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

Chapter 204: A Memoir from 2009 (A Must-Read!)
After dealing with the matters at the arsenal, Political Commissar Zhang Zhengze approached Chen Ming.

"Old Chen, this is the detailed information about the soldiers' meritorious service in this operation."

Zhang Zhengze brought over a stack of documents, which detailed the battle achievements of the Datong Campaign and the surrounding area operations.

"The vanguard that captured Yanggao County was promoted from company commander to battalion commander and transferred to He Jianxin's unit."

"Those troops who make outstanding contributions during the raid on Datong should be commended and promoted accordingly. The officers in charge should be transferred back to the brigade headquarters for a period of study before further arrangements are made."

Chen Ming spoke up.

"Besides the unit that took the county town with two hundred men, were there any other outstanding soldiers or units?" Chen Ming continued to ask.

The number of troops and personnel involved in this operation was large, but Chen Ming could only remember those who performed exceptionally well.

For example, the vanguard of two hundred men who took over the Japanese county town, the special operations brigade and sharpshooter brigade that carried out the decapitation strike, and the troops that were the first to storm Datong and take control of important facilities.

As for the rest of the troops, Chen Mingzhen didn't have such a good memory to remember them all.

It's often said that important people are forgetful, not because they're forgetful, but because they have too many things to handle and simply don't have the energy to remember unimportant things.

"Yes, there are quite a few. The main force has many outstanding soldiers, such as a soldier named Wang Tie who is particularly accurate with his marksmanship."

"In the various battles, large and small, during the Datong Campaign, he killed more than twenty Japanese soldiers."

"Hmm, not bad. Transfer him to the sharpshooter squad, raise his rank by one level, and give him the standard material reward."

"There was also a scout who made a long-distance raid and found out about the 800-strong Japanese force in Jining. His professional skills were outstanding," Zhang Zhengze said.

"Transfer him to the special operations brigade. Let Duan Peng arrange the specific position; he's familiar with this kind of work."

"it is good."

"And this soldier."

Zhang Zheng then named all the soldiers or officers who had performed outstandingly and were personally dealt with by Chen Ming.

After careful consideration, Chen Ming decided to promote all officers below the battalion level to higher command positions to develop their grassroots skills.

Most of the officers below the battalion and brigade (regiment) level were transferred to Chen Ming's command headquarters for training, laying a solid foundation for taking on more responsibilities in the future.

As for honorary titles and commendations, they are all arranged in a unified manner, presided over by Political Commissar Zhang Zhengze. After Chen Ming confirms that there are no problems, the titles are awarded directly or reported to higher authorities for awarding.

"By the way, there was another team that performed exceptionally well in this battle, but they weren't part of our command structure this time."

"It was a county brigade from the Jizhong base area. When we finished fighting off the Japanese reinforcements from Datong, they took the initiative to join the blocking battle."

"Leading the soldiers of the county brigade, they managed to hold off a Japanese battalion for two days, which was an outstanding performance, but the casualties were indeed considerable."

Zhang Zhengze added.

"Oh? What's the name of this unit? They're fighting with great resilience," Chen Ming asked.

The fact that a county brigade could hold off a Japanese battalion for two days was a testament to their resilience, which surprised Chen Ming.

Not all units have the weaponry and training of an independent detachment; a battalion fighting the Japanese can do it like chopping vegetables.

Chen Ming strictly limited the size of the military, streamlined administration and reduced personnel, and advocated concentrating resources on major tasks. The requirements for recruiting soldiers were very high.

Therefore, independent detachments are highly effective in combat, consume relatively few resources, can capture more weapons and ammunition, and can even radiate to surrounding units when other units are short of weapons and food.

To achieve the mission of making more troops stronger.

What Zhang Zhengze said was that the other side was just a county brigade from the Jizhong base area, with a maximum of three to five hundred men, yet they were able to hold off a Japanese brigade for two days.

Such strong resilience has already piqued Chen Ming's interest.

“That county brigade’s cadre was Li Chishui, nicknamed Li Dabenshi,” Zhang Zhengze said.

"Li Da's skills?" Chen Ming asked curiously.

Unexpectedly, not only Li Yunlong and Zhou Weiguo were there, but even Li Dabenshi came.

“This is the team from the Fifth Division of Jizhong. The nickname ‘Li Dabenshi’ is a compliment given to him by the cadres,” Zhang Zhengze said.

"Well, we'll ask him later and see if he'd like to join our unit," Chen Ming said.

"Ah."

According to the original plan, Li Dabenshi's team was killed while covering the headquarters' retreat.

