Chapter 59

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"Nine combat personnel are enough; more people would just be a burden. What's important is firepower."

"Every combat personnel in the team needs to be equipped with two pistols: one German-made twenty-shot with a stock, ten full magazines per gun; a Browning Hi-Power, five full magazines; a submachine gun each, ten full magazines, three thousand rounds in reserve; three Czech ZB-26 light machine guns, five full magazines, three thousand rounds in reserve..."

This fat guy isn't here to negotiate; he's a debt collector with a butcher's knife. One slash from him, and you'd be as good as dead.

Is this even equipping a combat team? The entire division might not be able to gather all these good things, especially the powerful Browning Hi-Power, the whole division can't even come up with three.

This fat guy is simply crazy. The political commissar finally understood that negotiating with this guy is more dangerous than combat.

Colonel Ma looked at the fat guy in shock. The Eighth Route Army is so poor, and this guy still dares to make such outrageous demands. He really felt he should distance himself from the fat guy; he couldn't afford to lose face by being associated with this black-hearted fat guy.

"Regarding the equipment, I can't promise you now. I can only tell you that we will try our best to meet your requirements." The political commissar's heart was bleeding. This guy is too ruthless. If he keeps haggling over weapons and ammunition, he might even demand air support.

The fat guy felt his demands were too low. These old weapons, with their low firepower density, can't even match a modern infantry squad. 120mm mortars, 80mm mortars, 40mm mortars... without air support and long-range support, just with the firepower of a squad, they could easily take out a battalion of the current Eighth Route Army.

"The entire team must listen to me, or I won't be responsible if the mission fails!" The fat guy had many conditions, but the primary one was to set the stage for this operation to avoid failure and not knowing how he died.

His evil tactics, which he wouldn't give up until he achieved his goal, were something this army couldn't accept. If the mission failed, who would he complain to?

So, he had to set the price high, let the political commissar haggle. He always left room for negotiation. If it exceeded his bottom line, he wouldn't accept it. If it came to that, they could part ways and each fight their own battles. For the sake of the wounded, he might even join the Nationalist Army.

"That won't work." Indeed, the political commissar's expression turned serious. "Combat command can be yours, but the entire team must be directly commanded by our people."

"Then there's nothing to talk about. You can find whoever you want to play with; I'm not serving you." The fat guy was black-hearted, but it was for his own survival. He knew this army well. The entire team's command must be in his hands. A political commander who interferes with everything would make it impossible to fight the Japanese and live happily.

Colonel Ma saw that this fat guy was really ruthless in his negotiations with the political commissar. He was quick-witted and quickly pulled the fat guy, saying, "Brother, how about we take a step back? At least for my sake?"

"Your face? I'd rather look at a chicken's ass; at least I can eat it when I'm hungry." The fat guy glanced at Colonel Ma's horse face and ignored him.

The nurses and soldiers passing by were curious. It seemed the political commissar was haggling with a fat guy, like a business deal, making them look on but not dare to interrupt.

The fat guy turned to the political commissar and said, "Fine, I'll give this horse face a chance. The team's full command must be this horse face, and I'll take a step back. But this is my final concession!"

"Alright, no problem." The political commissar thought for a moment, nodded, and agreed. Colonel Ma was, after all, one of his own.

The fat guy's lips curled into his trademark evil smile. With this horse face in full command, it was the same as him commanding, right?

"Commissar, didn't we agree that Comrade Chen would command this mission?" Colonel Ma was slightly stunned and replied.

"Now it's you, kid. Not satisfied?" The political commissar glanced at Colonel Ma and said.

"Satisfied, satisfied." Colonel Ma was a bit excited.

"You're in charge of this team. If there are any problems or casualties, I'll hold you responsible. Remember, there are two non-combat personnel in the team: Comrade Chen and Wang Yi. You'll go to each regiment to select ten people." The political commissar said.

"Yes, I'll ensure the mission is completed!" Colonel Ma was excited and saluted the political commissar.

The fat guy was a bit stunned. Wang Yi was going too, which made him a bit excited. If he had known Wang Yi was going, he wouldn't have even mentioned any conditions and would have eagerly volunteered to protect her.

Hmm? Wait... Didn't Zhang Liguo go to the Songhu battlefield with the troops?

He wondered if Zhang Liguo was injured or even sacrificed. If he was, it would remove a major rival, and he wouldn't have to dirty his hands by harming a national hero.

Actually, the fat guy was quite sorry for Zhang Liguo. But since he was his rival, he couldn't blame him for being devious. What a pity, truly a pity.

When he first thought of returning to his old profession, Zhang Liguo was the top candidate for his special forces team.

"Little Liu, do you have any other conditions? Just say them." The political commissar was puzzled by the fat guy's daze and asked.

The fat guy shook his head. What other conditions? The name "Wang Yi" had turned all his conditions into a mess. As long as Wang Yi was going, he had no reason not to go.

This is a battlefield with hundreds of thousands of people, with so many enemy-occupied areas. Just one of the millions of bullets could end Wang Yi's life. If a 150mm artillery shell hit, there might not even be any remains.

The political commissar was puzzled. Just a moment ago, this guy was haggling over every detail, ready to walk away at the slightest dissatisfaction. Now, he was so subdued, not even mentioning any conditions, which was very strange.

"Commissar, mention Wang Yi, quickly mention Wang Yi!" Colonel Ma, of course, knew why the fat guy was so subdued and was overjoyed.

He had been worried about the fat guy's outrageous demands, but when the political commissar mentioned Wang Yi, the fat guy couldn't even think of any conditions.

"Hmm?" The political commissar was even more confused. How did this have anything to do with Wang Yi?

He said, puzzled, "Why is Wang Yi going on this dangerous mission? It's because she's a doctor, and it's convenient for her to check the medicines. There are also some special reasons."

"Special reasons?" The fat guy was stunned, thinking, "Is this woman going for Zhang Liguo?"

If that was the case, it couldn't be allowed. He had to find a way to prevent Wang Yi from going, he thought angrily.

"I can't tell you. You'll know when you get to the Songhu battlefield." The political commissar didn't explain, seeing the fat guy's eager expression, he deliberately left it a mystery.

"You won't tell me, huh? Then she can't go. You just want someone familiar with medicines, right? I can go. Whether the medicines are in Japanese, French, German, English, Russian, Vietnamese, Burmese... none of them will be a problem for me."

The fat guy rattled off over a dozen languages, mostly from neighboring countries. During his special operations, he had dealt with criminals from these countries, so he had to master these languages.

"Wow..." The political commissar was stunned, looking the fat guy up and down, surprised and disbelieving.