Chapter Ten

  Back in the county government's conference hall. All cadres above the regimental level were seated in front of the meeting table we had added inside the county government. Everyone was rubbing their slightly tipsy heads from yesterday's drinking.

  Zhu Xiao looked at Zhou Lun and said, "Ah Lun, don't pretend anymore. I saw that you were really tired last night. You can say it in front of the military officers today, right?"

  Zhou Lun looked at me and nodded, standing up solemnly. "Now, I will read out the announcement from His Highness the Prince. Please everyone rise." He said, taking out a document from his pocket. Everyone led by me stood up, listening seriously. The military officers who were summoned here listened with even more somber faces, after all they had never seen the prince before and in their minds he was extremely great and worthy of admiration.

  Zhou Lun looked at him and continued to maintain a serious expression, then began to read aloud:

  Comrade Zhu Xiawu and all comrades, after listening to Comrade Zhou Lun's report, we feel extremely comforted. We would like to extend our congratulations for achieving such great results in a short period of time.

  However, the current situation is not optimistic. Wu Sangui, a Ming dynasty general who surrendered to the Qing, will soon meet with the Qing army and receive the title of Duke of the First Rank. He will lead 200,000 troops from the Eight Banners to quell the unrest in Yunnan and Guangxi. You will become the vanguard force. Therefore, during this period, you must quickly adapt to the new combat power of the weapons and strive to transfer towards Jiangxi, occupying the Jiujiang area and even most of Jiangxi. The mineral resources of Jiangxi will be a strategic location that we must occupy. The specific plan will be arranged by yourselves. As for the supply of new-type weapons, it can only rely on this batch brought by Zhou Lun.

  Here is the translation:

  Also, let me introduce you to the situation on our base. Our base has already developed into two county towns, but we are all secretly operating, and on the surface, this is still within the Qing army's sphere of influence. The officials are still Qing dynasty officials, but they are now our people. The Qing army here has been completely annihilated by us, and we have replaced them with our own people. We have a total of two full-strength divisions here, which will be unified under the name "Liberation Army First and Second Divisions". As for Zhu Xiao's troops, they will be called the "Liberation Army Field Third Division". In terms of weapons development, we have already established factories to produce Type 56 automatic rifles and bullets. We can produce 1,000 rifles per day, but due to limited resources, we are facing the danger of stopping production at any time. We also produce 30,000 rounds of ammunition per day, which is also facing the risk of stopping production due to copper mine problems. The factory producing 75mm cannons has been completed, and the first batch of 20 cannons has been delivered to your Third Division. I won't go into details about the new-style cannons that Zhou Lun brought over. At the same time, we have also provided 60 rounds of cannonballs and five heavy machine guns. Don't worry about ammunition; what we brought over is enough for you to use sparingly. Of course, this is under the condition of being frugal. The list of weapons we provided to you has already been handed over to Zhou Lun. You can take a look at it later. Okay, I hope you can quickly occupy the resource-rich areas and provide strong support for our weapons factories. Please give my regards to all the soldiers.

  Zhu Ao

  After Zhou Lun finished reading the letter from Lao Yezi, he handed it to me and said: "Shifu, this time we have brought a total of 13,000 automatic rifles, 60 submachine guns, 60 light machine guns, 5 heavy machine guns, 200 pistols, and a total of 1.6 million rounds of ammunition. If we don't include the training bullets, we will have 1 million rounds of ammunition to put into actual combat. As for artillery, I won't repeat it again. Finally, there are also 5 mortars, 20 bases of shells, 200 binoculars, and 7 hand-cranked communication radios." After finishing speaking, he explained: "With the radio, through our secretly set up communication stations along the way, we can now contact the base and Wang Ye at any time."

  I sat in the chair and thought for a moment, then stood up and said: "Comrades. So I will reassign our troops according to the requirements of the weapons. The three main regiments of the entire division are each equipped with an automatic rifle per person."

  He also told the guard: "Remember, in addition to establishing a divisional artillery battalion with 20 guns and five new-style large cannons. Regardless of what kind of machine gun, they will be combined into a divisional machine gun platoon. As for the reconnaissance battalion, each person is equipped with a pistol. The military commander above the company level is equipped with a pistol. The military commander above the regimental level is equipped with a telescope. Each division and instructional brigade is equipped with a communication radio station."

