Bright Sword: I checked in amidst the aftermath of the battle

Chapter 89 A Battle of Wits and Courage

"Damn it! We've really messed up!"

Li Yunlong cursed inwardly.

Zhao Gang, Zhao Gang, so it was you who made things difficult for me. You dared to mess with me as soon as you arrived at the Independent Regiment.

Now, Li Yunlong could no longer hide it; his face was terrifyingly dark, which even frightened Kong Jie.

Kong Jie remembered that whenever he got angry, he liked to hit people and curse. He wondered if he would get into a fight with the brigade commander.

However, Kong Jie was also furious. He originally had a good impression of Zhao Gang, but he didn't expect him to secretly report on him.

At this moment, the brigade commander also guessed that Li Yunlong was cursing.

He then said, "Li Yunlong, don't be upset. Yesterday I called your regimental headquarters to ask if Zhao Gang had taken office, and we talked about the situation of your Independent Regiment."

"Furthermore, I told you to train the soldiers properly in the Independent Regiment, but instead, you took it upon yourself to mobilize troops to fight the Japanese. I haven't even discussed this with you yet!"

Li Yunlong understood, and not wanting to waste time arguing with the brigade commander, he said, "Brigade commander, there's no need to say anything more."

"Okay, so how much grain are you going to give me?"

Li Yunlong gritted his teeth and said, "Ten thousand jin at most!"

"Ten thousand?"

The brigade commander was not very satisfied with this number; his brigade headquarters had several hundred people under his command.

Thirty thousand.

"Fifteen thousand!"

"Thirty thousand!"

Li Yunlong immediately stopped arguing. At this moment, his eyes darted around, and he was thinking of a solution.

He quickly had a flash of inspiration and said, "Brigadier, forget 30,000, I'll give you 50,000, but I have one condition!"

"Hmm?" The brigade commander felt a bit overwhelmed. Damn it, Li Yunlong is really cunning. Now he's making demands on him again.

However, 50,000 units of grain was a great temptation for the brigade commander, after all, his brigade had several hundred people to support, and it was spring planting season, so where could he find grain?

The brigade commander then asked in a calm voice, "What kind of trouble are you trying to cause now?"

Li Yunlong chuckled and said, "I want to transfer Wang Chengzhu from the New First Regiment to the Independent Regiment."

"Wang Chengzhu? Could he be the artilleryman who took out the Sakata Regiment's command post with a single shot?"

"That's right! Hehe, it's this kid. Our independent regiment has won several battles this time and acquired a few grenade launchers, but nobody in the team knows how to use them. You see..."

Li Yunlong had made up his mind. If the brigade commander agreed, the Independent Regiment would have an artillery company in the future! The four 81mm light mortars captured last time had not yet been equipped by the troops.

Wang Chengzhu is a precious gem. If we can recruit this kid, the Independent Regiment's combat effectiveness will increase by more than a little bit!

The brigade commander was utterly helpless. Damn it, Li Yunlong dared to bribe him with 20,000 catties of grain.

The brigade commander was silent for a moment, then said, "That's something we can consider, but I'm afraid Ding Wei won't release him. Comrade Wang Chengzhu is an artilleryman!"

Li Yunlong said anxiously, "What are you afraid of? You are the brigade commander. As long as you give the order, Ding Wei must agree."

"hehe……"

"So, brigade commander, you're agreeing? Otherwise, it'll be 20,000 rations! Brigade commander, 20,000 at most, or I'm quitting as regimental commander."

After a moment's thought, the brigade commander finally agreed: "Okay, I'll give it a try."

"Why……"

Li Yunlong breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw that the brigade commander had agreed.

Despite having successfully recruited Wang Chengzhu, he was actually quite aggrieved. He had thought he could fool the brigade commander with 5,000 jin of grain.

Now look what's happened, 50,000 jin of grain have been lost all at once, and the brigade commander is still the same brigade commander, always doing this kind of opportunistic looting.

The brigade commander continued, "Li Yunlong, you're sighing and complaining about tens of thousands of catties of grain. What's wrong? Are you being wronged?"

"We're just terrified of being poor."

"Alright, alright, I'm too lazy to argue with you. I only have one order for you: within a month, improve the Independent Regiment's combat effectiveness. Can you do that?"

"Yes, as long as Wang Chengzhu is transferred to the Independent Regiment, I, Li Yunlong, guarantee the mission will be accomplished!"

Li Yunlong responded, thinking to himself that the brigade commander had given a second order to urgently improve the troops' combat effectiveness, and it seemed that there really was going to be a battle soon!

Li Yunlong subconsciously probed, "Brigade Commander, is there some important combat mission? Could you tell me so I can prepare?"

The brigade commander grunted and said mysteriously, "It's not the right time yet. You should supervise your own troops first!"

"You brat, that's it..."

As he was speaking, the brigade commander tried to hang up, but Li Yunlong's voice came through again in a hurry.

"Wait, brigade commander, I have something to tell you."

The brigade commander, amused and exasperated, yelled, "Can't you just tell me the whole story? Speak!"

Li Yunlong grinned shamelessly and said, "Brigade Commander, the Independent Regiment's organizational structure has been restored quite well recently, and I'd like to promote one of our comrades to officer."

"Who?"

"Wang Yousheng!"

"Oh? Is it the comrade who routed the Japanese special forces squad?"

The brigade commander did have a good impression of Wang Yousheng. During the night raid on Yangcun, he led a squad of soldiers to catch the Japanese special forces off guard and achieved a great victory.

"That's right! This is the kid. I'm planning to make him a battalion commander."

"Battalion Commander?" The brigade commander began to ponder.

Just then, the chief of staff whispered to him, "Brigade Commander, yesterday I heard from the comrades in the reconnaissance section that Li Yunlong's First Battalion has been making big moves recently. Many people have flocked to his First Battalion to join the army, several hundred of them."

The brigade commander frowned slightly, and finally said into the phone, "Fine, Li Yunlong, you better stay in the Independent Regiment. If I find out you're forming your own faction, I won't be so polite."

"yes!"

Li Yunlong nodded hurriedly.

Finally, the brigade commander hung up the phone.

After a brief phone call lasting only a few minutes, Li Yunlong felt a great sense of relief.

That's great, 50,000 catties of grain have been sent out all at once.

Thirty thousand was a tribute to the brigade commander, and twenty thousand was to be used to exchange for Wang Chengzhu.

Li Yunlong wasn't heartbroken at all that he traded 20,000 jin of grain for Wang Chengzhu, since he knew Wang Chengzhu was worth the price.

To be honest, he was heartbroken when the regimental commander took away 30,000 jin of grain for no reason.

Not only was he heartbroken, but Kong Jie beside him also sighed and said reproachfully, "Hey Lao Li, how did you negotiate with the brigade commander? Giving away 50,000 catties of grain all at once, damn it, I might as well have been the one to discuss things with the brigade commander!"

Li Yunlong glanced at him and sneered, "You? Give me a break. If the brigade commander praises you a few times, you'll probably have to hand over all the grain."

Kong Jie rolled his eyes at Li Yunlong and grumbled, "Damn it! You think I'm a pushover? This is grain; I'm not going to agree to it no matter what."

"Alright, alright," Li Yunlong quickly stopped him. "You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Although we lost a bit this time, we still got the job done. Shengzi got promoted, and Zhuzi is mine now. It's a win-win situation."

Kong Jie was immediately amused and laughed, "Only you would dare to say something like that."