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In order to study the guerrillas properly and to maintain confidentiality, Xu Le only brought Jiang Feng, Liu Quanhua and Wang Dafu, who were the highest-ranking officers in the 176th Division.

"Please, the young marshal is waiting for you inside!"

Because Xu Er was temporarily assigned to serve as deputy director of the Political Department, Xu San now replaced Xu Er's original position as a guard.

Xu Da almost followed Xu Le closely, while Xu San was mainly responsible for guarding the door and passing messages.

It’s not because Xu San is outstanding in any aspect. The abilities of the 500 guards are all the same. It’s just that Xu Le has a mild obsessive-compulsive disorder, so he follows the order.

Now, the dozens of guard members at the front of the list have been gradually perfecting their human emotions because of their frequent contact with Xu Le. Especially Xu Da, he is almost indistinguishable from a normal human being, except for the last step.

Xu Le looked at the two people who walked in. One of them was about 40 years old and should be the leader, and the other was younger and should be a guard.

Although the guard looked young, Xu Le could see a determination and hostility in his eyes, which was the result of killing too many people.

Even Xu Da frowned slightly, seeming to be somewhat interested in this guard.

"I've heard that a mysterious army suddenly appeared in the southwest of Shanxi a few months ago. They fought bravely and killed the Japanese like slaughtering dogs. However, many forces wanted to find out the whereabouts of this army, but no one found any information. Even the Japanese were confused.

It was not until the siege of Linfen not long ago that the blood of the Tang people was aroused, tens of thousands of enemies were killed, and the Tang army was saved from crisis in Zhongtiao Mountain. It indirectly saved tens of thousands of people and prevented our land from being occupied by the devils.

I guess this is the young marshal that brother mentioned. I am An Ji, the commander of the Southwest Jin Guerrilla Division. I have heard of your name for a long time!"

The leader An Ji started by praising the 176th Division. It was obviously an official compliment. Only Liu Quanhua was impressed by it and his nose turned up when he heard it.

But this is also a fact. An Ji did not exaggerate, and it does not arouse any disgust.

Xu Le stood up and spoke politely. After all, the other party claimed to be the commander, so he should give him some face.

"Commander An, you are right. We are all Tang troops. We have no choice but to expel the Fuso bandits! I am Xu Le, the commander of the 176th Independent Division of the National Guard Army..."

Xu Le briefly introduced several people. Since Fuso launched a full-scale invasion of the Tang Dynasty in 937, the Tang Dynasty’s army had united against the outside world and were actually under the command of the National Guard.

But this is only how it is said in terms of organization. In fact, when referring to other troops, it is still customary to add the original warlord affiliation before the troop number. For example, the 89th Division, most people would say it is the 89th Division of the Shanxi Army, or simply say the 89th Division. Few people would say it is the 89th Division of the National Guard Army, unless they are introducing themselves.

The actual National Guard refers to the Central Army, which had about 70 troops when the full-scale war of resistance broke out, and is now estimated to have around 100 million.

What followed was some exploratory exchanges between the two sides. An Ji was trying to find out some intelligence about the 176th Division, and Xu Le was also trying to find out some things about the guerrillas in a roundabout way. However, Xu Le was obviously no match for An Ji in terms of scheming. Fortunately, Jiang Feng and Liu Quanhua were there, and after some discussion, both sides only knew the basics.

But for Xu Le, this was of great significance, because he got the information he wanted to know. Also because of this conversation, he put the guerrillas in the same position as the National Guard: both were targets that needed to be stayed away from. Except for arms trade, he would avoid contact with anything else if possible.

"I guess Commander An's purpose of coming here is to buy arms. Let Deputy Commander Jiang take you to have a look. He will discuss the specific details of the transaction with you!"

Having achieved his goal, Xu Le naturally didn't waste any more words with An Ji.

As for Jiang Feng, Xu Le had already reported to the Military Commission about promoting him to deputy division commander, but in reality Jiang Feng was no longer on the front line, but was commanding the General Staff in the rear.

The 176th Division is originally a local force, and it can appoint and promote officers under its command, and all it needs to do is report it according to the procedures!

That afternoon, An Ji visited the weapons of the Logistics Department, then discussed with Jiang Feng for a while and then left.

"Young Marshal, this guerrilla army seems to be really poor!"

Seeing Jiang Feng's distressed look, Xu Le couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Hahaha, Uncle Jiang, why are you feeling sorry for others! Why do you say the guerrillas are poor? No matter how poor they are, can they be as poor as our Sichuan-Kang troops? Are the Guangxi Army and the Yunnan Army poorer?"

Jiang Feng: "I'm afraid it's almost the same! Our 176th Division is fine. Under the leadership of the Marshal, it is much better off than some other small Sichuan-Kang troops! You didn't see what An Ji's expression was when he saw our weapons just now. His eyes were full of sparks. I was afraid that he would just grab a machine gun and run away!"

Xu Le: "He is the commander after all, it's not as serious as you say!"

Jiang Feng: "I'm not exaggerating. I just talked to him about the deployment of troops. We were curious before, why we have been in Jin Province for so long, but we haven't seen the guerrillas?"

"why?"

"Because of poverty, the guerrillas grew rapidly, but only in terms of manpower. Their weapons were very poor. Even for a Hanyang rifle with badly worn rifling, only two people could share one, and each rifle had no more than five rounds of bullets, not to mention machine guns and mortars, which were even less than pitiful.

A guerrilla brigade of more than a thousand people can treat a 60 mortar as a treasure, but an entire detachment does not even have a single artillery piece!

Previously, the guerrillas in southwestern Shanxi harassed the Japanese in various ways, and the Japanese launched a large-scale sweep. The guerrillas in southwestern Shanxi were forced to move to the heart of the Luliang Mountains, so we haven't seen the guerrillas for so long."

Xu Le suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. The Japanese gathered their main forces to confront the Shanxi Army in southwest Shanxi. This year they are planning the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign, so they will naturally clean up the surrounding areas. The guerrillas' little firepower can only temporarily avoid the sharp edge."

Jiang Feng: "Yes, An Ji tried our weapons just now. Although he seemed to like them all, he only expressed his desire for Mauser rifles and mortars in the end! I didn't expect that the self-defense weapons we prepared for the people would be so popular among the guerrillas!"

Xu Le: "There's nothing we can do about it. You said it yourself. The guerrillas are so poor. Not to mention automatic weapons, even 100 semi-automatic SVTs would give them a headache. If there were 1000, they would go bankrupt after a battle! If I'm not mistaken, they are trading in pig iron!"

Jiang Feng: "Yes, we still have more than 1 M200 mortars that have been eliminated. The Jin army doesn't want to buy them. You said that someone would buy them. I didn't expect that the young marshal had a long-term vision, so he said that even if the price is a little lower and the conditions are relaxed, it's fine.

An Ji initially said that he wanted to trade all in pig iron, but we finally agreed to use 90% in pig iron and the remaining 10% in dollars! After all, our rules are here, and we can’t set a precedent of trading all in pig iron!"

Xu Le: "Well, let's be more relaxed about the guerrillas. If they come again in the future, let the people in the Quartermaster Department take care of them. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. The Operations Department should formulate a set of battle plans for the next step. Training alone will not be of much use to the troops. Only by fighting and supporting fighting can they grow into an elite division!"

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