When the militia assembled the next day, the first thing they did was collect their guns from the team leader's house.
The guns had just been hauled back from the township. Several large green wooden crates stood open, with Type 56 rifles and Type 56 Submachine Guns laid out inside. The smell of gun oil hung in the air. All the guns had been cleaned and serviced before being packed away.
"Li Long, here's yours. You're a squad leader this time, so you get a Type 56 Submachine Gun..."
"I'd rather have a Type 56." Li Long waved a hand. "I'm not used to shooting the submachine gun."
"Squad leaders carry Type 56 Submachine Guns." Xu Chengjun waved a hand. "Take it for training first. This is for practicing tactics. Haijun isn't here, so you're the squad leader for your Settlement's squad. A squad leader needs to look the part. Carry the submachine gun! Put him down for one Type 56 Submachine Gun, one oil bottle, one Gun Cloth, one ammunition belt, and two spare magazines."
Fine. There was nothing Li Long could do. Since he had been appointed squad leader, he ought to follow orders.
The team supposedly had a militia company, but it was actually only the size of a platoon. If they really wanted to put together a company, they could muster enough men. Men in their thirties like Li Jianguo would be called up too.
But having too many men would not work either. Things were different now. Back when everyone was a soldier, both the backbone militia and the ordinary militia had to train. Backbone militiamen had to spend a long time away from their regular work, and ordinary militiamen had to take part in military training too.
Back then, a village could certainly muster