According to the report after the Ninth Platoon returned, the Japanese blockade of the mountainous area is about to be completed, and construction has already begun at the two mountain passes, Lushuipu and Luoye Village. It seems that there will be no major moves in the short term.
Regiment Commander Lu and Political Commissar Ding spent the whole morning in the regiment headquarters discussing the next situation. It seemed that the independent regiment would usher in a period of calm. This was a good thing. We must seize this period to expand the independent regiment as soon as possible. The independent regiment had been suffering from constant disasters and was exhausted. It was called a regiment, but in fact it was only the size of a battalion, with a total of three companies of main forces. Every time I went back to the division for a meeting, I was too embarrassed to raise my head.
Commander Lu walked back and forth in the regiment headquarters with his hands behind his back, muttering to himself, "We must seize this opportunity, we must seize it. Old Ding, you don't know, when I was in the hospital, the guys in the same hospital actually called me Captain Lu, and they were all showing off. One said they had a mortar, and the other said they had a machine gun company. Damn, when it came to my turn, we didn't even have a heavy machine gun. What kind of life did we live? Huh?"
Ding Deyi, who was sitting behind the table, burst out laughing and put down the book in his hand: "Don't drag me into this. I don't want to live with you. Besides, they are showing off, it seems that they are not targeting you, right? Why did I hear... In your hospital, there was a nurse named Xishi, right?"
Captain Lu stopped walking abruptly and looked at the grinning Ding Deyi in confusion: "She... who told you that? That's not the case at all!"
Ding Deyi smiled and waved his hand: "It doesn't matter who told me that. Old Lu, if you ask me, marrying a wife is different from fighting a war. Even if you have mortars and machine guns, you may not win. The key is you."
Captain Lu quickly glanced into the courtyard and saw no one. He whispered, "You are a political commissar, but who do you think I am? I don't care if they have any plans. I am upright!"
"Come on, don't forget that I'm an experienced person. There's nothing wrong with wanting to marry a wife and being upright, right? It's not like you don't meet the requirements, so what's there to hide?"
Ding Deyi's wife died of illness during the Long March, but Captain Lu is still single. When he went to the division for a meeting, Ding Deyi heard that there was a beautiful nurse in the courtyard where Captain Lu lived, known as Nurse Xishi, which caused several people living in the same courtyard to be jealous and compare with each other all day long. Now Captain Lu's behavior made Ding Deyi hear the sourness in his words, so he understood everything.
Captain Lu was stunned by what Ding Deyi said and said nothing.
At this time, a man walked across the yard and entered the door of the regiment headquarters, with his sleeves fluttering. It was Li Suanpan from the supply department.
"Captain, Political Commissar."
"Why are you here? What's going on?"
"I heard that the blockade in the direction of Qingshan Village is about to be completed, and I want to share my thoughts."
Ding Deyi gestured to the bench beside the table, and Captain Lu said directly: "Go ahead."
Li Suanpan sat down and said, "You two are hands-off shopkeepers. You don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you run the household. Once the road to the county is cut off, the transportation organization in the county will be ruined. Our independent regiment will be in trouble."
The regiment commander and the political commissar had been thinking about how to take advantage of this rare break to expand and develop the independent regiment. They had not had time to think about other issues. Now, hearing what Li Suanpan said, Ding Deyi's expression became serious, and regiment commander Lu also sat down at the table and pricked up his ears.
Li Suanpan counted on his fingers and continued, "Matches, kerosene, salt, cloth, soap, medicine, tools, equipment... etc., etc., where will they come from in the future?"
The two listeners were speechless. They had never thought about this issue in detail. They always felt that as long as there was food, there would be a guarantee and the world would be fine as long as people did not starve to death. One was a regiment commander who captured guns, and the other was a political commissar who stabilized people's thoughts. Only now did they finally begin to have a vague concept of economics. The more they listened, the more surprised they were, and the more headache they had, the more they thought about it.
It turned out that the Japanese established blockades, built artillery towers, created no-man's land, and vigorously cracked down on their subordinate organizations in the city. These were all related to each other and it was an overall plan.
Ding Deyi couldn't help looking down at the pen in his jacket pocket and the paper on the table. Should he count the words he wrote from now on? Should he lock up the remaining ink? Or should he add some water to it first
The team leader slammed the table and said, "Hold a meeting! Announce a meeting! Announce all responsible persons to hold a meeting!"
…
It was almost noon, and the soldiers were heading to the kitchen compound, but the heads of the various units and departments of the independent regiment were heading to the regiment headquarters. When the regiment commander said he was going to have a meeting, he didn't care about the time, no matter if it was noon or midnight, he would just start it. He didn't have the human consideration of the political commissar Ding Deyi.
