Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Nanjing Diocese, Third Military Region, Independent Brigade Battalion.

"Stop resting, everyone, hurry up and unload the goods!"

As soon as a company commander in the army shouted, more than a dozen horse-drawn carts loaded with munitions entered the camp gate.

Immediately, the soldiers helped unload the wooden crates filled with ammunition from the vehicle.

In just a quarter of an hour, the munitions on the wagons were all moved into the ammunition depot by the concerted efforts of the entire brigade of soldiers.

"Now, begin distributing the ammunition!"

Han Ming, the deputy brigade commander, shouted, and the soldiers opened the boxes placed in front of them.

The moment the box lid was opened, a barrage of bright yellow rifle bullets came into view.

"Five magazines per person, plus two hundred rounds of ammunition. Begin assembling and distributing now!"

With another order from Han Ming, the soldiers of the Independent Brigade immediately began to work in groups of ten, grabbing ammunition and loading it into magazines.

The independent brigade's individual combat weapons are very advanced, no longer the traditional bolt-action rifles, but the "Garand" rifle newly developed by the arsenal.

Unlike the 98K rifle, which fires a round and then pulls the bolt to reload the magazine, the Garand uses a semi-automatic burst mode.

Each magazine holds eight bullets and has an effective range of 400 meters. Once assembled, it can be fired continuously. In terms of both firepower suppression and firing efficiency, it can completely overwhelm the 98K.

However, the Garand rifle also has a drawback: the magazine is separate and requires two rows to be joined together for accurate loading.

Furthermore, emergency replenishment of the magazine is not possible before the bullets are exhausted; it can only be reloaded after the last bullet has been fired.

In addition, when the last bullet is fired, the magazine will eject from the magazine compartment with a crisp "ding", which may alert the enemy.

However, putting aside these minor flaws, Garand caused a sensation as soon as it left the factory. Even the Empress, heavily pregnant, went to the shooting range to watch the shooting drills with Shen Lang's help.

After witnessing the effectiveness of the Galland gunnery, it quickly gained favor among officers of all ranks, who placed orders with the gun factory.

No one expected that this new type of individual weapon would be prioritized for supply to the newly formed independent brigade.

Even the usually composed Lü Ziming and Meng Gong protested to Shen Lang because of this, not to mention Ye Hui, the Gestapo.

However, Shen Lang decided not to replace the existing individual weapons of each division on a large scale until he saw Garand in actual combat.

If the actual combat results are not as expected, large-scale investment could lead to serious losses.

After all, the ownership of the modern arsenal still belongs to Jiang Mengxuan.

She didn't want her investment to be completely wasted.

Aside from the Garand rifle, even the newly developed hand grenades were prioritized for supply to the Independent Brigade.

Each novice grenade contains eight steel balls. Once detonated, the steel balls, along with shrapnel, can cause greater casualties to the enemy.

With the standard equipment of five rounds per person in an independent brigade, once they enter the battlefield, they can form a very strong firepower protection network.

In addition, each squad was equipped with an improved Maxim and a Czech light machine gun, a combination of light and heavy firepower that was more in line with modern warfare concepts than before.

In addition, the steel helmets, leather backpacks, military boots, ammunition pouches, and all other light equipment made the soldiers look more spirited than ever before.

The independent brigade just needs a baptism of fire to prove its worth.

Yue Fei stood in front of his office, gazing at the sand table before him, lost in thought.

In three days, we will send troops to the State of Song.

Shen Lang specifically ordered the Jingwei Division to send Yue Fei a completely new intelligence report.

With the support of powerful families across the land, Zhao Gou has already rallied righteous armies from all over the country to defend the emperor in Guangling County, attempting to recreate the glory of the Song Dynasty.

However, not long after he issued the proclamation, he was immediately met with a fierce attack from the Jin army in Bianjing.

Du Fang's army and Wanyan Cheng's army met on a plain twenty miles outside Guangling County.

Wanyan Cheng, with 6,000 cavalry, decisively defeated Du Fang's 30,000 infantry, causing the Song army to lose more than 10,000 men in one battle. Du Fang himself abandoned his army and retreated to Guangling, where he held firm and did not come out. Later, he was so frightened that he died in the outhouse.

