The banquet with ulterior motives was finally over.
Under the cover of night, He Guangming staggered out of the gate of the 35th Army Headquarters. He was doing well, at least he could still walk on his own. The four of them, Yao Lei, Zhu Chen, Ji Cheng, and Tiegang, were already drunk. Drunk and unconscious, he couldn't be helped, so he had to be carried out by his respective guards.
He Guangming's guard jogged a few steps, unhooked the horse from the hitching post outside the gate and brought it over. He Guangming stretched out his hand to hold the horse's rein, raised his leg and stepped up. As a result, he didn't step on the stirrup and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, his guard reacted quickly and reached out to support He Guangming, then helped He Guangming mount his horse.
After getting on the horse, He Guangming turned back and waved to Fu Zuoyi and Ye Qijie who had personally sent them to the gate, and said loudly: "Sir Fu, and Chief Ye, please come back, there is no need to see each other off!"
Fu Zuoyi said nothing, but Ye Qijie said: "Be careful on the road."
"It's okay." He Guangming laughed, turned around and rode away.
Seeing He Guangming and his ten people disappearing on the long street, Ye Qijie said faintly: "Master, let's forget it like this?"
Fu Zuoyi also said quietly: "Brother Xin, haven't you noticed? This He Guangming has a pig face and a bright heart. On the surface, he seems to be ignorant of our hints, but he understands it in his heart. People’s hearts are no longer on our side, and it’s all in vain to say anything.”
"But what a hell." Ye Qijie said, "I wonder what kind of ecstasy the Communist Party fed them? They were just battalion commanders under Xu Rui, but if they arrived in our 35th Army, they would immediately become regimental commanders, or even brigade commanders. Commander! If I can win a few battles, it is not impossible to be promoted to division commander."
"There is no ecstasy soup." Fu Zuoyi shook his head and said faintly, "It's nothing more than hope."
"Hope?" Ye Qijie was silent after hearing this. As the deputy commander of the 35th Army, how could he not see that the National Army or the Kuomintang was rotten to the core. It was absolutely impossible to expect the National Army or the Kuomintang to defeat little Japan. It is impossible. At this stage in China, the only one who has any hope of leading the Chinese people to defeat Japanese aggression is the Communist Party!
Although I am very reluctant to admit this, the fact is the fact after all!
…
Let’s talk about Xu Rui later.
He Shuya has also finished telling the whole story of the Battle of Dameishan.
After listening to He Shuya's narration, Xu Rui and Wang Husheng fell into a long silence.
It turns out that there are so many twists and turns behind the loss of the Dameishan base area!
He Shuya blamed himself and said: "Captain, I am useless. I failed to defend Damei Mountain and let you down."
"Nerd, I can't blame you. You've done a great job." Xu Rui patted He Shuya on the shoulder and said, "Under the circumstances at that time, even if I went back, I'm afraid it would be of no use."
Wang Husheng also nodded and said, "Yes, this is no longer a purely military issue."
Seeing that He Shuya, Mei Jiuling, the battalion commanders, company commanders and platoon commanders were a little depressed, Xu Rui said again: "But it's okay now. This time you come to Baotou, you are in good time."
After saying that, Xu Rui said to Wang Husheng: "Old Wang, tell them."
The dozens of battalion commanders, company and platoon commanders present all turned their attention to Wang Husheng.
Wang Husheng coughed slightly and then said: "That's it. Before the end of the year, the Chahar Independent Regiment has just been expanded. Now the size of the army has been expanded to nine infantry battalions."
Upon hearing this, the battalion and company platoon leaders present had no reaction.
There are only nine battalions, so it's really no big deal. It's just a division. I think back when the Dameishan Independent Regiment was at its peak, there were eighteen battalions, so nine battalions is really no big deal.
But Wang Husheng's next words immediately made their eyes light up.
Wang Husheng continued: "But what I want to say is that these nine infantry battalions are only battalions in name. In fact, the total strength of each battalion exceeds two thousand people. This is basically the organization of a regiment. As for You also understand why you do this."
"I'm just afraid that Chairman Chiang will be unhappy."
The battalion and company platoon commanders present responded in unison that this was an open secret.
Xu Rui smiled and said: "So, you are nominally the battalion commander, company commander and platoon commander, but in fact you have lived the life of regiment commander, battalion commander and company commander. You have all been promoted. Are you happy?"
Everyone, including He Shuya, laughed.
To be honest, which man doesn’t want to be promoted
Wang Husheng smiled slightly and continued: "This means that although our Chahar Independent Regiment is still only a division in name, it actually has nine infantry regiments and five cavalry battalions. Oh, by the way, there is one thing I It should be noted that these nine infantry regiments plus five cavalry battalions are all equipped with the same Soviet equipment."
After a pause, Wang Husheng added: "Each infantry battalion also has an artillery battery!"
