Volume 1: Rebirth in the Republic of China Chapter 60: Half a Year Later

  In August 1936, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, western suburbs of the 318 Brigade stationed.

  After nearly a year of training, the direct team has formed a huge combat force. They have undergone systematic training in reconnaissance, blasting, hand-to-hand combat, stabbing, assassination, ambush, rescue, and sniping, and have formed ten combat squads. Each squad consists of a machine gunner, sniper, observer, blaster, and communicator, used to complete various arduous tasks.

  During this period, as the war drew closer, Wang Mingyu's training also intensified. In addition to the directly affiliated team and guard company, the training of other battalions and companies was also continuously improved. The benefit of systematic training lies in that no matter who is in what position, they all know what to do and how to do it. The new recruits of each battalion now have formed tactics, except for not having experienced real combat. However, the 318th Regiment still has its weaknesses, which is that its heavy firepower is not good enough. Currently, there is no way to make up for this, as mortars are available in the warehouses of Northern Jiangsu Province, but anti-tank guns and field heavy artillery have not been equipped yet. It's not that Wang Mingyu can't afford it, but rather that these things are simply unbuyable.

  If possible, Wang Mingyu even wanted to buy an airplane and train his own flight personnel. However, he had no experience in this area and could only ask Wang Jie to find retired pilots in the United States and buy them at a high price to train his own personnel. Wang Mingyu, who was not hesitant, directly sent a telegram to the United States and let Wang Jie handle it as he saw fit. Wang Jie, of course, did his best and quickly found 8 retired pilots, who were brought to the 318th Regiment at a high price.

  The flying squadron established by Wang Mingyu is currently in a pitiful state, with only 8 American instructors and 32 recruited flight training personnel, but no planes. Wang Mingyu said that they would have to go ask the Japanese for planes later. The American compatriots who came with full confidence were disappointed, as without planes, it was like discussing military tactics on paper, lacking practical significance. They could only talk about how to operate the plane, and unexpected situations or emergencies could only be described in words, but not truly grasped by those who had never actually flown a plane.

  However, Wang Mingyu emphasized to several foreign instructors that it's good that there are no planes now, but if everyone lays a solid foundation now, once they have planes in the future, they can quickly get familiar with them and form combat effectiveness. He spent money to invite them to do things, just for the sake of future battles, so he hopes they can understand his kindness. However, this small flight team is also quite capable, currently people in the 318th regiment only know that there are a few foreigners here, but don't know what they are doing, followed by a group of people, everyone feels inexplicable.

  The artillery of the 318th Regiment currently has only one battalion, and there are only a dozen or so mortars, with insufficient ammunition. Once the battle starts, the artillery battalion can only support one or two regiments, and it is impossible to support all four regiments at the same time. Even if they were divided among each regiment, that would be an average of only 4 guns per regiment. Originally, the lethality of mortars was not great, and without being able to form a scale, they are essentially useless.

  Wang Mingyu is also worried about this matter. Currently, the heavy artillery in the field, although the Ministry of National Defense has some, can basically only be allocated to units at the division level, and most are allocated to the Central Army. Other troops have some configurations, but very few, which can be described as negligible. Japan's greatest advantage is its air superiority, heavy firepower, and mechanization. It can be said that Wang Mingyu's current combat effectiveness is quite strong, but since it has not undergone true battle baptism, it can only be considered a second-rate unit.

  The problem of the cannon, Wang Mingyu is thinking of a way, this thing is related to the future of the whole regiment. Currently, Wang Mingyu has dispatched two directly affiliated squads led by Huang Boxiong to the secret warehouse in Subei, bringing radios with them. The approximate location has been told to him, and when the time comes, let them contact Zhao Guotang on their own and require Huang Boxiong to be stationed long-term at the secret warehouse in Subei, unite with Zhao Guotang, continuously expand his own strength, eliminate the surrounding bandits, etc. In addition, Wang Mingyu secretly appointed Huang Boxiong as the commander of the 5th Regiment of the 318 Brigade, expanding the troops, currently hiding in the Lianyungang area, specially trained by Huang Boxiong, waiting for Wang Mingyu to contact him.

  Regarding the mortar, have Zhao Guotang secretly transport it to Ningbo. The route has already been determined, which is the same as last time. Also, ensure sufficient ammunition is provided. Additionally, send over a portion of AK rifles, bullets and medicine to equip the troops.

