Chapter 49: The Harvest of One Week

  After an afternoon of discussion, the meeting initially reached a consensus to continuously attack the enemy before they formed an encirclement circle, delaying the time it took for the enemy to complete the encirclement. At the same time, one of our focuses this time is also to obtain supplies, which can increase the strength of our base area and not fear the enemy's future siege. Also, each unit should take advantage of this opportunity to train troops and increase their combat effectiveness.

  Of course, during the meeting, Liu Hua was also laughed at by everyone, and Liu Hua's face remained red throughout the meeting, but this was not without gain. Through Ren Zhengwei's introduction, Liu Hua learned that Qiaoling had been thinking about him all the time, often absent-minded. Upon hearing this, Liu Hua thought to himself that if he could make the person he loved think of him every day, what more could he ask for in such a chaotic era? Although it was embarrassing, he felt infinitely happy.

  After He Zong announced the end of the meeting, Liu Hua rushed to Qiaoling's room without even going to the toilet, and hastily pushed open the door without knocking.

  The eyes of the two met in an instant, Liu Hua was stunned on the spot, and the two people looked at each other like that, looking for a full minute before Liu Hua rushed in, not caring what Qiaoling thought. Rushing in, he tightly hugged her. Slowly, Qiaoling stopped struggling, just letting the man she had been thinking about for several days hold her quietly.

  Although the two of them didn't do anything out of the ordinary that night, they chatted under the lamp until dawn. It wasn't until the sky was about to brighten up that Liu Hua gently placed his loved one on the bed, covered her with a quilt, and quietly gazed at her.

  The next day, Liu Huachun came to the conference room with a radiant face. Seeing that everyone was looking at him with strange eyes, Liu Hua quickly explained to everyone that he was not yet married and if any scandal were to occur in the Red Army, it would have a very bad impact on both of them.

  "Good boy, you've made progress! How about it, when are you two planning to get married? Hehe, don't forget us matchmakers at that time!" said Director Ren with a smile.

  "Director Ren, how dare I? I was thinking of asking you to be my witness for marriage. Xiaoling and I have discussed it, after this battle is over..." Liu said with a red face.

  The conference room immediately remembered bursts of laughter.

  Thanks to the meeting yesterday afternoon, today's meeting went very smoothly. General He soon made a final summary: "In the recent period when the enemy has not yet fully formed its encirclement, all main forces except for leaving some troops to garrison the base area will be deployed on the outer lines. Before the enemy's encirclement is fully formed, we should strike at the enemy as much as possible and capture their supplies. Expand our military supplies and prepare for future counter-encirclement operations."

  Liu Hua hastily rested in Sangzhi for a day, then left the county town with the political commissar and reluctantly bid farewell to Cui Ling, rushing back to Taoyuan County Town.

  "Director Li, Corps Commander and Commissioner are back." Upon hearing this shout, Director Li hastily came out of the command center to greet them.

  "Commissar, Commander of the Legion, has returned,"

  "Hehe, Director Li, you're back! How's the troop now?" Liu Hua saw Director Li Qing smile and welcome him, without thinking about being polite, he quickly asked about the situation of the troops.

  "Look at you, won't you let people rest? As soon as you come back, you start asking about the troops' affairs. I'm not tired, but you are, Director Li. I need to rest." The political commissar glared at Liu Hua.

  "Hehe, Comrade Political Commissar, look at me, hehe, alright, let's go rest, we'll have a meeting at the command center tomorrow." The political commissar smiled and chuckled.

  The next day, everyone came to the conference room of the command post. Liu Hua began to listen to the results achieved by several division commanders in the past week. After listening, Liu Hua almost laughed out loud, especially the results of the Second Division, which made Liu Hua the happiest.

  Originally, the Second Division's reconnaissance team discovered that a regiment of enemy troops was escorting a batch of ammunition and supplies for winter annihilation. It can be said that Chen Cheng is indeed Chiang Kai-shek's direct descendant, and those ammunition and supplies are infinitely supplied. The supply to Xue Yue's Central Army division is surprisingly large: 1 million rounds of ammunition, 2,000 artillery shells, and 300,000 kilograms of grain. Hehe, it was easily obtained by the Second Division.

  The First Division and the Third Division also achieved great results. The First Division captured two towns where an enemy division was stationed, capturing about 1 million catties of grain, 2 million rounds of ammunition, and some guns. The Third Division borrowed a mountain artillery company from the military department, fired a few shots at the city of Jian Shi, and after one charge, the defending troops surrendered. In this way, they took the equipment of the mountain artillery company and went on to conquer three towns in just one week, capturing a large amount of grain, totaling 10 million catties, as well as 3 million silver dollars.

  Hehe, after the final summary by Director Li Qing: "Ammunition 1.4 million rounds, artillery shells 2,500 rounds, food 15 million catties, enough weapons to equip two regiments."

  After listening to the reports of several superiors, Liu Hua couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. Hehe, now the Seventh Army's food and ammunition are more than enough, with a total reserve of 3 million rounds of ammunition, 7,000 mortar shells, and 4,000 mountain gun shells, which is enough for the Seventh Army to fight for half a year. Now they can fight with peace of mind.

  After listening to several reports, Liu Hua began to read out the orders from the General Command. The division commanders and regimental commanders immediately perked up their ears and started listening to the tasks, looking at their anxious appearance, Liu Hua smiled slightly.

  "This time our mission is to harass the enemy, capture supplies, disrupt the enemy's deployment, and the action will last for a week. Orders: I'll follow the First Division, heading east of Taoyuan, Commissar will follow the Second Division, heading north of Taoyuan, Director Li will follow the Third Division, heading south of Taoyuan. The Logistics Department will be divided into three parts, each division having a 500-man baggage camp. Reconnaissance companies will be assigned to each division, and the guard company will also be split up. Taoyuan County is defended by the combat battalion of the Logistics Department, responsible for purchasing supplies." Liu Hua looked at everyone.

  "Yes, Legion Commander, mission accomplished." Everyone stood up and said in unison.

  The next morning, Liu Hua brought the reconnaissance company and the guard company to the garrison of the First Division. He saw the division commander Sun Xingbang come out to greet him, and Liu Hua quickly walked over to ask how he was doing before hastily arriving at the command center of the First Division. Looking at the map hanging on the wall, his eyes fell upon Shimen Bridge. Since Shimen Bridge is very close to Changde, the city's defenses are tight, with two divisions of Central Army troops stationed there, and a regiment of Central Army troops also stationed at Shimen Bridge.

  At the same time, due to its geographical location, an enemy mountain artillery company and a mortar company were also stationed there. Looking at such good equipment and supplies, Liu Hua couldn't help but drool. Sun Xingbang and Zhao Dahai saw that the division commander's gaze was fixed on Shimen Bridge, and they were taken aback. They had also thought of attacking Shimen Bridge, but it was too close to Changde County, less than 4 hours away, and enemy reinforcements would arrive quickly, so they hadn't made a move.

  As they watched the legion commander aim over there, the two of them also moved, immediately taking out detailed reconnaissance of the enemy situation and studying it together with the legion commander. In this way, the three people began sitting at a table to study.