Chapter 54: Before the War 1

  Gao Daquan led over 10,000 men in a majestic procession through the city of Xi'an, which he had just "pacified". Although everyone was still resentful of Gao's previous misdeeds, no one could do anything about it now. He was now acting on orders from the Nationalist Party Central Military Committee to head to Xianyang and Sanyuan County in Shaanxi Province, where he would join forces with three divisions of the Eighth Route Army for reorganization and training!

  On August 22, 1937, the National Government announced that the Red Army would be reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, and on the 25th, the CPC Central Committee issued a reorganization order. Subsequently, troops were successively reorganized and replaced. At that time, the Red Army troops had strong emotions about the replacement, and some people even escaped for this reason. On September 6, Liu Bocheng led his troops to take an oath in San yuan, and at the oath-taking meeting, Liu Bocheng told the Red Army fighters to temporarily put aside their class hatred and prioritize national righteousness. "The badge on our military cap is white, but our hearts will always be red." Then he took off his Red Army cap and put on a yellow military cap with a blue sky and white sun emblem. After the speech, the entire division changed hats together.

  As for other troops, similar scenes of reluctance to change uniforms also emerged. A large number of cadres and soldiers were at a loss, crying out in sorrow: "The Kuomintang white dogs fought with us for ten years, killing many of our comrades. But after all the fighting, we are now being forced to become white dogs ourselves! If we have to wear the blue sky white sun emblem on our caps, it's better to go back home and fight as guerrillas!"

  Ten years of civil war! Ten years of bloody battles! How much hatred is etched in people's minds! Gao Quan is extremely dissatisfied! Just thinking about the scene where his father was killed by the Homecoming Association, his fists clenched tightly, making a cracking sound, and the joints were white with tension! His convulsing face was filled with extreme anger!

  Although they had taken off the Red Army uniform and military cap, the 116th Brigade where Gao Quan was located collectively wore hats with two buttons sewn on them. The Blue Sky White Sun emblem had long been thrown into some corner, and even their uniforms were dyed a muddy gray color. Of course, it was all due to combat needs!

  Although Gao Quan was severely reprimanded by Commander Peng, overnight the entire military camp of over 50,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers adopted the same approach to express their discontent and extreme hatred for the enemy. While national righteousness is something that everyone dare not forget, personal grievances are also not easily forgotten!

  The Red Army's journey was quite special, with over 6,000 soldiers, more than 2,000 Northeastern Army veterans, plus over 1,000 students, and a large number of small departments formed a large army of over 10,000 people! In terms of numbers, it was only slightly less than an Eighth Route Army division. Not to mention their equipment was so enviable! Twelve brand-new Shanxi-made 75mm mountain guns, and a row of sturdy Shanxi mules pulling artillery. The sound of horseshoes echoed every day on the outskirts of the training ground, kicking up clouds of dust as they went by.

  "This 116th division equipment is so good! I remember our entire Red Army only had one mountain gun, and it's still defending the Party Central Committee in Yan'an!" As a battalion commander who was suddenly demoted to a low-ranking soldier, Wang Si Hai did not oppose this reorganization, but the military rank he had fought hard for in the bloody battles was gone, which made him very unhappy. Although his regimental commander was now a deputy battalion commander.

  Next to him, squatting together, was Li Zige, who shared the same fate. Seeing Wang Si Hai's envious look, Li Zige naturally said with disdain: "What's so surprising about this? You don't know much!" The 17-year-old boy said in an old and arrogant tone: "The commander of the 116th Division is only 18 years old! From a few hundred people to now commanding over ten thousand soldiers! In two years, he fought the Nationalists to tears in southern Shaanxi! He established seven counties of Soviet areas in southern Shaanxi!"

  King Si Hai turned his head in surprise, stunned for a long time. Then he looked at the 116th Travel Cannon Troops rushing by in the distance with great envy. The fiery expression and eyes were no less than seeing a naked beauty!

  At this moment, Gao Quan is leading the second battalion commander, Huang Chu, Fu Yang and Jiuzhe to inspect the troops that are training in high spirits. The military training of the 116th Brigade is not like other troops, which only train in stabbing and other projects. Gao Quan has also added push-ups, sit-ups, stone locks, heavy long-distance running, and even invited a knife master from the Northwest Army! The long-term guerrilla warfare and the harsh life of hunger and cold have severely damaged the physical quality of the soldiers. To this end, Gao Quan not only provided a large amount of meat and sufficient supplies to the soldiers in terms of food, but also sought to make them strong in just a few months. Moreover, in order to counter Japan's extremely fierce stabbing technique, Gao Quan even learned the sharp knife skills of the Northwest Army with his own body! The big knives on everyone's back are also a major feature of the 116th Brigade!

  At this moment, the spacious playground lacks the Snow Shame Team composed of old Northeastern Army soldiers and the Supplement Team composed of student soldiers, because they are all unique semi-trained troops in the 116th Brigade!

