Chapter 39: The Second Red Front Army

  In the evening, the three main officers of the Legion Department came to the conference room for a meeting. Through mutual understanding among several people, Liu Hua learned that his current three main divisions had reached the state before the reorganization and felt very happy. Then, they discussed the marching sequence for tomorrow, with Army Commander Liu Hua, Political Commissar Guan Xiangying leading one division as the vanguard of the whole army, Li Qing leading all logistics and new recruits, the second division as the middle army, and the third division as the rear guard. They would start leaving the city at 8 o'clock in the morning and head towards Yujia Ping to prepare for a meeting with the 26th Army Corps.

  The next day, Liu Hua and his lover Guan Xiangying led a division of German cavalry to set out first. Since there were almost no enemy troops nearby, the division boldly marched towards Yujiaping after sending out scouts to reconnoiter in all directions. Due to continuous contact with the radio station, by noon, the troops were only 10 miles away from Yujiaping. After receiving a report from the Red 26th Army Corps, they learned that He Long and Ren Bishi were already waiting for them at Yujiaping. Liu Hua could no longer wait and set off on horseback with his guards and Guan Xiangying towards Yujiaping. In less than half an hour, he saw a group of people walking out of the town. According to later recollections, Liu Hua quickly recognized the first person as He Long, who would become a marshal in the future, and beside him was Ren Bishi, with Xiao Ke and Wang Zhen following behind them.

  Liu Hua hastily dismounted and went forward to greet him with a standard salute.

  "Reporting to Commander-in-Chief He, Political Commissar Ren, and Red Seventh Army Corps Commander Liu Hua has arrived for a report."

  Looking at the young man saluting in front of him, He Zong and Ren Zhengcai couldn't help but size him up. He was really too young, it was hard to believe he was a hero of the Red Army.

  "Liu Hua, commander of the army, haha, hello, I've heard about your deeds, it's a miracle, a miracle, really can't believe it? Didn't expect the commander to be so young, come, let me introduce you."

  The rest of the time was spent getting to know some of the leaders of the 26th Army Corps under He's introduction. Looking at the generals with weathered faces, Liu Hua felt a surge of emotion. Looking at the soldiers along the way, Liu Hua shed tears. The 26th Army Corps had fought too hard.

  Along the way, many warriors were still wearing single-layer clothing in the cold winter. The rifles in the hands of the soldiers were almost worn out, and not even one submachine gun could be seen among General He's guards.

  "General He, the 26th Army fought very hard! I don't know if there are any difficulties now?" Liu Hua asked, unable to help himself.

  "Heh heh, Comrade Liu Hua, don't laugh at me, heh heh. Due to Chiang Kai-shek's economic blockade, nearly half of our soldiers still do not have cotton-padded jackets, and many soldiers' rifles are almost worn out...and ammunition is even more scarce..." At this point, everyone fell silent.

  "General He, Director Ren, we happened to meet this time. Our Seventh Army Corps doesn't have anything good to give either. It just so happens that we have a batch of surplus medical supplies. Take a look and see if they can solve some of the problems." As he spoke, he took out a list that had been prepared for a long time.

  "So many, Comrade Liu Hua, you... " Seeing so many supplies, General He couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at the young man in front of him.

  "Director He, it's like this, when we decided to meet with you, we thought of your hard work and started stockpiling warm clothing and other supplies. Who would have thought they'd really come in handy now, haha!"

  He Zong continued to ask: "Sixth Army Commander, with so much ammunition and weapons, are the Red Seventh Regiment's weapons and ammunition still sufficient?"

  "Heh heh, Director He, just accept it with peace of mind. You don't know that the Red Seventh Army Corps is now lacking nothing except for manpower, especially when it comes to weapons and ammunition, there's so much that they can't even use them all up." The political commissar Guan Xiangying said with a smile as soon as he saw Director He's hesitation.

  "Director He, there are so many things! Let me take a look too!" Wang Zhen said with a smile as he looked at Director He holding the paper.

  "Hehe, since Director Guan has said so, then I'll take it," General He finally smiled.

  "Haha, comrades, let me read out loud the gift that the Seventh Red Army brought us:"

  There are 15,000 sets of cotton-padded clothes and 2 million catties of grain.

  Mortars 36, heavy machine guns 36, ammunition each 5 bases

  Light machine guns 200, rifles, submachine guns, pistols totaling 10,000.

  50 million rounds of ammunition

  "My goodness, so much of it! Now we don't have to worry about ammunition anymore, haha." Several battalion cadres exclaimed after hearing General He's words and had a better impression of this young battalion commander.

  "Alright, look at you all excited, comrades are all ready to welcome the arrival of the Red Seventh Legion. Tonight, our whole army will have a dinner gathering, what do you think, comrades?" proposed earnestly.

