Chapter 18: Commander Pei's Flying Storage Web

  According to the intelligence Liu Feng had obtained earlier, there was only one squadron of devils and two or three squadrons of puppet troops in Guangping County. One squadron of devils was nothing to worry about for Liu Feng. If they were to deploy more troops to Zhangzhou County and Qiu County, then there would be even fewer troops left. Therefore, taking down Guangping County was entirely possible.

  Chen Zhi-kui hesitated and said, "Our Eighth Route Army's tactics are mainly guerrilla warfare, accumulating small victories to achieve big wins. Even our regular army has never attacked a county town before, so this matter must be reported to the higher-ups for approval before taking action."

  "Report, report, all you know is report! Waiting for reports and approvals, we're only taking six people on this small operation, do we still need to report?"

  Liu Feng said, "Comrade Chen, we are just a small team of six people and our goal is not to attack the county town. However, we need Comrade Chen to mobilize some people to transport the spoils of war. This small action doesn't need to be reported to the higher-ups, does it?"

  This was also one of the reasons why Liu Feng hesitated to join the Eighth Route Army. Because the combat method of the Eighth Route Army is completely different from his own, and it's not easy for others to cooperate with him and fight around him. And if he were used by the Eighth Route Army to fight a positional war, his role would be greatly weakened. This does not conform to his idea of doing something big in this world.

  Comrade Chen thought for a moment and said: "Alright, let's gather intelligence on the county town first, then we'll talk about it later. In the next two days, Comrade Liu will give our soldiers some good guidance."

  Comrade Chen wanted to stabilize Liu Feng and then quickly report to his superiors. This Liu Feng was actually able to single-handedly kill so many devils; if he couldn't be pulled into the revolutionary ranks, at least they had to try to become his friend. This would be beneficial for the future development of the Eighth Route Army.

  Liu Feng nodded and said, "No problem, I'll train this district team for a few days."

  Then in the following days, Commissar Chen left while Liu Feng stayed to train the forty men of this district squad. It was only then that these Eighth Route Army guerrilla personnel knew what hellish training meant.

  Liu Feng lowered the training method he used in the special forces training base and moved it here, making everyone complain bitterly. If it weren't for the strong discipline of the Eighth Route Army soldiers and Lin Xuejun's pressure as the district chief, they would have rebelled long ago. However, Liu Feng required his team members to do what he himself did first, so the Eighth Route Army soldiers admired him very much and persisted with gritted teeth.

  In the morning, there is usually a 20-lap obstacle run, followed by aiming training, which requires each person to hold a gun for an hour and hang bricks under the gun, called stability training. Then comes the live ammunition shooting training with five rounds of bullets. In the afternoon, there is another 20-lap obstacle run, then bayonet training, followed by aiming training, and finally live ammunition shooting.

  This live ammunition training exercise has been a source of great distress for Captain Lin. At first, he was resolute in his refusal to participate, but Liu Feng first assured him that he could procure the bullets and then threatened to quit if he didn't get to conduct the live ammunition training.

  Captain Lin had no choice but to accept the live ammunition training method. The Eighth Route Army had never been so extravagant, with a small team of 40 people in a district firing 400 rounds every day. Listening to the "crackling" gunfire every day, Captain Lin cursed while shooting with his 38 rifle: "Damn it, this is really wasteful, how many devils can we kill with this?"

  After training for several days, Captain Chen returned, accompanied by a middle-aged man wearing a gray military uniform. Seeing that the middle-aged man came on horseback, followed by two robust guards also on horseback, Liu Feng knew this was probably a high-ranking commander from the Eighth Route Army.

  "Captain Lin saw him from afar and hurriedly ran forward, standing at attention and saluting: 'Report to Commander Pei, the Guangping County squad is in training, please instruct!'"

  Commander Pei replied: "Old Lin, I heard that an anti-Japanese hero has arrived here, so I came to take a look."

  "Lin, the captain, hastily introduced Liu Feng: "This is Pei Fangqi, the commander of the 223rd Regiment of the New Eighth Route Army. He participated in the Northern Expedition and the Long March, and is an old revolutionary. This is Liu Feng, also known as Liu Da Yingxiong, who single-handedly killed over a thousand Japanese devils and puppet troops. And he brought us a truckload of weapons and equipment."

  Commander Pei laughed and said: "Old Lin, don't flatter me anymore, lest Hero Liu laughs at us. Hello, Hero Liu!"

  Liu Feng then clasped his fists and said, "Commander Pei is being polite. I just killed a few little devils, it's not worth calling me a hero. You Eighth Route Army, with such simple equipment, persisting in the War of Resistance, are the real heroes."

  The regimental commander of the Eighth Route Army, after liberation, this is at least a lieutenant general level. In front of such a leader, Liu Feng appears exceptionally humble.

  Commander Pei laughed and said, "Liu Hero, you are really humble. The Eighth Route Army thanks you! I heard that you also developed a training method for our district's squad. Can I take a look?"

  Liu Feng said: "Of course, please follow me, Commander Pei."

  Liu Feng brought Commander Pei to the training ground, where they saw the Eighth Route Army soldiers training on the 400-meter hurdle track. Commander Pei, a seasoned veteran of many battles, quickly grasped the situation and carefully asked Liu Feng about the training program and the target time for completing one lap. He nodded secretly and said to Captain Lin: "This training will be tested in your district's squad first, and if it is effective, it will be promoted throughout the army."

  "Yes!" Captain Lin immediately straightened up and replied.

  Then Commander Pei asked Liu Feng about the training plan for the day, and when he heard that Liu Feng was going to have these soldiers fire ten live rounds of shooting, his brow furrowed immediately.

  Not to mention the small squads, even the regular army of the Eighth Route Army would only fire a few shots in each battle and then engage in hand-to-hand combat. How can this Liu Feng do things like this? Even training requires live ammunition, so how will they fight battles?

  "Comrade Liu, you may not be aware of the situation with our Eighth Route Army," said Commander Pei. "With live ammunition training like this, I'm sure your shooting skills will improve quickly, but we really can't afford it. We have no place to replenish supplies and can only rely on capturing them."

  Captain Lin said: "Hero Liu said he can help us take down Guangping County City and capture the Japanese army's ammunition depot."

  "Hmm, I've also heard Old Chen mention this. The problem is that Guangping County City isn't easy to take down. I've heard Old Chen say that Liu Xiong only needs six people to take down Guangping County City. Can I ask, how do you plan on taking down Guangping County City?" Commander Pei asked.

  Liu Feng said: "My opinion is as follows, first let Captain Lin lead five people to enter Guangping County in batches. Then I will climb the city wall into Guangping County that night and bring all six people's weapons with me. Everyone will wear Japanese military uniforms. First, we'll attack the location of the battalion commander. Then it's the barracks, ammunition depot. Finally, it's the devils at the city gate. As long as we kill all the devils, the puppet army won't dare to show their heads. Then open the city gate, and the Eighth Route Army outside can enter the city and transport the spoils of war."