Chapter 44: The Grease Gun

Xu Gaoxiang called Bouldering over to pry open a wooden crate and pulled out a submachine gun.

With its short body, concentric outer and inner tubes, retractable stock, and long magazine, one could tell just by looking at how effortlessly Xu Gaoxiang handled it that the submachine gun was remarkably lightweight.

Li Yunlong was immediately overjoyed. He eagerly took the submachine gun, handling it with delight as he inspected it up and down. "Brother, what country's 'grease gun' is this? Splendid, simply splendid!"

Back when he was with the New First Regiment, they hadn't possessed a single submachine gun. Li Yunlong had only ever seen a dozen or so in the brigade commander's guard platoon, and those were locally manufactured Thompson submachine guns.

Although he had always cast envious glances at the brigade commander's submachine guns, regretfully, Li Yunlong had never dared to ask for one!

"Now this is wonderful! Our old Li finally has a submachine gun of his own!"

The moment he got his hands on it, Li Yunlong made an estimate: the unloaded gun weighed around six catties. That was exceptionally light, and holding this weapon wouldn't impede his charging speed in the slightest!

He recalled the first soldier he recruited in Heiling Village, Zhao Fuquan, who would be a perfect match for this submachine gun. That kid hadn't lied; he truly could run fast and was extremely agile.

The short barrel and light weight, combined with Zhao Fuquan's speed, would make it devastatingly effective for launching surprise attacks!

Xu Gaoxiang pointed at the submachine gun. "This is also an American submachine gun, the M3 submachine gun!"

"It uses the .45 ACP pistol cartridge, has a magazine capacity of thirty rounds, a rate of fire of 350 to 450 rounds per minute, and an effective range of two hundred meters! Its controllability is exceptional!"

Giving Li Yunlong a moment to absorb the information, he then outlined a few of the weapon's advantages.

"As you've already figured out for yourself, Lao Li, this gun is extremely lightweight. Because most of its components are stamped metal parts, not only is it light, but its structure is also very simple, making maintenance and repair easy to learn."

"Most importantly, this gun is remarkably cheap—the same price as a rifle, ten silver dollars apiece!"

Li Yunlong stared wide-eyed at the gun in his hands, completely astonished. "So cheap? Goodness gracious, the brigade commander's guns cost more than a dozen of these combined!"

Xu Gaoxiang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Setting aside his system cheat, even the M3 submachine guns manufactured in the United States themselves weren't expensive—costing around a dozen dollars each.

Furthermore, these were produced by General Motors, the very same corporation whose primary business was automobiles.

This was the power of technology. Falling behind in technology meant taking beatings and squandering far more resources.

Xu Gaoxiang gestured with his chin. "There are fifty M3 submachine guns here, each equipped with five magazines, with a basic load of one hundred and fifty rounds of ammunition!"

Li Yunlong picked up a magazine, inserted it into the submachine gun, and a thought crossed his mind. He decided to call all the soldiers over so everyone could take a look together and boost their morale.

"First Company Commander! Second Company Commander!"

Zhang Dabiao and Liu Po put down the rifles in their hands and hurried over, catching sight of the submachine gun in Li Yunlong's grip at a glance.

Before they could even let out a laugh of delight, Li Yunlong tossed the submachine gun directly to Zhang Dabiao. "Dabiao, catch!"

"Second Company Commander, go notify the soldiers and have everyone come over!"

"Understood!" Following his orders, Liu Po sprinted out of Shawan to gather the troops.

Meanwhile, Zhang Dabiao hugged the submachine gun with a perplexed expression. "Regiment Commander, this is..."

Li Yunlong waved a hand. "Dabiao, get familiar with the weapon first. You'll be demonstrating it in front of everyone later."

Hearing this, Zhang Dabiao understood Li Yunlong's intention. "Don't worry, Regiment Commander, I know what you mean!"

"Haha, looks like I'll have to trouble Brother Xu to play the teacher once again," Li Yunlong said, turning back to discuss the matter with Xu Gaoxiang.

Xu Gaoxiang was more than willing. "Lao Li, you know me best!"

