Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Chapter 1114 Zhang Huaiyi's Experience in the Army

Zhang Huaiyi would only smile sheepishly at the evaluation of Regiment Commander Li Yunlong, and never respond.

Although he was a competitive person who always wanted to be number one, he also knew that this place did not belong to him, but was just a training ground for a certain stage on his path of cultivation.

One day, he will leave this place to follow in his senior's footsteps.

However, during his years there, he had to admit that it was an excellent training ground.

He had been on the battlefield before, but that was with his senior brother. With his senior brother there, it was like "it's good to take shelter under a big tree," meaning that if the sky fell, a tall person would hold it up.

Now, however, he is leading his own troops into battle. Every order and every action is related to the life and death of his brothers. These are two completely different and heavy feelings.

Because they were fighting as guerrillas, being besieged and attacked by Japanese pirates was a common occurrence. On this particular day, in order to cover the relocation of the field hospital, they had no choice but to confront a group of Japanese pirates head-on.

"Big Ears! See that?" Li Yunlong lay prone on the edge of the trench, pointing to a tent on a distant hillside: "That tent that looks like a tortoise shell must be the Japanese command post! But the Japanese are clever; the command post is beyond firing range, still 500 meters away. We only have two shells left. You cover the pillar and advance 500 meters to see if you can take out the Japanese command post."

Zhang Huaiyi glanced at it and frowned, saying, "Didn't we just replenish our ammunition yesterday? How come we only have two rounds left now?"

Li Yunlong immediately turned to the gunner beside him, annoyed: "It's all that spendthrift Zhu's fault! He has no restraint when it comes to fighting, and he doesn't know how to conserve resources!"

"Commander, you have to speak from your conscience!" Zhu Zi said with a wronged look, "When the Japanese attacked just now, you were the one shouting the loudest. Zhu Zi, take out that heavy machine gun for me! Zhu Zi, are you blind? Blow up that grenade launcher for me! Now that the shells are all used up, you're denying it and complaining that I wasted them. Who can I complain to?"

Li Yunlong glared at him and shouted angrily, "You dare to complain?! Watch out or I'll beat you up!"

Zhu Zi pouted, not daring to argue back anymore, looking like a wronged child.

Zhang Huaiyi watched from the side, rolling his eyes in exasperation. How could he not know what was going on?

Zhu Zi was a soldier he trained after being transferred to the new regiment. Back then, he honed his mortar skills to perfection in the various meat grinder dungeons of the interior.

After Li Yunlong discovered these skills, he immediately had him organize a military training class and lead a group of people to specialize in mortar techniques.

Zhu Zi was the most accurate shooter among them, and he has now graduated and is the best gunner in the new regiment.

As for him, the original best gunner, he certainly had more important things to do. After all, he had too many military skills. Li Yunlong was exploiting him like a donkey in a production team, and had already put him through several special training courses in bayonet fighting, reconnaissance, demolition, and so on.

Zhu Zi was taught by him, and to some extent, he inherited his personality. He's stingy and extremely frugal.

He was certain that the remaining two shells must have been saved by Zhu Zi with great difficulty; if the regimental commander had acted according to his own nature, they would have been used up long ago!

Seeing Zhu Zi's aggrieved look, Li Yunlong chuckled and said, "Alright! After this battle, I'll reward you with half a pound of sweet potato liquor! But you'd better figure out how to use these two shells to take down the enemy's command post! Let me make this clear: if you miss, forget about the sweet potato liquor, I'll deal with you too, you hear me?"

"Yes! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Zhu Zi immediately straightened his back.

Li Yunlong immediately looked at Zhang Huaiyi: "Big Ears, Zhu Zi's side is ready. Now it's up to your assault team!"

“I’m fine.” Zhang Huaiyi looked at a burly man next to him: “Biaozi, what about you?”

The burly man tilted his head back and said, "Instructor Zhang, just watch closely. When it comes to firearms, we're no match for the Japanese, but when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, we're their ancestors. Today, we'll teach those Japanese a lesson. How can they disrespect their ancestors?"

