Chapter 85: Preparing to Attack Qinghe County (Seeking Follow-up Reading) After two days of rapid march, the large forces of the Independent Regiment and the New 1st Regiment arrived at the edge of the base area in northwestern Shanxi. That is Qingshui Town, the frontier township of the Northwest Shanxi base area facing Qinghe County. An independent battalion of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army was stationed in Qingshui Town. The battalion commander received an order to fully cooperate with Li Yunlong in all matters except the attack. In order to allow the troops to have a good rest, the battalion commander and instructor of the Qingshui Town Independent Battalion organized the people to vacate a large number of empty houses and organized the people to do some simple logistical work for the Eighth Route Army. For example, preparing firewood, making stretchers and other time-consuming and laborious but simple tasks. The house that was originally used as the battalion headquarters has now been occupied by Li Yunlong and turned into the command center for the attack on Qinghe County. According to Li Yunlong's order, the battalion commander of Qingshui Town called all the leaders of the county brigade and district squad near Qinghe County to Qingshui Town for a meeting. "Captain Li, according to your order, all the district squad leaders and county brigade leaders in Qinghe County have arrived in Qingshui Town and are waiting for your order." The commander of the independent battalion brought several militia soldiers dressed in ordinary people's clothes into Li Yunlong's command center to report.
After listening to the report from the independent battalion commander, Li Yunlong quickly asked the team leaders to enter the command center. "Everyone, please take a seat. Huzi, pour some water." A man wearing a somewhat worn uniform of the Eighth Route Army spoke first: "Captain Li, I am the captain of the Qinghe County Brigade. Are you going to attack Qinghe County?" Li Yunlong listened to the other party's question and nodded in affirmation. "That's right, I am going to attack Qinghe County, and I hope the local comrades can cooperate with me." "Captain Li, please give us the orders. We will do whatever you tell us to do, even if it means attacking a city." "Yes, Captain Li, please give the order. Where do you want us to attack?" "Captain Li, do you want us to be responsible for logistics or to fight for support?" "Captain Li, can we join the siege?" After hearing Li Yunlong's affirmation, the captains who came over excitedly asked Li Yunlong questions. Li Yunlong raised his hand and signaled everyone to be quiet. "I called you all here because I do have an important task to assign to you." "This mission is even related to whether our Eighth Route Army can successfully capture Qinghe County and hold Qinghe County." "Captain Li, tell me what the mission is. As long as we can capture Qinghe County, we must complete it even if it means going through fire and water!" Li Yunlong nodded: "The task is difficult, but it is also simple." "Because I need to stop the enemy cavalry coming from Jungar County. So I hope you can relocate all the people in the villages north of the Zhengchuan River to the southern area." "This way we can let go and fight the Japanese devils." "Comrades, the Japanese are vicious. They attacked our defensive positions. Once they realized they couldn't take the positions, they would capture civilians and attack our defense line."
"Captain Li, don't worry. When we came here, we guessed that there might be a war, so we directly arranged for the people to evacuate to the mountains." Li Yunlong listened to what the captain of the county brigade said and nodded with satisfaction: "Well, I feel relieved with your words. Please tell the people who have been relocated." "This attack on Qinghe County may cause great damage to their property. Tell them that no matter how much they lose, I, Li Yunlong, will compensate them!" "Captain Li, what are you talking about?" "How can there be no losses in war?" "As long as we can take over Qinghe County, it will be worth it even if we lose all our property." "We ordinary people only have two mud houses and a few acres of thin land. Some people don't even have any land." "As long as the Eighth Route Army can capture Qinghe County, we can protect everyone and live peacefully on our own land without having to worry about the Japanese and the traitors coming out of the city to rob food and people." Li Yunlong listened to the other party and nodded: "Well, don't worry, I promise that as long as we take Qinghe County, we will definitely defend it!" "Everyone, please follow the mission I have assigned to you. Your mission is to protect the people and bring them to Qingshui Town."