ebookland Chapter 1248 Delivery of Weapons
Chapter 1248 Delivery of Weapons
To be honest, it wasn't just Director Liao who felt something was off. Director Hu and his dozens of staff members had come to check the equipment today, but when they saw the first item, they were immediately dumbfounded.
You mentioned capturing a batch of Type 38 rifles on the battlefield; that's quite normal. After all, the 72nd Group Army fought many battles, and they had many Type 38 rifles in their possession. However, those were all used for a long time, and they all showed signs of wear and tear.
But the Type 38 rifles in front of them were all brand new; you could tell just by pulling the bolt. These men had worked in the equipment department for half their lives; if they couldn't even tell the difference between these things, they'd probably feel guilty about taking their salaries all these years.
"The rifles are one thing; they were most likely stolen during railway transport. But what about these cannons and shells? They're all Japanese cannons. The Japanese guarded these things very carefully and sent a large number of troops to transport them. In the Japanese army, a 105mm cannon is an absolute heavy artillery piece, and they even brought 45 of these things."
Director Hu didn't have time to look at the rifles; he was too busy looking at the artillery over there. All the artillery pieces were Japanese-made, and each artillery piece had a considerable number of spare shells, more than 400 rounds.
When the artillery arrived, they initially thought that without enough Japanese shells, the artillery wouldn't be very effective on the battlefield. However, after seeing the mountain of shells, he swallowed his words, wondering where they came from.
"Sirs, you've been here for half an hour. Shouldn't we start the handover? Otherwise, it'll get dark soon, and the brothers want to get back into the city. After the handover, we won't have anything to do anymore, and the military police can come and take over."
Just as the two men were frowning, a company commander from the 72nd Group Army approached. His men had been waiting there all day, and they had finally managed to get the people who were supposed to be received. But these people had been dawdling for half an hour, showing no intention of going through the formalities.
"Young man, where did you get all this Japanese equipment? I'm just asking out of curiosity, but look, there's still gun oil on it. That means the gun hasn't been fired once. It looks like it was brought directly from a Japanese arsenal."
Director Liao chuckled and pulled out a cigarette, expecting the other person to accept it. However, the other person pointed to the ammunition box beside them and said, "Do you think we're going to ride in a makeshift plane? Smoking in a place like this, I really don't know what you equipment department people are thinking." Director Liao awkwardly put the cigarette away, realizing he had indeed been a bit unprofessional.
"Directors, you can't ask me about this. It's clearly written in our agreement that today we are to hand over 1400 Type 38 rifles, 150 artillery pieces of various types, and 400 machine guns of various types, including more than 20 million rounds of ammunition. You should hurry up and count them, we'll hand them over one by one, let's not waste time. I don't know where these things came from, my orders are to carry out the handover with you."
The young man spoke very fluently, leaving the two directors quite frustrated. It seemed that the people of the 72nd Group Army were all sharp-tongued, and their secrecy was extremely strong. It appeared that their hopes of getting any information from these people were dashed.
Left with no other option, he could only order his men to begin the inventory check. None of the equipment, not even in its crates, had been touched, so checking was naturally very quick. Besides, the 72nd Group Army had a formidable reputation; would they really try to take advantage of you over such a small amount of equipment?
The price they offered wasn't exorbitant; even before the war, it was the fairest price on the market. Now, weapons and equipment prices have doubled or tripled, but they didn't say anything else and still traded at the previous price. Such a person is unique within the Party and the State; these two directors had certainly never seen equipment so cheap.
Some people called the two men before the transaction, reminding them to pay attention to the quality of the equipment. If it was all old, worn-out stuff, they could refuse to accept it. This time we paid real money; it wasn't like before when we got things for free.
When we take something for free, we can't say anything, since we didn't pay them anything. But if we're going to be picky about equipment we've taken for free, then we're definitely in the wrong.
But now we've spent real money. If the 72nd Army tries to fool us with a bunch of broken equipment, then this matter must be investigated thoroughly. There are still many people within the Nationalist government who want to sabotage this deal. In their view, as long as the deal is sabotaged, the donations will remain in the Nationalist government's accounts, and they will have ways to skim off a piece of the pie.
But the equipment Li Shaoyi provided was all brand new. Anyone with a modicum of common sense should know its value. The receiving personnel completed the task quickly. Previously, receiving this much equipment would have taken two or three days. But all the equipment on site was unopened; one person could easily count the equipment of an entire regiment in no time.
That very night, all sorts of rumors began to circulate throughout the mountain town. Some said Li Shaoyi had robbed a Japanese arms factory, others said he might have some other connection with the Japanese; there were all sorts of rumors, otherwise, how could he have so much Japanese equipment?
Li Shaoyi didn't know how to respond to the rumors circulating outside. Anyway, these things were all legitimately stolen from the Japanese; let them say what they want. As for the claim that he was colluding with the Japanese, that was fine as long as some people believed it.
Just as Li Shaoyi had expected, after officials spread the news, the common people treated it like a huge joke. Even if you wanted to slander Commander Li, shouldn't you have chosen another angle? Slandering Commander Li from this angle is just asking for trouble.
How many Japanese soldiers have died at their hands? You're saying they colluded with the Japanese? Besides, what level of concussion would a Japanese soldier have to have to collude with Commander Li?