Chapter 18: Besieging the Thoroughfare (Three)

  Several key cadres of the 18th Regiment felt that this night was simply a dream, without firing a shot, without a single casualty, they actually occupied a county town, and it was a rich and oily county town. No one had expected such brilliant results, with gold bars, jewels on the table, and baskets of silver coins in the house and courtyard, dazzling people's eyes.

  "Commander, Political Commissar, it's a bumper harvest! The biggest haul I've ever seen in my life. We've confiscated a total of 3,057,260 silver dollars and 215 gold bars. From the tax bureau warehouse, we seized 300,000 silver dollars and 50 gold bars; from the police station, 32,600 silver dollars; from the police chief's home, 300,000 silver dollars and 40 gold bars; from the security team's military supplies depot, 4,000 silver dollars; from the security team leader's home, 350,000 silver dollars and 60 gold bars. From the homes of three big smugglers, we seized 300,000 silver dollars; from the finance bureau vault, 150,000 silver dollars; from the finance bureau chief's home, 50,000 silver dollars - probably because he hasn't been in office for long, so there wasn't much to seize. From the Chamber of Commerce chairman's home, we seized 500,000 silver dollars and 45 gold bars; from the post office, 200,000 yuan in commercial remittances. From the county magistrate's and county party secretary's homes combined, we seized 300,000 silver dollars and 20 gold bars. There aren't many copper coins - only 25,600 pieces. These guys seem to not need much money for daily expenses, so there are few copper coins. The value of the jewelry is unknown. We also confiscated one radio transmitter, six telephones, and a lot of telephone wire."

  Before Liu Yimin and Cai Zhong could speak, Li Qing began to calculate how many guns and bullets they could buy with so much money. Ah, now that we have the money, we must let the regiment commander buy cannons, and it would be best if he bought some planes too. When White Dogzi launches another attack, we'll bomb him to hell! The battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders were also stunned, sucking in cold air, and wondering how to spend so much money. It's best to buy weapons and ammunition, replace the soldiers' uniforms, especially their shoes - they must be durable leather shoes, as these straw sandals and cloth shoes are too easily broken. Let's also buy some pork and rice, so that our soldiers can eat meat every day, get strong and sturdy, and when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, one of us can take on three of them. See if White Dogzi still dares to fight us!

  Looking at the cadres with saliva in their mouths, Cai Zhong also said with a smile: "Indeed, the spoils are huge, it should be the largest one since the establishment of the Red Army. We should report this good news to the Military Commission and the Central Revolutionary Committee as soon as possible, and let the leaders decide how to deal with this fund. What do you think, Comrade Regiment Commander?"

  Liu Yimin was also shocked in his heart. In his impression, the currency policy implemented by the Chiang Kai-shek government in 1934 was still based on the silver standard, with a uniform silver yuan settlement across the country. The annual fiscal revenue of the National Government was only around 300 million yuan, which was not enough to cover the military expenditure of 350 million yuan for his Central Army. It wasn't until November 1935 that the National Government abolished the silver standard and began issuing fiat currency. Who would have thought that in this small county town in a mountainous area, which was still very poor many years later, they had collected so much silver? This shows that the corrupt officials who controlled the transportation routes were able to accumulate wealth because of their connection to the Hunan-Guangxi-Guizhou trade route. Thinking back to the fact that the Red Army had suppressed four notorious local tyrants in the Tongdao area and confiscated over 10,000 silver yuan, Liu Yimin thought that if he had the opportunity, he would send troops to the surrounding countryside to suppress the local tyrants, divide their land, and expand the war results. After all, the local tyrants of this era were basically evil-doers who could be killed to save many poor people.

  Liu Yimin replied to Cai Zhong: "I agree with the political commissar's opinion. In order to reverse the decline of our army after the fierce battle on the Xiangjiang River, and to boost the morale of the Red Army soldiers, while sending reports to the division headquarters and the military department, we can also directly report to the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, and report to Comrade Mao Zedong, Vice Chairman Zhou, Commander-in-Chief Zhu, Comrade Zhang Wentian, Comrade Wang Jiaxiang, and the leaders of the 1st Army Corps Lin, Nie, the commander of the 5th Army Corps Dong, Comrade Liu Shaoqi, and the 34th Division Chen and Political Commissar Cheng."

