Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Li Shiping had some doubts.

Wei Hongjun looked at Li Shiping and shook his head. Li Shiping was okay at propaganda and organization, but he was terrible at intrigue. Wei Hongjun explained, "Did you observe Feng Wannian just now? He's very anxious. Feng Anmin must be urgently moving into the county due to some issues. Since they're anxious, you can't blame us for asking for too much. And Feng Anmin definitely has a secret arsenal."

While Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were comforting Li Shiping, Feng Wannian also rode back to Beilingzhuang at full speed.

Feng Anmin is in his forties.

I was also walking around nervously.

Seeing Feng Wannian coming over, he immediately stepped forward and said, "Wannian, how is it? Did they agree?"

"Uncle, they refused to adapt it."

"As expected. Intelligence indicates that the Eighth Route Army troops arriving in Sheng County are from the 115th Division. This 115th Division is the Jiangxi branch of the Zhu-Mao Red Army, so it's not that easy to lure them here. Where's the county seat?"

"They said we could leave, but they wanted us to take our belongings."

"what?"

"Five hundred rifles, but not the old, worn-out ones. And thirty thousand rounds of 6.5mm ammunition, and five thousand dollars. Then they'll evacuate the county."

"puff"

Feng Anmin opened his eyes wide, wiped the tea from his mouth and asked, "What did you say? How much do they want?"

"Five hundred guns, thirty thousand rounds of 65mm bullets, five thousand dollars."

"They must be crazy because they are poor. With so many good things, I can form a group myself. They are used to beating up the local tyrants in Jiangxi, so they think I am a local tyrant."

Feng Anmin was really angry.

Although I have some things, what they ask for is too much.

"Uncle, what should we do?"

Feng Anmin thought for a moment and said, "We must take the county back. Commander Yan's men are patrolling all over the place and have already contacted us. I want to show them that I led the National Salvation Army to capture the county. Now the whole of Shanxi is in chaos. The main force has been retreating again and again and has already crossed the Yellow River. The entire enemy rear is full of Eighth Route Army troops. If the Eighth Route Army troops continue to expand like this, when Commander Yan returns, will Shanxi still belong to him? You say that at this time I have captured a county behind enemy lines and organized two regiments of the National Salvation Army. How will Commander Yan reward me then?"

By then, the areas east and south of Datong might even be under my control."

This is why Feng Anmin is anxious.

The failure of the Xinkou Campaign and the fall of Taiyuan made Yan Xishan extremely anxious. Shanxi was a territory Yan Xishan had governed for over twenty years; how could he possibly give it to someone else? The Japanese were now powerful, and Yan Xishan wanted to avoid their attack. However, his greatest concern was the Eighth Route Army.

Less than three months after crossing the Yellow River, the Eighth Route Army not only did not get wiped out by the Japanese army in Shanxi as expected, but it actually grew stronger. In addition, the local party committee of the Eighth Route Army began to become active in Shanxi, and the Eighth Route Army began to dispatch troops to various places to expand its military.

For example, the 115th Division's Independent Regiment, also a former unit of Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun, had around 1700 men when they crossed the Yellow River. Less than three months later, the unit had grown to to men. Its designation was also changed from Independent Regiment to Independent Division.

The same is true for the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.

The force, which had just over 2000 men at its inception, had expanded to 115 men within a month. The main force of the th Division continued its march south, recruiting soldiers wherever it arrived. The pace of expansion was truly astonishing.

Therefore, Yan Xishan also began to pay attention to the enemy's rear. Yan Xishan couldn't let the enemy's rear become the Eighth Route Army base. If that happened, would Shanxi still have a foothold? So he sent people to inspect the enemy's rear to see the situation.

Feng Anmin was only a deputy county magistrate, but he had great ambitions in the troubled times. He wanted to perform well in front of Yan Xishan and strive for promotion.

"But what are they asking for?"

"I'm asking for a ridiculous price, but I'll pay you back. I also told them I want the bodies of Japanese soldiers and some Japanese firearms. About 200 firearms, up to 3000 rounds of ammunition, and 1000 dollars. I want the negotiations to be concluded within three days, and after that, they'll have to leave the county, and our troops will be stationed there."

Chapter 055 Independent Division

Feng Anmin was very anxious.

Wei Hongjun, on the other hand, was not in a hurry and negotiated slowly with Feng Wannian.

In addition to the county town, Feng Anmin also wanted the guerrilla army to provide Japanese corpses, or Japanese uniforms and weapons.

