Chapter Seventy-One: Reorganization

  The next day, Liu Hua and Guan Xiangying came to the temporary command center of the Second Route Army in Cili County under the order of He Long, where a summary meeting was held to lift the siege.

  Finally, at noon, the commanders of the three legions sat together in the temporary command center. Immediately, the conference room became lively, explaining the battle situation of their respective troops during the counter-encirclement.

  "Alright, comrades, settle down. Now let's first listen to Comrade Ren Zheng speak about our current battle situation and the enemy's current deployment?" said General He.

  Comrade Ren stood up, picked up a piece of paper: "Comrades, this time the siege was lifted, our army attacked and annihilated the enemy..."

  Slowly, Liu Hua came to know through the political commissar's explanation that this time the siege was not only a heavy loss for his own Seventh Army Corps, but also a heavy loss for the Second and Sixth Army Corps. After one battle, the Second Army Corps had less than 10,000 people left, the Sixth Army Corps had more than 9,000 people left, and his own Seventh Army Corps had the most people left, with only over 12,000 people left. The whole army was left with only over 30,000 people. After listening to Commissar Ren's report, everyone present fell silent.

  "Alright, comrades, this time we have won the victory of breaking the siege at a great cost. Although the losses are heavy, they are all worth it because our base has almost doubled in size, providing a favorable space for the future development of our troops. Now I will distribute the defense areas for each unit." Upon hearing this, several corps commanders and political commissars perked up their ears.

  The Second Division defended Dayong, Sangzhi and other places. The Sixth Division defended the Taoyuan area, and the Seventh Division defended Cili, Shimen and other areas... Soon, all troops' defense zones and tasks were arranged, and before they knew it, several hours had passed. After General He's final summary speech, the meeting ended in victory.

  Liu Hua and Guan Xiangying, the two men, hastened back to their own temporary command center 'Shimen' overnight in response to the requirements and spirit of this command center.

  The two men rushed to the headquarters without rest and began discussing the future deployment of troops. Thanks to their hard work, after a night of discussion, they finally came up with a feasible plan.

  "Communicator, inform the battalion commanders and regimental political commissars to come to a meeting tomorrow evening at 6 o'clock." After finishing speaking, he ignored the different gazes of the political commissar and fell onto the bed, starting to snore loudly.

  "Commander, Commander, dinner is ready..." Along with the swaying motion, Liu Hua opened his eyes.

  "What time is it now?" Liu Hua asked subconsciously.

  "Commander, it's already five o'clock in the evening now. The meeting is about to start soon. The political commissar asked me to wake you up and have some food. It'll be good for the meeting tonight." said the cook squad leader with a smile.

  "Gee, so soon, I'm really hungry!"

  Soon, with still ten minutes before the meeting, Liu Hua picked up the materials he had prepared with the political commissar last night and headed to the conference room.

  Slowly. The large conference room was already filled with commanders who came to attend the meeting, at six o'clock, the meeting officially began, and Commissar Guan Xiang first reported on the main theme of the meeting in Cili and the direction of future development, and then it was Liu Hua's turn to release the reorganization plan for the troops.

  "Comrades, Director Kan has already briefed you on the key points of this meeting and the establishment of a base area. In order to better carry out large-scale exercises and enhance our combat effectiveness, I discussed with Director Kan a specific plan for debate yesterday. Please listen first, and if there are differing opinions, we will hold discussions."

  First, the division is divided into regiments, with each regiment having three infantry battalions, one heavy machine gun company, and three directly affiliated companies, totaling 1,000 people. Each division has three regiments, one artillery company, three directly affiliated companies, totaling 3,500 people. The army corps has three divisions, one artillery battalion, one heavy machine gun battalion, one guard battalion, one reconnaissance battalion, one logistics regiment, one new recruit regiment, and one sniper company. The entire army corps totals 13,000 people.

  Among them, the logistics team had 1,000 people, and the new soldier team was a skeleton of 300 people. The personnel missing from the main force units were provided by the original logistics department, and the logistics team was supplemented by soldiers who were willing to join the Red Army in this appendix. The remaining personnel all joined the supplementary team for training.

  After reorganization, the whole army had a total of 160 heavy machine guns, 72 mortars and 12 mountain guns.

  Having said that, Liu Hua looked at the silent crowd. "Comrades, do you have any different opinions?"

  Seeing no one spoke, Liu Huasheng took a sip of water and continued: "Next is the arrangement for garrisoning: after reorganization, the First Division will be stationed in Cili, the Second and Third Divisions and all directly affiliated units will be stationed in Shimen. All units can recruit new soldiers during training, and all new recruits will be handed over to the New Soldier Brigade for training. In addition, each unit has another problem, which is that grain and fodder should be self-sufficient as much as possible. This time's captured grain and fodder will all be used for reserve."

  After several hours of recalling, Liu Hua left with a tired look in his eyes, leaving behind the political commissar and Director Li Qing.