Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

The total area of Heiyun Village is large enough, and the mountain village only occupies one third of the area.

Zhang Yuntian and his men searched the house inside and out until dawn, when they finally completed the search.

He found Lin Qiang, handed him the paper, and said, "Platoon leader, we've cleared everything out. There are seventy-four rifles, five or six hundred rounds of ammunition, and a dozen boxes of grenades. There are also five or six Type 99 rifles and Czech-style rifles combined. There are no heavy machine guns or mortars."

I didn’t realize that Black Cloud Village is actually quite wealthy!

Lin Qiang handed the paper back and said, "Thank you for your hard work!"

Zhang Yuntian put the paper away, his eyes full of admiration: "Platoon Leader, this Black Cloud Village is not only a den of dragons and tigers, but it is also a den of wolves. How dare you bring only Hu Zi in? Just for this, I, Zhang Yuntian, know that I have followed the right person!"

"It's a small matter, not worth mentioning."

Lin Qiang responded modestly by waving his hand, then asked, "Has everyone in the village gathered together?"

"They're all outside."

Zhang Yuntian said confidently: "There are fifty-seven people in total. I have the brothers watching them!"

I have to say that Zhang Yuntian is really a good hand and his work is meticulous.

All the guns that could be found in Heiyun Village were neatly placed in the yard, and the bandits in the village were also lined up.

When Lin Qiang saw this scene for the first time, he felt somewhat relieved. If the people standing in front of him were Japanese soldiers, he would have to hold his nose up to the sky!

That day won’t be too far away!

Hu Zi and Qiang Zi also returned to the mountain stronghold. Lin Qiang just looked at them and knew that the matter was done.

Retracting his gaze, Lin Qiang walked a few steps toward the center, looking at the bandits with varying expressions, and slowly said, "I believe some of you have already guessed what I'm going to say next, but of course some of you may not be quite sure."

"We are from the Eighth Route Army Independent Regiment. You've all heard of Li Yunlong, right? He's my...commander."

"I won't say any more nonsense. I'm keeping you here because I want you to join the Eighth Route Army. Of course, you're not prisoners. It's up to you to decide whether to stay or go."

"Those who want to stay and join the army, those who want to fight the Japanese with the troops and defend their country, go to the right. Those who want to go home to take care of their parents in their old age, leave from the left and go down the mountain."

After saying the last sentence, Lin Qiang stopped talking and waited quietly for these people to make their choice.

Even if they all left, this was within Lin Qiang's expectations.

Joining the army was something they were quite reluctant to do, otherwise they would not have chosen to be bandits in the first place.

However, we can also know that at least a large number of these people are unwilling to be traitors and running dogs.

Who is born to be a bandit?

After a while, someone stood up from the crowd and shouted, "Comrade of the Eighth Route Army, can someone like me really join the Eighth Route Army?"

"can!"

Lin Qiang immediately responded, "For you, becoming a bandit is just to have a full meal. You don't want to become a traitor. I can't guarantee you anything else, but as long as you are willing to join our team, you will be a member of the Eighth Route Army and a comrade who will fight alongside us on the battlefield against the Japanese!"

"it is good!"

The man who spoke took two steps forward and shouted, "I am willing to join the Eighth Route Army!"

"Come, come over here!"

With Zhang Yuntian joining, he was responsible for registering the roster.

When faced with choices, most people will follow the crowd.

When the first person appears, there will be the second, the third, the fourth...

In just a few minutes, more than ten people were willing to join the team.

Similarly, about ten people chose to leave, and Lin Qiang did what he said and let them go down the mountain empty-handed.

After the last person registered, Zhang Yuntian walked over to Lin Qiang with the roster and said with great joy, "Platoon leader, a total of thirty people have joined the team. Our team has grown a lot!"

Not only him, but Hu Zi and others could not hide their joy after hearing it.

The team started out with less than 20 people, but in just 20 days, it has grown to more than 100 people. This is something to be very happy about!

These people are completely trustworthy. Lin Qiang has the Eye of Insight, and no one with ulterior motives can sneak into the team.

"Platoon leader, we now have a team of 140 people!"

One hundred and forty people!

It’s just a platoon!

Lin Qiang also showed a satisfied smile on his face. This number made him know that all the hard work during this period was not in vain!

