Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 358 I can’t finish it, I can’t finish it at all!
Day three.

Zhang Dabiao came to the regiment headquarters again to report to Li Yunlong on the situation of the various troops stationed in northwest Shanxi.

"Captain, I have already summarized the situation in northwest Shanxi."

"The base area in northwest Shanxi has a very good mass base. Each village not only has a militia, but also a women's rescue association, which saves us a lot of work."

"Currently, the main forces of our three regiments, organized into battalions and companies, are stationed in various villages around the county seat."

"The troops received a warm welcome from the local people."

The most difficult part is for the troops to establish a base in a new place.

In some places, the people, influenced by the Nationalist government's propaganda, even believed that the Eighth Route Army was a disaster and were resistant to it.

It is rare to see people having a place to live like this and the people warmly welcoming and supporting the work of the Eighth Route Army.

Li Yunlong said, "It seems that our brother unit, the 120th Division, has done a lot of mass work in northwest Shanxi. When we become rich in the future, we must provide some weapons and ammunition to our brother units."

"But Commander," Zhang Dabiao continued, "Northwestern Shanxi is even poorer than Central and Northwestern Shanxi. The land is very barren, and the crops we plant don't yield well. The Japanese and puppet troops often come to the villages to steal food and capture able-bodied men. The villagers have a very difficult life."

"As expected."

Li Yunlong nodded, his eyes showing a hint of murderous intent:
"The main force of the 120th Division in Northwest Shanxi has left Northwest Shanxi. The Japanese and puppet troops think they are powerful again and dare to bully the people in our base area."

After the 120th Division established a base in northwest Shanxi, it also fought several successful battles, smashing the attack of more than 5 Japanese and puppet troops on the Northwest Shanxi Military Region and consolidating the base.

After a pause, Li Yunlong said with murderous intent in his eyes: "Tell all the troops stationed in the village to spread the word that it was I, Li Yunlong, who said this. From tonight onwards, only the common people in our base area can bully the devils and puppet troops. The devils and puppet troops have no right to bully the common people. No matter if they are devils, puppet troops or bandits, if anyone bullies the common people in our base area, I, Li Yunlong, will peel off his skin!"

"Yes!" Zhang Dabiao's eyes were sharp and filled with murderous intent. "That is because the devils and puppet troops in northwest Shanxi have never fought against our troops in the Jinzhong Military Region. Otherwise, they would never dare to bully the people in northwest Shanxi."

Even a powerful unit like the 20th Division stationed on Zhengtai Road does not dare to openly bully the people around Zhengtai Road.

In the Jinzhong and Zhengtai Road area, even if the 20th Division bullied the civilians, Li Yunlong would immediately send troops to retaliate after learning about it.

Every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor. Whoever bullies the common people will die.

Because the Japanese soldiers of the 20th Division bullied the common people, they were bombarded by the Eighth Route Army of the Jinzhong Military Region every few days. After a long time, the Japanese soldiers could not bear it anymore.

"By the way, Commander, our regiment currently has only about 300 tons of grain. How long will it take for you to contact Boss Lin to receive the goods?" asked Zhang Dabiao.

Of the 900 tons of grain seized from the eight county towns, each regiment received 300 tons.

There are six county towns in the northwest Shanxi base area, and each of Ding Kongli's regiments was allocated two, forming a triangular shape on the map.

According to the development purpose of the Eighth Route Army, when a unit arrived at a new place, it would not pick up ready-made places, but would directly establish a base in the enemy-occupied area.

However, Li Yunlong and his men were in a special situation, and since the main force of the 120th Division had already left northwest Shanxi, the headquarters allowed Li Yunlong and his men to directly take over the northwest Shanxi base.

Therefore, Li Yunlong's regimental headquarters was not in a small village like Zhaojiayu, but moved directly into the county town, and Li Yunlong also lived the life of a county magistrate.

The main forces of the three regiments have been divided, and Ding Wei and Kong Jie led their troops to their respective bases.

However, there were more than 11000 recruits and guerrillas, all of whom were stationed at Li Yunlong's base.

