Chapter 17: Forming the Mortar Platoon

July 31, 1938, Laojun Temple

After settling matters regarding Milong, Wang Yue summoned Jia Youfu, the leader of the training detachment. Since arriving at Xiaohuashan, his junior from the academy had been diligent and had done an excellent job training the artillery on the mountain. After several soul-searching sessions, it was clear there were no major issues, and it was time to increase his responsibilities.

"Youfu, we currently have three Brandt 60mm mortars. I intend to use these three small pieces to form a mortar platoon. Do you foresee any issues with the artillery side of things?" Wang Yue was quite warm toward Jia Youfu. In truth, the two should have met long ago; when Wang Yue was studying in the logistics department of the Northeast Military Academy, Jia Youfu was his junior, though Jia had specialized in artillery. During the ambush at Yushugou, Jia Youfu had recognized Wang Yue at a glance; otherwise, he would not have surrendered so easily.

"Senior, there shouldn't be much of a problem with the artillery. The gunners from the training detachment can handle it, and the others can be trained gradually. It’s just that our manpower might be a bit tight. A gun crew requires four men, plus six ammunition carriers—that’s ten men per squad, meaning over thirty for a platoon. That would empty out the training detachment," Jia Youfu reminded him with some concern.

"We don't have much ammunition on hand, so we won't need that many ammunition carriers for now. I'll have you form a logistics squad instead of an artillery squad. Just organize three four-man mortar crews for the time being. Except in special circumstances, our combat will primarily rely on the Hotchkiss five-barrel machine guns. Besides, the mortar platoon needs to be able to reinforce infantry platoons at any time, and having too many personnel makes command difficult." Wang Yue was naturally aware that his troops were severely understaffed, but it didn't matter—he had a cheat code. With the existence of his inner-dan space, the logistics units of the Independent Detachment could be streamlined as much as possible.

"In that case, I suggest we also reinforce the mortar platoon with those Type 89 grenade dischargers. It would be more flexible and adaptable to various intensities of combat. Plus, Type 91 grenades are easier to acquire than mortar shells," Jia Youfu suggested after a moment's pause.

"Then reinforce the platoon with those as well. However, we don't have the manpower to create four-man grenade discharger teams, so we'll stick to two-man teams. When necessary, we can pull ammunition carriers from the logistics squad to support them based on the combat intensity." Wang Yue nodded. Even though the Japanese were currently using Type 97 grenades on a large scale, every unit was equipped with a certain number of Type 91 grenades to complement their grenade dischargers. They were certainly easier to obtain than 60mm mortar shells, which were currently being expended one by one.

He wondered when the Eighth Route Army's Shuiyaozi Arsenal would be able to produce mortar shells. Perhaps he could order a batch then, or ask for some from the Military and Political Affairs Department through Gu Yufei? Wang Yue couldn't quite decide.

No, the Shuiyaozi Arsenal likely hadn't even been built yet. At this stage, he could only rely on the bigwigs in the Military and Political Affairs Department. The calibers of mortars in China were chaotic; in his predecessor's memories alone, there were 37mm, 47mm, 60mm, 75mm, 81mm, 82mm, 83mm, 90mm, 120mm, 150mm, and more. Among these, 60mm mortar shells were the scarcest. After the Jinling Arsenal was occupied by the Japanese, it was uncertain if they were even still producing them.

"Senior, I've seen high-quality nitrocellulose and TNT in the repair shop. Could we try to manufacture some 60mm mortar shells ourselves?" Seeing Wang Yue's dilemma, Jia Youfu suggested.

"We don't have the conditions for precision casting. If we want to make mortar shells, we have to rely on turning them on a lathe. Du Gui and his two top disciples could machine the casings, but the problem is we don't have a lathe. Even if we had one, there's no electricity, and since we can't resolve the issue of cast steel blanks, I've put the idea of self-manufacturing mortar shells to rest—at least for the time being." Wang Yue felt a bit guilty saying this; his focus lately had been entirely on securing medicine.

Du Gui had been responsible for the mountain's military production, currently limited to reloading bullets, manufacturing a small number of wooden-handled grenades and landmines, and repairing firearms. It was actually worse than when they were in the 68th Division; instead, a large amount of copper and silver had been diverted to process simple chemical equipment to support his drug synthesis. If they really put their hearts into making mortar shells, it wouldn't be that difficult—at least the explosives, fuses, primers, and propellant were all readily available. The only real challenge was the casing.