  Watching the soldiers one by one on the training ground, like tigers and dragons, advancing agilely and neatly in the standard 400-meter hurdles, Gaoquan's heart is unspeakably delighted, sweeter than honey!

  Not far from them, on several empty grounds, more than 2,000 old Northeastern Army soldiers were carrying out the movement of telling their grievances and the three checks and three rectifications under the leadership of officers formed by the Red Army. In the words of Gao Quan, this military campaign, combined with the Communist Party's unparalleled political propaganda capabilities, was simply an invincible tool for rectifying the army! No matter what kind of captive soldier, or surrendered soldier, rebel soldier, if they could still not give their hearts to the Communist Party under this powerful movement, it would truly be a wonder of the world!

  The sound of wailing and crying continuously triggered a chain reaction among the people around, men with tears not lightly shed. At this moment, for these thousands of children who have been away from home, it is no longer what they used to hold onto. The soldiers who joined the Eighth Route Army under the patriotic atmosphere of "the country is broken but the mountains and rivers remain" are now deeply feeling the difference between their past and present days, which were caused by those big landlords and little Japan! Although it is said that now is the national united front against Japan, and we should unite with all who can be united, that deep-seated hatred towards the big landlords and the big bourgeoisie is still deeply buried in their hearts!

  The troops with a unified understanding naturally had high morale and combat effectiveness. The slogan "Overthrow Japanese imperialism" echoed through the skies!

  Huang was obviously very unhappy at this moment. In order to form the Snow Shame Regiment, he reluctantly sent away a large number of political workers and combat backbones from the troops, excellent commanders. It's not easy to instruct the camp to gather some old soldiers with potential in his regiment for pre-war emergency training, and after a few months, a large number of excellent commanders returned to the troops. But unexpectedly, the meat dumpling hit the dog and never came back! Nearly 100 old soldiers suddenly merged into the supplement team with the instructor camp and formed the 116th Brigade's Instructor Regiment!

  Just thinking about those delicate students, who can't even stand steadily after walking a few dozen miles, makes Huang Chu's heart feel like it's going to jump out!

  Huang Chu, who had finally mustered up the courage, saw Gao Quan standing in front of him with a pleased expression. Under the provocation of Jiuzhe and others, he said hesitantly: "Commander! First, there was the Snowy Shame Regiment, now there's the Instructional Regiment, all of a sudden they've transferred away all the backbone of our troops! How are we going to fight in the future? Now the troops are filled with complaints! The grassroots cadres are severely insufficient!"

  Gao Quan's sharp and stern gaze swept over Huang Chu, and the smile on his face instantly turned icy!

  "Besides... besides..." Huang Chu, who was so anxious that he couldn't get the words out, casually said: "And those student soldiers are useless! At most they can only teach books and be cultural instructors. When it comes to fighting, we still have to rely on us old veterans! Can they fight with their delicate skin? They're seriously holding back our training progress!"

  "Damn you!" Gaoduan kicked Huang Chu to the ground with one foot!

  "You little scoundrel! What's all this murmuring about others? I think it's just you alone!" Gao Quan glared coldly at the people around him, causing several of them to feel a chill run down their spines. Even Zhang Ming, the political commissar sent by the Central Committee, felt a shiver run down his spine!

  "Listen up! The instructor is going to make good use of you! You're just a few officers, what's the big deal? Look at your petty expression!" Gaoduan pulled Huang Chu, who was covered in dust, up from the ground with one hand and looked at him with disdain.

  "Let me tell you! In three or four months, my training team will be ready! Each platoon will have two deputy platoon leaders, and each company will have two deputy company instructors. The configuration of the battalion and above is triple!" Before everyone's shock had time to sink in...

  "Sneeringly, he said: 'Heh heh! You know now! Two or three times the configuration! At that time, one move of the troops! As long as the personnel and ammunition are sufficient! Our brigade can expand two or three times! That old Chiang Kai-shek still wants to control our Communist Party's development through organizational structure! At that time, I'll lead a team of one million people to Nanjing! Go have tea and chat with old Chiang!'"

  Gao Daquan's move has stunned everyone! Who would have thought that Gao Daquan could be so meticulous, not to mention the fact that he brought a large army to have tea with Old Chiang, which made everyone laugh out loud!

  Jiuzhe forcibly restrained his smile and said with difficulty: "General! Taking a million people to have tea with Old Chiang, wouldn't that make his bald head worryingly grow hair again?"

  As soon as he uttered the words "nine discounts", he realized that he was wrong, terribly wrong. The crowd, who had been laughing uncontrollably and holding their stomachs in pain, severely beat him up.

  Gao Gang wasn't a petty person either, and he readily shared the new military training methods he had plagiarized from Liu Deng's army and the reserve cadre system he had copied from Su Yu with other units of the Eighth Route Army, and also sent them to the Party Central Committee. This casual move not only created great disasters for the Japanese and the Nationalist Party later on but also enabled the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army to develop rapidly and vigorously!