Volume 2 Chapter 21

  "But what does this have to do with what you said earlier, that you think Xiao Shuai will definitely prioritize justice over family ties?" Huang Xiansheng asked.

  Li Bin replied, "Actually, I'm very clear about what kind of person Shao is. The reason for not resisting was first because of Chiang Kai-shek, and the second reason was that he still had hopes in the League of Nations! But what kind of organization is the League of Nations? They only want to collaborate with Japan to divide up China! To put it bluntly, it's a bandit organization! Furthermore, there's a third reason, which is that the imperial powers took advantage of the corrupt Qing government to impose unequal treaties on the Chinese people! The Japanese exploited this point! If Shao had ordered resistance at the time, not only would he not have received support from the National Government, but even the Western powers would have helped Japan!"

  Li Bin shed tears of grief and indignation. Huang Xiansheng also couldn't help but cry, and after a while, he asked: "Can we now only rely on our own strength?"

  Li Bin replied, "Nowadays, if we were to form a team, it would still be legitimate and could gain some support from the National Government. Of course, we cannot have high expectations for the National Government; at most they can give us a military rank and a verbal promise. In the end, we still have to rely on our own strength!"

  "Alright! I'll follow your lead!" Huang Xianzhi said, "Brother Li Bin, you are a rare talent! Let me think about it... after I establish the Righteous and Brave Army, why don't you stay by my side as my chief of staff?"

  "Thank you for your cultivation!" Li Bin hastily knelt down and thanked him.

  As for what Li Bin said, that he was a graduate of West Point Military Academy, everyone deeply believed it. Hong Biao and Wang Zihao had personally witnessed Li Bin directing the annihilation of a small group of devils, and although Huang Xiansheng hadn't seen it with his own eyes, there were so many captured weapons as proof that it was definitely not wrong!

  Huang Xiansheng thought to himself, since Li Bin was a graduate of the Western Point Military Academy's Infantry Department, he could help him train his troops. As for himself, being a graduate of the Northeastern Military Academy's Artillery Department, he had studied artillery and having an infantry instructor like Li Bin would be very helpful. Especially considering that with just eighteen men, Li Bin was able to annihilate a fully manned squad, this showed that his infantry tactics were truly exceptional!

  After Li Bin received the position of Chief of Staff from Huang Xiansheng, he proposed to Huang Xiansheng that on the basis of the original infantry, artillery, cavalry, scouts, engineers, logistics and medical troops, three new branches should be established: one is armored troops, the second is special forces, and the third is snipers.

  For armored troops, Huang Xiansheng was not unfamiliar. After all, as a professional soldier at the time, he knew what tanks were all about. However, the Righteous and Brave Army currently lacked even weapons, so how could they talk about forming an armored force? When Huang Xiansheng raised this question, Li Bin replied: "The Northeast is a plain region. In the plains, cavalry is the nemesis of infantry. Because when cavalry wins, it can pursue, and infantry simply cannot run away; when it loses, it retreats, and infantry simply cannot catch up! And the devils have the advantage of artillery, using heavy guns to bombard, then using infantry to attack, with cavalry encircling, making it very difficult for us to defend. We can't even escape! But the nemesis of cavalry is armored troops! Although we don't have tanks, we can manufacture earth tanks!"

  After finishing, Li Bin had someone bring him a pen and paper. He drew a picture on the paper: "Look at this, it's an ordinary truck. We can modify it by adding steel plates to the front of the cab to withstand bullet fire. On top of the carriage, add a steel plate cover and increase several sandbags to enhance the anti-bullet effect. Install machine guns and rapid-fire cannons on the vehicle. When the time comes, we'll gather these vehicles together for use - they're earth tanks! We can use these earth tanks to crush the enemy infantry and shoot down the enemy cavalry!"

  In fact, this kind of tank should have been invented by Fu Zuoyi, but was once "shamelessly plagiarized" by Li Bin. Cars are not a problem, and there are still many cars in Northeast China.

  Huang Xiansheng nodded, but then asked worriedly: "This method is indeed good, but the devils have powerful artillery, can our earth tanks withstand the bombardment of cannons?"

  "Yes, it's precisely because they can't withstand the artillery bombardment. Therefore, in order to counter the enemy's artillery, we need to establish a special forces unit!" Li Bin said.

  "What is a special soldier?" Huang Xiansheng asked in surprise. This was the first time he had heard of this term, and there had never been such a type of soldier before. Later on, during the Liberation War, the term "special soldier" did appear, but the "special soldier" at that time was completely different from what it means now.

