Chapter 51: Live Ammunition Training

  The night fell quietly, with a faint cold light shining on the ground.

  The stars unwillingly accompanied the surroundings with an even weaker cold light.

  The command post of Chahar Right-Wing Army has been heavily guarded all around.

  Many war horses made sounds, showing their fatigue.

  The guards held their weapons and vigilantly looked around.

  Machine gun emplacements specially built on the roof were already manned by machine gunners.

  The small conference room was already packed with people.

  Apart from the various travel leaders, the regimental commanders directly under the division also attended the meeting.

  The purpose of this meeting is to review the mistakes made in this battle and strengthen the actual combat experience of each department besides training.

  "This time, although our troops won and captured a lot of artillery, many problems were exposed. I won't name names today, but if such situations happen again next time, all officers above the company level will be dismissed and investigated. I would rather have one less combatant in the regiment than a group of useless soldiers." Yang Junran's anger grew as he spoke, until he finished speaking, his right fist clenched and slammed heavily on the table.

  All the officers were stunned, except for Fang Hanqin and Cui Zhengming, the rest of the officers still did not know about the third brigade.

  It was the first time that this young teacher had lost his temper. They did not expect that this normally gentle and calm teacher would be so frightening when he got angry.

  The entire conference room fell silent, with every officer hardly daring to breathe.

  Fang Hanchen looked at the people in the conference room, all of whom were shocked, while Yang Junran's face still burned with anger.

  As the Chief of Staff, Fang Hanqin stood up and said to everyone: "Alright, we must remember this lesson. In order to increase the combat effectiveness of each brigade, I have already discussed with the division commander during the day. The 92-style infantry guns of each brigade's infantry artillery battalion will be strengthened to each regiment, forming an infantry gun platoon under the jurisdiction of three infantry guns. The captured 94-style mountain guns will be assigned to a ten-gun mountain artillery battalion for each brigade."

  The eyes of the travelers were filled with joy, which meant that each battalion in their own unit had not only nine grenade launchers, three mortars, and three infantry guns for support. This would greatly enhance the attacking ability of each battalion, and at critical moments, they could also be concentrated for use. The mountain artillery battalion of each division undoubtedly strengthened the firepower attack capability of each division.

  These travelers didn't know that Yang Junran had made up his mind this time and was determined to increase the number of artillery in each brigade.

  If it weren't for considering the problems of other troops to be formed in the future, Yang Junran would have liked to directly allocate all captured artillery to each brigade and let each brigade establish an artillery regiment.

  Having thought of this, Yang Junran's face had lost a lot of its angry fire.

  He was unwilling to expose such a side, after all, many of his subordinates were older than himself, and the commander of the Third Brigade, Deng Ziyong, was much older than himself.

  But Yang Junran knew that if he didn't discipline his subordinates properly, he would likely suffer even more losses in the future.

  "After the meeting, tomorrow each brigade will send troops to the Chief of Staff here to receive artillery. Due to the shells, I hope you all train carefully and do a good job training your own artillerymen. Having an excellent artillery team can reduce many casualties." Yang Junran said calmly after Fang Hanchin sat down.

  "Yes, sir." The officers quickly stood up and saluted.

  "Li, your cavalry regiment has performed well, advancing and retreating with precision, bravely killing the enemy. The Second War Zone and the Military Commission will jointly issue a reward of 2.5 million yuan to our troops. As foreign currencies in various places are depreciating, only the yuan is constantly appreciating in value. Except for leaving 1 million yuan to be issued to each department, we have 1.5 million left. I will reward your cavalry regiment with 100,000 yuan as a bonus this time. The officers and soldiers of the First Brigade will also receive a bonus of 200,000 yuan. The remaining 1.3 million yuan, together with the spoils of war from the bandits, will be handed over to the Chief of Staff for unified management. Is there any objection?" Yang Junran said, looking at the military officers.

  The officers all started discussing and shaking their heads, indicating they had no opinion.

  After seeing that everyone had no opinion, Yang Junran realized that Fang Hanqin had given a training task.

  "Gentlemen, judging from this situation, our training needs to be improved. In addition to strengthening physical training, we also need to conduct actual combat drills. There are many county towns around us that are garrisoned by puppet troops, which can become our training grounds for military strength. I and the commander have decided that after capturing a county town, apart from distributing things to the people, the remaining spoils of war will be divided into two parts: one part will be handed over to the division headquarters, and the other part will be distributed among the brothers and officers. Those who are capable will get more, and those who are not capable will get less." Fang Hanqin directly stated the training task.

  "I'll add one more thing, if anyone plunders the common people, no matter what reason, I'll directly execute them by firing squad. As for those traitors, there's no need to be polite, those who are extremely guilty will be executed by firing squad." Yang Junran's face still didn't have any expression, his voice was somewhat cold as he said this.

  "Yes, sir." The officers stood up and said.

