Chapter 52

  Unlike Bantian, Li Tie and Er Gou's team leader were overjoyed. Er Gou directly put the money in the mountain cave base, saying that they would take it whenever they needed it, and asked Li Tie to keep an eye on it. As a result, Li Tie had nothing better to do than count the money, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out how many silver coins were in those boxes - his hands cramped up after counting for a while, and he got tired. He took a break, only to forget where he had counted up to, so he had to start all over again.

  Haha, this is the feeling of counting money until your hands cramp up, haha! It's so cool to have money, it feels great! Although I can't buy anything with it for now, it's still money! Haha! Money that was taken from the devils' hands! Hahaha!

  It's getting cooler day by day, the leaves in the mountains have basically fallen off, leaving only some withered yellow leaves hanging on the treetops. The grass on the hillside has also turned yellow, some have turned dark red, and there is not much green left.

  The camouflage uniforms of the troops are no longer suitable for this season. A team of soldiers marched in the mountains, and from a distance, a clear dark green figure was moving on the yellowish-brown mountain slope. Moreover, most of the soldiers' clothes were damaged, after all, they only had one set of clothes, which would get worn out relatively quickly.

  At that time, the main material for making clothes was cotton cloth. Although this cotton cloth was comfortable to wear, it was too easy to damage and would be ruined after washing a few times. The devil's military uniform was indeed good, but there were too few of them, and they were not easy to dye, so everyone didn't like them very much. They still preferred their own cotton cloth.

  To deal with this situation, Li Tie asked everyone to dye some of the cotton cloth green, some deep green, and some yellow-green, cut it into patches for everyone to use as repairs. As a result, the originally colorful camouflage uniforms became even more colorful.

  When clothes were damaged, people would find a piece of similar fabric to sew on, without looking for an exact match. They would even sew a patch on their knees, buttocks, elbows, and other places that were prone to damage before they got ruined. This way, the same set of clothes could be worn from summer to autumn, and by the end of autumn, a single layer of clothing became a quilted jacket, which could withstand some light cold air.

  However, this was clearly not enough to get through the winter. To survive the winter, they had to have cotton-padded jackets. This was something that really had to be done.

  It's necessary to change the troops' uniforms. Although there are still some Japanese summer yellow military uniforms in the warehouse, because the color of these things is not easy to handle, and the Japanese yellow uniform is not earthy yellow but yellow-green, which is also quite eye-catching on the mountain slope, so Li Tie didn't consider using them at all.

  The best case is to get some cotton cloth, then get some cotton batting, and have someone make a few cotton-padded jackets. This is the most ideal kind of cotton-padded jacket. If it's really impossible to get one, then get a set of Japanese-style cotton-padded clothing, and wear a camouflage uniform over it. If none of these options work out, things will be a bit troublesome.

  As for how to get cotton and cloth, according to Er Gou's idea, it was to ask someone to buy some in the enemy-occupied area.

  This matter was vetoed by Li Tie from the very beginning - he hadn't even counted that money yet.

  He thought of going out to get some.

  The two dogs asked further, how to get it without spending money, which made Li Tie furious. How to do it? Without spending money, if you can rob, then rob, if you can cheat, then cheat, if you really can't rob or cheat, then just go steal it.

  As soon as Little Li proposed the three-character guideline of "robbery, pit, and theft", considering that ordinary companies in the troops were not very good at doing these things, mainly because they did not understand this "three-character guideline" as deeply as independent companies, and another reason was that this "three-character guideline" was proposed by Li Tie, so everyone unanimously suggested that independent companies should be mainly responsible for this matter, while other companies would take auxiliary actions, such as lending a hand to help with transportation.

  He gave a middle finger to the seated battalion commanders (the middle finger was hidden in his sleeve, he didn't dare show it), Li Tie left the conference room and returned to his own little nest, counting money while thinking of a solution.

  You'd think it wouldn't be tiring, thinking about things while counting money, but it really wasn't until the whole box of money was counted and my hands didn't even cramp up. But there's a small problem - I forgot to keep track of how much!

  After counting the money for half a day, Li Tie finally had an idea, which was to go out and take a look around first, then determine the target. In the words of the bandits, that is to say, they must first "tread" on the spot, confirm the target, and then think of ways to get it.

  As soon as he had an idea, Li Tie shouted and the independent regiment soldiers who had been waiting outside the door for half a day all came.

  Independence is good in this regard, with fewer people and quick assembly. Other brigades need three to five minutes, while the independent brigade doesn't even need one minute, usually just a few dozen seconds to complete the assembly.

  Everyone had already learned from the warriors who came back with Li Tie that they would have a mission, so they all stayed outside Li Tie's door. They were used to Li Tie having an idea and calling everyone to take action.