  Li Qing hesitated for a moment before saying: "I don't know if Chairman Mao can see our telegram."

  The room suddenly fell silent.

  Liu Yimin smiled and said, "You should be able to see it now!"

  The room was suddenly filled with a breath of March wind, lively and vibrant.

  The telegram from the three armies and six divisions arrived quickly, and General Peng praised the Red 18th Regiment for its swift action and great results. He ordered the 18th Regiment to temporarily defend the Tongdao County city, strengthen its guard at night, and wait for further instructions on tomorrow's actions.

  The reply telegram from the Central Revolutionary Military Commission also arrived, with a telegram signed by Zhu De ordering the 18th Regiment to hold onto Tongdao County, properly manage the captured funds, and make every effort to collect oil, medicine, food and other supplies on the next morning. The 2nd Division of the 1st Army Corps would arrive in the county seat on the afternoon of the next day, and the 18th Regiment should make good logistical preparations. The Military Commission's vanguard and the 1st Division of the 1st Army Corps would arrive at Tongdao County seat on the morning of the 11th to join forces with the 18th Regiment.

  The reply telegram from the 1st Army Corps was to learn from the 18th Regiment, resolutely eliminate all enemies. The reply telegrams from the 5th Army Corps and the 34th Division were to congratulate the heroic 18th Regiment for making new contributions to the Red Army.

  After reading the telegram, Liu Yimin understood that the troops could have a good rest for two days in Tongdao County. After consulting with Cai Zhong and Liu Jianli, Li Qing, Liu Yimin ordered each battalion to send out sentries and arrange for the troops to camp.

  To ensure the safety of the troops when camping, Liu Yimin specifically requested that in the future, when arranging sentries for troop camps, in addition to the regular sentry posts, mobile sentry posts and hidden sentry posts must be arranged. At the company level, one visible and two hidden sentry posts were set up, while at the battalion level, in addition to the regular sentry posts, a light machine gun squad was added as a hidden sentry post. At the regimental level, mobile sentry posts were increased, and at the division level, heavy machine gun squads were added as hidden sentry posts. When units above the company level camped, the officers on duty checked the sentry posts in shifts. The location of the hidden sentry posts was set by the military and political leaders of each unit, and others were not allowed to ask about it.

  Regarding the cadres' question of whether there were too many sentry posts and whether they would affect the soldiers' physical recovery, Liu Yimin replied that the Red Army was good at guerrilla warfare and surprise attacks. As soon as the enemy moves their brain a little, they will understand that frequent sneak attacks require prevention of sneak attacks by others. Setting up sentry posts is a necessary measure to ensure the safety of the troops, with the aim of gaining early warning time for the troops. Because even the strongest combat troops are at their weakest when camping.

  Later, this regulation was called the "Passage Order" by military historians and became a tradition for the 18th Regiment and all its derived troops. In the battle to establish New China, neither the Chiang army nor the Japanese army, including the Japanese special forces, had any successful sneak attack cases against the 18th Regiment and its derivative troops.

  Considering that the 18th Regiment is essentially a reorganized unit, with many new recruits and complex composition, it has not yet experienced the baptism of fierce battles after its formation. During the Western Expedition, only the troop organization was completed, but there is an urgent need to strengthen the allocation of cadres, the setting of arms, and ideological and political work. In particular, the situation where each company basically does not have a party branch and platoons do not have small party groups must be changed. Liu Yi-min and Cai Zhong discussed that after meeting with the Military Commission's column, they requested that higher authorities send more political cadres and technical cadres such as staff officers, logistics, artillery, cavalry, engineering, communications, preferably graduates of the Red Army School. The regimental headquarters added a staff office and logistics office, and the directly affiliated units added an engineer battalion. For combat troops at the company level and above, military commanders and political commissars were allocated in a ratio of one chief to two deputies, restoring the glorious tradition of building party branches at the company level.

