Chapter 12: Endless Scenic Beauty in Xuzhou (Part 2)
Xu Zhiyuan, who was on his way to Xuzhou, immediately sent a long telegram of several hundred words after learning that his restless brother-in-law had caused this stir. He severely reprimanded Cheng Jiaji and at the same time let someone give several thick gifts to the relevant leaders of the Military Affairs Department. He didn't want to offend Minister He, who was the first general under Chairman Mao since the Party Army era. Putting aside his high position and power, there were not many officials who were not Minister He's subordinates or former colleagues. The head of the Third War Zone, Gu, was also one of Minister He's trusted subordinates back in the day. Although the 16th Temporary Division had been pulled out, Xia Weimin's foundation was still in southern Zhejiang. If Minister He spoke up, Gu would not be happy. Not to mention other things, it wouldn't be difficult for him to raze Xia Weimin's old nest.
At this time, Cheng Jiaji was at the first peak of his military career. After leading his troops to parade with prisoners on the streets of Xuzhou, Cheng Jiaji found that he had become a darling of the Military Commission overnight.
That General Xiong, who had a slight limp in his leg, came to Xuzhou from the Military Affairs Department specifically for the affairs of his troops. He brought with him the Fourth-Class Bao Ding Medal of Honor that the Military Commission had decided to award to Cheng Jiaji. The War Zone Headquarters also specially organized a grand ceremony to present the medal. This level of Bao Ding Medal can be awarded to both general-level and school-level military officers, so after the ceremony, people in Xuzhou spread rumors that Cheng Jiaji was very likely to be promoted again, skipping one rank and becoming the youngest major general in the entire National Army. This rumor also made Cheng Jiaji an overnight sensation on the social scene of Xuzhou. All the dignitaries in Xuzhou were proud to have a connection with this future star with boundless prospects.
Of course, the chairman will not just issue a blank check for this. As a reward for the victory of the Great King Zhuang's battle, the 20,000 silver dollars specially approved by the chairman to reward all the officers and soldiers who fought bravely were also handed over to Cheng Jiaji at the same time as the medal was awarded.
As for whether he can become a general immediately, Cheng Jiaji is not very concerned about it at the moment. What he values most is not that Baoding Medal of Honor, which was quite valuable at the time. What he is most concerned about now is how much his military strength can be expanded and strengthened. After the Battle of Dawangzhuang, Cheng Jiaji, who had felt the weakness of his own power and was already leaning towards a warlord in thought, is still most concerned about how many guns, ammunition, and new recruits the Military Commission will give to his troops. Of course, it would be best if the Military Commission could directly assign veteran soldiers from other troops to him, but this idea is unrealistic even for Cheng Jiaji. Since the outbreak of the war, Chinese troops on various battlefields have suffered extremely heavy losses and urgently need replenishment. China has a large population, and there is no shortage of new recruits, but experienced veterans are in great demand.
Although he had been mentally prepared, the chairman's generosity still surprised Cheng Jiaji. It made him involuntarily sigh in his heart that this old man's skill in using momentum and borrowing momentum was truly remarkable. The plan brought by Deputy Minister of Military Affairs Xiong contained a step-by-step promotion of Cheng's detachment from a small detachment equivalent to a second-class regiment, directly upgraded to a new independent brigade under the direct jurisdiction of the Fifth War Zone, with one first-class regiment and one second-class regiment under its command. As compensation for the temporary 16th Army being stripped of a detachment from its roster, a regiment of new recruits from Hunan would be added to the temporary 16th Army's establishment.
As for the equipment and new recruits, the Military Affairs Department was very generous this time. The Military Affairs Department first transferred 500 new recruits from Hubei to the newly established Independent Hundred Regiment. Moreover, they generously converted an engineer battalion responsible for expanding the airport in Xuzhou into an infantry battalion and assigned it to the newly formed Independent Hundred Regiment. Seeing the Military Affairs Department's generosity, the war zone commander also allocated three new recruit battalions to Cheng Jiaqi's unit.
Three days after the arrival of Deputy Commander Xiong, Cheng Jiaji found that with the original troops added, he had a total of 1,900 soldiers under his command. Although this number was still short of nearly half of the normal complement of over 3,000 for an independent brigade, and it would take another ten days for the new recruits from Hubei to arrive, this was already the largest force that Cheng Jiaji had commanded since coming to this world. Moreover, both the Military Affairs Department and the War Zone Commander's Office indicated that as a unit with meritorious service in resisting Japan, the Independent 100th Brigade would be fully replenished with personnel in the near future, reaching full strength as soon as possible.
In terms of armaments, the Military Affairs Department and the War Zone have given great care to the Independent Hundred Regiment. Although it is still not comparable to the equipment of the central army's elite troops, in the Fifth War Zone, the Independent Hundred Regiment can be said to be well-equipped. General Cheng Jiaji also incorporated some captured Japanese heavy equipment into the troops, and from a firepower perspective, the Independent Hundred Regiment was indeed very strong.
Cheng Jiaji was excited for a few days, and then went down to the troops to take a look. He found that the situation wasn't as optimistic as he had thought. The number of troops had increased, and their equipment had also increased, but there were too many new recruits in the troops. In the newly converted engineering battalion, there were more veteran soldiers, but they were mainly skilled at repairing and building things. As for real combat against Japan, it was something that couldn't be considered in the short term. To sum it up, Cheng Jiaji discovered that his troops' biggest problem now was a lack of fighting strength.
According to Yu Juncai, before the Battle of Dawangzhuang, the vanguard detachment of the 16th Division only needed to dispatch one infantry battalion with the coordination of a cavalry company and it would take just three hours to defeat the current Independent 100th Brigade. At present, this Independent 100th Brigade is lucky if half of its men can escape from the battlefield, which is already a miracle.
Cheng Jiaji didn't think Yu Juncai's words were exaggerated. If his troops were sent to the battlefield to fight against the Japanese devils at this time, Cheng Jiaji believed that his only choice would be to flee in disarray. He didn't think it was glorious to know that something couldn't be done and yet do it, resulting in the destruction of the entire army. In fact, Cheng Jiaji wasn't a commander who liked to fight hard battles. The reason why they fought so fiercely at Dàwángzhuāng was partly because they were forced by circumstances at the time, and partly because of the strong combat effectiveness of the old soldiers in Cheng's brigade. However, Cheng Jiaji didn't want to fight another desperate battle that would lead to mutual destruction.
Cheng Jiabei did not want to train a powerful army from scratch at this time, although it was more in line with the principles of YY. The XuZhou big retreat was imminent, and he didn't think that he could successfully break out of the Japanese encirclement with an army that had just begun to take shape. Although historically no entire Nationalist division was annihilated during the XuZhou big retreat, Cheng Jiabei still made a pressing decision to use every means possible to increase his strength before the retreat and gain more control when breaking through.
Just as Cheng Jiaji was about to unfold his rapid military expansion plan in his heart, Xie Gao, the head of the war zone, came to visit again.
