Chapter 175: Brigade Commander’s Wisdom
Facing the brigade commander’s question, Ding Wei answered truthfully: “Factory Director Li gave me, Li Yunlong, and Kong Jie one Hell Cannon each and thirty rocket launchers each.”
“Hmm, not bad.” The brigade commander smiled upon hearing this and said, “That adds up to a total of three Hell Cannons and ninety rocket launchers. By the way, are these rocket launchers any good?”
“Extremely good, perfect for striking tactical-level targets.” Ding Wei gave it the highest praise, then changed the subject and said: “Li Yunlong and I discussed it, and we’ve decided to hand over the extra Hell Cannons we obtained to brigade headquarters.”
Hand over your extra Hell Cannons to brigade headquarters?
The brigade commander was naturally very pleased to hear this.
Look at Ding Wei, his awareness is spot on—he knows to hand it over proactively.
Unlike that bastard Li Yunlong, who wants to keep everything for himself.
But Ding Wei’s words included Li Yunlong too—would that bastard Li Yunlong really be willing to hand it over to brigade headquarters?
The brigade commander didn’t believe that bastard Li Yunlong would, so he turned to Li Yunlong: “Li Yunlong, you didn’t pull a fast one on me, did you?”
“Brigade Commander, how would I dare pull a fast one on you?” Li Yunlong quickly smiled obsequiously and said, “You’re still empty-handed without a Hell Cannon, so if my regiment takes two Hell Cannons, that wouldn’t be right.”
“This doesn’t sound like your style, Li Yunlong.” The brigade commander still didn’t believe it.
Ding Wei said to the brigade commander from the side: “Brigade Commander, you definitely won’t confiscate Kong Jie’s Hell Cannon. That means your three garrison regiments all have Hell Cannons, but your main regiment doesn’t. I persuaded Li Yunlong for a long time to consider the overall situation—now 772 Regiment and 771 Regiment both have Hell Cannons too, so everyone’s artillery fire will be balanced, and the troops can develop better. After all, fighting the Japanese invaders isn’t about individuals—it’s about everyone uniting.”
Hearing Ding Wei say this, the brigade commander naturally had no doubts.
Ding Wei has a sense of the overall situation, and the brigade commander believed that.
But could that bastard Li Yunlong really listen to Ding Wei’s persuasion?
Does Li Yunlong understand relying on everyone’s unity?
He’s always been about personal heroism.
Many times in battle, he doesn’t stay in the command position as regiment commander—instead, he leads the assault team in charging.
With that kind of guy, does he even have a concept of unity?
If he really did, he wouldn’t have given 772 Regiment’s commander that derogatory nickname Cheng Xiazi.
So, the brigade commander turned to Li Yunlong again: “Li Yunlong, are you sure you didn’t pull a fast one?”
“Brigade Commander, no matter what, 772 Regiment and 771 Regiment are the face of our brigade—they can’t look too shabby.” Li Yunlong laughed.
“This is rare—you’ve always been at odds with those two regiments, but today your awareness suddenly clicked. It’s truly surprising.” The brigade commander grinned and extended his hand. “So, hand over the Hell Cannons.”
“The Hell Cannons haven’t been produced at the arsenal yet. Younger Brother Li said they’ll send them over once they’re produced,” Li Yunlong explained.
“That works too.” The brigade commander nodded, satisfied, and said, “Considering your good awareness in handing over the Hell Cannons, I’ll let it slide this time. If you hide things from me again next time, I’ll settle new and old scores together.”
Then, the brigade commander grinned at Ding Wei and said: “Ding Wei, you’ve earned such great merit this time—what should I reward you with?”
In the brigade commander’s view, Ding Wei convincing Li Yunlong to hand over the Hell Cannons proactively was a great sign.
Li Yunlong had plenty of bad habits—if Ding Wei could gradually reform him, then he himself could… live a few more years.
But how could the brigade commander know this played right into Ding Wei’s hands.
When making demands, the best way isn’t to state your conditions—it’s to lure the other side into offering them.
“Brigade Commander, although my troops and Li Yunlong’s have been replenished with direct lineage veterans, we still have too few of our own veterans. Could you replenish some for us?” Ding Wei followed up naturally.
The brigade commander listened and looked at Li Yunlong’s and Ding Wei’s troops—indeed, there were few Eighth Route Army veterans.
