Chapter 236 Li Yunlong's appetite is enlarged After the battle of Tongshi Town ended, the entire Shanxi Province seemed to have pressed the pause button, and all the fighting stopped. The Japanese soldiers throughout Shanxi Province entrenched themselves in county towns and important strongholds and refused to go out unless necessary. The Eighth Route Army, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Central Army did not take the initiative to fight against the Japanese. The whole of Shanxi fell into an eerie silence. But everyone knew that this was just a brief moment of calm before the storm. The Eighth Route Army is seizing the time to digest the entire Shangdang area. Various units are using the captured weapons and equipment to recruit new soldiers on a large scale and start training them. All soldiers who met the standards from county battalions and district squads in various regions were transferred into regular troops. The four main regiments, namely the New 1st Regiment, the New 2nd Regiment, the Independent Regiment and the Vanguard Regiment, also began to move towards the originally designated defense areas to carry out troop reorganization and training of new recruits. Because of the Battle of Tongshi Town, in addition to the victory of annihilating the Japanese 4th Brigade in Tongshi Town, the Eighth Route Army's troops in other areas also achieved some results to a greater or lesser extent.
In particular, the Taihang Military Region, which is directly under the 129th Division headquarters, achieved the most fruitful results. Taking advantage of the gap when a large number of Japanese troops were mobilized, the 129th Division and the troops of the Taihang Military Region attacked everywhere and forcibly took back the entire area of Fu'an County from the Japanese, and even occupied almost half of Ping'an County to the north. As the base expanded, the originally designed defense zones naturally needed to be changed. Moreover, after the Shangdang area was completely recaptured by the Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Army's Taiyue Military Region and Taihang Military Region were connected together to directly form a Shangdang Military Region with the 129th Division as its foundation. Therefore, the defense areas of the New 1st Regiment, the New 2nd Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the Pioneer Regiment naturally changed. Among them, the weakest New Second Regiment developed its troops with Fu'an County as its center. The defense zone of the New 1st Regiment was located in an area near Jinzhong in Fu'an, and it developed a base towards Jinzhong. The Independent Regiment and the Pioneer Regiment entered the Ping'an County area. While the two sides jointly developed a base in the Ping'an County area, the Independent Regiment developed a base in the direction of Luyang, and the Pioneer Regiment developed a base in the direction of Shuiquan. …… In the county seat of Fu'an, there is a barracks once used by the Japanese devils, which is now the headquarters of the New Second Regiment. Li Yunlong, Qin Yangming, Ding Wei and Kong Jie were gathering together drinking and chatting about the summary of the Tongshi Town battle. “If you ask me, the brigade commander is still a little stingy. Damn it, they just let in a brigade, and my independent regiment hasn’t even had enough to eat. The Japanese Fourth Brigade is not as powerful as me. If we had known that the 4th Brigade was so weak, we should have allowed the 772nd Regiment to also let in the Japanese 11th Brigade. Two little Japanese brigades will be enough to feed and water our four regiments." After occupying the entire Shangdang area, the Eighth Route Army also received a large amount of supplies. Therefore, in addition to raw peanuts as a side dish, Li Yunlong and others' table now also had some fried peanuts, shredded pig ears, and hard dishes such as braised beef and roast chicken to go with the wine. Li Yunlong chewed a piece of braised beef in soy sauce and spoke to the other three people present with some complaints. Listening to what Li Yunlong said, Ding Wei took the lead in sabotaging him.
