Chapter 60: Kong the Reckless is Delighted

Chapter 60 Kong the Stubborn is Overjoyed

The soldiers of the Second Battalion of the Independent Regiment rushed forward desperately, protecting the artillery piece like a mother hen shielding her chicks.

Seeing from afar that Second Battalion Commander Shen Quan had successfully seized a piece of artillery, Kong Jie laughed heartily and called out to Li Yunlong, "Li Yunlong, look at that! This cannon belongs to my Independent Regiment now. From now on, my Independent Regiment has its own artillery too, hahahaha."

"I say, Kong the Stubborn, what are you gloating about?" Li Yunlong cast a sideways glance at Kong Jie. He had already noticed that Sun Desheng had taken possession of the ammunition crates.

Around the artillery piece captured by Kong the Stubborn, there were only empty ammunition crates. In other words, Kong the Stubborn had the cannon, but not a single shell.

An artillery piece without shells was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal. What was there to be proud of?

"I am gloating, I am gloating, so what?" Kong Jie hadn't realized the issue with the ammunition yet, and he was in high spirits. "The next time I run into Commander Cheng the Blind, I'll be able to stand even straighter!"

Kong Jie still had a pretty good sense of self-awareness. Since he couldn't compare with Li Yunlong's New Regiment, he would compare himself with the 772nd Regiment.

Lately, he had heard that Cheng the Blind of the 772nd Regiment was practically pulling his hair out in frustration.

Cheng the Blind was desperate to make a contribution and overshadow Li Yunlong's New Regiment, but he just couldn't find a way.

And now, forget about the New Regiment outshining Cheng the Blind's 772nd Regiment—even his Independent Regiment had completely crushed the 772nd Regiment into the dirt. Hahahaha, this feeling was simply too satisfying.

To hell with being officially organized and eating imperial rations! To hell with being the favored child, bah!

"Regiment Commander, we finally lived up to the mission and captured a piece of artillery." Kong Jie arrived by the cannon, and Second Battalion Commander Shen Quan immediately rushed over to claim credit.

"Mm, not bad, Second Battalion Commander. You've brought glory to your commander." Highly satisfied, Kong Jie looked at Shen Quan, whose backside was bare, and asked with a puzzled look, "Why is your rear end exposed, lad? You need to mind the image of our Independent Regiment."

"I was in too much of a hurry grabbing it just now, and the cannon burned a hole through my pants." Only then did Shen Quan realize why his backside felt so breezy, and he quickly covered his rear with one hand.

"Hahahaha." A burst of hearty laughter broke out among the soldiers of the Independent Regiment standing around Kong Jie.

"Regiment Commander, the Independent Regiment beat us to the punch..." Zhang Dabiao said to Li Yunlong with a gloomy expression.

"It's fine, it's fine." Waving his hand dismissively, Li Yunlong said, "Take your men and continue the pursuit. Wipe out those routed enemy soldiers for me."

"Yes!" Zhang Dabiao led his troops out immediately in hot pursuit.

"Wang Huaibao, you get your men moving and give chase too," Kong Jie ordered the Third Battalion Commander, Wang Huaibao.

Chasing down routed enemy troops was a lucrative enterprise; he couldn't let the New Regiment scoop up all the benefits.

Wang Huaibao hadn't managed to capture the cannon, so he could only swallow his disappointment and lead his men off in pursuit.

"Sun Desheng, well done! You've really brought glory to your commander." Li Yunlong walked over to Sun Desheng. Seeing that Sun Desheng had secured all the ammunition crates, he patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction and asked, "Where is Wu Ze?"

Instead of asking about the number of artillery shells first, Li Yunlong asked about Wu Ze.

"Regiment Commander, those three shots just now were fired by Wu Ze." Sun Desheng pointed in a certain direction, and Wu Ze could be seen slowly walking over.

Wu Ze was in poor health, and the terrain was truly difficult to navigate, which was why he was only just coming out now.

"What? Wu Ze knows how to shoot?" Li Yunlong paused. He had seen Wu Ze's hands before; they certainly didn't look like they had ever touched a blade or a gun.

