Chapter Fifty: Strong Army and Powerful Horses

  According to the reorganization plan, the Chinese "Divine Eagle" Anti-Japanese Special Operations Brigade was reorganized into a first-class regiment. The number is the National Revolutionary Army "Divine Eagle" Anti-Japanese Independent Regiment, with a rough framework as follows:

  Headquarters: Commander Chen Jifan, Deputy Commander and Political Director Zhong Dingcheng, Chief of Staff Hu Yunfeng. 4 communication personnel, 4 service soldiers.

  Staff Office: 6 people. Logistics Department: 12 people. Intelligence Department: 4 people. Military Law Department: 4 people. Regimental Guard Battalion (upgraded from Internal Guard Platoon) 160 people, equipped with Type 38 rifles 150 branches, pistols 20 branches. Machine guns 2. Regimental Special Reconnaissance Company, 118 people, equipped with MP18 submachine guns 104 branches, Type 96 sniper rifles 14 branches. Regimental Assault Company, 86 people, equipped with Thompson submachine guns 80 branches, pistols 4 branches. Regimental Artillery Battalion: 120 people, Type 92 infantry artillery 6 doors, mortar 28 doors, rapid-fire gun twelve doors, trucks 6 vehicles. Rifles 110 branches, pistols 10 branches. Regimental Anti-Aircraft Company: 50 people, high-altitude machine guns 8. Regimental Engineer Battalion (Battalion Commander Zhang Xi-wang): 140 people, equipped with Type 38 rifles 140 branches. Regimental Logistics Battalion: 130 people, equipped with trucks 10 vehicles, rifles 130 branches. Ordnance Repair Department 20 people, Militia Work Team, 15 people. Medical Team (peacetime as Field Hospital) 16 people, 8 pistols. Cook Class 12 people.

  Under its jurisdiction are three battalions:

  1st Battalion: 470 people, battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Song Guantao. Under the jurisdiction of three infantry companies: Infantry Company 1, company commander Captain Pan Guotian; Infantry Company 2, company commander Captain Wang Dafu; Infantry Company 3, company commander vacant. 12 light machine guns, 2 heavy machine guns, and 10 grenade launchers.

  2nd Battalion: 500 people, battalion commander Luo Yugang middle school. Deputy battalion commander Xia Xiande senior captain. Under the three infantry companies are set up: Infantry Company 4, company commander Wang Dazhu senior captain; Infantry Company 5, company commander Xia Xiande (concurrent); Infantry Company 6, company commander Liu Yutang senior captain. Light machine guns 13, heavy machine guns 3, grenade launchers 12.

  3rd Battalion: 470 people, battalion commander Shang Changfu Major. Under the three infantry companies: Infantry Company 7, company commander Zhang Tailin Captain; Infantry Company 8, company commander vacant; Infantry Company 9, company commander vacant. Light machine guns 12, heavy machine guns 2, grenade launchers 10.

  Each battalion has 4 communication personnel, 4 duty soldiers. Reconnaissance team 14 people, guard team 14 people. Cooking team 12 people, medical team 4 people.

  Each company has one cooking squad, one communication squad and one health squad.

  The total number of people in the whole team is 2440.

  The new regiment commander, deputy commander and chief of staff all took a deep breath. They were short-handed! With a full count, there were only over 1,400 people, still half short!

  Liu Chunquan and Li Tao were even more surprised, saying "What kind of militia is this? It's actually a regular army!"

  Here is the translation:

  The following things need to be done next:

  1. Military uniforms. According to the agreement between both parties, the military uniform will remain in its original style and will be customized by the Third War Zone.

  2. Handguns. Commanders at all levels and regimental organs are lacking, and the next step is for the Third War Zone to coordinate a solution.

  3. Gasoline and automobile spare parts.

  Li Tao, who was in charge of liaison, has been ordered to take up his post in the "Divine Eagle" unit. Chen Jifang gave him the position of Deputy Director of the General Staff Department.

  The reorganized "Divine Eagle" Brigade was directly under the leadership of the Military Affairs Commission of the National Government, with combat missions to open up bases in the enemy's rear and coordinate with the National Army's frontal resistance.

  After the materials were transported from Hefei to Quanjiao, Liu Chunquan returned with the delegation to report back. The successful takeover made the National Government extremely excited, but fearing that it would cause dissatisfaction among other troops, they decided to handle it low-key. Nevertheless, the news still spread quickly.

  The Communist Party of China was the first to learn about the news, and the Central Committee severely criticized the New Fourth Army headquarters for not doing enough work, which brought difficulties to the next step. Although Xiang Ying, the secretary of the New Fourth Army, accepted the criticism, he still had reservations in his heart. He consistently advocated that the New Fourth Army should be a purely proletarian force led by the Communist Party. The troops in Anhui, although they had made contributions to the resistance against Japan, were of mixed origin and their commanders were of unknown background, so Xiang Ying was not very enthusiastic about the reorganization. However, since the Central Committee had put forward criticism, some remedial work should be done. Therefore, the New Fourth Army headquarters immediately issued instructions to its subordinate troops: 1. Pay attention to this newly reorganized Nationalist army and try to infiltrate it as much as possible. 2. The work of mobilizing the masses in the enemy's rear must be grasped tightly, and the existing base should be expanded as much as possible. 3. Have more contact with this troop and try to turn the enemy into a friend.

