Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 46 Arsenal Relocation

At the summary meeting, after talking about the situation of the Japanese, Chen Chengxing talked about the situation of the New Second Regiment.

"This battle still exposed a lot of problems. The first is the bayonet problem. Hand-to-hand combat is what our Red Army is good at. But what about now? Not to mention the new recruits, even the veterans probably can't beat the Japs in a one-on-one fight, right?"

When the Eighth Route Army was reorganized, most of the Long March veterans were assigned to numbered regiments.

There were only a small number of veteran Red Army soldiers in basic regiments like the New 1st and New 2nd Regiments, and most of them were soldiers recruited from northern Shaanxi. Of course, compared with those recruited in Dayun Mountain, these soldiers were also considered veterans, and they had at least undergone certain military training.

When the firepower was far inferior to that of the Japanese, the best way to fight them was to hide and wait, and then suddenly engage in battle and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese, which is commonly known as three guns and eight routes.

In this way, the Japanese's firepower advantage of machine guns and grenade launchers could not be fully utilized, not to mention artillery and aircraft.

"Commander, our regiment's main combat force has about 2 people, and nearly a quarter of them don't have guns. More than half of those who have guns don't have bayonets. The soldiers are still at a disadvantage when fighting the Japanese with swords." Xu Wu said.

Fortunately, Chen Chengxing led the first battalion to wipe out the Zhang Family Association's security regiment, otherwise half of the new second regiment would be without guns.

The Japanese's Type 1 rifle with bayonet is 68 meters long, but the sword is only 1 meter long.

The principle that an inch longer is an inch stronger is fully demonstrated in bayonet fighting.

Not to mention that the broadsword weighs as much as 4 kilograms. Although it is effective for chopping, ordinary soldiers wielding such a heavy weapon cannot sustain long-term high-intensity combat. Once the speed slows down, the Japanese will take the opportunity to assassinate.

"We'll find a way to get the missing guns later, but the bayonet issue has been resolved. The machine factory will equip every gun with a bayonet."

"Next, the entire regiment must strengthen bayonet fighting and grenade throwing training, and also enhance the ability to fight at night," said Chen Chengxing.

Before we get equipped, these are ways to narrow the gap in firepower between the New Second Regiment and the Japanese."

"Training must be close to actual combat," Chen Chengxing emphasized.

"Actual combat? But we don't have protective gear." Luo Ping said on the side.

Bomb throwing and night combat training are easy, but without protective gear, the actual combat assassination training will inevitably lead to injuries, even serious injuries.

"You have to practice even without protective gear. Just wrap the tip of the gun with a few more layers of cloth when the time comes." Chen Chengxing said.

"I would rather have soldiers get hurt in training than die in battle."

"If you are afraid of getting hurt, then train hard and stab others. If you are not as skilled as others, you deserve it even if your ribs are broken."

"But what if our superiors investigate this?" Luo Ping was a little hesitant.

Luo Ping was very clear about the situation of the Eighth Route Army. Strengthening bayonet training did have more advantages than disadvantages, but the Eighth Route Army had discipline, and such training that might cause injury to soldiers was not allowed.

"I'll take responsibility if my superiors investigate." Chen Chengxing said indifferently.

The situation of the Red Army now is different from before. They are facing extremely brutal Japanese devils and cannot follow the previous rules.

Moreover, Chen Chengxing believed that his superiors would not investigate such a matter.

"By the way, when your troops are training, you must take the initiative to attack when you have the chance. Don't think that a sparrow war will have little effect. We must accumulate small victories into a big one."

"You all know the organization standards of the Eighth Route Army. I don't have a single extra gun here. If you don't want the soldiers to use fire sticks to beat the devils, you should look for more opportunities to wipe out the bandits and bullies."

"Anyway, I just want to say one thing: training must be stepped up, and fighting must not be neglected."

"If everything is fine, you can go back." Chen Chengxing waved his hand.

These are the only elite troops of the Japanese. As time goes by, the decline of the Japanese combat effectiveness is inevitable. However, after a large number of ambushes, the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army is on the rise. After this back and forth, it won't be long before the New Second Regiment will be able to fight the Japanese.

As the Japanese invaders successively occupied the counties of Shanxi, the New Second Regiment would have more and more opportunities for ambush. After all, war is all about logistics, and the deeper the Japanese invaders go, the longer the battle line will be.

The road to the north of the base that passes through Zhangjiahui is the road that connects Ping'an County and Xinkou. As long as we guard this road, we will not have to worry about running out of meat.

On December 12, when Chen Chengxing put down the newspaper in his hand and sat there in a daze, Wei Dayong walked in.

"Captain, Captain Zeng is here."

"Zeng Cheng? Could it be that Erlangdong is done?"

Chen Chengxing let Zeng Cheng in while thinking about it.

"Captain."

"Zeng Cheng, how's Erlang Cave doing?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"The basic work has been completed. By using fire and water, the space has been expanded a lot, enough to accommodate a small arsenal." Zeng Cheng explained.

"That's enough." Chen Chengxing nodded.

Not all production lines can be placed in caves. For example, when a chemical plant prepares sulfuric acid, it produces waste gas, so it has to be placed outside.

The targets placed in the cave are mainly high-value targets. Although the Japanese do not have many planes in Shanxi, Chen Chengxing still has to be on guard.

Otherwise, all the equipment that everyone has worked so hard to get can be blown to pieces by a bomb.

"Let's go to Taohua Village." Chen Chengxing took Zeng Cheng and went straight to Taohua Village.

In Taohua Village, Chen Chengxing met Zhang Xu, Xu Tao and Wen Ying.

"Now the preparation of Erlangdong has been basically completed, and all factories should move there in an orderly manner." Chen Chengxing said.

"Row."

"no problem."

The three had no objection to Chen Chengxing's proposal.

When the Japanese reconnaissance planes were circling in this area, several people were a little worried.

It's also because they have just started to develop and are not yet conspicuous. If the scale expands, the Japanese will definitely come to bomb.

Once they reach Erlang Mountain, they will be able to do what they want.

"Okay, I'll let the engineering company and the baggage team help you." Chen Chengxing said.

"Once things are stabilized, we need to increase the production of grenades, mines and reloaded bullets. I'm afraid that future battles will become a regular occurrence."

Hearing Chen Chengxing's request, Zhang Xu immediately said: "Although the lead chamber problem has been solved, the chemical plant cannot provide too much propellant now. As for explosives, although nitroglycerin can be produced now, it cannot be used in actual combat."

Although the use of water tanks did solve the problem of sulfuric acid production, the New Second Regiment had limited raw materials and was unable to produce on a large scale.

However, the nitroglycerin produced was too sensitive to be used directly in combat.

Although Zhang Xu found a way to get diatomaceous earth, he was unable to purify it. This greatly reduced the effect of the mixture of nitroglycerin and diatomaceous earth, and the power did not meet expectations.

(End of this chapter)