In the Battle of Huaihe River, the Kuomintang suffered a disastrous defeat. All the participating units suffered heavy casualties. Xiang Tianhu’s 18th Division was almost completely destroyed. The 18th Division had more than 8,000 people before the battle, but during the battle After the end, Xu Rui only collected less than 400 defeated troops from the battlefield, but there was a fully organized main battalion among them.
It is a miracle that this battalion can basically maintain its structure.
What happened was that after the 180th Division completed its task of cutting off the rear, they split up and broke out to the northeast. At that time, the 541st Regiment broke out first. The commander of the 541st Regiment was worried about the safety of the division, so he sent another battalion back to respond. The 541st regiment was soon surrounded by the Japanese who came around again, but this battalion escaped by accident.
At that time, the entire battlefield had been turned into a pot of porridge, and it was impossible to distinguish between east, west and north.
As a result, the returning battalion went in the wrong direction and fought all the way from the southeast, where the Japs were weakest. It was not until dawn that they were overtaken by a Japs team. After solving the Japs team, they met Xu again. Rui and his party learned that Zhang Zizhong and Xiang Tianhu had died for their country, and the 180th Division had been completely destroyed.
However, it is not easy to drag this fully organized camp to Damei Mountain.
Taking advantage of the break, Xu Rui once again used his sharp tongue to lobby.
"Battle Commander He, you are also a sensible person. We don't speak secretly in front of people. The 1st Army was originally a stepmother in the **** sequence. Now that Zhang Jun's seat is gone, can the 59th Army Even if the 59th Army can maintain its designation, the designation of the 18o Division will certainly not be preserved."
"Even if your battalion is returned to re-establishment, it will inevitably be absorbed by the 38th Division in the end."
"Youdao is like a carrot and a pit. The 38th Division's structure is still intact. Every pit is crowded with carrots. There is no spare position for you. To put it bluntly, your battalion will definitely be broken up by then. They will be broken up and organized into various units, and you, the battalion commander, will probably be transferred to the division headquarters or a regiment headquarters to serve as a lieutenant colonel's staff officer."
"It actually doesn't matter. The key is that your subordinates won't be recognized, let alone respected by others. In the future, whenever you encounter a tough battle, your subordinates will definitely be the first batch of cannon fodder, and that's all. The key is that even if you die in battle, you won't get the honor and compensation you deserve. Commander He, you can't let your men bleed and shed tears."
Xu Rui's last sentence was bloody and tearful, and it was very lethal. He Guangming was finally shaken.
He Guangming knew that Xu Rui was telling the truth. The predecessor of the 1st Army was the 29th Army, and the predecessor of the 29th Army was the Northwest Army. Since the Northwest Army was absorbed by Zhang Xueliang, it has become a lonely guest army in Pingjin, but Said to be a miscellaneous brand among miscellaneous brands, Xu Rui said that the First Army was raised by his stepmother, which was actually quite polite.
In He Guangming's view, the 1st Army had no mother at all.
Therefore, He Guangming basically agrees with Xu Rui's judgment. The 59th Army's designation may be saved, but the 18o Division's designation cannot be saved. After his battalion is rebuilt, the final outcome will probably be as Xu Rui said. Being dispersed and integrated, He Guangming could only serve as a lieutenant colonel staff officer at best.
However, for He Guangming to commit suicide like this, it was inevitable that he felt a little alienated.
The Northwest Army also had dealings with the Red Army in northern Shaanxi. In He Guangming's impression, the Red Army was a force that was poorer and more difficult than them. Even if he stayed in the 59th Army, he would still have food to eat even if he didn't have a mother. , but if you go to **, you won't even be able to eat. Isn't there no distinction between concubines and concubines there
Those who understand the Northwest Army must be its own people. Seeing He Guangming's silence, Tiegang understood everything.
At that moment, Tiegang pulled He Guangming to a secluded place and whispered: "Old He, you really think too much. Brother Xu Rui is definitely not the kind of person you think. There are really no direct descendants in his army." You will know immediately when you go there. The composition of the Independent Brigade is actually very complicated. It includes soldiers from the 79th Route Army, remnants of the Northeast Army, and some guerrillas. If divided according to camps, the guerrillas He is his direct descendant, but in fact it is not the case. The most relied upon in the Independence Brigade are the old 79th Route Army and the remnants of the Northeastern Army."
He Guangming said: "But our army has no military pay and life is hard. I'm afraid our brothers won't be able to bear it."
"You don't have to worry about this." He Guangming said, "**I don't know about other troops, but the Dameishan Independent Brigade is living a good life. Our cavalry battalion has been eating meat for almost every meal recently. As for There is indeed no military pay over there, but since we were recruited by Zhang Xiaoliu, how many times have we received military pay?"
He Guangming said: "Isn't this a financial difficulty? It will be remedied sooner or later in the future."
"To make up? Do you believe this?" Tiegang said disdainfully, "If we don't provide military pay now, the government's finances will only become more and more difficult in the future, so what else can we use to make up for it? Is this any different from not paying the military at all? What's more? Besides, there is still a little allowance during the holidays over there. Although it’s not much, it’s enough to eat a few good meals.”
He Guangming was also a little moved and said, "Speaking of which, Xu Rui is also capable, right?"
"No." Tiegang agreed, "You can call us brothers and sisters, but how can you not have any skills?"
