Chapter Fourteen: Getting What One Wishes For

  Dai Qin let out a sigh of relief when he heard Xu Supu's words, and his intention also came out. He immediately personally moved over a chair: "Director Xu, please sit down, it's really a sin to have you stand for so long."

  Looking at Zhai Qin's changing face, like a theatrical performance, Xu Supu felt that he was probably going to be in trouble. What kind of person was this guy, who could be so arrogant and overbearing one moment, and then suddenly become so humble and flattering? As the saying goes, "Don't hit someone with a smiling face," Xu Supu had no choice but to say: "Speak up, if you're being polite to me, you must have some request. Promotions are handled by the Military Command Department, and I'm not useful for currying favor."

  Duan Qin said with a serious face: "How dare I? I just returned to your command, Xu Shouzhang, and have not achieved anything yet. How can I possibly think of becoming an official? Besides, in front of you and Commander Xue, who are both upright people, how could I have such thoughts? This is a war of resistance against the enemy, not for personal gain or promotion."

  Looking at this sly guy, Xu Supu would absolutely not believe Zhai Qin's words. But since he said so, how could she say it was wrong? She had to say: "It seems you can go be the director of the political department now. No need to flatter, just speak as long as there is a legitimate reason."

  Dai Qin said: "Chief of Staff, look at these people, not to mention good equipment, even guns are less than half of them. They are all scattered soldiers who ran away with their pants almost falling off. Where are the guns and ammunition?"

  "This is normal, the scattered troops can barely keep their guns and bullets. These people haven't even taken off their uniforms, it's already good that they've become civilians and run away." He nodded and said: "This is easy to handle, the logistics department is in Tunxi, together with the forward command headquarters, you send someone to the logistics department to pick up equipment, I will notify them."

  "Thank you, Chief of Staff. Whatever is needed, just give the order, I will certainly rush into boiling water and walk through fire without hesitation."

  Xu Supu has already been fooled by Zhai Qin, this guy is still very capable and eloquent, but the rogue aura is too heavy, not like a soldier. However, his flattery finally made Xu Supu have some good feelings: "Forget it, my only requirement for you is to not lose face in battle."

  Diao Qinli Zheng said, "Of course, if we lose the battle, wouldn't that be a betrayal of you, Commander Xu? If it's said that the troops personally organized by the commander and the chief of staff lost the battle, wouldn't that be a slap in the face for both you and the commander?"

  Xu Supu understood that the guy in front of him was absolutely capable, every sentence was a flattery, and he could repeatedly mention the Chief of Staff and the Commander, without offending anyone, being all-around.

  His inspection here is over, and he needs to go back and formulate a battle plan with the commander, adjust the troops. He stood up and said: "I'm going back to headquarters, continue training your temporary regiment, wait for orders."

  "Is that so?" Zhai Qin finally had a bit of a military demeanor: "Director Xu, I've already had the kitchen prepare food, let's eat before we go?"

  Xu Supu had a feeling of being at home with the diligent household, and smiled saying: "Where did you get the food for thousands of people from? You didn't take it out of your own pocket, did you?"

  Dai Qin shook his head and said, "I don't have any money, this year the landlord's family doesn't even have leftover grain! However, the county magistrate of Ningguo is quite resistant to war. As soon as I found him, he immediately united the entire Ningguo County's gentry and merchants to solve our food, military uniforms, and bedding."

  Xu Supu didn't believe it. As the chief of staff of the army, he was not unfamiliar with local affairs. He asked doubtfully: "Is this extorted?"

  Diao Qin hastily guaranteed: "No, absolutely not, I just went to talk to Wu County Magistrate, and he solved it."

  "Really?" Xu Supu asked skeptically "Nothing else?"

  "No, absolutely not, we just said one sentence." He said with embarrassment: "It's just that there were a few more people who went, about two or three hundred. But I guarantee that I didn't scold him once or hit him at all."

