Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

This year, he served as the director of the training department and deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Column, which greatly improved his vision. After all, he assisted Wang Qiuyun in formulating combat plans at the Eighth Column Headquarters, standing at a very high level.

He has experience leading troops at the grassroots level, having once served as battalion commander and chief of staff of the 34th Brigade. He also has experience formulating battle plans for the entire column, making him a truly well-rounded military cadre. That's why Chen Zhonghe was chosen to lead the th Regiment this time.

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "The commander and I are both aware of your abilities and believe in them. However, the situation in the 34th Regiment is different. You also know that this is a unit from Jidong. The cadres and soldiers here are all local people from Yidong. After you go to the 34th Regiment, in addition to focusing on military affairs, you must also do a good job of uniting the troops. Don't let the cadres from Jidong feel that the column does not trust them and that the column is trying to seize power. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Commissar, I understand."

Chen Zhonghe, a native of Sichuan, joined the Red Army after the Fourth Front Army entered Sichuan, becoming a cadre there. Later, after the Central Red Army and the Fourth Front Army merged, he was incorporated into the Fourth Division of the Central Red Army. Therefore, during the reorganization of the Eighth Route Army, he became a platoon leader in the 115th Division.

The central government recognizes the existence of factions.

Chairman Mao said that mountaintops exist objectively. Chen Zhonghe served in the Central Red Army from the Fourth Front Army, and then in the First Sub-district from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region. Therefore, he understood many things.

The problem of the 34th Regiment is not simple.

Although the troops were incorporated into the 34th Column, the cadres within it were all from the original guerrilla corps. The 35th Column was worried about arousing opposition from the Yidong cadres, so it was very cautious about the reorganization of the th and th Regiments.

Don't want to provoke them.

In this regard, the practices of the First Division and the Eighth Column are similar.

All were preparing for a gradual reorganization. Only the Ji-Re-Liao Advance Army was embroiled in a turmoil over the reorganization issue. There were constant conflicts between the 31st Regiment of the Ji-Re-Liao Advance Army and the Ji-Re-Liao Advance Army headquarters.

Xiao Zijing, commander of the Ji-Re-Liao Advancing Army, intended to directly reorganize the 31st Regiment and assign his own cadres to it. However, the Jidong cadres of the 31st Regiment, believing that Xiao Zijing was attempting to annex the unit, distrusted them. Consequently, a fierce conflict ensued between the two sides.

Xiao Zijing believed that Gao Zhiyuan, the former commander-in-chief of the Jidong Allied Forces, was resisting his orders and refusing to accept the reorganization of the Eighth Route Army. The relationship between the two sides had reached a freezing point.

Not just the 31st Regiment, even after Xiao Zijing assumed command of the Jireliao Military Region, the 11th Regiment, commanded by Deng Guo, and the 12th Regiment, commanded by Song Shilun, now face this problem. They all feel that Xiao Zijing's reorganization of the troops is wrong. You should respect the historical situation of the original units, not just arbitrarily interfere like this.

Wei Hongjun would never do that.

Even though the 34th and 35th Regiments encountered numerous problems during this operation, Wei Hongjun still respected the history of these two units. Restructuring would be gradual. Furthermore, as long as there were outstanding cadres in the Wing East Division, Wei Hongjun would still prioritize them. Only by understanding the right balance could internal conflicts be avoided.

"If you have any questions, you can raise them now. After you go to the 34th Regiment, I will only look at your results. If there are no results by then, everything will be your responsibility.

"Commissar, I have a request."

"Go ahead."

"I want to take Wu Guangming with me to take up the post."

"Is that Wu Guangming, the propaganda officer with such good writing skills?"

"Yes."

Wu Guangming's rank is not very high, he has just become a battalion-level cadre.

But Wei Hongjun was very familiar with him.

Because of his exceptional literary talent, he was a renowned writer within the Eighth Column. Much of the Eighth Column's propaganda material came from his pen. Furthermore, he wasn't just a brilliant writer; in his early years, he was also a military officer who led troops in battle.

Before being transferred to the column as a propaganda officer, he also served as a guerrilla leader and company instructor.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and asked, "Why do you want to take him with you?"

