Chapter 9 The Fourth Security Regiment
The Fourth Security Regiment of the Kaifeng Garrison Command was established in this way. It is said that it is a regiment, but including officers and soldiers, there are less than a platoon. Except for issuing military uniforms and managing meals, other supplies are hard to come by. The troops also had to recruit themselves.
Chen Hao was indignant and after discussion with everyone decided: to surrender the weapons but not the people, only to hand over the anti-aircraft machine guns, not a single person could be handed over.
Liang You Tian suggested: "Captain, perhaps Deputy Captain Xu has a way with recruiting soldiers."
The Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China has moved to Zhugou, Xinye County. The party organization instructed Xu Liang to use Chen Hao's troops to develop armed forces under party control. At that time, the Communist Party attached great importance to developing armed forces in Central Plains, and established a military and political cadre training institution in Zhugou, making it temporarily known as "Little Yan'an". In some villages, party-led militia organizations and local armed forces were established. However, in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, it was not convenient to openly establish grassroots governments, and the grassroots armed forces faced great difficulties in terms of personnel, weapons, funding, and daily supplies. Using the Nationalist Army to develop, borrowing eggs from others is a good choice. The new army developed under the name of Shanxi Jin Sui Army led by our party is a successful example.
At this time, Chen Hao was already the Colonel and Commander of the 4th Security Regiment under the Kaifeng Garrison Command. In just one year, he rose from Lieutenant to Colonel, a promotion speed that left people stunned. However, in wartime, this was not an isolated phenomenon. Behind enemy lines, some anti-Japanese armed forces adopted the policy of "promoting as many officials as there were soldiers" to expand their power. For example, if a small soldier had the ability to recruit a regiment of soldiers, he would immediately be promoted to Regimental Commander. But Chen Hao was in the rear, how did he get promoted so quickly?
In January, during the Kaifeng Military Conference, Japanese planes repeatedly bombed Kaifeng. Chen Hao and Liang You Tian led their troops in a fierce battle, repelling enemy planes multiple times. Especially when Dai Li personally escorted Han Fuqu to board a train to Wuhan, an air raid alarm sounded. The anti-aircraft unit stationed at the train station was under Liang You Tian's command, consisting of two high-caliber guns and two heavy machine guns. They immediately opened fire in unison, shooting down an enemy plane that crashed and exploded 200-300 meters south of the station. This left a deep impression on Dai Li. Chiang Kai-shek heard the report and ordered a commendation for Chen Hao's unit. When reporting the names of those who had made contributions, Chen Hao did not forget Xu Liang, who was recovering from injuries in Zhengzhou, saying "Deputy Captain Xu Liang bravely operated the high-caliber gun to attack the enemy plane and was wounded". Soon after, a promotion order was issued, with all meritorious officers promoted one rank, awarded 10 yuan, and soldiers awarded 5 yuan. Chen Hao was thus promoted to Colonel, Xu Liang to Lieutenant Colonel, and Liang You Tian also promoted to Major. The media in Kaifeng and Wuhan interviewed and reported on the heroic deeds of Chen Hao's anti-aircraft unit, exaggerating their achievements.