  If history had not deviated, there would have been less than a year left before the Japanese invasion of China. Since Wang Mingyu's unit was used to suppress the Communist Party, but when Wang Mingyu arrived, it was already the end of the suppression period. The Central Red Army had successfully gathered in Shaanxi and began its eastern campaign, actively calling for unity against Japan and implementing the second KMT-CPC cooperation. Under such a large background, it is impossible to suppress the Communist Party again. Therefore, Wang Mingyu also breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that one day he would suddenly receive an order to suppress the Communist Party, fearing that he could not bear it and went directly to Shaanxi.

  However, Wang Mingyu also knew that the Xi'an Incident was imminent, and General Zhang Xueliang and Vice Chairman Zhou were secretly negotiating. Wang Mingyu couldn't be foolish enough to expose them in order to gain merit. In his heart, he also hoped for cooperation between the KMT and the CCP against external enemies. Although he had completely lost faith in the KMT's corruption, there were still many patriotic soldiers at the grassroots level of the KMT army. The corruption at the top did not represent the corruption at the bottom. Therefore, Wang Mingyu believed that he could control his own troops, and this was also what he wanted - from now on, his troops would only have their own voice, and when he said to attack someone, they would attack, and would never be controlled by a single order from the Ministry of National Defense.

  The high mountain of the Intelligence Section has been teaching all members of the direct team to learn radio usage and other skills since returning from studying abroad three months ago. In addition, several personnel who are with High Mountain are also separately instructing personnel in the Intelligence Section on how to use radios.

  The deputy head of the Intelligence Section, Ah Wu, has also been continuously strengthening the strength of the Intelligence Section. Wang Mingyu told them many stories about espionage warfare, all based on some TV dramas he had watched before. However, for these newcomers, it was very beneficial, and some people could learn from one example and think about how to respond in such situations. Ah Wu was a person who could integrate and understand things thoroughly. As he listened to Wang Mingyu's stories about infiltration and other topics, he constantly combined the characters in the story with reality, discovering many commonalities and much to be learned. The ability to conduct reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance also needed to be continuously honed. Although the progress of the Intelligence Section was somewhat slow, it had already become useful to some extent.

  When you go to war, someone will get hurt, and someone will sacrifice. Currently, the establishment of a field hospital is already on Wang Mingyu's plan. In fact, the establishment of a field hospital mainly involves three things: equipment, personnel, and medicine. The current hospital equipment is still available, personnel can be hired, and medicines can be obtained by themselves. Therefore, although the collection work for the field hospital is very complicated, it is not too difficult. During wartime, being able to provide penicillin on one's own is already a luxury - one dose of penicillin is equivalent to one life. So, the successful establishment of the field hospital also marks that the 318th Regiment has entered its final stage, waiting only for the moment when the battle begins.

  The current situation of Wang Mingyu's troops is as follows: 150 people directly under the team, including 120 people in the 318th Regiment, among which 30 people were sent to the SuBei secret warehouse to form a secret fifth battalion. Guard company, First Battalion, Second Battalion, Third Battalion and Fourth Battalion of the 318th Regiment; Artillery Company directly under the 318th Regiment; Logistics Company directly under the 318th Regiment; Intelligence Section directly under the 318th Regiment; Field Hospital of the 318th Regiment (under construction); Communication Platoon of the 318th Regiment.

  One day, Wang Mingyu suddenly received an invitation from Nie's house, saying that he would go to ask Wang Xianzhi to discuss the marriage. Wang Mingyu suddenly remembered what he had said to Nie's father more than three years ago, if after three years Nie Sisi was willing to marry him, then he would marry her.

  This was originally just a casual remark, how did it become true? Wang Mingyu was depressed and hadn't seen Sun Xue for over a year. When Wang Mingyu received this post, he suddenly realized that he really didn't understand anything about relationships. He hadn't even cared about how Sun Xue had been doing for over a year. Alas, I'm really not qualified.

  Wang Mingyu decided to go to Nie's mansion after this, and took a few people straight to Shanghai. Anyway, there was nothing to do during this period, so he just went to Shanghai to relax. After making up his mind, Wang Mingyu also fell asleep, preparing for the trip to Nie's mansion tomorrow.