Chapter 37 Armed Training

  For several weeks, Yang Junran pushed the responsibility of training troops onto Fang Hanqin, while he personally trained the armored soldiers.

  Although the conditions here are very harsh, more than 100 armored soldiers have been trained, of which 60 can take on the responsibility of drivers.

  These people are Yang Junran's treasures because they all have an education. In this era lacking intellectuals, they are undoubtedly the best treasures.

  Wherever they go, they will be welcomed.

  Even with just time, relying on their patriotic enthusiasm, they can be trained into excellent commanders.

  Not far from the county town, on a desert, this is Yang Junran's armored infantry training ground.

  Due to the lack of ammunition, it was impossible to provide these armored troops with live-fire training opportunities. Most of the training was for drivers, and a lot of oil was obtained through requisitioning, which could fully meet the needs of the 40 Type 97 tanks.

  But fortunately, the tank's machine gun caliber was 7.7MM, which could be used in common with the heavy machine gun bullets captured by Yang Junran, and this gave Yang Junran a reason to train these armored soldiers; otherwise, if there were no ammunition at all, Yang Junran would not have wasted his time on these tanks.

  Tanks are conducting live-fire training in the desert.

  A moving tank requires a high level of proficiency from its machine gunner inside.

  After several weeks of training, excellent machine gunners drawn from various departments also gradually adapted to shooting in motion.

  Although it can't be said that the accuracy rate is 100%, there's still an accuracy rate of over 80%.

  "Commander." Fang Hanqin dragged his tired body and walked towards Yang Junran.

  These few weeks made Fang Hanqin extremely busy, not only did he have to accept the additional officers from the Military Affairs Department, but also train soldiers and at night, he had to take time out to go to the Instruction Corps to give lectures.

  Compared with Yang Junran, Fang Hanqin is even busier.

  "What's wrong, how was the new recruit training? Can't even dare to use force in close combat?" Yang Junran said to Fang Hanchen while looking at the tank in the distance.

  Fang Hanqin smiled wryly and said to Yang Junran, "There's been some progress, but we need to train for a while. The villagers have already prepared the goods for sale and are using large transport carts to move them. They want us to dispatch some troops to escort them, as long as they reach the border, that's all. Mongolian merchants will take over from there."

  Yang Junran nodded and said to Han Qin: "I'll have the tank regiment prepare, and dispatch a battalion of troops to escort."

  After finishing this sentence, Yang Junran's eyes lit up, and Han Qin said: "How far is it from here to the border of Outer Mongolia, and how long does it take to come and go?"

  "It's unclear. If we take the transport truck, it'll take a day and a night. If we walk, it might take even longer." Fang Hanqin replied absent-mindedly as he gazed at the tanks in the distance.

  "You withdraw the second detachment of the First Guerrilla Column to follow the troops, and both the machine gun battalion and the mortar battalion will participate in the action." Yang Junran's face was very serious, and he said to Fang Hanchen beside him, but his eyes were always on the tank troops training in the distance.

  "If they follow, I'm afraid it will slow down the troop's marching speed. Carrying heavy machine guns and mortars will also affect the marching speed. As long as there is a tank regiment, I think ordinary bandits won't come to make trouble. If necessary, we can just reinforce an infantry regiment, no need for the entire detachment to participate." Fang Hanchen looked at Yang Junran, saying with doubt.

  "You go ahead and arrange it, it's a good opportunity to test our recent training level." Yang Junran said firmly to Fang Hanchen.

  He smiled helplessly and executed the command, although he didn't know what Yang Junran was up to.

  The second morning, before dawn broke, the convoy set off towards a distant place.

  A long convoy stretches as far as the eye can see, with a few transporters carrying tank fuel and ammunition bringing up the rear of the entire force.

  The second team of troops, under the leadership of Team Leader Qin Litian, protected the safety of the entire convoy from left to right and front to back.

  Twenty tanks were assigned respectively as vanguard and rearguard.

  The convoy's speed was not fast, always maintaining a pace slightly faster than walking.

  A large number of cattle and sheep followed behind the convoy, these were the family property that the townspeople relied on for survival.

  Every time they sell these things, the common people will consciously bring some silver dollars to send away the bandits who are looting everywhere.

  Those who were lucky might encounter some bandits with a conscience, and giving them some money could resolve the situation. Those who were unlucky not only had their valuables looted but also had their cattle taken away from them. In some cases, even after looting their belongings, some ruthless bandits would go on to massacre people.

  In the end, it's still these ordinary people who suffer.