... After Li Yunlong issued the task to the local troops, he immediately convened the military chiefs of the battalions and companies of the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment to hold a pre-war military meeting. "In this battle, the Vanguard Battalion will be the vanguard. Qin Yangming, you lead the Vanguard Battalion and the Fourth Battalion of the New First Regiment to attack Qinghe County from the south of Qinghe County as quickly as possible." "I require you to open up the road to Qinghe County within one day!" "Ding Wei, you lead the New 1st Regiment, the 1st Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, and the 3rd Battalion to launch an attack from the east. It will also take one day." "Deputy Regiment Commander Xing and Political Commissar Zhao will be in charge of leading the new recruits of the Independent Regiment and two hundred new recruits. After Qin Yangming takes over the stronghold, you will be responsible for defending the stronghold and blocking the Japanese reinforcements coming from the south." "Deputy Regiment Commander Wu, you and Political Commissar Zhong will lead the new barracks of the New 1st Regiment and two hundred new recruits. After Ding Wei takes over the stronghold, you will be responsible for the defense of the stronghold and block the Japanese reinforcements coming from the east." "Remember, the troops that are fighting the reinforcements must hold out for at least two days!" "Zhang Dabiao, you lead the first battalion of the independent regiment to defend the north of Qinghe County, that is, to the upper reaches of the Zhengchuan River, to guard against the puppet Mongolian army in the north." "Deputy Commander Kong will lead the remaining combat troops to the Longkou stronghold as a reserve force and wait." "Zhangye, the logistics of our two regiments will be entirely handed over to you." "Everyone, do you have any questions?!" "no!" After Li Yunlong divided the combat tasks of each unit, he discussed it again. After making sure that there was nothing missing, he prepared to order everyone to take their positions and prepare to launch an attack on Qinghe County early tomorrow morning. "Since there is no problem, then everyone should prepare to launch the attack on Qinghe County at five o'clock tomorrow morning." Except for several main military commanders such as Qin Yangming, Zhang Dabiao, Kong Jie, and Ding Wei, the rest of the people who received the order all prepared according to Li Yunlong's order. "Old Li, you said you have a way to deal with the Japanese and the puppet Mongolian cavalry. What is that? We are going to launch an attack tomorrow, and I haven't seen you do anything yet?" Ding Wei looked at the carefully retouched sand table on the table and asked Li Yunlong curiously. "Yes, Lao Li, if you have any ideas, please tell us quickly. Don't keep us guessing."
The biggest problem in attacking Qinghe County is that there are cavalry inside Qinghe County and cavalry of the puppet Mongolian army to the north. If Qinghe County cannot be taken quickly, then they will have to fight the cavalry on the plain outside Qinghe County. At that time, they would not only have to face the enemy forces in Qinghe County, but also the powerful pseudo-Mongolian cavalry. If they were attacked from both sides, the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment would probably be directly surrounded by the Japanese reinforcements coming from all directions with their limited strength. Li Yunlong kept saying that he had a way to prevent the enemy's cavalry from going out, and that everyone would only have to face the infantry, but Li Yunlong never said it, and they were unsure. "hey-hey." Li Yunlong chuckled: "Don't worry, I promise that no matter whether it is the Mongolian cavalry or the Japanese cavalry, they will all become infantry!" "I will make sure these little Japs and idiots can't even move a horse." "Captain Li, you don't want Captain Qin to lead the assault platoon to sneak into Qinghe County to poison them, do you?" Deputy Captain Wu, who was standing by, listened to what Li Yunlong said and curiously told him the plan he had in mind. "Oh, it's true. I didn't see the assault platoon when I came here. Commander, you don't really want to do this, do you?" After listening to what Deputy Captain Wu said, Zhang Dabiao also looked at Li Yunlong with some curiosity. Even if all the Japanese cavalry horses in Qinghe County were poisoned, it would only solve the cavalry problem in Qinghe County, but not the cavalry problem of the puppet Mongolian army. What's more, they have a horse farm over there, and the thing they have the most is war horses. If their horse falls down, they can just replace it. Li Yunlong shook his head: "What kind of poison? I still want to set up a cavalry battalion. If you poison those horses to death, do you want my cavalry battalion to ride on donkeys?" "Xiao Qin's assault platoon has entered the city to collect intelligence, understand the various areas in the county, and prepare coordinate maps for the artillery." "As for how to turn those puppet Mongolian troops and the Japanese cavalry into infantry, you will find out tonight." Li Yunlong did not tell everyone about his plan. He just waved his hand and signaled everyone to leave. (End of this chapter)