Volume One, Chapter 13: Shocking News! The Armory Has Been Bombed!
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Yang Village, Independent Regiment.
The air was so heavy it seemed one could wring water from it.
A memorial service for twenty-three fallen soldiers was held on the threshing ground at Yang Village.
There was no funeral music, only the soldiers’ muffled sobs and Li Yunlong’s hoarse eulogy.
“Brothers, may you rest in peace! I, Li Yunlong, will remember your grudge! I’ll pursue it to the bitter end!”
Li Yunlong personally poured twenty-three bowls of strong liquor before the twenty-three new graves. In his bloodshot eyes burned the flames of vengeance.
This bitter defeat was like a resounding slap in the face, jolting Li Yunlong fully awake.
He was no longer the reckless brute who became swollen-headed after every victory. He began driving the troops through training with near-mad intensity.
He handed Duan Peng and the remaining soldiers of the guard platoon over to Lin Mo.
“Brother Lin, from today onward, they’re your men! They’ll train exactly as you say! Turn the lot of them into genuine killers!”
Lin Mo did not refuse.
He knew that weapons alone were not enough.
Drawing on the special-operations principles of a later age, he designed an entirely new training regimen for the guard platoon.
They began with the most basic rifle stances and controlled burst-fire drills, then moved on to squad search coordination, alternating covering fire, the placement and removal of booby traps, and silent nighttime combat.
Lin Mo had transformed himself into a merciless devil of a drill instructor.
Every day, the soldiers were exhausted like beaten dogs, yet not one of them complained.
They had witnessed their comrades’ sacrifices with their own eyes. They knew that every extra drop of sweat shed now meant one less bucket of blood spilled on the battlefield.
The research institute, meanwhile, had entered a state of sleepless, round-the-clock activity.
Based on the problems exposed during the previous battle, Lin Mo urgently improved the Lin-pattern submachine gun.
He added a muzzle brake to improve firing stability, redesigned the sights with luminous points for night use, and began working on a more reliable, higher-capacity drum magazine.
At the same time, Lin Mo dismantled and analyzed all the special-combat equipment captured from the Japanese.
To his astonishment, he discovered that the Japanese grenade dischargers were already using lightweight alloys. Their steel helmets were made of manganese steel with an exceptionally well-balanced composition.
These were technologies beyond the reach not only of the Independent Regiment, but of the entire Eighth Route Army.
“Our shortcomings are comprehensive,” Lin Mo told Zhao Gang with a sigh. “Materials science is the foundation of modern military industry. Without good steel, we’ll never be able to produce truly formidable weapons.”
Seeing Lin Mo’s bloodshot eyes and increasingly gaunt face, Zhao Gang urged him with concern, “Lin Mo, you’ve already done more than enough. Don’t push yourself so hard.”
Lin Mo shook his head. A nearly obsessive light flickered in his eyes.
“It isn’t enough—not nearly enough! I have to move faster, even faster! Before the Japanese launch their next attack, I must give our brothers every possible advantage!”
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He shut himself away in his room, studying the Handbook of Metallurgy day and night, trying to smelt qualified special steel with the crude equipment available to them.
Just as everyone in the Independent Regiment was steeling themselves to endure hardship and take revenge, devastating news arrived like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
The headquarters arsenal had been bombed by Japanese aircraft!
The news was brought at breakneck speed by a messenger sent from brigade headquarters.
“Commander Li! Political Commissar Zhao! The brigade commander orders you to report to brigade headquarters for a meeting at once!”
The courier swung down from his horse, his voice thick with tears.
“What happened?” Li Yunlong’s heart gave a violent lurch. A terrible premonition seized him.
“The headquarters… the arsenal at Red Cliff Grotto… the Japanese bombed it!”
The courier could no longer hold back his tears; they streamed down his face.
“More than a dozen planes took turns bombing it! The entire valley was blasted flat!”
“There were hundreds of workers and technicians in the arsenal, along with the guard troops… Most of them…”
“Factory Director Zhang Wanhe… He died too, trying to save the equipment and blueprints…”
“What?!”
Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang stood frozen, as though struck by lightning.
The Red Cliff Grotto Arsenal!
It was the lifeblood of the entire Eighth Route Army!
It was the largest and most technologically advanced military-industrial base behind enemy lines in North China!
Much of the Eighth Route Army’s pitiful stockpile—Border Region-made grenades, reloaded ammunition, crude land mines—had been produced there.
Factory Director Zhang Wanhe was a towering figure in the Eighth Route Army’s military-industrial field, a veteran who had devoted his entire life to the cause.
And now it was all gone?
Li Yunlong felt the world spin. Darkness clouded his vision, and he nearly collapsed.
Zhao Gang hurriedly caught him, though his own face had gone as pale as paper.
“How… how did the Japanese find Red Cliff Grotto?” Li Yunlong’s voice trembled uncontrollably.
Red Cliff Grotto was strategically situated and extraordinarily well concealed. It had been personally selected by the headquarters commander.
“We don’t know… The brigade commander said there may have been… a traitor among us,” the courier choked out.
A traitor!
Those two words seared themselves into the hearts of Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang like red-hot branding irons.
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What a disgrace!
A disgrace to the entire Eighth Route Army!
“Saddle the horses! We’re going to brigade headquarters!” Li Yunlong ground his teeth together with a harsh click.
He knew that the sky had fallen.
The entire Eighth Route Army’s military-industrial system had suffered a devastating blow.
This meant that for a long time to come, the frontline troops would receive no replenishment of weapons or ammunition.
They would have to rely on the limited arms in their possession to fight to the death against Japanese forces armed to the teeth.
How could they possibly fight this war?
Lin Mo heard the news as well.
He emerged from the research institute and looked at the ashen-faced Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang. His own heart was raging with turbulent waves.
Though he had never met Factory Director Zhang Wanhe, Lin Mo had long heard of his reputation.
He was a military-industrial pioneer who had created countless miracles under extraordinarily difficult conditions.
His single-shot rifle and improved smokeless powder had supported half the strength of the entire battlefield behind enemy lines.
Lin Mo’s heart felt as though an invisible hand had seized it in a crushing grip. The pain left him unable to breathe.
He suddenly understood.
This was the Japanese retaliation.
Yamamoto Kazuki had suffered a defeat at the hands of the Independent Regiment and lost an elite special-operations unit.
This was naked, blood-soaked revenge!
“Yamamoto Kazuki…” Lin Mo’s fists slowly clenched.
He knew that between himself and this opponent he had never even met, a blood feud had now been forged—one that could end only with the death of one side.
The Japanese had destroyed the Eighth Route Army’s arsenal.
Then Lin Mo would personally build an even stronger one for the Eighth Route Army!
At that moment, a swift horse came galloping from the distance. The rider was a guard from brigade headquarters.
“Commander Li! The brigade commander orders you to bring your regiment’s director of the research institute, Lin, to brigade headquarters as well! Immediately! At once!”
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