Chapter 46: A Massive Loot-Splitting Operation

"Bang!"

As Li Yunlong pulled the trigger, a puff of blue smoke erupted from the rear of the rocket launcher, and his body swayed slightly.

A rocket trailed a faint trajectory as it streaked rapidly toward the rock face.

"Boom!"

"Crack, crack..."

Amidst the violent explosion, flames and smoke filled the air, and countless rock fragments scattered in all directions.

When the smoke and dust cleared, a full third of the massive cliff face was gone, leaving behind a crater three to four meters wide.

Seeing this result, Li Yunlong and all the soldiers drew a sharp intake of breath. The firepower was truly astonishing—it was practically on par with a howitzer.

Li Yunlong's cap was blown off his head by the backblast, but he didn't care at all, bursting into hearty laughter, "Wahahaha..."

Behind him, Zhang Dabiao and all the soldiers looked with glowing eyes at the Super Bazooka on Li Yunlong's shoulder.

Who wouldn't want to shoulder a piece of artillery like this and blast the motherfuckers to hell!

Finally having laughed enough, Li Yunlong hugged the prized weapon and ran back. "Brother Xu, you've really given me, old Li, a huge surprise! Hahahahaha!"

"With this thing, not attacking a county seat would do a great disservice to my brother's kind intentions!"

Xu Gao翔 chuckled cheerfully, "Hehe, as long as you're happy, old Li."

"I've brought you a total of ten M20A1 anti-tank rocket launchers here, each equipped with a base unit of twenty M28A2 high-explosive anti-tank rounds!"

Hearing this, Li Yunlong seriously began to ponder how to attack a county seat. Ten Super Bazookas were more than enough to blow a massive breach in the city walls of a small county!

Unfortunately, before Li Yunlong could share his thoughts with Xu Gaoxiang, Zhang Dabiao and Liu Bo had already squeezed forward excitedly.

"Battalion Commander, this rocket launcher must be assigned to our company! With me here, we are the best fit for assault duties!"

Hearing Zhang Dabiao pull the emotional card, Liu Bo didn't back down at all. "Old Zhang, your company has a lot of new recruits; you still need to study properly first."

"Battalion Commander, our First Company is willing to carry forward the revolutionary spirit of our predecessors and test the waters for the Second Company. Just hand it over to the First Company!"

Zhang Dabiao glared. "Hey? Old Liu, this is where you're wrong! How can revolution be divided into firsts and seconds?! New recruits have their advantages too—our speed in accepting new things is lightning fast!"

Li Yunlong and Xu Gaoxiang watched cheerfully as Zhang Dabiao and Liu Bo started arguing, remaining as calm as a mountain.

However, unexpectedly, Wang Chengzhu also squeezed his way over to join the fun. "Battalion Commander, this rocket launcher should be given to our artillery platoon!"

At this, Zhang Dabiao and Liu Bo united against an external opponent. "Hey, what are you meddling for, Pillar?! What does this have to do with your artillery platoon?"

Wang Chengzhu wore an expression of absolute certainty, arguing logically and forcefully, "This is artillery too, so why shouldn't it belong to our artillery platoon?! Just tell me whether it's a gun or not?!"

"Besides, the Battalion Commander himself said that priority should be given to developing the artillery platoon, and we have the right of first refusal!"

Li Yunlong nodded. "What Pillar says makes sense!"

Seeing Li Yunlong growing tempted, Zhang Dabiao and Liu Bo panicked. The two of them sandwiched Wang Chengzhu in the middle and began arguing fiercely.

Wang Chengzhu, usually such an honest fellow, went completely against character and stood his ground firmly, refusing to yield an inch!

Having enjoyed the spectacle enough, Xu Gaoxiang called out to Li Yunlong, "Old Li, I won't stay much longer. We'll get in touch once you arrive at your destination, and then we'll have a proper drink together!"

"Ha, good! Brother, just wait for my good news. You must be careful on your way back!" Li Yunlong prepared to have Huzi take some men to escort Xu Gaoxiang.

Xu Gaoxiang waved his hand in refusal. "No need, old Li, don't worry!"