Upon hearing this, Regiment Commander Li laughed loudly and said, "Today, you have to show the spirit of the Big Sword Brigade back in the day and chop off a few more Japanese heads to make me proud. If you don't perform well in this battle, the brigade commander will definitely send me to the military court."

"Commander, if we defeat the enemy, will the brigade commander stop making things difficult for you?" Zhang Dabiao asked.

"I think as long as we take out Sakata's command post with one shot, the brigade commander won't do anything to me. Haha, he might even have to buy me drinks." The regimental commander laughed heartily.

Zhang Dabiao licked his lips: "Commander, only attacking 500 meters? That's not enough! Why don't you save your ammunition and let Instructor Zhang lead us straight in and take down his command post!"

"No way!" Zhang Huaiyi quickly interrupted him: "You can't fight a tough battle like this! You can't just stand around doing nothing, you have to learn to use your brain!"

Zhang Huaiyi felt somewhat helpless. Zhang Dabiao was definitely a problem student in his military training class—too reckless, completely unlike his own cautious and meticulous personality. He thought that if his senior were here, he would definitely like Zhang Dabiao's personality.

Li Yunlong chimed in, "Big Ears is right! Let's not get ourselves caught before we even hit them. We're not going to do something that loses us money! Let's take out the enemy's command post first, throw the Japanese into disarray, and then we'll charge!"

Just as they finished discussing the battle plan, a messenger came to report that he had just received an order from the brigade headquarters. The brigade commander ordered the New 1st Regiment to retreat under alternating cover and break out from the direction of Yujialing. The 771st and 772nd Regiments were responsible for covering the New 1st Regiment.

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong's eyes widened instantly, and he cursed, "Retreat?! That old bastard Sakata has his bayonet pointed at my nose, and now he wants me to retreat? What a ridiculous idea! Anyway, it's a breakout, so what difference does it make where we go out? In my opinion, we don't need to break out from the Yujialing direction!"

Zhang Huaiyi reminded him from the side, "Commander, the direction of Yujialing is the weak point of the Japanese encirclement. Breaking out from there is more likely to succeed."

"Big Ears, I, Old Li, don't like hearing that! To be honest, when it comes to individual combat, I've never seen anyone better than you! But when it comes to tactical command, you have to look to Old Li! Let me tell you, if we retreat, that son of a bitch Sakata will definitely come up and bite us from the tail! At that time, we'll be even more passive! The best defense is offense!"

Li Yunlong turned to the communications officer and shouted, "Report to the brigade headquarters! Tell them that the New 1st Regiment is locked in a fierce battle with the enemy on the front and cannot withdraw! In order to cover the successful breakout of our brother units, the New 1st Regiment is determined to lead the entire regiment in a counter-offensive against the enemy! We will defeat the Sakata Regiment and break out from the front!"

A frontal breakout? Zhang Huaiyi murmured these four words. For some reason, he thought of his senior brother. When his senior brother was still alive, he often did this kind of thing, such as a frontal assault to break through, a kill-all rearguard action, or a total annihilation infiltration...

Zhang Huaiyi remained silent, but Zhang Dabiao hesitated. After all, soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders, and he reminded him, "Regimental Commander, what you said makes sense. But this is disobeying orders from superiors."

“Zhang Dabiao!” Li Yunlong said in a deep voice.

"Have!"

"Attention! I have a question for you: who is the commander of the New First Regiment?!"

"Li Yunlong!"

"Speak louder!"

"Report! The commander of the new First Regiment is Li Yunlong! Battalion Commander Zhang Dabiao has finished answering!" Zhang Dabiao stood up straight and replied loudly.

"Execute the order!"

"Yes!"

Moments later, gunfire erupted on the smoke-filled front lines.

Zhang Huaiyi and Zhang Dabiao led a hundred assault team members armed with rifles and carrying broadswords, who lay prone in the trenches, their footsteps rustling.

Under the cover of heavy fire from the rear, the assault team pounced on the Japanese pirates' position like a pack of cheetahs!

"Beep beep! Beep! Beep beep beep!"

The bugler sounded the charge!

