Quartermasters can also fight the devils

After the Battle of Taierzhuang, a fierce war of public opinion broke out between China and Japan. Because both sides were now resting after the war, the Japanese army was busy transporting reserve officers and soldiers from their homeland to China to replenish the damaged troops, while the Chinese side was also actively adjusting and replenishing its various troops. Neither side was ready to continue the attack.

However, there are now serious differences within the Chinese government regarding the next operational direction of Xuzhou.

Due to this victory, the confidence of the people across the country in resisting to the end soared. The top government officials also hoped that the Fifth War Zone could continue to hold Xuzhou in the future. However, the Fifth War Zone and the Military Commission’s General Staff believed that Xuzhou City was located at a transportation bottleneck, and the terrain around Xuzhou City was flat and open, which was conducive to the advance of the Japanese mechanized troops. The previous victory was achieved by taking advantage of the Japanese army’s arrogance, underestimation of the enemy and reckless advance in the early stage.

If the Japanese army had completed its adjustments and replenishments, the next attack would definitely be from the north and south simultaneously along the Jinpu Road. In this case, the badly damaged miscellaneous troops of the Fifth War Zone would not be able to withstand the Japanese attack on Xuzhou. They suggested that Xuzhou should be abandoned and the troops withdrawn to the Taihang Mountain area where Henan and Anhui provinces meet to prevent the Japanese army from advancing westward.

Zhang Wenwu didn't care about the arguments among the big guys above. He was only doing two things now. One was recruiting soldiers, and the other was making money by selling the captured Japanese items. Since the army had been expanded, he rearranged the men in the Quartermaster Department of the 102nd Division.

Lei Dong was promoted to major director of the new 100th Division's Quartermaster Department, Cao Huaguo was promoted to major deputy director, and Li Houcai was appointed second lieutenant quartermaster officer. Among them, Lei Dong was responsible for the overall arrangement of the troops' military supplies, Cao Huaguo was mainly responsible for kidnapping people, and Li Houcai was responsible for the actual operation of the seized goods business with Deputy Director Liang of the War Zone Quartermaster Department.

Zhang Wenwu's request to Cao Huaguo now is very simple, don't worry about "eating appearance", use all the tricks you can. He needs to fill up the troops as soon as possible. He estimates that the new 22nd Army will be dispatched by the Military Commission to the vicinity of Sanzhen to participate in the Battle of Three Towns. Now he has to quickly strengthen the troops.

Cao Huaguo has been in a good mood recently. Not only has he been promoted, but if he wants to recruit people, it is very easy to recruit people as long as he reports the name of the army. After receiving the order from Zhang Wenwu, he started to use various methods. Not only did he recruit experienced soldiers from the hospital, he also set up more than ten recruitment stations in Xuzhou City to recruit rookies who wanted to join the army. At the same time, he also paid money to bribe the Xuzhou Police Department and bought out some criminals who could fight in the Xuzhou Police Department and prison.

Commander Chen also took great pains to replenish the personnel and equipment of the new 22nd Army. After searching for a long time in the combat sequence of the Fifth Theater Command, he set his sights on the former Third Army. Although the current Third Army was disbanded and downsized by the Military Commission some time ago, it still has a size of nearly 50,000 people. However, this unit is very popular now. The Fifth Theater Command is also eyeing this unit and is preparing to reduce the size of the Third Army again. It plans to organize the Third Army into three divisions, and the surplus officers and soldiers will be disbanded and supplemented to the units that suffered serious losses in the previous battles.

In the past few days, Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone also made a special trip back to the rear to discuss with the highest levels of the government and the Military Commission whether Xuzhou should continue to be defended. As the highest commander of the war zone, Commander Li was firmly opposed to continuing to defend Xuzhou, a city with no strategic location to defend. He felt that they should quit while they were ahead and withdraw the troops westward to the mountainous areas to block the Japanese army's westward advance, rather than consuming all the troops under the mechanized wheels of the Japanese army.

In the past two days, Commander Li has been meeting with the main generals of the Military Commission to get everyone to speak with one voice so that the troops in the Fifth War Zone can be withdrawn from Xuzhou as soon as possible.

When Commander Li found Commander Chen, Commander Chen also affirmed Commander Li's combat ideas. He himself was firmly opposed to defending Xuzhou City to the death. He felt that under the pincer attack from the north and south of the Japanese army, the Fifth War Zone's heavily damaged and poorly equipped troops would not be able to withstand the mechanized attack of the Japanese army, and would only lose troops in vain.

"Brother Chen, the victory of the Battle of Xuzhou was achieved thanks to the 102nd Division under your command. Thank you for the great assistance you gave to my Fifth War Zone at the critical moment." Commander Li sat on the sofa in Commander Chen's office and politely expressed his gratitude to Commander Chen's troops for their help.