Just as he was about to leave, Xu Gaoxiang suddenly remembered there was something else he had forgotten to tell Li Yunlong. "Oh! Right, old Li, operating behind enemy lines isn't easy. Aside from the white sugar I've prepared for you here, I also brought some medical supplies!"

"There are penicillin, prontosil, and various other sulfonamide drugs—one hundred doses of each!"

"There are also medical bandages and folding stretchers, and right, plenty of Yunnan Baiyao!"

Hearing what Xu Gaoxiang said, Li Yunlong was overjoyed and hurried over to take a look.

"Hahahaha, this is simply fantastic!"

Gazing at the boxes brimming with medicine before him, Li Yunlong was ecstatic. These weren't just supplies; these were lives!

How many soldiers had had to watch their comrades die simply because of wound infections caused by a lack of antibiotics.

Li Yunlong looked solemnly at Xu Gaoxiang. "Brother Xu, on behalf of the soldiers, I thank you!"

Xu Gaoxiang waved his hand modestly. "This is just something within my modest capabilities; I hardly deserve such gratitude."

Amidst Li Yunlong's farewell gaze, Xu Gaoxiang, Jushi, and Arnold took their leave leisurely, leaving behind the cart they had bought.

Once Xu Gaoxiang's figure was out of sight, Li Yunlong walked back into Shiwan Village with his hands behind his back. Looking at the still-arguing Zhang Dabiao trio, Li Yunlong couldn't help but sigh, "We still don't have enough men!"

The weaponry this time was completely sufficient to arm a full-strength battalion. It was a pity that currently, there were more guns than men, yet they were still picking and choosing!

Li Yunlong thought of those medical supplies—he couldn't possibly use all of them himself right now. "Hehe, looks like I'll have to trouble our Department Head Zhang again!"

Li Yunlong set his sights on the headquarters field hospital. There were many wounded soldiers there whose units had been decimated, leaving them to await the headquarters' arrangements while undergoing treatment.

Those were all prime sources of manpower! When the time came, he would send old fellow Zhang to the field hospital to make the rounds with some medicine and casually mention that he, Li Yunlong, was actively recruiting soldiers.

Surely they would have to show some gesture of cooperation?!

"Hehe," Li Yunlong calculated cunningly, preparing to poach talent right out from under the field hospital's nose.

Having made up his mind, Li Yunlong looked at the Zhang Dabiao trio and began considering the distribution of weapons.

The First Company currently had many veterans, so they would be allocated more rifles and machine guns. Zhang Dabiao was adept at assault operations, so the Second Company would receive more submachine guns. As for the rocket launchers?!

"Alright, what is this? A couple of fishwives shouting in the street?! I haven't even spoken yet, and the three of you are dividing things up yourselves! Bandits, are you? Hmm?"

Li Yunlong put his hands behind his back and tilted his head, cutting off the trio's argument. "Would you like to be the battalion commander instead?"

Seeing Li Yunlong's expression and realizing a heavy reprimand was about to come down, the three instantly deflated. Fine, they would obey the battalion commander's arrangements!

Li Yunlong waved a hand. "Humph, alright, listen to me!"

"First Company, I'm giving you sixty rifles, six machine guns, twenty submachine guns, five shell-case pistols, and two hundred hand grenades!"

"Company Commander Zhang, Second Company gets fifty rifles, four machine guns, thirty submachine guns, ten shell-case pistols, and two hundred hand grenades!"

"Pillar, those four mortars all belong to your platoon!"

"As for these rocket launchers, we'll talk about it once you actually know how to use them! You're all eating out of the bowl while staring hungrily at the pot!"

"I'll put my words right here: whichever squad manages to gather ten people who know how to operate them first, those rocket launchers will belong to them!"

Li Yunlong played no favorites; it would depend entirely on their respective abilities.

Zhang Dabiao smiled. "Battalion Commander, our Second Company is definitely getting those rocket launchers!"

He had personally loaded a rocket earlier; that was his advantage!

Liu Bo didn't show any weakness either. Just because he knew how didn't mean Zhang could teach faster. Although he hadn't touched one himself yet, he remembered every single step of the procedure clearly.

"Old Zhang, don't speak too soon. Our First Company isn't a bunch of freeloaders!"

Wang Chengzhu smiled honestly. A joke—competing with him when it came to artillery? No one understood artillery better than he did!