Chapter 43 Meeting Again

After carrying the supplies away from the logistics headquarters, the soldiers of the 7th Provisional Battalion were in high spirits, and their marching pace increased by a third.

Seeing the high morale of the soldiers and considering that many new recruits in his unit were still without weapons, Zhang Dabiao went to find Li Yunlong.

"Battalion Commander, our morale is soaring right now! I think we should seize this opportunity to hit a puppet army stronghold!"

Li Yunlong, however, was not in a rush. "Dabiao, these men are the foundation of my livelihood. My heart aches just thinking about losing even one of them!"

"There's no need to rush. Besides, have you forgotten my godsend of a brother?!"

This threw Zhang Dabiao into immense joy. "Haha, Battalion Commander, is this true?! You must take good care of our Second Company. Many of our soldiers don't even have a fire poker!"

"Haha, don't worry, this time every single soldier of ours gets a share."

Li Yunlong patted his chest. "Go, pass the word down: our destination is Qinghe Ravine to the northwest. We must arrive within two hours!"

Once the order was given, the formation picked up speed again, kicking up clouds of dust.

As Li Yunlong led his troops toward the destination, in the desolate Qinghe Ravine, inside a wind-sheltered stone cove, Xu Gaoxiang was dropping off the weaponry.

A blue flash flickered, and the ground was piled high with wooden crates of weapons. Xu Gaoxiang tightened his mink-fur coat and looked around with satisfaction for a moment.

The weapons Li Yunlong requested this time included M1 Garand rifles and MG-42 general-purpose machine guns, and Xu Gaoxiang had carefully selected other arms as well.

By the way, he had also exchanged for some medicine, white sugar, and quite a few canned beef rations.

To ensure that Li Yunlong could develop smoothly, Xu Gaoxiang had put in a tremendous amount of effort.

Not far away, Giant and Arnold released the high-altitude reconnaissance devices hidden within them. A dozen eyeball-sized surveillance units quickly dispersed and ascended into the sky, bringing a radius of ten kilometers under surveillance.

After dozing for over an hour tucked behind a boulder, Xu Gaoxiang was awakened when Arnold detected activity.

Waking up, Xu Gaoxiang listened to the specific description and confirmed that it was indeed Li Yunlong's unit. Moreover, the reconnaissance squad sent out by Li Yunlong was already not far away.

Five kilometers away, along the winding mountain trail, the 7th Provisional Battalion stretched out like a long dragon, advancing rapidly.

Just as they crested a mountain ridge, a soldier sent ahead for reconnaissance came running back at full speed.

"Battalion Commander, Battalion Commander... there's a situation!"

Running right into the middle of the formation to check on the new recruits, Li Yunlong immediately stepped forward. "What's the situation?"

Reaching Li Yunlong, the soldier caught his breath. "Reporting to the Battalion Commander, we spotted three suspicious individuals ahead in Qinghe Ravine, along with plenty of unidentified cargo. Our squad leader suspects they are bandits hauling stolen goods. Awaiting your instructions!"

Li Yunlong burst out laughing. "Hahaha! That is our God of Wealth. Tell your squad leader they are friendly forces, so don't act rashly!"

Watching the departing soldier, Li Yunlong felt a wave of relief. It seemed Brother Xu was truly a man of his word.

In a mere half hour, the 7th Provisional Battalion marched swiftly into Qinghe Ravine. Just as they rounded a river bend, Li Yunlong, riding at the very front, spotted Xu Gaoxiang and his two companions standing in the middle of the riverbed.

Before he even arrived, Li Yunlong's voice rang out ahead of him. "Hahaha! Brother Xu, you've kept me waiting. Old Li has missed you to death!"

Li Yunlong raised a hand. "All units, attention! Form up and rest in place. First Company, Second Platoon, take charge of perimeter security!"

With that, Li Yunlong walked over accompanied by Zhang Dabiao and Liu Bo.

"Hah! You're quite decked out. Brother, didn't you run into any trouble on the road?!"