Of course we can’t give them the good ones, but we can give them the ones that are seriously damaged.

But we can’t give it to them for free.

Wei Hongjun's attitude was that the Japanese army had to exchange three damaged rifles for a new one and bring five rounds of ammunition. Feng Anmin was of course angry, but he was eager to enter the county town and show Yan Xishan his ability.

Therefore, Feng Anmin was at an absolute disadvantage in the negotiations.

About two days later, the guerrillas and Feng Wannian concluded negotiations. Feng Wannian offered 1300 rifles, rounds of ammunition, and silver dollars. The guerrillas, in turn, promised not to publicize their capture of Sheng County.

Afterwards, the guerrilla army slowly withdrew from the county town as agreed.

This trip to the county seat had made the guerrillas suddenly the biggest landlords. They had about a thousand men and only a few guns when they arrived, but after reaching the county seat, they had acquired over six hundred rifles of various types, four grenade launchers, one heavy machine gun, five light machine guns, and thirty-two pistols of various types.

We got a lot of grenades and bullets.

Really rich.

Of course, more than 400 people were mobilized in the county to join the guerrilla army, including many talented people of all kinds. Some were preparing to serve as doctors, some were preparing to become teachers, and many blacksmiths were invited to join the guerrilla army.

These are all talents for the guerrilla army.

Not to mention the over 300 young men who had come from all over to join the army. However, this also indicated that the guerrilla army would be very busy in the future, as just reorganizing the troops would take more than a day or two.

The most direct impact of troop expansion is on logistics.

Wei Hongjun needs to continue to promote rent and interest reduction. Wei Hongjun is now eyeing Yangquan Town and Xiaquan Town. As long as Yangquan Town and Xiaquan Town are taken, almost half of Sheng County will be under the leadership of the guerrilla army.

The guerrilla army has a good mass base in Yangquan Town and Xiaquan Town.

Because the guerrillas had eliminated the Zheng family, the largest landlord and local bully in Yangquan and Xiaquan towns, and their land was in the hands of the guerrillas, it would be very convenient to reduce rent and interest in this area.

Just when the guerrilla army was busy, Yang Quanwu was also surprised to see the headquarters of the independent division that had just captured Lingqiu.

"These two guys have made great progress."

Yang Quanwu couldn't help laughing.

Several leaders at the division headquarters were present. They were initially incredulous at the news relayed by the local Party, but soon became overjoyed. After the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was established, the independent division's mission was to operate in northeastern Shanxi.

Among the defense zones divided by the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, the independent division is a division.

The first division is active in the north of Fuping.

The Independent Division currently has nearly 10,000 troops, which seems to be a large number of troops. However, in reality, like Wei Hongjun and his men, there are too many new recruits, and the combat effectiveness has not been greatly improved. During this period, the Independent Division swept across the area and captured several county towns in succession because the Japanese troops behind enemy lines were limited.

But since the establishment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, the Japanese army has begun to gather troops and prepare to carry out a sweep behind enemy lines.

At this time, the independent division also felt the pressure.

At this time, they suddenly heard that there was such a force under the command of the Independent Division. How could the leaders of the Independent Division not be happy? Because according to the news from the local party, the Sheng County guerrilla army had a thousand people.

Yang Quanwu is very familiar with Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun.

When the Eighth Route Army was reorganized, the Independent Regiment was directly under the 115th Division. The army lacked battalion-level units, and the regimental headquarters directly managed the companies. Furthermore, Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were both former subordinates of Yang Quanwu.

When Chen Geng was the commander of the 1st Red Division, Yang Quanwu was the political commissar of the 1st Red Division. At that time, Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were both in the 1st Red Division.

"Commander, I think we should confirm it. The news from the local party is unclear after all. They might have exaggerated it. According to the soldiers who later returned to the 9th Company, the 9th Company was attacked by a Japanese squad and the entire company was dispersed. Even if they went to Sheng County, there wouldn't be many of them. In just over two months, they had a thousand men and guns. This is no small matter."

Luo Renfa, director of the Political Department, spoke.

It is a good thing that the guerrilla army is strong and powerful.

But it must be accurate. Only with accurate intelligence can we command in the future. If the intelligence is inaccurate, it will be difficult to handle. Of course, as Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun's old leader, Luo Renfa also considered them.

Lying about military intelligence is no small matter.