"That's alright." He Guangming finally nodded, "In this case, Gangzi, you go and tell him that our camp can accept their recruitment, but there is one thing. Our camp cannot be dismantled. I have to be with my brothers."
"Don't worry about that." Tie Gang patted his chest and said, "It will never be dismantled."
Tiegang ran over and told Xu Rui, who of course agreed wholeheartedly.
Xu Rui asked Leng Tiefeng to take He Guangming's battalion back to the Dameishan base first, while he himself led the special operations team to stay on the battlefield to harass the 18o Division's defeated troops. However, after that, he basically found no defeated troops. Three days later, Xu Rui could only give up the idea of continuing the search and rescue and returned to Damei Mountain.
On the day Xu Rui returned to Dameishan, the order from the New Fourth Army headquarters also came down.
The Dameishan Independent Brigade was officially upgraded to the Dameishan Independent Brigade. The leader is still Xu Rui, and there is no deputy leader. However, the political commissar is no longer concurrently held by Xu Rui, but by Wang Husheng. Regarding this appointment, Xu Rui does not have any opinion, because after this period of getting along, he has found that Wang Husheng is a sensible person.
The Dameishan Independent Regiment has three infantry battalions, one cavalry battalion and one machine gun company.
Needless to say, the cavalry battalion was also expanded from Niu Dazhuang's cannon squad.
He Guangming's battalion was completely integrated into the 1st Battalion of the Independent Regiment. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Squadrons of the original Independent Brigade were combined into the 2nd Battalion. The 2nd Battalion was led by Wan Zhongshan, and the three company commanders were still Xu Dekun and Li Hai, Heipi, the 5th Squadron of the original Independent Brigade, plus the County Brigade, and some backbones of the regional squads were organized into the 3rd Battalion.
The commander of the 3rd Battalion is Leng Tiefeng, but the candidates for the three company commanders below are somewhat unexpected.
After the original orders from superiors came down, the squadron captains of each squadron were all gearing up to compete for the position of company commander, but in the end, Xu Rui appointed three children as company commanders, namely He Shuya, Huang Shouxin and Mei Jiuling. , these veterans didn't have much opinion on He Shuya, but it was difficult for Huang Shouxin and Mei Jiuling to convince them.
However, Xu Rui defied all opinions and insisted on appointing three student soldiers as company commanders. Not only the company commanders, but also the platoon commanders and squad leaders under the company were all youth training team students.
This is actually a bold attempt by Xu Rui.
The 1st Battalion and the 2nd Battalion are both typical old armies, with a strong color of the old army. From top to bottom, their abilities have been basically finalized in all aspects. It is difficult for them to change, such as their cultural level. If you let these big It is simply impossible for the old man to sit back in class and start learning the Three Character Classic like a primary school student.
If you are uneducated, you will not be able to accept new military ideas, or it will be very difficult for you to accept them. There will be no problem if you are a company commander or even a battalion commander, but if you are a regiment commander or above, you will be in trouble. If nothing else, you don’t even know the map. If I don’t understand, how can I give instructions? Therefore, Xu Rui must boldly recruit cadets from the youth training team.
As for why the cadets of the youth training team should be unified into the 3rd Battalion, it is to reduce friction.
Otherwise, if you place the cadets from the youth training team into three battalions, it would be strange if the veterans don't make trouble.
So first, all the cadet soldiers from the youth training team were placed in the 3rd Battalion. When the 3rd Battalion showed its prestige and surpassed the 1st and 2nd Battalions, which were mainly veterans, those old guys would be convinced. At that time, Xu Rui placed the cadet soldiers who had been tempered by war into various positions, and no one dared to bare their teeth.
After two days of commotion and chaos, the troops were finally sorted out and everyone went to find their mothers and go back to their homes.
The brigade headquarters located in Shaqiaodun was also upgraded to a regiment headquarters, and the regiment leader and political commissar sat down for a small meeting for the first time.
Wang Husheng said: "Old Xu, I suggest you let the 3rd Battalion find another place to be stationed. Otherwise, if you see the sky with the 2nd Battalion, something will happen. You didn't see the company platoon commanders of the 2nd Battalion, but you saw the companies of the 3rd Battalion." When he was the platoon leader, he had a hungry wolf-like look and clearly had bad intentions, and he was trying hard to find fault with the 3rd Battalion."
"That's your business." Xu Rui said, "I am the regiment leader, I only care about training and fighting."
"Hey, you will be the boss." Wang Husheng said, "We have agreed that I am the political commissar in name only. I have a lot of things to do with the government, but I don't have time to take care of the affairs inside the regiment."
Xu Rui curled his lips and said, "What can happen to the government?"
"That's right." Wang Husheng was unhappy, "It seems that all the people in our government are freeloaders. Without our government's full efforts to mobilize the people, how could you dig thousands of miles of tunnels in such a short period of time? Old man? Xu, don’t underestimate us, the work done by our democratic government is no easier than that of your combat troops.”
"Correct me, it's not you, it's us." Xu Rui said, "Now you are not only the county magistrate of the Anti-Japanese Democratic Government, but also the political commissar of our independent group. You have to sit up straight and you have to prioritize."
"You guy." Wang Husheng smiled bitterly and shook his head, "There's really nothing I can do about you."
However, Wang Husheng also understood that Xu Rui was expressing his absolute obedience to the party in his own unique way. Wang Husheng still admired Xu Rui's mind very much. If someone else sat in his position, he might not be willing to surrender. Use the power in your hands and truly accept him as a political commissar. (To be continued.)