Chapter 117: Brigade Commander Robs The Convoy
386 Brigade Headquarters
“What’s wrong with this Ding Wei? I told him to bring Li Yunlong back, but not only did he not bring him back, he made things worse!”
When the Brigade Commander learned of the intense gunfire coming from the Jin Sui Army’s 358 Regiment and that Ding Wei had not brought Li Yunlong back, he judged that the fighting in the 358 Regiment area of the Jin Sui Army was related to Li Yunlong and Ding Wei.
The Deputy Brigade Commander said on the side, “Didn’t Ding Wei say earlier that Li Yunlong brought Chu Yunfei along? Now it seems Chu Yunfei must have been incited by Li Yunlong.”
“Even if Chu Yunfei was incited, those are three Japanese regiments. Even with five thousand men, Chu Yunfei choosing to engage the Japanese regiments head-on, no matter how you think about it, doesn’t seem very logical,” the Brigade Commander said, shaking his head.
He believed Chu Yunfei did not have the capability to directly confront three Japanese regiments, yet he did. This perplexed the Brigade Commander.
No matter how good Li Yunlong is at fooling people, wouldn’t Chu Yunfei know the gap in strength between the enemy and ourselves?
“We’ll only know the specifics when Li Yunlong and Ding Wei return,” the Deputy Brigade Commander also said, shaking his head. “Brigade Commander, based on the current situation, Ding Wei still can’t control Li Yunlong. In the future…”
Before the Deputy Brigade Commander could finish, the Brigade Commander shook his head and interrupted, “It’s a bit early to say that now.”
The Brigade Commander knew what the Deputy Brigade Commander meant: that Ding Wei still couldn’t budge Li Yunlong, that stubborn mule.
The Brigade Commander did not think so.
Ding Wei has a sense of the overall situation. He must have seen an opportunity to heavily damage the Japanese encirclement troops, which is why he went with Li Yunlong. Otherwise, he would have dragged Li Yunlong back, no matter the cost.
We are about to attack the Jingtai Line and seize the military train.
If we heavily damage the Japanese encirclement troops now, our pressure will be greatly reduced when facing Japanese reinforcements.
Chu Yunfei must have also seen the opportunity to heavily damage the Japanese encirclement troops, otherwise, he would not have easily engaged them head-on.
“Brigade Commander, Captain Sun Desheng of the Independent Regiment’s Cavalry Company is here and is urgently asking to see you,” someone reported to the Brigade Commander.
Upon hearing this, the Brigade Commander’s heart couldn’t help but pause.
Li Yunlong sending his Cavalry Company Commander to the Brigade Headquarters, could it be that Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Chu Yunfei couldn’t handle the situation and something had gone wrong?
After all, those were three Japanese regiments; there were no absolute guarantees on the battlefield.
“Let him in,” the Brigade Commander suppressed his speculation.
Soon, Sun Desheng ran in and saluted the Brigade Commander, “Report, Brigade Commander. Our Independent Regiment’s First Battalion has returned with the iron smelting plant. The Battalion Commander requests you personally come to receive the equipment for the iron smelting plant immediately.”
Li Yunlong had instructed Zhang Dabiao to secretly send someone back to the Brigade Headquarters to report. Sun Desheng, being cavalry, was the fastest, so Zhang Dabiao had Sun Desheng ride back to report to the Brigade Headquarters.
The Independent Regiment’s First Battalion brought back an iron smelting plant?
The Brigade Commander, Deputy Brigade Commander, and others were stunned.
What was going on?
Wasn’t Li Yunlong fighting the Japanese encirclement troops in conjunction with Chu Yunfei? How did an iron smelting plant get involved?
However, upon hearing that Li Yunlong had acquired an iron smelting plant, the Brigade Commander’s expression became very solemn. “Sun Desheng, where did this iron smelting plant come from? What exactly is going on?”
“Report, Brigade Commander. The iron smelting plant was discovered in the jurisdiction of the Third Japanese Regiment,” Sun Desheng explained.
There was an iron smelting plant in the jurisdiction of the Third Japanese Regiment?
The Brigade Commander and Deputy Brigade Commander were once again stunned.
According to intelligence, wasn’t Gao Liujin the one attacking that Third Regiment? How did Li Yunlong get his hands on the iron smelting plant?
It couldn’t be that Li Yunlong had scooped up the profits from the Twenty-second Regiment Area and then sneaked into the Third Regiment Area to fight Gao Liujin for food, could it?
