Chapter 27: Sharpening the Sword at the Last Moment (Seeking Recommendations and Bookmarks)

  The "Tang Family Fort No. 1" airship also arrived in the sky above the village at this time.

  Two high-powered searchlights set at the bottom of the cabin illuminated the entrance of the village brightly.

  Under the gaze of Mu Hailin and others, twelve black-clad special agents followed Tang's orders, climbing up the airship along the slide rope underneath, divided into four groups, in an orderly and swift manner, all safely boarding the airship within two minutes.

  Mu Haitao, who had narrowly escaped death, was also rescued from the gate tower of the village and walked to Tang's face, immediately kneeling on both knees, followed by three loud knocks.

  "Boss, thanks for saving my life, Hai Tao will always remember it in his heart!"

  Tang Chao helped Mu Haitao up, patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "Remember this lesson, sometimes the most dangerous ones are those around us."

  "Thank you, boss!" Mu Hailin came before Tang Chao and bowed deeply.

  "We're all brothers in the same family, don't be so formal." Tang Chao waved his hand with a smile and said: "I'll leave this to you to handle, the enemy's main force will arrive soon, hurry up and let your brothers get familiar with their weapons and equipment, build fortifications and defensive positions. It's not too late to sharpen your guns before battle."

  "Boss, how many enemy troops are coming?" Mu Hailin asked with a serious expression.

  "I'm not entirely sure of the exact number, but from what I can see from up high, it's a massive black swarm. Conservatively speaking, there are at least over two thousand." Tang Dynasty replied with great solemnity: "This doesn't look good! Old Mu, this time they're clearly plotting something. After we win this battle, I suggest you thoroughly re-examine the backgrounds of all your subordinates. The more solid a fortress is, the more likely it is to crumble from within."

  "Hmm!" Mu Hailin nodded heavily and said with a hateful tone: "I didn't expect such a big mess to happen. Cha Sandao, that bastard, actually colluded with over thirty people to betray us. If it wasn't for your timely intervention, Boss, I'm afraid the Iron Riders Alliance would have been doomed this time."

  "Loss of a horse may turn out to be a blessing in disguise." Tang Chao smiled and comforted, "Let those who are not on the same wavelength as us expose their true faces prematurely. It's not necessarily a bad thing for our future undertaking. As for the saying 'use people without suspicion, suspect people without use', I don't quite agree with it. I think we should perfect personnel management through a reasonable mechanism to plug in possible loopholes."

  "Our goal is not to be content with being a carefree and self-sufficient mountain king, but to compete with the heroes of this era, conquer the world, and contend for the Central Plains! Therefore, the perfection of our internal mechanism must be expedited. I hope that the earliest batch of brothers who fought against us will become great officials governing their own territories in the future."

  "I understand!" Mu Hailin humbly accepted the instruction and nodded in response: "Don't worry, boss, I know what to do."

  "Alright, no more talk, time is pressing, you go and get ready!" Tang Chao said, turning around to walk towards the direction where the airship was hovering.

  "Boss, due to the tight schedule, the brothers are rushing to grasp the use of firearms, basically no big problem, just the people operating the mortar might not be enough. Mu Hailin stretched out his hand and scratched his head, mumbling: "We have too few men compared to the enemy, if we don't have an advantage in firepower, we'll definitely suffer a great loss. So, I think, boss, can you consider calling up the heavy artillery group deployed in the fort to support us?"

  "That's no problem." Tang Dynasty stopped in his tracks, turned around and nodded: "Right, you go find five clever people who can recognize characters and come over. I have a batch of advanced communication equipment here that should be useful for this battle."

  "Yes! Boss, I'll find him for you right away." Mu Hailin accepted the order with a smile.

  Taking advantage of the time difference, Tang Chao walked slowly along the stone slab road in the village, observing and sizing up everything around him as he made his way to the training grounds at the center of the village where airships could land and take off.

  When Tang Chao arrived at the training ground, "Tang Family Fort Number One" had already landed steadily in the center of the training ground.

  The Tang Dynasty did not interfere with Muhe Liren's deployment of troops, and through observation, the Tang Dynasty saw that Muhe Liren basically re-divided the original members of the Iron Rider Alliance into formations and defense zones according to the original reorganization plan.

