A courtyard house; Li Yunlong, a subordinate of the deputy director of Harbin Military Engineering I

This is the commander of the Volunteer Army Headquarters, formerly the corps commander of the Third Red Army.

The legion commander walked up with a smile. "Oh, don't be surprised. I'm going back to the capital to report on the situation. I was originally going to leave the pass today, but I heard some comrades were bragging about how great their deputy commander is, so I came to see if you've come up with anything new in this demolition project."

Before Zhang Renfeng could speak, Brigade Commander Chen teased, "Haha, you can look, but then again, this is the property of our Third Army Corps, so you're not allowed to make any designs on it."

The legion commander was furious upon hearing this. "You, surnamed Chen, with only one ear, how can you be so stingy? I was just passing by and came to see the kid."

"Oh, you're the one who sent me here, and now you're the one kicking me out. I'll fucking break your legs!"

After finishing his rant, he touched his pocket again, revealing an exquisite pocket watch. "Here, I didn't have time to attend your wedding. This watch has been with me since the Pingjiang Uprising. Take it."

Zhang Renfeng was deeply moved upon seeing it.

This watch is extremely valuable!

It wasn't because of the price of the pocket watch, but because of its inherent value. It was significant, recording the legion commander's military career for half his life, and he just gave it away like that?

Isn't that a bit too much favoritism?

If General Whirlwind, Deputy Commander Deng, Big Guy Hong, and Tie Zui Xie knew about this, wouldn't they jump up and curse?

"What, you don't want it?" The legion commander pretended to put it away.

Director Nie quickly reached out to take it, then laughed and said, "Haha, this thing should be in a museum, but since it was given to me by the legion commander, I'll take it."

The legion commander watched with a smile.

Zhang Renfeng expressed his gratitude!

Then the corps commander pointed at Zhang Renfeng sternly, "You little devil, you sure know how to play the game. Oh... you insisted on getting married right before entering Korea. I told you long ago that Old Nie's daughter is extremely beautiful, but you seemed to have your eyes in the back of your head, only noticing now. Really..."

What he really meant was, why couldn't it be earlier, even before entering the court, so that at least he could get a seat at a banquet or be recognized by an elder?

After all, by this point, Zhang Renfeng was probably the only old subordinate who was still unmarried.

Most of the others had changed wives twice...

Director Nie smiled slightly, barely offering any opinion throughout the entire process. His meaning was clear: whatever you say is useless; this is my son-in-law!

Brigade Commander Chen knew his older brother's temperament. The reason why the 129th Division and the corps commander liked Zhang Renfeng so much was because of the Battle of Guanjia'nao.

If it weren't for Zhang Renfeng's intervention, the teacher and the legion commander would probably have started fighting.

At that time, the corps commander led 20,000 men of the 129th Division to besiege the Okazaki Battalion of about 500 men, but they could not take it down.

Brigade Commander Chen suffered heavy losses, which is why he urgently transferred Zhang Renfeng from elsewhere. In no time, with his concentrated explosives, Zhang Renfeng annihilated the Okazaki Battalion before the enemy reinforcements arrived.

It was during that battle that the Eighth Route Army began to study the tactics of using foxholes, with Zhang Renfeng's case being the most prominent example!

Reminiscing is always fleeting.

The corps commander said to his secretary, "Bring me that gun we got from Li Yunlong."

A moment later, the corps commander took the Type 56 assault rifle and angrily pointed it at Zhang Renfeng. Brigade Commander Chen and Director Nie chuckled to themselves.

The legion commander cursed, "You're a real piece of work! You have this stuff and you won't take it out? I'm fucking furious!"

Director Nie explained with a wry smile, "Well, how should I put it? Our industrial level is what it is. Without industry, even if we have ideas, we can't put them into practice. You've seen all the new things from Renfeng, haven't you? Your Third Red Army Corps has the most. Let's go in and take a look."

The legion commander genuinely liked him; his fiery temper and volatile temper were something most people couldn't handle.

But if you are truly skilled and capable, he will like you very much.

"Hey, hey, since everyone's here, let's go in and take a look... Commander, what you have in your hand is really nothing," Zhang Renfeng explained.

As a veteran, how could the corps commander not know the difficulties of developing weapons independently, even if it's just imitation? The technological barriers are there!

The Type 56 rifle in his hands now holds epoch-making significance for our military industry.

Now we have Type 56 rifles, but in a few years we'll have Type 66, Type 76 rifles, and even airplanes and artillery. Isn't that important?

This was a historically significant turning point for the older generation.

The fear of scarce artillery firepower, having lived a humiliating and repressed life for half my life, is just too painful and too frustrating.

Seeing the legion commander so delighted with the item, Zhang Renfeng grabbed his arm and teased, "Hey, I'm really impressed... You're still wielding a sword like that? It's embarrassing!!"

The legion commander wasn't annoyed. Instead, he paused for a moment, then laughed, "Haha, you've got some nerve with this demolition plan. If you don't perform well in the Northeast, I'll hold you responsible! If you do well, I'll give you a long life..."

He thought for a moment, "That won't do!! The Long Live Army was given to Liang Daya's 38th Army, so I'll give you the Thousand Live Army..."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Brigade Commander Chen laughed the loudest, leaning on his cane with one hand and slapping his thigh with the other, tears welling up in his eyes. After all, the front lines were tough, and it was rare to have something happy.

"The Thousand-Year Army? Brother, are you here to inspect or to raid my house? If you appoint him as the Thousand-Year Army, he'll be so arrogant he'll be swaggering. How am I supposed to control him then?"

The corps commander snorted: "You care about him? You think you can control him? Don't think I don't know about the time back in the Taihang Mountains when you led your men to steal cotton-padded clothes from the General Logistics Department. What kind of people are the soldiers you've trained? Bandits who came down from the mountains. You care about him? Hmph, I think you're the one who's been controlled by him all along."

Commander Chen was so taken aback by these words that his cane tilted slightly, and he gave Zhang Renfeng a strange look.

Zhang Renfeng feigned innocence, spreading his hands, his expression clearly saying—I didn't say anything.

Director Nie stood to the side, hands behind his back, watching the group bicker, a slight smile always playing on his lips.

He waited until everyone had finished laughing before calmly saying, "Commander, if you really give out that 'Thousand-Year Army' title, what will the other army corps think when the Volunteer Army Headquarters issues a notice saying that the Third Army Corps has a Thousand-Year Army? We haven't even driven out the Seventeen-Nation Alliance yet, and we're already dividing ourselves into different classes?"

Upon hearing this, the legion commander laughed and waved his hand, "Alright, alright, we won't shout it outside anymore. We'll shout it in private from now on."

He turned and patted Zhang Renfeng on the shoulder, his hand landing heavily and steadily: "Alright, little brat Zhang, enough nonsense. Since you're here, take me inside to see what you've been up to these past few days. In the Northwest, without your father-in-law's troops, I'd be in a tough spot too."

He spoke as he walked, his voice unusually cheerful, "By the way, I heard you guys did a pretty good job with this aid mission to Vietnam. I was talking to the committee members the other day, and they said you've given those monkeys psychological trauma. What I'm saying is, if there's any danger on the border in the future, won't you have to do something like Zhang Fei's roar at Changban Bridge..."

"Sure, think about it. Right now, you two, Chen and Zhang, have fought the most foreign wars. Young Zhang is young and promising, and he has the potential to succeed you. Shouldn't he be appointed General Zhennan? But this Chen... sigh, he's frail and sickly..."

Brigade Commander Chen: #%+%#@