After the battle summary meeting that day, Li Yunlong, holding Xiao Yun's approval slip, happily pulled three 60mm mortars and two Type 92 infantry guns from the warehouse and returned to the New First Regiment headquarters, directly stunning the New First Regiment soldiers.
"Regimental Commander, am I seeing things? Are these cannons?"
Zhang Da Miao, who had returned to the headquarters earlier and didn't know about the meeting that night, shamelessly squeezed in, touching this and looking at that.
"Of course, three small cannons and two Type 92s. From now on, they belong to our New First Regiment. We're going to form an artillery reinforcement company!"
Li Yunlong was like he had eaten honeyed dung, his mouth splitting to his ears.
He hadn't changed much from the moment he got the cannons to his arrival at the headquarters.
He had been so poor in the past that even a single grenade launcher was treated like a treasure.
Back then, when Xiao Yun had robbed him of two small cannons and one Type 92 infantry gun, he was heartbroken.
Hey, unexpectedly, not long after, just the time it took to fight the Shuozhou campaign.
Two small cannons made a round trip to the division headquarters and returned, even bringing a "baby" back with them.
The Type 92 infantry gun he sent over also brought back a "wife."
Great!
Not only that, but the New First Regiment's organization would also be aligned with the two regular numbered regiments, the 811th and 812th.
Fully equipped with over 2,600 personnel, with Type 11 light machine guns down to the platoon level and heavy machine guns down to the company level.
This is the rhythm of reaching for the sky!
"Artillery reinforcement company!"
The soldiers were stunned, such a grand term, it seemed completely out of reach for them, the New First Regiment.
A young soldier, emboldened, asked, "Regimental Commander, is this for real? You're not pulling our legs, are you?"
Li Yunlong glared with his bull eyes, "When has your old Li ever told a lie?
I'll tell you this, these cannons were obtained by your old Li by reasoning with the division commander and using every trick in the book!"
These words instantly garnered admiring glances from many soldiers - the Regimental Commander could get things from the division commander, he's truly amazing!
Seeing this, Li Yunlong proudly announced the division's decision to reorganize and expand the New First Regiment, further fueling a strong sense of pride in the hearts of the soldiers.
Only Zhang Da Miao, who had been with Li Yunlong to the division headquarters several times and had seen Li Yunlong's obsequious manner when taking calls from the division commander, secretly scoffed, thinking that the Regimental Commander was bragging again.
With the Regimental Commander's demeanor, he acts like a mouse seeing a cat in front of the division commander, even standing as straight as a lance when making phone calls, completely lacking his usual bandit-like air.
How dare he reason and negotiate with the division commander? Is he bored with the division commander's whip?
This must be the division commander's own decision. The division commander really treats their New First Regiment well.
They had robbed them of several cannons before, not only did they return them, but they also gave them more.
Not only that, but their organization is also aligned with the two other numbered main regiments.
After the reorganization is complete, they may not be the strongest regiment within the 399th Division.
But when compared to other brother troops, who would dare call them a miscellaneous regiment?
You guys with regular numbers, how many machine guns and grenade launchers does a platoon have?
How many heavy machine guns does a company have?
Have you ever seen cannons?
Our New First Regiment has all of these!
Who is the main force, who is the miscellaneous?
It's obvious!
"Zhang Da Biao, you little rascal, what are you laughing about?"
Li Yunlong, sharp-eyed despite his bragging, noticed Zhang Da Biao holding back laughter. Knowing that Zhang Da Biao had seen through his bravado, Li Yunlong was enraged.
"Nothing, Regimental Commander, I just remembered I have something to do in the first battalion. I'm going now, see you later, Regimental Commander!"
To avoid Li Yunlong's flying kick, Zhang Da Miao immediately greased his soles and ran away.
.............................
Similar scenes of joy and excitement were happening in the 811th Regiment, 812th Regiment, and the Independent Regiment.
After the soldiers learned that their regiments had cannons too, they were as happy as if it were New Year's Day.
As the four regimental commanders returned to their headquarters with cannons, the weapons and equipment needed for the expansion gradually arrived at each regiment.
The 399th Division's recruitment work officially started, and they were busy with it.
The 399th Division, having won two major battles in a row, had a far stronger foundation among the people in the base area than when they had just arrived in Jinbei.
The people trusted the 399th Division and were confident in sending their children to the recruitment office.
This formed a stark contrast to the national government's recruitment which required going to the countryside to grab strong men.
And not only the people in the base area, but also many people in Shuozhou City and its subordinate counties and towns, after the soldiers went there to deal with the traitors and thugs, their enthusiasm for joining the army was also extremely high.
In just a few days, the 399th Division had already filled the manpower gap needed for the planned expansion, even after raising the recruitment requirements.
The recruitment requirements of the 399th Division were that only children were not allowed, those with wives and children were not allowed, those over 40 years old were not allowed, those under 18 years old were not allowed, and strong and healthy individuals were prioritized.
But even so, it still couldn't stop the enthusiasm of the villagers to join the army!
After recruiting enough soldiers, the 399th Division's recruitment drive ended, and they embarked on intensive new recruit training.