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

Chapter 26 Preparing the Operation Plan
The brigade commander stared at Chen Ming for a long time before sighing.

Judging from this notebook, it is indeed a highly practical experience; only someone who has actually practiced it could write it down.

Transferring Chen Ming to headquarters might also bury his talent.

"Never mind, after I hand in the notes, I'll talk to headquarters and see if we can keep you in my 386th Brigade," the brigade commander said.

To be honest, he was also reluctant to part with a subordinate like Chen Ming, who was both capable and knew how to develop a team.

"Thank you, Brigade Commander."

Chen Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that the brigade commander has spoken, the matter is settled.

The brigade commander left with his notes, and Chen Ming began to reorganize the troops.

The headquarters assigned us the Second Independent Regiment, which was a decision made after careful consideration.

The independent regiment is a type of unit designed to adapt to the high mobility required for operations behind enemy lines. It is separate from the conventional division and brigade structure and is directly commanded by military regions or corps-level units, which facilitates rapid response and dispersed operations.

Their functional characteristic was flexible combat, with companies and platoons operating in dispersed units to avoid direct confrontation with the Japanese army.

In addition to combat, they also had to undertake tasks such as mass mobilization and political power construction, including assisting local anti-Japanese governments.

They filled the gap between the main force and local armed forces, becoming the "adhesive" in the battlefield behind enemy lines.

This function highly overlapped with the original functions of the district squad, so the assigned unit was the Independent Second Regiment instead of the New Second Regiment.

Chen Ming organized a meeting with all the cadres in his regiment.

The list of officers and soldiers in each battalion, company, and platoon has been confirmed.

Among them, the battalion commander of the first battalion is Da Fei, the battalion commander of the second battalion is Li Yousheng, and the battalion commander of the third battalion is Wang Gui.

In addition, maintenance companies and sharpshooter companies were also set up.

The maintenance company mainly consists of non-combat personnel and wounded personnel who cannot continue to fight. They are responsible for equipment maintenance, modification, and other related work.

The Japanese devils had ill intentions; often, when they were about to be annihilated, they would destroy their weapons and equipment.

These destroyed equipment need to be repaired before they can be used again.

The sharpshooter company was directly under the command of the regimental headquarters, with Li Yong as its company commander.

Chen Ming also assigned the officers brought by the brigade commander to the position of political instructor at the battalion or company level.

However, because it was a newly reorganized regiment, there was a lack of suitable political officers, so Chen Ming temporarily assumed the duties of political commissar.

Once the cadres trained by the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University are in place, the division of responsibilities will be restored.

In addition to bringing a group of cadres, the brigade commander also distributed some of the weapons and equipment that had been surrendered earlier.

The newly established Independent Second Regiment was not without its challenges.

The priority use of captured weapons and equipment can also be seen as an incentive for the troops.

The reason we were asked to hand over our weapons before was because discipline required them to be handed over; this was an ironclad principle!

Chen Ming handed over the equipment, and the matter was dropped.

And now, a portion has been reissued.

"Eight light machine guns, two heavy machine guns, and a hundred rifles—that's a return on investment." Chen Ming looked at the weapons and equipment the brigade commander had brought back, a happy smile on his face.

Chen Ming knew that the brigade commander's earlier congratulations on his fortune were for his own good.

All spoils must be turned over to the public; this is the rule.

After the brigade commander returned to the brigade headquarters with some weapons and equipment, no one was allowed to bring up this matter again.

After the troops were reorganized, all the soldiers of the Independent Second Regiment were very happy. They were now a regular army, a main force, completely different from the district militia.

In the future, when we encounter other district squads, county brigades, or similar units, we can stand tall and say that we are from the Independent Second Regiment.

"Alright, battalion and company commanders, go and reorganize your troops. Political instructors, come with me, we'll have a meeting."

Chen Ming addressed the group of commanders, soldiers, and instructors.

These instructors had just arrived at the Second Independent Regiment and were not yet familiar with their work or the situation there. Chen Ming planned to hold a meeting to introduce them to the new recruits.

His current role as political commissar is quite appropriate.

"Let me first introduce the situation of our Independent Second Regiment to you comrades, so that it will be easier for us to carry out our work in the future," Chen Ming said.

"Our Independent Second Regiment now has a total of 1,103 people, of which 880 are combat personnel and 228 are non-combat personnel, mainly engaged in equipment maintenance, logistics, medical and other work."

"The weapons and equipment consisted of 600 rifles, half of which were Japanese Type 38 rifles, 18 Type 96 light machine guns, Czech-made machine guns, two Type 92 heavy machine guns, and a number of other hand grenades, grenade launchers, etc."

Although the brigade commander congratulated them on getting rich and took most of the heavy weapons, even so, these weapons and equipment were still quite good for a newly reorganized regiment.

The instructors smiled as they listened to Chen Ming's account of the Second Independent Regiment.

The current Independent Second Regiment, while not comparable to the numbered main force regiments, is already quite good compared to other backbone regiments.

Of course, they also knew that Chen Ming was very good at developing teams.

In less than six months, a district squad was developed into an independent second regiment.

If it weren't for surrendering most of its heavy firepower, the 2nd Independent Regiment's firepower, apart from rifles, would have been even stronger than that of the 386th Brigade.

Next, Chen Ming discussed development policies with the instructors, such as how to reorganize prisoners of war, how to mobilize the masses, and how to develop the ranks.

Even after the meeting ended, the officers and soldiers remained deeply immersed in it.

The regimental commander, as expected of a veteran of the Red Army, possesses a higher level of ideology and awareness than all of them. No wonder the higher-ups agreed to let Chen Ming temporarily serve as the political commissar.

Over the next few days, the Second Independent Regiment completed its reorganization and integration.

Chen Ming also issued the first combat order after the establishment of the Independent Second Regiment.

"Pass on my orders: the First Battalion will infiltrate towards the Zhengtai Railway, the Second Battalion will remain in place, and the Third Battalion, carrying secret weapons, will move towards the Xiaotangshan line."

"Yes!"

With Chen Ming's order, more than 600 soldiers from the First and Third Battalions were quickly mobilized.

After several months of development, the soldiers are now well-trained and well-equipped; it's time to give the Japanese a big blow.

Meanwhile, 40 years have passed, and the Japanese will launch a major mopping-up operation in at most two months. Chen Ming took the initiative to attack the Japanese army along the railway line in order to find evidence of the upcoming mopping-up operation.

He couldn't tell headquarters directly that the Japanese were about to assemble a division plus two or three independent mixed brigades, along with one or two puppet army divisions, for a total force of 20,000 to 30,000 men to carry out a large-scale mopping-up operation against our base area.

How can headquarters believe me with my red lips and white teeth?

There must be evidence and sources!
With so many troops assembled, the Japanese army must have transported its combat supplies to the front lines before the battle.

This is no small amount, and it is most likely to rely on rail transport.

Chen Ming wanted to attack the Japanese railway line again. If they found a large amount of combat supplies, it would prove that the Japanese were about to launch a mopping-up operation.

We will report to headquarters when the time comes, so that headquarters can make preparations in advance.

Anyway, there's still time.

Fighting a battle revealed a large amount of Japanese war supplies, which was more useful than talking about it endlessly.

(End of this chapter)