"You brat, don't be so stingy. You've become a rich man,
why are you still so petty?"
"Send that mountain gun, two Type 92 Infantry Guns, and their shells to the brigade headquarters.
For the Type 92 Infantry Guns, keep a hundred shells for yourself.
Also, send six Type 92 heavy machine guns
to the brigade headquarters.
Each heavy machine gun comes with three thousand rounds of ammunition.
Send twenty Shanxi-made Type 65 light machine guns to the brigade headquarters, with one thousand rounds per gun.
I don't need any of your other weapons and equipment."
"Don't do that, Brigade Commander, I still want to form an artillery company."
"Your regiment already has an artillery company, so should my brigade have an artillery battalion!"
"Of course, with your reputation, Brigade Commander, you should have an artillery division."
"Hmph, don't try to sweet-talk me.
You have two choices: either honestly send me the weapons and equipment.
The other is for me to personally lead my men down there to take them.
And when that happens, it won't just be about taking the weapons and equipment."
"Yes, Brigade Commander,
I guarantee you'll see that batch of weapons and equipment before sunset today!"
Li Yunlong didn't dare to linger for a drink now,
fearing that if he drank any more, he'd drink away his remaining meager possessions.
Seeing Li Yunlong's panicked retreat, the Brigade Commander burst into laughter.
"Call the New First Regiment.
Tell him that Li Yunlong has made a contribution this time,
and promote him to Battalion Commander."
"No, Regiment Commander, this drink of yours is quite expensive."
"Regiment Commander, I beg you.
If you want to drink next time, just tell me.
I'll buy it for you in the county town, and if I can't find it, I'll rob the Japanese devils."
Zhang Dabiao, who had stayed at the regimental headquarters hoping to get a Type 92 Infantry Gun, felt something was wrong when he saw Li Yunlong return with a dark expression.
When Li Yunlong explained the situation, Zhang Dabiao was stunned.
A whole artillery company gone for a single drink; the price of this drink was truly high.
However, when he later heard it was to exchange for Qin Yangming,
Zhang Dabiao immediately felt that the artillery company was quite worth it, and they had even profited.
"Profit nothing,
the Brigade Commander never intended to transfer Qin Yangming away.
He just wanted to extort me."
On the way back, Li Yunlong also figured out what had happened.
Some of the nearby brother units didn't even have mortars,
and his regiment had an artillery company.
Wasn't that clearly telling Headquarters:
"There's a rich landlord here, come and get him."
Especially since their regiment was right under the Brigade Commander's nose,
how could the Brigade Commander not act?
Besides, those artillery pieces would indeed play a greater role in the hands of the Brigade Commander.
Of course, this was just Li Yunlong comforting himself.
The Political Commissar's assessment was actually accurate; he was like a Pixiu.
A week later.
Upon learning of his promotion to Battalion Commander, Qin Yangming
began his plan to reorganize the Vanguard Battalion.
He took out paper and a pen and started writing.
The squad level would still consist of sixteen men.
However, he did not plan to equip the squads with grenade launchers.
This was because grenade launchers were too experience-dependent.
To master the skill, one either had to spend a lot of time training,
or use artillery shells to compensate.
Coincidentally, he had neither.
Therefore, he decided to equip the infantry squads with rifle grenades.
These direct-fire grenades were easier to use than grenade launchers.
The main reason was that they were cheap.
A brand new one cost only ten points,
and the accompanying rifle grenades were five points each.
If it were the Japanese devils' rifle grenade launchers,
they could directly use the Japanese devils' melon hand grenades.
The infantry squads would be divided into three groups,
two five-man rifle groups,
with the squad leader and deputy squad leader each leading a rifle group.
Each group's deputy leader would carry a rifle grenade launcher,
and everyone else would help carry one or two rifle grenades.
A six-man machine gun squad equipped with two light machine guns,
with the two primary gunners serving as the squad leader and deputy squad leader respectively.
Two light machine guns plus two rifle grenade launchers,
this firepower and manpower already surpassed a Japanese infantry detachment.
The squad leader, deputy squad leader, and assistant machine gunner would additionally be issued a Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistol.
This way, each squad would have six pistols,
and in close combat, they wouldn't suffer excessive casualties due to poor bayonet fighting skills.
A platoon would consist of four infantry squads and a ten-man firepower squad equipped with three grenade launchers.
（ Except for the three primary gunners and assistant gunners, everyone else would be equipped with a rifle. The three assistant gunners and the squad leader would be equipped with pistols.）
Including the platoon headquarters and mule and horse team, there would be ninety men in total. （ The platoon headquarters would have three men, the platoon leader and deputy platoon leader two, and communications one.
The deputy platoon leader would also serve as a sniper, and the communicator would be equipped with a submachine gun.