  "What is called a special soldier, is a special action squad. This team is mainly composed of people with high martial arts skills, accurate shooting and agile movements. They are specifically responsible for attacking the enemy's command center, artillery positions and ammunition depots. Of course, there are many other uses, which will be discussed later."

  Huang Xiansheng nodded and then asked: "Then what is a sniper?"

  Li Bin replied, "Actually, it's just a godly gunner, but snipers and godly gunners are different. Snipers not only require accurate shooting, but also require agility and proficiency in disguising themselves to avoid being discovered by the enemy! More importantly, snipers must change positions after each shot! Constantly searching for the best vantage point! The main targets of a sniper's attack are the opponent's officers, machine gunners, mortar men, grenade throwers, and other key targets. Of course, to become a sniper, one must first be a godly gunner!"

  "But where can we find so many sharpshooters?" Huang Xiansheng shook his head and said.

  "Yes! In fact, there are many Northeastern god gunmen! In the western part of Liaoning, there are not a few hunters! Although they have not received professional military training, it is undeniable that their marksmanship is very accurate! When shooting at moving targets, it can be said that every shot hits the flesh! As long as we recruit these hunters into the army and give them professional training, they will become qualified snipers!" Li Bin replied.

  Next, Li Bin proposed a plan to recruit special soldiers. He believed that special soldiers should be recruited from among those Jianghu good men and underworld thugs who had martial arts skills and were agile. Those with martial arts skills could easily train in marksmanship. Of course, there weren't many submachine guns at present, so they could only equip the special soldiers with Mauser pistols as much as possible - two Mauser pistols per person - which was actually quite powerful, especially in close combat. The reconnaissance officer Hong Biao he had brought along was an excellent instructor for special soldiers.

  Of course, after these plans, the funds were a very headache problem. After Japan occupied Shenyang and destroyed Zhang Xueliang's old nest, more than 70 million silver dollars in the Bank of Shenyang, as well as a large batch of gold, jewelry and other precious items, all fell into the hands of the Japanese invaders. At this time, Zhang Xueliang himself had little funds, how could he support Huang Xiansheng? Rely on the National Government? If Chiang Kai-shek was reliable, then why would everyone else be needed?

  However, Huang Xiansheng's deputy officer Xiong Fei suggested: "As for the issue of expenses, apart from some expenses from our Jinzhou government, we can also launch a nationwide fundraising campaign. I think the people will support our anti-Japanese righteous and brave army!"

  Li Bin knew that at the time, ordinary people were already struggling to make ends meet, and it was almost impossible for them to come up with money. And those who had benefited from the situation, most of whom were wealthy but not benevolent, how could they be willing to contribute? Suddenly, Li Bin came up with a plan and said to Huang Xiansheng: "That's right! Jinzhou is an important passage connecting Guannei and Guanwai. There are many brothels and opium dens here! Most of the bosses of these places are not good people! We can extort money from them! We'll send out police, in the name of resisting Japan, to confiscate their property, and at the same time, arrest those thugs and give them two options: either support the resistance or be executed! This way, we'll have money, and also solve part of our troop problem!"

  Xiong Fei hastily said: "Absolutely not! Now we are united against outsiders, how can we turn on the Chinese first?"

  Li Bin sneered and said, "Those guys, if we don't deal with them, when the Japanese come over, won't they become traitors? Rather than letting them become traitors, it's better for us to capture them and make them soldiers!"

  Li Bin is a man who acts on his words, and he quickly dispatched Hong Biao and Jing Da to search for the dens and opium houses in Jinzhou City with the police. Jing Da was indeed a ruthless and cunning man from a bandit background, and robbery was his strong suit. Now that he wore a police uniform, he naturally became a legitimate outlaw. At first, the bosses and thugs wanted to resist, but after he beheaded a few of them, no one dared to make a sound again.

  Soon, Jing Da disregarded the crying and wailing brothel owners and tobacco house owners, forcibly closing almost all the large tobacco houses and small dens within Jinzhou City, confiscating a large amount of ill-gotten wealth.

  All the thugs and hoodlums were rounded up by the police, and when they heard that those who refused to join the army would be shot, who dared to say no? In fact, these thugs and hoodlums were all people who didn't have a proper job, as long as they were given a meal to eat and could support their families, there was no difference between being a thug or joining the army.

  These people's fighting strength is of course not enough, but that doesn't matter, Li Bin will soon put them through a devilish high-intensity training.