When the deputy commander of the 200th Armored Division, Qiu Qingquan, who was about to depart for the Xuzhou battlefield from Wuhan, saw this report, he immediately went to find the commander of the 28th Army, Gui Yongqing. Both Qiu and Gui were Kuomintang generals who had studied in Germany and were known as "German generals". The 200th Division was one of the few armored divisions in China at that time, and Qiu did not get along with the division commander, Du. So he went to find Gui, who was about to depart for the front lines together, to ask for help. As soon as he saw Gui, he pulled out a newspaper: "Commander Gui, look at this! How could the Military Affairs Commission do this? These new German-made anti-aircraft guns were casually assigned to a local miscellaneous unit that doesn't even have four decent battalions! Our armored troops are about to depart for the front lines, and if we don't have air cover or sufficient air defense capabilities, won't we become live targets for the enemy's air force? We've worked hard to build this small but effective armored division, and it can't suffer unnecessary losses!" He added: "This is all the blood and sweat of our people!" Gui asked: "What do you want me to do, Commander Qiu?" "Commander, we should request that the Military Affairs Commission, no, Chairman Chiang, transfer these anti-aircraft guns to the 28th Army or the 200th Division to provide air cover for our armored troops as they depart for the front lines!" Gui smiled: "So you want these anti-aircraft guns?" "Good steel should be used on the blade! These anti-aircraft guns can't be wasted on those people!" "Commander Qiu, aren't you going too far? The Chairman has already issued a commendation to them. Do you want to absorb their troops into our own?" "Commander, what's written in the newspaper can't be trusted! I only want the guns, not the people. There are only a few dozen of them, and they're all colonels, lieutenant colonels, and majors - who knows whose sons or young masters they are? They're sitting in the provincial city, far from the front lines, and it's unclear whether they really shot down enemy planes or if the enemy planes just crashed on their own. And then they get promoted? It's too easy to become an officer that way! The regiment commanders under my command are all colonels who have been through many battles, shed blood and sweat, and spent many years working their way up to colonel. That Chen Hao, who's only in his 20s and already a colonel - I don't know whose son he is or what connections he has. I don't want people like that! What I want are those anti-aircraft guns - they're German-made, new-style, and good stuff! Commander, please hurry up and negotiate with the Military Affairs Commission. If we wait any longer, someone else will snatch them away. We're about to depart for the front lines and urgently need to strengthen our air defense capabilities!" "Alright, I'll go negotiate with the Military Affairs Commission right away. If that doesn't work, I'll go directly to Chairman Chiang."
In this way, the 5 anti-aircraft guns left in Chen Hao's hands were transferred to the 28th Army. According to Gui Yongqing's intention, anyway, the 28th Army was about to depart for Lanfeng and would receive them when passing through Kaifeng. However, Qiu Qingquan insisted on immediately sending someone from the Kaifeng office to receive the anti-aircraft guns and transport them back to Wuhan as soon as possible. He was afraid that these five anti-aircraft guns would suffer further losses in battle, and secondly, he wanted to train and integrate the newly received anti-aircraft guns with his personnel as soon as possible to quickly form combat effectiveness.
The high artillery was gone, and the First War Zone ordered Chen Hao's troops to form the core of the Kaifeng Security Command's Fourth Regiment. At that time, the security commander of Kaifeng was a division commander from the original Northwest Army. The First War Zone retreated in Hebei, Liu Xiang used the position of Kaifeng Security Commander as bait to lure this general to bring his troops to Kaifeng. However, Liu Xiang and others were also wary of this Wang Commander and did not want to let his power grow stronger. As the 28 counties on the north bank of the Yellow River fell into enemy hands, the war approached Kaifeng, and the refugees from Nanjing, Jinan, and other places who flowed into Kaifeng were not a few. Expanding the security forces was imperative. Chen Hao was chosen as the force to restrain Wang Commander. First, Chen Hao's troops, which had lost their high artillery, needed to be settled. Chen Hao himself graduated from Huangpu Military Academy, served in regular main force troops, participated in the Battle of Shanghai, and received a commendation for his air defense operations. As a colonel and security regiment commander, he was also properly settled. Moreover, they originally belonged to the Security Command Department, and it was better to let them form the Fourth Security Regiment than to have someone else come from the First War Zone.
The Fourth Security Regiment of the Kaifeng Garrison Command was established in this way. It is said that it is a regiment, but including officers and soldiers, there are less than 100 people. Except for issuing military uniforms and managing food, other supplies are difficult to come by. Soldiers also need to be recruited by themselves. Even if soldiers were recruited, the source of weapons was also a problem, and even rifles could not be expected to have one per person. At that time, a regular army infantry regiment had 6 light machine guns and 60 rifles per company, with a heavy machine gun platoon in each battalion having 4 heavy machine guns, and the artillery directly under the regiment headquarters had 4 82mm mortars. The equipment of miscellaneous troops was even worse, and the famous 29th Army's Big Knife Team was a reluctant choice due to insufficient firepower. As for local security regiments, it would be good if they had guns. Security regiments not only have weak combat effectiveness but also have a bad reputation.
