Ding Deyi was in a good mood. The independent regiment was completely back on track and Dabei Village began to be full of vitality. It was a spring full of hope.
So on this spring afternoon, he convened a meeting at the regiment headquarters in Dabei Village to detail the next development work of the independent regiment.
It was still the main room of the regiment headquarters, and still this square table. At the top were the political commissar and regiment commander Ding Deyi, and the political worker Su Qing who was responsible for taking minutes of the meeting. On the left were the first company commander Wu Yan and the second company commander Gao Yidao. On the right were the third company commander Hao Ping and the third company instructor Yang Dezhi. At the bottom were Li Suanpan from the supply department and Bao Si from the medical team. Uncle Niu still moved a bench and sat by the door, smoking his pipe slowly. Bursts of smoke drifted out of the door from time to time. The cigarette he smoked was very spicy, and he was afraid of choking the people in the room.
Hu Yi was not notified of this meeting, not because of his low position, but because he was in solitary confinement. In addition, the content of the meeting was not complicated, so Ding Deyi did not call him.
When it comes to holding meetings, that is Yang Dezhi's strong point. He can speak eloquently and fluently. He will fully express his opinions on ideological work, training work, mass work, construction work, no matter big or small. He is truly a know-it-all, a multi-talented person, and a man of both civil and military talents. Eight out of ten sentences are said by him.
Ding Deyi was actually happy to see this. On the one hand, he felt that the meeting was quite lively. On the other hand, some of the things Yang Dezhi said made sense. Being an observer was more relaxed, so why not
"… While raising the soldiers' ideological awareness, it is also important to raise their morale. I think that while ensuring training, we can appropriately organize some cultural and entertainment activities and use competitions to stimulate the soldiers' enthusiasm and fighting spirit, for example…"
Gao Yidao had always looked down on the man with glasses, not to mention that he was from the third company. Listening to Yang Dezhi's chattering made Gao Yidao feel a headache. He was too lazy to even look at him. He kept turning his head to watch Uncle Niu smoking at the door. The smoke was blue and ethereal, like a dream.
But when he heard the word "competition", he finally turned around and looked at Political Commissar Ding Deyi, interrupting Yang Dezhi and saying to Ding Deyi: "Ahem, Political Commissar, there is something I have been thinking about for a long time. I think... we should organize some competitions to boost the morale of the soldiers. According to the current situation, I think we should start with a bayonet competition for the whole regiment. What do you think?"
Yang Dezhi, who was interrupted, stood across the table, pushing his glasses on his nose in a daze, cursing Gao Yidao in his heart for being shameless. This is clearly my idea, and I am talking about it here, but you said it was your idea, Gao Yidao, in one sentence. You big, black and thick guy, do you know how to write the word "competition"? You still have the nerve to say that you have been thinking about it for a long time? If you have been thinking about it for a long time, why didn't you say it earlier
Hao Ping, who was sitting next to Yang Dezhi, cursed Gao Yidao in his heart for being shameless. He frowned and said to Gao Yidao without waiting for the political commissar to express his opinion: "What are you talking about? Bayonet competition? Gao Yidao, do you want the whole regiment to play with you alone? How dare you say that?"
Li Suanpan and Bao Si, who were sitting at the bottom, looked at each other, covered their mouths and lowered their heads deliberately. Even Wu Yan, who was always serious, couldn't help but twitch his mouth a few times.
Gao Yidao turned his head and looked at Hao Ping slowly: "I am doing this for the sake of the whole regiment. Doing this will not only increase the enthusiasm of the soldiers, but also improve their personal skills. Isn't this a good thing to kill two birds with one stone? Besides, we don't just have to compete in the individual competition, why don't we add a team competition as well?"
"Don't talk about this. All the bayonets of the whole regiment are in your Second Company. Our Third Company only has three bayonets in total. How can we compare with you?" After saying this, Hao Ping asked the First Company Commander Wu Yan: "Wu Yan, tell me, how many bayonets does your company have? Are you willing to compare with him?"
Wu Yan smiled slightly and said nothing.
"The competition doesn't involve real bayonets, so what does this have to do with it? Besides, aren't all the bayonets in our Second Company..."
Ding Deyi saw that Gao Yidao and Hao Ping were digressing, so he knocked on the table and interrupted Gao Yidao, saying, "Alright, alright, the idea of holding a competition is good, but now is not the time to study the details. Let's talk about..."
