Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 19: The 358th Regiment is also going to withdraw? A big bargain

Outside the military camp.

Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong stood in front and behind. When they saw Wang Feng coming, they stepped forward and said with a smile:
"Brother Wang, I hope you are well!"

"Congratulations! I never thought that from now on, you and I would be colleagues."

Wang Feng smiled calmly: "Thanks to you, I slept well last night."

Chu Yunfei's 358th Regiment is affiliated to the 73rd Division.

The 73rd Division belongs to the combat sequence of the 33rd Army.

From this perspective, the war was indeed fought under a military-level organization.

It’s just that Wang Feng’s rank is higher, and the Temporary 33st Brigade has the same nature as the Independent Brigade, and is directly under the command of the rd Army Headquarters.

After a round of greetings, Wang Feng glanced behind the two of them.

Kong Zhiyong and several militia soldiers stood neatly at the back.

It was so far away that I didn't dare to go forward.

"Brother Yunfei, what are you doing?"

Chu Yunfei waved his hand, motioning Kong Zhiyong to stand next to him.

"This is the head of the Lingqiu County Militia. I'm sure you've met him yesterday, Brother Wang."

Wang Feng nodded, with a vague guess in his mind.

Chu Yunfei was all smiles, and his next words confirmed his guess.

"Last night, our 358th Regiment also received a transfer order. The commander ordered us to enter Pingxingguan to receive supplies."

"I heard that your army is about to be expanded, but the headquarters has limited reserve troops and it is difficult to continue. I am here to help."

"I formed this militia after receiving the order to defend Lingqiu. Although they are all farmers from nearby villages, they are all good fighters."

"We were originally planning to use it to defend the county, but we didn't expect the order to retreat would come so quickly."

"Alas... the situation changes rapidly!"

Now that things have been said, even if Wang Feng is a fool, he can understand the meaning.

Chu Yunfei's 358th Regiment was an elite reinforced regiment in the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

Even if supplies and manpower are in short supply, the 358th Regiment will not be left out.

Besides, the war had just started not long ago, and Yan Laoxi had been running Shanxi for decades, so his family was extremely wealthy, and it was not yet to the point where he had to go out on the streets to recruit men.

The reserve forces of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army had all undergone simple military training in the rear.

In terms of overall quality, it is definitely better than the villagers' group which was established not long ago.

No one would settle for second best and leave high-quality soldiers unused.

But Wang Feng is not picky about food at all.

Yan Laoxi learned Chiang Kai-shek's approach to perfection.

He only cared about his own troops and ignored the newly formed Temporary 1st Brigade.

He can only find a way to support himself.

"Brother Yunfei, then I will respectfully obey your orders!"

The Lingqiu County militia does look extraordinary.

Most people have some military background.

The specific strength is ambiguous.

It should be between farmers and reservists.

After taking over, I can indeed save a lot of time on basic training.

Seeing Wang Feng readily agreed, Chu Yunfei was also very happy.

"Brother Wang, what are you talking about? If it weren't for your troops' timely help yesterday, I, Chu, would have been surrounded by the Japanese army. I have no way to repay you for saving my life!"

Kong Zhiyong stood beside him, standing at attention with his heels together, and said, "Commander!"

Chu Yunfei was preoccupied with many things, so he left in a hurry after saying a few words.

A large-scale retreat of the defending forces must be orderly and methodical.

Focus on a step-by-step defense and retreat in waves.

If they all retreated back to Pingxingguan, wouldn't it be no different from a major rout? After seeing Chu Yunfei off, Wang Feng turned around and looked at Kong Zhiyong.

"Are all your ancestors from Lingqiu?"

Kong Zhiyong nodded: "Yes, Captain."

"Are you really willing to abandon your family business and follow me to fight the Japanese in other places?"

Upon hearing this, Kong Zhiyong became anxious, thinking that Wang Feng was unwilling to recruit them.

"Commander, we are not the cowards who would flee in all directions when we hear that the Japs are coming!"

"We chose to join the villagers' group and guard the county town with the troops, but we never thought we would survive..."

"The county town is gone, the defending troops can withdraw, and we can't stay here any longer."

"I heard from refugees from other places that every time the Japanese captured a county town, they would point their bayonets at the common people and carry out large-scale massacres."

"We brothers have already joined the village militia. When the Japanese come, they will definitely attack us first. We will die anyway, so we might as well die heroically!"

Several captains beside him echoed: "Yes!"

"The Japs will definitely not let us go if they hold a grudge. We might as well fight them!"

Looking at the reactions of several people, Wang Feng couldn't help but be moved.

I can't help but sigh at the power of the people.

This war was not a war among warlords as in the past, but a national war through and through.

What the Japanese really had to face was not the millions of Chinese soldiers.

But the 400 million Chinese people!
As Chiang Kai-shek said, once the war breaks out, there will be no distinction between north and south, no distinction between old and young...

"Okay, go back and quickly reorganize the troops. Temporarily, one brigade will set out at dusk and head for Pingxingguan."

"Yes!"

Kong Zhiyong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Commander, some fellow villagers also want to join us in fighting the Japanese..."

Wang Feng waved his hand and said: "I will send people to assist you. Anyone who is determined to fight the devils can come and join the army."

At the command, everyone quickly went back to prepare.

After returning to the room, Wang Feng began to think about the issue of troop organization.

It was indeed a good thing that Chu Yunfei went with the flow and did him a favor.

But there are some troubles right now.

The soldiers of a troop all come from one place, and over time it is easy for them to form cliques and engage in factionalism.

This will have a great impact on the purity of the entire team.

But it's not all bad.

He remembered a document he had read in his previous life.

This issue has been specifically discussed.

The Japanese army's recruitment system during World War II adopted this method.

Most of the soldiers in an infantry regiment are recruited from one area.

It's hard to tell the pros and cons.

Due to various blood and geographical factors, the troops have strong cohesion during combat and they will even compete with each other.

After all, most of the soldiers are from the same hometown or close neighbors.

Anyone who deserts the battlefield and acts cowardly will feel ashamed when the news gets back to his hometown.

If we leave aside the equipment factor.

The overall combat effectiveness of the divisions from Kyushu and Hokkaido is indeed stronger than that of the divisions from big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka.

"Zhao Fangyuan."

"To!"

"Gather the troops and prepare to retreat to the Pingxingguan area!"

"My subordinate understands!"

(End of this chapter)