The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 474 Commendation Ceremony 1
The arrival of Ding Lunshi, Huang Shengmo, and a large number of machines and medical supplies ordered by He Wei, has brought the construction of the assault team to a new level.

Under He Wei's coordination, the construction of the assault corps clothing factory, the wounded soldiers hospital in the rear and the field hospital in the front gradually got on track and began to be built. In addition, the construction of the wounded soldiers farm was also gradually started.

He Wei reorganized the specific work arrangements and organizational structure. According to He Wei's arrangement and plan, Ding Lunshi, the director of the rear general affairs department of the assault corps who is good at management, will unify the management of the rear institutions of the assault corps, namely the clothing factory, the rear wounded soldiers hospital and the wounded soldiers farm.

In terms of funding and income and expenditure, Ding Lunshi has to take orders from Li Youcai, the director of the logistics department of the assault corps. The funds of the General Affairs Office are allocated by the Logistics Department according to the applications submitted by the General Affairs Office. At the same time, profitable institutions such as the clothing factory must also hand over their profits from external operations to the Logistics Department. If there is a need to continue to purchase additional machines, or to increase salaries and benefits for workers, and to expand production and operations, the required funds must also be applied to the Logistics Department before they can be allocated.

In short, He Wei firmly controlled a series of rear-line financial and management powers under the General Affairs Office. Although he was very generous and open in employing people, and delegated the task of building rear-line industries to non-military personnel such as Ding Lunshi and Huang Shengmo, giving them great trust, He Wei still had to keep things like financial power firmly in his hands, so that he could achieve all-round control over all units and institutions under his command.

Ding Lunshi and Huang Shengmo of course had absolutely no objection to He Wei's arrangement. When they were down and out, the two of them climbed up to He Wei, a promising and well-backed figure. They cherished the current opportunity and were full of hope for his future.

Therefore, they were naturally not dissatisfied with He Wei's complete control of the financial power. Instead, they were very diligent in stating that they would sort out all the income and expenditure accounts clearly and compile them into books regularly, and there would never be any corruption. He Wei was of course very satisfied with the attitude of the two. At the same time, on the grounds of their meritorious service in handling the business, he gave each of them a considerable bonus as a reward.

On the one hand, He Wei firmly grasped the financial power, and on the other hand, he gave Ding and Huang great freedom and generous treatment. It was a combination of kindness and severity, but the effect was obvious. After He Wei implemented these measures and treatments, Ding and Huang were even more in awe of He Wei and worked more diligently.

After this series of arrangements and deployments, as machines and batches of materials were transported to Longyan Mountain in Tianxi Township, Ba County, not far from the assault corps camp, industrial factories, hospitals, and farms were built one after another. After the machines were delivered, Huang Shengmo quickly found a specific address near Longyan Mountain suitable for building a factory, and construction began in full swing. The wounded soldiers' hospital in the rear and the field hospital in the front were also built under the coordination of Major Ling Zhi, the former head of the assault corps' health team and now the director of the assault corps' medical department.

As for the wounded soldiers' farm used to accommodate the disabled brothers, a series of matters including the purchase of land, tools, and reclamation were also proceeding in an orderly manner.

The construction of this series of clothing factories, hospitals, and farms solved a big problem for He Wei. With the hospital for wounded soldiers in the rear, seriously injured brothers on the front line can be sent to the rear for recuperation, and new recruits who are undergoing intensive training in the rear can also receive timely treatment if they are injured or sick. As for the farms, they provide a place of resettlement and relief for officers and soldiers who are disabled in battle and have difficulties in life.

Needless to say, the field hospital is naturally the team-affiliated health and medical institution that accompanies the main force of the assault corps during wartime. With a complete field hospital, the wounded soldiers of the assault corps fighting on the front line will receive complete and careful medical treatment and care, and the field medical conditions of the entire corps will be greatly improved. There will no longer be the embarrassing situation of having to send a large number of wounded soldiers to other places for medical treatment due to limited medical conditions during the Battle of Banbishan.

The establishment of the clothing factory completely resolved He Wei's concerns about the future clothing shortage of the Assault Corps. With his own clothing factory, he no longer had to worry about the lack of clothing, the decline in the quality of clothing, and even the inability to afford clothes that happened to the Assault Corps during the war.

