A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 296: Master Mai and Public Assistance

Liaison officer Arthur McLuhan was a middle-aged American with a beard and a slightly balding head. He had accompanied the Expeditionary Force in the first invasion of Burma and had personally experienced the cruelty of war. He had also seen those ragged, thin Chinese soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect him.

Because of this, McLuhan hated this war, hated those senior generals who only treated the lower-level soldiers as numbers that could be sacrificed at any time, and hated those American military colleagues who only knew how to bomb with artillery and bomb with airplanes.

Compared with his colleagues, McLuhan undoubtedly seemed a little different and out of place.

In the original play, after McLuhan saw the cannon fodder soldiers and the guns in their hands, he immediately wanted to take Alger Collins away. It was not only because he hated the attitude of the cannon fodder soldiers towards weapons, but also because he wishfully believed that as long as those cannon fodders continued to lack training and continued to rot in the mud, they would not be sent to the battlefield to die.

In the end, it was Long Wenjian's love for the soldiers and his desire for victory that moved this American and made him willingly stay in the cannon fodder regiment. He even followed the cannon fodder regiment to Nantianmen. However, he was eventually captured alive by the Japanese and brutally tortured. In the end, he begged his own people to kill him with artillery fire.

Alger Collins is an optimistic and cheerful American mechanic who loves life very much. He carries coffee pots, moisture-proof mats, radios and other daily necessities with him wherever he goes. He never thought about fighting, but just wanted to survive this war and live well.

But he became friends with the members of the cannon fodder regiment, treated them as brothers, and finally, he and the members of the cannon fodder regiment held out on the Nantianmen until the end.

Not to mention what the United States will be like in the future, at least in this era, among those Americans who aided China, there were people who truly dedicated their blood and lives to this land and its people.

There may only be interests between countries, but there are also simple emotions between people.

"Colonel Lu, liaison officer Arthur McLuhan, and mechanic Alger Collins report to you."

"Welcome to the 39nd Brigade of the 42th Division and to my barracks."

"Commander Lu, we want to go to the frontline troops first, is that ok?"

"Of course, come on, I'll take you there."

As a liaison officer, McLuhan also brought Lu Cheng a whole set of new communication equipment, which could be used to contact the US military headquarters and call for air support when necessary.

As for whether he can ask for air support from the Allied Command, it depends on whether Lu Cheng has enough face.

Compared to the stern McLuhan, Alger Collins was quite active and asked some questions curiously on the way: "Captain Lu, I have read about you in the newspaper. I heard that you led a few people to kill 10 times the enemy and rescued the international friends of the Allied Forces. Is this true? I heard that you also served as the deputy chief instructor at the Ramgarh training camp. Is this true?"

Lu Cheng just smiled and threw a medal casually.

Alger Collins took the medal, checked it, and was immediately surprised: "This is our American Medal of Merit. Commander Lu, what did you do? How could you receive the Medal of Merit newly designed by Congress? God, this is incredible."

McLuhan on the side couldn't help but look at the Medal of Merit with curiosity. This medal had only appeared for half a year, and it was indeed not easy for Lu Cheng, a Chinese, to get it.

"What I did is a military secret. However, the Allied Command does not award medals randomly."

Soon, two jeeps arrived at the river defense position, and McLuhan and Alger Collins saw a group of Chinese troops with neat military appearance, high spirits and vigor.

This kind of mental outlook was something they had never seen in other Chinese troops.

When the Chinese soldiers on the battlefield saw their brigade commander and two foreigners coming over, they immediately stood up and saluted, looking at their brigade commander with admiration: "Hello, brigade commander!"

"Okay, don't be nervous. We have two new comrades here for you. Even though they are foreign friends and look different from us, they are here to help us fight the Japanese with all their heart. You must treat them well."

"Yes, Captain."

After a brief greeting, McLuhan made a request: "Sir, can I see the weapons in the soldiers' hands?"

"Of course, you can pick whatever you want."

McLuhan nodded to the mechanic beside him. The mechanic randomly pointed to a few people and pointed to a table next to him: "Let's go."

When several soldiers heard this, they immediately looked at Lu Cheng and said, "Commander, is this foreigner calling us 'scabby dogs'?"

Before Lu Cheng could speak, A Yi at the side quickly stood up and said, "Don't talk nonsense. They are speaking English. Let's go means follow me."

Ayi and some other trainees who had been to the Ramgarh training camp had more or less learned some simple English, so they could naturally understand this sentence.

The soldier suddenly realized: "So that's what he meant. I thought he was scolding us. Sir, aren't they Americans? Why are they speaking English instead of American English?"

"This is a long story. I'll explain it to you later. Don't ask any more questions. Put your guns up so I can see them."

After the soldiers put the guns on the table, Alger Collins picked up a Springfield rifle, looked at it, and quickly disassembled the entire gun into parts. Finally, he put on white gloves and checked the internal maintenance of the gun.

After checking the first rifle, he immediately checked the second Thompson submachine gun, and the third Bren light machine gun, and then nodded with satisfaction: "Your guns are all well maintained."

McLuhan looked at the guns on the table and checked them with white gloves before saying, "Sir, your soldiers have taken good care of their guns."

"Of course, guns and artillery are the most trusted partners of the soldiers, and of course they must be treated well. Our brigade has set up a special gun maintenance department, but we lack professional talents like you. I hope you can give full play to your professional advantages and provide more technical guidance and repair services to the soldiers."

"Of course that's no problem."

As early as when Lu Cheng just arrived in Zenda and formed a team at the defeated soldiers' shelter, he paid great attention to cultivating the soldiers' skills in maintaining weapons.

Later, it became a habit, and the old soldiers taught the new soldiers, and the skills were passed down. All new soldiers had to learn how to disassemble and maintain their training guns before they were officially assigned their own guns.

In the daily training and assessment of soldiers, mandatory maintenance is also an indispensable part.

After all, no matter how good a gun is, if it is not maintained regularly, various problems will arise over time, increasing the chances of jamming and accidental discharge.

A jam or accidental discharge on the battlefield may cost a life.

"Commander Lu, judging by the guns in the soldiers' hands, you are a very good commander."

"Thank you for the compliment."

The professional skills of the two Americans are certainly not limited to gun maintenance, but also include mechanical repair, radio operation and maintenance. They are two very good talents.

After the two entered the barracks, McLuhan was called "Master McLuhan" by the soldiers because he always had a stern face and was very professional. Alger Collins was named "National Assistance" by the soldiers because he was wearing a piece of cloth with "Foreigners stationed in China, National Assistance" written on it. Collins liked the name very much and soon became friends with the soldiers.

After settling the two of them, Lu Cheng returned to his work.

Today, the entire 42nd Brigade has been basically reorganized, with a total strength of nearly 7000. It is fully equipped and well-armed, and its combat effectiveness is far superior to many division-level combat units.

But overall training and running-in will still take some time.

Fortunately, there are some trained professional officers who are responsible for the overall daily training, so Lu Cheng doesn't have to worry too much.

The real problem is logistics supply.

For the daily training of six or seven thousand soldiers, even if each soldier only consumes 5 bullets in one shooting training, it will add up to tens of thousands of bullets, which is definitely not a small number.

What's more, feeding six or seven thousand mouths is not an easy task.

The food and supplies allocated by the higher authorities were only enough for the soldiers to have one dry meal and two liquid meals a day. This was not a problem for survival, but in order to maintain a certain intensity of training, the soldiers had to fill their stomachs and even supplement their nutrition...