Chapter Thirty-Three: Contacting General He

  "Director, director, a telegram from the Central Committee, a telegram from the Central Committee." Liu Hua, who had just entered his dream, was woken up by a loud call.

  "Secretary, what's going on? You're in such a hurry. Didn't you say not to disturb me at night?" Liu Hua said with half-open eyes.

  Li Qing couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing his master's words. Is this still his master? How come he sounds like a little kid? "You little brat, get up! I'm telling you, the Central Committee has sent an order. If we return late, don't blame me!"

  "What? A telegram from headquarters! Why didn't you say so earlier!" He snatched the telegram and rushed to the telegraph room without even putting on his clothes.

  "Central Military Commission of China:"

  Our troops divided into three routes yesterday afternoon, one regiment rushed to Changsha and attacked it, forcing He Jian to send two brigades from Zhuzhou for reinforcements. I led the main force to ambush them halfway, annihilating the enemy army.

  Later, the Second Regiment and the Logistics Department led by the Political Commissar merged to force a crossing of the Xiangjiang River. I led the Third Regiment and directly affiliated units in a feigned attack on Zhuzhou, forcing an enemy army defending the Xiangjiang River to send one regiment as reinforcements. En route, I ordered the commander of the Third Regiment to lead two battalions to annihilate them completely.

  After another batch of reinforcements from Zhuzhou were annihilated by my independent division, He Jian ordered two regiments of the Anhua garrison to reinforce Changsha. They were again annihilated by my second regiment in the wild, and then took advantage of the victory to occupy the city of Anhua County.

  All the troops that participated in the battle have broken away from the enemy, crossed the Xiangjiang River and assembled at Anhua. The number of enemies annihilated this time is more than one division, with countless booty captured, and the specific number is being counted.

  Independent Division Commander: Liu Hua, Political Commissar: Li Qing

  At this time, the conference room was silent, and Zhou's deputy chairman's hands holding the telegram were trembling. What a great victory! Not only did it force the Xiang Army to retreat and relieve pressure on the Central Plains, but also annihilated another enemy division. Everyone was shocked, just sitting there in stunned silence.

  "What are you all stunned for? I think we should quickly send a congratulatory telegram to the Independent Regiment." Old Mao reminded.

  "That's right, send a congratulatory telegram, the Independent Regiment is really great!" The commander-in-chief also hastened to say.

  "Comrade Commander, a congratulatory telegram has arrived from the Central Revolutionary Military Commission." The political commissar said with a smile.

  "Comrade, send a telegram to say that our department has decided to rest in Anhua for one or two days and then continue to advance towards western Hunan. I hope the Central Revolutionary Military Commission will notify the 26th Red Army Corps in advance and also inform us of the contact password beforehand." Liu Hua said.

  After reading the telegram sent by the independent division, several leaders fell silent again. To know that the 226th Army is also surrounded by heavy enemy troops at this time, "Old General, what do you think?" The Chairman looked up and looked at the Commander-in-Chief who was deep in thought.

  "Lao Mao, En Lai, I think it's okay. Liu Hua has given us so many surprises and hasn't failed once. Since we let him take charge of the independent regiment, we should trust him. Moreover, after this battle, he must have a lot of ammunition and supplies. If he goes to western Hunan, who knows, maybe he can even help He Long's troops."

  "Yes, I agree too." Vice President Zhou said resolutely.

  "I agree too. By the way, send the situation of the 26th Army Corps over as well, and let Liu Hua that kid take it as a reference. Tell them all the contact methods." The chairman added in his final summary.

  "Superior, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission has agreed by telegram, and now the contact method has been sent, as well as the current situation of the 26th Red Army Corps."

  "Comrade, the Military Commission of the Central Revolutionary Committee has considered everything thoroughly. Keep the contact method safe and show me the situation of the 26th Army Corps sent by the Military Commission."

  "Alright, Master, you should get some rest too." Seeing Master's red-rimmed eyes, the political commissar reminded him in a soft voice.

  Hearing the political commissar's concern for him, Liu Hua nodded and put the telegram on the table, then returned to bed.

  The next day, the independent division held a meeting as scheduled. The political commissar first read out the congratulatory telegram from the Central Committee. Upon hearing the high praise of the Central Committee for the independent division, every cadre's face showed a smile. Seeing everyone's smile, Liu Hua was also delighted and immediately proposed to announce the results of the battle in the past few days. The political commissar picked up the statistics on the results of the battle and stood up again.

  "After statistics, in this battle we annihilated a total of 7 enemy regiments, with more than 11,000 people, among whom more than 2,500 were captured. Most of the captives were from the Second Regiment and two divisions of the Xiang Army. Among them, 800 captives have been directly absorbed by various regiments, and there are still 1,700 captives being managed by new soldier regiments."

  Captured 36 mortars, 42 heavy machine guns, and over 160 light machine guns. Rifles, pistols, and submachine guns totaled over 8,000, with countless ammunition.

  Our army captured a total of 4 radios, so up to now, our independent division has a total of 10 radios.

  Our army lost 745 men, nearly 100 were seriously injured, and over 500 were lightly wounded. Most of the casualties were from ambushing the enemy's 3rd Division. However, all losses were replenished by new recruits from each battalion, without affecting combat effectiveness.

