pappabearbooks Chapter 93 Important Combat Missions
Chapter 93 Important Combat Missions
Wang Yousheng nodded: "Of course! Under my leadership, my warriors are the strongest!"
"Heh! The younger you are, the more arrogant you become, buddy!"
Li Yunlong laughed heartily. He had to admit that seeing Wang Yousheng achieve what he had today made him, as the regimental commander, quite gratified.
Who doesn't want their soldiers to succeed?
At that moment, Li Yunlong stood up and said to everyone, "Comrades, I have something important to announce!"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone turned to look at him. Of course, they didn't stop eating; they ate while listening to the lecture, since the daily food allowance was limited and there wouldn't be any left if they ate too slowly.
Zhang Dabiao was the first to shout, "Commander, what's the important news? Are you getting married?"
Wei Dayong chimed in, "Oh, that's great! We can have a big meal, and there'll even be wine!"
Li Yunlong grinned from ear to ear, laughing and scolding, "Go away, what nonsense are you spouting? Hehe! When I was in the New First Regiment, those villagers always wanted to introduce their daughters and nieces to us. Those pretty girls lined up from my door to the village entrance, but I just wouldn't agree."
Why? Because I haven't met the best yet! Who is our Old Li? A dashing young man in his twenties or thirties!
"Hahaha!"
The soldiers in the mess hall burst into laughter. They really liked Li Yunlong's personality; he didn't act like a regimental commander at all and just said whatever came to mind.
For example, Zhang Dabiao.
He immediately stepped in to contradict him, saying with a smile, "Commander, that's not right. We never heard of that back in the First Regiment."
Kong Jie bluntly exposed him: "Exactly! Commander Li really knows how to make fun of his comrades. A line stretching from the door to the village entrance—you mean the soldiers who were sent to the logistics department to be factory directors, right?"
Kong Jie had already learned the news from Ding Wei. On the day Li Yunlong was stripped of his regimental commander position, all the officers and soldiers of the New First Regiment lined up in two rows from the regimental command post all the way to the village entrance. The scene was truly impressive.
Now, in Li Yunlong's mouth, it's become that hordes of girls want to marry him.
Seeing his comrades laughing, Li Yunlong also laughed heartily, not caring at all.
The laughter lingered for a few seconds before finally quieting down a bit.
Li Yunlong abruptly changed the subject, saying, "I've come to the Independent Regiment today for two important matters!"
"First! The First Battalion is now strong and well-equipped. In order to prevent gossip, we plan to transfer some comrades from the First Battalion to form another battalion. I've decided that Wang Yousheng will be the battalion commander. Do you all have any objections?"
Without hesitation, the soldiers nodded immediately: "No!"
They naturally had no objections. All the new recruits were brought in by Wang Yousheng, and this battalion of over a thousand men was entirely his doing. The veterans had also witnessed Wang Yousheng's abilities, so they had no complaints about making him the battalion commander!
Li Yunlong continued, "Hmm, not bad. Actually, the brigade commander has already agreed. It seems we need to change how we address him, right? Battalion Commander Wang."
As Li Yunlong spoke, he stared at Wang Yousheng with a pleased expression.
Wang Yousheng was overjoyed, after all, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier.
But on the surface, he remained calm and said, "Commander, you're joking about 'Katsuko' again."
Li Yunlong impatiently retorted, "Go away, stop pretending to be polite with me. In the Independent Regiment, merit is merit and demerit is demerit. Since you've rendered meritorious service, you deserve a reward!"
Wang Yousheng then nodded.
Li Yunlong cleared his throat and began announcing the second matter!
Li Yunlong's expression was visibly grave. He said, "Comrades, the second thing is, there's no other way. Our division headquarters recently intercepted Japanese operational intelligence. The Japanese are about to launch a spring mopping-up operation, so we've been instructed to break up our forces and disperse them. You'll each fight your own battles!"
"Those who can break out of the encirclement, do so; those who can hide in the mountains, do so. And remember this rule: we must protect our regiment's belongings!"
"Anyone who loses my weapon, I'll have him shot!"
The soldiers nodded in agreement, offering no objection whatsoever.
Of course they understand. If a soldier doesn't have a weapon, can he still be called a soldier?
Wang Yousheng was also surprised! The Japanese were about to launch a spring sweep! It looked like another bloody battle was about to begin.
He knew the history; the Japanese army's large-scale mopping-up operations were extremely fierce.
The Japanese troops formed an encirclement with a large force, and with the help of tanks, armored vehicles, and air force cover, they gradually approached the Eighth Route Army's base area. They were able to compress the encirclement within a few days.
Then they would seize every territory, and not only the Eighth Route Army, but also the villagers along the way would suffer.
After giving his instructions, Li Yunlong stayed for lunch.
Subsequently, Li Yunlong gathered the battalion and platoon-level officers of the First Battalion at the battalion headquarters.
Li Yunlong sat in the main seat, with a battle map of northwestern Shanxi in front of him, and officers from the First Battalion sitting on his left and right.
A battalion has three infantry companies. The full cadre structure for company and platoon level commanders is 24 people. Adding the battalion commander and deputy battalion commander, that makes 26 people. Zhang Dabiao's battalion does not currently have a deputy battalion commander. So it should be 25 people.
However, the battalion currently only has eight officers, which is clearly insufficient.
Li Yunlong glanced at everyone and asked, "What's going on? How are the officers in the First Battalion?"
Zhang Dabiao, sitting on the left, immediately reported to the commander: "Regimental Commander, the First Battalion currently only has two companies, including the First Company Commander Zhao Dabao and the Deputy Company Commander Kong Yun. The Second Company only has Huo Jiwu, the Deputy Company Commander, who was recently promoted to Company Commander, as well as the First Platoon Commander Lü Dafa and the Second Platoon Commander Ma Zijun..."
Li Yunlong pondered for a moment and then said, "Well, although we have a few less officers, we have plenty of manpower. We can take a company from the recruit camp to supplement the battalion. We can wait until we get through this Japanese mopping-up operation and give these comrades some experience before selecting officers."
"yes!"
Zhang Dabiao's face lit up with joy and excitement. He thought to himself that the regimental commander was still looking out for them, and the First Battalion was now at full strength.
When Li Yunlong gave the order, he deliberately glanced at Wang Yousheng and found that the guy looked calm and composed.
Li Yunlong then said, "Shengzi, would you be willing to transfer some men from your recruit camp?"
Wang Yousheng nodded naturally: "Of course, I will obey the commander's instructions in everything."
Li Yunlong smiled with satisfaction: "Hmm, good lad, I like obedient comrades."
Li Yunlong thought to himself that he hadn't misjudged him. If it were any other veteran, he would probably have argued with him, since mobilizing a company of soldiers was no small matter.
Li Yunlong continued, "You have too many new recruits. Even if you transfer out a company, there are still more than 600 people left. Damn it, I'm having trouble allocating them."