Chapter 34: Hundredfold Forging

  "We can't win battles with the troops in their current state." Gao Quan couldn't help but sigh as he saw the scattered, undisciplined soldiers standing and sitting at will, laughing and chatting.

  Although there were a few fists under Gaoquan's command, after all, they were in the minority. The vast majority of troops had just escaped from the guerrilla state and hadn't been reorganized for long. They needed to be reorganized, their formations disrupted, and new combat units established with old soldiers as the backbone. With the old leading the new, they would have to fight several battles before it was possible to forge a truly powerful iron-blooded army!

  Poor equipment, can be captured from the enemy, poor military quality, poor combat quality, can be made up through continuous fighting and training, but always lacking in combat spirit troops, especially those who fled from the enemy's encirclement in a daze, even if led by Gao Daguang to win battle after battle, did not make them escape from being frightened out of their wits by blood.

  Gao Quan and Wei Lao's primary task was to assign complete instructors, guides, political commissars, etc. to each unit, especially the branch built on the company level that Gao Quan had the most profound influence on! Only through party education can these poor men be tightly tied together, united, and dealt a crushing blow to the enemy!

  Gao Quanwan not only had to face the two difficult problems mentioned above, but more importantly, he also had to solve the guerrilla habits within his troops! Because Gao Quanwan was originally such a person, so what's above is emulated below, and what's good is kept while the average is handed over. What's even worse is that during battles, they were timid and afraid of death, fearing that their troops would suffer losses, and actually retreated on their own at critical moments in the sniper war, although it didn't have a bad impact on the overall situation, but Gao Quanwan clearly felt that if a country has no laws, it will not stand; if an army has no laws, it will not be formed!

  "Shooting the head is not the goal! But it's to warn us many comrades who have just come out of the guerrilla team! We are already regular troops! Already the main force, no longer a guerrilla team that fights at will! Many times we fight not for immediate small gains, but for political purposes! Sometimes even unprofitable battles, but this must be fought! Our army is forever under the command of the party, and the party's orders must be obeyed!"

  Gao Quan's eyes were filled with tears as he spoke at the emergency meeting of representatives, his voice trembling with grief and indignation. The glitter in his eyes was a manifestation of the unbearable pain in his heart. Just because they had violated military discipline, some comrades who had followed him from Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces were killed, including those who had been close to him and had always surrounded him. For the sake of the future of this troop, he had no choice but to kill them!

  Just yesterday, when the main force of the 74th Division withdrew from Niuzipeng and prepared to avoid the enemy's tens of thousands of main forces, and turned into the mountainous area at the junction of Hubei and Shaanxi for a while, the two battalions responsible for the rear guard of the 228th Regiment suddenly retreated from their positions under the heavy siege of three Nationalist troops. Maybe they might be annihilated like the regiment in "Assembly Number", but as soldiers and communists, they must obey orders until death!

  Looking at the casualties, heavy losses, faces covered in gunpowder, tattered clothes, and dark red blood-stained uniforms and gray bandages. Gao Daquan patted every soldier on the shoulder with great embarrassment, his face filled with guilt, a kind of torture in his heart. But among the two companies, except for the officers and party members who were killed or wounded, all the others were taken away!

  Gao Quan looked at the 7 or 8 lightly wounded officers and party members who were tied up on the execution ground, but in his heart he was more resolute and determined! If this matter allowed the mold to sprout and take root in the troops, then it would be a disaster for this newly established unit! The deep-seated sense of injustice and indignation was etched on Gao Quan's face, along with those familiar faces. After killing so many people, the army's morale and combat effectiveness also rose rapidly!

  In the mountains of Shanyang, Zhenan, Zhexi and Ningxian, the 74th Division galloped back and forth, consolidating and spreading the spirit of the Soviet area and communism. Along the way, they killed all the landlords and wealthy merchants who were guilty of heinous crimes, while imposing fines and confiscating property from those who were less culpable. They then distributed this land and wealth to many extremely impoverished peasants. However, many of these peasants were still intimidated by their former landlords and would secretly return the confiscated property and deeds at night, forcing them to fawn upon and flatter their former oppressors like dogs.

  However, the actions of Gao Guanzhong and others greatly shocked the local gentry, causing a huge stir in the countryside outside the county seat. In the Nationalist Party's newspapers and in the hearts of the peasants, the Red Army's prestige was greatly enhanced! Especially for the small local militia groups, they were eliminated one by one like hotcakes, leaving many county magistrates who had received bribes to petition, "The local situation is unstable, and the people are suffering!"

  It was at the end of autumn, in the season when heavy snow sealed off the mountains, that the four newly-established regiments of the 115th Division of the 40th Army, accompanied by the re-established Shaanxi First Garrison Brigade (which had been completely annihilated), pressed into the Hubei-Shaanxi mountainous region. They attempted to thoroughly eliminate this "troublemaker" with the help of the six county security teams, so that they could have a peaceful and stable New Year without being suddenly scolded by their superiors over the phone until they were left feeling utterly humiliated!

  The originally small Soviet area was suddenly divided in two, and the high-ranking officials once again faced this large army of tens of thousands, but there was no way to prepare for crossing mountains and rivers, shaking off these enemies! With fewer people, rotten guns, poor morale, and unfamiliar terrain, it would be foolish to engage in a fierce battle with the enemy! After all, the Red Army is famous for its iron feet. Walking a few more steps on mountain roads won't make much of a difference anyway!

  Since the time when two regiments of the enemy suddenly attacked, Gao Quan has deeply felt the inadequacy of his intelligence work. Many times, even if they obtained intelligence, it was difficult to send it into the mountains, so Gao Quan sent out a special task force that had been hiding in secret, led by Zhe Xiao, to enter various county towns to do intelligence work. Anyway, they were all Jianghu people who had been recovered by Gao Quan, and their previous occupations were also among the three teachings and nine flows, and they also had excellent martial arts skills, plus strange doors and techniques, so it was natural for them to take root and survive within the enemy's internal without any problems.

  With the comprehensive and powerful night color bringing them weapons, reconnaissance, assassination, intelligence, infiltration into the enemy's interior, troop movements, and a single-line connection of espionage network under Gaoquan's command, in just half a month, it was also quite impressive, although the entire network had only eleven or twelve people in a county town.

  Facing the seventy-fourth division that was scattered all over the mountain and occasionally came down to fight, Wu Anguo, who had been defeated by Gao Quanquan before, was depressed. Originally, it was a difficult task to get from his brother-in-law, wanting to avenge his previous defeat, but Gao Quanquan just let him catch no shadow. Either there was a poor guy whose leg was broken by the beast trap, or that guy fell into a pit full of sharp wooden stakes, or he accidentally stepped on a landmine and flew up to the sky!

  Every day, the casualties of over a dozen people are testing the patience of Wu An Guo, and also testing the patience of Gao Quan. One is facing the landmine-ridden Soviet Union, which has no way to start, even if it breaks through the minefield, it can only find a village that has become a ruin, and every day, the casualties of over a dozen people, although not fatal, are making soldiers feel unprecedented fear! If not guided properly, the mutation is right in front of us!

  One is the constant worry of a special unit of thirty or forty men, who are new to bloodshed! It's okay to fight defensive battles with old and new troops, but going to lay mines and set traps around enemy camps at night, harassing the enemy's camp. It seems like nothing big, but it deeply tormented Wu An Guo's anxious spirit, scorching countless soldiers' patience and perseverance! Bit by bit, melting away! Leaving no trace!

  Gaoquan yet from new soldier excitement and calm combat state, looked out infinite hope!