Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

Li Yunlong almost dropped the cigarette in his hand.

He hurriedly caught the cigarette, his eyes wide open.

"What did you say?"

"Twenty mortars?"

"Twenty 60mm mortars."

"It has already been assigned to the artillery battalion, and Tian Guoqiang is leading his men to familiarize themselves with the equipment."

Li Yunlong's mouth was open, and he couldn't close it for a long time.

He looked at Zhou Tianyang with the same look in his eyes as someone who hadn't eaten for a month seeing a table full of fish and meat.

He remained silent for several seconds before speaking, his voice carrying an indescribable complexity.

"Twenty mortars? Where did you get them?"

Zhou Tianyang did not answer the question, but simply smiled.

Li Yunlong stared at him for a few seconds, as if he understood something, and didn't ask any further questions.

He leaned back on the stone bench, looked up at the sky, and let out a long breath.

"Twenty mortars..."

"Our new regiment only has one mortar so far, and we don't even have many shells."

He sat up straight again, his gaze returning to Zhou Tianyang's face.

"You think you can just use these twenty cannons to fight the 107th Regiment head-on?"

"It's not a direct confrontation."

Zhou Tianyang's tone was calm.

"Launch them first."

"Once Koichi Abe's troops enter the ambush zone, use artillery fire to block their retreat, attack their command system, and suppress their artillery positions."

"If all goes well, we'll wipe out half of his forces in the first few rounds of attacks."

"Then we'll organize a counterattack after he realizes what's happening."

"At that time, it was positional warfare, but the initiative in positional warfare was in our hands, not in the hands of the Japanese."

"We were in a pre-established position, waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, while he was dragged into positional warfare amidst the chaos. The two are completely different."

Li Yunlong remained silent for a long time.

His gaze fell on the gradually brightening sky in the distance.

"Zhou Xiaogui, do you know what you're saying?"

"You're going to fight a positional war against a Japanese regiment."

"They faced off against more than three thousand Japanese soldiers head-on."

"Our Eighth Route Army has always fought guerrilla warfare, striking and running away, never engaging in a war of attrition with the Japanese."

"Are you willing to take this risk?"

"Old Li, I have a question for you."

Zhou Tianyang did not answer directly, but instead asked a question in return.

"How will the 69th Regiment treat the villagers after they enter the base area?"

Li Yunlong opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"The 107th Regiment will do the same thing after it enters the base area."

Zhou Tianyang's tone remained calm, but beneath that calmness lay an unquestionable certainty.

"If I choose to fight a guerrilla war today and then run away, then Koichi Abe will storm into those villages tomorrow."

"He can run away, but the common people can't."

"Our Eighth Route Army fought guerrilla warfare not because we liked guerrilla warfare, but because we couldn't fight positional warfare. Our equipment was inadequate, we didn't have enough ammunition, and we lacked firepower."

"Now, the situation has changed."

"The new Second Regiment has equipment and firepower, and is capable of fighting a tough battle against the Japanese in a localized battlefield."

"If we have the ability to protect those civilians but don't do it, then what kind of Eighth Route Army are we?"

Li Yunlong looked at him, and the look in his eyes gradually changed.

"you're right."

He carried an unusual solemnity.

"When I couldn't win a fight in the past, I knew when to run."

"But if we have the ability to fight and don't fight, then we really have no face to call ourselves the Eighth Route Army."

He stood up, stubbed out his cigarette on the edge of the table, and then reached out his hand to Zhou Tianyang.

"Zhou Xiaogui, I can't be of any help in this battle."

"But while you held off the 107th Regiment head-on, I'll wage guerrilla warfare on the flanks and make sure the 69th Regiment doesn't have an easy time."

Zhou Tianyang stood up, grasped his hand, and shook it vigorously.

"Old Li, be careful over there too."

"When fighting a guerrilla war, don't linger in battle; fight and run to preserve your strength."

Li Yunlong let go, picked up the hat from the table, and put it on his head.

"Alright, I should head back now."

"The new regiment is still waiting for deployment."

He turned and took two steps toward the courtyard gate, then stopped and looked back at Zhou Tianyang.

"Could you spare two of your twenty cannons for me?"

Zhou Tianyang couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's talk about it after this battle is over."

"Then it's settled."

Li Yunlong pointed at Zhou Tianyang.

"You owe me two cannons. I'll come and collect them myself after the war."

After he finished speaking, he didn't wait for Zhou Tianyang's reply, turned around and strode out of the yard.

Two guards jogged after him from the gate of the compound.

The three of them walked quickly along the village road toward the village entrance.

Zhou Tianyang stood at the courtyard gate, watching Li Yunlong's figure disappear.

……

After half an hour.

At the threshing ground in Lijia Yu.

More than two thousand soldiers lined up.

The four infantry battalions were arranged in square formations from east to west.

The first battalion was on the far left, followed by the second, third, and fourth battalions.

The artillery battalion's position was located on the westernmost side of the threshing ground.

Tian Guoqiang stood at the front of the line, with three artillery company soldiers behind him.

The threshing ground was extremely quiet.

No one spoke, no one whispered.

Zhou Tianyang stood on an earthen platform at the front of the group, his gaze sweeping over each of their faces.

At the very front of the battalion stood Zhao Wenlong, carrying an M1 Garand rifle on his back, his back ramrod straight.

Tian Chengjun, from the Second Battalion, appeared calm and composed.

Sun Shengli of the Third Battalion was unusually free of his usual joking and laughing demeanor.

Deng Chen from the Fourth Battalion looked serious.

Zhou Tianyang remained silent for a moment.

Comrades.

"The 31st Brigade of the Japanese 109th Division is advancing towards our base area."

"The Japanese regiment of over three thousand men has several hundred more men than our New Second Regiment."

"We are at a disadvantage in terms of numbers."

"In terms of artillery fire, the Japanese have infantry guns, which can fire farther than our mortars."

"In terms of equipment, they are well-trained and have rich combat experience."

"On paper, this battle will not be easy."

Zhou Tianyang's gaze swept across the entire room, and his voice rose a few decibels.

"But what I'm going to tell you today is..."

"The Japanese have their advantages, and we have ours."

"Our guns are better than the Japanese's; we can fire a shot with a single pull of the trigger, without needing to cock the bolt."

"We have twenty mortars. Although they are smaller than the Japanese infantry guns, they can still kill them in a fight."

"More importantly, we are familiar with the terrain here."

Zhou Tianyang's voice grew louder and louder.

"This battle was the largest Japanese force that the New Second Regiment had faced since its formation."

"It was also the first time we fought a head-on battle against the Japanese."

"In the past, we used ambushes, sneak attacks, and guerrilla warfare; those were strategies."

"Today we are fighting a positional war, waiting in ambush on our pre-established positions to drag the Japanese into our rhythm of attack."

"The guns you have are better than the Japanese soldiers', and your training is more thorough than theirs."

"You have the advantage of terrain, the element of surprise, and artillery support."

"All of these things combined are the foundation of our confidence to win."

"Comrades, Koichi Abe believes his regiment is invincible on the North China battlefield."

"This time, I'm going to make him stumble in front of the new Second Regiment."

"Do you have confidence?"