"Regiment Commander, I was quite surprised myself," Sun Desheng replied. Hitting a moving explosives pack with just three shots—that kind of marksmanship was already exceptional.

For someone who had never even touched a firearm, it was nothing short of miraculous.

"I'll go ask him myself," Li Yunlong said, then casually threw in a question: "How many shells do we have?"

"Sixty-eight rounds," Sun Desheng answered.

"Good, keep a close eye on them for me." Li Yunlong nodded. Having sixty-eight artillery shells was already a fantastic haul.

"Regiment Commander." Wu Ze walked up to Li Yunlong.

"Wu Ze, we owe it all to your advance planning. Otherwise, we wouldn't have even gotten the cannon." Li Yunlong firmly grasped Wu Ze's hand, deeply moved.

"Regiment Commander, that was just a coincidence; it wasn't any planning on my part," Wu Ze shook his head and said.

"Not your planning?" Li Yunlong was momentarily stunned. "If it wasn't your planning, how is it that you appeared at just the right moment to help save the artillery?"

"Regiment Commander, if I had actually planned this, I certainly would have asked you for at least a company of men," Wu Ze replied.

"Then... then... what on earth were you and Sun Desheng off doing?" Li Yunlong asked, blinking in confusion.

Thinking about it carefully, that did seem to make sense.

With Wu Ze's intelligence, if he had truly set his mind on the artillery, he definitely would have requested more soldiers from him.

And since Wu Ze wasn't focusing on the artillery, what had he been doing all those days he was away?

"Regiment Commander, this isn't the place to talk. Let's move somewhere else," Wu Ze said, looking at the noisy surroundings.

"No rush, no rush. We've won the battle, and we have all the time in the world." Li Yunlong remained completely unruffled.

"Regiment Commander, that might not be the case," Wu Ze said. "You've just defeated over three thousand men sent out by Hirata Ichiro. Do you think Hirata Ichiro is going to let this rest? Do you think they'll just sit back and watch the New Regiment continue to grow stronger?"

"I'm not afraid! My ammunition and equipment are even more abundant now, I've won back my territory, and I've got five more cannons. If they want to tangle with us again, we'll just give them another beating," Li Yunlong said dismissively.

"The Regiment Commander is a true hero," Wu Ze praised.

"Nonsense, nonsense. Compared to you, Wu Ze, I'm just an uncultured brute." In a rare display of modesty, Li Yunlong led Wu Ze toward a quieter spot.

"Wu Ze, I've looked at your hands. They don't look like they've ever held a gun. How did you know how to fire one?" Li Yunlong held Wu Ze's hand as they walked, asking the question on his mind.

Hitting a moving explosives pack in three shots—even an average marksman couldn't pull that off.

"Regiment Commander, I don't remember whether I've ever handled a gun or not," Wu Ze replied. "However, I understand the principle of aligning the rear sight, front sight, and target. The situation was critical at the time, and I didn't have the luxury of overthinking. Fortunately, I had a bit of luck, and the very last bullet hit the explosives pack."

"What? The very last bullet hit the explosives pack?" Li Yunlong's eyes widened. "Did that fellow Sun Desheng only leave you three bullets?"

Sensing a hint of reprimand toward Sun Desheng in Li Yunlong's tone, Wu Ze explained, "Regiment Commander, the situation was urgent at the time, and Brother Sun left all the bullets for the other soldiers. He didn't expect that I would know how to shoot either. You can't blame Brother Sun for this."

"Mm." Li Yunlong grunted and dropped the matter, having no intention of pursuing it further.

After all, the artillery had been saved, and moreover, thanks belonged to Sun Desheng for his great contribution.

Afterward, he would make sure to properly reward Sun Desheng and that surviving soldier.

Li Yunlong led Wu Ze to a secluded spot and had Huzi bring a few men to stand guard, keeping everyone else away.

"Wu Ze, when you left earlier, you mentioned that your plan had something to do with the rain. Now that those three thousand devils and traitors have been thoroughly defeated, and my men along with Old Kong's are hunting down the remnants, you can finally tell me what your grand plan was." Li Yunlong fixed his gaze on Wu Ze.