As they were talking, a sweaty messenger hurried across the yard and ran to the door: "Report, urgent matter."
The meeting was suspended. There were two documents, one from the division headquarters. The general content was: The Japanese army may withdraw troops to the main battlefield in the near future. All departments are advised to pay close attention. The enemy may take certain actions before withdrawing troops and leaving. It is recommended to prepare for the worst.
Another piece of news came from intelligence personnel in Meixian County. The gist of the news was: Summarized intelligence and signs show that the Japanese troops in Meixian City will withdraw some of their forces and transport them eastward in the near future. The Japanese troops in the city have been closed in their camp for three consecutive days and have not gone out.
After reading the two pieces of news, Ding Deyi's face darkened. The Japanese were going to withdraw their troops and leave, so the Japanese troops in Meixian would naturally be reduced, which was a good thing, but before that, they would definitely use their advantage in strength to do something and lay a solid foundation for long-term peace and stability in the area.
The topic of the meeting was immediately changed from an administrative meeting to a military meeting. Ding Deyi circulated two messages to the participants, and expressed his concerns that the enemy might attack again at any time. The atmosphere in the meeting also changed immediately, and it became depressing and no one spoke for a while.
Although Ding Deyi had also experienced battles, he was a political worker after all. When it came to military issues, he was always unconfident, unlike the regiment commander Lao Lu, who had the courage to issue subjective orders even if they were wrong. Now that he was also the regiment commander, he didn't know how to start this meeting properly, because he only knew that there would be a crisis, but there was no context to follow, so what could he do
"What do you think? Who wants to share their ideas first?" Ding Deyi turned his gaze to the three company commanders. They were the chief military officers and they had to be the lead actors in the military meeting.
But the three company commanders were silent. They had no way to say anything. The Eighth Route Army was limited in scale and basically relied on movement and harassment. They had a set of tactics, but the problem now was that they couldn't formulate tactics because everything was still unclear, so they really didn't know where to start.
Yang Dezhi had always wanted to give people the impression that he was both a man of letters and a man of martial arts, but he had no chance to show his talents. Now, seeing that the three company commanders had not responded, he realized that the opportunity had come.
"Well... Political Commissar, I'm an instructor. Military matters are not within my scope, but I would like to share my thoughts. Just for reference."
Ding De nodded slightly. It was a good thing that someone spoke up. What was scary was that no one spoke.
"I don't think it's that serious. First of all, the enemy just finished their last raid, and they may not come again before withdrawing their troops. It's very hasty to do this. Secondly, if the enemy really takes action, as long as we conduct strict reconnaissance and keep track of their movements at all times, it won't be a problem to avoid them. After all, there are mountains everywhere, and our Dabei Village is remote. So I think our top priority now is to monitor and strengthen intelligence, so as to respond to changes.
Although Yang Dezhi's words seemed to have no nutritional value, they made sense and calmed people's hearts. They also proposed the first step, which was better than being speechless. Ding Deyi breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Yang Dezhi approvingly.
Most people in the room thought the same as the political commissar, and their expressions relaxed. Only Gao Yidao did not forget to criticize Yang Dezhi: "It's easy to just carry the gun and run away, but what if the Japanese come to Dabei Village? That's the problem."
"The mountains are high and the roads are long. How could it be such a coincidence? Unless they knew about it in advance."
"What if they come?"
Yang Dezhi pushed his glasses. He could tell that Gao Yidao was deliberately trying to argue, but he continued to answer the question: "If that's the case, I think we can look for opportunities on the way here and try to ambush and dampen the enemy's spirit. At the same time, we can also attract the enemy away from the established route, just like last time, didn't we lead them away?"
Some people at the meeting agreed with this statement, while others remained silent.
"Tsk!" Gao Yidao curled his lips and said, "Ambush? Is it as easy as you say?"
"Attack those who are a little further ahead, attack those who are coordinating and pulling away, and attack the baggage that lags behind. What can't be achieved? When your Second Company was robbing food, didn't you also wipe out a squad of Japanese soldiers? That didn't count the puppet army."
Hearing Yang Dezhi's words, Gao Yidao immediately saw through this empty promise: "I was able to rob the grain because I had a clear grasp of the enemy's details, even counting how many guns they had. I started to arrange the battlefield a day in advance. It was beyond the enemy's expectations, and I was close enough to use grenades to defeat them. In addition, at that time, almost half of that squad of enemy soldiers had been knocked down by the Ninth Squad. Do you think we could just start fighting?"