This is just the beginning. In the future there will be teams of 1,400 or even 14,000 people.

By that time, Lin Qiang, the platoon leader, would probably lead his troops directly to the Japanese headquarters in Taiyuan!

At this moment, Zhang Yuntian suddenly turned to look at Hu Zi and Qiang Zi, and said, "Brother Hu Zi, Brother Qiang Zi, you two haven't registered yet, so please register as well."

Qiangzi's expression darkened as he remembered that all his relatives had been killed.

Zhang Yuntian understood what was happening after his change of attitude, and he immediately bowed and apologized: "Sorry, Brother Qiangzi, I didn't know..."

"fine."

Qiangzi took a deep breath and said, "I am the only one in my family. I haven't used my own name in all these years. My life was given to me by the platoon leader. From now on, my last name will be Lin, and I will be called Lin Erqiang. Home...wherever the platoon leader is, that is my home."

Qiangzi was a miserable man. Not long after he joined the army, he learned that the village had been raided by the Japanese. When Lin Qiang and his troops arrived, there was only a ruined village and corpses everywhere.

Qiangzi's parents were also among them.

Although Qiangzi later took revenge with his own hands, it left an indelible scar in his heart.

Lin Qiang put his hand on his shoulder, looked at him, said nothing, but seemed to have said a lot.

When it was Hu Zi's turn, he glanced at Qiang Zi and said, "Ever since I was little, I didn't know who my parents were. Like Qiang Zi, my last name is Lin, so from now on I'll be called Lin Er Hu."

It's not that he was deliberately comforting Qiangzi, but that was the fact.

Although Hu Zi is very capable and quick-witted on the battlefield, he is actually only 25 years old this year, only one year older than Qiangzi.

Zhang Yuntian said nothing and silently wrote down the name on the first page, below Lin Qiang and Lin Erqiang.

After a short rest, Lin Qiang called Zhang Yuntian, Hu Zi and others over, as well as Zhuzi, who had worked hard all the way and whose real name was Zhao Dezhu.

These four people are considered to be the top talents in the entire team, with rich combat experience and relatively flexible minds.

Lin Qiang called them over, intending to let each of them lead a team.

"As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang."

Lin Qiang glanced at the four of them and said with a smile, "You four must be better than me, right?"

"Platoon Leader, what you said is..."

Without giving him a chance to speak, Lin Qiang continued, "The team has grown quite a bit, and I definitely can't manage it all by myself. I called you here to make an announcement."

"From today on, the four of you will be squad leaders. Each of you will lead thirty men. No selection is allowed. Each team must lead the new recruits and conduct their own training."

Seeing Qiangzi grinning foolishly, Lin Qiang said unhappily, "Don't just laugh, kid. You need to train the team to have effective combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time."

"You two too, the first thing to solve is the team's combat effectiveness."

Zhao Dezhu noticed that he was not mentioned and could not help asking, "Platoon Leader, what about me?"

"Your mission is the most important!"

Lin Qiang said: "Not only are you responsible for logistics, but you also have to ensure the soldiers' meals. Whether the soldiers can eat hot and full meals depends entirely on you."

"Yes!"

Zhao Dezhu was not dissatisfied because he was not a member of the combat team. Instead, he said happily: "The three of you remember this: if you dare to mess with me in the future, you will not even have enough food to eat!"

Lin Qiang also assigned twenty soldiers to the kitchen team. After all, they were responsible for feeding more than a hundred people in the entire platoon, and it was really too much for just a few people to handle it.

They take turns training in their spare time, and they will not lack combat effectiveness due to cooking during wartime.

Lin Qiang had already considered the issue of defense deployment. At present, he was only relying on the original defense of Heiyun Village to make modifications. He would consider extending it only when the team grew stronger again.

Of course, observation posts must be set up, which are the eyes of a team.

Lin Qiang divided the remaining thirty people into an artillery squad, two machine gun squads, and a logistics team.

With his own team, Qiangzi's first thought was to lead the team out to kill the Japanese. He looked at Lin Qiang and said with a smile: "Platoon leader, what are your plans next? Tell us in advance."

Lin Qiang smiled slightly: "Plan? There actually is one."