Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 126 Troop Reorganization, Two Five-Infantry-One-Artillery Units

Next, Chen Ming continued to organize the autumn harvest.

Food is the most important thing for the people. Since ancient times, grain has been the most valued thing for the Chinese people.

To prevent the Japanese from sabotaging the base area during the autumn harvest, Chen Ming ordered his troops to enter a state of first-level combat readiness to guard against a possible sudden attack by the Japanese.

After a period of recuperation, the wounded and sick soldiers have returned to their posts one after another, and the combat effectiveness of the troops has been greatly restored.

At the same time, the independent detachment also launched a new round of recruitment.

Thanks to propaganda efforts, a solid mass base, and the prestige gained from the liberation of the county town.

The recruitment work of the Independent Detachment went very smoothly, and all recruitment points were overcrowded.

If Chen Ming hadn't ordered strict limits on the number of recruits and the conditions for recruitment, coupled with the busy autumn harvest season, it would have been different.

This conscription effort was not going to end smoothly.

The meeting room of the detachment.

All the officers from each company came.

Chen Ming looked at everyone and asked Zhang Zhengze:
"How is this recruitment drive going?"

"Many people want to join the army this time, including civilians, soldiers selected from local armed forces, and even former puppet soldiers."

Zhang Zhengze said, and then he gave the specific data of this conscription work.

"so much?"

Chen Ming was somewhat surprised when he heard the number. How long had it been? The army had expanded by so many people in such a short time.

Although most of them were ordinary people who signed up for the army and had no combat capability.

However, local armed forces and puppet troops who are prisoners of war have a certain level of military skills. With proper training, they can quickly become combat-ready.

"That's right, our Independent Detachment is now famous throughout the country, and I don't know how many patriotic young people want to join our team."

"Among them were many educated and progressive young people, some of whom even came from Northeast China to join the army in Northwest Shanxi."

"At the same time, due to the Japanese retreat, the puppet troops also became more difficult to deal with. Our soldiers cut off their supplies, and they couldn't even get food."

"A large number of puppet troops chose to surrender. Some of them felt that there was no future in continuing to follow the Japanese, so they chose to join us."

"After rigorous political review and assessment, it was incorporated into the combat sequence of the troops."

Zhang Zhengze said.

After listening, Chen Ming nodded affirmatively and said, "That's right. We've made a name for ourselves now, and so many people support us. With that going up and down, the Japanese won't last long."

"I don't think the Japanese will be finished in four or five years."

"Hahaha."

"Old Chen, among the young people who have joined us this time, there are quite a few educated youths. I have personally vetted them, and many of them have real talent and learning. There are even a few science and engineering talents who have returned from studying in Germany," Zhang Zhengze said proudly.

"Really?" Chen Ming was a little unsettled.

This is a science and engineering talent; he even studied in Germany.

It's important to understand that the vast majority of university students in China today study humanities, with very few science and engineering graduates.

Every STEM talent is a treasure among treasures.

Unexpectedly, several high-achieving students who had returned from studying abroad came to visit, which made Chen Ming extremely happy.

“Really, I’ve already contacted the comrades in charge of this matter to investigate, and I believe we’ll have results soon,” Zhang Zhengze said.

"Okay, Lao Zhang, you need to get on the right track with the ideological education and shaping of these cultured and ambitious young people."

“Once we’ve trained them properly, the level of political work in our unit will be greatly improved,” Chen Ming said to Zhang Zhengze.

“Yes, this is my job, and I will take charge of it personally.” Zhang Zhengze nodded.

After dealing with these educated young people, Chen Ming couldn't help but sigh.

This is the advantage of having a solid base; it's like having a flag raised, allowing talented individuals who want to join the Independent Detachment to find their place within the Independent Detachment.

Previously, when they were stationed in the mountains, even the Japanese soldiers couldn't find the exact location of the Independent Detachment, let alone these progressive young people who wanted to join it.

However, while pleased to see more talented people joining the team, Chen Ming was also worried for these passionate and progressive young people. To risk crossing such a long distance, traversing enemy-occupied territory and Nationalist-controlled areas to reach northwestern Shanxi, was simply too dangerous.

If these precious talents were to get hurt, Chen Ming would feel so heartbroken he could hardly breathe.

After that, Chen Ming got to the main topic of the day.

"The main purpose of this meeting is to adjust the personnel structure of our detachment."

"Headquarters has issued a document requiring all units to streamline their personnel and administration and to enforce strict military discipline."

“Our detachment has already reduced its personnel after the last round of streamlining and downsizing. However, we still need to adjust the personnel structure. The current troops are still a bit bloated. We need to shed our burdens and move forward with a lighter load.”

Because Chen Ming had previously proposed streamlining the administration and reducing personnel in his resolution, the headquarters, after consideration, adopted Chen Ming's suggestion.

The lower-level units were instructed to begin streamlining and reducing their personnel.

However, the results were not satisfactory. Many units were willing to streamline their operations, but the results were difficult to achieve as expected.

There was no way around it; the team was being assembled too quickly.

Every time a military unit pulls up its roster, it always finds a new batch of personnel.

There are also some units that are reluctant to reduce the size of their hard-won forces.

Li Yunlong was one of them. In his words, "Since we chose to join the Eighth Route Army, they are our brothers. The Japanese devils haven't even arrived yet. How can we drive away our brothers?"

Therefore, after the policy of streamlining the army and reducing the number of personnel was implemented, Li Yunlong's independent regiment not only did not decrease much, but continued to expand.

The overly bloated army, coupled with a large number of new recruits who had not experienced much combat, weakened the army's combat effectiveness.

Therefore, the Independent Regiment suffered heavy losses in this counter-sweep operation, becoming one of the units with a relatively high casualty rate in counter-sweep operations.

Meanwhile, other units that strictly adhered to the policy of streamlining and reducing personnel suffered relatively low losses in this counter-sweeping operation.

After the sweep, just like in history, the policy of streamlining the army and reducing administrative burden was issued.

All main force regiments were required to be divided into three types: A, B, and C.

The 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the Class A Regiment has approximately 2000-2500 personnel.

The 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Class B Regiment has approximately 1200-1500 personnel.

The Class C regiment abolishes the battalion-level organization and consists of five companies with a total strength of approximately 900-1100 personnel.

In order to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops, the troops will definitely need to be reorganized.

"I have decided to establish two brigades, with Kong Jie and He Jianxin as the brigade leaders."

"Each battalion consists of five infantry battalions, one artillery battalion, plus support companies, machine gun companies, and other units."

"In addition, some key personnel were transferred from each brigade to form the fourth and fifth brigades."

"Wang Gui will serve as the commander of the Fourth Battalion, and Luo Jian will serve as the commander of the Fifth Battalion."

After careful consideration, Chen Ming finalized the plan for the reorganization of the troops.

The two battalions formed by Chen Ming adopted a five-step-one-gun formation.

Chen Ming also split the artillery battalion and assigned it to two main battalions.

The reason for splitting up the artillery battalions was also due to the circumstances.

The independent detachment had few infantry guns, only twelve in total, and only two mountain guns that had been purchased.

Most other artillery pieces are still primarily mortars.

To form an artillery regiment, mainly composed of mortars?

It would be so embarrassing to say that out loud, and it would be difficult to exert the fighting power one should have.

Therefore, Chen Ming split the artillery battalion into three artillery battalions.

Two reinforced artillery battalions were assigned, each with six Type 92 infantry guns and twelve mortars for artillery support.

The remaining mortars were distributed to various battalion-level units as support firepower, and a mortar battalion was formed as a mobile support force.

(End of this chapter)