The participants were still the same people, including the regiment commander and political commissar, political officer Su Qing, first company commander Wu Yan, second company commander Gao Yidao, third company commander Hao Ping and instructor Yang Dezhi, ninth platoon leader Hu Yi, supply director Li Suanpan, quartermaster Niu Dashu, and health team leader Bao Si, a total of eleven people.
Everyone was present, and without any nonsense, Captain Lu asked Su Qing to first give an overview of the disruption of the county's traffic organization and the confirmation on the way back that the blockade of Qingshan Village was about to be completed. Then Li Suanpan explained the subsequent impact that the blockade would have on the independent regiment.
Then Captain Lu personally announced that after the meeting, Li Suanpan and Uncle Niu would draw up a restricted list of items. From that day forward, the distribution and use of all items on the list would be strictly restricted, and special circumstances would require direct application to the regiment headquarters.
Things like salt, cloth, kerosene, etc., not only the independent regiment, but also the people of Dabei Village and Xinghua Village must be informed and explained, and management must be strengthened. In the future, even if the military uniform is damaged, it must continue to be worn. Unless it is torn and the flesh is exposed, it can be applied for a new uniform at the supply office. There are a lot of such requests listed on the spot, and other requests will be added after the meeting.
There was no better way at the moment, so we could only cut costs first, and then slowly try to establish communication channels between the independent group and the outside world.
After discussing the most critical issue of the blockade crisis, Captain Lu began to talk about the development of the independent regiment. First of all, the independent regiment will add two new units in the near future.
As soon as these words came out, the participants were immediately curious: new unit? What unit
The first is to reorganize the guard platoon of the independent regiment. Based on the existing guards, it will be supplemented by this batch of new recruits, and the size will be set at about 40 people.
The second is to establish the Fourth Company of the Independent Regiment, which will be composed of 100 recruits from this batch of new recruits and incorporated into the Xinghua Village Militia. The captain of the Xinghua Village Militia will temporarily take over as the company commander, and the company will be stationed in Xinghua Village.
After hearing the news, others didn't care, but the three company commanders present were a little upset. There were only about 200 new recruits in total. Thirty were needed to form a guard platoon, and one hundred were lost to form the fourth company, leaving more than 70. How many more could each company recruit? How could they not be upset
But then, the regiment commander added that in view of the current blockade situation, the supply department is under the greatest pressure, and in the future, they may even consider building their own workshops to achieve self-sufficiency in certain things that are not difficult to produce. It was decided to first add ten people from this batch of recruits to the supply department, and if there is a shortage of people in the future, they will add more. Considering that the stretcher team of the medical team has always been short of manpower, ten new recruits will be added to the medical team leader Bao Si. Considering that the ninth platoon has just been upgraded, the regiment must make a gesture, so ten new recruits will be added to the ninth platoon.
The three captains of the first, second and third companies were a little dumbfounded. Well, now they have lost another thirty, leaving only forty new recruits, divided among three companies? Isn't this just a waste of time
Finally, Captain Lu looked at the three company commanders and his eyes fell on Wu Yan: "The remaining forty or so recruits will all be assigned to the first company."
Hao Ping opened his mouth in surprise and twisted his neck to look at Yang Dezhi. Yang Dezhi made a helpless expression and nodded at Gao Yidao. So Hao Ping looked at Gao Yidao again, only to find that Gao Yidao's face had already turned green.
"I have an opinion!" As expected, Gao Yidao stood up.
Captain Lu deliberately kept silent. He stood up and picked up the thermos bottle at the back, added water to the political commissar, and filled his own cup. He sat down again steadily before saying, "Bring it."
"I don't object to forming a fourth company, but it's time to score points. After the last battle, our three companies are in need of reinforcements. Why did the first company get some but we don't? A bunch of new recruits plus a militia of about 20 people, what kind of combat effectiveness can this fourth company have? I dare say that this fourth company is not as good as one of my platoons. What use can it be?"
Captain Lu picked up the cup and blew on the water: "I am the captain. I want to set up the Fourth Company now. Even if the Fourth Company can't do anything for the time being, I will treat it as a reserve team. Do I need your consent, Captain Gao?" Then he took a sip of water and put down the cup.
"I..." Gao Yidao was speechless.