  Mu Haitao served as the commander of the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment of the Militia Corps, with 116 men under his command divided into three platoons and a guard squad. He was responsible for defending the Hou Shan Kou pass.

  The original four masters, Bai Rui Liang, was the second battalion commander, responsible for defending the front mountain stronghold; The fifth master, Baldaev, was the third battalion commander, guarding the central hub as a mobile force, and could also serve as a reserve team, sending reinforcements wherever needed.

  The personnel establishment of Erlian and Sanlian is the same as that of Yilian, but due to this internal turmoil, each of the three regiments now has a few or more than ten vacancies.

  It was the reconnaissance platoon led by Lang Ying and the battalion directly under Mu Hailin's command, no one participated in this internal strife, now all are fully manned.

  As cavalrymen, Mu Hai-lin and his men had never received formal training in positional defense warfare, so they didn't even know what earthwork entrenchment was.

  Time is pressing, and the Tang Dynasty doesn't have time to temporarily come and teach them, so they can only let them arrange their troops and configure firepower points behind those fortifications made of stone blocks, wood, and sandbags.

  Just as Tang Chao was about to board the airship, he heard Mu Hailin shouting from afar, "Boss, I've brought the person you wanted."

  Tang Chao stopped in his tracks and turned around, as expected, Mu Hailin had brought people from the police communication team, all of them were young men around 22 or 23 years old, each one looking quite agile and spirited.

  "Boss, I've found the men for you. You can order them around as you please." Mu Hailin led five robust young men, panting and out of breath, all the way to Tang's presence.

  Tang Dynasty's majestic and awe-inspiring presence, with piercing eyes, walked slowly in front of the five young men who stood upright with their chests out and their eyes fixed straight ahead. Suddenly, he spoke up and asked: "Now there is an order that requires you to convey it to the company commanders of three companies in the shortest time possible at the fastest speed. What method will you take to execute this order?"

  Five young men looked a bit nervous, Tang Dynasty's face was slightly more relaxed, and he smiled slightly, "You don't have to be nervous, just say what you think in your heart, it doesn't matter if you make mistakes."

  "Report to the boss, I will spare no effort to use my fastest running speed, even if I vomit blood, to complete the task." The young man with a robust physique, dark skin, and thick lips, who was standing on the far right, answered loudly.

  "Hmm, not bad attitude, determination is also there." Tang Dynasty nodded and smiled, then shifted his gaze to the other four young men, "Who else will answer? Pay attention, I'm asking what method you will use."

  "Excuse me, boss, under what circumstances was this order issued?" The young man standing second from the left, with eyes as small as a slit and a slightly thin build, asked in a low voice: "As far as I know, in ancient times when going to war, messages could be transmitted by beacon fires or carrier pigeons. Now foreigners have also invented wired telegraphs, and I've heard that field telephones are being used on the European battlefield."

  "Great!" Tang Chao walked up to this young man with fine eyes and said approvingly: "You can think of these things, which shows that you are willing to use your brain, knowing that Europe is at war now, which shows that your information is quite timely. What's your name?"

  "Report to the boss, they all call me Half Catty." The young man replied loudly with his head held high.

  "Half a catty? Isn't there still someone called eight taels?" Tang Dynasty asked jokingly.

  "Boss, I'm Ba Liang." The little fatty standing at the far left next to Ban Jin answered loudly.

  "Haha, you really are!" Tang Dynasty couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Half a catty, eight taels, don't you guys have a surname? No great name?"

  "Boss, these two kids were picked up by me from outside when I was young. They were so thin that they didn't look like humans, so I just gave them a nickname that's easy to call." Mu Hailin explained on the side.

  "Heh heh, half a catty, eight taels, it's quite smooth to say." Tang Chao's gaze swept across the two young faces, smiling as he said: "Half a catty is right, foreigners indeed invented wired telegraphs, and European battlefields have also adopted field telephones as an important means of communication. However, in my eyes, these things are all worthless junk that can't even be put on stage. What I'm going to teach you today is the world's most advanced communication device - wireless walkie-talkies!"