The designation of the Independent Regiment of the Fifth Military Sub-district of Central Hebei was posthumously awarded upon their sacrifice.

The unit number is immortalized because of the sacrifice, symbolizing an indelible unit number.

However, this time Chen Ming launched a surprise attack on Datong, forcing the Japanese army's large-scale mopping-up operation to fail, and the headquarters was successfully relocated.

Li Dabenshi's team naturally didn't need to make any more sacrifices.

Unexpectedly, the enemy actually engaged in a blocking battle, repelling the Japanese reinforcements heading towards Datong, and suffered heavy casualties.

Chen Ming greatly admired these kinds of cadres and soldiers.

Since the other party is so insistent on the unit number, we'll just transfer them to the Independent Detachment and give them one.

For Chen Ming in his current situation, transferring a county brigade is basically just a matter of asking for it.

Chen Ming did indeed recruit a lot of people from other base areas, especially the Jizhong base area.

In total, Chen Ming brought over a thousand people from the Jizhong base area.

Including Zhou Weiguo and others, soldiers and cadres who were proficient in tunnel warfare, now we might add Li Dabenshi and his county brigade.

This caused cadres from other military regions to worry whenever they saw Chen Ming, fearing that he might snatch one of their cadres away again.

It was only now that Chen Ming had made a fortune that the collective initiative to "strike at the rich" began.

"Old Zhang, I also have something to discuss with you," Chen Ming said.

"The troops fought very well in the Datong Campaign, but some problems were also exposed."

"Our troops have a surplus of weapons and ammunition. When fighting, we don't need to conserve them; we can exchange ammunition for casualties."

"But we must remain frugal in our daily lives. We must not allow extravagance to take hold. We cannot start to show off and enjoy life as soon as we become a little richer."

"Some cadres have entered Datong and are already riding in cars they seized from traitors. Damn it, they act like they own the place."

"This kind of thing must be dealt with seriously. No matter who it is, how high their rank is, or even myself, any cadre who dares to cross the red line must be dealt with seriously."

"However, we must also be careful not to escalate the situation. For some minor mistakes, we should give them a chance to correct them and engage in self-criticism."

"Criticism and self-criticism are the magic weapon of our Eighth Route Army, and we must not lose our fine traditions."

Chen Ming spoke up.

"Yes, that's right. The atmosphere of an army is very important. Our Eighth Route Army is the people's army. If the military discipline is not strict and the atmosphere is not right, what's the difference between us and the National Army?" "Taking advantage of this commendation, we also need to give the soldiers and officers a heads-up to ensure the purity of the army."

Zhang Zhengze nodded.

In terms of political thought, Chen Ming is superior to him, and he has much to learn from Chen Ming.

There aren't many military officers like Chen Ming who voluntarily propose rectification. After all, most of our military officers didn't come from regular military academies; they earned their skills through hard-fought battles.

Many cadres inevitably have some minor flaws, such as Li Yunlong and Ding Wei.

It would be strange if Li Yunlong liked it if he took the initiative to rectify his behavior and stop drinking.

We must nip problems in the bud and prevent any bad trends from emerging.

If the results aren't good this time, Chen Ming will have no choice but to ask a leader to take charge.

After the two reached an agreement, the matter was basically settled.

"By the way, I also have something I'd like to discuss with you," Zhang Zhengze said.

"You said."

"Taking advantage of this opportunity to commend themselves, many cadres have reached the standard for marriage. However, as you know, there is a war going on right now, and cadres don't have many opportunities to meet female comrades."

"It's harder than climbing to heaven for them to find a partner on their own."

"I'd like to organize a social gathering this time to see if it can help resolve the personal issues of the cadres."

As Zhang Zheng spoke, he glanced at Chen Ming intentionally.

The brigade commander had given him only six months left to complete his mission. If he didn't resolve Chen Ming's personal issues soon, he wouldn't have the face to face the brigade commander.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese were unable to organize manpower and resources to launch another major war after this major battle, they seized the opportunity.

The independent detachment also needs time to rest and recuperate, and to digest the gains.

Zhang Zheng wanted to find an opportunity to complete the task given to him by the brigade commander, and at the same time, he was also considering his partner Chen Ming.

"Why are you looking at me? This is a good thing, I definitely support it," Chen Ming said with a smile, ignoring the political commissar's gaze.

This has happened countless times; the brigade commander and Zhang Zhengze have sent countless female comrades to the detachment headquarters.

