pappabearbooks Chapter 103 Commander Li's Care and Compassion
Chapter 103 Commander Li's Care and Compassion
What use are a bunch of greenhorns on the battlefield? Aren't they just cannon fodder?
Sun Zhen was initially quite surprised and delighted to hear that there were 7,000 men, but upon hearing that they were all greenhorns, his vision went black again. He thought to himself, "It's over. Tengxian can probably only be defended by the Sichuan Army."
The key issue is that he really doesn't have many troops left. He had already exhausted most of his forces in the previous battles in Jining and Shanxi.
"Good, good, seven thousand people is quite a lot."
Sun Zhen forced a smile.
It's better than not having even these greenhorns, right?
That was the only way he could console himself.
Commander Li and Commander Bai exchanged a glance. It wasn't that they didn't want to send reinforcements; it was just that they didn't have many themselves.
"Jiang He, is there anything your unit needs to replenish? Although the warehouses in the Fifth War Zone are not abundant, there are still some stocks in stock."
Commander Li asked with concern.
He knew that Li Jianghe must have had a tough time lately, since there was no logistical support and even the replacement soldiers had to be recruited on their own, which was quite expensive.
Li Jianghe thought to himself, "After all, I'm a member of the Guangxi clique. Only Commander Li knows how to give me something."
But he was even more aware that the situation in the Fifth War Zone was quite tense, a fact he had already discovered on his way here.
Many soldiers stationed outside the city drank vegetable soup that was basically "floating on the water," meaning a few vegetable leaves floated on top of the soup, and that was considered a pot of soup.
It is conceivable that the supply of materials in the entire Fifth War Zone is currently extremely tight.
"No need. Before we left, the folks in Chizhou gave us a lot of food and supplies."
If that's not enough, we can just take more from the Japanese. After all, their food is good; they have canned beef and all sorts of other rations.
Li Jianghe said with great confidence.
After hearing this, Commander Tang chuckled and said:
"Commander Li is quite ambitious for his age. The canned beef the Japanese have is good, but it won't be easy to snatch it from them."
Commander Bai smoothed things over, saying:
"It's always better for a young man to have lofty ambitions than to have none at all. How about it, Commander-in-Chief Sun, are you satisfied?"
Sun Zhen took a deep breath, thinking that he couldn't force anything, and gritted his teeth, saying:
"Satisfied, satisfied."
Commander Li then said:
"Alright, that's settled then. Meeting adjourned."
After saying that, he looked at Li Jianghe and said:
"In the next few days, your unit will be under the command of Commander-in-Chief Sun and will be responsible for the defense of the Tengxian area."
"Yes, Commander!"
Li Jianghe said this.
After the meeting, before Li Jianghe had even left the headquarters, he was stopped by Commander Li's bodyguard.
"The commander has something to say to you."
Li Jianghe nodded and said to Commander-in-Chief Sun:
"Sir, please excuse me."
Seeing that he was about to meet with Commander Li alone, Sun Zhen pulled him back and whispered:
"Jiang He, don't be so polite with Commander-in-Chief Li. Just ask for whatever you want. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Our Sichuan Army is very poor. If you come to me, I can't even squeeze out a single bullet for you."
He was an open and honest man, and he made no attempt to conceal the poverty of the Sichuan Army at that time.
Li Jianghe thought to himself, "I would like to replenish my ammunition from you, but the bullet caliber doesn't match."
"Commander-in-Chief Sun need not worry. When my troops broke out of Nanjing, they captured a considerable amount of supplies from the Japanese. It should be enough for us."
After saying this, he turned and left.
Watching Li Jianghe's retreating figure, Sun Zhen couldn't help but mutter to himself.
"This Japanese soldier has killed a lot of people, so he speaks with a lot of guts. When he ran out of supplies, he didn't ask the war zone commander for them, but said he would just take them from the Japanese. He's got guts."
As he said this, he grew to like Li Jianghe more and more.
Young people should have a heroic spirit, and many military generals today really lack that heroic spirit.
Upon seeing Li Jianghe enter the theater command headquarters, both Commander-in-Chief Li and Commander Bai smiled at him.
"Jiang He, you belong to my Guangxi Army. We were unable to meet due to the frequent battles before. Today, we meet again, and you are indeed a young hero."
Commander Li spoke in a very amiable manner, inviting Li Jianghe to sit down.
Commander Bai also said:
"You have no idea, Jiang He, the commander has been talking about you these past few days. He said that there are many capable soldiers in our Guangxi Army, but there is only one as capable as you."
Li Jianghe humbly replied:
"I still need to learn more from the two superiors."
Commander-in-Chief Li said solemnly:
"You don't need to say lies, empty words, or polite words in front of me anymore."
After saying that, he changed the subject:
"The main reason I asked you to come here is about replenishing supplies. I know you don't want to put the theater command in a difficult position, but we officers can't be inconsiderate of our subordinates."
Your unit's breakout from Nanjing must have resulted in heavy losses. With so many newly recruited soldiers and thousands of mouths to feed, how much money and grain would it cost just to feed them?
Moreover, there is a shortage of weapons and ammunition; how can this be replenished?
"You don't need to be so polite with us. We've already made an agreement: we'll give you 300,000 catties of grain, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 1,000 guns, and 50,000 silver dollars."
Upon hearing this, Li Jianghe knew that it had been picked out from between his teeth.
After thinking for a moment, he said:
"No need for guns and bullets. I'll guard these 300,000 catties of grain and 50,000 silver dollars."
Commander Bai asked in surprise:
"That's really strange. Soldiers don't want guns or bullets? How are you going to fight the Japanese?"
Li Jianghe smiled shyly and said:
"After breaking out of Nanjing, we wiped out more than 6,000 Japanese soldiers and captured a lot of weapons and ammunition."
"Our unit is mostly equipped with Japanese weapons now, so stealing bullets from the Japanese is the best option."
Upon hearing this, the two of them remembered the matter.
"I see. Alright, here you go. Give these guns and bullets to Chi Fengcheng's troops in the Northwest Army."
Commander-in-Chief Li immediately made the decision.
Chi Fengcheng of the Northwest Army was tasked with defending Taierzhuang, but it was a trap that Commander-in-Chief Li had dug for the Japanese, just waiting for them to fall into it.
After saying that, he walked up to Li Jianghe, patted him on the shoulder, and said:
"If you encounter any difficulties in the battle of Tengxian, just let us know. We will squeeze out some supplies for you, even if it means cutting off our own teeth."
"Yes, sir."
As Li Jianghe said this, his heart warmed.
Although the Chairman promised him 100,000 silver dollars, he hasn't seen any sign of it yet; it's just an empty promise.
However, Commander Li would not renege on a promise made to his face.
After taking the note, Li Jianghe left the command post.
To his surprise, Commander Bai personally took him to the logistics department, clearly fearing that the logistics personnel would solicit bribes from Li Jianghe and make things difficult for this young officer with no background.
He took Li Jianghe with him, and those people no longer dared to act recklessly.
After receiving the grain and 50,000 silver dollars, Li Jianghe felt much more at ease.
Li Jianghe is not short of money now, because he made a fortune selling sulfonamides and other anti-inflammatory drugs in Chizhou.
These 50,000 silver dollars and 300,000 catties of grain represent the kindness shown to me by my two superiors.