He had heard that in desperate times, some people used cement and thin wire to make mortar shells, but he didn't have high-grade cement. Besides, that would require a high-precision mold, wouldn't it? He couldn't just mold them by hand.

"Senior, although I'm not entirely sure, I suspect that fellow Li Fugui has a small-scale arsenal of his own," Jia Youfu leaned in closer and whispered a warning.

"Li Fugui? A security regiment commander—why would he have an arsenal?" Wang Yue was surprised. Since coming to this era, he had been constantly updating his understanding of puppet troops: poorly equipped, undisciplined, lacking combat effectiveness, and utterly disloyal. Now, it seemed he had to add "ambitious" to the list.

"Li Fugui comes from a background of landlords and local tyrants; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he is riddled with evil. While he looks loyal to the Japanese now, he also fears they will discard him once he’s no longer useful. From my perspective, ever since he became the regiment commander, he has been trying every trick to expand his strength. Although the Japanese are reluctant to give him weapons, it doesn't mean he can't buy 'scrap weapons' from them that they intend to destroy on the spot. Look at the old Mausers the security regiment is equipped with—though they are dilapidated, the mechanisms are smooth, and the rifling has been re-cut." Jia Youfu explained further.

"I thought those were repaired by the Japanese repair shops. You have to admit, they were repaired quite well." Wang Yue recalled the old Mausers and Hanyang rifles he had seized from the puppet troops. They had been in such poor condition that "scrap" was a fair description. According to the standard practice of Japanese field units, they should have been destroyed on the spot, as the Japanese had captured so many weapons that they could afford to be picky.

The rifling had been re-cut very smoothly, likely not by hand. Some replacement parts showed machine marks, definitely turned on a lathe. Then there were the reloaded bullets the puppet troops used; even though they were lead-headed black powder rounds, the quality was stable, and they were even "thoughtfully" supplied with some wooden-tipped bullets and blanks.

Equipping non-core troops with broken guns and reloaded ammunition, then asking the Japanese for new guns and ammo to stash away or use for arms trafficking—the business model was quite clever. Just like recruiting large numbers of thugs and vagrants into the army—they weren't there to fight, but to inflate numbers and report casualties, weren't they?

"In the first half of the year, our company disguised ourselves as bandits from Heiyun Fortress and raided several maintenance committees and township offices. We captured quite a few gunsmiths kept by the landlords. These people were neither harmed nor released; in the end, they just vanished."

"Youfu, do you have any guesses about the general location of this repair shop?" Wang Yue nodded. He had to admire Li Fugui's audacity. Playing tricks right under the noses of the Japanese, and targeting other traitors at that—a man like this would likely turn into a Nationalist soldier the moment the Japanese surrendered. Perhaps he was already colluding with certain factions.

"I don't know, but it is true that Li Fugui has kept a full company stationed at his own coal mine year-round. You know as well as I do that Heyuan is not short on coal. A full-strength company, no matter where it's placed, can rake in a lot of money." Jia Youfu smiled and walked over to a large map on the wall, marking a blank spot with a red pencil. This map had been issued by the Second War Zone headquarters, and its precision was truly lacking—these days, if you wanted high-resolution maps, you had to go to the Japanese.

"This matter certainly needs consideration." Wang Yue had recently been wanting to move out of the Laojun Temple area to find a place to regroup and develop. Laojun Temple could, at best, sustain a regiment, and that was only if the Japanese didn't come to sweep the area. The Yamazaki detachment was currently being held back by Li Yunlong, not destroyed. If they concentrated heavy forces to surround Xiaohuashan, they could wear him down to nothing.

In the end, the two discussed the matter and finalized the organization of the mortar platoon:

The mortar platoon would have 35 men, consisting of 4 grenade discharger teams, 3 mortar crews, and 1 logistics squad, plus 1 platoon leader, 3 communication soldiers, and 1 medic (equipped with 1 C93 rifle, 3 Gewehr 91S artillery carbines, 1 Mauser M1879 pistol, and 1 Webley M1870 signal pistol, in addition to the standard infantry gear).

Grenade discharger team: 2 men (1 Type 89 grenade discharger, 2 Mauser M1879 pistols).

