31: Chapter 31 Old Li is rich!

"A welcoming gift?"

Li Yunlong was stunned! Completely stunned!

What kind of welcoming gift is delivered by truck? Three whole large trucks!

Even wealthy landlords wouldn't be this extravagant, right?

"Mr. Shen, no! Absolutely not! I, Old Li, absolutely cannot accept this! This would be violating discipline!"

Li Yunlong waved his hands hurriedly.

He had previously heard Shen Wang say he would send some things, and thought it was just a polite way of speaking, or perhaps sending some small trinkets.

But he would absolutely not accept a gift of three whole large trucks, no matter what!

Shen Wang smiled, then looked at Li Yunlong with a faint, inscrutable smile:

"Commander Li, don't be so absolute. Let's take a look at the goods first."

Li Yunlong's expression dropped instantly: "Mr. Shen! I appreciate your kindness, Old Li is grateful!"

"But I must make this clear: our Eighth Route Army may be poor, but our backbone is still strong!"

"Forget three trucks, even if thirty trucks of gold and silver treasures were placed in front of me, if I, Li Yunlong, were to take even one extra look, I wouldn't be my parents' child!"

"Even if we starve to death, we will never take a single needle or thread from the people!"

Clearly, Li Yunlong was a bit displeased.

He thought Shen Wang was looking down on him!

You, surnamed Shen, want to corrupt me, Li Yunlong, with wealth?

What kind of person do you take me, Old Li, for?

I think you have the style of a wealthy landlord and look down on us poor Eighth Route Army soldiers who came from humble beginnings!

The atmosphere instantly became awkward and tense.

Ding Zhijian and Meng Guanglin opened their mouths, wanting to smooth things over, but didn't know where to start.

On one side was their savior, and on the other was Commander Li, who represented the organization and had extremely strong principles.

Both were at a loss for a moment.

However, Shen Wang still wore that slight, elusive smile on his face, not getting angry in the slightest because of Li Yunlong's refusal.

Instead, he found this Commander Li in front of him, with his neck stiffened and a look of "I am poor but I have backbone" on his face, even more real and endearing.

These are the people he admired; isn't their charm precisely reflected in this seemingly "pedantic," but actually indestructible, principle and integrity?

If it were some Nationalist Army commanders, upon seeing three trucks of "gifts," they would likely have already made a fool of themselves.

However, while Shen Wang could understand, others could not tolerate it.

"You!"

Sha Zhenjiang, standing behind Shen Wang, wouldn't have it!

He was young and hot-blooded, and having traveled this far, he had long regarded Shen Wang as a god.

Seeing Li Yunlong being so "ungrateful" and daring to give his master a cold shoulder, a surge of anger rushed straight to his head.

Little Sha stepped forward, glaring at Li Yunlong, his tone very aggressive:

"Commander Li! What do you mean by this? My master kindly offered you things, and you're putting on airs?"

"Who are you looking down on? Do you think my master is the same as those wealthy landlords you've seen? Let me tell you..."

"Zhenjiang! Shut up!"

Ding Zhijian was startled and quickly shouted to stop him.

Meng Guanglin also hurriedly reached out to pull back Sha Zhenjiang.

Shen Wang waved his hand, signaling Sha Zhenjiang to step back: "Commander Li, don't be angry, the young man doesn't know how to speak properly."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three trucks that had already come to a stop.

"I said, let's look at the goods first. What if... you happen to like them?"

Li Yunlong snorted, his expression still unpleasant.

But he didn't say anything harsh again, just folded his arms, looking like "I want to see what kind of things you can pull out that would make me commit a mistake."

Shen Wang didn't say any more and said to Little Sha: "Little Sha, go, move any box down."

"Yes! Master!"

Sha Zhenjiang glared fiercely at Li Yunlong, ran huffily to the back of the truck, carried down a wooden crate, and placed it on the open ground in front of everyone with a "clatter."

Everyone's gaze was focused on this box.

Shen Wang stepped forward, not using any tools, his fingers hooking and prying at a clever spot on the edge of the box, and with a "crack," the lid opened in response.

When the contents of the box were exposed to the light of day—time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The displeasure and stubbornness on Li Yunlong's face froze instantly, his eyes suddenly widening like copper bells!

Ding Zhijian and Meng Guanglin gasped!

Little Sha also forgot to be angry, his mouth wide open!

All the Cavalry Company soldiers who were secretly watching this side were even more like they had been hit by a freezing spell, all of them stunned in unison!

Inside the box, there were absolutely no gold, silver, jewelry, or silks and satins!

Inside, neatly arranged, were shiny, emitting a cold metallic luster and the faint smell of maintenance oil—guns!

A brand new type of gun they had never seen before!

"This... this..."

Li Yunlong felt his tongue was tied, unable to say a complete sentence for a long time.

He never dreamed that Shen Wang's so-called "welcoming gift" would actually be weapons!

Shen Wang didn't speak, leaned over, and casually picked up a Type 56 assault rifle from the box.

His hands moved like butterflies, with a few crisp "clack" and "click" sounds, almost in the blink of an eye, he had checked and assembled the key components.

Then he picked up a fully loaded magazine from the box and attached it with a "click."

What is firearm proficiency? This is firearm proficiency!

The whole process was smooth and fluid, making Li Yunlong and the surrounding soldiers dazzled and inwardly horrified.

This was no young master of a landlord family!

This was clearly a master of firearms!

