."

"That kid Li Yunlong clearly wasn't happy about it."

"This kid is really bolder than an ox, actually letting his troops rob grain."

"When the boss found out, he was furious and immediately stripped him of his battalion commander hat!"

At this moment, he turned to look at Li Yunlong, his eyes full of mockery, "That very day, he was sent to the mess hall to work as a cook, carrying the big pot."

"Kong Erlengzi!" Li Yunlong's dark face flushed red, as if he had been stepped on.

"You have no sense of propriety when it comes to your mouth. You're going to spill all that old stuff from years ago?"

"You're still laughing? Back when we were crossing the grasslands, it suddenly started hailing, and I was perfectly fine with a big pot on my head. Have you forgotten that you got hit and ended up with a black eye and a swollen face?"

Seeing that this kid was about to expose his shortcomings, Kong Jie quickly said, "Okay, okay, I won't say anymore, alright?"

"Alright, alright, enough of the chit-chat, let's get down to business!"

Li Yunlong waved his hand, and the smile on his face instantly vanished.

He walked a few steps to the military map, his eyes becoming as sharp as a hawk's.

"Since the headquarters commander has given the order, then our Independent Regiment will do a great job."

"Old Zhao, you need to find a way to contact the militia and local comrades around our defense zone. Cast a wide net, the wider the better. We have only one goal: to find out which Japanese stronghold has the supplies we need recently."

"If all else fails, keep a close eye on anyone who's even remotely related."

"I need to know where these things came from, and what the defenses are like. The more detailed the information, the better, and the sooner the better!"

"Understood!" Zhao Gang replied solemnly, immediately standing up. "I'll take care of it right away."

Li Yunlong nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Kong Jie, who had been itching to get started: "Old Kong! From today onwards, the training intensity of each battalion must be increased, especially for night raids."

Kong Jie puffed out his chest, his face radiating murderous intent: "Yes! Don't worry, I'll personally oversee things and train these lads to be awesome!"

"And what about you, Commander?" After assigning the tasks, Zhao Gang and Kong Jie asked almost simultaneously, their eyes also falling on Li Yunlong.

Li Yunlong chuckled, his murderous aura vanishing instantly, replaced by his usual roguish and shrewd demeanor.

He exhaled a puff of smoke, a smug, fox-like smile spreading across his face: "Me? I'll have to go out and make some money for our Independent Regiment myself."

"Begging for alms?" Zhao Gang was taken aback, then realized what he meant, and shook his head with a wry smile.

Kong Jie's eyes lit up; he greatly admired Lao Li's "pragmatic" approach.

What a shrewd man Li Yunlong was! The headquarters commander personally issued the order, specifically requesting these strange and unusual chemical raw materials.

After a little thought, he could guess that this matter was probably related to his exceptionally capable friend, Consultant Zhou.

This friend must have come up with some amazing new gadget to make headquarters rush Li Yunlong to go out and do a "side business".

"If a landlord hires a day laborer to work in the fields, he should at least provide him with a handy hoe!"

Li Yunlong secretly made his own plans.

"Our Old Li, a dignified regimental commander, is working for Old Zhou. Shouldn't his employer at least give him some advance payment?"

Having made up his mind, Li Yunlong hurriedly led a guard squad, riding horses towards the Huangyadong Arsenal.

When Li Yunlong arrived, covered in dust, Zhou Zhenzheng and several key technical personnel, including Master Han and Master Liu, were squatting on a relatively flat open space in the factory area, writing and drawing.

"Director Zhou, the amount of lead that headquarters sent over is only enough for the most critical reaction chamber at best." Master Han pointed to a complex structure on the sketch, his brows furrowed. "For the other parts, according to your design, we can only use uranium ceramic jars instead."

Master Liu added, "We've tried brushing raw lacquer inside the ceramic pipes a few times. It works for small-scale production, but for large-scale production, with high gas flow and large temperature variations, it's easy for them to crack, and the ceramic pipes will be unusable after a short time."

Zhou Zhen stared at the sketch, his fingers unconsciously tapping on his knees.

The scarcity of lead is the biggest obstacle to the construction of "lead chamber" equipment.