"I also think we should send someone to confirm. Even if they have a thousand men and guns, most of them are likely new recruits, so their combat effectiveness will be a problem. They are probably extremely short of cadres."

Xiong Tao, Chief of Staff of the Independent Division, spoke.

Yang Quanwu thought for a moment and said, "That's right. We really should understand their current specific military strength. I was originally planning to transfer some troops to Sheng County to form a guerrilla force and open up an anti-Japanese base in Sheng County. Now that we have a foundation, it's even better."

"Commander, there is another tricky problem."

"how?"

"According to local Party intelligence, the guerrilla army has a thousand men and guns. They've captured Shengxian County and seized a large amount of ammunition. They've continued to recruit, and probably now have around 1500 men. That's the size of a regiment. Anyway, now that they have men and guns, they should be given a position. But Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were previously company commanders and instructors, so we can't let them serve as regimental-level cadres now. After our independent regiment later restored its battalion-level organization, those battalion-level cadres are now only at the regimental level."

Xiong Tao was a little embarrassed.

The level issue is not easy to fix.

While the Independent Regiment has grown rapidly, reaching nearly 10,000 soldiers, this strength, in addition to its own recruits, is largely comprised of reorganized local anti-Japanese forces. Many of these reorganized anti-Japanese forces were fully formed. Therefore, despite the Independent Regiment's elevation to an independent division, the rate of advancement for its officers is limited. Most of the former company-level officers are currently hovering around battalion level.

But Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were in trouble.

The two of them had formed their own unit after losing contact with the main force. Now, it was the size of a regiment, perhaps even a large regiment. So, how to treat this unit, or how to arrange for Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun, became a major problem.

When Yang Quanwu heard Xiong Tao's worry, he just waved his hand.

He said nonchalantly, "What time is it now? We are fighting behind enemy lines. We don't have time to worry about so many things. Now is not the time to judge by seniority. Whoever has the ability will go up, whoever can lead the troops will go up. If my independent division had not led thousands of troops in a short period of time, would it have become an independent division now? In the entire Eighth Route Army, we are the first to be promoted to a division. I am the only capable person here, and no one is allowed to touch it.

Whoever has the ability will be in power."

The independent regiment was upgraded to an independent division, which caused a huge uproar.

The Eighth Route Army headquarters upgraded the regiment to an independent one because it was the fastest-growing unit among all the Eighth Route Army units. Within three months of crossing the Yellow River, it had already grown to nearly 10,000 troops. Therefore, it was the first to be upgraded to a division.

Of course, this appointment was also opposed by many people.

The Nationalist government, in particular, was extremely vocal in its opposition. They believed the Eighth Route Army was arbitrarily expanding its forces, and they consistently protested this to Yan'an. Consequently, some in Yan'an recently expressed opposition to the independent regiment's elevation to division status. Yan'an's stance was simple: expansion was acceptable, but not so blatant.

But Yang Quanwu didn't care.

Yang Quanwu himself was a well-rounded man, both military and politically gifted, with exceptional abilities in recruiting troops and building bases. Therefore, he greatly favored officers who could recruit troops and fight. Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were his old subordinates, and now that they had brought him such honor, Yang Quanwu was delighted.

Even the guerrilla army established by the two of them will be of great benefit to the future development of the independent division.

"My idea is to give them a detachment designation. Since their situation is special, we can give them an independent detachment designation. Of course, we still need to first determine the specific strength of the Sheng County guerrilla army. Political Commissar, what do you think?"

Yang Quanwu was the top military and political leader of the independent division, serving as both division commander and political commissar. However, after the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was established, Yang Quanwu also served as commander of the First Division. However, he did not concurrently serve as political commissar, as Deng Guo was the political commissar of the First Division.

The relationship between the two is average, but this kind of problem still cannot bypass Deng Guo.

"Yes. Although Sheng County has been overlooked, its location is actually very important. Several of our First Division's defense zones are related to Sheng County. The future development of the Cha (Chahar) South and Ping (Beiping) West bases will require Sheng County to be very important."

"In that case, Director Luo, you should go. You were the one who recruited these two guys into the revolutionary ranks, so it's appropriate for you to go."

"it is good."

"and many more."

Chapter 056: Responding to public expectations

"Political Commissar, I'm wondering if we could have Director Luo bring along the cadres from Sheng and Xining counties who are currently undergoing training in Lingqiu."

"You think that's okay?"

Deng Guo was also an excellent cadre in both military and political fields.