"This isn't just my opinion. Comrade Zhang Chao and I have discussed this. We both believe that the 34th Regiment is currently plagued by serious factionalism and parochialism, and that this ideology must be eradicated. Therefore, we need to strengthen the 34th Regiment's political work. Comrade Wu Guangming is a grassroots political cadre and even worked on student movements during the Agrarian Revolution. He has a solid theoretical foundation and strong propaganda skills, making him a perfect fit for the 34th Regiment, strengthening its political work."

"Zhang Chao knows Comrade Wu Guangming?"

"Political Commissar, when the column carried out the new-style military reorganization, it started with the 19th Regiment. Comrade Wu Guangming happened to be serving as a company instructor in the 19th Regiment at the time, so he participated in the new-style military reorganization. Later, Comrade Lu Weisheng was transferred from the company instructor position to the Propaganda Department because of Comrade Wu Guangming's report on the new-style military reorganization."

"I see."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Wei Hongjun is now the political commissar of the 8th Column, commanding over 20,000 main troops. Including local forces, the 8th Column currently manages 30,000 to 40,000 troops. Its base area currently covers over ten counties.

It can be said that there are dozens of cadres above the regimental level.

There are even more battalion-level cadres.

Wei Hongjun couldn't possibly know everything about everyone. But after listening to Chen Zhonghe's words, he realized that these were the political cadres who emerged during the new-style military reorganization movement. It should be said that Wei Hongjun's implementation of the new-style military reorganization in the 8th Column had produced many outstanding political cadres.

Zhang Chao was a capable general in the 8th Column's new-style military reorganization.

Of course I am familiar with the key cadres.

Wei Hongjun thought about it and nodded, "I can agree to this. Let Wu Guangming go with you to the 34th Regiment. What position do you and Zhang Chao want Wu Guangming to take in the 34th Regiment?"

"Director of the regiment's political department."

"Row."

Wei Hongjun agreed with Chen Zhonghe's idea.

However, Wei Hongjun said seriously, "I promised Comrade Wu Guangming that I would go with you to the 34th Regiment because the 34th Regiment has always had ideological problems. But I have to warn you here, and tell Zhang Chao when you go back. I asked you to go to the 34th Regiment to improve its combat effectiveness, not to engage in small-scale activities. When you go there, maintain good unity and don't cause any chaos. The column trusts the 34th Regiment. Although the 34th Regiment suffered a defeat this time, the officers and soldiers of the 34th Regiment all came from the Jidong Uprising. The 34th Regiment is a heroic unit. Do you understand what I mean?"

Wei Hongjun gave Chen Zhonghe a shot of prevention.

Wei Hongjun could acknowledge the existence of factions. After all, during the war behind enemy lines, sometimes one couldn't wait for orders from superiors and had to make their own decisions. Later, superiors would tacitly accept this situation for the sake of stability. Thus, factions gradually emerged.

But acknowledging the existence of the mountain does not mean that Wei Hongjun supports its development and growth.

Chen Zhonghe assured him, "Commissar, don't worry. Comrade Zhang Chao and I will definitely do a good job in the work of the 34th Regiment, and we will definitely unite the Jidong cadres."

"I'll see how you perform."

Chapter 271 Wolf Valley Meeting

1939 7 Month 30 Day.

The Pingbei detachment held a meeting in Lang'er Valley, a place between Wanping and Changping.

This place is the headquarters of the Pingbei Detachment.

34团和35团连以上的干部都参加了这一次的会议。不过34团和35团所有参加会议的干部表情都不好看。一个是因为这一次反扫荡34团、35团表现都不好，昌宛山根据地丢了一大半。现在还在34团和35团控制之下的根据地总共只有5个区，还有四五个区成为了游击区，剩下十多个区都被日军占领。

In comparison, only the base near Xuanhua was lost in the Xuanzhuohuai base area. Furthermore, during this counter-mopping-up operation, the 16th and 18th Regiments killed Abe Nobuhide, the Major General and Commander of the nd Independent Mixed Brigade. This also inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese and puppet troops involved in the operation.

Compared with the Chanan Detachment, the Pingbei Detachment not only did not cause much casualties to the Japanese army, but also lost so many bases.

The second reason was that the 34th and 35th Regiments suffered heavy casualties.

Many members of the 34th and 35th Regiments had come from the Yidong Uprising, many of them relatives and friends. However, many of them had died in this counter-mopping-up operation, leaving them feeling very depressed.