  Xu Supu almost fell over, and there were two or three hundred people. If this Wu County head still doesn't agree, he's a complete fool. Although it's not great, at least they didn't bully the common people or the local area. The National Army collecting grain and supplies locally during wartime is normal too. He nodded and said: "No big deal then. I won't eat now, wait until you win the battle and I'll treat you."

  Diqin didn't know who Xu Supu was, hadn't heard of him in his later years, but this person wasn't bad, gave a good impression, had a cultured and refined demeanor as well as the style of a military man.

  Xu Supu had just left, and Zhai Qin immediately found his own trusted subordinates. Zhao Kai, Zhang Meng, Wang Biao, Zhu Hou and Li Le. After explaining the situation, these people were all excited to jump up. This time it's not bad, the front enemy command department of the war zone is a high-level unit. Zhai Qin was promoted to acting regimental commander, and if he did well, he could become the formal regimental commander.

  Dai Qin said: "Zhao Kai, I'll take Li Le's third company to Huangshan District to get equipment. Understand what combat plans there are, you stay at home and intensify your training." Zhao Kai said: "No problem. Get some good stuff here."

  Dai Qin said: "That's right, nothing can be done about it, just a fart. Watch out."

  The next morning, Zhai Qin took Li Le's third company to Huangshan, which is over 200 kilometers away from Tunxi. This distance is not close, so Zhai Qin mobilized a company of soldiers. Each of his companies has 200 people, divided into four platoons. Each platoon has four squads with twelve men each.

  It was because Diqin's troops were numerous, so his more than a thousand men could only be formed into two battalions. Diqin had his own plans, so despite the road not being very safe, he still went to Tunxi Headquarters with empty hands. With Huangshan and Tianmushan blocking the way, Ningguo to Huangshan was relatively safe.

  It would take two or three days on foot for this distance. When Zhai Qin and his party were not far from Tunxi, Xu Supu had just arrived in Tunxi for a short time.

  Xue Yue is studying the map. Hangzhou has fallen, and the devils are stabilizing the Nanjing area, attacking the surrounding areas of Hangzhou and southern Anhui, with some advancing towards southern Jiangsu.

  There is no intention to advance westward into northern Jiangxi for the time being. The troops withdrawn from Nanjing are gathering and reorganizing, and troops are being deployed to defend the surrounding areas of Hangzhou, while the New Fourth Army in the Nanjing area and southern Anhui are mobilizing.

  Xue Yue, the commander-in-chief of the front line, needed to adjust troops and organize forces in time. Although the Third War Zone had four army groups with a considerable number of soldiers, the troops were disorganized due to the previous retreats, resulting in severe shortages of weapons and supplies. He requested reinforcements from the Military Affairs Commission in the rear to supplement his forces and ammunition, and to establish a solid defense line as soon as possible to stop the Japanese army's westward advance.

  Seeing the returning chief of staff, Xue Yue smiled: "What's the situation ahead?"

  Xu Supu shook his head and said: "The situation is not good, the morale of the troops is low, the will to fight is very weak, I'm afraid it's hard to stop the devils' attack."

  Xue Yue nodded for the third time and said: "We urgently need a victory to boost morale, but it's hard for the troops to counterattack in this way."

  Xu Supu also sighed, he had no way out, and could only hope that the devils would not attack, giving him time to reorganize his troops. Xu Supu was busy for a while, and finally calmed down a bit.

  The operations staff officer came over: "Chief of Staff, the Liuyang Military Supply Depot called and reported that Director Huang Bingjie said a temporary regiment wants to receive equipment, claiming you agreed, but Director Huang did not receive any orders."

  Xu Supu slapped his forehead: "Oh, I forgot. This kid's speed is so fast, it seems like he's one step ahead."

  He then said to his aide: "Give orders to Director Huang, give them the equipment and ammunition of a regiment, and distribute it according to the standard configuration of a Type B regiment."

  The staff officer turned to give orders to the logistics department. Xue Yue asked strangely, "That temporary independent regiment? Do you still need to give orders in person?"