  The common people are now very happy, because around them there are large numbers of troops following, even the Japanese have not been able to get anything good from these troops, let alone those bandits on horseback. Moreover, this troop is also equipped with something called a tank, which will surely scare away those despicable bandits on horseback.

  Several robust horses were running at the forefront of the team. Although Yang Junran had no research on horses, he could see that these horses were obviously much stronger than ordinary horses and seemed to have a general spiritual connection, never leaving the team's line of sight.

  The two teams didn't take it seriously at first, thinking it was an easy task.

  But as time went by, these soldiers did not think so.

  The people sitting on the big cart didn't have any feeling at all. They were already used to such a journey, let alone that the cart was pulled by horses.

  And the warriors, carrying rifles and bullet belts, as well as canteens and dry rations.

  Some of the poorer warriors had already begun to sweat all over their bodies.

  Although it's still January weather here, it's very cold.

  By noon, some warriors began to fall behind, and some seriously injured warriors even fainted.

  Except for some particularly serious warriors, Yang Junran absolutely does not allow any warrior to ride on a transport cart.

  Even if they are unconscious, soldiers should be taken care of by their respective units.

  It wasn't until late in the afternoon that a strange scene appeared among the transportation team, with many battalions already carrying stretchers.

  When passing through a desert, the troops were extremely tired. Many soldiers had sand in their shoes, and the weight of their entire body had increased significantly.

  Although there were many difficulties, the speed of the fleet never changed.

  Many civilians couldn't take it anymore and asked some exhausted soldiers to ride in carts while they walked.

  But all were rejected by Yang Junran.

  Looking at a patch of cacti in the distance, Yang Junran smiled slightly.

  "The fourth battalion's second company is ready for battle." Yang Junran shouted loudly towards the second company on the flank.

  More than 100 officers and men of the second company quickly put down four stretchers, took out rifles, bayonets, light machine guns, and grenade launchers to prepare for battle.

  The warriors checked their ammunition and waited for further orders.

  "Three hundred meters ahead, target cactus, rapid fire!" Yang Junran shouted loudly.

  The warriors were obviously hesitant, and the second lieutenant looked at Yang Junran with a puzzled face.

  "Didn't you hear my order? Fire!" Yang Junran's face was somewhat displeased as he shouted loudly.

  The warriors didn't hesitate any longer, fearing they would provoke this commander, the sound of gunfire quickly rang out.

  A cactus was immediately greeted with intense gunfire, but the effect seemed poor.

  Most of the bullets missed their mark, and even three miniature grenades launched from a grenade launcher also missed.

  "Stop! Stop!" Yang Junran shouted loudly.

  The warriors' faces were all unsightly, and several grenade launchers lowered their heads and fell silent.

  The machine gunner also had his head down, with a look of a child who did something wrong.

  "Continue marching." Yang Junran didn't say anything else, just gazing calmly at the soldiers.

  The four battalion commanders and the second brigade commander Qin Litian were also somewhat surprised, although there were many new recruits in their own troops, but they still had a good grasp of shooting.

  They never thought that after a morning's march, their troops would be in such a state.

  His own commander had apparently anticipated such a situation long ago.

  The troops in the distance gradually appeared on the horizon, a connected grassland that was cut into two ends.

  The common people have begun to sort out their own goods and are waiting for the other party's inspection.

  Before long, several Mongolians with increasingly tall and strong physiques walked over from a distance.

  Alongside the transport vehicle, he took a close look and had a very satisfied expression.

  When they saw several fine horses, a few Mongolians were even more excited.

  They were very fond of fine horses.

  Several Mongolians looked at the fine horses and then carefully sized up Yang Junran's troops.

  "Guerrilla troops of the National Army?" A short Mongolian man looked at Yang Junran, dropped a bag and waved his hand towards the back.

  Just after the Mongolians waved goodbye, a group of people appeared on the grassland behind them.

  Most of them were riding war horses and quickly walked towards the convoy.

  The warriors around looked at these people coming over, all keeping vigilant, and many of the warriors picked up their guns.

  The short Mongolian man smiled but didn't say anything.

  The Mongolians riding war horses quickly unloaded the supplies from the transport carts, and in no time, everything on the cart had been unloaded onto the ground.

  The Mongolian smiled at Yang Junran but didn't say anything and walked towards the border of Outer Mongolia.

  A civilian walked over and said to Yang Junran: "Commander Yang, we can leave now."

  Yang Junran nodded and led his troops back along the road they had come from.

  After a short while, the troops began to march in the direction of the county town.

  Of course, there were also quite a few stretchers carried along.