Zhou Cheng looked at the two old partners and replied confidently: "You are too underestimating our national-savior army!"

"Do you still remember Deputy Chief of Staff Li Honghui? I remember that he also wanted to form a troops who were completely obedient to him at the Third Battalion. What happened? The Ninth Company was indeed formed and its combat effectiveness became stronger and stronger. However, when we rotated the platoon-level cadres of the Ninth Company, the hilltop no longer exists, and Deputy Chief of Staff Li's hard work instantly disappeared."

"I can say with certainty: As long as the cadre rotation system of the National Salvation Army continues to be maintained, no one can imagine pulling the top of the team and building a private army."

Tang Yufeng highly recognized Zhou Cheng's analysis, but the worry on his face did not disappear. He continued to remind: "Even if Yuan Shushan cannot pull the mountain, he will take the opportunity to win over many officers for his own use. Even if we switch these officers to the first and second battalions in the future, they will still be instigated by Yuan Shushan to make trouble, and eventually bring us some unnecessary trouble!"

"I think the best solution is not to give Yuan Shushan the opportunity to take power, so that he will always be alone in the National Salvation Army, have no power, and have no people. In this way, no matter how unfair he has, he will not cause any big waves."

Zhou Cheng knew their concerns and decided to tray his thoughts: "Old Tang, Chief of Staff, I don't want to give Yuan Shushan a chance to take power, but Yuan Shushan holds a treasure in his hand. In order to take this treasure into our own hands, I came up with this bad strategy. I will give him a sweet treat first, and wait until we hold the treasure in his hand into our own hands before slowly taking the power back!"

Tang Yufeng frowned and asked, "What baby needs us to do so much to get it into our own hands?"

"A arsenal!" Zhou Cheng replied in a low voice.

Tang Yufeng and Chen Zhengyu were shocked on the spot. If Zhou Cheng hadn't said it personally, they wouldn't believe that Yuan Shushan, a small lieutenant colonel, would have held an arsenal.

Looking at Zhou Cheng with disbelief, he asked, "Captain, how is this possible? You've made a mistake!"

Zhou Cheng refused to comment: "At the beginning, I was shocked by this news. I didn't believe that the war zone would hand over an arsenal to Yuan Shushan, and I sent people to confirm it repeatedly before I believed the news."

"You still remember the several victories that our National Salvation Army has won since its establishment. Almost every time we win the war zone will reward our battalion's equipment, sometimes even a strengthening battalion's equipment, and all of them are combined with the equipment of one regiment and another."

"At that time, I always thought that these equipment and ammunition were transported here from the rear of the war zone. There must be unknown secret traffic lines between us and the war zone, which specifically supplemented the equipment and ammunition for the troops operating behind enemy lines."

After hearing this, Tang Yufeng and Zhou Cheng both nodded in agreement. They also thought so.

Behind the enemy, except for the National Rescue Army Defense Zone and the Eighth Route Army Base Area, the rest are all occupied by the Japanese.

Those weapons and ammunition could not come from the Eighth Route Army base, nor could they be given by the Japanese. Apart from the war zone, they could not have thought of using other sources.

Tang Yufeng heard something in Zhou Cheng's words and immediately asked: "Are we all wrong? These weapons and ammunition were not sent from the war zone from the rear."

Zhou Cheng nodded: "After becoming the commander of the National Salvation Army, I realized that this matter was not as simple as I thought."

"Do you remember the last time the war zone replenished our weapons and ammunition? It was the guard company who came to the back. If the weapons and ammunition came from the rear, the war zone would definitely let us pacify the southwest direction. As a result, the designated contact point of the war zone was actually in the north of the war zone, in a completely opposite direction."

"I was very careful at that time and sent several veterans to follow the Jinsui army who transported weapons to find out where these weapons and ammunition came from."

"After following us, I realized that there was an arsenal hidden in the mountains about fifty kilometers northwest of us. A company of Jinsui troops has been stationed in the arsenal to protect the safety of the arsenal."

"The weapons and ammunition that the theater has rewarded us all over the past come from this arsenal."

"Because the arsenal is located in the enemy-occupied area and there is a risk of exposure at any time, I immediately arranged for people to investigate and monitor the arsenal, and finally determined that the arsenal was built a year and a half ago by the Jinsui Army."

"At that time, the Japanese had not invaded Shanxi. In order to defend against the enemy, Chief Yan built a large number of secret arsenals in Shanxi. If the local area fell, the anti-Japanese troops who stayed here could use the weapons and ammunition stored in the arsenal to make a comeback to resist and attack the Japanese."

"The arsenal in the northwest not only hoarded the equipment of an infantry brigade, but also hoarded the ammunition and other materials that an infantry brigade could take for two years. After we sent us the equipment of one regiment after another, there should be a regiment of equipment left."