  Xu Supu said: "I was so busy when I came back that I really forgot about him and didn't report it to the commander."

  Xue Yue was puzzled, Xu Supu had been with him for many years, always his most loyal subordinate and chief of staff. Even when he returned to Jiulong to live in seclusion, it was Xu Supu who secretly helped him. When Xue Yue participated in the coup against Chiang Kai-shek and was forced to leave his military post, it was also Xu Supu who was active behind the scenes, persuading him to surrender to Chiang Kai-shek, which led to Xue Yue's current situation, so the two were not just superior and subordinate, but friends. Xue Yue wasn't blaming Xu Supu for not reporting back, he was just puzzled that with Xu Supu's intelligence, he would still forget about his troops? That's why he asked.

  Xu Supu recounted what happened in Ningguo, and Xue Yue also had a smile on his face. Where did this guy come from? Interesting.

  Xu Supu said: "The commander has not established a regular army defense strategy, with the enemy's rear troops attacking? I think this Diqin is more like a rogue and a rascal. Such a person is not suitable for regular defensive battles, I want to put him in the back, maybe it will be better."

  Xue Yue nodded and said: "I hear you say there's a possibility, but fighting in the enemy's rear, loyalty is most important, giving him an army is too much."

  Xu Supu also knew that fighting in the enemy's rear could lead to surrender, and a regiment was indeed in danger. He nodded and said: "I've been thinking the same way, just let him act as regimental commander, and promise to give him a regiment's worth of weapons and ammunition. Everything will be decided after you report back to me."

  Xue Yue thought for a moment and said: "He is just a regimental commander, give him a regiment and incorporate it into the guerrilla general team. I have ordered Kong Xiangxi to be the commander-in-chief of the guerrilla team, commanding various guerrilla teams to fight in the enemy's rear. He was incorporated into the 19th Army's 5th Guerrilla Brigade, with three battalions under his command. As soon as possible, enter the Wuhu area for combat and pin down the Japanese army that is attacking from the front."

  Xu Supu said: "Alright, I'll give him an order."

  Xue Yue said: "Notify Kong Hechong and let him teach tactics to each battalion commander, the Communist Party's guerrilla warfare tactics are very strong."

  Xu Suping understood that Kong Hejing was a defector who surrendered after betraying the Communist Party. In the past, during the Jiangxi Counter-Encirclement Campaign, he had dealt significant defeats to the National Army with his guerrilla tactics. However, as his merits grew, he began to disobey the Communist Party's command and indulged in luxuries. After being disciplined, he led a group of loyal followers to defect to the National Army.

  The fifth encirclement campaign against the Central Soviet Area, Gong He was greatly rewarded for his meritorious service and was even received by Chiang Kai-shek in person. He also enjoyed the honor of inspecting troops together with him. Under his influence, a large number of Communist Party officials surrendered.

  However, this man was very greedy, deducted military pay, and abused soldiers. Such a person is not welcome even within the National Army, let alone in a unit like the Communist Party. This time he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the guerrilla team by Xue Yue because he was proficient in guerrilla warfare tactics. The guerrilla teams were all operating behind enemy lines and basically acted alone, so Kong Hechong had no real power, only teaching guerrilla warfare tactics.

  Xu Supu nodded and said: "Yes, I will give orders to Kong Zhihui now."

  Xue Yue said, "Let me hear it, I'm also very interested in this Diqin. You didn't say he had a strategic mind, and now that he's in Laiyang, let him finish his preparations and come to the General Command Center for a visit. Let's see what kind of person this little guy is who is willing to accept my command."

  Xu Supu smiled and said: "This guy is quite eloquent, don't let him talk you into a daze."

  Xue Yue burst out laughing, it's just a small string of firecrackers.

  Zhai Qin was unaware that his purpose had been thoroughly achieved, attracting the attention of Xue Yue. At this time, he was using all his skills to deceive Huang Bingjie.