Poor quality bedding will not only make the officers and soldiers who use it curse, but also cause unnecessary casualties during war. Fortunately, with the establishment of the bedding factory, these hidden worries will no longer happen to the assault corps.

And in the midst of the hot construction, the training of the five new recruit supplementary battalions of the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department also achieved gratifying results. Just as June approached, the training period of more than 3,000 new recruits was gradually coming to an end, and the combat troops of the assault corps also ushered in new blood and a new structure.

Early in the morning of May 30th, in the barracks of the Assault Corps, just like the awarding of honors and the opening of training a few months ago, all officers and soldiers of the Assault Corps, the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department, and the Third Independent Motor Vehicle Battalion, or in other words, all officers and soldiers of the troops currently under the command of He Wei, gathered on the barracks playground.

Soldiers must have a sense of honor, and the army must have an even greater sense of honor. He Wei attaches great importance to the hardware construction of the troops, but He Wei also attaches great importance to spiritual strength, a sense of honor, belief, and collective spirit. Spiritual strength such as honor and belief must be accumulated and honed through repeated bloody battles and victories in wartime, and in peacetime, they must be tempered and cultivated through ceremonies, commendations, and continuous collective actions. It is for this reason that He Wei organized a large-scale medal awarding ceremony before this.

Today, for the same purpose, he once again gathered his officers and soldiers together to hold a large-scale "commemoration ceremony for the formation of the army" to continue to cultivate the officers and soldiers' sense of honor, belief and collective belonging.

Standing in line in the center of the camp's playground were still He Wei's most core elite troops, the assault corps' officers and soldiers' formation. However, compared with the assault corps formation a few months ago, which was not complete, with a large shortage of officers and soldiers and had not yet been fully replenished, today's assault corps had a larger structure and a more complete number of officers and soldiers.

Just two days ago, the entire corps had been completely reorganized according to the new expanded organization. One thousand recruits, sergeants, and officers with the best training results, the best physical fitness, and the most superior qualities in the five recruit replenishment camps were selected through layers of selection and gradually added to the various combat units of the assault corps.

With the addition of this group of officers and soldiers, the current vacancies of the assault corps were all filled, and the newly built companies and platoons were quickly expanded and established, reaching a fully equipped and fully staffed state, that is to say, the assault corps has completely completed this expansion and formation. He Wei, wearing a grass-green officer's uniform, stood in front of the team with a straight posture, scanning the neat, majestic and solemn huge team in front of him. The first thing that caught his eye was naturally his favorite - the assault corps square formation that had been completely reorganized and fully staffed.

The three infantry battalions of the assault corps, the artillery battalion, the direct special service company, the baggage company, the engineering company, the communications company, the tank defense artillery company, the anti-aircraft artillery company, and the search company were lined up in a horizontal formation in the center of the playground. The fully armed officers and soldiers stood in neat rows. All officers and soldiers were in combat uniforms, and their tactical vests and equipment were all in combat readiness. The officers and soldiers wore helmets and stood straight and energetic.

The three infantry battalions are undoubtedly the main force in the assault corps. Fu Chen's First Infantry Battalion, Fang Jing's Second Infantry Battalion, and Hu Zhaowu's Third Infantry Battalion are arranged in that order.

The formation of each battalion was very large. After the expansion, the infantry battalion of the assault corps had seven companies, including a battalion headquarters company, four infantry companies, a mortar company, and a heavy machine gun company, with a total strength of more than 26 people. Not only were all the officers and soldiers of each battalion and company lined up, but all kinds of light and heavy firearms and logistical equipment within their organization were also displayed in front of the formation. In front of the formation of the four infantry companies of each battalion were nine Czech zb34 light machine guns, three MG60 general-purpose machine guns and six Brandt mm mortars equipped in their organization.

In front of the heavy machine gun company and mortar company of each battalion were eight Czech-made ZB37 heavy machine guns and four Blond 26mm mortars. The headquarters companies of each battalion were not to be outdone and also placed their command and communication equipment and logistical equipment, as well as the Czech ZB34 light machine guns, MG60 general-purpose machine guns and mm mortars of the newly added search platoon of the headquarters company in front of the team.

Even the 150 fine-bred Japanese horses and mules captured from the Japanese army that were equipped to each battalion were also controlled by the drivers and deployed in a "mule and horse formation" behind the infantry formation.