  According to the negotiation minutes, the reorganized "Shenying" should assist the Anhui Provincial Party Department in establishing the Wan-Zhong Anti-Japanese Mobilization Committee. Chen Jifang strongly recommended Wang Jicai as the director of the mobilization committee. The Anhui Provincial Party Department immediately responded and formally appointed Wang Jicai as the special commissioner for the Wan-Zhong region and the director of the Anti-Japanese Salvation Mobilization Committee.

  When Wang Jicai was brought from Xiaowangzhuang by Chen Jifan's men, he still couldn't quite believe it. How did he become an official after all? It should be known that his ancestors had always been officials until the end of the Qing dynasty when they switched to business. Now there is a chance to bring glory to his ancestors, how can he not be excited?

  However, Wang Jicai was clear in his heart that all of this was due to the "Divine Eagle" in Xiao Wangzhuang at the beginning. He secretly felt that this unit would have unlimited prospects in the future, as long as he followed the "Divine Eagle", then the road ahead would also be boundless.

  Chen Jifan didn't have time to care about what Commissioner Wang was thinking at the moment, he only had one thought in mind: recruit soldiers and train them!

  In the headquarters, Zhong Dingcheng rushed in with a piece of intelligence. Chief of Staff Hu Yunfeng hastily asked: "Brother Zhong, what's going on?"

  "This is the latest intelligence from the various armed forces in the Quanjiao area below. Battalion commander, chief of staff, come and take a look," Zhong Dingcheng said, holding the intelligence report and walking to the map to mark and introduce it. "There is an armed force called the Northeast Anti-Japanese Exile Advance Column in a small town 14 kilometers northeast of the county seat. With more than 200 people, they have relatively advanced weapons and have fought with a small number of Japanese troops several times. They are composed of part of the exiled personnel from the original Northeast Army's 67th Army. Shouldn't we contact them and try to get this armed force over here? These people are all seasoned veterans."

  "Didn't the New Fourth Army react at all?" Chen Jifan asked. If the New Fourth Army were to take action first, things would be difficult to handle, and Chen Jifan did not want to fight with his old unit.

  "Like this, Captain," Hu Yunfeng proposed an idea, "the battalion commander Song Guantao is a Northeasterner, we can let him make the initial contact."

  "Alright, Yunfeng, this is for you and Song Yingchang to handle. Old Zhong, anything else?" Chen Jifan said.

  "There's another piece of bad news, the two security regiments of the Nationalist Party that were originally stationed at the border of Quanjiao and Chaohu counties suddenly moved into Wugang Town and Erlangkou Town not far from the county seat, blocking our contact routes with Chaohu."

  "Didn't you send someone to negotiate?" Chen Jifan asked with a frown.

  "Not yet, the commander of the security team is named Zhao Fengyou. This person has a very bad reputation, and the people all call him Zhao Yanwang. I estimate that the security team isn't anything good either."

  "This is the one sent by the top to monitor us. Hmph, I reckon even a small security team like this can't stir up much trouble."

  Hu Yunfeng suddenly had an idea, "Hey, since there's meat delivered right to our doorstep, why don't we just eat it?"

  "You little rascal, now that you're the Chief of Staff of the National Army, how can you still have such a bad attitude? That's the National Army Security Regiment, not a puppet army. We just reorganized, so we can't just turn our backs on them." Chen Jifang disagreed.

  "Squad leader, I think Little Hu is right. After this security squad moved in, many of the townspeople have been dissatisfied. It seems that if we let it continue to develop like this, it will also damage our image. Why not just disband it?"

  "This matter is too big, let's put it aside for now and study a way that benefits both sides. We can't make too much noise or give others a handle to grab."

  Next, Zhong Dingcheng reported another matter, that all walks of life in Quzhou strongly demanded that the big landlord Zhang Weiqing donate money and grain to support the war effort. Students marched day and night, some even surrounded Zhang Weiqing's residence in Quzhou.

  "Big landlord? How big?" Chen Jifan became interested.

  "It's unclear, according to Mr. Wang, his family has a lot of land in both Quanjiao and Chaohu, and they also do business with silk and raw silk. This person is a miser, who verbally supports the resistance against Japan but doesn't take any actual action."

  "In this way, things are being done one by one. Now the top priority is to expand and train the troops, especially the three regiments. They must form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. I think the enemy's attack will start soon."

  After dispersing, Hu Yunfeng went to find Song Guantao. The battalion commander was thrilled to hear that Quan Pei still had Northeastern old friends and couldn't wait to go immediately.

  Xia Xiande came to report that his old acquaintance Wang Yong and Tian Guizhen sent someone to contact him, wanting to join the Chinese "Divine Eagle" Independent Regiment.

  Good news! Chen Jifan suppressed his inner excitement and asked: "What's the origin? How many people?"

