Chapter 49: Assault Team and Sniper Squad

There are no cowards beneath an M35 helmet. Whether this statement held true on other fronts of World War II is beyond my knowledge, but when applied to the Eastern Theater of the Second World War, it is not the slightest bit incorrect.

In Songhu, at Yuhuatai in Jinling, and across numerous fierce battlefields, the brothers of the Instructional Brigade and the German-equipped divisions, who wore M35 helmets, forged tales of heroic combat that proved entirely worthy of the glory of the National Revolutionary Army's elite at that time.

Therefore, within my troops, generally only the bravest batch of brothers earned the qualification to wear a steel helmet laden with such profound significance...

...An excerpt from Hu Biao's diary collection, *Biao's Nonsense*...

The next day, in the early hours of October 12th at four o'clock, Director Sun arrived on schedule with two trucks.

The commotion was not insignificant, as the bed of one truck was packed with heavily armed soldiers, while the other held the items listed on the manifest.

Bringing a whole truckload of men along—it was hard to tell whether this "good brother" of Hu Biao's was worried about the safety of the journey or fearful that Hu Biao and his men might resort to banditry.

Fortunately, for time-travelers like Hu Biao and his comrades, this detail was of little importance.

What mattered was that among the equipment and supplies brought by Director Sun, although certain specifics deviated slightly from the manifest's requirements, the quantities had not been compromised in the slightest.

For instance, the submachine guns Hu Biao and his men had anticipated were the German MP28s, yet the items delivered this time were domestic imitations.

The fortunate part was that these submachine guns were produced by the Qingdao Ironworks as replicas of the MP18.

During replication, the manufacturer made a few modifications, changing the side-inserted magazine to a bottom-inserted one; among domestic Chinese imitations, they were considered to be of the highest quality tier.

Compared to the submachine guns, the condition of the C96 "Broomhandle" pistols was somewhat inferior.

Primarily, these twenty-round Broomhandles turned out to be the "Jin-manufactured" variants produced by warlord Yan Xishan.

According to what Hu Biao and the others understood, although the machinery in Yan Xishan's arsenal originated from Germany and the core technicians came from the Hanyang Arsenal, they could not overcome the limitations of Shanxi's industrial infrastructure, which had been established as far back as the late Qing Dynasty's Westernization Movement, leaving the technological level very limited over the years.

Consequently, the quality of the steel produced was substandard, making the resulting firearms highly susceptible to wear and tear.

They might barely pass muster during the first year, but by the second year, issues such as jamming and accidental discharges became frequent; sometimes even a simple stumble could trigger a misfire, emptying all twenty rounds in an instant.

However, these were brand-new weapons, so there was no need to worry about such issues for the time being.

By the time these pistols suffered enough wear to reach that condition, who knows how many feet high the grass on the graves of the seven time-travelers might already be.

Additionally, the twenty thousand rounds of ammunition requested on the manifest were delivered in full; unfortunately, the one thousand core-steel bullets requested had been halved to just five hundred.

Fortunately, Hu Biao and his men intended to use these rounds against the little Japanese "bean" tanks.

Five hundred steel-core rounds could theoretically knock out over a dozen of the little devils' light tanks, so the quantity should suffice for their needs, presenting no major problem.

Finally, the truck bed also held fifty original German M35 helmets, serving as some compensation provided by Director Sun for the aforementioned adjustments.

In short, this batch of supplies came respectively from the Central Army and various miscellaneous warlord factions.

It was a mystery where Director Sun had managed to unearth equipment from so many different factions, yet it demonstrated to a certain extent that either he or the powers behind him possessed formidable capabilities.

Therefore, even with a few shortcomings, Hu Biao did not waste time bickering.

True to his word, he briskly handed over the remaining pearls and penicillin to the other party in one go.

Then, within the span of ten-odd minutes, both sides inspected the items they had acquired and felt thoroughly satisfied, each convinced they had gotten the better end of the deal.

Director Sun even asked eagerly with glowing eyes:

"Brother Hu, when can you procure the next batch of penicillin, and can the quantity be increased? Let me, your older brother, give you a guarantee right here: no matter how large the volume, I can take it off your hands, and the price will satisfy you."

After pondering for a moment, Hu Biao offered a reply:

"Let's wait until the end of the month. By then, I can provide you with tenfold the amount of penicillin. Given the relationship between us brothers, there's no need to raise the price—this rate is already quite good."

