Bright Sword: Leading the Special Operations Squadron to Fight the Japs

Li Yunlong handed the telegram to Wang Meng with a smile.

"Mengzi, the head of the headquarters has something to tell you."

"what?"

"See for yourself."

Wang Meng took the telegram and silently read out those words that carried a lot of weight.

"Comrade Wang Meng is proposed to be appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Shanxi-West Independent Column of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army."

He was not a fan of officialdom, but with the appointment from the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, he had left his mark in this era.

Li Yunlong's heartbeat kept accelerating. Wang Meng has been participating in the battle as the captain of the special forces team. He is relatively independent of the independent regiment and the independent column. In other words, he can take the special forces team away at any time.

But once he accepted the appointment from the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, his fate would become inseparable from that of the Independent Column.

"Mengzi, don't feel pressured. If you have any difficulties, I will talk to the higher-ups. You can't just force a man to join you!"

"Commander, I agree!"

Li Yunlong burst into laughter, and this time Wang Meng was tied to his side firmly.

After taking office, Zhang Xuan replaced Wang Meng as the new captain of the special operations team, and Zhang Meng officially became the chief of staff of the Shanxi-West Independent Column.

It is said that new leaders should strive for some benefits for their subordinates when they take office. Wang Meng was no ambiguity and took a full set of equipment including brand new 21-style training uniforms, 21-style combat boots, W15-style helmets, etc.

"Commander, what do you think of my equipment?"

"Sure! Isn't this equipment specially made for the special forces and reconnaissance battalion? It's warm in winter and cool in summer, and the quality is very good!"

"If I buy a new set of uniforms for the entire army from abroad, will we not suffer from frostbite and casualties?"

Li Yunlong was ecstatic. The Eighth Route Army had always been short of supplies. Now they had all the weapons, ammunition and food. However, the soldiers' uniforms were still not available, especially as winter was about to come. The winter in western Shanxi was no joke.

"Mengzi, if you can get so many sets of military uniforms, it will save the lives of our soldiers. Although Lao Li is a rough man, it really hurts when I see our soldiers with frostbite all over their bodies and charging with guns!"

"Commander, there is no problem with the uniform, but it is a little different from the earth-gray color of our Eighth Route Army. I wonder if the headquarters and the brigade have any objections?"

"Let's go to the brigade headquarters!"

Li Yunlong put on a full set of equipment, took a cart of weapons and ammunition and 10 Type 21 training coats, and rushed to the brigade headquarters with Wang Meng without stopping.

When Brigade Commander Chen saw Li Yunlong wearing the Type 21 military uniform for the first time, his eyes lit up.

I didn't expect that he would look like a handsome young man in this desert camouflage suit.

"Li Yunlong, are you going to be a new son-in-law? Why are you taking out the new clothes for the New Year?"

"Brigade Commander, how about our uniform?"

"Yes, it looks good quality and warm. Where did you get it?"

Wang Meng saluted.

"Reporting to the brigade commander, it was donated by overseas Chinese. This uniform is warm in winter and cool in summer, has good wear resistance, and can be seen even when lying in the grass, which is very suitable for ambushes. However, the color is different from our Eighth Route Army uniforms. I took more than a dozen and did not take the others."

Brigade Commander Chen pointed at Wang Meng's nose and his face twisted with anger.

"Wang Meng, I think you've become arrogant just because you became the chief of staff? You don't even want the free uniform? We in the Eighth Route Army have a hard life, and the uniforms are all different. But no matter what the uniforms look like, as long as we are united in heart, that's all that matters! Give it to me!"

Li Yunlong and Wang Meng looked at each other.

"what?"

"Give me a few sets of military uniforms. I'll send them to the headquarters for the commander to see and report to. You two should quickly get the new uniforms donated by overseas Chinese and save the cotton fabrics for other troops!"

"Yes! By the way, Brigadier General, can we exchange the cotton fabrics we saved for new soldiers?"

"Fuck off!"

Li Yunlong unloaded a truckload of supplies in a sullen manner. In the past, the soldiers in the brigade would have gathered around to watch this stingy man being plundered, but now they are used to it.

Li Yunlong is now a wealthy man, and no one knows how many soldiers and weapons and equipment he has.

Li Yunlong said just one sentence: military secret.

As soon as Wang Meng returned to Shipo Township, he found a vacant lot and checked the balance of points on his handheld terminal. He had made a lot of money after the battle in Linzhou, and he still had [points].

Considering the 8,000 men in the column, it is more than enough.

Li Yunlong immediately convened a meeting of all cadres at the regimental level and above in the entire column, requiring each regiment to report the number of people.

Zhang Dabiao and the other two's eyes turned, and each team reported the minimum number, for fear that if they reported more, Li Yunlong would coordinate support from other troops.

When Li Yunlong read the report, he found that the first regiment reported 1,500 people, the second regiment reported 1,600 people, and the third regiment reported 1,300 people.

The other troops reported the number of people truthfully and submitted rosters.

"Zhang Dabiao, Shen Quan, Wang Huaibao, you three are deceiving me. When you received the equipment, you all reported more than 2,000. Now you all report a little over 1,000. And you, Wang Huaibao, did you learn bad things from them? You reported the least!"

Zhang Dabiao and the other two lowered their heads and kept silent. They just kept their mouths shut and didn't care what Li Yunlong said.

"Okay, then don't regret it!"

Wang Meng looked at the three regiment commanders with a smile. He would wait until the military uniforms were distributed and then see how they would embarrass themselves.

"Commanders, winter is coming soon. Patriots from abroad have donated a batch of new military uniforms to us, the same ones worn by the special operations team and the reconnaissance battalion, so I want you to count the number of people! Next, it is expected that everyone will send people to the headquarters to collect the uniforms in three days!"

Li Yunlong looked at Zhang Dabiao and the other two with a sneer. They had been playing with eagles all their lives, and now they got pecked in the eye by an eagle, right?

"I'm warning you, if there aren't enough new uniforms, they must be worn by the soldiers. As for what you officers wear, it's up to you guys!"

Zhang Dabiao and the other two are now shooting themselves in the foot. They thought they were being clever and could prevent their soldiers from being poached, but now, their new clothes are gone.

Usually, the soldiers in the regiment looked eagerly at the reconnaissance battalion wearing new uniforms, which were warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and most importantly, rainproof and wear-resistant.

All the new clothes you got have been pushed out?

Swallow the broken teeth.

Three days later, all the regiments and directly affiliated units came with their men to receive their military uniforms. They were all in high spirits, except for the three infantry regiments, who looked listless.

Zhang Dabiao and the other two honestly handed in the roster. Wow, each regiment had grown to nearly 2,000 people.

"Humph, you want to make amends? No way, take your uniforms back! If you don't have enough, find a way yourself!"

After changing into new uniforms, the independent column is now united from top to bottom, and the military appearance and discipline have been completely raised to a higher level.

This set of clothes is now the symbol of the entire Jinnan Independent Column. The soldiers pay more attention to their words and actions when they go out, for fear that their behavior will bring discredit to the Independent Column.

Some people like to celebrate the Spring Festival, some people like to celebrate the Qingming Festival.

At the Taiyuan First Army Headquarters, Yoshio Shinozuka launched an encirclement and suppression operation against the "Independent Regiment".