"There are more ammunition. I guess there are a million rounds of bullets alone, and there are thousands of shells, tens or 20,000 grenades, and thousands of kilograms of explosives..."

"Didn't I ask Yuan Shushan to find a way to form the third battalion during the investigation?"

"The purpose at that time was to use his relationship in the war zone to get more equipment for us. As a result, Yuan Shushan had never contacted the war zone in a few days, but the reply to the regiment headquarters was full of confidence. I felt something was wrong at that time, thinking that Yuan Shushan must have relied on what we didn't know."

"Send someone to stare at him right away, but there is really a problem."

"The guards who had been following Yuan Shushan actually left the regiment headquarters under the cover of night and directly touched the secret arsenal. Two days later, the secret arsenal sent out a company's equipment."

"Justice's sweep began. I took down this batch of equipment for the reason that the battle situation on the front line was urgent, otherwise the Third Battalion had already built a main company."

"Then the next period, Yuan Shushan contacted the arsenal twice, and each time he transported a platoon of equipment, but to us, he told me that it was obtained through friends in the war zone, and it was actually all from this secret arsenal."

"It can be seen from this that the garrison in this secret arsenal and the arsenal were completely obeying Yuan Shushan, otherwise he would not want weapons and ammunition, so the arsenal would send them out."

Tang Yufeng and Chen Zhengyu's eyes began to appear small stars.

The equipment of a regiment, with more than one million bullets of various types, thousands of shells and tens of thousands of grenades, is definitely a very huge asset for the National Salvation Army.

Although most of the equipment stockpiled in the arsenal is 79 caliber, and the military cannot use it for saving the country. However, the heavy weapons, shells, grenades and explosives inside can be used. If the military can hold all of the national rescue troops in their own hands, their overall strength will definitely increase greatly.

Chen Zhengyu suddenly showed a sudden enlightenment expression: "Captain, I understand what you think."

"Since Yuan Shushan has the right to mobilize weapons and ammunition in the arsenal, we will let him form the third battalion and provide him with all his manpower, but he will not give him guns and force him to draw weapons and ammunition from the arsenal to form the third battalion."

"In this process, we will find a way to cut off weapons and ammunition from the arsenal once or twice, and then we can use Yuan Shushan's hand to hollow out the ammunition depot bit by bit."

"This is the idea!" Zhou Cheng nodded in agreement.

Tang Yufeng's brow suddenly frowned: "Captain, this is too troublesome and takes a long time."

"I told me that we should pretend to be a Japanese, take down the arsenal, and then concentrate our manpower and material resources to move all the things in the arsenal in a few days."

"This not only speeds up, but also reduces the exposure risk of multiple transports of weapons and ammunition."

Zhou Cheng shook his head: "I thought about it too, but there is a risk to do so, and we can't afford to gamble on this risk."

"The arsenal has a company garrison. They can guard the arsenal behind enemy lines and not surrender to the Japanese. This means that they are all real anti-Japanese heroes."

"We pretend to be Japanese and attack the arsenal. They will definitely fight to the end with us and blow up the arsenal at the last moment, which will be more than worth the effort."

"I not only want all the remaining weapons and ammunition in the arsenal, but also the company will be incorporated!"

"The Third Battalion cannot be all composed of a group of new recruits. If the company stationed in the arsenal can be successfully incorporated, then they will be the future backbone of the Third Battalion!"

Tang Yufeng was still a little unwilling to give up and continued to propose: "Can you force them to be recruited directly as the National Rescue Army?"

"No!" Zhou Cheng and Chen Zhengyu retorted at the same time.

At Zhou Cheng's suggestion, Chen Zhengyu explained: "If we forcefully recruit them as the National Salvation Army, we will completely break with the war zone. It is not ruled out that the war zone would rather blow up the arsenal than give it to us."

"Although the team leader's method takes a long time, it is very safe!"

"It can not only hollow out the ammunition depot, but also use the identity of Deputy Commander Yuan to successfully acquire the infantry company that protected the arsenal, killing two birds with one stone."

"No, it's a kill of three birds with one stone, because our action will not cause dissatisfaction in the war zone and lead to our breaking with them."

Tang Yufeng was convinced: "Then give Yuan Shushan some sweetness first, but you must keep an eye on him. Once we empty the arsenal and successfully acquire the infantry company that protects the arsenal, we will immediately find a way to take away his rights. We must never let him grow in the National Rescue Army."

Zhou Cheng nodded: "Old Tang, don't worry, I've already started doing this."

"The order he just gave Yuan Shushan was very clear: one-third of the cadres he transferred to the Third Battalion must be the veterans we brought out, one-third were the prisoners, and one-third were the officers of the former National Salvation Army."

"The ones who are most easily attracted by Yuan Shushan are the officers of the former National Salvation Army and the officers who were captured from prison. The cadres we brought out with one hand will definitely not be attracted by him. These people are our trump card to control the Third Battalion."

