lovenovelstory Chapter 188 The guns and ammunition delivered by Li Jianghe shocked Commander Xiao and the others.
Chapter 188 The guns and ammunition delivered by Li Jianghe shocked Commander Xiao and the others.
"Of course it's true. But you don't need to drink this glass of wine."
Li Jianghe reached out and gently placed his palm on the rim of his cup, his tone solemn, "Let's drink after we win and return in triumph, that will be truly satisfying."
"Xiao Hua, what nonsense are you spouting!" Commander Xiao glared at him and said irritably, "How dare you say such a thing to Jiang He?"
"Brother Xiao, don't scold him. I'm not joking."
Li Jianghe's smile vanished, and his expression became extremely serious.
He leaned forward and lowered his voice: "Do you know exactly how many Japanese troops are attacking this time?"
The people at the table immediately fell silent, moved closer, their faces solemn, and shook their heads in unison.
Li Jianghe held up five fingers, his voice as deep as stone: "At least 500,000. This doesn't include the reinforcements they will receive later; this is confirmation from headquarters."
Upon hearing this number, the group gasped in unison.
Everyone remembers how fierce the Battle of Shanghai was, with the Japanese army deploying only about 200,000 troops in total.
These 200,000-plus people overwhelmed the 700,000-plus Nationalist troops, and ultimately seized the opportunity to capture Nanjing, creating that horrific tragedy.
Today, the Japanese army's strength has doubled, while the National Revolutionary Army has only about a million men at most, most of whom are newly recruited soldiers who haven't even gotten used to handling guns.
Not to mention weapons, ammunition, and heavy firepower; in every aspect, they are far less abundant than during the Battle of Shanghai.
Before the battle even officially began, the disparity in strength on paper was already starkly obvious.
The room fell silent instantly, with only the flickering flame of the kerosene lamp remaining.
Li Jianghe raised his hand and placed it heavily on Commander Xiao's shoulder:
"Brother Xiao, now is not the time for formalities. We are all brothers who crawled out of the piles of corpses in Nanjing, there is no need for such empty formalities."
"These equipment I have are just gathering dust and rusting in the warehouse. Giving them to you will allow you to kill a few more Japanese soldiers, which is more important than anything else. Don't you agree?"
Looking into his sincere eyes, Commander Xiao's eyes welled up slightly, his Adam's apple bobbed several times, and finally he nodded heavily.
"Good! Jiang He, we and all the soldiers of the 11th Army will remember this kindness!"
He paused, then couldn't help but ask, "I just wonder, approximately how much of this equipment is there?"
"I can't say for sure the exact number right now."
Li Jianghe smiled and said, "Once I get back to the camp, I'll have the quartermaster take inventory and then I'll transport it to you. You can just send someone to the train station to receive it."
"Thank you! On behalf of the tens of thousands of soldiers of the 11th Army, I thank you!"
Commander Xiao suddenly stood up and gave Li Jianghe a very solemn military salute.
Hua Pinzhang, Zhu Chi, Gao Zhisong, and the others standing nearby also stood up at the same time, stood at attention and saluted. The soft rustling of their military uniforms was filled with emotion.
Li Jianghe quickly stood up and returned a standard military salute.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.
Li Jianghe boarded the train, and with the clanging of the wheels, he headed towards Huangchuan.
The train traveled westward until evening before finally arriving at Huangchuan Station.
When he rushed back to the Third Column's camp by car, he had just stepped into the command post and hadn't even had time to take off his military overcoat when Li Jianghe ordered the communications officer at the door, "Go and call Long Wenzhang over here."
A moment later, Long Wenzhang strode in, his military cap askew on his head, his face still bearing the dust of the wilderness.
He saluted and grinned, asking, "Commander, you wanted to see me?"
"Take your men to the military supply depot immediately and take inventory of the Japanese weapons and ammunition we captured earlier, and make a list categorized by type."
Li Jianghe sat down in his chair, picked up his water glass, took a sip, and added, "This batch of equipment is to be allocated to Commander Xiao and Zhu Chi's troops. (Read the full text for free: Chapter 188, 'The guns and ammunition Li Jianghe delivered shocked Commander Xiao and the others.')"
