Chapter Fifty-Five: Assembling the Troops

  The team returned to the base, but did not disperse. They stood in formation on the playground, silent as a crow, still unable to extricate themselves from the violent scene that had just occurred, their minds secretly pondering various thoughts.

  Tang Qiuli stood at the front of the team, his piercing gaze sweeping across each member. At this moment, the members had a new understanding of their young commander.

  Tang Qiulei was clear in his mind that not every new team member truly agreed with the execution of Zhang Lizhi and Qian Defu, they just didn't show it. Even among the leaders, some might not fully approve of it!

  He did so because he had a deep concern in his heart. The team members who followed him to the base, Tang's home, were very familiar with him, and their style, quality, and loyalty were all impeccable. What he was worried about was the new recruits at the gold mine. If such things didn't happen, these two young men would not have been exposed, and they would have become a hidden danger to the troops. They would definitely put the entire team in extreme danger at critical moments.

  How many more people like Zhang Lizhi and Qian Depei have not been exposed?

  No way, must be disciplined, rather give up training first.

  Then, the headquarters held a whole day's meeting, starting with cadres to unify thoughts, clarify purposes, and determine the specific content of the troops' training.

  Roughly divided into the following aspects:

  (1) Ideological education. The main thing is to make the soldiers understand for whom they are shouldering guns and what the purpose of resisting Japan is, and what our task is. Tang Qiuli has a deep understanding of this point. **The army's invincibility in battle and its ability to capture every stronghold it attacks are absolutely due to the major role played by ideological education. Take the two civil wars as examples: after being captured, Nationalist soldiers would be awakened by a few words from their instructors and immediately take up guns to fire at their original units. The Huaihai Campaign is a clear example of this. With only over 60 million troops combined, the East China Field Army and Central China Field Army won in the end, and not only did the army not suffer losses, but it also grew stronger.

  What a waste if this powerful tool is not utilized!

  (2) Discipline education. Tang Qiulai simply came up with a convenient way, taking the three major disciplines and eight points of attention of the troops, moving them over intact, except for removing one of them, "Do not abuse prisoners".

  Joking aside, if we capture fake soldiers and the like, they are all Chinese people. Except for those who have committed heinous crimes and must be executed, everyone else will be released and given travel expenses. Of course, if you're willing to join the bloody hands team, you're more than welcome.

  Captured the Japanese devils, no nonsense, one by one, solved on the spot. There was no extra food to feed these beasts anyway. Besides, when the Blood Hand Gang was founded, its purpose was: for every Japanese devil seen, kill one; for every two seen, kill a pair; for every group encountered, slaughter the whole group!

  Tang Qiuli was furious when he read historical records in his previous life. Why? During the War of Resistance against Japan, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army treated wounded Japanese soldiers with humanitarian spirit, but were killed by the Japanese devils who took advantage of the situation, especially during the early days of the war. Therefore, Tang Qiuli made up his mind not to take Japanese prisoners, for being kind to these beasts was a crime against oneself!

  So this simplified version of the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention is the code of conduct for all fighters in the Red Army.

  (3) Cultural education. The old man once said that an army without culture is a barbaric army, and Tang Qiuli deeply agrees with this. Looking at these new recruits, only a few can recognize characters and read, the Blood Hand Gang is not a mob of people who are just gathered together. In the future, there will be many new equipment to master, how can we do without learning culture? The teacher has a good solution, more than 50 old team members are already available, according to current standards, equivalent to junior high school graduation level, with enough ink in their bellies. In this era, graduating from junior high school is considered a high level of education.

  (4) Political screening. This move is formidable! Why could the Communist Party's intelligence personnel infiltrate the Nationalist Party, with some even reaching high levels, while the Nationalist Party's intelligence personnel found it difficult to survive within the Communist Party? It was because the Communist Party constantly conducted political screenings, like sifting through a sieve, filtering out anyone who couldn't withstand the scrutiny.

  For this, Tang Qiuli specially designed a form, completely in accordance with the standard format of political review. The content is all-inclusive, so to speak, even your grandfather's age, which dialect you speak, how many times you urinated on the kang as a child, whether you stole cucumbers from your neighbor's garden, and other trivial matters are all dug up.

  This task was specifically assigned to Qiusheng by Tang Qiu, and he didn't quite trust anyone else. From another perspective, it also established a personal file for each team member.

  It's lively now, the whole base has become a big classroom, with the sound of books rustling, groups of twenty-something-year-old men looking serious and solemn, dozens of sixteen- or seventeen-year-old young masters being very serious.

  The warriors are walking on the road, muttering to themselves, eating with chopsticks on the table, what can't they do? There are penalty measures that follow, such as running 10 kilometers with a load, doing 200 push-ups, or making a self-criticism in front of everyone, none of which is pleasant.

  At first, some soldiers didn't take this matter seriously, they were illiterate, but still served as soldiers, familiar with guns, and had nothing to do.

  During this training session, Tang Qiuli was not lenient at all. He seized several slackers who were malingering and asked for sick leave, and strictly enforced the punishment regulations, making them a negative example. From then on, the soldiers understood that the commander was serious, and everyone became formal and solemn. Unconsciously, the team's spirit and appearance underwent a fundamental change, and the learning atmosphere reached an all-time high!