He was truly grateful. After all, when it came to the order for the 102nd Division to defend Taierzhuang and fight a decisive battle there, Commander Chen not only did not hold him back, but he also personally gave the 102nd Division the order to hold on to the death. This was of great help to him in smoothly commanding this direct unit of the Central Army.

Commander Chen also personally poured a cup of tea for Commander Li and placed it on the coffee table, then he sat down with a smile and said, "Commander Li, you are serious. We are all soldiers, and it is our duty to obey orders. Moreover, this is a crucial battle to resist foreign enemies. Who can not fight to the death? However, now the 102nd Division has just been expanded to the new nd Army. In the future, we will have to rely on Commander Li to take care of us. Huang Jinxian sent me the current situation of the troops. I have to say that although they won a great victory before, the losses of the troops are indeed too great. Now all of them combined do not even reach the number of people to form a division. It's difficult."

How could Commander Chen not know why Commander Li wanted to see him? He knew it very well. However, even though he agreed with Commander Li's combat plan in his heart, he could not show it now. He also needed to use this opportunity to get some benefits for his new 22nd Army.

When Commander Li heard what Commander Chen said, he understood what he meant. It didn't matter, as long as there was something to talk about. You name the price and they can discuss it. Isn't the political game all about mutual exchange and getting what you need? But he couldn't speak first. This matter had to be done until Brother Chen on the opposite side spoke up and stated the conditions first before he could bargain.

"Brother Chen, the new 22nd Army is now famous throughout the country. There are no less than 30 recruiting offices for the new 22nd Army in Xuzhou City alone, and the number of people signing up every day is endless. Even the officers and soldiers who are recuperating in the hospitals in various units of the war zone are scrambling to join the new 22nd Army. I heard that even the prisoners in the prisons in Xuzhou City asked to join the new 22nd Army and go to the battlefield to redeem themselves for meritorious service. This has made other units envious. Before I came here, the chief officers of various units in the war zone headquarters came to me every day and said that the recruitment of the new 22nd Army was too aggressive, so they couldn’t recruit anyone. Even the officers who were recuperating before were unwilling to return to their original units, haha." Commander Li also expressed to Commander Chen that he had been taking care of your new 22nd Army. If I hadn’t been suppressing the things your new 22nd Army had done, who knows what would have happened.

As for Commander Chen's statement that the current personnel of the New 22nd Army could not even form a division, he was just listening. As the commander of the theater, how could he not know approximately how many people there were in the New 22nd Army? He could count them for Commander Chen one by one by counting on his fingers.

More than 102 new recruits assigned by the Military Commission to the new nd Army have already arrived. After the Battle of Taierzhuang, there were still about people left in the nd Division. The new nd Army is now constantly abducting wounded soldiers from other troops from hospitals, getting hundreds of people every day, and hundreds of criminals from prisons. Together with the new recruits recruited by various recruitment stations, the new nd Army now has more than people. You know, the new nd Army is the first troop in the Fifth War Zone that can be replenished by the Military Commission immediately after the war.

After hearing what Commander Li said, Commander Chen also said with a smile: "Alas, Huang Jinxian is still rash in doing things. He is already a corps commander, but he doesn't even consider the feelings of friendly forces. But he is also anxious. The Military Commission gave him an army organization, but only gave him more than 2,000 new recruits in the first batch. He has no choice. But I heard that many officers and soldiers of local troops want to join the new 22nd Army on their own initiative. I think this is also a good idea. We don't have a reserve system now, and the speed of recruiting new soldiers is really not enough. According to my idea, we should add officers and soldiers to the troops that can win battles. In this way, we can keep the troops at a higher level of combat effectiveness, right, Commander Li?"

Commander Li knew that Brother Chen was about to get to the point, so he smiled and took a few sips of tea. After thinking for a while, he smiled and said to Commander Chen: "Brother Chen, what kind of troops do you think our Fifth War Zone should split up and add to other troops?"

He needed to know which unit Commander Chen was targeting. He also had this idea. If he relied on the few new recruits the Military Commission got, who knows when he could replenish the troops of the Fifth War Zone. After all, the Japanese would attack the Fifth War Zone again after they had rested. Japan had a complete reserve system, and they could quickly recall and transport the retired veterans. The Japanese army's replenishment time was much shorter than their own.

Seeing that Commander Li did not object to his idea, Chief Chen said with a smile: "Commander Li, you are the supreme commander of the Fifth War Zone. You must know the troops under your jurisdiction best. I am just making a blind suggestion. Please bear with me if I am wrong. I think the troops of the former Third Army can be reorganized. After all, Shandong Province has basically fallen now. The Third Army, as the main force to defend Shandong Province, not only did not do anything against the Japanese attack before, but also had a very bad impact. I think if they are reduced in size, it will be explained to the country and the people."

Commander Li was a little impressed by Commander Chen. The target he chose was so good that no one could say no to it. He had even thought of the reasons for the downsizing, and they were so plausible. He felt that once this suggestion was put forward, except for Han Paopao who had been executed, no one in the country would have a reason to refute it.