  "After finishing, he looked at the regimental officers who were looking forward to these submachine guns and smiled: "As for other submachine guns, let's leave them to the teaching brigade, this rapid reaction force. As for new weapons and equipment, we will conduct training and exercises by ourselves and the soldiers who went to war. All military commanders above platoon level must learn the use of new weapons in the shortest time possible. If there are those who cannot master it within the time limit, they will be removed from their posts and demoted to privates. The artillery battalion's training will be personally supervised by Zhou Lun. Other troops will be responsible for Lei Feng and Wu Shuang. I will be responsible for the military command and weapon use training of the teaching brigade. In addition, we need to recruit doctors in Yueyang or even Hunan province to establish a field hospital affiliated with the division, trying to minimize the death toll of soldiers as much as possible. This matter will be specifically handled by Zeng Qing. Now that we have so many weapons, we need to establish a new department, which is temporarily called the Divisional General Equipment Department. I think the head of this department should be Comrade Huang De, with 30 people in total, and Comrade Huang De will be responsible for it. What do you think? Those who agree, please raise your hands."

  I looked at the people who raised their hands and continued: "Good, passed unanimously. Today's matter is settled here. Next, each level of officer will lead the soldiers to receive weapons after returning. Other weapons will be handed over to Huang De for unified collection. After that, make other arrangements. The order of receipt starts from the first regiment, and the last one is the Instructional Brigade. Dismissed."

  After I and Zhou Lun left, Lei Feng cursed and said: "Alas, life is hard." Then looking at Wang Hu and Wu Shuang: "You two kids are now walking this dog shit luck, let the master give all the submachine guns to you."

  Wu Shuang glanced at him and said, "You're not convinced, are you? Why don't we exchange your more than 3,000 rifles for these submachine guns of mine? I'm more than willing to do so." He intentionally added, "Lei Feng, whether or not to make the exchange is up to you, brother."

  Zeng Qing urged from the side: "Lei Laohu, you're stupid. Several thousand guns for that little broken thing, it's not worth exchanging. Let's go and get our weapons."

  Zeng Qing said after that, facing several officers of his second regiment: "Quickly, our second regiment will go and choose first."

  Lei Feng smiled and said, "Wu Shuang, Wu Ge, I'm just joking, aren't I? Hehe. When the time comes, you can teach me some moves to help me out, that's all." After finishing speaking, he also followed closely behind and walked out.

  Wu Shuang and Wang Hu exchanged a glance and said: "Let's go, what are we waiting for."

  Although the military commanders didn't know what these equipment were for, they had seen the power of submachine guns when taking Yue State before and were secretly delighted. Now that everyone has such weapons, they all smiled and ran back as fast as possible.

  Lei Feng said while running: "Young fellow, after receiving the weapons, your squad can take a rest. We'll take care of everything else."

  Zeng Qing glared at Lei Feng's smug face and cursed: "Damn you, I think you're just a bunch of useless trash. If it weren't for me reminding you just now, with those few broken guns of yours, you'd be no match for my 3,000-strong army. You should go eat shit instead. After our team leader takes over the weapons, who cares about your so-called military? Come one by one and I'll take them down one by one. What chance do you have to intervene?"

  "Hey, hey, hey! You two don't seem to be taking our Third Battalion seriously. What's with this 'your First Battalion and Second Battalion have got it covered' nonsense? If you two kids don't leave some soup for us Third Battalion, don't blame me if I don't even leave you the dregs in the future. As for our combat strength, never mind what others say, you yourselves saw how we performed in the last large-scale exercise."

  I gazed at the warriors who had received guns, their faces filled with smiles, carefully stroking the steel guns in their hands as if they were caressing their lovers. I was also quite delighted in my heart. After all, by this time, the update of weapons had made the troops take a big step forward in combat effectiveness. As for Grandpa's words about evading the Qing army, it didn't seem so serious anymore.

  Here is the translation:

  When it comes to firearms, they were actually very popular during the Ming dynasty. However, the development of firearms was concentrated in the central government's hands, and few people in the private sector had access to this field.

  But when it came to occupying Jiangxi, Zhu Xiao couldn't help but think of another person - Song Yingxing.

  Song Yingxing (1587-1666), also known as Changgeng, was from Nanchang, Fengxin, North Township (now Songbu Township). The Song family was a prominent family in the area. His great-grandfather, Song Jing, was a high-ranking official who served as the Minister of Justice, Works, and War, and was known for his integrity.

  His grandfather, Song Chengqing, died early. His father, Song Guolun, was an orphan who relied on his mother, Gu Shi, and uncle, Song Heqing, to raise him. He later became a scholar and served as an official for 40 years without leaving office.

  Song Yingxing was the third son of Song Guolun. He and his brother, Song Yingding, were both born to their mother, Wei Shi. When Song Yingxing was born, the Song family was in decline, and his mother was a farmer's daughter, so he grew up close to agriculture and the common people.