The brigade commander pondered for a moment and said: “No problem, I’ll transfer some veterans from 772 Regiment and 771 Regiment for you.”
Li Yunlong was overjoyed: “Brigade Commander, really?”
Old Ding sure knows how to talk—this way, the brigade commander offered it himself, not us spilling it.
If 772 Regiment and 771 Regiment come asking later, we can push it back on the brigade commander.
Facing Li Yunlong’s excitement, the brigade commander said solemnly: “Haven’t 772 Regiment and 771 Regiment always wanted Hell Cannons? If they want them, they need to show something in return. Have them transfer some veterans—if they’re unwilling, then no Hell Cannons for them.”
“Thank you, Brigade Commander—thanks so much! Thank you for supporting my Independent Regiment’s work!” Li Yunlong was thrilled.
Two Hell Cannons were a sure thing, but with Ding Wei’s move, trading for veterans is no loss.
The brigade commander looked serious: “Li Yunlong, cut the grinning. You should know the value of these veterans better than I do. I’m giving you the men—don’t waste them.”
“Don’t worry, Brigade Commander. Once they’re here, they’re my own brothers, my right-hand men. I’ll take good care of them,” Li Yunlong nodded emphatically.
“Enough of this. Let’s drop it.” The brigade commander cut off the topic, pointed at the war horses Li Yunlong and Ding Wei brought back, and grinned: “You went out and brought back so many war horses—I’ve been thinking about forming a cavalry regiment. Haha, and here they are.”
Ding Wei stepped forward: “Brigade Commander, Li Yunlong and I discussed it—this war horse batch we’re handing over too.”
Handing over the war horses too?
The brigade commander paused, looked at Ding Wei: “Ding Wei, are you sure?”
These war horses aren’t like Hell Cannons—you already have Hell Cannons.
Over a thousand war horses—that’s no small number.
Even for Ding Wei, he probably wouldn’t be that willing.
Ding Wei explained: “Li Yunlong and I discussed it—we’d like to keep these war horses and form our own cavalry battalion. But we can’t; with our two regiments’ conditions, we cannot afford to raise so many war horses. So, better to hand them over to brigade headquarters.”
War horses aren’t like civilians’ ordinary horses—their fodder is the best grass, mixed with beans and many nutritional supplements.
Otherwise, if war horses don’t eat well, they won’t have strength to run, which could affect the battlefield at key moments.
Earlier, Li Yunlong formed a cavalry battalion at Wanjia Town, but the brigade commander robbed it, leaving Li Yunlong only a company’s worth of horses and equipment.
On the surface it was robbery, but actually the Independent Regiment couldn’t afford to raise that cavalry battalion.
They could barely manage a cavalry company, so the brigade commander left Li Yunlong a cavalry company.
The brigade headquarters’ conditions aren’t great either—the war horses from Li Yunlong couldn’t be sustained, so half were sent to division headquarters.
In short, the cost of raising war horses is high.
Ordinary troops really cannot afford to raise them.
Hearing Ding Wei say this, the brigade commander slapped his forehead and shouted: “Damn, Old Zhang screwed me over.”
Earlier, Li Yunlong raided Ping’an County Town and snatched Kuroshima Morita Cavalry Regiment’s fodder.
The fodder reached the brigade commander the first day, and the next day logistics Old Zhang took it.
Now Li Yunlong and Ding Wei brought back so many war horses, but with the fodder taken by Old Zhang, what to feed these war horses with if we take them.
Seeing the brigade commander’s stance, Ding Wei pretended to say: “Brigade Commander, since you can’t raise them either, why not send them to division headquarters? Seems division headquarters can’t raise them either—then send to logistics…”
“No way!” The brigade commander glared and said, “Old Zhang tricked away the fodder—am I to let him trick away these thousand-plus horses too? Besides, these are war horses, not logistics transport’s inferior horses. Giving them to Old Zhang would be a waste.”
Li Yunlong chimed in from the side, pretending to back Ding Wei: “Brigade Commander, to be honest, I really don’t want to hand over this batch of war horses either—it’s just that I, Li Yunlong, lack the ability and cannot afford to raise them.”
“Li Yunlong, you bastard—where’s all that confidence you had before!” The brigade commander immediately cursed. “Weren’t you always so cocky? Now you tell me you cannot afford to raise a mere thousand war horses!!!”