The mule and horse team would have thirteen men. The captain and deputy captain would be equipped with rifles and pistols, while the rest would be equipped with rifles.）
A company would have three infantry platoons,
plus a machine gun and artillery platoon equipped with two 60mm mortars,
one Type 92 Infantry Gun, and three heavy machine guns.
Including the company headquarters and other personnel, there would be four hundred men in total.
He planned to form six infantry companies,
and an artillery company equipped with three Type 41 mountain guns,
and six 82mm mortars.
A machine gun squad equipped with two DShK anti-aircraft machine guns,
and an assault platoon with forty-five men, all equipped with MP38 submachine guns.
It could be said that with this establishment, his battalion would have a total strength approaching three thousand men.
He wouldn't even flinch if he had to go head-to-head with a Japanese field infantry battalion,
and would even have the capability to annihilate them.
Looking at the organizational chart he had drawn up,
Qin Yangming opened his mouth and called Sun Zhigang over.
"Old Sun, how much weapons and equipment does our battalion have in total right now?"
Sun Zhigang listened to Qin Yangming's question and recalled before answering.
"Our battalion currently has twenty Zhongzheng rifles,
one ZB vz. 26 light machine gun,
one Maxim heavy machine gun.
That's all the weapons with 7.9mm ammunition.
The rest were damaged and sent to the regimental headquarters.
Then there are three hundred of the Japanese devils' Type 38 rifles,
twenty-one Type 11 light machine guns,
ten Type 92 heavy machine guns,
twenty-three grenade launchers,
ten Type 92 heavy machine guns,
and two 60mm mortars with ample ammunition."
After Sun Zhigang informed him of the Vanguard Battalion's inventory,
Qin Yangming's brow furrowed.
This amount of weapons and equipment was not enough to form the Vanguard Battalion he desired.
The Vanguard Battalion alone would need about fifteen hundred rifles.
Even if the Type 38 rifle was the main weapon,
that was only one-fifth of the requirement.
The only item close to the establishment quantity was the Type 92 heavy machine gun,
still short by eight.
After instructing Sun Zhigang to begin recruiting and training new soldiers according to the plan,
Qin Yangming began to ponder how to solve the problem of the remaining weapons.
The point deficit he currently had was too large.
All his points combined would only be enough to buy a few artillery pieces,
and that wouldn't include the shells.
"It's a pity that the Japanese devils' command post in Linyuan County hasn't sent a new commander yet, otherwise..."
"Right, I can go to the Japanese devils' command post in the neighboring county town and pull off another job!"
Thinking of the Japanese devils' command post, Qin Yangming immediately thought of Shiquan County, next to Linyuan County.
The Japanese devils' commander there was a Lieutenant Colonel, whose head was worth much more than a Major's.
Moreover, it wasn't just the heads of Japanese devils that could be exchanged for points; those of puppet troops could too.
Although, at the same rank, a puppet troop's head was only worth half the price.
But the sheer number of puppet troops made up for it.
Any Battalion Commander was a Major or Lieutenant Colonel, and a Regiment Commander was a Colonel or even a Major General.
Although the puppet troops' ranks were not valuable, the system still recognized them.
And puppet troops were easier to kill than Japanese devils.
"Goudan, go and call Wang Erniu and Li Erhu over."
"Yes!"
Soon, the two were brought before Qin Yangming.
Qin Yangming got straight to the point,
telling them directly that he was going to take them to the neighboring county town to attack the Japanese devils' command post.
The two naturally had no objections.
After bidding farewell to Sun Zhigang,
Qin Yangming, along with nine others, changed their clothes and rode their horses towards Shiquan County.
As they passed some of the Japanese devils' blockhouses,
Qin Yangming had already made up his mind.
After the new recruits were trained,
he would lead them to attack the Japanese devils' blockhouses in Linyuan County and the bandits on the mountains to gain combat experience for the troops.
Shiquan County was about a hundred kilometers away from Qin Yangming and his group.
Rushing as fast as they could, they finally arrived at the county town before sunset.
Perhaps because there were no main Eighth Route Army forces active in Shiquan County,
only some district squads and county battalions were operating.
Therefore, the city gate guards were not very strict.
Shiquan County was significantly larger than Linyuan County, and it had more troops.
Linyuan County only had a Japanese infantry battalion and a regiment of puppet troops for defense.
Shiquan County, on the other hand, had a complete infantry battalion and a company,
plus a mixed infantry brigade of puppet troops for defense.
The highest commander was a Lieutenant Colonel.
The puppet army's Brigade Commander was a Major General.
It had to be said that the Japanese devils were quite generous with the ranks of their puppet troops.
However, for Qin Yangming, the more generous they were, the better.
The system calculated points based on military rank, not on the strength of the troops.
He wished the Japanese devils would give every puppet army soldier a general's rank.