  In 1638, Song Yingxing passed the imperial examination with honors and soon became the Magistrate of Tingzhou Prefecture (now Longting) in Fujian Province. He was responsible for managing the prison system and was known as the "Criminal Department".

  However, he did not stay in office long and resigned in 1640. In 1643, he again took up an official position as the Magistrate of Huaizhou Prefecture in Nanjing.

  At that time, the Ming dynasty was on the verge of collapse. After taking office, he found that the state was in disarray due to war damage, and many officials had fled. He worked hard to rebuild the government and established a school in the city.

  In 1644, Huaizhou was surrounded by Li Zicheng's peasant army, and Song Yingxing abandoned his post and returned to Fengxin. His brother, Song Yingding, had already risen to become the Magistrate of Guangzhou but also resigned after the fall of the Ming dynasty.

  The brothers and other Jiangxi scholars pinned their hopes on the Southern Ming regime, but it was controlled by the eunuchs Ruan Dacheng and Ma Shiying, who excluded loyal officials and soon collapsed under the Qing army's iron hooves.

  When the Qing army conquered Jiangxi, Song Yingding died in 1646. Song Yingxing buried his brother and lived a reclusive life during the Qing dynasty, spending his later years in poverty and sorrow. He died around 1666 at the age of 80.

  He left behind two sons, Song Shihui and Song Shiying, both of whom were talented writers and known as the "Double Jade". Before he died, Song Yingxing instructed his descendants to avoid taking the imperial examination and becoming officials, and they all followed his advice, staying at home to study and farm.

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sigh and looked at Zhou Lun in front of me, saying: "Ah Lun, Grandfather only wanted us to avoid fighting with the Qing army, but Jiangxi is already under their control now. Look at Ye Jun's development in Jiangxi, it's not going very smoothly either. How can we avoid contact with them?"

  Wait until I finish, Zhou Lun also chimed in: "Yes. Now that we have occupied Yue State and confrontation with the Qing army is inevitable, even if we intentionally try to avoid it, it's impossible. Not to mention abandoning Yue State would make our advantageous situation go down the drain. Just say that during my journey, several clashes and small battles with the Qing army made it impossible for us to avoid contact with them."

  I nodded in agreement: "Yes, it seems we need to send a telegram to the base and let them slow down the Qing army's rear legs. We'll engage in a frontal battle with them here. Although Yuezhou's flat terrain is suitable for cavalry battles, the abundance of water also slows down their advance. I think that with our current strength, we can completely eliminate them. It just needs a little time."

  Zhou Lun smiled in approval: "Since you have this confidence now, what are we afraid of?" After finishing, the two of us looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  Zhou Lun stopped smiling and said: "A Xiao, what do you think should be done with Old Song from Jiangxi?"

  I thought for a moment and said, "Now Song Yingxing is already 70 years old, but as long as we use the Ming Dynasty's jade seal to invite him with reason, I think he will still come out of retirement. This man can be said to be the great scientist of this era. Getting his support would be of great help to us in establishing a factory in Jiangxi. However, I think we cannot go to Jiangxi like this because we are also avoiding the Qing army now. Let's send a soldier who has been to the base back to the base to report our situation and ask Lu Bingheng to cooperate with us within Anhui and Hubei. We will take a detour to attack Changsha, Zhuzhou, and then occupy Pingxiang. After attracting Wu Sangui and Ao Bai's attention to this side, we'll lead them on a wild goose chase to Yunnan. We'll eliminate part of their army first, and leave the rest for Li Dingguo. Our main force will directly attack and occupy Jiangxi near Hunan, and finally take down Nanchang to win over Song Yingxing. Isn't Jiangxi also home to the world's largest copper mine? With that place, we won't have to worry about running out of materials to make bullets! This way, our base can be connected with the one in Hubei. We'll then station our army near Daxi and take advantage of the situation to eliminate Sun Keshuang's troops, isolating Li Dingguo. As for Liu Wenxiu in Sichuan, we'll leave him to Xiaoying to deal with. This way, Grandfather's army can attack Wuhan and push north to Xiangfan."

  After listening, Zhou Lun remained silent for a while before speaking: "Ah Chou, I think this won't work. If we eliminate Wu Sangui's army, they will definitely not go to **** Li Dingguo. They are all seasoned generals who have been through hundreds of battles. Moreover, according to my knowledge, Ao Bai's personality is extremely arrogant and rude, so I don't think he will cooperate well with Wu Sangui. He is also a person who must retaliate against any flaws. Therefore, I think we can only let them go and wait until they cannot turn back before attacking Changsha and advancing towards Jiangxi. If they split their forces to return, we won't defeat them but instead use a small portion of our troops to hold them off. After we clear out the Qing army in Jiangxi, we will attack Wu Sangui and Ao Bai from behind, dealing a severe blow to the Qing army's strength. Once the contradictions between those two are ignited, it will be even easier for us to eliminate them. This way, we can also gain Li Dingguo's support. I believe our ideological education still has some grasp on him, and we can attract him over."