If that were the case, wouldn’t Gao Liujin have a conflict with Li Yunlong?
“Gao Liujin is attacking the Third Regiment, so how did your Regimental Commander Li Yunlong get the iron smelting plant?” the Deputy Brigade Commander asked.
“Regimental Commander Gao did not bring armor-piercing shells, so he couldn’t take it,” Sun Desheng explained. “Our Regimental Commander brought armor-piercing shells, blasted open the Japanese defensive gap, and then took the iron smelting plant.”
“Even if Li Yunlong helped breach the defenses of the iron smelting plant, would Gao Liujin willingly give it to Li Yunlong?” the Brigade Commander questioned.
“Of course, he wouldn’t agree! We almost got into a fight with our Regimental Commander,” Sun Desheng quickly explained. “Right now, the equipment and supplies of the iron smelting plant are being escorted by Regimental Commander Gao and our First Battalion Commander. Our First Battalion Commander sent me to inform you, Brigade Commander, that our regiment took the iron smelting plant. This is our regiment’s capture. Regimental Commander Gao is just helping to transport the equipment. Brigade Commander, you must go handle this matter quickly, otherwise, Regimental Commander Gao might not acknowledge it later…”
“Hahaha.” Before Zhang Dabiao could finish, the Brigade Commander burst into laughter and interrupted, “What do you mean he won’t acknowledge it? He couldn’t take it himself, Li Yunlong took it, so it’s Li Yunlong’s capture. What does Gao Liujin have to do with it? I’m going right now. Let’s see if Gao Liujin dares to deny me!”
The Brigade Commander gave a few instructions to the Deputy Brigade Commander and then hurried away from the Brigade Headquarters with Sun Desheng.
On the way, the Brigade Commander still asked Sun Desheng with suspicion, “Sun Desheng, your Regimental Commander took the iron smelting plant, so why did he then join forces with Chu Yunfei to fight the Japanese encirclement troops?”
“Brigade Commander, I’m not entirely sure,” Sun Desheng shook his head and surmised, “I think the Regimental Commander probably wanted to contain the Japanese encirclement troops to cover for Battalion Commander Gao and the others transporting the equipment.”
“Hmph, cover. What a great cover,” the Brigade Commander grunted a couple of times and asked no more questions.
First, quickly secure the iron smelting plant, and then deal with this Li Yunlong fellow.
…
“Regimental Commander, is Li Yunlong out of his mind? He only sent one battalion commander to escort the iron smelting plant equipment.”
The group was halfway there when someone next to Gao Liujin said to him, “No matter what, you are the Regimental Commander, and that Zhang Dabiao is a Battalion Commander. If you insist this equipment is from our regiment, Zhang Dabiao’s thin arms can’t twist yours…”
Before this person could finish, Gao Liujin angrily interrupted, “What kind of nonsense are you talking? What do you mean insist this iron smelting plant belongs to our regiment? It originally belonged to our regiment!”
“Regimental Commander, what I meant was…”
“Shut up, you don’t need to say any more.” Gao Liujin interrupted again.
He knew what the other person meant. Even if Li Yunlong was going to engage the Japanese encirclement troops, he should have at least sent a Deputy Regiment Commander to escort the goods.
Sending Zhang Dabiao, a Battalion Commander, was a careless oversight on Li Yunlong’s part.
Whether it was a careless oversight or not.
If I transport the goods to the arsenal and complete the handover quickly, no matter how much Li Yunlong makes a fuss, heh heh, he won’t be able to do anything.
Great!
Before Gao Liujin’s triumphant mood could fully bloom, a vanguard soldier ran up to report, “Report, Regimental Commander, the Brigade Commander of the 386 Brigade is coming quickly.”
The Brigade Commander of the 386 Brigade is coming?
Gao Liujin was instantly stunned. “Did you see him clearly?”
Gao Liujin’s heart immediately became tense, and he even began cursing Li Yunlong as a despicable and cunning dog.
He thought Li Yunlong sending Zhang Dabiao, a battalion commander, to escort the goods was Li Yunlong’s careless oversight.
He never expected this fellow to pull a trick like undermining him by calling his Brigade Commander over.
Now, how could he play this out?
That was his old Brigade Commander. He couldn’t possibly fight the old Brigade Commander, could he?
“Regimental Commander, how could I mistake him? It really is the Brigade Commander of the 386 Brigade,” the vanguard confirmed.
