Chapter 20: The Central Independent Division

  "The Central Committee basically agrees to all the appointments of cadres, and after that, the independent division should fight independently, try to preserve itself, decide its own direction of development, and report important situations to the Central Committee for instructions; when the independent division is fighting on its own, it should mainly focus on covering the Central Committee's breakthrough, and in terms of military command, Comrade Liu Hua's opinions should be taken as the main reference. In the future, the independent division will directly come under the command of the Central Committee, hoping to achieve more victories."

  Looking at the telegram from the Central Committee, Liu Hua's hands were trembling with excitement. Autonomous warfare, this was a great trust in oneself!

  Li Qing stared at the telegram in his hand, also in a daze. He himself had become a prisoner of Liu Hua, then suddenly became the political commissar of the regiment, and then jumped to become the political commissar of the division, directly under the command of the Central Committee. It seemed that following Liu Hua was indeed correct, and from now on he must cooperate well with the work of the division commander.

  Just then, something even more delightful happened.

  "Captain, Captain, we've struck it rich! We've struck it rich!"

  The newcomer was Chen Geming, who had already been appointed as the chief of staff of the regiment.

  "It's wrong to call, should be called Shizhang instead. Just now we got in touch with the Central Committee, and we were reorganized as the Central Independent Division. Comrade Liu Hua was appointed as the division commander, and you are already the chief of staff of the 1st regiment and the commander of the 2nd battalion." Li Qing reminded with a smile.

  "What? Elders, elders, this time we've hit it big, and there's even a political commissar! You guys come take a look! We've struck it rich!"

  Liu Hua and Li Qing followed Chen Revolution to the county government hall, where they saw baskets full of silver coins on the ground and hundreds of small yellow fish neatly arranged on the table.

  "Superior, political commissar, you don't know, after we caught these guys and asked them where the money was, they refused to say a word, in the end it was us who dug it up ourselves."

  The county head dug out 300,000 silver coins and 45 small yellow fish.

  The police chief's home dug up 200,000 silver dollars and 40 small yellow fish.

  The commander of the security team dug out 350,000 silver dollars and 30 small yellow fish.

  The Party Secretary's family dug up 200,000 silver dollars and 35 small yellow fish at home.

  The head of the tax bureau's home dug out 500,000 silver dollars and 30 small yellow fish.

  .........................................................................................

  A total of 1.7 million silver dollars, 180 small yellow fish.

  "Squad leader, I've lived this long and never seen so much money. Now I finally know why we're so poor - it's all been taken away by these guys."

  "Commissar, I didn't expect Xing'an to be so wealthy. We've struck a great bargain this time, haha! From now on, we won't have to worry about not having enough military funds to buy medicine and other supplies."

  "Yes, elder brother, to be honest, I didn't think of it either."

  "Liu Hua ordered: 'Immediately gather all cadres above the regiment level for a meeting.'"

  Seeing everyone was present, Liu Hua said.

  "Now I'm going to tell you two things, both of which are good news!" After finishing speaking, he looked at everyone with a smile.

  "Captain, what's the good news? Spit it out! Don't keep us in suspense! Even Gaoyuan, who admires Liu Hua to the point of worship, doesn't know that his captain has been promoted."

  "Alright! The first piece of news is that everyone has been promoted. The Central Government has reorganized us into the Central Independent Regiment, and now I announce the appointments:"

  Independent Director: Li Qing

  Division Commander: Sun Xingbang, Political Commissar: Zhao Dahai, Chief of Staff: Chen Geming

  Deputy Commander: Gao Yuan, Political Commissar: Chen Dazhong, Chief of Staff: Wang Nanhu

  Each regiment has three battalions, and the regiment commander, political commissar, and chief of staff concurrently serve as battalion commanders.

  Deputy Regimental Commander Chen Guangrong, Political Instructor Zhu Ping, under which there is one artillery company and two heavy machine gun companies.

  New Soldier Camp Commander He Tie, Instructor Peng Qing

  Deputy Commander of Intelligence Company Liu Xiaogang

  Guard Platoon Leader Li Xiaolong

  Li Xiaowu's luggage is very heavy

  The head of each camp remains unchanged, and after a period of time, there will be deputy appointments again.

  Looking at the smiling faces of the various camp leaders, then announcing

  "After the efforts of the Second Regiment of Chen's revolutionary army, our gains in Xing'an can be said to be astonishing. Now, let's have a report from the political commissar!"

  "Comrades, after the efforts of the whole army, we have captured countless weapons and ammunition in Xing'an. Most importantly, our second battalion has helped us dig up a huge amount of buried treasure, including 1.7 million silver dollars and 180 gold bars. This is indeed a massive gain!"

  Having heard the political commissar's words, the already excited crowd almost jumped up with joy.

