Chapter Thirty-two: Personnel Arrangements
Although the origin of this suddenly appearing troop was unknown, as the saying goes "the enemy of an enemy is a friend", the two leaders immediately ordered all troops to go down the mountain and annihilate the enemy from both inside and outside.
The National Army besieging the Red Army guerrilla troops in the mountains had a whole brigade of several thousand people, but in order to avoid showing gaps for the enemy to drill into, the troops were actually dispersed. When a large enemy army with a full regimental strength came from outside, they could hardly resist, and the Red Army guerrilla troops rushing down the mountain became the last straw that crushed the camel...
"Chairman?", Hu Weidong almost blurted out these two words when he saw the young Red Army division commander, but immediately realized his mistake. Not to mention that the great leader of the Long March would not possibly be here, he was already over 40 years old at this time and could not possibly look as young as the person in front of Hu Weidong.
"I am Mao Zetan, the commander of the independent regiment of the Central Soviet Area. If we hadn't met you this time, I'm afraid these more than 200 people would have gone to see Marx." The young man, who looked pale but still handsome, smiled and extended his hand.
"Unexpectedly, I accidentally saved the chairman's younger brother. Although the old man is selfless and won't reward me much, it will be safer during the political movement, right? Moreover, although this division doesn't even have the strength of a single regiment, the Red Army soldiers who have experienced such great hardships without betraying each other are enough to become the backbone of the troops. Absorbing them into our Independent Division will definitely be very helpful." Hu Weidong thought to himself, and immediately reported the good news to the Central Committee and the Chairman in the first instance, requesting that the "Central Soviet Area Independent Division" be merged into his "Central Red Army Independent Division"...
Upon learning that his third brother was still alive, Taizu was naturally overjoyed. However, the arrangement of Mao Zetan's work left Hu Weidong stunned. In the telegram, Taizu said that Mao Zetan had more bravery than strategic thinking and could command at most a division-sized unit, which in an independent regiment would be equivalent to just one brigade. The great man suggested that Hu Weidong should directly put his brother under control at the regimental level, so it would be easier to arrange for other new Red Army cadres later on. Even Mao Zetan, with such seniority, was only a regiment commander, so naturally others wouldn't dare to quibble over high or low positions...
Hu Weidong looked at the telegram and was speechless for a moment. It's not easy being a close relative of Taizu, dangerous and hard posts are always assigned to you first, but when it comes to promotion and wealth, you're left behind, and sometimes even sacrificed just to balance others' dissatisfaction. However, what Taizu said wasn't unreasonable either. To avoid Mao Zedong taking offense, Hu Weidong showed him the telegram, but Mao just smiled calmly, without any sign of displeasure.
"Chairman is pressuring you like this, don't you have any opinion?", Hu Weidong couldn't help but ask curiously.
"I'm used to it...", Mao Zedong raised his eyes to the sky, choking with sobs, "and I really don't have any talent either. The independent regiment of over 3,000 people back then is now left with just a few comrades like this..."
Hu Weidong hastily comforted Mao Zedong, saying that it was not that he had done a bad job, but because the top leadership was giving blind orders and the enemy was too strong. As for Hu Weidong's independent division being able to soar to great heights, it was because they had taken advantage of an opportunity at the beginning and then had several strokes of good luck in a row, capturing large quantities of weapons and ammunition, which enabled their current great development. If he were to do it again, it would definitely not work...
Although Taizu wanted Hu Weidong to suppress his younger brother as much as possible, Hu Weidong was too embarrassed to let Mao Zedong, who had once been a superior and acting military commissar, become an ordinary regimental commander. Instead, he used the assault battalion as the backbone, supplemented by elite troops, to form a special operations regiment directly under the division headquarters. This special operations regiment, although nominally at the regimental level, had a total strength of over 3,000 men and exceptionally strong firepower. Light machine guns were equipped down to the squad level, and over 1,000 submachine guns were almost all allocated to this unit. Without considering artillery, its close-quarters firepower was even stronger than that of an entire Nationalist army division...
Mao Zedong had no opinion on his demotion and instead seemed extremely excited. The special operations team was the elite and vanguard of the entire division, which suited him perfectly as a war enthusiast. After coming out, he coincidentally met his former bodyguard Long Feibao again, and the two almost cried in each other's arms. Upon learning that Mao was safe and sound, Mao Zedong became even more overjoyed, to the point where some people who didn't know him thought this old man had a problem - being demoted yet still so happy...
For the arrangement of other personnel, Hu Weidong basically adopted Taizu's opinions. Mao Zedong's political commissar Dai Yuxian temporarily took over as the director of the political department of the merged independent division. He Huzi, who had difficulty walking, was reassigned as the secretary and court president of the newly established Min-Gan Soviet Party Committee. Dai Yuxian's wife Liu Suping was appointed as the head of the Women's Department of the Min-Gan Soviet Area...
Dai Weixia's abilities are not the issue, but at his age, he definitely has more energy than He Huzi who is approaching sixty. Apart from his official duties, he also took on some tasks that should have been handled by the political commissar, because Hu Weidong was really an amateur when it came to ideological and political work. Liu Suping's work abilities were also quite good, with her in charge of women's work, the independent regiment's field hospital looked more like a real hospital...
The 43rd Division of the National Army was stationed in Ningxia, if they defended the county seat, the Independent Division would not be able to take it down quickly despite its superior strength. However, the division commander Zou Hong did not expect the enemy to come so quickly, and as a result, the thinly guarded county seat could not withstand the Independent Division's superior forces and fell rapidly. The large number of troops dispersed to "suppress bandits" were also defeated by several supplementary brigades of the Independent Division, and in just three days, the National Army lost more than 10,000 men (including local militias), while the Independent Division became even stronger, its troop strength breaking through the 80,000 mark for the first time.
Hu Weidong's ability to command a large army in battle still needs improvement, but he dared to advance the entire army so boldly. In the end, it is still necessary to thank the good mass foundation of the Central Soviet Area and the excellent grassroots organizational capabilities of the Red Party during this period. This allowed Hu Weidong to basically not consider the construction of local governments. After capturing each county town, he left some guns and ammunition for the party organization and militia in that county, and entrusted them to take care of those seriously injured soldiers who could not keep up with the troops (these wounded soldiers could also guide the training of the militia, a win-win situation). Then, he could march towards the next target in big strides. The local party organization and militia naturally had the strength to eliminate the remaining reactionary armed forces within the county and establish an autonomous government, becoming the solid rear of the independent division...
