Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

Chapter 333 Chapter 332, All the Way
What did Li Yuexuan say? Actually, he himself didn't know how effective his words would be. But judging from the opinions of the comrades around him, it should be effective.

Didn't you see those soldiers, holding the handles of their sabers tightly in their hands, looking towards Wu'an? If there were no discipline, they would probably have rushed to Wu'an and killed a few devils for fun.

However, Wu'an's affairs had nothing to do with the guerrillas. The 386th Brigade was here, and there were so many other units around, so a small county town was no problem.

After waiting at the Wahuang Palace for half an hour, the main force of their team finally arrived on the mountain road in the south, and it was very lively and noisy.

The most orderly and well-equipped people in the team were naturally the comrades of the first company. Because they had to take on the task of guarding, the comrades of the first company did not carry too much baggage, just weapons, ammunition, marching rations and their own backpacks.

Of course, this does not mean that it is easy for them, because they have to look ahead and behind the entire marching team and be alert to the surrounding situation at all times.

It was already the second day after the capture of Shexian County. In fact, when the guerrillas returned to the brigade headquarters yesterday afternoon, Zhao Danian received the latest order - to return to Liangjia Village and recruit soldiers along the way to replenish the troops.

Along with this order came the equipment, ammunition and various supplies that Political Commissar Wang provided to the guerrillas, which were definitely enough to form a reinforced battalion of 800 people.

In addition to these supplies, Political Commissar Wang also gave some of the captured war horses to the guerrillas, making up the standard of 60 war horses. Of course, the brigade commander also gave the 82 mortars to the guerrillas, and even gave an extra gunner named Zhao Erwa, who was also Director Zhao's student.

The reason why the guerrillas did not march here until this morning was because Li Yuexuan needed to rest after the operation, and the comrades also needed to rest. Of course, Zhao Danian was not idle either. He set up a table outside the gate of Shexian County, which had just been captured, and took Zhu Xingyu and others to recruit soldiers on the spot.

With the victory of the east wind, the conscription work went smoothly. Some young people who knew that the county town had been liberated expressed their willingness to join the Eighth Route Army, fight the Japanese invaders and protect their hometown.

Therefore, after meeting the conditions of being over 1.6 meters tall, over 17 years old, three generations of ancestors being locals (and there is someone to prove it), and having brothers in the family, 200 people were successfully recruited.

200 new soldiers, not too many, not too few, just formed a new soldier formation, Chen Changsheng was in charge of this formation. After the temporary education last night, this morning each of these new soldiers was given an Eighth Route Army hat, and then they carried a shoulder pole, tied up the supplies, and followed the marching team.

This time the guerrillas marched a long distance and fought two battles in a row, so they suffered a lot of casualties. It was not until this morning when they set out that Li Yuexuan learned from Zhao Danian the current number of troops in the guerrillas - not counting the new recruits recruited yesterday, there were only 403 troops left to march.

The 403 people included some wounded people, who were either injured in the upper body or in the legs but had places to sit in the vehicles, so they were taken away.

Zhao Danian actually knew the brigade commander's follow-up arrangements for the guerrillas' wounded. But how should I put it? Well, I just couldn't bear to part with these veterans, so I took away those who could be taken away. The specific number of casualties, including the casualties in Laiyuan Town, was exactly 89.

In other words, including the wounded, roughly speaking, the number of casualties in the guerrillas was about 800%. However, compared with the results achieved, this number of casualties was still acceptable. And the guerrillas' future development did not need to worry too much, because the brigade commander had already set the standard, which was the standard of a reinforced battalion of people or more.

It was called a reinforced battalion, but strictly speaking, it was equivalent to the strength of a basic regiment. Of course, at that time, there was probably no concept of a basic regiment, and it might take some time for this to appear.

The current situation of the guerrillas is that there are 403 veterans (including these cadres) with 200 new recruits, and there are at least 200 vacancies for new recruits. Even if the vacancies for 200 new recruits are filled, there are still follow-up training, organization and other issues that need to be resolved.

Although, that is a later story, it is okay to mention it first. After all, if you don't plan for the future, you will have immediate worries.

"Captain, so, we are half veterans and half new recruits, right?" As the team continued to set off, Li Yuexuan rode his horse up to Zhao Danian and said.

"What do you want to say? Tell me." Zhao Danian knew Li Yuexuan very well, so he asked.

"403 veterans and 400 new recruits. The ratio of new recruits is a bit large. There is also the issue of staffing. How do you plan to arrange these more than 800 people?" Li Yuexuan asked.

"What do you think?" Zhao Danian asked back.

"I don't have any big ideas, but I have a lot of small ideas. Our mortar platoon now has three 3-gun platoons and 82 rounds of artillery shells. I feel that this must be our basic base, and the war can be carried out with mortars as the focus. Then there is the organization. For the infantry company in combat, I still recommend that all companies be semi-automatic, and heavy machine guns are not allowed. Only light machine guns are retained to maintain mobility."

"Then the cavalry platoon can maintain its current status, but should we add a guard platoon to the team headquarters? I know that Tianchuan's guard squad is following my battle group, and I don't want to separate them, so let's set up a special guard platoon and rename Tianchuan's guard squad to...anything, the special agent squad will do."

"Then for the remaining troops, our team needs a quartermaster, who has to take care of the food, drink, defecation and urination of the whole team. There must be no less. We also need departments such as military supplies. There must be someone to take care of more people. Of course, the most critical thing is the organization of the combat company. I think it is just right to organize the remaining troops into three companies, no matter how many there are. The extra people will go to the transport team to help resist the shells and carry the baggage and supplies."

"You have a lot of ideas, I am also worried about these problems. I will discuss with Zhu Xingyu and others on the way to see how to make the best arrangements. Of course, those are too far away, and the first thing we need to solve is the recruitment problem! The journey back is more than 400 miles, so we should recruit all the new soldiers first. I think it is better to get new soldiers together as soon as possible, so that they can train all the way back."

"That's fine, as long as you know what's going on! I'll continue to take care of my own business. I don't know what's going on with my seeds, and I'll always be worried if I don't take a look myself."

After the small meeting, Li Yuexuan continued to patrol on horseback, pretending to be a cavalryman. As they headed north, the team stopped and started, and when they arrived at Matan, they gathered 400 new soldiers.

(End of this chapter)