Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 66 The mute eats Coptis chinensis

Taiyuan
Second Theater Command.

Old Xi Yan leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.

The news of the great victory at Yangmingbao Airport and the capture of Kunisaki Noboru alive has been sent to the Nanjing government, and we are just waiting for Chiang Kai-shek to reward us.

I believe that the several war grants that were previously stuck will finally be obtained as desired.

Boom boom boom!
There was a knock on the door.

"Enter!"

Chu Xichun walked slowly towards them with a telegram in his hand and a gloomy face.

Looking at the leisurely Yan Laoxi, he opened his lips slightly and said with difficulty: "Marshal."

"A call from Nanjing."

Yan Laoxi remained calm and composed, and couldn't help but feel secretly happy: "Read it!"

Chu Xichun took a deep breath and said, "I hereby inform the Second War Zone Command to form the North China Battle Group in Shanxi, Suiyuan, Chahar and other places, which will be under the command of the Fourteenth Army Group."

Halfway through the telegram, Yan Laoxi noticed something was wrong: "What battle group?"

He originally wanted to act as a middleman, wait for the Nanjing government to offer conditions, and then discuss rewards for the 1st Temporary Brigade.

So as to make a profit from the price difference.

He never expected that the Nanjing government would bypass his Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and directly send a telegram to reward the 1st Temporary Brigade.

I just notified the Second War Zone Command in passing.

Yan Laoxi hurriedly asked, "Where is Wang Feng?"

"Did he accept this... battle group organization?"

Chu Xichun sighed and said slowly: "According to the report from the front line, the Temporary 1st Brigade arrived at Xinkou Town half an hour ago."

"Wei Lihuang personally went five miles out of the city to greet him, and the two of them took the same car to the 14th Army Headquarters."

After hearing this, Yan Laoxi felt extremely depressed.

Wang Feng's attitude clearly leaned towards the Central Army.

After the formation of the united front, the barriers between the various warlord forces had become very thin.

There is no longer any official term called the Jinsui Army.

Now they are collectively called the National Revolutionary Army.

The warlord leaders suddenly became war zone commanders.

However, the troops under his command still have close ties with the warlords.

It is a bit too serious to say that Wang Feng's behavior is a betrayal and a change of flag.

"Where's Sun Chu?"

"Tell him to come see me immediately!"

Old Yan directly called out Sun Chu's full name.

Chu Xichun shook his head: "Cui Ya took a special car to the front line to supervise the battle fifteen minutes ago."

"We are probably out of Taiyuan City now."

Yan Laoxi stood up, pounded his fist on the desk, and paced back and forth in the room.

Veins popped out on his face and he was breathing heavily.

The young general whom he had high hopes for passed him by without saying a word and accepted the appointment of the Nanjing Military and Political Department in private.
Chu Xichun stood aside without saying a word.

Not only Sun Chu, but also him and even the entire staff felt that Yan Laoxi handled the matter inappropriately.

Since they have made up their minds to win over the 1st Temporary Brigade, all kinds of weapons and equipment have been supplied and the money has been spent, they are just unwilling to be the good guys more thoroughly.

He had to play tricks on the electricity supply, and in the end Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of the opportunity.

The first capture of a Japanese lieutenant general was concealed, and such a great achievement was not reported. Not to mention Wang Feng, even veteran generals of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army such as Sun Chu and Yang Aiyuen felt disheartened.

The establishment is nothing, but losing a general who can take on important responsibilities is a big loss!

Yan Laoxi sighed and said, "Has the Nanjing government come to a conclusion regarding the war funding?"

The fact that the Temporary Brigade would defect to the Nanjing government was a foregone conclusion and could not be reversed.

In his frustration, he thought of the war appropriations.

After all, what Yan Laoxi cares about is only the establishment and allocation of funds.

These two are the foundation for his dominance in Shanxi.

Only with a formal organization can one get full military pay from the Ministry of Military Affairs and place one's own confidants in the army.

As long as there are his confidants in the army, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army will exist in name only.

The 1st Temporary Brigade is a temporary organization. This number is the same as the North China Battle Group. You can get as many as you want just by asking for it.

In the absence of recognition from the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs, the salaries of the temporary troops had to be paid out of Yan Laoxi's own pocket.

More than ten thousand soldiers are nothing. Up to now, as the war has been going on, more than half of Shanxi is still in the hands of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, and there are ample human resources for him to recruit soldiers.

The only constraint on expansion is lack of funds.

Old Yan kept comforting himself in his heart.

"With over 100,000 Jinsui troops, I don't believe we can't find a capable and skilled general!"

"Since ancient times, those who surrendered have never had a good ending. The Nanjing government is even struggling to supply its own ace troops."

Chu Xichun shook his head with a very bitter expression.

Chiang Kai-shek was obsessed with eliminating dissidents in the name of the War of Resistance and it was impossible for him to watch the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army grow stronger.

Yan Laoxi stood in front of the window, clenching his fists tightly.

The organization of the North China Battle Group was approved by the Military Commission and the Ministry of Military Affairs officially issued a document. All procedures were legal and compliant, so it is difficult to make any further fuss about it.

After leaving the 14th Army Headquarters, Wang Feng got on a jeep and quickly headed for the outskirts of the city.

The jeep was driving in the city. This was the front line, and there were very few civilians living here. Patrolling soldiers could be seen everywhere on the road.

"Hello, sir!"

"Hello, sir!"