  Xia Xiande said: "Their name is the National Government's Anti-Japanese People's Self-Defense Army. In the past, they had tried to attack the county town several times but failed. Now it seems like they have two large troops. Wang Yong is an old acquaintance of mine, and we ambushed a group of devils who came to the countryside to grab grain together. This Tian Guozhen is not very familiar, but he has a good way of fighting, much better than me."

  "Where are they now?"

  "They just sent someone to pass on a message, if we agree, they'll arrange to meet in the county town the day after tomorrow."

  "Alright, you go and handle this matter. The League branch agrees to accept them as members. Discuss the details with them at the League branch the day after tomorrow morning."

  In the small town, Hu Yunfeng had a taste of Song Guantao's eloquence. As soon as they met, this kid started with "old countrymen meet old countrymen, two eyes brimming with tears". Everyone was from Northeast China, and his emotional stirring immediately increased their affection for each other. Next, after just chatting for a bit, Song Guantao began his lengthy speech:

  "We're all from the Northeast, right? If it weren't for the troops advancing into Quzhou, I, Old Song, wouldn't have known that there were still folks from back home here. To be honest, we Northerners were occupied by those little devils, and us seven-foot-tall men didn't dare show our faces to our parents and elders back in the Northeast!

  I joined the 29th Army in Beiping to fight against the devils, but later got dispersed and rejoined the Central Army. The equipment of the Central Army was much better than that of the 29th Army. When we arrived at the Songhu battlefront, I thought this would be our chance for revenge. But who would have thought that the devils' firepower was so fierce, with planes and tanks? Our entire battalion was wiped out in one afternoon at Luodong.

  Later, we were ordered to retreat. Those officials ran away first, leaving me with a few dozen brothers who hadn't eaten or drunk anything. I gritted my teeth and led them up the mountain to become bandits. What's so funny? Didn't General Zhang also used to be a bandit?

  Later, we met Chen and Hu from the 'Divine Eagle' unit, who had only 12 men but could take down an entire devil squad! I didn't believe it at first, but later joined them and found out that they were indeed capable of taking down an entire devil company!

  We were outnumbered, with less than 40 men on our side, while the devils had over a hundred. But what was the result? Two words: complete annihilation! Don't believe me? We suffered only one injury, no deaths! I'm an old soldier now, and fighting against the devils for so many years has never felt so satisfying.

  That night, I secretly burned some incense to report back to my fallen comrades that I, Song Guantou, had found a good unit and avenged them. Later, the devils came again, and Chen led us to take down over 100 more devils and capture many valuable supplies.

  What can I say? Guerrilla warfare? At first, I thought so too, but taking down devils in small skirmishes wasn't enough. I wanted a real battle against them. Who knew that after a few months, the opportunity would come? The devils sent two infantry companies and one machine gun company from Dingyuan.

  Our battalion commander, Chen, ordered me to lead two companies to defend the front line - Hu's 2nd Company and my 1st Company. At first, those new recruits were all useless, almost getting our lines breached by a single devil charge. I got anxious and led the charge myself. In the end, we annihilated three devil companies and captured a lieutenant colonel.

  After that battle, I was thoroughly convinced - we 'Divine Eagles' could handle positional warfare just fine. And later, we took down Quzhou, which everyone knows about, so I won't say more. Pour me some water, will you? What's wrong with you? Can't you see that Old Song's throat is parched?"

  Song Guanhu finished speaking in one breath, and the officers of the advancing column listened with bated breath. From the actions and achievements of "Divine Eagle" defeating Zhang Zupei, they did not doubt everything Song Guanhu said at all. Then he raised some questions again, and Hu Yunfeng answered them on behalf of the "Divine Eagle" Independent Regiment one by one. This group of Northeastern Han people had no more doubts and decided to join in full force.

  For Chen Jihua, the next two or three days can be said to be a double happiness, Xia Xian and Zhong Dingcheng successfully persuaded another branch of the army, known as the National Government's Anti-Japanese People's Self-Defense Army. The head of this army, Wang Yong and Tian Guozhen, led two regular battalions with more than 300 people to surrender.

  "The Divine Eagle" Anti-Japanese Independent Regiment suddenly increased by over 500 people, adding to the militia recruited from the surrounding areas of Xiao Wang Zhuang, the troops had nearly two thousand people. Especially the Northeast Drifting Trenches, although they were few in number, their equipment was not bad, and they even had 140 rifles and 4 machine guns.

  In terms of personnel arrangement, the headquarters decided to incorporate the original Northeast Drifting Trenches into the 1st Battalion after careful consideration. Its commander was Wei Yu Zhou, who was appointed as the deputy battalion commander and commander of the 3rd Infantry Company. Wang Yongjin served as the deputy director of the Political Department, Tian Guo Xuan served as the deputy battalion commander and commander of the 8th and 9th Companies, and Liu Zi Qing from the original Northeast Anti-Japanese Trenches was appointed as the commander of the 9th Company.

  In this way, all the armed forces in Quyang County except for Zhao Fengyou's two security regiments basically joined the "Shenying" Independent Regiment. The regimental commanders of the "Shenying" Independent Regiment were all in place, and next was the even more arduous task of troop training.