Chapter 5 Building a Brand

  On the vast Chahar grassland, since the arrival of the Japanese army.

  There was no laughter here either, only fear of the Japanese army.

  On the green land, Japanese wolves came, they burned, killed, looted and plundered, doing all sorts of evil.

  But the people did not yield, neither the Mongolian civilians nor the Han Chinese people were willing to surrender under the iron hooves of the Japanese army.

  Countless resistance organizations began to resist, and everywhere was a scene of anti-Japanese resistance.

  On the land of Chahar, there was such a magical anti-war troop.

  An armed anti-Japanese war organization consisting entirely of women, with a strength of over 2,000 people.

  These people were mostly women who had fled from the Northeast, and a minority were armed forces organized from Chahar.

  For such an armed force, the Japanese were very resentful and several times of siege did not achieve much effect.

  Since the July 7th Incident, the Japanese army increased its reinforcements in the interior and temporarily abandoned its siege of them.

  Yang Junran was very surprised after hearing this news.

  He didn't know how these women could become qualified warriors, but being able to hold on in the siege of the Japanese army was already a proof of their strength.

  "Can't we win them over? After all, it's better to cooperate against Japan and take care of each other."

  In the command post of the guerrilla column, Yang Junran said to Fang Hanchen beside him with a big mouth.

  Fang Hanqin frowned and persuaded, "Commander Yang, they have more than 2,000 soldiers, while we have just over 1,000. It's probably not suitable for us to try to recruit them. I've cooperated with them before, and they're extremely averse to men. Let's not act rashly, lest everyone ends up at odds."

  Yang Junran looked at Fang Hanqin and didn't think of this question himself.

  It's all about strength these days, it's a world where big fish eat small fish and small fish eat shrimp.

  Now Yang Junran wants shrimp to eat small fish, which is obviously an impossible thing.

  Looking at the map in silence for a moment, Yang Junran said to Fang Hanchen beside him: "We need to build our brand and create an image of our resistance war. Once we have this brand and image, all problems can be solved."

  Yang Junran expressed his own opinion according to later accounts, while Fang Hanjin looked at Yang Junran with a confused expression.

  The deputy commander of the second brigade, Long Yan, couldn't help but ask: "Commander, what do this brand and image mean? How can everything be solved with these two things? Is this a more advanced weapon?"

  Everyone was extremely surprised about the matter of the weapon.

  They all guessed about the origin of the weapons, but Yang Junran just faintly said that these weapons were sent down by the top, and nothing else was said.

  This made everyone even more puzzled, and this Yang Shuai is now a mysterious figure in everyone's eyes.

  Yang Junran did not intend to have such an effect, since learning about this matter, Yang Junran deliberately maintained his mysterious aura, only with a mysterious aura would subordinates fear and obey him, after leading the troops to win several victories, this troop could be completely settled.

  "What is called a brand is the reputation of our troops, we must let everyone know that Chahar has our anti-Japanese armed forces, and the image is the combat effectiveness of our troops. As long as everyone knows that Chahar has an anti-Japanese armed force with strong combat effectiveness, our troops can continue to expand and become the main anti-Japanese force in Chahar. In addition, Comrade Fang, you must send a telegram to the top, asking for personnel, weapons, ammunition, and supplies. Can't just abandon us here, right?" Yang Junran explained seriously.

  It wasn't until then that people realized what was meant by "brand" was actually reputation, and what was meant by "image" was actually combat effectiveness.

  Everyone can't help but despise Yang Junran. Why didn't you just say that your reputation and combat power are not enough? Why make such a big detour?

  Yang Junran is not adapted to life here, since being eliminated from the military school, Yang Junran directly participated in work, he can't starve himself, so-called brand image, are his own professional language at work.

  "Does the commander mean we're going to attack the Japanese army?" Jin Mingcheng looked at Yang Junran and asked in puzzlement.

  Yang Junran glanced at Jin Mingcheng, didn't he come here to deal with the Japanese army? Otherwise, who would bring people to sightseeing and tourism in this place for no reason.

  "Our goal is to strike at the Japanese army, we came here also to resist Japan, we can't just stay hidden here all our lives waiting for a victory against Japan." Yang Junran said somewhat discontentedly.

  Jin Ming Cheng smiled awkwardly and fell silent, hanging his head in embarrassment.

  The dust outside flew up again, and here, the wind is unusually frequent.

  Yang Junran picked up a worn-out military overcoat and put it on himself.

  The houses here are almost all drafty, and Yang Junran is often frozen awake at night.