Xiao Yongshi said, "As the commander and political commissar, I bear the greatest responsibility for the defeat suffered by our Pingbei detachment this time. I have already made a self-criticism at the column meeting, and I will do so here again today. As the commander and political commissar, I failed to improve the combat effectiveness of the main force, nor did I improve the combat effectiveness of the local forces in the base area. I also failed to make a good plan for the tactical deployment of this anti-mopping-up operation. This is all my responsibility as the commander and political commissar.

The Pingbei Detachment performed so poorly that Commander Xiao Yongshi could only make self-criticisms everywhere.

He made self-criticisms at the Column Party Committee, at the Column Cadres Meeting, and again at the Pingbei Detachment Meeting. But Xiao Yongshi had no choice. After all, he was the commander of the Pingbei Detachment.

He and Zhang Zihua, the commander of the Cha'nan Detachment, were both deputy commanders of the Eighth Column. Zhang Zihua performed very well in the Cha'nan Detachment, while he suffered such a disastrous defeat in the Pingbei Detachment.

"The column leaders and the detachment believed that the failure was mainly due to the fact that the 34th and 35th Regiments had received training but had never fought a real major battle, especially against the Japanese regular army.

Therefore, their combat effectiveness was still a problem. Faced with the sudden raid by the Japanese army, the 34th and 35th Regiments were not able to adapt.

Xiao Yongshi actually wanted to attack the 34th and 35th Regiments.

Xiao Yongshi believed that many of the grassroots cadres in the 34th and 35th Regiments were unqualified. The military cadres, in particular, were incompetent. The Jidong Guerrilla Corps was essentially no different from a peasant uprising army, akin to the peasant self-defense forces of the Red Army era, or perhaps even the Red Guards. The only difference was that the officers and soldiers were not peasants, but mostly students.

They were passionate and willing to sacrifice their lives for the anti-Japanese cause.

However, the grassroots military cadres of these troops had never fought in a war and had not learned how to fight. It was only because of the flames of the Jidong Uprising that they were quickly promoted to grassroots military cadres. Although the column later underwent training and received basic infantry tactics training, they were still a group of rookies and not qualified grassroots commanders. However, in order to appease the Jidong troops, the column almost continued the original structure when it reorganized this unit. There was no adjustment of the Jidong cadres.

The results were hugely problematic.

In fact, there were also some grassroots military officers in other units of the 8th Column who had never fought in combat. They graduated directly from the Cha'nan Cadre School or the Column's Training Team and then served as military commanders in the army. However, their environments were different.

Other units had military officers like this, but their superiors and comrades were all combat-experienced or veterans. They could grow rapidly in this environment, learning from them how to fight in real combat. They could also gradually apply their acquired knowledge on the battlefield, leading to rapid growth. However, officers from the battalion level down in the 34th and 35th Regiments had virtually no combat experience.

What can they learn from each other under such circumstances?

But still the same sentence.

The affairs of the Jidong troops are too sensitive.

They left their homes and came to the Eighth Column base from eastern Hebei. Before the great uprising in eastern Hebei, they were just ordinary citizens and students, not so highly educated. Having suddenly arrived in an unfamiliar place, many officers and soldiers of the eastern Hebei unit liked to stick together.

Therefore, if the problems of the 34th and 35th Regiments are not handled properly, the troops are likely to fall apart.

Therefore, Xiao Yongshi is very cautious.

When summarizing the problems, he still engaged in self-criticism and offered some words of comfort to the 34th and 35th Regiments. But then Xiao Yongshi's expression suddenly grew serious. He said, "However, during this counter-mopping-up operation, our troops still have very serious problems. The most serious problem is that after the 34th Regiment was defeated, the troops were dispersed for a long time, and the cadres of the 34th Regiment were slow to handle matters. As a result, the Japanese army captured Chunhua Fort, and the column was unaware of what had happened. This was a serious dereliction of duty." Comrade Zhang Chao.

“Here. Here.”

"You're the political commissar of the 34th Regiment, and this isn't your first time on the battlefield. But you failed to stabilize the troops, and you didn't report the incident immediately. This allowed the Japanese to advance quickly. If the column hadn't had some directly affiliated troops nearby, the column headquarters would have been wiped out. Tell me, who should bear the responsibility for this?"