Then, Shen Wang raised the gun, aimed at an empty dirt slope not far away, and pulled the trigger!

"Da da da, da da da—!!!"

A burst of rapid and crisp automatic gunfire suddenly exploded!

It was different from the single-shot sound of a rifle, and different from the continuous sweeping of a light machine gun.

Li Yunlong suddenly came to his senses, his voice changing pitch: "Flower... Flower Machine Gun?!?"

This... this was actually a machine gun!

He, Li Yunlong, wasn't inexperienced; he knew this kind of "handheld machine gun" capable of automatic fire, some of which had circulated from Germany back in the day and were known as the "Flower Machine Gun."

But that thing was too precious!

Germany only produced less than 30,000 of them back then, and after being defeated in World War I, they were forced by the Allied powers to destroy most of them, with only a very small portion flowing into China.

This kind of machine gun was a crushing force when used in trench warfare!

Its close-range firepower was comparable to a light machine gun!

However, the flaw was that the range was a bit short, with an effective range of only over 200 meters.

Moreover, the logistical pressure was huge; once a finger touched the trigger, a whole magazine of bullets would be gone.

Coupled with the fact that the matching 9*18mm ammunition was hard to procure, over time, it was slowly phased out.

Li Yunlong never expected that Shen Wang would actually bring out such a treasure!

He looked at the machine gun in Shen Wang's hand, then looked at the three trucks nearby, and couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

This... could it be that these three trucks... are all machine guns?

No way, right?

Shen Wang looked at Li Yunlong's shocked and bewildered expression and couldn't help but laugh.

He handed the Type 56 assault rifle in his hand directly to Li Yunlong: "Commander Li, want to try?"

Li Yunlong looked at the gun handed to him, and a flash of embarrassment instantly crossed his face.

He had been holding onto principles and giving cold shoulders just before, and yet what the other person sent wasn't at all what he had thought!

This face-slapping was loud and clear!

But who was Li Yunlong? He was like a dog's face, changing at a moment's notice!

Realizing he had wronged Shen Wang, he quickly apologized and admitted his mistake.

"Oh my! Mr. Shen! Look at this mess! It's all my, Old Li's, fault!"

"I, Old Li, have shallow vision and misunderstood your kind intentions! I deserve a beating, I deserve a beating!"

"Please don't take it to heart! I apologize to you!"

As he spoke, he impatiently took the Type 56 assault rifle.

"Da da da, da da da—!!!"

Hmm?

As soon as Li Yunlong fired, he realized something was wrong!

This gun... was too powerful!

It didn't feel soft and weak like the "Flower Machine Gun" at all.

He hurriedly asked: "Mr. Shen, this gun... what is its effective range?"

Shen Wang replied calmly: "Effective range, 400 meters."

"How... how much?"

Li Yunlong's hand shook, almost dropping the gun on the ground, his eyes nearly popping out.

"Four hundred meters?!?"

Four hundred meters!

This was already on par with the effective range of the Japanese standard type 38 arisaka rifle!

You have to know, in current infantry engagements, positions are usually only four or five hundred meters apart; any further and you can't even see a human figure!

Doesn't that mean this "machine gun" capable of automatic fire could completely be used as a regular rifle in terms of range and power?

This... this is simply subversive!

"Good! Very, very good!"

Old Li held the Type 56 assault rifle, unable to get enough of looking at it!

"This gun is simply too good! It just eats up a bit of ammunition! But firing it at the Japanese, it's not a waste at all!"

Seeing Li Yunlong's expression, which was shocked to the point of numbness, Shen Wang added slowly:

"Oh, right, this gun can also fire in single shots, saving ammunition."

"What?"

Li Yunlong didn't quite understand what Shen Wang meant.

Shen Wang gestured for Li Yunlong to flip the fire selector on the side of the gun body.

"Commander Li, try firing two more shots."

Li Yunlong did as instructed, then aimed again and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Li Yunlong: "..."

He was completely speechless.

It can even fire single shots?

Honestly, this gun had somewhat shattered Li Yunlong's perception.

It can fire automatically, it can fire single shots, no need to cycle the bolt, a magazine capacity of 30 rounds, and an effective range of up to 400 meters...

This thing had completely, thoroughly, and comprehensively crushed the Japanese type 38 arisaka rifle!

At this moment, Shen Wang spoke up:

"Since Commander Li insists on principles and refuses to accept it, then forget it..."

As he said this, he prepared to take the Type 56 assault rifle back from Li Yunlong's hands.

Li Yunlong, however, held onto it tightly, tighter than he would hold his own wife.

"Who said I didn't want it? I want it, I want it, I want it..."

Check it out?

Shen Wang smiled and shook his head; this Li Yunlong!

Li Yunlong also knew that Shen Wang was teasing him, and not only did he not feel a shred of shame, but instead asked with a thick face:

"Mr. Shen, these three large trucks... they wouldn't all be machine guns, would they?"

"That's not it!" Shen Wang said casually.

"Oh..."

Old Li was inevitably a bit disappointed, but also breathed a sigh of relief.

The entire Eighth Route Army might not even have three trucks' worth of machine guns; if the other party had brought out that many machine guns, that would truly be earth-shattering!

Immediately after, Shen Wang continued:

"Only this one truck is... machine guns, another truck is light machine guns and 40mm rocket launchers, and there's another truck of ammunition..."

"A small welcoming gift, it's not much of a token of respect."

Li Yunlong: ...

Sun Desheng: ...

Cavalry Company soldiers: ...