Most of the riflemen in each company of the infantry battalion had bayonets mounted on their guns. The newly added grenade launchers in each infantry squad of the four infantry companies installed the new domestically-produced weapon, the 28th-century grenade launcher, on their rifles. The square formations of several infantry battalions were filled with forests of bayonets and black grenade tubes mixed in.

Light and heavy weapons and military equipment of various calibers and models, the reflections of the bayonets and the vigorous spirit, neatness and solemnity, blended together with the officers and soldiers of the three infantry battalions of the assault corps who have experienced the hardships of war, are truly extremely awe-inspiring.

During this expansion, an infantry company was added to each infantry battalion of the assault corps, and a search platoon was added to the battalion headquarters company. The total strength of the three infantry battalions has expanded to 1,600 people. The overall combat effectiveness of each battalion is no less than that of the infantry regiment of the general forces of the National Army, and even exceeds the standard field infantry battalion of the Japanese Army. It is definitely the core combat force of the assault corps.

Behind the three infantry battalions is the artillery battalion of the assault corps. Under the leadership of Battalion Commander Chen Xinsheng, it has been expanded into three mountain artillery companies and one field artillery company. The officers and soldiers of the four companies are also arranged in sequence. In front of the officers and soldiers of each company, various equipment within their organization are also placed.

In front of the three mountain artillery companies were their six Japanese Type 94 75mm mountain cannons and Japanese artillery telescopes, rangefinders, large artillery telescopes, rangefinders and other artillery observation and communication equipment. The three companies were equipped with eighteen Japanese Type 94 75mm mountain cannons and various observation equipment that were all captured by the Assault Corps from the Japanese army. These artillery and equipment were themselves the best examples of the Assault Corps' proud achievements.

The Type 94 mountain gun, a new type of mountain gun developed by the Japanese Army to adapt to the battlefield environment in Asia, also won the favor of the officers and soldiers of the artillery battalion of the assault corps. In this expansion of the artillery battalion, the mountain artillery unit of the artillery battalion was expanded to a structure of three companies, and the original company of Russian-style mountain guns was replaced with all Type 94 mountain guns. These captured trophies completely became the main artillery of the assault corps.

Next to the three mountain artillery companies is the field artillery company of the artillery battalion. In front of the field artillery company are the Soviet-made M1902 76.2mm field guns, which are obviously one size larger than the Type 1902 mm mountain guns, and Russian artillery observation equipment. This type of field artillery was designed and produced by Russia in with the help of the French Schneider Company. It participated in the Russo-Japanese War soon after. During the Russo-Japanese War, this type of artillery had an overwhelming suppressive effect on the poorly equipped Japanese artillery, and then became the main artillery of the Russian Army after the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

This type of artillery, which has been in existence for more than 1902 years, was already outdated in the 30s, so the Soviet army made improvements to it. The improved model is called the M40/13 field gun. The barrel was extended 1350 times and the elevation angle of the gun was increased, so that its maximum range reached more than 3048 kilometers. The upgraded field gun has a combat weight of 40 kg, a barrel length of 76.2 mm (3 times the caliber), a caliber of 37 mm, a vertical firing range of -5°~+6.23°, a horizontal firing range of 662° on each side, a shell weight of 13290 kg, a muzzle velocity of 10 m/s, a maximum range of 12 m, and a maximum firing rate of ~ rounds/minute. Its overall performance has been greatly improved.

After the Soviet Union started to provide aid to China in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, this type of artillery (including the prototype and improved version) was also provided to the National Army. When the artillery battalion of the assault corps was expanded, in order to increase the firepower and range of the entire battalion, it specifically asked the Military Commission to add field guns or howitzers with a long range. This type of field gun became the most suitable artillery for the Military Commission to meet the needs of the assault corps.

Therefore, six guns of this type with a range of 13 kilometers became the equipment of the newly established field artillery company of the assault corps artillery battalion. In the current Sino-Japanese battlefield, such performance can also be called "good"

Eighteen Japanese Type 1902 30mm mountain guns and six Soviet-made M76.2/ mm field guns together constitute the powerful firepower of the assault corps artillery battalion. The battalion has more than officers and soldiers, artillery pieces of various types and mules and horses, which is a huge formation even larger than the phalanx of two infantry battalions.

The overall firepower of this artillery battalion is even stronger than some independent artillery regiments of the National Army. In wartime, this battalion of gods of war will surely become the firepower pillar like the stabilizing force of the assault corps.

(End of this chapter)