"Old Tang, go to the 1st and 2nd Battalion to find some trusted deputy company commanders and deputy platoon leaders, and ask them to take the initiative to move closer to Yuan Shushan and enter the 3rd Battalion to ensure that at least one-third of the cadres of the 3rd Battalion are people we can trust."

"After the officers rotate, they will be left in the Third Battalion, and then some trusted cadres from the regiment headquarters will be replaced. The Third Battalion will be completely controlled by us!"

"As for those cadres who were attracted by Yuan Shushan, if they have the ability, I will treat them equally no matter who they are and continue to use them. If they don't have the ability, I'm sorry. It turns out that they were the deputy company commander or continue to be the deputy company commander. It turns out that they were the deputy platoon commander and they also continued to be the deputy platoon commander."

Tang Yufeng's expression completely relaxed, and he didn't talk nonsense, and immediately took the order: "This matter must be completed in front of Yuan Shushan. If it is too late, it will be useless."

"I'll do everyone's ideological work now and arrange this."

At the cannon company's headquarters, Tan Wei has been laughing since he walked out of the conference room of the regiment headquarters, and his mouth has never been closed.

The deputy company commander saw something was wrong at a glance and asked quickly: "Company Commander, is there any good thing to visit our mortar company!"

Tan Wei smiled and replied: "That's a great thing, by the way, from today on, our mortar company will be officially renamed the cannon company!"

"I ordered the first and second platoons to assemble immediately and go to the regiment headquarters to get equipment empty-handedly. This time our artillery company hit the fortune. The regiment commander prepared a lot of equipment for us. With them, although we still have the name of the artillery company, our overall strength and equipment are already stronger than many artillery battalions..."

The troops quickly assembled and followed Tan Wei to the logistics warehouse of the regiment headquarters.

The deputy company commander followed Tan Wei closely, feeling itchy when he heard it. He asked while walking, "Company Commander, please explain clearly, what a great thing?"

"Our artillery company is about to be expanded!" Tan Wei did not hide it!

"In this anti-sweeping campaign, the entire regiment seized a total of three Type 92 mountain cannons, two infantry cannons, two rapid-fire cannons, and eight or nine mortars. The regiment headquarters decided to equip most of the artillery with our gun company."

"The newly formed artillery company has four artillery platoons, one with three Type 92 mountain cannons, one with two infantry cannons, one with two rapid-fire cannons and one tank cannons, and one with four mortars, a total of twelve various types of artillery. Do you think it's a great thing!"

The deputy company commander was stunned when he heard this and was stunned for a long time before he could react.

A smile appeared on his face at the same time, happier than Tan Wei, and he replied excitedly: "Of course it's a good thing. With so many artillery, it's no problem for us to fight against a mortar squadron of the Japanese in the future. If we encounter a mountain artillery squadron of the Japanese, we will definitely be suppressing them!"

"There are also tanks. When the Japanese dare to send chariots to attack us in the future, they will ensure that they will destroy as much as they come and never return."

Tan Wei replied in a domineering manner: "This is for sure."

"In the past, we didn't have rapid-fire guns. When we attacked tanks, we could only send suicide squads to blow them up with explosives. Now, with rapid-fire guns, if we can't destroy the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles, then I, the commander of the cannon company, will be useless."

"But we can't forget ourselves with equipment. If we want to exert all the power of those artillery, we must have qualified artillery."

"The gunners in the artillery company are definitely not enough, and we also need to help the first and second battalions train the mortar platoon. We will have all the staff, and there will be even fewer qualified gunners."

"The regiment commander promised to ask the artillery company to go to the recruits battalion to pick people first, where more than 600 prisoners were trained, and some of them would definitely be able to shoot artillery."

"After getting the equipment and ammunition, we will take all the platoon leaders to the recruits to pick up people."

The cavalry company's garrison, the company commander Tao Yongsheng, was also very happy because the cavalry company was also expanded at this moment.

He came back with his war horses and cavalry equipment. In addition to the original war horses of the cavalry company, a total of 150 Eastern war horses gathered in the small garrison.

This is the configuration of four cavalry platoons, each cavalry platoon is equipped with thirty-two war horses, including three cavalry squads of ten cavalry and the chief and deputy platoon leader.

The company directly under a cavalry firepower squad, equipped with two heavy machine guns, plus guards, communications, deputy company commanders, documents... a total of 150 cavalrymen!

In addition, the two main battalions were each equipped with a cavalry platoon of thirty-two cavalry, a guard company, a reconnaissance company, and a communication platoon.

If there is a large-scale cavalry battle, these cavalry will gather in the cavalry company and be commanded by itself. At that time, the number of cavalry commanded by itself will exceed an astonishing 240 cavalry, almost one cavalry battalion.

This result was something Tao Yongsheng didn't dare to dream of before joining the National Salvation Army, but now it has become a reality.
Chapter completed!