Chapter 48: Sending Gifts
"Commissar, General He has sent a telegram, asking us to rush back to Sangzhi for the meeting of the Second Red Army," said Political Commissar Guan Xiang, hastily walking into the command center with the telegram in hand.
"Yes, notify Director Li and each department head to come to the meeting." Liu Hua took a look at the telegram handed over by the political commissar.
Soon several main leaders of the Red Seventh Corps arrived at the command post in a flurry. Liu Hua saw that everyone had arrived and walked to his position.
"Comrades, in the next few days, I and the political commissar will go to Sangzhi for a meeting. All matters of the 7th Red Army Corps will be temporarily managed by Director Li Qing. Also, this time we captured many soldiers from the Hubei army. We must do a good job with the prisoners, letting them join our ranks as much as possible. When I return after the meeting, I require that all three main force divisions reach full strength of 5,000 people, and the new soldier division also replenish personnel. Comrades, are you confident?"
"Yes," said several senior instructors in unison as they stood up.
"Well, all right, I've said enough for today. The specific tasks will be arranged by the political commissar." With that, he sat down.
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Soon, the legion meeting was over, and Liu Hua, Guan Xiangying, and Li Qing stayed behind.
"Commissar, Director Li, I reckon the main purpose of this meeting is to counter the enemy's winter siege against us. I reckon we'll have another big battle ahead, so Director Li, during this period, we must seize the time to train our troops and prepare supplies. Aren't there many enemy garrisons and county towns nearby? You can take one regiment from each division to rotate training, and get me more supplies and ammunition back. Although General He's side won a victory last time, I reckon they didn't capture that much. I plan to hand over most of the captured ammunition and supplies, so we'll have to rely on ourselves for supplies. Commissar, Director Li, what do you think?" Liu Hua looked at his two old partners after finishing speaking.
"Commander, I agree, it's just that the number of...". The political commissar looked at Liu Hua. Director Li Qing also looked at Liu Hua and nodded in agreement with the political commissar's point of view.
"Alright, let me tell you about my data: we're leaving all the mortars behind, each regiment is adding a reinforced mortar platoon with 4 mortars, taking away 36 heavy machine guns, 1 million rounds of ammunition, 5,000 rifles, 150 light machine guns, 6 million rounds of ammunition, taking away 12 mountain guns, we're leaving behind one mountain gun company's equipment, taking away 5,000 mortar shells, taking away 5,000 mountain gun shells, and taking away 500,000 kilograms of food. What do you think?"
The two thought for a moment and nodded. "Take 50 machine guns and 400,000 hand grenades with you." The political commissar continued to say.
Very soon, several people reached an agreement.
The next morning, Liu Hua led all the supplies and the guard battalion to Sangzhi. Because they needed to protect the baggage along the way, a few people did not gallop on horseback, but instead followed the baggage troops slowly towards Sangzhi. After a day of marching, the troops arrived at Yujia Ping for rest and reorganization. The next day, Liu Hua and the political commissar continued to lead the baggage troops onward, and by noon, they saw a line of people riding horses rushing towards them.
Liu Hua saw from afar that the person at the front was General He, and seeing General He once again leading several military leaders to welcome him, he immediately dismounted his horse, moved by emotion, and walked towards General He.
"Commander-in-Chief, Political Commissar, and Commander of the 7th Army Corps Liu Hua has arrived to report." Liu Hua gave a standard salute.
"Well done, Liu Hua, another great victory, truly the pride of our Second Red Army Corps, you've made progress." General He said first.
"Liu Hua, not bad, hope you continue to work hard." Ren Zhengwei also walked over and patted Liu Hua's shoulder.
After finishing speaking, Liu Hua and others such as Xiao Ke and Wang Zhen met separately, a group of people walked towards Sang Zhi with smiles.
Soon, everyone arrived at the conference room of the command post. First, Xiao Ke represented the 26th Army Corps to report on the summary of the battle in the previous period. Liu Hua was also surprised after listening to it. The two army corps had less than 20,000 people and actually killed 12,000 enemies, but their own casualties were also great. However, with the supplement of prisoners who were willing to join the Red Army, the number of the two army corps reached 20,000 people. After listening to Xiao Ke's report, Liu Hua couldn't help but nod his head in approval.
It was soon the turn of the 7th Legion to report, and the political commissar took out the prepared data to start reporting. General He and Political Commissar Ren nodded repeatedly as they listened. Finally, the political commissar took out the list of supplies to be submitted to headquarters, and immediately caused several legion commanders to stand up excitedly. It's worth noting that although the 26th Legion also had spoils of war, there were very few, and many weapons were damaged during close combat. So how could they not get excited when they saw the materials on the list?
Comrade He immediately woke up, looked at the list of materials and stood up "Comrades, since we have so many materials now, let's be generous for once. Pass down the command from headquarters, all main force troops' weapons will be unified, with 100 rounds of ammunition and 4 hand grenades each. Each squad will have one light machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition, mortars will have 50 rounds per barrel, and the 12 mountain guns will form two mountain artillery companies, each with 50 rounds of ammunition. All remaining ammunition will be reserved, as well as all food supplies. Perhaps the future struggles will be even more brutal, so we must keep a reserve."
The several legion commanders present immediately smiled with joy. They had been leading their troops for so long, and they had never felt so relieved before. General He, who was sitting to one side, was also overjoyed. Even according to his own requirements, his command would still have more than 5 million rounds of ammunition left, and there would be more than 4,000 artillery shells remaining. With such a large reserve, they would never have to worry about the enemy's blockade again!
He Zong is now really happy to see Liu Hua, you know, Liu Hua has come several times and has given the aspect army gifts several times. Looking at He Zong's gaze towards himself, Liu Hua suddenly felt that something was wrong.
"Ah, Liu Hua, thank you for your great gift! You've solved a big problem for our army this time. We won't have to worry about the enemy's siege for a while now. As they say, 'a gift is not complete without a return gift', haha! Comrade Zheng, shouldn't we give this little guy a return gift?" He said with a smile, looking at Commissar Zheng.
Ren Zhengwei looked at He Zong's mysterious smile and nodded immediately, also smiling "Right, what He Zong said is right, we must return the courtesy, we must."
At this time, everyone in the meeting looked at the two people in front of the table with a puzzled face, and Liu Hua was no exception, not knowing what kind of trickery the two leaders were playing.
"Liu Hua, I remember last time you left, you said something in Qiaoling's room, what was it... Now that you're back today, does what you said last time still count?" He Zong smiled slyly to himself.
At this time, everyone in the conference room seemed to have suddenly realized something and smiled. Liu Hua's face turned red immediately after hearing General He's words.