  After finishing speaking, Tang Chao turned around and loudly shouted towards the open cabin door of the airship: "103, bring me that box in the cargo hold."

  In less than twenty seconds, a black-clad special agent emerged from the cargo entrance at the rear of the airship's passenger cabin, carrying a large wooden box in one hand. He walked up to Tang Dynasty, set down the box, and stood at attention, saluting.

  He then took over an MP5 handed to him by Tang, turned around and walked back. After a while, the cargo bay door slowly closed.

  Tang Dynasty opened the wooden box, took out a wireless telephone weighing about 15 kilograms, and then gestured to Ban Jin to come over. He carefully explained the detailed steps of operating this electronic tube telephone to Ban Jin, patiently and meticulously teaching him how to use it.

  A half-catty brain is indeed useful, as soon as Tang Dynasty recites it once, he remembers everything.

  Next, Tang Dynasty let Half Jin teach the usage of the other four pagers to his four companions, while he himself only provided appropriate guidance on the side.

  It took almost an hour, half a catty, eight taels, and three other named companions, Musang, Shahu, and Huyang, under the patient guidance of the Tang Dynasty, to finally grasp the basic operation of this electronic tube walkie-talkie.

  Wireless telephones, after all, are different from wireless telegraph machines. The means of communication is too simple, directly shouting into the microphone and listening with headphones, without the need for a series of complex training like postal workers.

  Theory of course needs to be verified through practice.

  Tang Dynasty let Mu Hailin assign two temporary guards to each of them, leaving half a catty behind, and the other four people rode four fine horses, carrying walkie-talkies on their backs, running in four different directions of east, south, west, and north to test the farthest talking distance of this electronic tube walkie-talkie.

  From a communication security perspective, the Tang Dynasty gave them five people who took simple and easy-to-remember codes:

  Ban Jin, code 010; Ba Liang, code 020; Mu Sang, code 030; Sha Hu, code 040; Hu Yang, code 050.

  Mu Hailin stood beside Ban Jin, holding a microphone and earphones, listening to the clear voices constantly coming from the earphones, knowing that now Ba Er, Mu Sang, Sha Hu, and Hu Yang's positions were getting farther and farther away from the mountain stronghold.

  The test results made Tang Dynasty very satisfied.

  Products from the base, indeed all extraordinary products.

  This electronic tube walkie-talkie, which looks a bit silly and bulky, has a maximum communication distance of nearly eight kilometers, and the call quality is clear, with no noise at all.

  For the boss to casually pull out such a shocking and extraordinary "treasure", Mu Hailin didn't find it strange at all, because he had already become numb. Even if the boss pulled out something even better, he would still think it was normal.

  Five wireless walkie-talkies, one for each company, one for the reconnaissance platoon, and one left for the battalion's communication platoon, just enough.

  Successfully trained the first batch of operators, Tang Dynasty was quite satisfied. Because this means that his own army has taken the lead in military communications among the major powers.

  "Alright, Old Mu, that's enough. Tell them all four are coming back." Tang Dynasty called out to Mu Hailin, who was still talking to the four walkie-talkies, and said in a relatively calm tone: "Also, have someone inform Company Commander One, Company Commander Two, Company Commander Three, and Scout Platoon Leader to come over immediately with their people and equipment."

  Mu Hailin hastily responded with a "yes", letting Ban Jin put down the walkie-talkie and dispatching Ban Jin directly.

  Lang Ying was the first to arrive, and the scout platoon's barracks were right next to this cavalry training ground.

  "Big boss, is there a task arrangement?" Lang Ying shouted to Mu Hailin from afar, not showing any tension before the big battle, but instead, looking particularly excited.

  "The boss has something to entrust." Mu Hailin shook his head and turned his gaze towards Tang Chao.

  "Boss, I'm Lang Ying, the leader of the scouting team of the First Cavalry Regiment of the Tang Family Village Militia. I've been ordered to come here, please instruct me!" Lang Ying hastily adjusted his uniform as he walked and ran up to Tang's front, standing at attention and saluting.

  Facing the Tang Dynasty, Lang Ying was not as casual as Mu Hai Lin in greeting him.