“Brigade Commander, these war horses are precious, and their feed is precious too. My Independent Regiment’s family fortune is thin…” Li Yunlong didn’t finish.
The brigade commander interrupted sharply: “Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, listen up!”
Li Yunlong and Ding Wei immediately looked serious and stood at attention.
“I don’t care what methods you two use—these war horses are yours. Form a cavalry battalion as soon as possible.” The brigade commander’s tone was extremely serious. “If you cannot afford to raise these war horses or fail to form the cavalry battalion, don’t blame me for dealing with you two sternly later.”
Hearing the brigade commander issue this order, Li Yunlong was filled with admiration for Ding Wei.
Damn, Old Ding the scheming advisor really has tricks.
These two hundred war horses of mine were worth giving!
Of course, Li Yunlong still had to play dumb a bit.
Li Yunlong pretended to look bitter: “Brigade Commander, you can’t raise so many war horses yourself—now you want me and Old Ding to do it? That’s not…”
The brigade commander kicked Li Yunlong directly and cursed: “Earlier when I asked you for horses and equipment, you wailed like a banshee. Now leaving the horses and equipment with you, what act are you putting on! I know you—bitter on the outside, laughing inside. Take your men and horses and get back to rest. Tomorrow noon when Zhangjia Village railway is repaired and open, we’ve got more tasks—rest up while you can. Scram!”
“Yes, Brigade Commander.” Li Yunlong dropped the act, leading his men and horses away happily.
Afraid the brigade commander might change his mind, Li Mouren ran at top speed—gone in a flash.
“Brigade Commander, I’ll be off too.” Ding Wei took his leave.
“Ding Wei, rest well. Figure out how to raise this batch of war horses with Li Yunlong.” The brigade commander patted Ding Wei’s shoulder. “I believe you two can manage.”
“Rest assured, Brigade Commander—we’ll complete the task.” Ding Wei saluted and hurried after Li Yunlong.
Watching Ding Wei and Li Yunlong leave, someone approached the brigade commander: “Brigade Commander, can those two really raise so many war horses?”
This isn’t Li Yunlong’s cavalry company of one or two hundred horses—this is over a thousand war horses.
Even brigade headquarters cannot afford to raise them.
“If they couldn’t, why were they so thrilled to take the horses—and run so fast! You think I don’t know those two were acting?” the brigade commander said shrewdly.
They clearly want to keep the war horses but claim they cannot afford to raise them—that’s playing dumb!
It’s to pressure brigade headquarters, since we cannot afford to raise them either.
If brigade headquarters cannot afford to raise them, they’d have to send to division headquarters or logistics.
With so many war horses, how could the brigade commander bear to let them go.
These two guys played me.
Even now, the brigade commander realized.
These two probably knew the Hell Cannons couldn’t be kept, so they planned to trade with 772 Regiment and 771 Regiment using veterans.
One is deeply calculating, the other full of schemes—damn, a match made in heaven!
“If Li Yunlong and Ding Wei can raise the war horses, what if division headquarters reaches out?” someone beside him said.
“With the war horses in Li Yunlong and Ding Wei’s hands, they’re still division’s.” The brigade commander was calm. “With Li Yunlong and Ding Wei raising them, would the division commander be dumb enough to take them over himself? What would he feed them with?”
“True, true.”
……
“Old Li, slow down, slow down.” Ding Wei caught up to Li Yunlong and said, “Don’t worry, the brigade commander didn’t chase us.”
Li Yunlong stopped, glanced back twice to confirm no brigade commander, then burst out laughing: “Haha, Old Ding, you’re something else—you really got the brigade commander. Our cavalry battalion is in the bag.”
“Old Li, we’ve kept the war horses, but how to raise them is a big problem,” Ding Wei said.
“Old Ding, how are you so smart all your life but confused now?” Li Yunlong was smug. “Why should we figure out how to raise these war horses ourselves?”
“What do you mean?”
“Tell me, how did we get these war horses?” Li Yunlong asked.
“From Kuroshima Morita…” Ding Wei didn’t finish, then slapped his forehead and laughed: “Right, right—still, Old Li, you have all the tricks. We snatched the war horses from him, so we can keep snatching horse fodder from Kuroshima Morita too. After tomorrow’s task, we’ll raid his base for fodder.”
“Hahaha, exactly.”