  Without ready-made paper and pens, the warriors made use of local materials, stripping birch bark to serve as notebooks, and using charred branches as pens. As a result, nearly all the nearby birches were stripped bare.

  Actually, Liu Tien-han, Feng Ji-wu, Wang Xu and Zhang Quan were not in favor of the whole troop training. Being a soldier is about wielding guns and cannons, relying on actual combat skills, what's the use of playing with empty words? Can these things eliminate the devils? With this effort, it would be better to let soldiers practice some military skills.

  Later, they were surprised to find that the warriors' spiritual appearance was completely different from before. Their words and deeds, every move seemed like a different person, talking about anti-Japanese affairs, their mouths were full of spirit, radiating from the inside out!

  Seeing the changes in the warriors, and being deeply influenced by them, these cadres admired Tang Qiulai with all their might. "How can a commander so young have so many new ideas in his head and so much substance in his belly?" they asked. "How did he come up with this move? It's settled then, we've wasted the last thirty years! From that day on, these cadres sat down with peace of mind and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to learning.

  Tang Qiulai was so busy that he didn't even have time to be intimate with Xiaoling, rushing around teaching classes on this side and compiling teaching materials on that side, and from time to time answering the doubts of the soldiers.

  That day, he easily got a chance to slip back into the cave, and when he saw Xiaoling return, he hugged her tightly. Just as their lips were about to touch, and his hand was about to reach a critical spot, they heard the sound of soldiers shouting "report" from outside the door. He felt a wave of annoyance in his heart, and Xiaoling, seeing his expression, laughed so hard that her eyes almost popped out.

  These six or seven warriors came to ask him questions, and knowing that they had disturbed the commander's good deed, Tang Qiuli couldn't help but reluctantly leave with the warriors. This matter was a mess, and not a single benefit was gained! His heart was as anxious as if he had been scratched by a cat.

  That afternoon, Qiū Quán suddenly returned, and the team members immediately held a meeting to listen to Qiū Quán's report.

  Qiuquan dispersed the reconnaissance team members in two main directions, Songjiang City and Sancha River. In Songjiang City, Qiuquan disguised himself as a young manager of the Fongtian Tongxinglong business firm, made great efforts to befriend a translator officer from the Japanese Matsumoto United Team, often accompanied him to eat and drink, visit tea houses and theaters, and extracted a lot of intelligence from his mouth.

  According to him, the devils were extremely shocked by the annihilation of Yamada's detachment, which had never happened since the Manchurian Incident!

  Yamada sent a final telegram to Matsumoto before his death, which read: "The police team tracking the Black Blind Gorge Mountain Police was annihilated by the killer. When we arrived at the gold mine site, we had a brief exchange of fire and I caught a glimpse of them. We pursued them relentlessly, but unfortunately entered a dead end. Fifteen people, including myself, were trapped below the river and died in battle. The police team lost its guide, and the terrain here is extremely complex, leading to us getting lost. Before long, the weather suddenly changed, and a violent snowstorm hit, making it impossible to move forward. The entire team was trapped in a desperate situation. I know that I will not be able to return alive, so I am reminding you, Commander, to pay attention to the Anti-Japanese Blood Hand Team, this anti-Japanese armed group...

  The translator also said that it was possible that the person had already died, and the telegram was not sent. The commander of the garrison was furious and ordered the special agency stationed in Songjiang to send out a large number of plainclothes agents to search for the whereabouts of the Blood Hand Gang and annihilate them completely!

  This pine wood regiment is a field regiment of the Kwantung Army, with four large teams and nearly 4,000 troops. It is equipped with heavy artillery such as field guns and has a tank squadron. Most of its soldiers are veterans, and its combat effectiveness is quite strong.

  This guy, drunk and talkative, specially reminded Qiū Quán not to speak carelessly, this is the imperial army's secret, but he didn't know that the person sitting in front of him was one of the directors who made the Yamada Brigade suffer a complete defeat!

  After leaving Songjiang City, Qiuquan went to San Chahe Town again. According to Tang Qiuli's instructions, he found Bateer. This brother was really good and had not forgotten the task entrusted by Tang Qiuli before his departure. He had a thorough understanding of the situation in San Chahe. He said that Qiuquan recorded everything on several large sheets of paper, with details that couldn't be more detailed. It seemed that Bateer had put in a lot of effort.

  The situation in San Cha River is that since Tang Qiu left a big disturbance last time, the town has strengthened its defense forces. In addition to the original Japanese garrison battalion, Manchukuo army regiment, police station and other armed forces, another squadron of devils was dispatched, and the walls were reinforced, with very strict checks on entry and exit!

  Qiuquan said all that in one breath and felt a bit parched, so he picked up the water jug and started gulping down water with a "glug glug" sound.

  As soon as Qiuquan finished speaking, the conference room fell silent, with everyone thinking hard, and only the sound of Qiuquan drinking water was particularly loud.

  Tang Qiu's brain was racing at high speed, thinking rapidly, various pieces of information were being synthesized, compared and analyzed in his mind, a bold idea was brewing vaguely...

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