Doesn't Chen Ming understand what that means?
However, Chen Ming really doesn't have the mind to think about these things right now. He can't even finish his work. He wishes there were 48 hours in a day so he could handle more matters.

With such heavy responsibilities on my shoulders, how can I have time to think about personal matters?
From the moment they returned to this era, the soldiers traded their lives for Chen Ming's.

Chen Ming had already decided that he would dedicate his future and life to the country and the people.

“Just offering verbal support isn’t enough. You must be there to host the event, organize social gatherings, and help the cadres find partners. How can things work if you, as the head of the family, aren’t there?” Zhang Zhengze said.

Looking at Zhang Zhengze, Chen Ming thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

“Okay, I’ll coordinate the time and I’ll definitely be there to host it,” Chen Ming said.

"I remember the Battle of Datong started in the early morning of May 6th. I remember it very clearly. There was a loud bang, and thousands of kilograms of explosives blew up the city wall of Datong."

"There was a lot of explosives. I can't remember the exact number of kilograms, but I vaguely remember it was several thousand kilograms."

"There was a loud bang, and our assault team soldiers could see it from a great distance. One soldier even took a curious look and was thrown into the air."

"After I went up and checked that he was alright, I kicked him twice on the spot. Damn it, is this something you can just look at like that?"

"By the way, is it okay to say that word? Won't it set a bad example for young people?"

"Alright, I'll continue. After the walls of Datong were blown up, there was a deafening roar of cannons!"

"More than 40 tons of shells were concentrated in the defensive fortifications in front of the breached city wall of Datong, including 150mm heavy artillery."

"I still can't forget that scene to this day. It was so spectacular and so shocking."

"I've fought so many wars, and this is the first time I've seen our Eighth Route Army bring out so many artillery pieces and fight such a well-funded war."

"After the shelling ended, there were hardly any Japanese soldiers left in the fortifications. My team easily captured the fortifications outside the breach in the Datong city wall and successfully entered Datong."

"After entering Datong, we encountered fierce resistance from the Japanese soldiers, who were desperately trying to stop us."

"However, their command post had already been destroyed by our special operations team at that time."

"The Japanese soldiers were like headless flies, running around aimlessly without any organization, and we broke through several of their defenses in succession."

"In the end, we split our forces and captured important factories in Datong, and also arrested many Japanese technicians, making a fortune!"

"In just eight hours, we captured this important city from tens of thousands of Japanese and puppet troops."

"After the battle of Datong, you can't even imagine how much we captured. There were more than 40,000 taels of gold alone, and a whole train car full of silver dollars."

"There were also various kinds of food, weapons, ammunition, machine tools, steel and other supplies. The transport team formed a long line that stretched for more than ten kilometers."

"I would still wake up laughing at night even more than a month after the Battle of Datong."

"After the battle of Datong, a huge amount of supplies needed to be transported. The old commander led us to Wucheng, and we traveled over a thousand miles in a few days, walking the Japanese devils like dogs."

"That battle is still used as a classic case study. If you go to military academy, you might learn about it."

"The battle that impressed me the most was the fight against a cavalry division of the puppet Mongol forces. It was nighttime, and I led a surprise attack on a cavalry division of the puppet Mongol forces."

"The battle was over in just a few hours. Our six hundred-plus men annihilated a cavalry division of the puppet Mongol forces."

"Although it is called a cavalry division, it actually only has a little over a thousand men, which is three hundred more than the troops I led at the time."

"After that battle, the old commander promoted me and then organized a social event to help me find a partner."

"I also met my wife at a social event around that time. My former superior even acted as my matchmaker and officiated at my wedding."

"After the victory, the old commander still cared about us a lot. At that time, some of our old subordinates missed him and liked to use the excuse of borrowing money to find him."

"The old commander only earns that little salary a month, and we can borrow about two or three hundred of it. We've lent out half of it."

"I still haven't paid back that money, haha."

"By the way, will this interview be shown internally?"

"Oh? It will be played internally. Then delete this part and don't let the old chief see it."

"What? You want to interview the old commander? No way, I need to submit a report before I can see him. The old commander doesn't see any guests anymore, he's always cuddling his great-grandson."

"Back then, the old commander kept saying he wouldn't get married, but the brigade commander still arranged it for him, didn't he? Hahaha."

—Excerpt from a 2009 documentary, memoirs of Liu Tengjie, former commander of the assault brigade of the Jin-Cha-Re-Liao Independent Detachment, on the Battle of Datong.

P.S.: This chapter contains a lot of implicit content, including many things that cannot be written out. It is written in the style of a memoir.
(End of this chapter)