At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the National Army's main forces passing through Kaifeng on their way to the Songhu Battle felt the influence of the Henan people's fervor for joining the military under the ideology of loyalty and patriotism. By the time Chen Hao's 4th Battalion was established, young people of conscription age in Kaifeng and its suburbs had either already joined the army or participated in anti-Japanese organizations such as the Youth Salvation Association and retreated to the rear areas. Chen Hao could only recruit soldiers from more distant rural areas.
At that time, the vast majority of China's rural population was illiterate, and information was extremely closed off. There were no TVs, let alone radios or newspapers. The Central Plains region had experienced many years of warlord battles, and ordinary people had a bad impression of joining the army, with sayings like "good iron is not used to make nails, good men do not become soldiers." In rural areas, where the vast majority of China's population lived, the Nationalist government's conscription work was mainly based on forced recruitment and grabbing able-bodied men. The mobilization for war was far from sufficient. Many ordinary people could not even distinguish between "Old Chiang," "Old Feng," and "Old Japan." In the 1970s, there was a widely circulated rumor that personnel exploring the Fozhi Railway line in southwestern Henan encountered locals who asked: "Has the 'Old Japan' in the city left yet?" This was actually a reflection of the closed-off information in rural areas. On the other hand, on the Japanese side, in the first half of 1937, there were 250,000 troops. After the "July 7th Incident," they rapidly expanded and formed combat forces. For example, General Shizuo Kanai's 5th Division was formed in Hiroshima after the outbreak of war, arrived in China on July 27, landed at Dagukou in mid-August, and quickly joined the battle; the 109th Division was formed in Kanazawa, Japan on August 24, entered the enemy's North China Command sequence on August 31, and arrived in Tianjin to join the Second Army on September 11. Therefore, Chairman Mao specifically listed "organizational power" as an aspect of comprehensive national strength when analyzing the comparison between Chinese and Japanese forces in his essay "On Protracted War." The Communist Party's organizational power was much stronger than that of the Nationalist Party, and its ability to mobilize for war was far superior. At a time when it could not openly establish grassroots governments, the Communist Party deeply penetrated rural areas to propagate resistance against Japan, establishing party-led peasant associations and local militias in many parts of Henan's countryside. Compared to the Nationalist Party, the Communist Party was closer to China's people, especially the peasants who made up the vast majority of the population.
Chen Hao was at a loss for recruiting soldiers. The Garrison Command not only did not help but also asked him to hand over the remaining anti-aircraft machine guns in his hands, citing the establishment of an air defense command center as the reason. Chen Hao was furious and decided to discuss with everyone: "Hand over weapons, not people." At this time, the Fourth Security Regiment had four double-barreled Maxim heavy machine guns, four Czech-style light machine guns, more than 30 Type 79 rifles, a dozen or so German-style submachine guns, and several pistols. In addition, there were two three-wheeled motorcycles. The regiment's firepower was much different from that of an ordinary security regiment. Among these weapons, only the rifles were brought from Shanghai by Chen Hao and his men, while the other light and heavy machine guns and submachine guns were equipped in Xingtai County. The two main generals of this security regiment were a young officer who graduated from a regular military academy with a strong desire to fight against the enemy and a communist party member with firm political beliefs and high military quality. Some members of the regiment had fought against the Japanese on the battlefield, while others had received training from communist cadres and had certain political awareness and higher military literacy. However, they encountered difficulties in expanding their forces. Liang You Tian suggested: "Regiment Commander, maybe Vice Regiment Commander Xu has a way to recruit soldiers." This reminded Chen Hao: "Right! Vice Regiment Commander Xu has been hospitalized for so long, we were busy with air defense and couldn't leave. I'll take someone to visit Brother Xu now." "Regiment Commander, you need to ask for leave from the Garrison Command if you want to leave, it's not easy to get approved. Why don't I go instead? I've been there once before, so I know the way." "Okay, bring Xiao Wangzi with you too. Don't take the train, there are too many people, and it's inconvenient. Take our motorcycles instead. If Vice Regiment Commander Xu can be discharged from the hospital, we'll bring him back."
Liáng Yǒu Tián brought the middle school military uniform and appointment letter with Xiǎo Wàng Zǐ to Zhèngzhōu, where the First War Zone Headquarters was located at that time, to find their deputy regiment commander who was still hospitalized for treatment.