  "Comrades, since we have captured a large amount of supplies now, the logistics unit must be strengthened. I decide to take another combat squad from each battalion and add it to the logistics unit. Political commissar, our uniforms are basically worn out, so we need to seize this opportunity to purchase a large quantity of cloth and other materials. We require every soldier to have one set of cotton-padded clothes, two pairs of military shoes, and one set of bedding. We will get as much as we want, mobilize the city's civilians to help us, and ensure that everything is ready by tomorrow night."

  "What's the situation with the new recruits now?" Liu Hua asked as soon as he saw He Tie, the head of the new recruits' camp.

  "Commissar, no, not commissar, Commander, the method you mentioned really works. After several hours of persuasion, more than 300 people have joined the Red Army. I think that if we continue for half a day, the new recruits' camp will be full."

  "Alright, remember, you must lead the new recruits well and integrate them into the Red Army as soon as possible. Give them weapons in a few days and make sure to turn the new recruit camp into a main force camp. Later, when the troops expand, the new recruit camp will become a regiment, so be careful."

  "Yes, sir, I will definitely lead the new recruits into our army's main force." Liu Hua looked at his subordinates and smiled.

  "Alright, you all immediately return to your own units and announce the decision of the Center. Since we are now in an encirclement, it is not possible to hold a founding conference for the independent regiment. We will make up for it later. Dismissed."

  This made the county town of Xing'an lively, and under the leadership of Zhen Li, Li Xiaowu almost bought all the cloth in Xing'an. Later, there were door-to-door propaganda to make military uniforms, one set for one silver dollar. It is worth noting that the purchasing power at that time was very strong. Under the temptation of interest, the people lined up to receive cloth and make military uniforms everywhere.

  Apart from the sentry troops, all troops began to rest, eat, bathe... From the Red Army's Long March, the troops had hardly rested. Now they could finally take a break. Under Liu Hua's arrangement, each soldier received a silver dollar to buy what he needed and have some snacks...

  As a burst of strong light stimulated his eyes, Liu Hua opened his blurry eyes. After continuous battles for several days, he finally had a good sleep. Liu Hua felt particularly comfortable, washed his face and started running laps in the yard. He didn't stop until he was hungry, then walked out of the courtyard gate and bumped into the political commissar who was walking towards him.

  "Director, what's wrong? Why so urgent?" Liu Hua asked, seeing the director frowning.

  "The Hunan Army seems to have sensed that there is a problem in Xing'an County, and sent a telegram this morning to ask about it. I replied that everything was fine, but just now the scouting company reported that an enemy battalion is rushing towards the county seat, still about 15 miles away."

  "Does the enemy have follow-up troops?"

  "Reconnaissance company reports none."

  "Alright, since there are no follow-up troops, the enemy is coming to die, why don't we first accept this gift and then retreat?" Liu Hua was not that tense.

  "It can't be helped." Li Qing said with a shake of his head and a hint of resignation.

  "By the way, Commissar, how's the work on uniforms and prisoners going?"

  "Very well, by the time I arrived, there were already over 6,000 sets, prisoners had converted over 600 people, about 150 people were assigned to each camp, and the rest were all in the new recruit camp,"

  "Alright! The remaining captives should not be converted, all of them will be put in prison. Uniforms are to continue being issued until we withdraw our troops. First, issue a set to each soldier, and the rest will be handed over to the logistics unit. Also, try to purchase as many medical supplies as possible."

  "Alright, I'll take care of these things. You just go and fight with peace of mind!" The political commissar said with a smile, patting Liu Hua's shoulder.

  Liu Hua lay on the mountaintop, holding a telescope and staring at the enemy army in the distance. On the mountain waist, Liu Hua's second battalion was ambushing, quietly waiting for the enemy to enter the ambush circle.

  Soon, the enemy camp commander rode a horse into Liu Hua's line of sight. Liu Hua put down his binoculars and picked up a rifle beside him. Since he hadn't sniped for a long time, Liu Hua wanted to try out if he was still good at it.

  A loud "bang" of gunfire, the humming camp commander clutched his chest and fell off his horse with a look of unwillingness.

  Immediately, all rifles and light machine guns started firing. After the riflemen finished a round of shooting, they immediately threw out the hand grenades they had prepared for a long time. Just as they were about to start the second round of throwing, the charge sounded.

  This was another one-sided massacre, and before the enemy had time to react, they were already being swept away by the Red Army's crazy shooting. Just as they were about to counterattack, a hail of hand grenades rained down on them. The enemy army, which had already suffered more than half casualties, was bombed again after the grenade bombing, and there were very few who could stand up. So Liu Hua timely blew the charge horn.

  The results were quickly counted, with over 450 enemy soldiers killed and only a few dozen wounded still alive. Ten light machine guns, 400 rifles and submachine guns, and countless ammunition were captured. On our side, only a few people were lightly injured, who tripped and fell on the way to charge.

  Seeing such a result, the warriors all went crazy and cheered loudly.

  One by one, they happily swept the battlefield and soon carried their spoils of war towards Xing'an County Town, leaving behind a field of enemy corpses.