Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 160 Congratulations on meeting
Chen Chengxing's judgment was correct. The next day after the New Second Regiment withdrew from Hetou Village, the brigade commander rushed in covered in dust.

"Chen Chengxing, congratulations on your wealth." The brigade commander laughed as he entered the door.

"Brigade Commander, the cannon is covered under the haystack outside the yard." Chen Chengxing said, pointing directly at the haystack outside.

"But, Brigade Commander, you can't just pull the New Second Regiment's hair out like a sheep. Now the New Second Regiment has no hair from the collar down."

Although Chen Chengxing had no intention of keeping these two cannons, he had to get the benefits he deserved.

"Hey. What happened today? So satisfying?" The brigade commander felt as if he had punched cotton.

"Brigade Commander, I am very clear about what the New Second Regiment can have and what it cannot keep."

"But if this goes on for a long time, I'm afraid the soldiers will feel resentful." Chen Chengxing decided to use the soldiers to gain respect.

Although you, the brigade commander, don't give face, you must give face to the soldiers of the New Second Regiment, right?
"You kid have learned to use the tiger's skin to pull the tiger's skin? Tell me, what do you want now?" Chen Lu said unhappily.

The brigade commander also knew that what Chen Chengxing said made sense. Although the Eighth Route Army had rules that captured goods had to be handed over to the public, there had to be a give and take. If it was all out without any gain, no one would be able to tolerate it.

However, the New Second Regiment is now extremely wealthy, even more wealthy than the brigade commander himself, and he really has nothing to offer.

Seeing that Brigade Chen was so cooperative, Chen Chengxing smiled and said, "Hey, Brigade Commander, I heard that the headquarters arsenal got a batch of copper plates from Wei Junru?"

Chen Chengxing heard this from his fellow Hunanese who came to Ji Zhong to teach the militia how to produce landmines.

"You are well-informed, but I don't have the final say on this matter," Chen Lu explained.

A brigade commander has no say in headquarters affairs.

"Brigade Commander, the division commander will definitely be able to get a word in. When you have a chance, ask the division commander to help me ask. The New Second Regiment is short of ammunition now. If it is inconvenient for the headquarters to give us finished ammunition, we can give us copper coins and we can produce it ourselves."

"That's what you said. If there's no chance, you can't seek revenge." said the brigade commander.

"How dare I?"

"Then I agree." The brigade commander nodded and agreed.

After talking about the artillery, Brigade Chen said, "There is one more thing. The Japanese have been making frequent moves recently. I think they are trying to steal food. The New Second Regiment must be on high alert."

Now every village in the base area has tunnels. After the grain is harvested, the villagers will hide well. But if the Japanese move out in advance, it will be troublesome. After all, harvesting grain requires good weather. Sometimes, even if you know the Japanese are coming, you still have to harvest the wheat and dry the grain.

"I have received the letter. I have decided to let the soldiers of the New Second Regiment and the local guerrillas help the people with the harvest. Scythes and other things are already prepared." Chen Chengxing told Brigade Chen about his arrangements.

Sangong Town is located at the junction of the guerrilla zone and the enemy-occupied area. According to the intelligence provided by the system, in addition to the food looted by the Japanese from the base area, there will also be food requisitioned in the guerrilla zone.

The New Second Regiment could have first seized the grain, and then wait for the Japanese to collect the grain in the guerrilla zone, and then raid the Japanese lair while they were entering the base to seize the grain and the rear was empty.

The reason why Luo Ping was not in the regiment headquarters during this period was that he was mobilizing the masses in various places and preparing tools such as carts, chicken buses, and shoulder poles so that they could transport food when the time came.

"As long as you know what's going on."

"I won't eat. I'm going to go check on my cannon." The brigade commander waved his hand and ran straight to the haystack.

Looking at the back of the brigade commander, Chen Chengxing curled his lips. It was hard to say who the cannon belonged to. The brigade commander had just returned to the brigade headquarters with the cannon in high spirits. Before he sat down, Chen Can came over with a telegram.

"Brigade Commander, the General Staff and the Division Commander have commended the New Second Regiment for this encirclement and annihilation campaign, and the military merits of the soldiers and the companies and platoons have also been announced."

“Here are also commendations from the Second War Zone and the Chongqing government.”

"Just send someone to deliver the commendation to Chen Chengxing. I won't read it." The brigade commander waved his hand casually.

"There is one more thing." Chen Can said, "The division commander asked you to send the two cavalry field guns to the headquarters artillery regiment."

"What?!" Brigade Captain Chen never expected that the artillery would be taken away less than 2 minutes after it arrived at the brigade headquarters.

But once the order has been sent to the artillery regiment, it cannot be changed.

Then Chen Lu realized that Chen Chengxing was waiting for him here. No wonder he asked for copper coins from the headquarters arsenal. He must have guessed that he could not stay.

Now, I have to send a telegram to the headquarters to coordinate the copper coins.
Chen Chengxing was not too concerned about the problem that was a headache for Brigade Chen. He would send someone directly to Erlang Cave after coordinating the copper coins from the headquarters.

Chen Chengxing's attention was all on Sangong Town at this time.

Under Chen Chengxing's arrangement, the reconnaissance platoon did not participate in the wheat harvest, but went forward to conduct reconnaissance in the Sangong Town area.

To this end, Chen Chengxing also allocated the five intact war horses seized from Hetou Village to the reconnaissance platoon, so that the soldiers of the reconnaissance platoon could transmit intelligence back and forth every day.

Only after all the wheat stubble was left in the wheat fields in the areas where the troops of the New Second Regiment were located did Luo Ping return to the regiment headquarters.

Luo Ping at this moment was completely different from when he went out some time ago. He was completely tanned.

Looking at Chen Chengxing who was somewhat leisurely in the regiment headquarters, Luo Ping felt a little depressed, but he had nothing to say.

It's all because of his poor command ability. The New Second Regiment cannot do without someone in charge. If not himself, who will do these hard work?

After picking up the kettle on the seat and drinking several bowls of water, Luo Ping said, "Old Chen, most of the grain in the base has been harvested. Only a few small scattered fields in the corners are left. Now the people are drying the grain. It will be stored in the warehouse in two days. When should we start?"

"No rush. According to the reconnaissance platoon, the Japanese are still in the guerrilla zone cooperating with the village maintenance associations to collect grain. Now the Japanese are not far from Sangong Town, so it is not the time for us to take action yet." Chen Chengxing said.

Chen Chengxing was not content to just take over Sangong Town. He also had to find a way to transport the grain inside, which was not a small amount.

Although the Japanese were constantly transporting grain, according to the system's intelligence, the peak grain storage in Sanhe Town could reach more than 3000 tons.

If it were a hundred-ton truck in later times, it would only take dozens of trucks to do the job, but it is a huge undertaking nowadays. This was done by a large number of forcibly conscripted migrant workers who had to transport and assemble the cargo bit by bit, and it took many days.

Of course, the New Second Regiment could not wait until the peak before fighting, as that would mean that the Japanese had robbed a lot of food from the base.

According to Chen Chengxing's estimation, when the New Second Regiment captured Sanhe Town, there should be 1000-1200 tons of grain in Sanhe Town.

It is not easy to transport so much food in one night, and it requires the cooperation of a large number of people.

(End of this chapter)