I fought guerrilla warfare in the Yimeng Mountains during the Anti-Japanese War

Shen Zizhong used to be a little conflicted. If he followed his uncle's opinion, he should call him Uncle Lengqiang, but his uncle always told him to speak his own mind and he was still used to calling him Instructor Lengqiang.

"Instructor, our entire division cannot be deployed for special operations right now, but compared to last year, the combat effectiveness of the New Fourth Division has increased by at least 50%. In order to encourage everyone, the division commander has set up a special operations platoon in each company. The mediocre ones will be demoted and the capable ones will be promoted. Everyone is holding back their energy."

Shen Zizhong did not have lunch. He said goodbye after chatting for a while. He was very busy now. His uncle was a hands-off boss and let each regiment handle its own affairs. Their regiment had been allocated a lot of new rocket launchers and anti-aircraft machine guns, which required a rearrangement and coordination of the firepower configuration of each company.

There is no need to worry about arms or food. Except for the team that conducts surprise attacks, the rest of the Yimeng guerrillas are vigorously developing recruitment and training. The 1,500 new recruits in Mengshan are more than enough. Together with the veterans of the previous recruit regiment and the logistics personnel, the more than 3,000 troops are enough for a super reinforced regiment. As long as they are trained, 2,000 troops can be dispatched at any time for rapid response. Once the troops stationed abroad are in danger, they can rush on horseback and attack wherever they are directed.

The recruitment of soldiers for the four regiments was also very smooth. All the new recruits were sent to the front-line garrison troops, where they were tempered in battle and made even faster progress.

Early in the morning, the recruits finished their breakfast and gathered on the grass. The captain, who also served as the chief instructor, stood on a tall box. It was unknown what he was going to say, but all the recruits tried to cheer up and were ready to listen to the captain's instructions with a spirited look.

"Brother new recruits."

The more than 1,500 recruits on the grass suddenly fell silent.

"Today is the day for us Yimeng guerrillas to get paid. Although you have been here for less than a month, a few days won't make a difference, so we'll calculate it as two dollars a month."

The new recruits were talking about it. They had never heard that the Yimeng guerrillas had military pay. Two dollars, wouldn't that be enough to supplement the family income every month?

"There is one more thing I want to tell you. Every newcomer who joins the Yimeng Guerrillas will receive a settling-in allowance of 20 yuan."

The recruits were all shocked. Twenty dollars, what a concept. Although prices have soared, one dollar can buy fifty kilograms of coarse grains. Twenty dollars, can't that buy more than a thousand kilograms of coarse grains? These recruits are all young and strong. Although not many of them are married, they have parents above them! What a concept of a thousand kilograms of coarse grains. It can make their parents worry-free about food and clothing for a year. I heard that the captain meant that there are two dollars a month. How much is it in a year? Ten months is twenty dollars, twelve months? Many recruits were scratching their fingers. Those who can count shouted out the answer, twenty-four dollars, twenty-four dollars a year, and more than a thousand kilograms of coarse grains. No, if you can't eat so much food, you can cut some meat to eat! Many recruits are worried about whether the dollars can be sent back. If you leave the team without reason, you will be severely punished.

"Brother recruits, after you line up to receive the money, go to your respective instructors to register. If you need to take some home, tell us your address and family members' names, and we will send a special team to send you home."

A group of new recruits were ecstatic. They signed up and said they would not leave a single cent for themselves. They had no worries about food and clothing here, but their parents were still struggling to make ends meet. If they took these dollars back, their parents would no longer have to worry about starving to death due to drought or floods. Many new recruits had tears in their eyes. The Japanese captured them and forced them to work. Although they could eat enough, the food was all mixed with mud and sand. They came to the Yimeng guerrillas, mostly to follow the guerrillas to fight the Japanese. They did not expect to get money, and it was a huge sum of money.

The team started to receive their pay, and Chen Feng distributed the money personally. There was no plan for training this morning as the new recruits needed to have a sense of belonging. In addition to their long-cherished wish of fighting the Japanese together, it was also very important for them to have no worries. Without any worries, the training efficiency would definitely be raised to a higher level.

The instructors of each recruit company also set up their tables and prepared paper and pens to take notes.

"Fourteen dollars, count it, or you won't deny it if it exceeds the limit!"

When the captain was counting the money, the recruit had been staring at him intently. Fourteen dollars was not a small amount. Holding a thick stack of dollars, the recruit pretended to be generous:

"Don't worry, Captain. I won't stop asking you for it even if it's less."

“Do you plan to take it home or keep it for yourself?”

"Take it home and ask my parents to buy more food. We will cut some meat for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The last time my family ate meat was during the Chinese New Year last year."

The recruit answered the captain's questions with a smile, and tears came out of his eyes as he laughed. The team behind him did not laugh at him. Everyone was in a similar situation, and no one's family was much better.

The recruits started lining up in front of the instructors of each company, and they said, "Instructor, take note."

"Li Sifu, from Luozhuang, Linyi, lives in Yangshu Village, Wugusi. My father's name is Li Laoga, and I have a younger brother named Li Sixhou. I took all the 14 yuan home."

"Okay, throw the dollars into the box, next person."

Li Sifu wanted the instructor to point it out, but the instructor didn't even look up. Li Sifu spread out the dollars in his hands and threw them into the box. He spread his hands and turned them over twice to indicate that they were all thrown in. He quickly moved aside because there was a long registration line behind him.

"Yuan Dazhong, I'm from Xiaoxinzhuang, Bahu Town, Linyi. My father's name is Yuan Datou and my mother's name is Zhang Cuihua. Like him, I took back all the 14 yuan."

The instructor in charge of statistics almost couldn't hold back his laughter. Yuan Datou, what a good name it is. It sounds like the ocean.

"Liu Haiyang, my home is in Dongqiagou Village, Tanghe Township. My parents are gone. My brother is Liu Shanfeng. Fourteen dollars, please give it all to my brother"!

There were more than 1,500 new recruits, and only a dozen were homeless and no one sent them away. The rest were all registered and taken home. The dozen or so people felt a little sad when looking at the lively scene. How much they wished they had family too. If their parents were still alive, how happy they would be to receive the money brought back by their son!

Chen Feng had already noticed these dozen people. Seeing them gathered together with a desolate look on their faces, he took the initiative to walk over after handing out the dollars.

"What's wrong? Why don't you go to register? Don't you want to take it home?"

"Captain, none of us have a home anymore. Our parents are gone, and we don't have any brothers or sisters. We can't take the money back with us."

"Don't be sad. Now that you have lost your home, just save money and don't spend it recklessly. After you defeat the Japanese, you can start a new family. Then your parents in heaven will feel at ease."

"Yes, captain, don't be sad. I will train hard and kill more Japanese."

During the afternoon training, the morale of the new recruits increased significantly. Perhaps it was because of the military pay and resettlement allowance, or perhaps it was because they had no worries. Not only did the morale of the more than a thousand new recruits improve, but they also trained a little crazily.

They fought with wooden spears. Although the spear tips were wrapped in thick cotton cloth, it was still painful when it hit the body, and it made the face bruised and swollen. No one cried out in pain, and no one complained about being tired. After being beaten down, they immediately got up, picked up the wooden spear and continued fighting.

One of the recruits suddenly vomited blood while fighting. Chen Feng checked and treated him urgently. It was too cruel. The recruit insisted on fighting even with broken ribs. He was crazy, really crazy. Several instructors carried the injured recruit up the mountain. Chen Feng quickly announced the end of the afternoon training and that they should take a break and have dinner.