Wang Feng did not lower the window, but the flag of the 14th Army Group was flying in front of the car, and the soldiers passing by stopped and saluted.

The jeep turned at an intersection and several transport trucks followed behind.

Wang Feng turned his head and took a glance.

He looked down at the list in his hand, which was given to him by Wei Lihuang before he left.

It was the second gift for the meeting, and it was on the trucks behind. Wei Lihuang had been in the Central Army for decades, and he knew Chiang Kai-shek's methods very well.

Although the North China Battle Group, which is about to be formed, is a unit organized by order of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs, it is still a temporary organization.

The subordinate troops did not have official numbers and could not receive military pay from the Nanjing government.

Wei Lihuang was not sure whether Wang Feng would transfer to another place in the future, but he still withdrew three months' military pay from the logistics department of the 14th Army Group in the name of mobilization funds and subsidized the upcoming North China Battle Group.

It was not only for Wang Feng, but also for the more than 10,000 soldiers who fought bloody battles with the Japanese invaders.

Soldiers are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country and the survival of the nation. If they cannot even receive the most basic military pay, wouldn't it be a disheartening loss of morale?

In addition, a lot of food, fodder, and supplies were also given.

After returning to camp.

Sergei had reorganized his troops and was waiting for orders in the command room.

Seeing Wang Feng approaching: "Sir!"

"General Wei Lihuang sent a batch of bullets over, and the logistics troops are checking the inventory."

Wang Feng nodded slightly and sat on the mahogany chair.

"Sergey, what do you think of the Square Division and the Triangle Division?"

The so-called square troops are the "four-four system" troops.

The Russian infantry division in World War I was a typical square division.

The 1st Division has 2 brigades, 4th regiments and 16th battalions.

The triangle division is a "three-three system" force.

Taking the US Army division in World War II as an example, a division has three brigades, nine regiments and twenty-seven battalions.

Later, in some cases the brigade-level organization was even cancelled, and it evolved directly into a division with three regiments and nine battalions.

At present, the 1st Temporary Brigade is a typical "three-three system" unit.

But Wang Feng was troubled by the question of whether to set up a brigade-level unit.

Sergei frowned and thought: "Sir, based on the current situation, the Cube Master may no longer be suitable for the current situation."

Wang Feng was puzzled and asked, "Not suitable?"

The square division and triangle division each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Under the current circumstances, the Block Division has high frontal strength and is more suitable for human wave assault tactics.

He had expected Sergei to give the opposite answer.

"With the current equipment of our army, we no longer need to rely on stacking numbers to increase firepower density."

"The command flexibility of the Triangle Division may be able to better utilize the advantage of our army's high reinforcement rate."

Sergey gave very pertinent advice.

Although he is a human wave assault tactics instructor provided by the system panel, objectively speaking, he is also a living person.

There is nothing in the world that is unchanging and can be used by simply copying it.

Affairs are evolving, and there are no fixed military tactics. Sergei has been learning and constantly improving his theories.

This is also the responsibility of a combat staff officer.

Wang Feng smiled.

He had already made up his mind.

No brigade-level units will be added under the North China Battle Group Command.

Directly under the command of the headquarters are three mountain infantry regiments.

Each regiment still consists of three battalions, but changes have been made below the battalion level.

An additional infantry company was added to each battalion.

In this way, each battalion has about a thousand people, equivalent to a Japanese infantry battalion.

Including various directly affiliated units, a regiment has about 3,500 people, which is equivalent to a castrated version of the Japanese army regiment.

The entire North China Battle Group had almost the same number of people as a three-regiment division of the Japanese Army.

However, due to many factors, its combat effectiveness was only equivalent to that of two Japanese regiments.

It is already superior to many friendly forces.

Dawn of the 18th.

Wang Feng led the remaining two regiments of the North China Battle Group to Jinzhong.

noon.

Zhao Fangyuan, Kong Zhiyong and other soldiers from the three regiments withdrew from the direction of Yangmingbao Airport.

Within the headquarters.

Zhao Fangyuan came over with a smile: "Commander! Fortunately, we have fulfilled our mission and cut off the enemy's airport!"

While everyone was chatting and laughing, Sergei came over with a telegram.

"Sir! Urgent message from the Second War Zone!"

Wang Feng frowned.

It was agreed that the North China Battle Group would be allowed to stay in Jinzhong for some time to prepare. How come we got the combat order right after we arrived?

It was the Second War Zone that called, directly bypassing the Fourteenth Army.

Sergei concluded: "Sir, the eastern battlefield is in danger!"

"The Commander-in-Chief requires our troops to reach Niangzi Pass within three days!"

Niangziguan?
Wang Feng frowned and his heart skipped a beat.

What is to come will always come.
At first, Yan Laoxi had no idea of guarding Niangzi Pass. He had previously sent Huang Shaohong to guard the front line of Niangzi Pass, but he did a perfunctory job and the soldiers he assigned were all old, weak and sick.

Now that Niangziguan has been in trouble, he has dispatched his own troops to put out the fire.

Maybe he even has some intention of seeking revenge.

Wang Feng quickly asked Song Wenjie: "How is the reorganization speed of each unit?"

"We just recruited a group of new soldiers this morning, barely enough to fill the vacancies from the last battle, but the troops haven't had time to train yet."

Wang Feng said helplessly: "Add the reserve soldiers to the main force, and let the new recruits practice in the reserve first!"

If Niangzi Pass is breached, the Xinkou defense line will be useless.

(End of this chapter)