  "Take a short rest." Tang Chao's expression was solemn as he raised his hand in a military salute, "Wait for orders on the side."

  "Yes! Boss." Lang Ying stood up straight and saluted again, his wolf-like eyes staring unblinkingly at the black special forces uniform on Tang Chao's body, as well as the Desert Eagle pistol on Tang Chao's right leg side that was noticeably larger than the TC1912 handgun.

  It seemed as if he knew Lang Ying's thoughts, and Tang Dynasty smiled calmly, "Don't be envious, to wear this special military uniform, you must go through the strictest and most brutal special training, pass the qualification, and have the qualifications. This military uniform represents the strongest warriors in this world."

  The twelve black-clad special guards who appeared at the entrance of the village, Lang Ying and his men could see them very clearly, and for this reason, they were all extremely envious.

  "Boss, I request to accept this special training you've mentioned!" Lang Ying puffed out his chest and shouted with unwavering determination.

  "After we win this battle, I will conduct a selection among all officers and soldiers in the regiment. I hope you can pass smoothly at that time." Tang Chao said with a nod.

  "Lang Ying will never let the boss down!" Lang Ying shouted loudly with confidence.

  At this time, First Lieutenant Mu Hai-tao, Second Lieutenant Bai Rui-liang and Third Lieutenant Ba Er-da-fu arrived one after another.

  The Tang Dynasty was affable and courteous to them, then one side deployed troops on the battlefield while chatting, while waiting for the return of four freshly baked communication officers.

  Soon, Ba Liu followed two temporary bodyguards and returned to the camp first.

  About ten minutes later, Musang, Shatiger and Huyang also arrived one after another.

  Five wireless telegraph operators stood in a row, their five diamond-shaped antennas pointing straight up into the air.

  Lang Ying, Mu Haitao, Bai Ruiliang and Ba Erda Fu have roughly understood the mysterious effects of this new gadget with a long braid on their backs through the efforts of others. As the four grassroots commanders of the Tangjia Fort Militia who have a deeper understanding of battlefield information, they immediately realized the importance of this equipment called "walkie-talkie" on the battlefield.

  Tang Dynasty's gaze first swept across the faces of the five communication officers, then fell on Lang Ying, Mu Haitao, Bai Ruiliang and Ba Erda Fu, saying in a deep voice: "Everyone, I believe you already know more or less about the importance of this battlefield communication device that I am going to hand over to you. Now, I formally hand it over to you along with the equipment! Here, I solemnly ask you, this wireless walkie-talkie is more important than the guns in your hands, and you must not let a single part fall into the enemy's hands, can you do it?"

  "Don't worry, boss, we'll stake our lives to guarantee the safety of the walkie-talkies and the communicators!" Lang Ying, Mu Haitao, Bai Ruiliang, and Baldaev shouted in unison.

  "When the people are present, the step-type machine is present; when the people perish, the step-type machine perishes!" Half a catty, eight taels, wooden mulberry, sandy tiger and poplar also followed Lang Ying, Mu Haitao and the other four in unison, shouting out their oaths and determination.

  "Alright!" Tang Dynasty nodded and said: "However, in my troops, the lives of soldiers are always first. Machines can be remade if they're gone, but people are gone forever once they're gone. Therefore, I require you to protect your own life safety on the premise that you can destroy machines and weapons if you accidentally fall into danger. Life is always the most precious! Only those who are not afraid of death are worthy of living!"

  "We will remember the boss's teachings! We will always keep them in mind." Mu Hailin led the chant.

  "We will remember the boss's teachings! We will always keep them in mind." Lang Ying and Mu Haitao, along with everyone else present, shouted out in unison.

  "Now, disperse!" Tang Dynasty waved his hand and walked towards the flying boat's gangway. "Old Mu, how to distribute the five walkie-talkies, you guys discuss it yourselves, I have to go detect enemy situation for you, if there is any situation, you can contact me through that frequency I left behind at any time."

  After finishing speaking, Tang Chao boarded the airship and under the gaze of Mu Hailin and others, slowly rose into the sky and soon disappeared into the night.

  Another 5,000-word big chapter, collect it!!!! Thank you everyone.