"Commander, this responsibility should be borne by me, the regimental political commissar."

"Okay. Now, let me announce the decision of the Column Party Committee. Comrade Zhang Chao is demoted to Deputy Political Commissar of the 34th Regiment. Comrade Zhang Chao, do you have anything to say?"

"Strictly obey orders."

As soon as the punishment was announced, the venue fell silent.

Zhang Chao was a true veteran cadre of the 8th Column. He had been a cadre in the 8th Column before it became an independent detachment, when it was still a guerrilla force in Sheng County. Furthermore, he was a political cadre promoted and trained by Wei Hongjun, the 8th Column's political commissar. During the new-style military reorganization campaign, he was Wei Hongjun's right-hand man. Even for such a loyal cadre, the column directly demoted Zhang Chao this time.

If Zhang Chao can be handled in this way, how should other cadres be handled?

Xiao Yongshi saw that all the cadres were very serious and was very grateful to Wei Hongjun. Because Wei Hongjun used his own cadres to attack, it shocked everyone in the Pingbei detachment.

"Comrades, we are the main force of the Eighth Route Army. If we can't fight, what kind of main force are we? Look at the 34st, 35nd, and 34rd Special Forces Regiments in the column, as well as the New 35st Regiment, Cavalry Regiment, and Special Forces Regiment of the Chadong Detachment. Their performance in this anti-mopping-up operation was even better than that of main forces like our 34th and th Regiments. Therefore, our next mission in the Pingbei Detachment is to train our troops, train them, and make our th and th Regiments have the combat effectiveness of main force regiments. Let me first announce some cadre appointments for the th Regiment."

"A large number of graduates from schools such as the Second Branch of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University and the Yan'an Public School have been assigned to our Eighth Column. Soon they will be assigned to various units and bases. The column needs a cadre to take charge of this matter. After research and decision by the column's Party Committee, Comrade Gui Jiu has been appointed as the head of the Cadre Section of the Column Headquarters. Comrade Gui Jiu will no longer serve as the head of the 34th Regiment."

Wei Hongjun took great pains to appease the Jidong cadres.

In order to force Guijiu to leave his position as head of the 34th Regiment, he was given the important position of Head of the Cadre Department. Honestly, the position of Head of the Cadre Department was a truly important one, holding high rank and power. It was a top-tier position within the headquarters. While still at the regimental level, it held far greater weight than the average head of a regiment.

Gui Jiu didn't say anything.

Ever since the last battle, Guijiu hadn't been able to adjust his mindset. He always felt like he'd killed so many comrades. He even felt like he couldn't face staying in the 34th Regiment anymore, looking at the officers and soldiers there. He always felt like they were laughing at him.

Now the column wanted to adjust his position, and he had no objection.

He accepted the appointment calmly.

The column appointed Comrade Chen Zhonghe, the former deputy chief of staff of the column, as the commander of the 34th Regiment. Comrade Chen Zhonghe served as a squad leader, platoon leader, and company commander during the Red Army period. He participated in the Long March and the Pingxingguan Victory. In the th Squadron of the rd Division, he served as company commander, battalion commander, and chief of staff of the th Squadron. After joining the th Column, he served as the head of the column's training department and the column's deputy chief of staff.

Comrade Chen Zhonghe is highly skilled in commanding troops in combat and developing training plans. The column appointed him as the commander of the 34th Regiment in the hope that he could improve the regiment's combat effectiveness. Comrade Chen Zhonghe, could you please offer your thoughts?

Chen Zhonghe stood up and saluted.

Then he said, "The 34th Regiment is a heroic unit that participated in the great Jidong Uprising. The officers and soldiers of the 34th Regiment are all brave and heroic. However, fighting a war cannot be achieved with enthusiasm alone. Fighting a war is actually a technical job. I have come to the 34th Regiment and will strengthen the training of the troops and improve their combat effectiveness. I hope that the officers and soldiers of the 34th Regiment will join me in making this heroic unit the main force of the 34th Column and the main force of the Eighth Route Army. Let us raise the banner of the Jidong Uprising high and let the spirit of the Jidong Uprising continue."

Although Chen Zhonghe was a military cadre, he spoke very beautifully.