"You shit! You're everywhere! Believe me or not..." He suddenly felt Ding Deyi kick him from under the table, so he coughed twice and said, "Reserve your opinion and sit down." Then he continued to say to everyone, "I have discussed this with the political commissar. This period of time may be a rare opportunity. While withstanding the pressure of the enemy's blockade, our regiment must seize the opportunity to develop! It must be said that having a small number of people and a small scale also has its advantages, just like the last food crisis...
So, it's cloudy and you're just beating the kids. You guys in the second and third companies should just go out and live your life. If you want new recruits, go find them yourself, so you don't have to worry about me watching you every day. Our independent regiment is only so big, so tell me where you plan to go. You can choose your own location."
I never thought that the reason why the second and third companies were not reinforced was that the regiment commander wanted to release these two companies. This was a good thing. Once they left the independent regiment, it would be like the company commander becoming a mountain king.
Gao Yidao was still in a daze, and Yang Dezhi stood up: "Our third company will go to Wuming Village."
Hao Ping was pondering the map, hesitating about which place was the best. He didn't expect Yang Dezhi to directly express his opinion on behalf of the third company. What he didn't expect was that the location was Wuming Village! It was now a ruin. What was there to do there? He didn't understand what Yang Dezhi was thinking, but he was not a fool, so Hao Ping didn't say anything.
Captain Lu looked at the new instructor carefully for a while, nodded, and then asked Gao Yidao: "The third company has decided on Wuming Village. What about you?"
After hesitating for a long time, Gao Yidao blurted out, "The south bank of the Hunshui River." Then he waited for the captain's reply without any confidence.
"Wow, your place is quite big!" Captain Lu suddenly laughed: "Okay, that's it, go back and get ready, you can decide the departure time. The meeting is adjourned now, Hu Yi will stay."
…
As soon as he walked out of the regiment headquarters, Hao Ping immediately asked Yang Dezhi what he thought.
Yang Dezhi replied: "There are two advantages to choosing Wuming Village. First, although Wuming Village is a ruin, it was once the seat of the Independent Regiment. With Wuming Village as the center point, all nearby villages have a mass base, and it is not difficult to carry out work. The third company will develop quickly. Second, because Wuming Village was once the seat of the Independent Regiment, if Wuming Village can be rebuilt, it will be of great significance to the Independent Regiment!"
Hao Ping was enlightened when he heard this, and he was so happy that he couldn't help but raise his fists towards Yang Dezhi: "Thanks to you for helping me!"
After saying this, the two of them laughed and walked away in the direction of the third company.
Gao Yidao strode out of the regiment headquarters, looked coldly at the two figures walking away in the laughter, and thought to himself: How big your ambition is, how far the battlefield will be! I'm the second company when I go out today, and I'll be the second battalion when I come back! We'll see.
In the regiment headquarters, only the regiment commander, the political commissar and Hu Yi were left.
Not knowing what the captain was up to, Hu Yi stood upright in the room without looking around.
Captain Lu opened a map and spread it on the table. He ignored Hu Yi and lay down beside the table. He pointed his finger at the location of Dabei Village, then slid down until he stopped at the location of Wuming Village, then gestured to mark a range.
Then he slid his finger down the south bank of the Hunshui River to the southeast, marking a large area on the midline between Dabei Village and Meixian County. Then, he set his sights on the direction of Lushuipu and Luoye Village, tapped the table subconsciously with his fingers, and said without raising his head: "It's a chicken rib, and it's a soft spot!"
Ever since the captain spread out the map, Hu Yi's eyes have also been on the map. Watching the captain's finger sliding on the map, he has basically understood what the captain is thinking.
In terms of the location of Dabizhuang, the direction closest to the enemy is the east, towards Qingshan Village. Unfortunately, the land in this area is barren and sparsely populated. There is only one Qingshan Village and no other villages. Qingshan Village has been razed to the ground by the Japanese, turning this area into a no-man's land.
After a while, the regiment leader raised his head, pointed to the area around Qingshan Village and said to Hu Yi: "This is the most difficult area, but Dabei Village needs a buffer zone. Currently, only your ninth platoon is suitable for survival here, so I need your ninth platoon to operate here. Of course, given the special situation that there are no people here, you can ask the regiment for material support at any time. Do you understand?"
Hu Yi stood at attention in standard military posture: "Understood."
The leader straightened up and left the table: "Now tell me, if you have any requests, just ask and see how much I, as the leader, can help you."
"No requirement." Hu Yi answered neatly.
When the tall soldier walked out of the yard, Captain Lu sighed, "Even if there aren't many people in the ninth platoon, it's hard not to go hungry!"
Ding De nodded: "Let him try first, and if it doesn't work, we can withdraw it."
…