Liang Jian: Lao Li, I'm really not a military expert

Lin Zhenhua was too lazy to discuss the large-scale troop mobilization of the Japanese with Wang Chengzhu. He felt that there was nothing to discuss with Zhuzi, and it would only make him mad. He might as well save his energy and talk about the matter after meeting Li Yunlong.

Zhao Gang, who was busy at the regiment headquarters, received urgent intelligence forwarded by the brigade headquarters. A division of the Japanese Kwantung Army secretly moved north and arrived at Taiyuan Railway Station. The intelligence officers of the organization had repeatedly confirmed the authenticity of the information. The brigade commander asked all troops to immediately switch to defense and be ready to respond to the Japanese attack at any time.

Zhao Gang did not expect that the Japanese would intervene at this time. Now half of the independent regiment's troops are outside, and most of those left behind are new recruits. Several key members are still outside. This made Zhao Gang unable to find anyone to discuss with. In desperation, he could only find Shen Quan and told him about the matter, wanting to hear if he had any good ideas!

Shen Quan scratched his head and replied uncertainly: "Political Commissar, our independent regiment now has four battalions left, namely the Second Battalion, the Rocket Artillery Battalion, the Artillery Battalion, and the Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion. The only real battalion is our Second Battalion. The other three battalions are just for show. We can't use the artillery as infantry!"

"If we really dare to do this, I'm afraid the regiment commander and the college students will not let me off when they come back. Beating me up would be the least of their punishment. So we have to let the Second Battalion take on this important task. Let the other three battalions be responsible for the defense of the base, and I will take over the position of the previous First Battalion. Even if the Japanese send a regiment, our Second Battalion will resolutely hold the position for 48 hours and wait for the arrival of the reinforcements from Deputy Commander Xing!"

Listening to Shen Quan's words of being ready to die, Zhao Gang felt very annoyed. He had not expected that things would develop to this point. He had just asked the signalman Xiao Ma to contact Deputy Commander Xing as soon as possible. He also arranged for other people to send a message to Li Yunlong, asking Li Yunlong to bring the team back as soon as possible. The most important thing was to protect the base and other things could be put aside for the time being.

Zhao Gang knew that he couldn't rely on the Second Battalion alone, so he steeled his heart and gave the order: "Shen Quan, pass on my order later. Your Second Battalion will take over the defensive position of the First Battalion. The other three battalions will each dispatch two companies to provide you with artillery support. If the situation is serious, all six companies will be incorporated into the Second Battalion. No matter what, we must keep the Japanese out of the base and never let them set foot in the base!"

"The Japanese are making such a big fuss this time. I'm afraid they have big plans. We must be prepared to break out!"

To be honest, Zhao Gang had no confidence in the coming battle. With the current strength of the Independent Regiment, it would be impossible for the Independent Regiment to resist a brigade of the Japanese. This also meant that the Independent Regiment would be forced to relocate after just completing most of the construction of the arsenal. He finally understood what Lin Zhenhua said: Without a stable base, engaging in military production is simply a luxury!

While the independent regiment was preparing for defense in order to deal with the invasion of the Japanese, Li Yunlong was not idle at the Yushugou market. He first came to the place selling lubricants and bought eight barrels of lubricants in one go, buying up all the other party's stock. He ordered Duan Peng who was standing aside: "Duan Peng, take your men to move these eight barrels of lubricants back immediately and fill up the lubricants in our armored vehicles!"

After buying the lubricant, Li Yunlong came to the rubber store. He asked the vendor wearing a straw hat, "Brother, how much do you sell this rubber for? If the price is right, I'll take it all!"

The vendor raised two fingers without even looking up, then raised three. This price almost made Li Yunlong unable to hold back, as he had not expected the other party to ask for such a high price. He raised one finger, but the vendor was too lazy to even respond to him, and instead continued to sit on a recliner and drink tea.

Li Yunlong suppressed his anger and finally had to bear the pain and buy one ton of rubber. He had originally planned to buy other things, but now his money was basically spent. He had no mood to continue shopping in the market. He returned to the first battalion base in a depressed mood. When he saw Wei Dayong pulling back the one ton of rubber, the expression on his face improved a little.

"Captain, why are you angry? Don't we still have half of the money? We can use that half to buy another ton. If the money is gone, we can earn it again. It's not worth getting angry with that kind of person!" Wei Dayong stepped forward and advised.

It would have been better if Wei Dayong hadn't tried to persuade him. This made Li Yunlong furious. He pointed at Wei Dayong's nose and cursed, "Monk, you son of a bitch, you just took over 20,000 dollars with just one sentence. When we came here this time, we brought so many pig bristles, and we also sold some of the medicines seized from the Japanese. The total sales were less than 50,000 dollars. You just took over the matter with just a touch of your upper lip. You are such a prodigal son. If we let you be the head of our independent regiment, no matter how big our family business is, it will not be enough to ruin you. You are simply selling your father's land without any regrets!"