Mortar crew: 4 men (1 Brandt M1935 60mm mortar, 2 Gewehr 91S artillery carbines, 2 Mauser M1879 pistols).

Logistics squad: 8 men (8 Gewehr 91S artillery carbines).

With that, the training detachment was emptied out. Wang Yue didn't bother to refill it. There was no way around it; filling it was easy, but that would mean paying salaries and improving benefits. Considering the supply situation at Laojun Temple, it was better to leave it be.

At this stage, the Independent Detachment didn't need to desperately expand its army; it needed to sharpen its internal skills and integrate the troops. Only by building a solid foundation could they develop further. Otherwise, the Independent Detachment would at best develop into something similar to Li Yunlong's New First Regiment.

In the New First Regiment's current 600 men, only about a hundred were veterans from across the Yellow River. The rest, apart from a small number of stragglers they had incorporated, were almost all new recruits. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been nervous even when facing a single Japanese detachment.

During this period, the New First Regiment seemed to be quite active, but they hadn't fought any hard battles. They always picked the soft underbelly of the Japanese and puppet forces. Whenever the Japanese sent a force larger than a squad to support, the New First Regiment would immediately retreat, never getting entangled. If that were a veteran regiment at its peak, Li Yunlong would probably be thinking about a head-on collision with the Yamazaki detachment by now.

Such a situation was the norm in the current Eighth Route Army. Some regiments were even worse than the New First Regiment; a "small five regiment" of three hundred men and over a hundred rifles was the rule. A squad of five, a company of over fifty—a regiment would indeed be around three hundred men.

It wasn't that the Eighth Route Army avoided fighting. They had fought too hard in the early stages and lost a large number of elites and weapons, so of course, they had to pause. If they lost everyone, wouldn't that just benefit the Japanese?

As for taking the opportunity to expand the army, that didn't hold water either. To form a sufficient deterrent against the Japanese in the vast enemy-occupied areas, they needed a certain level of strength. Otherwise, they would just be waiting to be wiped out by the Japanese. Strategically speaking, as long as the Eighth Route Army's troops were positioned there, the Japanese had to constantly invest manpower and resources, which would make them uncomfortable even without direct engagement.

It would be more than a year and a half before the New First Regiment reached Cangyun Ridge, meaning it would take Li Yunlong at least another year to fully develop his regiment. And that was with the support of his superiors; at the very least, Li Yunlong didn't have to worry about his daily rations. So what if they weren't eating well? At least they had something to eat. If he didn't have Milong scrambling for weapons everywhere, he wouldn't even have a bowl of rice.

As for Wang Yue, he was quite clear about his own position. Neither his predecessor nor Nalan Xinde knew much about land warfare, and he knew even less. If he hadn't slowly inherited Nalan Xinde's martial arts skills, he wouldn't have the confidence to keep his men in line. With his current abilities and forces, surviving behind enemy lines was extremely difficult. If he had the chance, he would truly love to go to the rear.

He was no hero, nor was he a superman. The idea of joining the Eighth Route Army based on his predecessor's background was a joke, and joining the Nationalist army would surely mean becoming cannon fodder—even worse than the "Cannon Fodder Regiment." The reason he was living as comfortably as he was now was, frankly, due to the daily refresh of his space. Although those items refreshed every day, they were insignificant to the overall situation of the War of Resistance.

Wang Yue had thought about promoting new medicines and using his knowledge to change the world, but that wasn't realistic. If he dared to spread the technology, the first to benefit would definitely not be them, but the Japanese. Even the medicines produced wouldn't be used much by ordinary people or common soldiers; there would still be shortages.

As for giving the technology to the Eighth Route Army, Wang Yue had considered it. It would indeed benefit the people in the base areas, but it would also spread the technology to the North. And then it would save more of their people... Pfft! A bunch of animals; the more of them that die, the better. Besides, once the technology reached the North, it would inevitably spread. He couldn't be sure about others, but the Japanese would definitely get their hands on it.

Why? Because the North feared the Japanese. Even after the Battle of Nomonhan, they feared the Kwantung Army, not to mention that the battle wasn't even on the horizon yet. Besides, whether they actually won the Battle of Nomonhan was debatable.

Nothing worked. Wang Yue finally decided to take it one step at a time. At the very least, he had to resolve the immediate crisis first. If he were wiped out, everything would become empty talk, and even the meager supplies refreshed by the space every day would probably be gone.