Chapter 29: Was the Deal a Profit or a Loss?
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Chapter 29: Was This Deal a Profit or a Loss?
(I)
“Some Japanese troops are planning a surprise attack on us. Their target could be the arsenal, or some other important installation!” Guan Shan glanced back toward the door and lowered his voice. “It might be that gang of Japanese from Yang Village...”
“Yang Village?” Minister Zhang’s eyebrows twitched, and his expression turned solemn.
After pondering for a moment, Minister Zhang took a fountain pen from his pocket. He considered his words, then looked up at Guan Shan and asked, “Little Guan, apart from these ideas, do you have any other good suggestions for our arsenal?”
Guan Shan hesitated and glanced at Gesang.
Gesang said to Minister Zhang, “Uncle Zhang, if you agree, you can have him help me translate those Japanese documents. If he comes up with any good ideas, I can have him write them down whenever they occur to him.”
Guan Shan was just about to say a few modest words when Gesang glared at him. Guan Shan looked again at Minister Zhang, whose pen was suspended in midair, and, after opening and closing his mouth a few times, did not dare say a word.
“That will do. I’ll coordinate the schedule with Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang! Oh, and from now on, your Japanese tutoring sessions will be held regularly in the Logistics Department’s conference room. It’s settled!” Minister Zhang finished speaking and looked at Gesang and Guan Shan.
“She’s asking you. Is that all right?” Gesang looked at Guan Shan, pressing her lips together to hide a laugh.
“Oh, yes, yes. Well, if the organization needs it, anything is fine...”
Guan Shan calculated the matter inwardly. Had this deal actually made him a profit, or had he lost his shirt? Why did it feel as though he had somehow thrown himself into the bargain as well?
Zhang Wanhe seemed to see through Guan Shan’s thoughts. With a grand sweep of his pen, he signed his name on the requisition form. Just as he was about to finish, he pulled the pen back. After thinking for a moment, he amended the list and muttered to himself, “What good are ten kilograms of explosives? We’ll need at least... Oh, Little Guan, I’ll change that to thirty kilograms. Keep half of it for the defenses around the important target you mentioned!”
“Really? All right, all right, thank you so much...” Guan Shan was both astonished and delighted.
“Oh, that reminds me. You’re still taking a small unit on this mission, aren’t you? We have several captured submachine guns in the warehouse—German models with folding steel stocks. Because their ammunition is unusual and difficult to supply, they were never issued to the troops. I’ll mark them as temporary loans. Once you’ve used up the ammunition, just return the guns to me...”
As he spoke, Zhang Wanhe added two more lines to the list. He looked up at Guan Shan, then at Gesang, and asked, “What time are your Japanese lessons?”
“I’ll follow Teacher Ge’s schedule! Whenever Teacher Ge has time, I’m available!” Guan Shan hurriedly replied.
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Gesang snorted and rubbed the gun in her hands. “Certain people keep saying every day that they’re going to teach me how to shoot...”
“I’ll teach you when I get back from the mission! I guarantee I’ll teach you properly!” Guan Shan readily promised.
“Oh, target practice? Our arsenal has a shooting range. I’ll take a look when the time comes, and I’ll find some ammunition for you as well...” Zhang Wanhe seized the opportunity to add.
“Minister Zhang! I really do have some more ideas. I’ll organize the blueprints as soon as I return from this mission!” Guan Shan quickly pledged.
“Oh? Good! That’s wonderful.” Zhang Wanhe smiled broadly at Guan Shan, and only then did he sign his name on the requisition form.
(II)
Li Yunlong asked Guan Shan curiously, “Officer Ge’s father was an old comrade-in-arms of Zhang Wanhe’s, which makes him an old comrade of mine too. I must know him! Who is he? What’s his name?”
“Huh? Well, I never asked,” Guan Shan answered honestly.
“That’s excellent! Minister Zhang really thought of everything! Of course, the main credit goes to Comrade Guan Shan for being so meticulous!”
Zhao Gang was overjoyed that his defensive mission had received an additional fifteen kilograms of high explosives, detonators, and other advanced equipment.
“Oh, right. Boy, weren’t you getting awfully close to that county magistrate? How come you’re now cozying up to this propaganda officer too...” Li Yunlong teased Guan Shan with a wicked grin. “You’re as black as coal, and you don’t exactly look like some pretty-faced young man. How do you manage to attract so many women?”
“Hey, hey, hey! Old Li, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? Watch that foul mouth of yours!” Zhao Gang cursed him before Guan Shan could respond. He knew Li Yunlong was joking, but the words were still unpleasant—especially coming from the mouth of a regimental commander.
Guan Shan could only frown miserably. There was nothing he could do; unlike Zhao Gang, he could not simply curse Li Yunlong back.
“All right, I was only joking!” Li Yunlong said with a shameless grin. “There’s nothing wrong with that—it’s a talent, too! If you’re capable of luring the Emperor’s daughter away, then by all means...”
“Old Li! You’re getting more and more outrageous!” Zhao Gang cut him off before he could continue. He turned to Guan Shan and said, “Once the mission is complete, you have our approval to assist Officer Ge in translating and organizing the military-industrial documents. We’ll coordinate the specific schedule later. Old Li, what do you think?”
“Exactly! Exactly! This matter is very important. Old Zhao, keep a close eye on it. Helping out is fine, but if that fellow Zhang tries to lure Little Shan away to work for him, I won’t agree to it! Right, Shan?”
“Commander, don’t worry. In life I belong to our Independent Regiment, and in death I’ll be one of our Independent Regiment’s dead. I’m not going anywhere!”
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“Don’t say such unlucky things... What the hell—ha-ha! Damn it, ha-ha! That’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone put it that way. Get out of here! Go on, get out! Hurry up and make your preparations. We’re leaving!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Old Zhao, take a look at this kid. Ha-ha, he’s got some wit, doesn’t he? People used to say he was hopeless with words. But now look at him—he’s got a whole repertoire!”
“Hmph. It would be strange if he hadn’t learned a thing or two from the person he follows now,” Zhao Gang said sarcastically.
“Hey, Old Zhao, you’ve got to speak with a little conscience. Your old Li is an honest man...”
Even after running out of the courtyard, Guan Shan could still hear Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang trading barbs behind him, sounding like two comedians performing a routine.
(III)
“Damn it...” Tian Daqing stood with his chest thrust out and his head held high, the submachine gun hanging across his chest. Yet when he looked at the assembled unit before him, he could not help frowning.
Aside from the six reconnaissance soldiers from his own First Squad, the demolition specialist Sun Bin and the grenade-launcher man Xu Xinhai—nicknamed “Wai Cai”—were also in the formation. They stood in the second row with a slack, careless air. Their posture and military bearing were worse than those of the militia!
The second and third rows each held six soldiers. Apart from Sun Bin and Xu Xinhai, there were ten militiamen, carrying picks, shovels, steel pry bars, sledgehammers, shoulder poles, and large baskets woven from vines.
In addition to the explosives, detonating equipment, grenade launcher, and its accompanying ammunition, Guan Shan had brought back three submachine guns of different models. The most generously supplied had more than seventy rounds, while the least had only a little over twenty. He had also requisitioned two hundred kilograms of explosive charges made from locally produced black powder.
Those ten militiamen would serve simultaneously as porters, ammunition carriers, engineers, and signalmen.
And these militiamen were none other than a small detachment of native sons from Zhang Village, all bearing the surname Li. It was the second time the entire detachment had followed Guan Shan on a mission.
Thank you for reading and recommending this chapter!
End of Chapter
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