Seeing Xu Gaoxiang clad in a mink-fur coat, Li Yunlong couldn't help but voice his concern for his safety. Dressing too finely while traveling alone in times like these wasn't necessarily a good thing!

Understanding what Li Yunlong meant, Xu Gaoxiang felt a warmth in his heart. "Haha, don't worry, Old Li. Your brother here made a deal with the 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. As long as I pass through their defense zone, it's smooth sailing all the way!"

Li Yunlong was slightly startled. "Brother Xu truly has boundless connections! Even the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army has to give you face."

Xu Gaoxiang chuckled. "Stop making fun of me, Old Li. I didn't trade weapons with them; I just sold them a bit of white sugar!"

"Speak of which, I brought some for you guys this time too!"

Before Li Yunlong could react, Liu Bo—who had been walking behind and asking Zhang Dabiao about Xu Gaoxiang's background—couldn't help crying out in pleasant surprise.

"White sugar?!"

Having experienced it firsthand, he knew all too well the crucial importance of white sugar.

Back during the counter-encirclement campaigns, their company had run out of ammunition and rations, barely holding on by a breath as they broke out of the encirclement. Yet many comrades had fallen at the very end due to hunger and physical exhaustion.

He himself had survived thanks to a tiny piece of brown sugar. If everyone had just had a mouthful of white sugar back then...

Li Yunlong, of course, was well aware of the value and hard-to-come-by nature of white sugar. He was instantly overjoyed. "Hahaha! Brother Xu is truly a timely rain!"

Though white sugar was wonderful, what Zhang Dabiao cared about most was still the weaponry and equipment. Most of his Second Company were still empty-handed!

Besides, the weapons provided by this commander's sworn brother were simply too irresistible. The twelve rifles they had just seized from the New First Regiment were far from enough to satisfy his cravings!

Noticing Zhang Dabiao's hesitation, Xu Gaoxiang knew what everyone was most concerned about. He turned slightly and gestured. "Old Li, let's go. The supplies are all inside this stone cove. Come take a look!"

Li Yunlong remained quite calm, knowing that Brother Xu wouldn't let him down. "Haha, let's go! I haven't tasted white sugar in a long time myself. Let us have a taste of sweetness too!"

The three of them followed Xu Gaoxiang into the stone cove, where several piles of neatly stacked wooden crates came into view.

The quantity was truly substantial. Xu Gaoxiang walked over to the first stack of crates and patted one. "These are M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles."

He then pointed to another stack of crates nearby. "Those are MG-42 general-purpose machine guns!"

"One hundred and fifty rifles, and twenty machine guns!"

Zhang Dabiao was ecstatic. Putting aside other weapons for the moment, with just the rifles and machine guns alone, the two companies could split them and fully re-arm everyone.

Naturally, Liu Bo was equally awestruck. First, he marveled at Li Yunlong's formidable capability in having someone provide weapons support, which completely shattered his worldview.

And after hearing Zhang Dabiao's description of these weapons, his eyes glowed fiercely, making him want to press his face directly against the crates.

Xu Gaoxiang bypassed these two piles of crates and patted a smaller, separate stack of weapon cases. "Old Li, this should look familiar!"

Li Yunlong naturally remembered and beamed broadly. "Heh, how could I forget? The very first welcoming gift Brother gave me—and Old Li's lucky charm—an 81mm mortar!"

"Hahaha! We owed it all to that mortar; otherwise, Old Li can only imagine how heavy our losses would have been!"

"As long as it was able to help you, Old Li, that's great. Haha, here are four M1 81mm mortars," Xu Gaoxiang said happily.

Li Yunlong nodded in satisfaction. "Heh, with this, Zhuzi won't be a commander with no troops under him. Our artillery platoon is born!"

At that moment, Zhang Dabiao popped open a wooden crate and began demonstrating the M1 Garand rifle to Liu Bo, while Li Yunlong looked with keen interest at the crates behind them. "Brother, what kind of weapons are those?"

Xu Gaoxiang smiled at Li Yunlong. "Heh, knowing that Old Li prefers launching attacks, this time I've chosen some sharp tools for close-quarters combat for you!"