  After listening to the political commissar's report, everyone was even more delighted and chatted with each other about their battle experiences.

  "Seeing comrades so happy, have we won the battle? I'm also very happy, but comrades can't be too happy yet, because our road is still long, and now our army is isolated, so we can't be too proud, greater difficulties are still waiting for us." Liu Hua silently looked at the crowd being suddenly awakened from their joy by his words.

  "Well, good. Now let's formally start the meeting. The main purpose of today is to tell you all our final destination this time." Seeing everyone suddenly discussing again because of his words, Liu Hua smiled.

  "Alright, let's not discuss this anymore. You should all know about Comrade He Long's 26th Army Corps, they are currently active in western Hunan, tying down the enemy and creating an opportunity for our main force to break through. We will bring the Independent Division with us and meet up with them, together completing the task assigned by the Central Revolutionary Military Commission."

  "Don't be surprised, with our current military strength, going to Western Hunan will definitely give the besieged Red 26th Army a big surprise. Comrades, do you have confidence?" The political commissar saw that everyone had not reacted yet, and hurriedly spoke to encourage everyone.

  "We have confidence," replied the cadres below in unison after hearing the commissar's words.

  "Alright, comrades have confidence now. I order that the new recruits battalion be replenished with 1,000 people from the captives, and two new recruit battalions be formed. The logistics battalion is abolished and a logistics department is established, with Comrade Li Xiaowu as its head. Under it are one infantry battalion of 450 people, all equipped with light weapons, responsible for protecting our logistics; and two logistics battalions of 500 people each, with backbone personnel equipped with weapons. All levels of leaders will be directly promoted from the original company-level leaders. The original logistics companies of each regiment will hand over all reserve materials to the logistics department, which will be under the command of each regiment."

  "The remaining captives were all distributed to the new recruit battalions of the three regiments, with each regiment's new recruit battalion expanded into 4 new recruit companies. Each regiment's mortar company was fully expanded into a 12-mortar artillery company, and each battalion's heavy machine gun platoon was expanded into a 6-heavy-machine-gun heavy machine gun company. Each regiment was equipped with two radio stations, making it convenient for the regimental commander and political commissar to carry out separate tasks."

  The artillery battalion was expanded into a reinforced battalion with 5 companies of mortars. The heavy machine gun battalion was expanded into a reinforced battalion with 5 companies, and both the artillery battalion and the heavy machine gun battalion were required to establish a rear echelon company.

  After listening to the words of his superiors, he was delighted that his own unit's firepower had been strengthened once again. How could he not be happy?

  "Alright, everyone knows what they need to know. Next, I'll immediately go back and arrange the troops. I plan to rest in Anhua for two days, and then we'll set off. Dismissed."

  Immediately, the entire Anhua County seemed to be in motion. The logistics department, under Liu Hua's command, once again purchased various scarce materials. It is worth noting that the current logistics department already has nearly a thousand moving personnel and over 800 mules (of which more than 200 were captured in these battles and handed over to the logistics department). With such strong transportation capabilities, Li Xiaowu frantically purchased supplies, food, cloth, cotton, medicine... Even the restaurants in Xing'an were mobilized to make dry rations for the troops, making it convenient for them to fight in the future.

  Machine gun battalion, artillery battalion searched for people everywhere in the captives, dug up people... In short, the whole Xing'an County was busy.

  However, the Red 26th Army, which had just been formed not long ago, was in a very difficult situation. Although the troops had fought continuously and captured counties such as Sangzhi and Dayong, they had seized a considerable amount of supplies, but facing an army of nearly 20,000 people, those supplies were so small. As winter approached, many comrades in the two armies still wore single-layer clothes, which worried He Long and Ren Bishi.

  Facing the enemy's heavy siege of their newly established base, several military leaders sat together again. Looking at the worried look on everyone's face, General He knew that this time the enemy's siege must be very severe. Just as everyone was frowning and thinking, the messenger walked in.

  "He Zong, Ren Zhengwei, Central Telegraph."

  "After discussion by the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, in order to strengthen the 26th Army Corps, continue to pin down the enemy and create opportunities for the main force, it is specially ordered that the Central Independent Division active in eastern Hunan will join forces with your unit, together pinning down the enemy. The independent division has approximately over 12,000 personnel, with excellent equipment, Commander: Liu Hua, Political Commissar: Li Qing. Their unit will contact yours in the near future, please pay attention to receiving them."

  Central Revolutionary Military Commission: Zhu, Mao, Zhou

  "Director He, have you heard of the Central Independent Regiment? I don't seem to recall it. When did the Central government have an independent regiment active in eastern Hunan?" Director He looked at the commissar who read the telegram with a puzzled expression after hearing it.

  "Comrade He, I'm not clear either, but I know Li Qing. As far as I know, he's a good political commissar, but it seems like he was purged before the Central Long March. As for Liu Hua, I've never heard of him. Why don't we send a telegram to ask the Center specifically?" Commissar Ren Bi looked at General He.

  "Alright! I agree. Hopefully, the arrival of the independent masters will bring us good news." General He nodded and started smoking again.