xymnovel Chapter 122 250,000 silver dollars in hand, Japanese army assembles 10,000 troops
Chapter 122 250,000 silver dollars in hand, Japanese army assembles 10,000 troops
The local military forces naturally had no objections, so they didn't have many trucks.
The only one who had objections was Tang Enbo, but considering that Li Jianghe's mechanized troops would be engaged in dirty and tiring work in the outer field battles and fighting the Japanese army, he couldn't say anything.
After all, if his troops were to carry out this mission, it wouldn't just be fuel that would be consumed, but the lives of his 20th Army soldiers.
So everyone said they had no objections.
After the meeting ended, Li Jianghe was kept behind alone.
Commander Bai said to Li Jianghe:
"Jiang He, the commander wants to speak with you alone. After we're done talking, I'll take you to collect the supplies, including silver dollars and fuel, and send them to Teng County together."
After Li Jianghe nodded, he turned and went into Commander Li's office to wait.
After everyone had left, Commander Li returned to his office.
Looking at Li Jianghe, Commander Li seemed to be looking at his younger self, full of vigor and in his prime.
"Jiang He, you should know that there are many factions within the army, such as the Civil Engineering faction, the Whampoa faction, and my Guangxi faction."
It should be said that compared to them, our Guangxi clique is considerably weaker in both strength and foundation.
Commander Li’s words made Li Jianghe realize that this was a formal attempt to recruit him.
Later on, Commander Li still held some position within the Kuomintang, and following him offered a promising future.
Of course, most importantly, Li Jianghe's current strength is actually quite weak, and he needs someone to protect him.
As his strength grows, Li Jianghe will be able to establish his own faction and will no longer need to rely on anyone else.
He was also pondering whether to follow Commander Li or try to find a way out with the Central Army.
If I were to go to the Central Army, as an outsider, I would likely be unwelcome, even though the Central Army controls more resources.
Staying with the Guangxi clique, at the very least, meant that Commander Li was quite kind to him.
Moreover, it can provide some shelter and protection during the current vulnerable growth period.
Otherwise, if he really went to the Central Army, and his superiors issued an order to take him and the Third Detachment out as cannon fodder, then there would be no way to play.
So Li Jianghe said seriously:
"Sir, Jiang He is willing to serve you like a dog or a horse!"
Commander Li chuckled. He didn't need to judge how much truth or falsehood was in Li Jianghe's words.
Regardless of whether it's true or false, he will treat everyone with sincerity.
"Good, Jianghe, our Guangxi Army needs some young generals to emerge. You have a good mind for fighting and your troops are well-equipped. You should achieve even greater merit in this battle in the direction of Taierzhuang."
Commander Li spoke earnestly.
"Yes, Commander, rest assured. It is our duty to resist the Japanese invasion and save the country."
In this battle against the Japanese army, our troops will surely inflict heavy losses on them.
Li Jianghe replied.
"Okay, Jiang He, besides fuel, is there anything else you need? I'll do my best to meet your needs, as long as it's within my power."
Commander Li said quite sincerely.
Li Jianghe knew that even if it was something he didn't need, he had to accept it now. Refusing Commander Li's offer would be tantamount to rejecting his offer to recruit him.
"Yes, sir, silver dollars, please give me some more."
Li Jianghe said bluntly.
"Hehehe, you're quite honest. Fine, if you really want me to give you bullets and weapons, I really can't provide them. I'll just give you silver dollars, plus another 50,000 silver dollars as military expenses."
Commander Li patted him on the shoulder and said.
"Thank you for your guidance, General Manager."
After leaving Commander Li's office, he followed Commander Bai and directly received 350,000 silver dollars.
Of these, 250,000 belonged to Li Jianghe's Independent Detachment, while the remaining 100,000 were given to Wang Mingzhang's 41st Army.
In addition, there were more than 3,500 barrels of fuel oil.
If these fuels are redeemed within the system, each barrel requires 10 merit points.
More than 3,500 barrels of fuel can be exchanged for more than 35,000 merit points.
This is no small sum; you'd have to kill a lot of Japanese soldiers to earn it.
As for the silver dollars, they could be used to pay soldiers' wages, purchase food, or other supplies.
In fact, Li Jianghe had quite a bit of money, mainly from reselling scarce resources such as sulfonamides.
You can earn a lot of money by exchanging sulfonamides in the system's in-game store and then selling them on the market.
We returned to Teng County on the afternoon of the second day.
After distributing 100,000 silver dollars to the 41st Army, Li Jianghe then took out 60,000 of the remaining 250,000 silver dollars and distributed them to the soldiers of the Third Detachment.
If the 90,000 silver dollars were distributed among the soldiers, that would amount to 6 silver dollars each.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only 6 yuan; it's not a small amount.
This was in the early stages of the war, and the purchasing power of the ocean had not yet depreciated too much.
For the next two days, the northern part of Teng County was quite quiet. It wasn't until the evening of the fourth day that Wang Mingzhang summoned Li Jianghe to the command post.
"We have received accurate intelligence that the Japanese army is massively reinforcing its troops in the Jinan, Jining, and Zoucheng areas."
And this included a significant number of Japanese armored units.
Chief of Staff Zhao Weibin spoke earnestly at this moment.
He remained as refined as ever, and spoke at a moderate pace.
Wang Mingzhang rubbed his head and said:
"This time is different from the past. Although the Setani Detachment is strong, it is ultimately just a Japanese infantry detachment."
But this time, it wasn't just the entire 10th Division that was mobilized; the 20th Division, several mixed brigades, and even troops drawn from the Kwantung Army were all converging on this location.
"The Kwantung Army has been mobilized?"
Li Jianghe was somewhat surprised.
At present, the Kwantung Army is not very large in scale, but its weapons and equipment are relatively sophisticated, and the overall quality of its soldiers is not bad.
In addition to the 20th Division, several mixed brigades, reinforcements from the 10th Division, and troops drawn from the Kwantung Army, the total number of the main Japanese forces was at least 70,000.
In the direction of Linyi, there were also the main force of the Japanese 5th Division and Japanese Marine Corps troops.
In other words, the total number of Japanese troops prepared for the Battle of Taierzhuang was around 100,000.
Although the number of troops did not appear to be large, the Japanese army's firepower and combat effectiveness far exceeded those of ordinary Nationalist troops.
For example, Wang Mingzhang's 41st Army, though it sounds like an army, may not be as effective as a reinforced regiment of the Japanese army.
Generally speaking, it would be difficult for a local army division to contend with a Japanese regiment.
The Japanese army's strength of 100,000 men is probably incomparable to the current National Revolutionary Army's force of 300,000 men.
"Yes, this is fairly accurate intelligence, just sent from the theater command."
As Zhao Weibin said this, he couldn't help but light a cigarette.
He knew that this time it wouldn't be easy to win.