The Soviet Union provided assistance to three artillery regiments, but the Chahar Independent Regiment is only a regiment-level unit. You have three artillery regiments under one regiment-level unit. This is really outrageous, isn't it? So Xu Rui thought of a way to dismantle the three artillery regiments and divide them into nine artillery battalions to equip each infantry battalion. Of course, they could only be organized at the company level.
"Artillery company?" Mei Jiuling said, "Commander, it should be the artillery battalion, right?"
"You are the only one who is clever." Xu Rui said, "Yes, the artillery company in name is actually an artillery battalion!"
"Oh yeah!" Mei Jiuling immediately shook his fist and roared, "Captain, I have made a deal with you. You will give me one of these nine infantry battalions no matter what, otherwise I will be in trouble with you."
"Hey." Xu Rui smiled and said to Wang Husheng, "Old Wang, I have seen shameless people before, but I have never seen such a shameless person. He wanted to run away from the official position, but he actually threatened me with his sister. What do you mean? , what’s the matter?”
"I don't care about that." Mei Jiuling said with a smile, "You have to give me a camp anyway."
Xu Rui straightened his face and said coldly: "It's a pity that you have nothing to do with these nine battalions."
"Ah? Why don't you have my share?" Mei Jiuling's face immediately fell when he heard this.
He Shuya, Huang Shouxin, Shi Changqing and others immediately laughed. This is called talking too much and making mistakes.
However, Xu Rui's face only changed for less than a second before he immediately became happy again and said with a smile: "Mei Xiucai, these nine infantry battalions really have nothing to do with you, because I left you with a more important one. Location."
Mei Jiuling's eyes immediately showed a strange sparkle, and he had already had a premonition.
Sure enough, Xu Rui then said: "I created a tank battalion, and you become the battalion commander for me."
"Tank battalion?" Mei Jiuling was ecstatic when he heard this and shouted, "Captain, you mean tank battalion?!"
"Look at your potential." Xu Rui said angrily, "It's just a tank battalion in name, but in fact..."
Mei Jiuling was a little disappointed, but he quickly adjusted his mood and said with a smile: "It would be good to have a tank company."
Wang Husheng really couldn't stand Xu Rui's teasing, so he immediately rushed to say: "Xiucai, don't listen to Old Xu's nonsense. The tank company is three tank battalions, so you will soon be the leader of the tank regiment!"
"Political Commissar, what did you say?" Mei Jiuling immediately felt a rush of blood rushing to her forehead, "Three, tanks, battalion!?"
Many times, Mei Jiuling had imagined in her dreams that one day she would be able to command an entire battalion or regiment of tanks to gallop across the vast land, wherever the tracks and gun barrels pointed, and the Japanese and puppet troops were invincible! But after waking up from the dream, Mei Jiuling was still accompanied by more than 20 Japanese-made Type 95 tanks, and all of them had run out of fuel.
Not long ago, with the fall of the Dameishan base, the more than twenty Type 95 tanks could not be saved. Before the transfer, Mei Jiuling was forced to blow up all the tanks. Mei Jiuling thought that he would never have another tank from now on. I had the opportunity to drive a tank again, but I didn’t expect that I would have the opportunity to drive a tank again so soon!
What makes Mei Jiuling even more excited is that this time it’s a group!
A regiment, a regiment, a tank regiment!
Xu Rui straightened his face and said, "Xiucai, do you remember what I told you?"
"Remember!" Mei Jiuling said, "Commander, you said that one day, I will command an entire regiment or division of tanks to gallop across the vast land of the motherland, beating the enemy to pieces and making them frightened!"
"That's right." Xu Rui said, "You will soon have to live like this."
"Oh yeah!" Mei Jiuling said excitedly, "Captain, I almost love you to death."
"Go away." Xu Rui laughed and cursed, and then said, "However, I have to say something ugly first. If your performance does not meet expectations, if you fail to use what I taught you in class, you will be punished by then. You should understand the consequences." After that, he said to He Shuya and Huang Shouxin, "The same goes for you."
He Shuya, Huang Shouxin and Mei Jiuling stood at attention and shouted: "Captain, please rest assured and promise to fulfill our mission."
Xu Rui nodded, and just when he was about to reprimand him a few more words, He Guangming came back drunk, followed by the unconscious Yao Lei and others. Of course, they were still carried by guards.
After seeing Xu Rui, He Guangming had a drink and said blankly: "Hey, why does this person look so familiar?"
Xu Rui immediately kicked He Guangming on the butt, laughing and scolding: "What are you pretending to be like?"
He Guangming stumbled and fell to the ground, and shouted angrily: "Captain, why are you kicking me like a dog?"
"Hey, you're such a bitch and you're still swearing." Xu Rui immediately took off his belt and tried to whip He Guangming.
He Guangming immediately got up and hid behind Wang Husheng, screaming: "Political Commissar, the regiment leader has beaten someone. Our Eighth Route Army officers and soldiers are equal and we don't like to beat people. You have to deal with him quickly."
ps: After writing this paragraph of foreshadowing, we are about to get to the biggest part of the book, the large corps and the blitzkrieg!