Before long, the soldiers who had already caught wind of the news swarmed in excitedly. Wang Chengzhu, who had been prepared all along, locked his eyes on those four familiar large wooden crates the moment he arrived.

Seeing the soldiers craning their necks and looking around expectantly, Li Yunlong raised his voice and shouted, "Lads! What did I tell you? As long as you follow me in fighting the Japanese devils, eating meat and drinking soup is never just a pipe dream!"

"Earlier, when I asked you to trade your weapons for military uniforms, you all looked mighty unhappy about it!"

"You must have been muttering to yourselves, 'Has this Li Yunlong lost his mind? Can we even trust him? Without guns in our hands, are we supposed to bite the devils to death with our teeth?'"

The soldiers laughed self-consciously.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh..." Li Yunlong chuckled along, then pointed a hand back toward the piles of wooden crates behind him.

"See that? These are all weapons and equipment!"

Li Yunlong tilted his head. "That's right, you guessed it—these are all for you. The old junk in your hands is due for retirement. As the saying goes, out with the old, in with the new!"

"Let me make this clear beforehand: now that you've got new clothes and new weapons, you'd better howl like wolves when you fight the devils. If I find out any cowardly bastard has wet his pants, I'll be the first one not to spare him!"

The soldiers' morale surged sky-high. "Whoever's a coward is a turtle's grandson!"

"Don't look down on us, Battalion Commander!"

"Kill the Japanese devils! Kill the Japanese devils!"

Li Yunlong nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, see this man right here? He's my good brother, and everyone's weapons are here thanks to his generous support!"

Li Yunlong pulled Xu Gaoxiang forward and introduced him to the troops.

"Tsk, what are you all standing around like fools for?! Start clapping!"

The soldiers burst into genuine, heartfelt applause. They harbored no hostility toward Xu Gaoxiang despite his attire as a man of wealth.

Xu Gaoxiang quickly raised a hand to gesture for quiet. "You don't need to applaud me; I don't deserve the praise—I should be the one applauding you!"

"We are all fighting to defeat the Japanese devils. I've only contributed a trivial amount of effort, whereas you are all risking your lives!"

"You gentlemen are the ones truly worthy of respect!"

Li Yunlong stepped forward, sweeping his hand through the air. "Haha, let's dispense with the pleasantries; we're all family now, aren't we?"

"Now, let Brother Xu give us a lesson, explaining how to use these new weapons and their maintenance regulations. You all better listen closely!"

"If these weapons are handed out and someone still doesn't know how to use them, holding everyone else back, don't blame me for booting them in the rear!"

"Alright, everyone in the front rows, sit down and close in!"

With his hands clasped behind his back, Li Yunlong watched as the soldiers got ready, then turned and smiled at Xu Gaoxiang. "Brother, take it away!"

Practice made perfect for Xu Gaoxiang. "Let's have Company Commander Zhang come up to assist with the demonstration!"

Stepping forward, Xu Gaoxiang first explained the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle and the MG 42 general-purpose machine gun. Accompanied by Zhang Dabiao's live-fire demonstration, it sent ripples of excitement through the ranks of the soldiers.

Next came the M3 submachine gun. After Xu Gaoxiang gave his explanation, Zhang Dabiao raised the weapon and pulled the trigger. *Tat-tat-tat...* The continuous stutter of gunfire rang out as spent brass casings flew through the air.

For Zhang Dabiao, who was accustomed to charging into battle with a ZB vz. 26 light machine gun on a daily basis, the recoil of the M3 submachine gun was practically negligible. He kept the gun completely steady, spraying every single bullet into a withered tree in the distance.

In the blink of an eye, the magazine was emptied, and the dead tree was snapped clean in half.

Each of these three weapons had its own merits, and the soldiers were buzzing with discussion about which weapon they would be assigned.

No matter which one they got, everyone would gladly accept it—after all, any of them was better than the pieces of junk currently in their hands!

"As for this Mauser C96, I won't need to introduce it to everyone!"

Xu Gaoxiang skipped past the pistol and motioned for Zhang Dabiao to open an adjacent wooden crate.