  Tsai Chung believes that staff officers, logistics, political commissars, engineers and communications personnel are easy to talk about, but artillery and cavalry personnel are not easy to talk about. Firstly, we don't have cannons or horses, secondly, none of the Red Army regiments have artillery or cavalry units.

  Liu Yimin replied directly, "The cannons are with the enemy, and soon they will be ours. When we capture the cannons, someone will know how to use them, right? As for cavalry, let's first get some Sichuan horses, and later when there is a chance, we can get Xinjiang horses, Mongolian horses or even Japanese horses. The key is to find instructors to train us first, otherwise if we capture warhorses but no one knows how to ride them, we'll have to slaughter them for meat."

  Liu Yimin spoke with conviction and confidence, and Cai Zhong also became enthusiastic, saying that your idea is great, let's work hard to strive for it.

  Liu Jianzhi asked for instructions on how to deal with the captives. Liu Yimin thought of the evil deeds and sins committed by the Hometown Association in historical records, so he instructed Li Qingming, the director of the Political Department, to organize a public trial tomorrow. Except for releasing the Chamber of Commerce president, all the county magistrates, party secretaries, police chiefs, security team leaders, and financial bureau chiefs were to be executed by firing squad. The postal workers and financial bureau staff who were willing to join the Red Army were mobilized to participate in the Red Army. Other staff members would be released tomorrow. As for the security team soldiers and policemen, young and strong ones with good character and a clean background were mobilized to join the Red Army. Along with new recruits from tomorrow's expansion, they would all be handed over to the New Soldier Battalion for training. Others would be detained first, and we would educate and release them when we withdrew. A few particularly reactionary individuals would be resolutely suppressed.

  Li Qing suggested that a public trial should be organized by the Soviet government, and our public trial may violate policy.

  Liu Yimin thought for a moment and said that we currently do not have the conditions to establish a Soviet government in Tongdao County, these people are extremely sinful and evil, if they are not suppressed, after the Red Army leaves, they will inevitably counterattack and retaliate against the masses who helped the Red Army. It's better to hold a public trial and execute them by firing squad. If you feel that this is inconsistent with the Red Army's policy, please ask for instructions from the Central Revolutionary Military Commission in the name of the 18th Regiment of the Red Army.

  Li Qing still ran to report to the Central Revolutionary Military Commission for instructions.

  Tonight, Tongdao County was bustling. The common people first saw a group of National Army entering the city, followed by troops wearing gray uniforms and caps with red five-pointed stars, who also entered the city. Then, the troops sealed off the exits of the county seat and government offices such as the Tax Bureau, Police Station, and Post Office. Next, the troops wearing caps with red five-pointed stars escorted the County Magistrate, Party Secretary, Police Chief, Security Corps Commander, and Tax Bureau Chief to their homes and offices to confiscate property. After that, a group of soldiers wearing caps with red five-pointed stars began posting slogans in the streets at night, telling people they were the Red Army, the vanguard of the poor under the leadership of ***, and asking fellow villagers not to be afraid, but to do what they needed to do.

  The Red Army's attitude was kind and gentle, they didn't rob or extort money, the ordinary people were no longer afraid, and some began to approach the Red Army.

  The Red Army cadres, led by the masses, concentrated all the tailors in the county town, bought up all the cloth and cotton in the county town, and began to make military uniforms day and night.

  The news spread quickly, and the common people in the county town and nearby villages heard that they could get a silver dollar for making a set of military uniforms, a pair of military shoes, and a military quilt. They flocked to the Red Army cadres to ask for fabric, cotton, and other materials to make clothes. The Red Army cadres arranged for the dyeing workshop to be responsible for dyeing the cloth, the tailor to be in charge of cutting, and the masses to sew the clothes as a unit of households. The whole county town was lit up all night, with every household working on making military uniforms for the Red Army.

  Thank you for the love and support from all book friends, your care is my creative motivation and source! This book has been signed with Starting Point, readers, hurry up and use your votes to knock me out! Thank you!