Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 36 Promotion to Battalion Commander (Please read and collect)
After Yue Qianli returned to Shanghai, he was not in a hurry to report to the 88th Division. At that time, the 88th Division was stationed in southern Jiangsu, and they were only transferred back from Guangzhou in November.

Yue Qianli arrived in Shanghai in late November, eight months before the outbreak of full-scale war. The 11th Division was one of the first to participate in the "8" Battle of Shanghai, and he didn't have much time to prepare.

This time he brought back a large number of 40mm and 107mm smoothbore directional tubes (steel tubes), each 900MM long, enough to produce thousands of rocket launchers or cannons, all of which were placed in Smith's warehouse in the International Settlement;
Also brought back were large quantities of sugar, potassium nitrate (used to make rocket propellants), solid propellants, high explosives, detonators, fuses, etc. These would not be inspected if they entered the International Settlement through Smith's channels.

Other supplies include medicines, battlefield first aid kits, compressed biscuits, engineer shovels, etc., totaling hundreds of tons. The heaviest are naturally steel pipes. As long as they are not finished weapons, the concession authorities will turn a blind eye.

As long as the supplies entered the common concession, with the protection of Smith & Co., these supplies would not be confiscated by the concession authorities.

After arriving in Shanghai, Yue Qianli, under the introduction of Smith, visited high-ranking officials in the concession. He used large sums of US dollars to pave the way and establish good relations with them, so that the import and export of materials would be convenient in the future. Money can make the world go round, let alone the foreigners.

After handling these matters, Yue Qianli rushed back to the 88th Division Headquarters to report. This time the division commander had been replaced by Sun Yuanliang, the former commander of the 87th Brigade of the 259th Division. There was no friendship between them.

Sun Yuanliang met Yue Qianli symbolically, and after accepting a brand-name imported watch and 1 US dollars from Yue Qianli, his expression became much better, and he gave him the position of the main battalion commander;

This is already quite good. You have to know that Hu Lian, who was a graduate of the fourth class of the Whampoa Military Academy, was only a regiment commander, and there were too few positions for German-equipped adjustment divisions.

After leaving the division headquarters, Yue Qianli was appointed commander of the second battalion of the 264th Regiment of the 527th Brigade, with the rank of Army Major, which was directly awarded to him by the General Staff Headquarters. After studying abroad for four years, his rank and position were both promoted by one level.

Although he returned to the old unit of the 527th Regiment, things had changed a lot after four years. The regiment commander Zhu Chi had been promoted to the position of brigade commander of the 262nd Brigade. The current regiment commander was Liao Lingqi, a graduate of the fourth term, who was a fellow native of southern Hunan like Yue Qianli.

A new battalion commander arrived in the army, so Commander Liao naturally called the three battalion commanders to have a meal together, which was also a common social event in the national army.
Regimental Commander Liao was previously the Second Battalion Commander of the 527th Regiment. He participated in the "January " Battle of Shanghai and was promoted to regimental commander due to his outstanding military achievements.

The commander of the first battalion, Li Jie, was the old company commander when Yue Qianli was a platoon leader. He was previously the deputy battalion commander of the first battalion and was later promoted to battalion commander. He was an old acquaintance.

The commander of the third battalion, Deng Zhuxiu, was a student of the fifth term of the Whampoa Military Academy and also from southern Hunan. Including Li Jie, the four fellow villagers got together and became good brothers after a few drinks. They were required to cooperate with each other on the battlefield.

Drinking naturally brings up the current situation. Hunanese people are quite straightforward, so they will inevitably complain after drinking:

"The Northeast was lost. Chahar, Rehe, and Suiyuan all fell into the hands of the devils. Half of North China was lost. Instead of thinking about taking back the territory, they ran to Guanzhong to supervise the war and suppress the bandits—"

"Li Jie, you've had too much to drink! Don't say things you shouldn't say. Be careful, there are ears on the other side of the wall."

Liao Lingqi shouted coldly, and Yue Qianli said quickly:
"Commander, why don't we stop drinking here today? Captain Li has had a little too much to drink."

Li Jie shouted:

"I'm not drunk! I just feel aggrieved!

Five years had passed, and the Japanese navy and army in Shanghai had not withdrawn as agreed. Instead, the Chinese army had completely withdrawn from Shanghai, and the matter was left unresolved.

The country is in crisis, and the soldiers should fight together. If China is to perish, it will only be when all the people of Hunan die." Deng Zhuxiu also slammed the table and said:
"That's right, I'd rather die in battle than be a slave of a conquered nation!"

Yue Qianli saw a statistical data in later life. There were more than 11000 graduates in the first six classes of Whampoa Military Academy, of which 3666 were from Hunan, 2 more than the second place Guangdong. Many of them died in the battlefield against the Japanese, including his old company commander Li Jie.

"That's all for today. Yue Qianli will help Li Jie back. Everyone, please lead the troops.

There will be a war between China and Japan, and there will be a time for you to kill the devils! "

Seeing that his brothers started to talk nonsense after drinking some wine, Liao Lingqi was worried about causing trouble, so he stopped the drinking and sent the three battalion commanders back. This was also to protect them. Now is a sensitive period and some things cannot be said.

After Yue Qianli helped Li Jie leave the regiment, Li Jie quickly returned to normal. Seeing Yue Qianli looking at him curiously, he said unhappily:
"The leader said I drank too much, how could I not drink too much?"

Yue Qianli suddenly realized that his old company commander was also a sly person. He only heard Li Jie say:
"Qianli, you made the right choice to escape to a foreign country in the past few years. Look at your brothers. They first went to Hubei, Henan and Anhui to suppress the bandits, then went to western Fujian and southern Jiangxi, and chased them all the way to Chengdu. They fought with Chinese people.

It’s boring. I, Li Jie, don’t want to stain my hat with the blood of my compatriots.”

"Old Captain, the regiment commander is right. You and my brothers will have plenty of opportunities to fight the devils in the future. That day will not be too far away!"

Li Jie said loudly:
"I am waiting!"

After Yue Qianli and Li Jie separated, he returned to his own troops. After meeting with several company commanders, he gradually got into the state.

He first spent a few days getting a thorough understanding of the troops' situation, and was very satisfied with the overall quality of the officers and soldiers;

The entire battalion has three infantry companies and one machine gun company, which is equipped with six Maxim heavy machine guns and two Type 6 mortars.

每个步兵连下辖三个步兵排和12人的连部，总人数129人，装备了9挺捷克式轻机枪、6支MP28冲锋枪和十几支C96手枪，剩下的就是短管毛瑟；

Each rifleman carried 120 rounds of ammunition and 4 long-handled grenades, a signature M35 helmet, and a gas mask. This was absolutely arrogant in China, but there was still a big gap compared to the Japanese.

The attack capability was too weak, so he planned to transfer the Type 8 heavy machine guns of the machine gun company to the company, and then equip the machine gun company with 40 Type 6 rocket launchers and 107 mm rocket launchers;
The reasons were all thought out. They bought it from the Americans, not because he was keeping it for himself and was unwilling to support other troops, but because there were too many people and too little porridge, and if he gave one, he could not give two, and instead he would offend people.

It takes time to build these equipments, and reliable people are also needed. If they are leaked to the Japanese, it will be troublesome.
Fortunately, he still has a few months to train the Second Battalion. The most urgent task is to fully control the troops and train his own people, and then he can manufacture rocket launchers and 107mm rocket launchers. He plans to make only 12 tubes.

After sorting out his thoughts, he formulated a training plan for three months, aiming to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops first.

(End of this chapter)