Chapter 3: The Call to Resist Japan (Part 2)
Chang Jing told Cheng Jiaji the second thing, which was the purpose of inviting him today. Since this army is sent to die, it is likely that they will be martyred on the Tianjin-Pukou Railway. The officials in the war zone are naturally interested in the positions in this temporary army. The superiors are happy to do a favor and have delegated the power to organize and appoint personnel to Xia Weimin. Chang Jing invited Cheng Jiaji, who received the news from his old classmate, with the intention of asking him to speak for himself in front of Xia Weimin's elder sister, to get a real job as a commander in the newly formed troops.
"You'd better stay in the division and wait for the expansion of the troops. It's a sure thing that you'll be promoted to colonel, and if things go well, you might even get a star on your shoulder board! Which unit are you going to?!" Looking at Chang Jing again, Cheng Jiaji hurriedly said: "Then tell me which unit you're more interested in, I'll put in a good word for you with my sister's husband."
Cheng Jiaji had made up his mind to take advantage of this opportunity to gain some military power, and it was also good to get more detailed information from Chang Jing, so that he would have a better grasp of the situation when he took action.
Chang Jing was indeed deceived and immediately reported the situation of several large units that were about to be incorporated into this new temporary army.
This time, the troops to be incorporated into this newly formed temporary army are in their teens. These troops have complex situations, but they all have one thing in common: they are all miscellaneous cards that are not very useful in the eyes of the highest command, just barely better than nothing. Among them, there are several larger ones, including the 8th Security Regiment under the Zhejiang Provincial Security Department, and the Anti-Japanese Righteousness Brigade, which is composed of some landlords' armed forces and a few scattered soldiers who have retreated from the front line for various reasons and cannot be reorganized. The total number of these three troops is enough to reach 4,000 people, accounting for one-quarter of the planned number of this new temporary army. These three troops also have their own characteristics. First, let's talk about the 8th Security Regiment. Although this regiment has poor combat effectiveness and only has less than 800 people on paper, its equipment is also extremely poor. However, it is still a relatively organized force with some discipline. Its biggest advantage is that compared to the other two troops, it is more obedient to orders. At least it will not openly disobey orders. In his conversation with Chang Jing, Cheng Jiaji also learned that his brother-in-law had already made up his mind to completely swallow this regiment and planned to promote its commander to a idle position in the military department of the newly formed army, and reorganize the regiment into a brigade, but it was not yet decided who would be appointed as the brigade commander. Chang Jing also showed some interest in the position of brigade commander, but felt that on the one hand, this position was relatively low, and on the other hand, compared to the other two troops, this regiment's strength was really too weak. Therefore, from Chang Jing's words, Cheng Jiaji discovered that he had a feeling of being uninterested in this position, but if there were no other choices, Chang Jing would still be willing to take it. Of course, after learning about this situation, Cheng Jiaji also had the same idea as Chang Jing.
The largest of the three troops was the Anti-Japanese Righteous and Brave Army, with more than 2,000 people, divided into three detachments and five independent battalions. This troop was also the most complicated among the three troops, and there is an interesting story about its origin. After the July 7th Incident, the Military Commission concentrated its forces to fight against the Japanese army and extensively absorbed local armed forces. The landlords and wealthy businessmen in several counties along the Zhejiang-Fujian border organized various irregular armed forces, which were united together to form the Anti-Japanese Righteous and Brave Army, actually a loose alliance of self-defense teams. This troop was composed of dozens of small and large teams, and it was impossible to have unified command even in peacetime. There were complex relationships and long-standing grudges among the dozens of armed forces that made up this troop, which led to frequent internal conflicts between these troops, even if the war zone commander repeatedly ordered disarmament and threatened punishment, it was still impossible to truly integrate these troops into a unified force.
It is precisely because of this that the Righteous and Brave Army Corps is also the best piece of fat meat in the eyes of those who have a mind, Xia Weimin is preparing to disperse this team into his own direct line troops, thereby ensuring that two divisions are formed with the current troops of the 66th Division as the main body.
The only attractive thing left for Chang Jing and Cheng Jiaji was the Seventh Independent Regiment, which was formed by scattered soldiers who had retreated from the battles of Songhu and Nanjing. This unit was a full-fledged regular regiment with over 1,300 people, mostly old soldiers who had fought against the Japanese in real battles. The biggest problem with these people was that they were undisciplined and disobedient, with less than 70% attendance at daily drills, and there were many factions within the regiment, which was plagued by internal strife, and naturally, morale was low.
However, if we are talking about real combat effectiveness, not only is it much stronger than the above two troops, but even in the temporary 66th division, there is no regiment with such a high proportion of old soldiers, let alone all these people having actual combat experience against Japan.
Xia Weimin had mixed feelings about this unit. After learning that he would be appointed as the commander of a newly formed temporary army, what made him hesitant was this team. The staff department made two plans under Xia Weimin's intention: one was to disband the troops and incorporate them into various departments, and the other was to supplement some troops and expand them into an independent brigade directly under the command of the military department. The former can strengthen the combat effectiveness of each unit, while the latter may form a strong combat unit as the vanguard of the new temporary army. Xia Weimin is also wavering between these two plans at this time.
His ultimate goal is to become the commander of this independent brigade. He knows that without powerful people around Xia Weimin, it's impossible to achieve this goal. If Cheng Jiaqi is willing to strongly support him, there might be a possibility of success. After all, Xia Weimin's wife is also Cheng Jiaqi's older sister and has significant influence over Xia Weimin's decisions. Of course, he won't put all his hopes on Cheng Jiaqi alone. On the other hand, he asks one of Xia Weimin's former superiors to vouch for him, thinking that Xia Weimin will show some respect for his old superior. Moreover, he has always been well-regarded by Xia Weimin and has a good reputation among his colleagues in the 66th Brigade. His only weakness is that he lacks connections within the military. If Cheng Jiaqi were to strongly support him, his chances of success would be much greater with his own efforts.
Cheng Jiaji remained silent for a long time after listening to Chang Jing's analysis. About ten minutes later, he stood up and picked up the several hundred-yuan bills that Chang Jing had just placed on the table.
Chang Jing saw Cheng Jiaji receive his own money, and he was overjoyed in his heart. He thought that Cheng Jiaji had already agreed to speak on his behalf to Xia Furen, and with Cheng Jiaji's help, the possibility of him succeeding would increase by several points.
Unfortunately, Chang Jing was too happy too early, and Cheng Jiaji's next sentence immediately made his heart cool down.
