Chapter 34: Raid on Peach Blossom Spring (Part 1)
"Congratulations, Director He, congratulations, Director He... Good news, good news..."
"Director Ren, what good news is that! Look at you, my fish have all escaped, and we won't have anything to eat tonight again." General He replied humorously.
"General He, the Central Committee has replied. Take a look, Liu Hua is really something, no wonder he has so many horses?" Commissar Ren excitedly handed the telegram to General He who was fishing.
"Liu Hua was a squad leader of the Red Tenth Regiment before the Battle of Xiangjiang. During the battle against the Xiang Army, he single-handedly annihilated an enemy battalion with his rifle and continued to create miracles in combat. He was later appointed as the regimental commander of the Tenth Regiment, leading it to annihilate two enemy battalions. After returning to the Xiangjiang River to rendezvous with the main force, Liu Hua led the Tenth Regiment to rescue the besieged troops, annihilating over three enemy battalions in the process. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Tenth Regiment and the rescued soldiers were left stranded on the east bank. Liu Hua led the remaining troops to break through the encirclement, occupying Xing'an and Chaling, among other places, annihilating approximately two enemy divisions in the process. During their transfer to Anhua, they again annihilated an enemy division. Liu Hua then led his troops to rest and regroup in Anhua."
After reading the telegram, General He was stunned. What a concept! Leading the remnants of defeated troops, continuously annihilating the enemy and expanding himself, 4 regiments! This kid is really capable. It seems that the arrival of the independent regiment will definitely solve his own predicament. A smile finally appeared on General He's face.
"Appointed as a political commissar, the Central Committee hasn't given us any contact information yet! I'm a bit impatient to take a look at this guy who created miracles for the Red Army. Hehe"
"Look at you, hehe, the Central has given us a contact frequency, now we can get in touch with the independent regiment." Ren Zhengwei saw that He Zong had been worried for a long time and finally smiled, and also burst out laughing.
"Go take a look." He then threw down his fishing rod and walked towards the delivery room.
"Master, Master, Old General He has sent a telegram."
"What's with Old He?" Liu Hua asked in puzzlement, looking at the excited political commissar.
"What did you say? General He's telegram has arrived. Quick, let me take a look." Liu Hua, who had just come to his senses, snatched the telegram from the hands of the political commissar.
"Commissar, immediately send a telegram to General He, saying that our unit is currently resting and reorganizing in Anhua, and will set out tomorrow, heading straight for Taoyuan, passing through Taoyuan to Yujia Ping. We hope General He can dispatch troops to meet us, and we will rendezvous at Yujia Ping," Liu Hua said hastily after reading the telegram.
"Master, look at you getting anxious, haha, I'll go post it now."
"Communications officer, get Director Li Xiaowu over here for me."
"Director Li, I'd like to ask, how's the logistics reserve of our troops now?" Seeing Li Xiaowu rushing over in a hurry, Liu Hua handed him a cup of water.
Li Xiaowu took the water and drank it all in two mouthfuls.
"Reporting to the commander, we now have sufficient material reserves. Among them, food can be supplied for about a month, and meat reserves are also very sufficient, with nearly 20,000 catties stored. Clothing reserves are also abundant, through the original reserves and the recent replenishment in Anhua, it is approaching 20,000 sets. Moreover, commander, the logistics department's horse transportation has reached its limit, should we continue to stock up and purchase?"
"That's enough, it should be about right, don't want anything else. The clothing needs to reach 20,000 sets. Also, go to the political commissar and approve a portion of silver dollars, make large purchases of mules. If the logistics department's mules reach 1,000, allocate some grain transportation to each regiment's heavy duty company. Go execute!"
"Yes, sir," he said and went to find the political commissar.
"Notify all department heads to come to the division headquarters for a meeting tonight. Let's say at eight o'clock!" Liu Hua said to the communication officer.
As for the purpose of the meeting, several battalion commanders were clear in their minds. Everyone sat upright and waited for the instructor to assign combat tasks. Liu Hua walked into the conference room and saw everyone's appearance without feeling anything strange. He naturally walked to the front, picked up the already prepared combat mission,
"Now I command:"
"I'll lead the vanguard consisting of the 1st and 2nd battalions, artillery battalion, heavy machine gun battalion, guard battalion, scout battalion, and sniper company. We will depart at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning; Commissar will lead the new recruit battalion, logistics department to escort supplies, departing at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning; Comrade Wang Nanhu will lead the 3rd battalion as the rear guard of the whole division, departing at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. The remaining radio stations of the division headquarters, one part of the commissar's office, one part of the logistics department, and one part of the new recruit battalion will follow me. Has everyone finished listening to the order?" Seeing that everyone shook their heads, Liu Hua walked out of the conference room.