The following day, Song Xiang's troops, who had come from Guangping to provide reinforcements, were ambushed by Wanyan Loushi on their way, suffering more than 8,000 casualties. Song Xiang was even stabbed off his horse by Wanyan Loushi.

These two battles directly brought the morale of the Song army to rock bottom, and also made Yue Fei feel desperate about the Song army's fighting strength.

Now, Wanyan Cheng and Wanyan Loushi's forces are attacking all resistance forces outside Guangling County from both sides, intending to repeat the situation of besieging Bianjing.

People in Guangling County were filled with fear, and the young Zhao Gou was especially terrified every day, not knowing what to do.

Fortunately, Wanyan Lie suspected that Wanyan Loushi and Wanyan Zongbi were conspiring to usurp the throne, so he immediately summoned him back to Shangjing for a confrontation, which allowed Zhao Gou to escape a disaster.

"Alas, the Great Song Dynasty."

Yue Fei sighed, immediately clearing his mind of unnecessary emotions, and began to analyze the sand table to determine where to start the war with the Jin people, so as to reverse the unfavorable war situation of the Song Dynasty.

"Report~"

Just then, someone came to report from outside the door.

"Commander, Commander Lin Fei of the Ninth Division is here to report."

"Yes, please come in quickly."

Upon hearing that it was Lin Fei, Yue Fei immediately straightened his military uniform and prepared to go and greet him.

But before he could even leave the office, Lin Fei had already stepped inside.

"Greetings, Commander!"

Yue Fei respectfully saluted Lin Fei, while wondering why Lin Fei had come to the Independent Brigade.

Lin Fei remained expressionless, glanced at Yue Fei, and casually returned the salute: "Commander, there's no need for such formalities. From now on, I am your subordinate, and I shall obey your every command."

Yue Fei was taken aback, but then he saw Lin Fei take out a letter of transfer from the Ministry of War and hand it to him.

"I have already consulted with the commander and will serve as your chief of staff during the Independent Brigade's deployment to the Song Dynasty to fight against the Jin people. I hope the commander will take good care of me."

Upon hearing this, Yue Fei was greatly alarmed.

Why would a division commander lower himself to serve as a staff officer in an independent brigade?

Perhaps this was arranged by the regent to monitor him?

Seeing that Yue Fei remained silent, Lin Fei took a handful of roasted soybeans from his bag and walked directly to the sand table.

"Is the brigadier general worried about where to fight the first battle?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Fei immediately put aside those unnecessary thoughts, walked to the sand table, and nodded: "Yes, where should we start the first battle? The Song territory is currently in disarray, and I am in a very difficult position."

Lin Fei bit off a soybean, glanced at the sand table, and then pointed to Xizhao County, saying, "Let's start the first battle in Xizhao."

Yue Fei frowned: "Chief of Staff Lin, Xizhao is still Song territory. You want the Independent Brigade to attack our own people?"

Lin Fei nodded: "Yes, this first battle will begin here. Xizhao City has enough grain reserves to support the Independent Brigade's northern expedition."

Wang Tan, the prefect of Xizhao City, had long intended to surrender to the Jin people. Rather than waiting for the Jin to accept him, he thought it better to secure a stronghold for the Independent Brigade.

and……"

Lin Fei picked up the pointer and pointed towards Xizhao County: "Xizhao is only twenty miles from the coastline. As long as we occupy this place, we can obtain a continuous supply from the sea."

Moreover, the straight-line distance between Xizhao and Bianjing is only about 900 li, and it would take the Jin people at least a month to gather their army after learning about the Independent Brigade.

Within this month, the commander can quickly win over the hearts and minds of the people in various parts of Xizhao and use them for his own purposes, laying a solid foundation for the recapture of Bianjing.

Yue Fei thought for a moment and suddenly realized it made sense: "But what about Prince Kang..."

"No need to pay attention."

Lin Fei replied without hesitation.

"What the commander needs to do is recapture Bianjing. As long as he can establish a foothold in Xizhao and obtain supplies on his own, he doesn't need to take their orders seriously at all."

One thing soldiers must do is win battles; they must never allow other factors to influence their established decisions.

Yue Fei thought for a moment, then solemnly bowed to Lin Fei: "Officer Lin, thank you for your guidance. Pengju understands."

Lin Fei smiled slightly, then took out a handful of soybeans and said slowly, "Please inform the logistics department to prepare more roasted soybeans."