  "Alright, nothing else, let's go back, the fourth battalion will take care of the defense work around the county town," said Yang Junran.

  "Yes, sir," said Xu Da, commander of the Fourth Army, quickly standing up.

  The officers began to slowly walk out of the conference room, Yang Junran's face still didn't look good.

  Fang Hanchen looked at Yang Junran and smiled helplessly before walking out.

  Yang Junran looked at a map not far away and shook his head helplessly.

  Several days later, Yang Junran, who was worried that the Japanese army would go crazy and retaliate, found that the Japanese army had not taken any action at all.

  The Japanese army was waiting for an opportunity, and as soon as the Kwantung Army arrived, they would launch an attack.

  Whether it was Commander Renzo Niiro or the 26th Brigade Commander, Lieutenant General Goro Matsui, they were all eagerly awaiting that day.

  Although they knew that Yang Junran's troops were not simple, they also firmly believed that the strong combat effectiveness of the Kwantung Army was not something that ordinary troops could match.

  However, during this time, troops from various brigades were constantly attacking and striking the Mongolian army within the county towns.

  The troops with mountain artillery battalions have significantly improved their combat effectiveness.

  Even the problem of shells that Yang Junran was worried about has been greatly alleviated, because in the county town, there are not only many shells but also many artillery pieces.

  On the vast grassland, several tents are particularly eye-catching.

  This is Dariganga sum of Khentii province, home of Jeltei, the sum governor.

  It would be difficult to discover the Mongol cavalry hiding around if one didn't look carefully.

  Once someone attacks here, the cavalry around will quickly surround and attack. On the vast grassland, except for tank troops, almost no one can cope with the Mongolian cavalry's attack.

  Jill Tay's face looked very bad, frowning from time to time, observing a map.

  The recent counties entrusted to him for defense have all been attacked by Yang Junran's troops, and more importantly, the artillery and ammunition that Li Shouxin promised to support him with have all been taken away.

  This made Jiltegi flag long very depressed, if it wasn't for his fondness of the grasslands here, he would have probably seen those restless Nationalist guerrilla troops already.

  But he didn't know that this was actually Li Shouxin's conspiracy, letting him and Yang Junran kill each other, while Li Shouxin reaped the benefits.

  "Qijiang, one of our county towns has been attacked again and we lost fifty men. The two hundred rifles that Li Shouxin sent to support us were all taken away." A Mongolian outside walked in and said to Jiltae.

  Jill's face was somewhat displeased, a rough face, ironed out in anger.

  His left hand had already grasped his curved knife, and he couldn't wait to chop the enemy into pieces.

  "We must make them pay the price, let them know the ferocity of our Mongolian cavalry. Assemble all troops immediately, I will go to teach those National Army guerrillas a lesson." Giltae shouted loudly.

  The Mongolians beside him hesitated, but still spoke out: "Commander, it's said that they've already expanded their forces and even defeated a Japanese brigade. Now they're at the height of their power, so let's not provoke them. If we were to anger them, with just our men, we might not be able to withstand them."

  Jirgalang's face became even more displeased, and he shouted loudly: "Our Mongolian cavalry has always been invincible, as long as we lure them onto the grasslands, they will be a flock of sheep waiting to be slaughtered. We will wipe them out and let them know our ferocity."

  The Mongolians looked at Jirgal's face and stopped talking, he didn't want to provoke the Jirgal banner at this time.

  Yang Junran in the county town, however, began to examine the large silver coins sent by Chairman Wei and General Yan Xishan.

  It so happened that two troops sent by Da Yang arrived almost at the same time.

  What's even more depressing is that a major general from the Second War Zone was dispatched, wearing a Shanxi army uniform.

  The chairman of the committee also dispatched a colonel from the attendants' room, wearing a central army uniform.

  The two of them stared at each other, neither willing to back down. If it weren't for Yang Junran's intervention, the two might have ended up fighting on the spot.

  "General Yang, Colonel Yan asked me to pass on to you that as long as there are future military achievements, Colonel Yan will absolutely not treat you unfairly. These large sums of money are just a token of our Second War Zone's goodwill. Colonel Yan holds you in high esteem and has even proposed expanding your troops. This time, apart from the large sums of money, there are also some weapons and ammunition, and over 3,000 new and old soldiers will be added to your troops." The Major General said with a self-satisfied expression, looking at the Lieutenant Colonel aide-de-camp who had spoken up.

  The attendant staff officer, who had never suffered such a loss before, quickly said: "This time, brother came in a hurry, the chairman personally entrusted that as long as General Yang has any requirements, I can represent the chairman to agree. The Second War Zone is still under the management of the chairman, and our Central Army has very good treatment. General Yang is a smart person and should understand my meaning."

  At this moment, Yang Junran was somewhat perplexed. Facing the confrontation between the two, Yang Junran directly walked into the command center and gave a cold treatment.