Hearing Hu Biao's response, Director Sun was instantly overjoyed, appearing to have profited handsomely from the transaction.

Naturally, Hu Biao's reply was merely a bluff directed at this fellow—or rather, at the figures standing behind him.

At present, he only had two boxes of oral penicillin and one box of injectable penicillin powder left; he had no surplus whatsoever to sell to the man, let alone tenfold the quantity.

Moreover, there was no certainty as to when they would be sent back to the modern plane; bringing back a larger quantity of penicillin next time was an even more distant uncertainty.

Yet, viewed from another angle, did that really matter? Director Sun and the people behind him were none the wiser.

With such a massive piece of bait cast out, wouldn't Director Sun and his backers immediately swallow it hook, line, and sinker?

In pursuit of what they believed to be exorbitant profits, if Hu Biao and his men ever encountered a situation like the one at Position No. 7 again—where reinforcements were desperately needed—you can bet they would exhaust every possible means to rescue them.

This was precisely the primary reason Hu Biao had intentionally requested a radio set among the supplies.

Otherwise, if that moment truly arrived, contact would be impossible...

******

Following this, after another round of mutual deception between Director Sun and Hu Biao—reminiscent of slaughtering a rooster and burning yellow paper to swear a sworn brotherhood—Director Sun finally climbed into a truck and departed hurriedly in the faintly brightening dawn.

Because if he delayed any longer, once the Japanese artillery reconnaissance hot-air balloons ascended into the sky, such large targets as two heavy trucks would no longer be safe on the road.

Watching the two trucks drive away, Hu Biao raised his voice and shouted:

"Brother Zhang, Flat-head, after breakfast later, take your men and deliver half of the weapons, equipment, and supplies—everything except the radio and gasoline—over to Commander Xiang's side.

Tell him this was squeezed out from between my teeth, and not a single extra piece is left."

Hearing this, Deputy Platoon Leader Zhang Yaoge, who was currently fondling a submachine gun smeared with thick gun oil, instantly felt a pain in his heart as if flesh were being carved away.

He negotiated weakly: "Commander Hu, these items aren't that plentiful to begin with. Can't we keep all of them for our own use?"

"Cut the nonsense and go as you're told! Swallowing this massive pile of weapons and equipment entirely by yourself, aren't you afraid of bursting your stomach?" Hu Biao scolded upon hearing this.

To be frank, Hu Biao would have loved to keep such a batch of gear exclusively within the 3rd Platoon.

Yet he knew all too well that if he actually did so, their 3rd Platoon's reputation within the 804th Regiment would be completely ruined.

Fortunately, even after splitting it in half, their 3rd Platoon could instantly trade their old muskets for new guns; their firepower and combat capability would undergo a qualitative leap, more than doubling.

He intended to reorganize the 3rd Platoon. First, to form an assault squad.

This assault squad would consist of two ZB vz. 26 light machine guns, ten submachine gunners, and ten members dual-wielding twenty-round Broomhandle pistols.

It carried the air of the elite pistol units under various warlords of that era.

Equipped entirely with automatic or semi-automatic weapons, the dense firepower they could unleash in a short burst would be capable of shocking the little devils armed with Arisaka rifles into a daze.

Right! Every member of the assault squad would also strap a broadsword to their back.

Once they entered the critical phase of close-quarters combat, they could swing their broadswords down upon the heads of the Japanese soldiers.

Commanding this assault squad would be Black Star, a former PLA veteran, who would also serve as the primary gunner for one of the ZB vz. 26 light machine guns.

Meanwhile, Sledgehammer would act as Black Star's assistant gunner. Firstly, because the ZB vz. 26 light machine gun held a magazine of only twenty rounds, which would be exhausted in the blink of an eye during combat.

To sustain the firepower, someone had to help carry a large quantity of spare magazines.

Secondly, the arrangement of Black Star taking Sledgehammer under his wing carried on the PLA's glorious tradition of veterans mentoring novices, allowing newcomer Sledgehammer to mature rapidly.

Aside from the assault squad, the 3rd Platoon would also establish a sniper squad.

Their primary mission would be to prioritize eliminating high-threat targets such as Japanese commanders, grenade launchers, machine gunners, and elite veterans at the very outset of battle.

Without a doubt, the squad leader of this sniper unit would be Uncle Bo.

Right! Both the aforementioned assault squad and the sniper squad would be given priority in receiving an M35 helmet—a helmet that currently symbolized elite status and honor...