Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 8 Transfer
After returning to the temporary base, Chen Chengxing immediately ordered everyone to start cooking. After eating, they would move towards the northwest of Guangshan.

Between Guangshan and Zhongshan is the Tongpu Railway. Now that the Japanese have opened up the Tongpu Railway, Chen Chengxing is going to go there to see the situation.

Along the way, the Political Department achieved fruitful results, and many Guo soldiers expressed their willingness to join the New Second Regiment.

People tend to follow the crowd, and as more and more people joined the New Second Regiment, the thoughts of the others began to shift.

Eventually, except for a few officers, all the soldiers joined the New Second Regiment.

For them, it didn't matter where they fought the Japanese. At least in the Eighth Route Army, they felt respected.

With the addition of these people, the number of people in the new second regiment reached more than 1500.

Not long after lunch, the Logistics Department had completed the inventory and classification of supplies.

"Commander, this is the spoils of war and the consumption of supplies in this battle." Meng Tao, director of the logistics department, handed the report to Chen Chengxing.

Chen Chengxing took it and looked at it. The first line listed one Type 20 82mm mortar and 30 shells. Then there was one Type 1 heavy machine gun, two Czech light machine guns, 2 various types of horse rifles, 286 Type 7865 bullets, eight Shanxi-made submachine guns, and less than 8 bullets. There were also 100 pistols and 18 pistol bullets.

"Good! Good! Good!" Chen Chengxing was overjoyed after reading the report.

With these equipments, the combat effectiveness of the New Second Regiment can be doubled, and then it will be able to ambush larger-scale Japanese logistics teams.

As long as they follow the steps, the new second group will be able to start a positive cycle.

Luo Ping, who was standing by, also took the report that Chen Chengxing had placed on the table and looked at it, then asked, "How should these equipment be distributed?"

"The mortars and heavy machine guns will be under the unified command of the regiment headquarters. Form an artillery platoon and a machine gun platoon. The submachine guns will be distributed to the guard platoon, and the light machine guns and rifles will be transferred to the first battalion." Chen Chengxing made the decision after just a little thought.

Due to the material used, the Thompson submachine gun made in Jin has a soft barrel, the rifling wears out quickly, and the ammunition is difficult to replenish, making it unsuitable for use in large troops.

When they have sufficient equipment in the future, the guard platoon will also eliminate them. This is also one of the reasons why the Eighth Route Army chose to transfer the captured submachine guns to the militia units in history.

However, the guard platoon of 30 people now only has one pistol, which is carried by the platoon leader.

Therefore, throwing the submachine gun to the guard platoon was already a blessing for the guard platoon, because at least they didn't have to carry a big knife when standing guard, and they could have a gun to make things look more presentable.

"Also, those Guo troops should first be reinforced by the first battalion." Chen Chengxing added.

"The supplies seized this time are not a small amount. If we just transfer them to the first battalion, the second and third battalions will probably have complaints." Luo Ping said.

"The new Second Regiment must have a spearhead unit, and the First Battalion is the most suitable one among them," Chen Chengxing explained.

Weapons must be used in a concentrated manner to produce greater effects. If they are dispersed, the effects they can produce will drop sharply.

The main reason why Chen Chengxing chose the First Battalion was that it was composed entirely of elite veterans who had experienced the Long March, while the Second and Third Battalions had some new recruits recruited in northern Shaanxi, especially the Third Battalion, where more than half of the recruits were new recruits.

Seeing that Luo Ping was still about to speak, Chen Chengxing immediately stopped him and said, "If they have any complaints, let them come to me and I will explain it to them personally!"

After hearing this, Luo Ping didn't say anything more. After all, Chen Chengxing was the regiment commander and he had the final say on military matters.

After the second battalion commander Zheng Hua and the third battalion commander Sun Xun learned of the regiment commander's arrangements, they all expressed their obedience to the regiment's arrangements.

Just kidding, there are soldiers in their battalion who have served with the regiment commander before, and they know the commander very well. Although the commander looks gentle and elegant, he is actually very crazy when fighting. During the Red Army period, he participated in the death squad many times and served as the captain of the death squad.

They once chased a regiment of the Guo army with a force of more than a hundred people. If their superiors had not strictly ordered to stop the pursuit, who knows where they would have ended up.

Going to the team leader to complain now is like looking for death.

Chen Chengxing:? Don't slander me! I am a five-good youth of the new century who was 'born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze'. How could I go crazy?
Zheng Hua/Sun Xun: Go ask the Japanese soldier whose head you chopped off whether he agrees or not. It was his head that was chopped off in the whole battle.

After making the arrangements, Chen Chengxing left behind a squad of soldiers to investigate the movements of the Japanese invaders, and then led the New Second Regiment to move towards the northwest of Guangshan.

The straight-line distance from their current base to the Tongpu Railway is less than 20 miles. Even though the mountain road is difficult to travel, the New Second Regiment did not take too long to reach its destination.

In the evening, Chen Chengxing lay on a hilltop, observing the situation of the Tongpu Railway with a telescope.

"Captain, this is the second train, right? It's only been half an hour." Luo Ping smacked his lips as he watched the train rumbling past on the railway.

"It seems that the Battle of Xinkou was fought very intensely, otherwise the Japanese would not have transported supplies so intensively." Chen Chengxing said.

Although they could not see what was inside the trains, the two trains were mixed freight and passenger trains, and 80% of what was loaded was ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements for the Japanese.

According to the previous arrangements of the headquarters, there should be a force carrying out sabotage attacks between Suxian and Suicheng.

But now there is still a train every half an hour, which means that the Japanese will depart more frequently.

But it's normal to think about it. After all, Xinkou is the northern gate of Taiyuan. Currently, most of the military forces in the entire Shanxi are concentrated here. If the Japanese want to break through, there is no other good way except to use artillery and tanks to open the way.

"It's a pity that I don't have the chance to make a fortune." Chen Chengxing sighed.

If it was just a freight train, Chen Chengxing would fight it no matter what to see what was inside.

But with people and cargo mixed together, Chen Chengxing really didn't dare to act rashly. Although the New Second Regiment had supplemented some equipment, it was still far behind the Japanese field troops.

Now is far from the time for the Eighth Route Army to engage in a head-on confrontation with the Japanese.

But Chen Chengxing thought about it and felt that the trip should not be in vain.

"Communicator, go and call Zeng Cheng from the engineering company." Chen Chengxing turned his head and ordered.

"Yes!"

After a few minutes, the company commander of the engineering company, Zeng Cheng, ran over panting.

"Captain, you're looking for me."

"Zeng Cheng, did you take away all the tools we got in Shanglin before?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"Hehe, Commander, those tools are of no use if they are kept in the battalions. It would be better to hand them over to our engineering company, where they will be of greater use." Zeng Cheng said with an awkward smile.

After all, Chen Chengxing had said before that these tools would be distributed evenly among the battalions, companies and platoons, and might be needed in the future. Then after returning to the base, Zeng Cheng used various methods to trick them into his hands.

(End of this chapter)