"Look, look, Li Yunlong, who used to think a battalion was too much, now even looks down on a brigade of the Japanese. Those who know you think you are the commander of the independent regiment, while those who don’t think you are the brigade commander. The Japanese think one brigade is not enough, and they want to fight two brigades. Don't you know your own weight?" "Ha ha ha ha……" "Drink, drink." After everyone laughed and drank, Li Yunlong still spoke to a few people with some reluctance. “But coming back to the fact that our four regiments were too hasty in preparing for the battle against the Japanese Fourth Brigade this time. Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about my independent regiment. My independent regiment was directly split into three regiments. The strongest vanguard battalion was directly separated out to become the vanguard regiment. Then Kong Erlangzi's new second group had no foundation at all. The troops were reorganized less than a week ago, and they ended up fighting a brigade of the Japanese." Listening to what Li Yunlong said, everyone understood what Li Yunlong meant. It's just that if we wait for a while and wait for the strength of the New Second Regiment, the Pioneer Regiment, and the Independent Regiment to recover and develop, it will be easier to defeat the Japanese Fourth Brigade. "That's right, this time I'm responsible for blocking the Japanese troops along the river. Damn it, those damn Japs sent an entire regiment to attack me. My fucking new Second Regiment is basically made up of new recruits, with only about a thousand people. The total number of combat personnel in the entire regiment is less than that of a battalion before the division. They are all new recruits. If I hadn't taken away a large number of grenade launchers and gasoline bombs from Xiao Qin's new recruit camp, I'm afraid I really wouldn't be able to stop the Japanese attack." Kong Jie picked up a peanut and threw it into his mouth, then complained to Li Yunlong and others. Listening to what Kong Jie and Li Yunlong said, Qin Yangming nodded in agreement. “There’s nothing wrong with what Captain Kong said. This time, all the Japanese soldiers of the Fourth Brigade used some medicine, and all the Japanese soldiers rushed forward like crazy, risking their lives. My vanguard regiment's defense line and formation were broken up several times by the Japanese. If it weren't for the fact that there were enough veterans in the First Battalion of my Vanguard Regiment and they were equipped with a large number of pistols, I'm afraid the Japanese Fourth Brigade might have really broken through my Vanguard Regiment's defense line and escaped." Qin Yangming now has a deeper understanding of the Japanese devils' madness. After taking the drugs, the Japanese soldiers had no fear and were not afraid of pain. They fought with a strategy of exchanging lives for injuries and launched a frantic attack on the vanguard regiment's offensive formation. If it weren't for the fact that the vanguard regiment had a large number of veterans in the front battalion, enough pistols, and tanks, artillery groups and other heavy weapons to consume the Japanese's manpower. It is possible that the vanguard regiment's attack formation will be broken by the Japanese, allowing them to escape. Listening to what Qin Yangming said, the three captains Li Yunlong, Ding Wei and Kong Jie all nodded in sympathy. They all witnessed the madness of the Japanese devils.
“To be honest, I, Kong Jie, have fought against the Japanese many times, but this is the first time I have seen such a crazy Japanese. At that time, I led the troops into Tongshi Town to search for the remaining Japanese soldiers. I clearly shot the Japanese soldier's leg and wanted to capture a few alive, but I didn't expect that the Japanese soldier was not afraid of the pain and staggered to his feet and wanted to attack. " Kong Jie felt it was a little unbelievable when he thought about the Japanese soldier whose thigh was broken by his bullet still staggering to his feet and attacking. "Those little Japanese soldiers were wearing rubber-soled shoes, not leather shoes. Logically speaking, they were just a group of new recruits. Are all the new recruits of the little Japanese soldiers so strong?" "Yeah, I find it strange too. If the old Japanese soldiers were not afraid of these things, then it would make sense. But those new Japanese soldiers can also do this. Don't you think it's a bit strange? How did the Japs do it? Xiao Qin, you started to say that the Japanese used drugs, what kind of drugs could have such an effect? " Listening to Li Yunlong's question, Qin Yangming waved his hand. "Captain, forget it. We absolutely cannot use that thing. Let alone touch it, we can't even think about it!" …… After listening to what Qin Yangming said, Li Yunlong and others also understood what Qin Yangming meant, and they stopped mentioning the drugs that the Japanese devils took. "In my opinion, if the Japanese Fourth Brigade could have arrived a month later, no, half a month later. By then, the Vanguard Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the New Second Regiment will be able to recover a lot of their vitality. Let’s not talk about anything else. According to Xiao Qin’s organization, the vanguard group must have grown to at least 5,000 people. Lao Li, your independent regiment must have at least 6,000 people. Lao Kong, even though your new second regiment has a weak foundation, with the help of the three regiments, it will at least grow to three to four thousand people. As for my New 1st Regiment, it already has more than 5,000 people. Once I absorb those prisoners, it will be easy to grow to 7,000 people. By then, the troops of our four regiments will be gathered together. Wow, a total of 20,000 people! Two divisions of troops! By that time, it would not be so difficult to completely wipe out the Japanese Fourth Brigade, and there would be so many casualties. And maybe it will really be possible, as Lao Li said, to allow the 772nd Regiment to send in another brigade. By then, we will add the 772nd and 771st Regiments, and our total strength will be close to 30,000, although the weapons and equipment of the 772nd and 771st Regiments are not as good as ours. But these two regiments are also the main force, and the soldiers in them are all veterans. In terms of combat effectiveness, they are not inferior to our troops at all. Together with them, we are fully capable of swallowing up two brigades of the Japanese devils!" After Ding Wei reinforced everyone's troops, he analyzed what Li Yunlong had just said about the possibility of swallowing up another brigade of the Japanese. Listening to Ding Wei's analysis, the other three nodded in agreement. If it is really as Ding Wei said, the strength of the four regiments will be developed for two or three weeks first, and then the other troops in Shangdang area will send new recruits to replenish the troops. The group is fully capable of wiping out two Japanese brigades. However, the plan to completely annihilate the Japanese Fourth Brigade was originally a temporary plan. Being able to completely wipe out an entire brigade of the Japanese invaders is already a very good result. After listening to Ding Wei's analysis, Li Yunlong nodded and then shook his head again. "It is not easy to completely wipe out the two Japanese brigades.