Yang Dezhi was so angry that Gao Yidao said, "You are just arguing with me. If I say we want to ambush you, we must prepare in advance."
Hao Ping also interjected: "Gao Yidao, can you please stop making trouble? I think what Coach Yang said makes sense, and it is the best solution at the moment. If you can't come up with a trick, you can't mess with others, right?"
Li Suanpan and Bao Si supported Hao Ping's words with their eyes. What Hao Ping said was what they thought. Even Su Qing, who was taking notes, raised his head and frowned slightly at Gao Yidao. Wu Yan still said nothing and his expression did not change. Regarding the ambush, he agreed with Gao Yidao in his heart, but Yang Dezhi did nothing wrong in other aspects, so he was neutral like Uncle Niu.
Ding Deyi thought that what Yang Dezhi said was all he could do now, but Gao Yidao's words reminded Ding Deyi of someone, and he opened his mouth and gave an order to the courtyard: "Go and get Hu Yi as well."
Hu Yi quietly entered the regiment headquarters, exchanged glances with Uncle Niu at the door, and prepared to sit down next to him. Before his buttocks landed on the bench, he heard Political Commissar Ding Deyi say to him: "Hey Hu Yi, don't be in a hurry to hide. Tell me first, what do you think about this matter?"
Hu Yi had no choice but to stand up and answer with a question mark on his face: "I...what's the matter?"
"Hey, Gao Yidao has confused his brain." Ding Deyi then remembered that Hu Yi had just come in and knew nothing, so he briefly told Hu Yi about the matter and asked Hu Yi for his opinion.
Everyone in the room didn't understand why the political commissar insisted on asking Hu Yi to express his opinion alone. They looked at the political commissar and then at Hu Yi in confusion.
Ding Deyi's idea is based on Hu Yi's outsider background and his experience in large-scale battles with the Japanese army, which is something that people from the Eighth Route Army cannot compare to. I really want to know what he thinks.
After listening to the political commissar's explanation of the whole story, Hu Yi's opinion was indeed different from that of everyone else in the audience. What he saw was not the problem of the Japs, but the problem of the independent regiment itself: there was no staff.
"What do you think? Do you have any ideas?" Seeing that Hu Yi was thinking and didn't say anything, Ding Deyi asked.
"I... can't think of an idea."
After hearing Hu Yi's answer, some people smiled deliberately and turned away from looking at the squad leader.
"But I think the enemy will take action again." Hu Yi suddenly said the second sentence after a while.
"Oh? Why do you think so?"
"If I were them, that's what I would do."
Ding Deyi looked at Hu Yi quietly and nodded. This was a change of perspective. Suddenly, he continued to ask with curiosity: "Then... How big do you think the scale of the enemy will be this time?"
"The troops that are about to be transferred will probably stay in the city and wait until the operation is over before heading out. If we don't know the scale of the transfer, we can't make a detailed judgment, but the scale will definitely be smaller than the last time, and more puppet troops will be used."
Ding Deyi blinked and said anxiously, "Can you please stop pushing me to speak? Tell me everything you can think of."
"With a smaller scale, the purpose will become stronger. If I were the enemy commander, I would choose a route and area that was missed in the last sweep. Go north of Mei County, go west to Luoye Village, go through Qingshan Village and Dabei Village, until the turning point of Xinghua Village, then turn southeast and go down along the south bank of Hunshui River...
Everyone in the audience gasped and stared at Hu Yi, who had a dull expression, unable to speak. He did not give any ideas, but he gave a very likely plan for the Japanese army to attack, and the catastrophe of Dabei Village seemed to have come into view.
People's habitual thinking is subjective. Hu Yi is not smarter than anyone else. It's just that the Eighth Route Army is used to fighting small-scale battles. They only need to pay attention to the speed and distance of the enemy's reinforcements, and don't consider anything else. So when a situation like today suddenly occurs, they don't know where to start. Before Hu Yi joined the Eighth Route Army, he had been fighting on countless positions. All day long, he could only desperately calculate the enemy's firepower, understand the enemy's offensive intentions, judge the enemy's copying route, the thickness of the troops, the interval between echelons, etc., and calculate endlessly, block endlessly, and then retreat endlessly; if he can't judge anything, he may not even have the opportunity to retreat.
Ding Deyi took a deep breath and waved to Hu Yi, who had finished speaking, asking him to sit down. Then he sat up straight and said solemnly, "Let's start now.
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