A Japanese sniper behind them locked onto the bugler's figure, a cold glint in his eyes, and decisively pulled the trigger!

"boom."

The sharp bullet tore through the air, whistling as it hurtled towards the bugler's head!

At that moment, a golden hand suddenly reached out and caught the bullet that had been fired at the bugler.

Immediately afterward, the owner of that hand raised the Mauser C96 pistol. "Damn it!"

The Japanese sniper in the distance was horrified when he saw this. The next second, a bloody hole appeared between his eyebrows, and he fell backward.

The bugle call continued to sound.

The assault team surged towards the enemy lines on both sides like a tidal wave, and Zhang Dabiao let out a tiger's roar that echoed through the valley.

Amidst the dense gunfire and grenade explosions, large numbers of Japanese pirates collapsed, clutching their wounds.

But the Japanese pirates were not to be trifled with. They charged forward against the assault team, and the two sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

Wielding a broadsword, Zhang Dabiao charged into the enemy ranks like a bear, taking heads with each strike.

Zhang Huaiyi also charged ahead, quickly reaping the lives of the enemy.

At this moment, a Japanese pirate, shrouded in black mist, with bulging purplish-black veins all over his body and bulging eyes like a vengeful ghost, wielded a katana and howled as he slashed wildly at him!

Zhang Huaiyi's eyes flashed with a fierce light. He flicked his finger, and golden light ripped from his fingertip like machine gun bullets, instantly piercing the neck, chest, and thigh of the Japanese pirate, leaving seven or eight transparent, blood-red holes in his body.

The strange man didn't even have time to scream before he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Under the assault team's charge, the front line quickly advanced five hundred meters!

Upon reaching the designated position, Zhang Huaiyi gave the order, and the assault team changed their previous unstoppable offensive and began to hold their ground, buying time for the artillerymen behind them.

Behind them, Zhu Zi had already set up a mortar and begun aiming.

"Zhu Zi, hurry up, you son of a bitch!" Li Yunlong urged. Every second of delay meant more brothers were bleeding and sacrificing themselves. This was no time for dawdling!

Zhu Zi took a deep breath, gave a thumbs-up to calculate the wind direction and distance, then quickly adjusted the cannon and fired two shots. One shot destroyed the Japanese pirates' command antenna, and the other cleanly and efficiently took down the command post, sending the colonel and the lieutenant colonel inside to their deaths!

"Zhu Zi! Well done!" Upon seeing this, Li Yunlong slapped his thigh excitedly, overjoyed.

"Hit!" Zhu Zi was overjoyed and couldn't help but want to stand up and cheer, but before he could stand up, Zhang Huaiyi grabbed his head and pressed him down.

The next second, a burst of bullets grazed the pillar's scalp.

"What are you jumping for? So what if you hit a command post? Look at your pathetic glee! Didn't I tell you long ago that gunners on the battlefield have to crouch like mice after firing their shells? You still dare to stand up and jump? Do you want to die even faster?!" Zhang Huaiyi said irritably.

Zhu Zi was also startled and broke out in a cold sweat. He touched his head and found that his hair was singed. He quickly lowered his body and dared not be arrogant anymore.

With their command post destroyed, the Japanese pirates were leaderless and thrown into chaos.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Yunlong decisively ordered a general charge!

At this moment, Zhang Huaiyi made no attempt to hide anything, disappearing into the enemy ranks and beginning to wreak havoc on all sides.

Soon, the new First Regiment, with its morale soaring, was like a sharp knife, crushing the Sakata Regiment, killing a large number of Japanese pirates, and successfully breaking through from the front!

Although he successfully broke through the encirclement and defeated the Sakata Regiment, he had also disobeyed orders. Merit is merit, and demerit is demerit; they cannot offset each other. With a single order from the brigade commander, Li Yunlong was demoted to the position of director of a clothing factory and went off to embroider, cursing and swearing.

That day, Li Yunlong was working hard on a sewing machine in the clothing factory when he suddenly received an order from his superiors to become the commander of the Independent Regiment.