Wei Dayong replied aggrievedly: "Captain, if you think it's a loss, can you not buy it? Why are you scolding me again? I feel that I am more wronged than Dou E. Rubber can't be eaten or drunk. Why do we buy it? It's better to buy more food so that the soldiers can have an extra steamed bun for each meal. It's more useful than black rubber. I think you are a little too pampering to college students. I said I wouldn't buy it for him. What can he do?"

Li Yunlong kicked Wei Dayong on the buttocks. Still not satisfied, he kicked him twice and angrily cursed: "Monk, you son of a bitch, now you have learned to sow discord. What's wrong with me buying some rubber for college students? You kid, why do you need to talk nonsense here? I'm too lazy to explain to you. Get out of here quickly and stop getting in my way!"

Li Yunlong was planning to scold Wei Dayong severely, but when he saw Xue Kai approaching here, he quickly winked and asked the monk to load the rubber onto the carriage. Wei Dayong immediately understood and hurriedly asked Duan Peng to help load the rubber onto the carriage.

Li Yunlong straightened his clothes, smiled warmly at Xue Kai and said, "Old Xue, you are not coming here to give me money, are you?"

Xue Kai gritted his teeth and replied, "Captain Li, I'm sorry for the previous incident. I've already gone to make arrangements. Apart from the final payment of 6000 yuan, you can buy anything you want in the market with the remaining yuan!"

Li Yunlong knew that it was not easy for Xue Kai to achieve this. He patted him on the shoulder and thanked him, "Old Xue, I understand your difficulties, but I am not the same as your Captain Xue. But even so, I don't want to fight him!"

"Since it has come to this, I am not going to hide it. To be honest, I am very optimistic about you and would like to recruit you to our independent regiment. However, I know you are not free. When you have nowhere to go, you can come to the independent regiment to find me. I, Li Yunlong, will welcome you!"

Li Yunlong also inquired about Xue Kai's situation these two days. When he learned that Xue Kai's sister was taken here by Xue Changkun, he realized how bad Xue Kai's current situation was. It proved that Xue Changkun had begun to distrust Xue Kai, otherwise he would never use Xue Kai's relatives as a threat. Although Li Yunlong despised this behavior very much, he had no good solution at the moment. He could only ask Lao Duan to think of a way to see if Xue Kai's sister could be rescued.

Xue Kai replied gratefully: "Thank you for your kindness, Captain Li. I will definitely visit the Independent Regiment if I have the chance! I have other things to do, so I'll excuse myself for now! If you have time, Captain Li, you can go to the market again!"

Before leaving, Xue Kai deliberately shook hands with Li Yunlong and passed him a note. Li Yunlong calmly put the note into his sleeve, watched Xue Kai leave quietly, and waved his hand deliberately to show that he understood his intentions.

After seeing Xue Kai off, Li Yunlong wandered around outside the camp before he found a secluded place and opened the note. When he saw the contents on the note, the smile on his face disappeared. He didn't expect Xue Changkun to play a trick on him that was so real. It must be said that this was a brilliant move. Even if he went to confront Xue Changkun afterwards, Xue Changkun would probably be able to get rid of him easily, and might even turn the tables on him, making him the target of public criticism.

Li Yunlong lit the note with a match, crushed the burning ashes, and began to think about countermeasures. To be honest, the current situation is really difficult to deal with. He really can't just break up with Xue Changkun. If he does that, the independent regiment will have no source of scarce materials, especially after the arsenal starts operation. He can only buy scarce resources such as rubber from Xue Changkun. So this time he can only teach Xue Changkun a lesson and cut off the claws that have been stretched out!

Li Yunlong called Zhang Dabiao over and said, "Dabiao, follow me to the market and buy everything we need. After I talk to Xue Changkun tomorrow morning, we will leave at noon. Tell the kitchen staff to prepare five days of dry food. I estimate that our return journey will not be peaceful!"

"Captain, don't worry. We have been through many ups and downs with you for so many years. We will never capsize in this gutter. If Xue Changkun dares to have any evil thoughts towards us, I, Zhang Dabiao, will be the first to rush up and kill him. Our four armored vehicles are not vegetarians. If they really force us into a corner, the worst that can happen is that we will perish together with the enemy. I don't believe Xue Changkun is not afraid of death!"

Li Yunlong laughed contemptuously and said, "A man like Xue Changkun is not afraid of death, otherwise how could he deploy three battalions in his residence? You know, it's so important. Even if he only deployed two battalions, it shows how much he cares about his own safety. He even threatened the families of his subordinates. If we beat such a man up, he will behave for a while. Let's teach him a lesson this time, so that he won't cause trouble for our independent regiment in the future and affect our purchase of supplies!"