Devil's Army

After the end of the First Battle of Changsha, the First and Second Regiments of the First Army fell into trouble.

They cooperated with the 195th Division in the fight against the Japanese. After several days of fighting, the ammunition supply was running out.

When the Japanese army retreated, although they seized a large number of Japanese weapons, most of them were guns without bullets.

The situation was reported step by step to Commander Guan and Xue Yue through Commander Qin of the 195th Division.

Xue Yue had no way to deal with this because he had no Japanese weapons and ammunition.

However, the First Anti-Japanese Army fought the Japanese army in Anqing City, Dehua County, Xinqiang River, Dayun Mountain, Fulinpu, and Shanshi for more than two months.

When in Anqing, the troops were reduced from more than 3000 to more than 1000. During the rest period at Xinqiang River, they joined the Second Regiment and the troops increased to more than 6000.

It is conservatively estimated that there are about 3000 people left in the army now, and Xue Yue cannot favor some over others.

With the consent of the commander of the first regiment, Xue Yue equipped the first and second regiments of the Anti-Japanese First Army with Zhongzheng rifles, Czech ZB-26 light machine guns and Maxim heavy machine guns. He also equipped them with a batch of handle grenades commonly used by Chinese troops.

The 1st Regiment, the 2nd Regiment and the 6th Squadron of the Special Operations Force of the 1st Brigade became the only units in the First Anti-Japanese Army equipped with Chinese weapons.

As for new soldiers, Xue Yue's own troops were in urgent need of reinforcements, so the First and Second Regiments of the First Army had to deal with it on their own.

After the First Battle of Changsha, on October 1939, 10, the 8th Division returned to the south bank of the Xinqiang River and occupied Lujiao, Rongjiawan, Xinqiang and Yanglin Street, and continued to stay in this area for defense and replenishment.

As for the area from Dayun Mountain to Xunkou to Xinqiang River, Division Commander Tan still entrusted the 1st and 2nd Regiments of the 1st Army to garrison.

Before the First Battle of Changsha, a regiment had been stationed here for half a year and had a certain mass base.

The commander of a regiment handed the task of recruiting soldiers to Political Commissar Hu. They did a good job in recruiting soldiers last time.

The victory of the First Battle of Changsha also inspired the enthusiasm of the people of Hunan to join the army. Many ordinary people came to join the army.

The regiment commander asked the deputy regiment commander He to train the new soldiers according to the tribe's training requirements. However, weapons and ammunition were always a hurdle that could not be avoided.

The commander of the first regiment decided to give Captain Liu a chance to cross the north bank of the Xinqiang River to scout the Japanese strongholds and find a chance to borrow some weapons and ammunition.

The commander of the first regiment allocated all the remaining Japanese weapons and ammunition of the two regiments to the sixth squadron of Captain Liu, and asked them to rest for a week before setting off again.

In the Changsha battle, the Sixth Squadron of the Special Operations Force lost nearly a squadron of soldiers. Captain Liu now only had two squadrons of soldiers. If he wanted to take action, he could only target a squad or detachment of the Japanese army.

The recruitment and training of the regiment is in full swing. However, due to the shortage of ammunition, the new recruits cannot practice live ammunition as openly as they did in the tribe.

Insufficient actual combat shooting practice will definitely affect the shooting skills of new recruits. But you can't ask General Leng to help him transport a batch of ammunition from the tribe, right?

The news was passed on to Division Commander Tan. In this Changsha battle, the First and Second Regiments of the First Anti-Japanese Army gave him great help.

He led his men to the regiment's defense zone.

When the regiment commander heard that Commander Qin was coming, he hurried out to greet him.

After the Battle of Changsha, a regiment of Division Commander Qin was undergoing formal re-equipment. He gave part of the Hanyang-style rifles that had been replaced to the commander of a regiment for training.

Some of these Hanyang-made rifles had worn smooth, which was indeed not good enough for fighting against the enemy. But it was still good enough to train these new recruits who had never touched a gun.

The commander of the first regiment expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Commander Qin, calling him "big brother" and thanking him for not treating them as outsiders.

In the anti-Japanese battlefield at that time, even these outdated Hanyang-made guns were difficult to collect.

Teacher Tan said lightly:

"Didn't you treat me like your own brother during the Changsha battle? When did you fall behind in covering the enemy? How could I possibly treat you as outsiders?"

"Brother, stay here for lunch. I'll ask the kitchen to add two more dishes. From today on, as long as we are still stationed in this defense zone, we will fight wherever you say. We will resolutely follow your orders!"

Division Commander Tan took the opportunity to stay for lunch. In fact, during the first Changsha Battle, this unit had already followed his orders and completed the task of containing and blocking the Japanese army.

He wanted to bring this powerful army under his command, but he felt it would be difficult because he found from their conversations that the officers and soldiers were very loyal to their commander.

"Captain He, I didn't give you these weapons for free."

"Brother, if there is anything I can do for you, just let me know."

"Can you help me train a strong unit like your regiment? Especially a German-style unit like Captain Liu and his team?"

"Brother, helping to train the troops is not a problem. We can train one sheep or two sheep. But we don't have the ability to train special forces like Captain Liu. They are all trained by special officers in our troops."

"Oh?" Commander Qin looked at the regiment commander in confusion.