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong immediately got excited and started cursing and throwing a tantrum in the factory, shouting that he wouldn't go, saying that he wouldn't go even if the Heavenly King himself came!

Then... instead of the Heavenly King himself, the brigade commander kicked the door open and came in, pointing his riding whip at him and giving him a thorough dressing-down.

After being scolded, Li Yunlong immediately became obedient, preparing to report to the Independent Regiment with a forced smile. But then, his eyes darted around, and he made a condition:

"Brigadier, I'm willing to go, but I have one condition."

"Say!"

"Don't bother finding me a political commissar! I'll handle both the political commissar and the regimental commander roles myself!"

The brigade commander glared and cracked his whip: "Dream on! If you do everything yourself, political commissar and regimental commander, you'll be a force to be reckoned with in the regiment! No way!"

Although Li Yunlong hadn't read many books, he knew that if you wanted to open the window, you'd definitely have to make a scene about tearing the roof off first. He chuckled and said:

"Alright, Political Commissar, you can send them. But you have to transfer Zhang Huaiyi and Zhang Dabiao from the New First Regiment to me! I'm comfortable using these two, so this isn't too much of a demand, is it?"

The brigade commander nodded: "This condition can be considered. But you, right now, report to your post immediately! You must boost the morale of the Independent Regiment, which has been low due to the defeat!"

After saying that, the brigade commander turned and strode away.

"Take care, Brigade Commander! Take care, Brigade Commander!" Li Yunlong saw them off all the way out of the factory, standing behind them with his back bent and waving with a big smile on his face.

Seeing that the brigade commander had walked away, he immediately straightened his back, put on a stern face, and strode into the factory, giving orders to the deputy factory director in an imperious manner:

"Go! Pack me two hundred new military uniforms! I'm taking them with me!"

The deputy factory director immediately became anxious upon hearing this: "I can't make that decision on my own! We need Minister Zhang's approval!"

"Did I ask you to make the decision?!" Li Yunlong tilted his head and glared, "I'm still the factory manager of the clothing factory! Two hundred pieces, not a single one less!"

The deputy factory director looked at his shameless behavior, as if he were swallowing a bitter pill and couldn't express his grievances.

"Hahaha!" Li Yunlong patted him on the shoulder and laughed smugly, "I knew it! I can't work for this factory director for nothing! Put on an act! Put on an act now!!"

And so, Li Yunlong took up his post with several cartloads of new military uniforms.

Zhang Huaiyi was actually quite happy to learn that he was going to be transferred to the Independent Regiment.

Because his best friend, Tian Jinzhong, was in the Independent Regiment!

A few days ago, Tian Jinzhong sent him a letter on a paper crane. The letter said that the Independent Regiment had been ambushed at night by a special operations team composed of Japanese pirates and other strange individuals in the village. The enemy was well-equipped and used bizarre methods, resulting in heavy losses for the Independent Regiment. Even the political commissar was killed, and Tian Jinzhong himself was wounded.

He couldn't swallow this insult and wanted revenge. But he was worried that he wouldn't be able to handle it alone, so he gave Zhang Huaiyi a heads-up beforehand, asking him to come and help him take down these bastards after he had investigated the details of the Japanese pirates, so as to avenge the political commissar and his fallen brothers!

That's good. Before Tian Jinzhong could even investigate, he was transferred directly there, saving him the trouble of traveling back and forth.

Soon, the group reported to the Independent Regiment.

Inside the regimental headquarters, Li Yunlong was handing over duties to Kong Jie, who had just been dismissed. Meanwhile, Zhang Huaiyi met Tian Jinzhong, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, in the courtyard.

Upon seeing Zhang Huaiyi, Tian Jinzhong's eyes instantly reddened, and he almost burst into tears.

Back in Longhu Mountain, he, Zhang Zhiwei, and Zhang Huaiyi were the closest of friends.

In recent years, his senior brother has been in seclusion. Although Huaiyi and he are in the same place, they belong to different bases and have not seen each other for a long time.

In the recent battle, he lost many of his comrades-in-arms. Now, seeing his best friend, he was overcome with grief and choked up. (End of Chapter)