“Damn it, what am I going to do?” Gao Liujin, after reconfirming, started pacing anxiously.
“Regimental Commander, it will take some time to transport these goods to our arsenal from here. Why don’t we immediately send someone back to fetch troops?” someone suggested.
“Are you kidding me? This is so far from our Brigade Headquarters and Division Headquarters. By the time we call people over, it’ll be too late!” Gao Liujin was already regretting it. If he had been prepared for Li Yunlong’s move earlier and called for reinforcements, he wouldn’t be so passive now.
This was an iron smelting plant! It could definitely be exchanged for all the remaining Hell Cannons. How could he just hand it over so easily!
This person continued, “Regimental Commander, how can you be so wise yet so foolish at this moment? Don’t you think that if you were secretly transporting sugar to the arsenal to exchange for equipment behind the backs of the Division and Brigade Headquarters, wouldn’t the Division and Brigade Headquarters send people to look for you?”
This person’s meaning was that it was possible that logistics had eyes and ears from the Division and Brigade Headquarters.
He didn’t need to go all the way to the Division and Brigade Headquarters; he could get reinforcements from logistics.
“How can you say that? Did I secretly transport sugar to the arsenal to exchange for equipment behind the backs of the Division and Brigade Headquarters!” Gao Liujin glared and shouted. “The final result of this batch of sugar was to be transported to the arsenal for equipment exchange. I was merely helping the Brigade Headquarters and Division Headquarters complete this task earlier. How is that acting behind their backs! Moreover, you know how urgent the situation was at the time. If the goods couldn’t be brought back to the Division and Brigade Headquarters, I had to bring them to the arsenal. Is that also wrong?”
However, there was some truth to what the other person said.
First, stabilize the Brigade Commander, and then wait for his people to arrive. Then there would still be room for maneuver.
So, Gao Liujin quickly sent someone to leave secretly, and then he greeted the Brigade Commander with a smile, “Old Brigade Commander, what wind blew you here?”
“Gao Liujin, you damn rascal, you’ve got some nerve to come here and cause trouble!” Even though Gao Liujin was no longer his subordinate, the Brigade Commander still put on a stern face.
He had to put on a stern face, otherwise, it wouldn’t be so easy to get the iron smelting plant.
“Old Brigade Commander, look at what you’re saying. These Japanese over here aren’t yours, so can’t I attack them?” Gao Liujin retorted with a straight face.
“Enough with the nonsense. You and your troops get out of here immediately. I don’t want to see you!” the Brigade Commander waved his hand, not wanting to bicker with Gao Liujin.
“Old Brigade Commander, don’t worry. After I transport these things to the arsenal, I’ll leave immediately and won’t bother you…” Gao Liujin’s words were cut short.
The Brigade Commander glared. “Gao Liujin, what nonsense are you spouting? This is my property!”
“Old Brigade Commander, you can’t just speak without thinking,” Gao Liujin argued. “This was clearly captured by my troops and me in the jurisdiction of the Third Regiment. How can this be your property?”
“Gao Liujin, the information I received is not like that,” the Brigade Commander said, shaking his head and raising his doubts. “It’s true that you led your troops into the jurisdiction of the Third Regiment. But the iron smelting plant was captured by Li Yunlong, so this should belong to our 386 Brigade’s spoils of war!”
“That was Li Yunlong shamelessly picking up the pieces! If I hadn’t attacked into the jurisdiction of the Third Regiment and decapitated the Third Regiment’s new Regimental Commander, Mita Taro, Li Yunlong wouldn’t have…”
“That still doesn’t change the fact that the iron smelting plant was captured by Li Yunlong,” the Brigade Commander interrupted Gao Liujin, and then said, “Of course, I’m not denying your merit in decapitating Mita Taro, nor am I questioning your meritorious service in attacking the Third Regiment. These are all things you deserve. But the fact remains that the iron smelting plant was captured by Li Yunlong, right?”
The Brigade Commander was still somewhat surprised.
This Gao Liujin fellow was quite capable. He actually managed to decapitate the new Regimental Commander of the Third Regiment, Mita Taro.
No wonder he could defeat the Third Regiment. This was a significant factor.
On Cangyun Ridge, the reason Li Yunlong could defeat the Third Regiment was also because Li Yunlong had struck the Third Regiment’s command post.
The monthly ticket count has reached one thousand, this chapter is an extra one.