  Seeing my puzzled expression, he explained: "Ah Xiao, from the historical records, Sun Kuo-wang was a jealous and selfish person, while Li Ding-guo was very understanding. So my principle is to strike at Sun Kuo-wang and absorb Li Ding-guo."

  I nodded and said, "Arun, your plan is good." I joked, "Fortunately, we are the best of friends and not enemies. If we were enemies, I would be in trouble."

  Aaron listened to this and said seriously, "Ah Xiao, we are brothers. Our brotherhood is 20 years of feelings." He then seemed to recall the past and said, "I remember when we first came here, I discussed with the other brothers that if Grandfather suffered any harm, we would take you as our leader. So I only hope that no matter what happens in the future, I will always stand on your side, and I believe the other brothers are the same."

  I nodded and broke out in a cold sweat, saying: "Arun, don't worry about it. I was just joking around. You shouldn't take it seriously."

  Looking at Allen, he still looks quite serious. I smiled and said to Allen: "Allen, okay, okay. I apologize. Let's go out and see how the warriors are training."

  He walked in from outside and saluted: "Commander, what are your orders?"

  I smiled and said, "Get ready, I and the political commissar are going to take a look at the training soldiers. Remember, you must not notify them in advance. I know they often come to drink with you. If I find out that you notified them in advance, then you'll be waiting for punishment! Haha. Because we also want to make an undercover visit. Hahaha."

  He smiled and said: "Yes, Chief. I guarantee that I will not notify several team leaders in advance."

  The soldiers were intently listening to the instructor (the one who went with Zhou Lun to the base to fetch weapons last time) lecturing on the structure and usage of rifles at the newly built shooting range. Other troops had already begun training, standing and kneeling to shoot. From time to time, the sound of gunfire echoed from the target range. The soldier instructing the others saw me and Zhou Lun arrive, hastily stopped what he was doing, walked over, saluted and said: "Reporting to the Commander and Political Commissar, please give instructions."

  I smiled and patted his shoulder, saying: "What instructions are not instructions. This time I'm here on a private visit, there's no order, you all continue to practice. Remember, being outside, military orders have their limits. So you continue your training and don't mind us. Just tell me where Thunder Commander, Zeng Commander, and Yi Commander are and that's enough."

  The warrior pointed to a small shooting range on the right and said, "Commander Lei is over there teaching military officers of all levels how to use guns. Commander Zeng and Commander Yi are also there."

  I took a look at Leiting's lecture in the distance, turned my head and said to the little warrior: "Okay, you guys continue. I'll go with the commissar to take a look over there." After finishing speaking, he walked towards Leiting. Just a few steps away, he stopped and said to the little warrior: "You must practice your marksmanship well. You will serve the country in the future."

  "Yes, I will definitely practice my marksmanship well and annihilate the Qing army when the time comes." After finishing speaking, he excitedly returned to his team for training.

  Zhou Lun looked at me with a smile and said, "A Xiao, you're now even better than me at doing ideological work on the warriors. With just a few words, you've made that little warrior even more dedicated. I'm afraid this little warrior will be sleepless for several nights because of your words."

  I ignored his laughter and said as I walked, "Arun, many women have already asked to join the army, what do you think we should do? There are already enough nurses in the division hospital."

  Zhou Lun also nodded and said, "Yes, I know something about this matter. Hunan women have always been quite bold and are in no way inferior to Sichuan women. The nurses in our hospital are already sufficient. Now various merchants have also responded to our call and started recruiting female workers. However, there are still over 300 women who are unwilling to go to the factories of these merchants and insist on joining our army. I'm also being driven crazy by these people."

  "Haha, I'm glad they all found you! Haha"

  Zhou Lun forced a smile and hurriedly caught up, saying: "Don't be so pleased, I already have a plan now."

  I curiously stopped in my tracks and asked, "What plan?"

  Zhou Lun continued to walk forward, saying as he walked: "I plan to let them form 15 propaganda teams. Rehearse the White-Haired Girl and other programs from that time. When the time comes, several companies will protect them and go around for publicity. This team of 300 people is now my political department's song and dance troupe."

  "Haha, got it." He said, looking ahead and continued, "We're here. Let's keep quiet for now and see what they're talking about."