Upon hearing this, Long Wenzhang paused for a moment, then smiled knowingly and scratched his head:
"I knew it! It was for our old brothers in Nanjing."
"Alright, I'll get on it right away. I'll make sure the inventory is crystal clear!"
After saying that, he turned around and rushed out in a flurry, his footsteps quickly disappearing into the night of the camp.
Three days later, Wuhan Railway Station.
The early autumn wind, carrying coal smoke and dust, swept across the empty platform.
Xiao Shanling, dressed in a crisp military uniform with his collar buttoned up tightly, stood at the front of the platform with a group of division and brigade commanders from the 11th Army, their eyes fixed on the direction the railway tracks extended.
The people standing behind him also frequently looked up, their faces filled with anticipation and trepidation.
"Old Zhu, how much weaponry and ammunition do you think Jiang He will be able to send us this time?"
Hua Pinzhang couldn't help but move closer to Zhu Chi and asked in a low voice.
Zhu Chi waved his hand, but his tone was firm:
"How can I say for sure?"
But you know how loyal Jiang He is. Back when we were defending Yuhuatai together, he replenished our 262nd Brigade's weapons and ammunition quite often.
"I think there will definitely be a lot this time. I estimate three or four thousand guns, plus a hundred thousand or so bullets, that should be enough."
"I think there will definitely be a lot this time. I estimate three or four thousand guns, plus a hundred thousand or so bullets, that should be enough."
Han Xianyuan, standing nearby, cleared his throat and interjected, his eyes gleaming: "I doubt it. I heard that Jiang He captured mountains of Japanese weapons and ammunition in the Battle of Taierzhuang; maybe five or six thousand guns wouldn't be enough to stop them!"
The three were discussing in hushed tones when a long, sharp whistle suddenly rang out from afar.
Immediately afterwards, the clanging sound of wheels rolling over the rail joints grew closer, and the military train, belching white smoke, slowly pulled into the platform and finally came to a steady stop.
"Open the door! Unload the goods!"
Xiao Shanling gave the order in a deep voice, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement.
With a whoosh, all the carriage doors swung open.
The people on the platform immediately noticed the neatly stacked wooden crates in the carriage, which resembled a small mountain, and they all held their breath.
Xiao Shanling took a deep breath, calmed his wildly beating heart, and leaped into the nearest carriage.
"Pry it open and take a look," he ordered.
The soldier next to him immediately took out a crowbar, wedged it into the gap of the wooden box, and pried open the lid with a little force.
Inside, there was a thick layer of moisture-proof oil paper, and wrapped inside were rows of well-maintained Type 38 rifles.
These rifles were all captured from the Japanese army by Li Jianghe's troops on the battlefield of Taierzhuang, and they were in excellent condition.
Although the Type 38 rifle has its shortcomings, it is far superior to the Hanyang rifle currently widely used by the National Revolutionary Army in terms of power, range, and accuracy.
The old bolt-action rifle, the Hanyang Type 85, could only use round-nosed bullets and could not fire pointed bullets. It was barely usable in close combat, but once the distance increased, the ballistic stability was vastly different from that of pointed bullets.
Not to mention the Hanyang rifles in the hands of the National Revolutionary Army, most of which were old guns that had been in service for more than ten years. They had passed through the hands of countless people, and the rifling of many guns was almost worn down, so the bullets they fired were hard to tell where they were going.
Xiao Shanling reached out and picked up a rifle, pulled back the bolt with a clatter, and carefully inspected its internal structure.
The parts fit together perfectly, and the gun barrel is as clean as new.
He couldn't help but gently stroke the cold gun barrel with his palm and sighed softly, "What a good gun, truly a good gun."
"Commander! Come quick, there's a machine gun here!"
Not far away, Zhu Chi's voice suddenly rang out, filled with undisguised surprise.
Xiao Shanling immediately put down his rifle and walked over quickly.
In another wooden crate, carefully wrapped in oil paper, was a disassembled Type 92 heavy machine gun.
The gun barrels, bolts, and gun mounts were neatly arranged and categorized, and even the necessary maintenance tools were readily available.