The 24th Anti-Japanese Unit

  With a capable military officer like Xu Liangqing, Luo Yi was very relaxed. Xu Liangqing had good military qualities, knew how to train, and had an air of authority that intimidated the soldiers, so Luo Yi didn't need to worry about much. However, when he once applied to flog a soldier who did not perform well in drills, Luo Yi stopped him.

  "Good Qing, isn't this bad?"

  "This is a case for military punishment," said Xu Liangqing. "If he's not given some discipline, how can he remember?"

  Lu Yi scratched his ear and cheek, not knowing how to persuade Xu Liangqing: "This, we are a new-type army, we must implement military democracy, equality between officers and soldiers, cannot corporal punishment of soldiers, must respect the personal rights of soldiers..."

  "What army doesn't have military discipline? And what you said, equality between officers and soldiers, how can that work? If the superior officer has no authority, how can he command his soldiers during battle?"

  Luo Yi was no match for Xu Liangqing on this issue. It was clear that Xu Liangqing had practical experience in leading troops and fighting, while Luo Yi only knew some theory. He thought to himself, the PLA emphasizes equality between officers and soldiers, which unit can compare with the PLA in terms of combat effectiveness? But this reasoning...

  He suddenly slapped his thigh and laughed. Right in front of him was a ready-made candidate who could debate with Xu Liangqing. Yuan Jing had been a instructor in the Red Army company, and like Xu Liangqing, he was also a veteran soldier. In terms of political ideology work, I estimate that Xu Liangqing is definitely not a match for Yuan Jing.

  He called Yuan Jing over and said to her, "Yuan Jing, these days Xu Liangqing has been training new recruits. He found some who didn't listen to him and he wants to hit them with a military stick. Otherwise, can you take care of it?"

  Yuan Jing was alarmed as soon as she heard it: "How can this be, how can soldiers be treated with military sticks?"

  "Yes, yes, I told him that officers and soldiers should be equal, and take care of the soldiers. But he said that in the army it has to be like this, otherwise there would be no combat effectiveness."

  "He's talking nonsense. Will our Red Army's combat power be inferior to his Northeastern Army?" Yuan Jing was provoked by Luo Yi.

  "Then you go tell him."

  Yuan Jing went to find Xu Liangqing, and the two began to argue heatedly. At first, Xu Liangqing was very disdainful of Yuan Jing's words, but the examples of the Red Army soldiers' bravery in battle that Yuan Jing listed moved him. He was a man who had led troops before, and he could understand what Yuan Jing was saying. Clearly, the relationship between officers and men in the Red Army had touched Xu Liangqing.

  "Why can the Red Army brothers fight so desperately?" asked Xu Liangqing.

  Yuan Jing said, "Because we are a team of poor people, every soldier knows that he is fighting for the poor. Our soldiers are all from poor backgrounds, so they are fighting for themselves, and naturally they are brave and fearless."

  Xu Liangqing thought for a moment and asked Yuan Jing: "But our assault regiment isn't the Red Army, so why are we fighting?"

  Yuan Jing couldn't answer this question, so the two of them went to find Luo Yi together. They both had the same doubts about the properties of this unit and were eager for Luo Yi to give an answer.

  "When this team was established, the goal was very clear, that is, to resist Japan and save the country, protect our homes and defend our nation." Luo Yi replied simply.

  "Anti-Japanese?" Xu Liangqing's eyes sparkled with light.

  "Li Qing, you are from the Northeast, aren't you aware of the current situation in China? Between China and Japan, there will inevitably be a war within a few years. The purpose of training this army is to have a showdown with the Japanese."

  "But the corrupt Nationalist Party reactionaries didn't resist Japan at all, they were only enthusiastic about fighting a civil war, regardless of selling out national interests. You want to resist Japan? The reactionaries wouldn't agree!" Yuan Jing's sharp political tone. Xu Liangqing glanced at Yuan Jing and said nothing, after all he was from the Northeast Army, and he couldn't quite accept such blatant criticism of the government. However, he did have some sympathy for Yuan Jing's words.

  Luo Yi said: "The current situation is very complicated, even if it's Chairman Chiang, he didn't say not to resist Japan, but said that to expel the external enemy, we must first stabilize the internal. Once the pressure from society becomes too great, he won't dare not to resist Japan either. Maybe when the Sino-Japanese War breaks out in full scale, the KMT and CPC will join hands again."

  "Pah! Who's hand in hand with reactionaries!" Yuan Jing said indignantly.

  Xu Liangqing thought for a moment and asked slowly: "Camp Commander, are you telling the truth?"

  "Heaven is my witness. If I, Luo Yi, betray the anti-Japanese cause, let me die under a hail of bullets."

  Xu Liangqing stood up straight and said solemnly, "Battalion Commander, with your words, I, Xu Liangqing, am willing to die a thousand times. I have an irreconcilable feud with the Japanese devils, and I will definitely train the shock troops into an elite force."

