Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

In the past, whenever Yan Laoxi handed things over to Zhang Riming, he would be secretly happy in his heart, but this time it was different.

This is a tricky problem. If we give too little and the Eighth Route Army doesn't accept it, Yan Laoxi won't be satisfied. If we give too much and the Eighth Route Army accepts it, Yan Laoxi won't be satisfied either.

After much deliberation, Zhang Riming tentatively asked, "General, considering the Eighth Route Army's situation, I think it would be best to give them an ordinary battalion-level outfit and fifty thousand silver dollars."

"Of course, on this basis, we can still accept some fluctuations, but we just don't want to expose it all at once during the negotiations, so there's room for maneuver."

For Yan Laoxi, who has military industrial production capacity, a battalion-level weapon and equipment can be produced by working late into the night for a period of time. If he doesn't want to work so hard, he can just falsely report some battle losses, and everything will be back, right?

Yan Laoxi, who came from a landlord family, had secretly stockpiled a lot of supplies, weapons and ammunition. In his words, it was to prepare for emergencies.

Moreover, many of his subordinates were involved in arms trafficking, and he knew all of this clearly. As long as it was not too excessive, he chose to turn a blind eye.

When the Eighth Route Army was first reorganized, weapons, equipment and military pay were indeed distributed, but gradually they disappeared. Everyone knows the reason.

Weapons and equipment are not a problem, and for Yan Laoxi, a local tycoon with a large family and wealth, it is a trivial expense.

The Japanese offered a reward of more than this amount for Li Yunlong's head in the county.

But such a small effort could bring huge rewards, which made Yan Laoxi look at Zhang Riming more and say: "Okay, I will reply to the letter as you said."

"Tell Meng Ting that my bottom line is a regiment's weapons and equipment and 50,000 silver dollars."

"Yes!"

Zhang Riming nodded in agreement, then turned and left Yan Laoxi's office, quickly walked through several corridors, and arrived at the confidential department.

…………

Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

After receiving the call back, Director Zhang, who had been guarding the radio station, immediately got up and returned to the command center. He found the general and said to him, "General, Commander Yan has learned about the military achievements your unit made in Xiaowangzhuang. Commander Yan has expressed his affirmation and praise for it!"

"Thanks to my effective efforts, Commander Yan issued an order to reward your unit with 10,000 silver dollars, plus weapons and equipment for a battalion."

Director Zhang lowered the price very low at the beginning. He thought the price was acceptable to the Eighth Route Army. If not, he would just increase it a little bit.

The purpose of doing this is not to save money for Yan Laoxi, but if the amount is lower than Yan Laoxi's bottom line, he can put the excess into his own pocket.

There is no worker in the world who works without asking for wages, even if the worker is the personal attendant of a wealthy landlord.

The chief of staff and several other cadres at the headquarters looked grim upon hearing this. This was not a commendation at all; it was clearly Old Xi Yan treating beggars well!

This little bit of stuff is not even as much as the supplies that Lin Qiang surrendered.

The independent battalion has been developing for so long and has fought so many battles. The system rewards it with not only weapons, ammunition, food and other supplies, but also a lot of strategic materials such as silver dollars and gold.

Lin Qiang only kept a portion of this type of supplies for use when soldiers in the team needed them. Military pay was another matter.

Most of the remaining money was sent by Lin Qiang to the brigade headquarters. The biggest use of this money was to purchase more advanced and powerful weapons internationally.

Just when everyone felt humiliated, the general said calmly: "On behalf of all the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, I would like to thank Commander Yan for his commendation."

"????"

"..."

The chief of staff was the first to react. A smile appeared on his face, and he looked at Director Zhang with a playful look.

Upon hearing this, Director Zhang was stunned. This was completely different from what he had expected.

Even if the boss is not satisfied, he will bargain with him. How can this...

Suddenly, Director Zhang realized that he had fallen into the pit he had dug.

"Boss, what we talked about before..."

Director Zhang still held out a glimmer of hope, but he overestimated the boss.

"Director Zhang, don't worry."

The boss calmly replied, "It's still as I said before. I just don't know how Commander Yan will respond to this matter."

Ok?

Director Zhang was dumbfounded.

He really wanted to say that the commendations just now were the conditions set by Commander Yan!

However, he was too clever for his own good. If he changed his words now, he would not only lose face, but also the face of Yan Laoxi and the entire Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

Director Zhang had no choice but to force a smile and said, "Look at my memory. I was just too happy. Commander Yan naturally agreed to this matter and made it clear that he was willing to use the weapons and equipment of an entire battalion in exchange."

Hearing this, the boss remained silent.

At this time, Director Zhang was thinking about how to give out the rewarded materials. It was impossible to get them from Commander Yan. Once exposed, his good days would be over.

After much thought, there is only one solution, that is, he has to pay for the reward materials himself.

This would not only satisfy the appetite of the Eighth Route Army, but also allow them to please Yan Laoxi after returning.

Kill two birds with one stone, kill two eagles with one stone.

Thinking of this, Director Zhang's depression disappeared. When he looked at the boss again, he found that the other party was very dissatisfied with the conditions offered.

"Boss, what do you think?"

Director Zhang is still trying to make up for it, hoping that he won't have to pay the silver dollars for the reward materials himself.

The boss glanced at him and said with a hint of disdain, "Director Zhang, you said before that this is the only intact Japanese flag captured in the entire history of the War of Resistance. Given Commander Yan's skill, he wouldn't offer just this much, right?"

"You know, for this plaster flag, three main regiments of our Eighth Route Army participated in the battle, and our funds were almost exhausted. The casualties were huge, and the independent regiment had only one tenth of its troops left. The main force in this battle, the independent battalion, even called in every soldier in the base who could fire a gun. Not to mention the ammunition consumption. If this is all Commander Yan wants, then let this matter go."

When Director Zhang heard the above words, his face twitched unnaturally. He had been at the headquarters for so long that his ears were almost callused by hearing about the battle of Xiaowangzhuang.

If he hadn't received any useful information, he would have left long ago.

What about only one tenth of the troops are left and the family assets are almost wiped out? It was completely different from what he heard!

Just now, I heard someone say that the 386th Brigade's strength has increased dramatically and is almost catching up with a division.

Director Zhang wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but when he heard the last sentence, he dared not express any dissatisfaction. He hurriedly said, "Boss, everything is still negotiable. Our Chief Yan has not made any final decision."

"However, I can make the decision on my own and provide your army with an additional battalion of equipment, but I can't do anything about the silver dollars. The Ministry of Finance has no say in that."

The boss still didn't respond, but just glanced at him casually.

Before, he had been saying openly and secretly that he was insignificant and had no power to make decisions, but now he said he could make decisions on his own.

Who is the boss? How can we believe his lies?

The boss had never agreed because he felt that this guy was like sugarcane. As long as he squeezed hard, he would always be able to squeeze out more juice.

"Director Zhang, please don't mention this matter anymore."