The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 242 Cavalry and Officers

On March 3, the second day that Hu Biao and his men held Taierzhuang, it was around four o'clock in the afternoon.

In Taierzhuang, the bloody battle between the two sides is still going on.

Faced with the Japanese who had superior manpower, equipment, and individual soldier quality, the suicide squad paid a heavy price in casualties last night to recapture all the areas.

Now, except for the Beida Temple Mosque which is still in the hands of the National Army, other areas have been lost.

The defenders suffered staggering casualties. The 131st Division transferred in a battalion of reserve troops today. Now the survivors are estimated to be only the size of a company.

Now, the reserve forces under the command of Division Commander Chi, except for the two companies reserved for forming a suicide squad tonight, only include his own guard company and some logistics personnel.

The casualty figures of the Subei Independent Regiment were also quite shocking.

Fortunately, there is still more than an hour before it will gradually get dark.

Even if the Japanese take drugs, they are not made of iron and will probably stop attacking at that time.

In short, they should be able to survive the second day after entering Taierzhuang, but whether they can survive tomorrow depends on whether there are enough fresh troops to fill this meat grinder.

Or in other words, are there enough people willing to help Hu Biao?

Regarding this point, Hu Biao and others could not help but worry about it even in the midst of a fierce battle; but because they really had no time, they sent someone back to take a look.

I can only hope to hear good news from Annie, the wizard and Mo Shuiyan after dark.

So the key question is, will Hu Biao get what he wants when the time comes? The answer is: Of course he can...

******
"Annie, what's wrong with you? You know that the wizard and I are both wishing we had another pair of hands just to make more DIY mines.

Why did you call us over for a meeting and waste our time, and even emphasized that we had to come..."

After hurriedly walking into the tent, Mo Shuiyan, whose body was covered in traces of engine oil, immediately started complaining.

In fact, it’s not his fault that he has a hot temper. The main reason is that the Japanese infantry in Taierzhuang, advancing under the cover of tanks, posed too great a threat.

Only by laying a large number of various mines can we effectively suppress their continuous advance and relieve some of the pressure on the defenders.

So today alone, Hu Biao had the wounded bring back three messages, and the content was without exception: "We've run out of mines. Send in a batch immediately. We need both anti-tank and anti-infantry mines."

Facing Mo Shuiyan's complaints, Annie remained unmoved. She simply said one sentence, and the series of complaints completely stopped:
“So far, I have recruited 327 people.

In addition, there is a steady stream of Xuzhou gentlemen rushing in from all directions, asking to join our Subei Independent Regiment, or to help out our Commander Hu.

I believe that before midnight, the number of people will reach at least 500, which is enough for a battalion.

There were also several college students from Xuzhou Normal University and more than a dozen high school students.

There are not many scholars in the Zhonghua family these days. They are all high-level intellectuals. It would be a pity to waste them on the battlefield. Why don’t you two take them away.

Along with some leatherworkers, blacksmiths, carpenters and other craftsmen, and bring you crafting equipment?"

After hearing this, the wizard immediately shouted with joy:
"Great! I was just worried about not having enough people with quick minds and quick receptive abilities. Where are they? I'll take them with me and train them while they're working."

Even though he had just sat down, he immediately stood up and prepared to see how the college students of this era were different from those in the modern world.

But Annie quickly stopped him, "Don't worry! They are eating in the kitchen. Let's wait until they are full before we discuss anything else."

I have an important matter to discuss with you now.

Among the 320 people who joined, there were 31 horse bandits, all of whom came on horseback and carried swords and guns.

In addition, the Xuzhou area has a long tradition of horse breeding, and there are many people in the folk who can ride horses. It just so happened that we took down the Japanese artillery position that day, and didn’t we bring back more than a hundred horses?

A draft horse is still a horse and can be used as is.

So what I mean is, should we form a cavalry unit and wait for the full army to launch a counterattack to pursue the important targets of the Seya Detachment?"

"After deducting the troops for the cavalry, will the remaining men be enough to meet Hu Biao and his men's needs for reinforcements tomorrow?" Mo Shuiyan pondered for a moment before asking the most crucial question. Annie had already considered this point and answered simply, "Just barely enough."

"Then let's form it! I agree." Mo Shuiyan cast his vote of approval and stood up and walked out while speaking.

"I agree too." The wizard said this and followed Mo Shuiyan's footsteps.

The main thing is that they have already decided that even if they have to stay up all night with a group of college and high school students, they must make all the DIY mines that Hu Biao and his team will need tomorrow.

We should even seize this rare opportunity to produce more DIY equipment.

Mo Shuiyan felt this feeling particularly strongly.

There was no other way! This was Mo Shuiyan's second time traveling through time, and he finally found an opportunity with simple machine tools, generators, raw materials, and manpower that barely met his needs.

If he didn't come up with something quickly, he would feel sorry for himself...

******
Even though Mo Shuiyan and the wizard agreed with Annie's suggestion to form a cavalry unit, she still had a headache after the two of them left.

The new recruits who joined the Subei Independent Regiment today, aside from a few bandits and horse bandits, had no combat experience at all.

If rookies like them were rashly thrown into the battlefield, it would be difficult for them to survive more than 24 hours, let alone 4 hours.

Therefore, before they reinforce Taierzhuang tomorrow morning, they must be trained well tonight to increase their chances of survival.

It would be ideal if they were equipped with some qualified junior officers and even some non-commissioned officers.

Because they can not only help train new recruits, but also free up his energy to prepare the various weapons, equipment, supplies, etc. required by Hu Biao.

You can also become a core and command a team of new recruits to fight.

But now they can't even find the veterans, let alone the officers and non-commissioned officers, the treasures of other friendly forces?

After thinking about this, Anne had no choice but to go out and prepare to select some smarter ones from the new recruits to temporarily serve as grassroots officers.

As for training, I can only squeeze out some time and train them a little.

At this moment, a dozen officers who looked familiar appeared in front of her.

They said they looked familiar. These people were all from friendly forces, working in the Xuzhou Liaison Office. When Hu Biao was training new recruits the day before yesterday, they first observed from afar with binoculars.

When it was time for theoretical training in the evening, he would come over to sit in.

Before Annie could say anything, one of the majors asked, "Lieutenant Colonel An, you've just recruited so many new soldiers. Are you short of officers?"

After vaguely realizing something, Annie asked uncertainly:

"Aren't you afraid that your superiors will punish you for doing this?"

"These civilians are not even afraid of death in order to fight the devils, so why should we be afraid of punishment? If we survive, we will be punished."

The major officer spoke lightly.

Then, without waiting for Anne to say anything, he straightened his chest and abdomen, gave Anne a standard military salute, and shouted loudly:

"Yuan Xiaochun, a graduate of the 110th Infantry Class of the Whampoa Military Academy, currently serving as the Training and Operations Staff Officer of the th Division, requests to join the Subei Independent Regiment."

As soon as the voice fell, the officers behind him also stepped forward, saluted Anne, and took turns to speak:

"Wei Yunbao, a graduate of the Engineering Department of the Western Guangdong Military Academy and deputy commander of the Engineering Battalion of the 31st Group Army of the Guangxi Army, requests to join the Subei Independent Regiment."

"Zhang Gui, Northeast Military Academy..."

Hearing the loud voices above, Annie inexplicably felt like crying, not because of grievance, but because of being moved.

No matter how many petty thoughts the leaders of each faction have in their hearts for personal and factional interests, in the face of national justice, many of their grassroots officers are still good people...

(End of this chapter)