After the troops complete the training of new recruits, they will be added to the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment.

Zhang Dabiao said, "We currently have over 11000 men, plus the main force of the New 4000st Regiment of over 15000 men, for a total of over 2 men." "Based on the New 3st Regiment's ration of kilograms of food per soldier per day, the troops will consume kilograms of food per day."

"These 300 tons of grain, a total of 60 kilograms, are only enough for the troops for 20 days, not to mention the cavalry battalion's horses, which are also major consumers of grain."

Only when you manage a household do you know how expensive food, oil, salt and firewood are. Zhang Dabiao now knows this after becoming the chief of staff of the new regiment.

If you don't have some financial resources, you can't even support a division, let alone a million-strong army.

An army of one million would consume two million kilograms of food every day.

"The food issue is a minor problem."

Li Yunlong thought for a moment and said, "I contacted Boss Lin last night. He has already arrived in northwest Shanxi and will come to the county town this afternoon to discuss receiving the goods."

"This time we earned a total of 8000 tons of food. Our regiment currently consumes 450 tons of food a month."

"Of the 8000 tons of grain, Ding Wei and Kong Jie will each receive 2000 tons."

"Our regiment still has 4000 tons of food left. We've earned nearly a year's worth of food through this battle."

The corners of Li Yunlong and Zhang Dabiao's mouths were both raised high.

"Look at it this way, we won't be short of food in the future." Zhang Dabiao had an expectant smile on his face. "If the troops are short of food in the future, we can attack the dozen or so counties occupied by the Japanese in northwest Shanxi. A single sweep would yield over 10,000 tons of food, enough for a year's worth of rations."

Li Yunlong nodded and chuckled, "That's right. When the main force of the Japanese arrives, we can take the initiative to abandon the county town based on the situation. When the main force of the Japanese leave, we can immediately recapture the county town. This way, we can get tens of thousands of tons of food. We can't eat it all. We can't eat it all."

Although Boss Lin did not say it explicitly, he hinted that this method could be used to earn weapons, ammunition and food.

Then I, Old Li, won’t be polite.

Besides, if we are polite to Boss Lin, wouldn’t that mean we are treating him as an outsider?

Zhang Dabiao also laughed, and felt very happy just thinking about it.

As an Eighth Route Army commander, loving soldiers like one's own sons is a basic operation. How to ensure that soldiers have good food and drink and keep them alive while ensuring victory on the battlefield is also a problem that the commander needs to consider.

More training in peacetime can reduce bloodshed in war. Only by having sufficient food, oil, water and ammunition during training and being well-trained can the troops reduce casualties.

"By the way, Commander," Zhang Dabiao asked again, "We've just arrived. Shouldn't we win a battle or two to enhance our unit's prestige among the villagers?"

Although Li Yunlong's reputation had long been known throughout northwest Shanxi, and on his way to northwest Shanxi this time, he had eliminated more than 8,000 Japanese and puppet troops and recaptured eight county towns.

But after all, seeing is believing, hearing is not. The people in northwestern Shanxi have not seen it with their own eyes, so who knows how much truth there is in it?
Li Yunlong nodded: "It is indeed time to win one or two battles. Da Biao, where do you think we should fight?"

Zhang Dabiao found a map and pointed at it, saying, "The Japanese-occupied counties around us include Shuoyang, Ping'an, Anhua, and Heyuan. Further away are Datong, Yunshan, and other counties. I suggest we attack those closer to us first. This will allow us to keep up with the logistics and our fellow villagers won't have to travel far."

Li Yunlong stared at the map for a while and said, "Then we should attack Ping'an County, which is the closest to us. You go and make arrangements and gather the people around to watch. Let the villagers see how the Japanese puppet army that bullied them is being bullied by us."

After so many battles to attack the county town, each battalion and company learned and summarized the experience and lessons of siege and developed a set of tactics for attacking the county town.

"Yes." Zhang Dabiao raised the corner of his mouth, "Please rest assured, Captain, I will ensure that the mission is completed."

(End of this chapter)