  "Have you... ever clashed with the Japanese army?" Luo Yi asked.

  Xu Liangqing's eyes flashed with a hint of melancholy, and he nodded his head, saying: "On September 18th, the Japanese army bombarded Beidaying, and tens of thousands of Guandong Army troops fled without a fight. At that time, I was in one of the few regiments that fought to the death. We relied on fortifications and mountain passes to engage in a bloody battle with the Japanese for seven days and nights, and over 400 brothers sacrificed themselves for the country. In the end, we ran out of ammunition and had no choice but to withdraw from combat and retreat into the pass. We contacted the National Government and requested that they provide us with supplies, and we were willing to fight our way back out again. However, not only did the National Government fail to provide us with supplies, but they also sent a large force to confiscate our weapons and remove our regimental commander from his post. Our entire regiment was completely disbanded, and many soldiers were forced to join the Central Army's troops... I really didn't want to suffer that humiliation, so I took off my uniform and hid in this mountain valley in Tongzhou."

  Lu Yi listened to Xu Liangqing's narrative, and couldn't help but feel a deep respect: "So it turns out that you are an anti-Japanese hero after all. Since you've already lost heart, why did you come to sign up for the army again?"

  Xu Liangqing smiled awkwardly: "No choice, I ran to Tongzhou, penniless, and was taken in by a kind-hearted farmer who also married his daughter to me. I don't know how to farm or do crafts, my only skill is being a soldier. Hearing that our place is recruiting soldiers, I thought, might as well sell myself, exchange for some money for my wife and parents-in-law, and repay their kindness."

  Luo Yi burst out laughing: "Alright, Old Xu, if you can help me lead the troops well, I'll reward you with 200 silver dollars and let your wife wear gold and silver."

  Xu Liangqing said: "This is not necessary, if the battalion commander has an anti-Japanese heart, then I am a soldier who can be worthy of it. Money or no money, as long as it's enough for my family to spend, that's all right. If one day I die in battle, then I will have to ask the battalion commander to take care of my family."

  Yuan Jing asked with a pout on her face: "Luo Yi, from what you're saying, does this mean that your assault battalion is going to follow the Nationalist Party?"

  "Why?"

  "Because you mentioned anti-Japanese, it must be necessary to get the approval of the reactionaries. If you don't join the reactionaries, how can they let you go and resist Japan? Maybe they'll even treat you as a Red Army and surround and annihilate you."

  Luo Yi shook his head: "Don't worry, I won't join the National Army. I just want to establish an independent armed force that doesn't belong to anyone else. Otherwise, like Old Xu's Northeastern Army, they were withdrawn into the pass with a single telegram from Chiang Kai-shek, and military orders are like mountains, you can't violate them, it's too embarrassing."

  Xu Liangqing asked, "Battalion Commander, can you tell these things to the brothers as well? Let everyone know why they joined the army and why they are fighting. Since our future opponent is the Japanese, wouldn't it be better to let everyone prepare now?"

  "Ah, you're right, we should start ideological and political education now." Luo Yi said. He certainly knew the importance of ideological work, which determines whether the troops have a soul or not.

  From then on, the training of the assault regiment included more political learning content. Under Luo Yi's arrangement, Xu Liangqing told everyone about the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in Northeast China and the story of his own troops fighting to the death with the Japanese army. Zhang Tianyou was also invited down the mountain to give a report to the soldiers, exposing the Japanese army's looting of China's resources and encroaching on China's land. Luo Yi took advantage of his later generation's perspective to explain the fate of the country and nation to everyone, instilling the idea of saving the country from subjugation.

  "We are China, a great nation with 5,000 years of civilized history. Japan was once just one of our vassal states, and they sent envoys to China to learn from us, which is how they acquired their own writing system. In the past hundred years or so, due to the corruption of the Qing government, China fell behind and was bullied by foreigners at will, with even a small country like Japan wanting to carve up and occupy China. We are all men of honor, can we just stand by and become slaves to a lost nation?"

  "No!" the soldiers replied in unison.

  "Right! We cannot be defeated! We must unite as one, stand together and show the mighty power of our great China. Our slogan is: 'He who offends against me will be punished, no matter how far away he may be!'"

  "He who offends against me, though far away, shall be punished!"

  After these several political reports, the soldiers of the shock troops were almost all brainwashed, and the idea of resisting Japan gradually left an impression in everyone's heart, just waiting for more facts to be used in the future to make them have a deeper understanding.

  Yuan Jing was also arranged to give political lessons to the soldiers, but Luo Yi warned her not to spread the idea of "down with the local tyrants and divide up the land". Luo Yi did not want the shock troops to get involved in the struggle between the National Army and the Red Army. He just wanted to keep a low profile and make good use of the few years before the July 7 Incident to fully develop the strength of the shock troops. Under such restrictions, Yuan Jing could only tell everyone how to obey discipline, how to protect the people, and how to achieve equality between officers and soldiers. The things she said were very new to many soldiers, even Xu Liangqing listened with great interest.