  "Good!" Everyone replied in unison.

  After nearly two days of busy mobilization, all troops moved to the vicinity of Sangzhi. The leaders of the 267th Division of the Red Second Army arrived at the temporary command center to discuss future combat plans. With the arrival of the Seventh Red Army Corps, the originally poorly armed and equipped 26th Red Army Corps was suddenly greatly replenished. However, due to Chiang Kai-shek's economic blockade of the Soviet area, the supply of materials in the Soviet area could no longer meet demand, especially food.

  Facing such a problem, several legion leaders' mood turned from excitement after receiving supplies a few days ago to headache.

  "General He, Ren Zhengwei, our Seventh Army Corps originally had a reserve of 100,000 catties of grain. Adding the grain captured from Taoyuan, let's take out 150,000 catties to supply the Twenty-sixth Army Corps." Seeing the gloomy atmosphere in the meeting room, Liu Hua was the first to stand up.

  "Commander of the Sixth Army, thank you. You don't know, your arrival has solved many of our big problems, haha! But 150,000 kilograms of grain for an army of nearly 40,000 people can't last for even a few days!" After hearing Commissar Ren's words, several army commanders fell into deep thought again.

  "We must break through the enemy's blockade and go to the occupied areas, only then can we have enough food." General He finally spoke up. Several people nodded in agreement after hearing this.

  "I think it's now winter, and the enemy forces around us should have a lot of reserves. We can't just sit here and wait any longer, we must launch an attack."

  "I agree with General He's opinion." The commander of the Sixth Army, Xiao Ke, immediately expressed his agreement.

  "Yes, I agree too, but how are we going to solve our command problem?" Commissar Ren threw out another question.

  "Report to several leaders, urgent telegram from the Central Committee."

  Congratulations on the victorious meeting of the 26th and 7th Red Army Corps. After research by the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, in order to better command the future battles of the 26th and 7th Red Army Corps, the Second Front Army of the Red Army was specially established, with jurisdiction over the 2nd, 6th and 7th Red Army Corps. The commander-in-chief of the front army is He Long, the political commissar is Ren Bishi, and the chief of staff is Chen Bojun.

  The Second Red Army Corps, Corps Commander He Long (concurrent), Political Commissar Ren Bishi (concurrent)

  The 6th Red Army Corps, Commander Xiao Ke, Political Commissar Wang Zheng

  The 7th Red Army Corps, Corps Commander Liu Hua, Political Commissar Guan Xiangying.

  Establish the Second Front Army Party Committee of the Red Army, Secretary: Comrade He Long, Deputy Secretary: Comrade Ren Bishi, Committee Members: Chen Bojun, Xiao Ke, Wang Zhen, Liu Hua, Guan Xiangying. Central Revolutionary Military Commission.

  "Well, that solves the problem I had just now. Hehe, unexpectedly, the Military Commission's telegram arrived in such a timely manner."

  "Alright, since the Central Committee has sent a telegram, I, He Long, will be the commander-in-chief. Ha ha, it's already noon, let's not leave today, we'll celebrate the establishment of our Second Front Army instead! How about that?" General He said with a smile as he stood up.

  "Great, General He! Today you can't be stingy! You have to cook it yourself." Wang Zhen immediately stood up and echoed.

  "Fine, you Wang Zhen, you just like to bully me, okay, I still have a lot of good stuff from Liu Hua, today I'll let you off cheaply," said looking at the contemplative Liu Hua.

  "Director He, all of you leaders have agreed, how dare I not go? Besides, it's beneficial to me, and I'm not a fool," Liu Hua suddenly stood up with a start when he saw Director He looking at him.

  "Now that everyone has dispersed, let's go!"

  At noon, the leaders of the Second Front Army of the Red Army started drinking in the home of the commander-in-chief.

  "Hey, Liu Hua, I'm telling you to come clean with me. What else is your 7th Legion hiding? Last time you pulled out so much stuff without batting an eye, there must be plenty more treasures. I saw the logistics team hauling that many goods, it's true, speak up!" Xiao Ke asked, already drunk.

  "What else is good? Come on, tell us." Even He Zong, who was sitting next to him and hadn't drunk too much, asked.

  Liu Hua was suddenly confused, oh my god, it seems like today is going to...

  ...................................

  After the repeated grinding of the leaders, Liu Hua had no choice but to reluctantly take out the stockpiled 6 radios, a company's mortars, nearly fifty light machine guns and ammunition, and distribute them to several army corps commanders. Liu Hua was heartbroken, even Guan Xiangying, the newly appointed political commissar standing next to him, felt heartbroken too.