The next day, Liu Hua got up early to make preparations. He had Liu Xiaogang lead the First Reconnaissance Company on horseback to scout out enemy movements in the direction of Taoyuan. The remaining reconnaissance battalion and each regiment's reconnaissance company dispersed one kilometer around the main force, scouting ahead. After Liu Hua made all the arrangements, it was already 8 o'clock, so he followed the troops, bid farewell to the political commissar and others, and left Anhua.
The whole journey was very calm, perhaps the main force of Xiang Army had been withdrawn to the front line. After passing through several small counties, although there were civilian defense teams, as soon as their main force arrived, they immediately surrendered. The reason for taking down these counties was simple: Liu Hua did not want the rear logistics to be affected. Along the way, all the bandits and civilian defense teams were eliminated by Liu Hua.
Of course, there were also counties with garrisons, but Liu Hua didn't take them seriously. He would just bring out the mortar and heavy machine gun, fire a few rounds, and these garrison troops either fled or surrendered. But when they encountered Liu Hua, they couldn't escape no matter what. Those who escaped from the county seat were either shot dead or captured.
Liu Hua was naturally willing to continue like this, after all, through the attacks and advances on this road, Liu Hua's independent division had captured countless good things, making the 200 mules that the logistics department had just purchased immediately overloaded. As for the captives, those untrained militiamen who could only intimidate people were released after receiving some education, leaving behind only a few hundred Xiang Army soldiers.
As a rearguard, Wang Nanhu was even more depressed. He thought that when he retreated, the enemy would pounce on him and bite back, so he was in a state of tension all day long, ready to fight at any moment. Unexpectedly, after He Jian learned that the Communist army had withdrawn from Xing'an, he only symbolically dispatched a division to follow Wang Nanhu from afar, no matter what tactics Wang Nanhu used, he just wouldn't take the bait, and simply followed closely behind.
However, this cannot be blamed on the Xiang Army. The main force of the Xiang Army is currently withdrawing and after being continuously annihilated by Liu Hua, He Jian no longer dares to send troops, and can only follow from a distance, equivalent to monitoring.
In the end, Chen Geming's proposal was adopted. His three regiments were 500 meters away from their main force, leaving only one regiment to march on high alert, while the others marched normally. Seeing that his troops could finally rest, Wang Nanhu let out a sigh of relief and took turns leading the rear regiment with his political commissar Chen Geming.
After a day's march, the troops finally got some rest. Liu Hua arranged for the troops to stand guard and then sat down himself, lying on the ground and chewing dry rations like the soldiers. At this time, two regimental commanders walked over and sat beside Liu Hua, also starting to rest.
"Comrade Commander, why do we need to go to Xiangxi and meet with the 26th Army Corps? Why can't we fight back to our base area? With the strength of our independent division, we can definitely rebuild our base area!" Sun Xingbang looked at his commander with a puzzled face.
Liu Hua looked at the plateau beside him, and saw that he also nodded. At this time, Liu Hua suddenly thought that he had persuaded the political commissar to agree to meet with the 26th Army Corps on February 6, but he hadn't communicated with other comrades about finding the main force of the Red Army! Thinking of this, Liu Hua hastily asked.
"Below is whether there are many cadres and soldiers who have such thoughts."
They nodded together.
"Alright," Liu Hua then told them about his conversation with the political commissar that day.
"Teacher, we know we were wrong." After hearing Liu Hua's words, the two of them lowered their heads together.
"Well, you didn't know because I didn't tell you, but now you do. However, the comrades below still don't know, so hurry up and get this settled. We can't let the soldiers' minds waver. Also, have the soldiers take a good rest, we'll have breakfast at 6 am tomorrow and set off at 7 am. Hopefully, we can reach the vicinity of Taoyuan by tomorrow evening. Go quickly!"
"Yes, sir." Watching the backs of the two men, Liu Hua suddenly thought that many people in the follow-up troops must have had similar thoughts. Thinking of this, Liu Hua immediately got up and walked towards the radio station.