The two Japanese brigades will definitely not hold on to Tongshi Town. Once the Japanese gather their troops and attack directly into the Shangdang area or towards Yuxi Town, it will be difficult to stop them. Moreover, I heard from the brigade commander at the brigade headquarters that the Japanese 20th Division is ready to go. However, because the 4th Brigade had been completely wiped out by us, the Japanese 20th Division did not go out. If we attack the two brigades, then we will not be able to completely wipe out the two Japanese brigades within one day. If we are held up by the two Japanese brigades and their 20th Division arrives, we will be in trouble. The surrounded Japanese troops were fully capable of working together with the Japanese 20th Division to directly attack Shiquan County. Without Shiquan County, it would be like the door to Shangdang area was opened, and the Japanese could quickly transport troops directly to Shiquan County by train. By then, we might even have trouble holding on to the Shangdang area.” "Hey, Lao Li, it seems that you know your own weight. You just said that the brigade commander was stingy and didn't let in a small brigade of Japanese invaders. Just now you said that the Japanese Fourth Brigade didn't have enough food, but your independent regiment didn't have enough to eat. Why do I think of the Japanese 20th Division now? " "Damn it, Kong Erlangzi, you will die if you listen to me bragging." "Hahaha……" "Xiao Qin, save some for me! Save some! My roast chicken!" Li Yunlong laughed as he saw Qin Yangming had already torn open half of the roast chicken and started to eat it. He shouted and picked up the plate of braised beef in soy sauce. "Hey, hey, hey, Li Yunlong, can you be a little more polite? We are all polite people, how the hell are you holding the plate! Leave two pieces of beef for me!" Ding Wei, who was picking up shredded pig ears with chopsticks, saw Li Yunlong's behavior. He pushed the shredded pig ears into his own bowl while saying that Li Yunlong was rude. "Come on, you're not much better at eating than me." "Three of you, please tell us how to develop next." Kong Jie looked at the three people, smiled helplessly, drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, and began to ask the other three what they thought next. “I don’t have any ideas. I plan to recruit enough troops in my vanguard regiment first. At least I have to build three infantry battalions first. We’ll talk about the rest later.” "I'm almost there. I also plan to rebuild the five infantry battalions of the independent regiment first." "My New 1st Regiment needs to replenish all the battalions first. By the way, Lao Kong, your New Second Regiment is now behind the defense zone of our three regiments and has not come into contact with the enemy for the time being. Otherwise, please help us recruit some new soldiers and then organize basic training. When the time comes for actual combat training, our three regiments will pick a place at random and take the new recruits to practice." As soon as Ding Wei finished speaking, he immediately proposed the idea of asking Kong Jie to help train the new recruits. "Hey, Lao Kong, what Ding Wei said is true. Your New Second Regiment covers the entire county of Fu'an County. With the reinforcements from the Taihang Military Region, you can definitely help our three regiments with the training of new recruits first.
Lao Kong, don’t worry, your work won’t be in vain. All the materials needed for training will be given to you by our three regiments. How about one recruit and one gun?" Kong Jie listened to what Ding Wei and Li Yunlong said, and saw that Qin Yangming was also somewhat moved, so he didn't want to refuse. The price offered by Li Yunlong was really too tempting. One gun for one recruit, it was such a good thing, there was no reason for him to refuse. "Since you all said so, there will definitely be no problem here. Then I, Kong Jie, would like to thank you for your help." (End of this chapter)