  "Commander Yang, although our ammunition is very sufficient, if we want to attack the Japanese army, we still need to develop for a period of time. We are not yet clear about the situation around us, and rash actions will attract the Japanese army's encirclement and annihilation, which would be disastrous for us. The brothers are not unwilling to resist Japan, but can't we just sacrifice the lives of over a thousand people to kill a few Japanese soldiers? What do you think?" Long Yan said to Yang Junran after seeing everyone fall silent.

  Yang Junran pulled his military coat and pointed to the map, saying: "We won't fight here, our three brigades will take turns going out, go to several nearby counties to fight, guerrilla warfare, fighting all over the place, if we can beat them, we'll fight, if not, we'll run, anyway, Chahar is so big, there are many places where we can operate."

  After finishing, I remembered that the guerrilla troops of later generations generally had a phenomenon that was not suitable for regular warfare. Yang Junran added: "At the same time as the guerrilla war, we also need to conduct small-scale positional warfare, mobile warfare, offensive warfare and defensive warfare. We must selectively temper the adaptability of our troops, seize opportunities and devour small Japanese troops."

  After Yang Junran finished speaking, Fang Hanqin looked at the faces of the other two battalion commanders.

  He will not arbitrarily decide on anything, nor will he bear anything alone.

  "Alright, since Commander Yang has made up his mind, I have nothing to say. If we're going to fight, then let's fight." Jin Mingcheng hesitated for a moment before slamming his hand on the table and saying.

  The rickety table started swaying, it was the only piece of furniture in Yang Junran's entire room.

  "Wait, you've made up your mind, don't slam the table anymore, if it breaks, we'll have to lie on the ground to look at the map." Seeing that the second team leader Long Yan seemed to have also made up his mind, Yang Junran hastily spoke up, afraid that Long Yan would break his own table.

  Long Yan put down his arm and smiled awkwardly: "Since Brother Jin has made up his mind, I naturally can't fall behind."

  Yang Junran smiled and looked at Fang Hanchen, who had been silent all along.

  Fang Hanqin saw that everyone was paying attention to him and hastily said: "Yes, everything will be carried out in accordance with the commander's arrangements."

  Yang Junran sat on a chair, looking at the storm outside.

  "The first battalion is the oldest, so let them fight the first battle. Hanqin, you dispatch troops to scout around and see where there are small enemy strongholds or a few Japanese soldiers. We'll start from small beginnings and gradually eliminate the Japanese soldiers. The other two battalions will be responsible for defending this place while intensifying training for the troops. I'll write a training outline one of these days, and you can follow it to train your men. For now, just start with basic bayonet drills, but don't overexert yourselves." Yang Junran said to the three battalion commanders.

  "Yes, Commander Yang."

  Yang Junran gave gifts to the three people, and they walked out towards the outside.

  The current guerrilla troops are facing great difficulties. The problem of ammunition and weapons can be solved with a ring, but the problem of food supply is not being addressed by anyone.

  The troops were all eating their own rations they had brought with them. Once these were gone, the whole army was faced with a food crisis.

  This is also why Yang Junran wants to occupy a stronghold, at least the stronghold has some rations that can temporarily alleviate his problems.

  The first detachment received the order and immediately formed several reconnaissance teams.

  Going to the central Chahar for reconnaissance, Fang Hanchen didn't want to expose his position, especially at this time.

  A force of over a thousand men was not enough to fill the gaps in the Japanese army's teeth, and Fang Hanqin did not want to provoke the Japanese army.

  The next morning, Fang Hanchen sent a piece of intelligence to Yang Junran.

  A county town not far from here is guarded by only two Japanese army squads.

  The surrounding villages were garrisoned by a Japanese army squadron, and Fang Hanqin believed that he could completely annihilate this squadron.

  For Yang Junran, it doesn't matter where the Japanese troops come from, the key is to bring convincing power to himself and this army.

  Only by making a name for ourselves can we win the trust of the surrounding anti-Japanese armed forces.

  Chahar Guerrilla Column Headquarters.

  Yang Junran looked at the map on the table, this was a good opportunity indeed.

  The total strength of the Japanese army was only three companies, and the Japanese army to be attacked by himself had only one company of Japanese troops, which were also scattered and stationed.

  "Tonight we will start to act, I lead the first team to fight, and the other two teams must guard our base here. Once there is a problem here, we will have no foothold at all." Yang Junran said seriously to the other two team leaders.

  "Please be assured, Commander Yang, we will definitely guard this place well and not let any Japanese troops occupy it." Long Yan and Jin Mingcheng said with a salute.

  Yang Junran nodded and said to Fang Hanchen beside him: "Assemble the troops immediately, sort out the ammunition, and we will set off after dark."

  After Fang Han made his respects, he walked out towards the outside.

  Chu Tianming held the Japanese Type 38 rifle and began to tidy up his own belongings, this time he was going to show off his skills.