  Similarly, Li Tie was also used to everyone leaving as soon as they were called.

  Independence surrounded everyone, and Li Tie introduced the situation of this mission to everyone.

  Then let's hear some good ideas from everyone first.

  After hearing about this task of getting cotton-padded jackets for the troops, everyone started discussing it.

  Some say that the devils' train should have cotton-padded clothes, and it's best to rob the devils' train.

  Some say that the foreign devil's firm may have cotton cloth, it's best to loot the foreign devil's firm.

  Some say that the enemy's stronghold must have cotton clothes, and it would be best to capture several strongholds, then everything will be available.

  ……

  More than 20 people, more than 20 mouths, came up with nearly 20 ideas, although they were different, the central idea was correct, that is, the cotton-padded jacket came from the devils, as for whether to spend money or not, everyone was relatively consistent - if you can't spend it, don't spend it, and Li Tie's "three-character policy" was deeply understood.

  Finally, Li Tie made a decision and sent out a team of scouts from the independent regiment to conduct detailed reconnaissance on the Japanese cotton mills, stations, and strongholds within a radius of 200 miles, determine the specific location of the Japanese cotton, and then the combat troops of the independent regiment would think of ways to "get" some.

  In the independent regiment, apart from the combat troops of about twenty people, there were also reconnaissance teams. These people did not participate in military training and did not wear uniforms. Normally, some wore tattered clothes and carried feces baskets on their backs, wandering around with a foul smell. On one hand, they collected feces, while on the other hand, they gathered information about the enemy; Some were indeed wearing silk shirts and top hats, holding birdcages or other props, looking idle all day, coming and going from various restaurants, clubs, and other places; Others disguised themselves as rickshaw drivers, hotel attendants, etc. In short, they were everywhere, a motley crew of people from all walks of life.

  These people, if they detect any changes in the enemy, will immediately send intelligence to Li Tie's hands through special channels. In addition, these people generally have another purpose, which is to find the property of the devils (Japanese). If there are devils or traitors' property there, it doesn't matter whether it's valuable things like gold, silver, and jewels, or immovable properties like houses and shops. Although they don't usually touch them, at the right time, these will become targets for the Eighth Route Army to eliminate. This way, not only is the devils and traitors' property weakened, but also the Eighth Route Army's purse is filled, a win-win situation, why not do it? Moreover, Li Tie has sufficient funds (most of the money he found from the enemy and captured on the battlefield was invested in this aspect, with very little spent on food), so everyone is still working with enthusiasm.

  Li Tie issued an order for the troops to find cotton-padded jackets and a vast invisible net was cast.

  Since receiving the order from Lianzhang to find cotton-padded clothes for the troops, Wang Erlang, who was working as a loader at the station, had been paying attention to the devils' train.

  。

  Liu Town Railway Station is not big, and not all trains stop here. There are always some sealed cars passing through here, with devils everywhere on the train, and they don't even stop at the station. In order to further clarify what these sealed cars were carrying, after consulting Li Tie, Wang Erlang went to Yixian Railway Station, which is bigger than Liu Town Railway Station.

  Wang Erlong was tall and sturdy, a typical northern man. He never spared any effort when working, and at first glance, he gave people the impression of being quite silly, so he quickly became a loader at the station.

  As I had just arrived here, I was unfamiliar with everything at the train station. Moreover, Yixian Train Station is the largest one in this area, almost all trains have to stop here, some for water supply, some for coal supply, and some for loading and unloading. This is an important material transfer station for the devils. Similarly, the devils' defense here is also very strict, wanting to rob in this station is no different from pulling out a tiger's teeth, or even more dangerous.

  What is inside these tank cars? However, the devils never let these coolies get close to the tank cars, even in desperate situations, they were under strict surveillance, and as soon as they finished loading things, they had to leave, not a moment longer.

  Moreover, since Wang Erlang arrived at this station, the devils have not allowed coolies to approach the armored train even once. On the contrary, the armored train has left the station many times.

  Finally, the opportunity has arrived.

  This afternoon, a Japanese armored train will stop at the station. The Japanese will have workers move two sections of armored cars to the siding, and after a train arrives, they will be towed away with nothing inside, apparently to load something on them.

  At noon, a group of loaders were asked to load some wooden boxes onto the train. Since Wang Er Dun looked like he was made for hard work and had proven himself over time, everyone recognized him as a capable and diligent young man, so the leader at the train station took a liking to him and called him over too.

  While loading the goods, Wang Erlang was sizing up these boxes, which were nailed with thick pine boards. Through the gaps in the pine boards, the oil paper used for moisture-proofing inside could be seen, and nothing else could be seen further inside.