"In this battle, your regiment's combat mission is the most important. Other troops are responsible for launching offensives on the periphery. The assault regiment needs to penetrate into Li Xianzhou's heart. The battle must be large!" Zhou Weihan said.
At the meeting, Luo Benzhong was worried that if the initial offensive did not go well and Li Xianzhou did not send a telegram to the 92nd Army to come back for reinforcements, the military region would be in danger. Although Zhou Weihan said it was fine, for the sake of safety, he decided to let the assault regiment act as a sharp knife.
"Comrade ***, I am very willing to take over this task, but our regiment is responsible for security work. Once transferred, which troop will take over? I'm worried..." Dong Jiang said.
"You don't need to worry about this. As long as you fight well on the front line and the enemy has no time to take care of themselves, how can a black tiger come to take out your heart?" Zhou Weihan said.
"How are the ammunition reserves?"
Hearing this, Dong Jiang's face turned bitter, and he immediately poured out his bitterness: "Comrade ***, you know the situation of our regiment. If you want to maintain combat effectiveness, you need to fight more and practice more, but most of the equipment is American equipment.
, except for light machine guns, other types of bullets cannot be self-sufficient!"
"Our superiors ask our regiment to save bullets. All the officers and soldiers understand this, but if we just stare at the bullets every day, isn't that a waste of martial arts?"
About a year ago, in early March 1942, under the coordination of Stilwell, the Eighth Route Army received the first batch of military assistance, and Zhou Weihan used most of the weapons and equipment to form an assault regiment.
According to the agreement, the Americans will allocate a regiment of weapons and equipment to the Eighth Route Army on a quarterly basis, including Garand rifles, carbines, M2 heavy machine guns and four 105-caliber howitzers, and provide corresponding material supplies.
However, due to the friction and turmoil in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia base area, it was not until September 1942 that the second batch of military assistance arrived belatedly, and the Eighth Route Army headquarters used this to re-equip the headquarters guard regiment.
At this point, the Eighth Route Army has two organized art regiments, but the share of ammunition supply is not enough. Even veterans will inevitably become crafty without long-term live ammunition training.
Zhou Weihan understood all these situations and immediately said: "So, this battle must be a good one, so that the two sides can sit down and talk after the war!"
"Okay, let's go find the chief of staff to get the mission!"
"yes!"
After Dong Jiang left, Zhou Weihan looked at the time. It was already past one o'clock in the morning on the 21st. In addition to the grassroots commanders and fighters who were resting, the participants quickly conveyed the spirit of the meeting to cadres at all levels, aiming to unify their thinking and prepare for war.
Prepare beforehand.
In this battle, the entire Hebei, Shandong, and Yu column was dispatched. There were 15 regiment-level combat units alone. Together with the two main regiments of the Fourth Teaching Brigade, the strength was more than 40,000.
Zhou Weihan seemed to be making dangerous moves, but in fact he was seeking victory in a stable manner. Apart from Jing Dagang's 13th Brigade and the Japanese troops of the Northern Henan Army Division assisting in the defense of the 35th Division, the remaining troops were also quite large.
As long as the initial offensive goes smoothly, Li Xianzhou's national troops will inevitably be led by the nose, and their troops will be forced to mobilize according to Zhou Weihan's wishes.
In the early morning of the next day, with the loud sound of military bugles, the Eighth Route Army troops stationed in the Dangshan area quickly assembled to their respective superior units and then moved closer to the main school field.
Last night, before the meeting ended, Zhou Weihan proposed a swearing-in meeting to unify thinking and boost military morale.
A temporary earthen platform was set up on the school field. Zhou Weihan did not behave like a leading cadre. He stood in front of the loudspeaker early and looked at the troops entering the field. He couldn't help but feel excited.
The only troops participating in the swearing-in ceremony this time were the 16th Brigade of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Column and the two main regiments of the directly-affiliated troops and the 4th Teaching Brigade, with about 15,000 people.
Except for attending some important meetings, Zhou Weihan never wrote a speech. He patted the microphone with his hand, and a sharp and harsh sound came from the speaker.
The originally noisy school grounds suddenly fell silent, and Zhou Weihan said: "I see that you are all full of energy. It seems that you had a good rest last night, but I didn't get a good rest, and my head is still a little swollen!"
"To tell you the truth, the fraternal troops in Tainan and Huaibei have already fought against the Kuomintang army, and now the Kuomintang reactionaries from Li Xianzhou's department have also arrived at our doorstep!"
"They don't want us to live in peace. Comrades, let me ask you what should you do?"
"Fuck you!" Li Yunlong, who was standing at the front of the 16th Brigade, roared. The commanders and soldiers behind him followed suit, and the noise became louder and louder.
"Fuck you!"
"Fuck you!"
"Okay, just do it!" Zhou Weihan agreed, his morale was high and his military spirit was ready, which was what he really thought in his heart.
This is what you have to do when mobilizing before the war. You always do ideological work in a docile manner without giving up. As Zhou Weihan and Dong Jiang said, this battle must be fought beautifully.
Not only must we repel the 28th Group Army, but we must also seize a batch of weapons supplies from its hands. Whether the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region can expand its troops on a large scale in the future will all depend on this battle.
Zhou Weihan waved his hand and the noise gradually stopped: "Comrades, last night I asked people to kill pigs and sheep. The cooking team and fellow villagers were stewing meat. You should be able to smell the aroma of meat from every household on the way here!"
"Why can we eat meat? It was obtained at the expense of countless comrades and comrades-in-arms. It is the result of the hard work of the fellow villagers in the base area. Therefore, if we want to continue to eat meat in the future, we must not let the enemy destroy the fruits of victory!
"
"I have finished speaking. You can go have breakfast now. Whether you can continue to eat meat in the future depends on your performance on the battlefield."
As Zhou Weihan's neat swearing-in speech ended, the troops participating in the swearing-in ceremony dispersed one after another, and the senior cadres took advantage of the break to have breakfast to meet again.
"Comrade Qiwu, logistics support work is particularly important, and you must coordinate it well!" Zhou Weihan said to Deputy Chief of Staff Cheng Qiwu.
"Comrade ***, I understand that comrades from the local government have been very cooperative. Dangshan, Shan County, and Feng County have all temporarily set up a transportation team to transport supplies to the frontline troops!" Cheng Qiwuhui reported.
In this battle, the participating troops carried three days of rations and two supplies of ammunition. Except for one that they carried themselves, the rest were handed over to the baggage troops at all levels for transportation management.
Later material supplies were transported by the local government, with food provided by the Huxi Region Government in advance, and ammunition supplies allocated from the Huxi and Southwest Shandong Military Regions.
On the same day, the troops who received the order started to move out one after another. Li Yunlong's 16th brigade and the American mountain artillery battalion and howitzer company directly under the column took more than a hundred cars from the car battalion and marched quickly towards Shangqiu.
Coupled with the 14th Brigade from Shanxian County, the 15th Brigade from Fengxian County and the troops led by Zhou Weihan, on the vast plain with Yucheng as the core, the Eighth Route Army troops were like four arrows encircling the designated target.
