Rebirth from the Ashes: Rebuilding the Red Soviet Area

At this time, Commander Song of the 36th Division in Changting also received news from Commander Yang of the 108th Brigade.

His face was tense as he said, "This Captain Hu is just being ridiculous."

"There's still internal strife at this time."

"If the higher-ups find out, even I won't be able to hide it."

Chen, the brigade commander of the 106th Brigade who stayed in Changting, advised the "division commander"

"Captain Hu is our junior after all."

"We can't just stand by and watch someone die for the sake of someone else."

"Given the relationship between the Master and the Master, this shouldn't be difficult to resolve."

Commander Song snorted coldly: "What do you know?"

“The national situation is very delicate now.”

"First, on December 9th, thousands of university students in Peking held a demonstration to oppose North China's autonomy and resist Japanese imperialism."

"Soon afterward, strikes, school boycotts, and business boycotts occurred across the country, especially in the six southern provinces."

“Economic chaos everywhere”

"Finally, the Red Bandits in the Soviet Area escaped our encirclement and joined forces with the Red Bandits in northern Shaanxi, forming the Anti-Japanese Vanguard of the Chinese People's Red Army and issuing the 'Eastern Expedition Declaration'."

“There is a strong voice nationwide against civil war.”

"In addition, President Wang was assassinated and seriously injured, and the 19th Route Army, which was fighting against the Japanese, was purged."

“It has also caused strong dissatisfaction among many politicians.”

"Whether it's people's livelihood, economy, politics or military, there's a lot of pressure from above right now."

"The reason why the higher-ups agreed to abandon Yong'an and launch such a large-scale campaign to suppress the Red Army this time was because..."

“It’s a gamble.”

"If the encirclement and suppression is successful, the higher-ups can use it as an excuse to further their actions."

"Use the media offensive to tell the Nationalist Army that the reason they did not resist the Japanese invaders was because they lacked money and weapons and the timing was not right."

"At the same time, they put all the blame for the poor economy on the Red Bandits and local warlords."

"This will restore our political reputation."

“But if this fails”

"The higher-ups will have to find a scapegoat, and even in order to compromise, we have to leave room for the Red Bandits and those southern warlords to survive."

"Then the plan to unify the country's military power will be aborted."

Brigade Commander Chen couldn't help but shook his head and said: "Division Commander"

"Our Huangpu school motto is to love and be loyal, to defend our country and our homeland."

"If we continue to fight each other like this, we will only lose our own national defense capabilities."

"Why can't the higher-ups unite and eliminate the Japanese invaders first?"

“Then we can solve our internal problems.”

"After all, whether they are Red Bandits or local warlords, they are all Chinese people."

Commander Song slammed the table hard and said, "Shut up!"

"The higher-ups have their own considerations."

"Is this something you and I can say?"

Brigade Commander Chen quickly said: "Commander, I was wrong."

Seeing that Brigade Commander Chen admitted his mistake, Division Commander Song's expression softened: "Dear, be loyal and defend your country."

"The spirit that made us Whampoa students, we will never forget"

"It's not that the higher-ups didn't resist the Japanese invaders."

“It’s all because of the economy.”

"The Japanese invaders had strong ships and powerful guns"

"The higher-ups want to establish a German-equipped division to counter the enemy."

"But now local taxes are not being collected, so where is the money to buy equipment?"

"Don't forget that the Qing government's hundreds of thousands of swords and spears could not withstand the artillery and spears of the tens of thousands of Eight-Nation Alliance."

Brigade Commander Chen nodded and said: "Two regiments of the 45th Division have been severely damaged."

"Liancheng is under attack by the Red Bandits. It won't be long before they take it over."

"Liancheng is so close to Changting. What if they attack us?"

Commander Song replied: "It is only a matter of time before Liancheng is captured, and the attack on Changting is inevitable."

"The Red Bandits' goal is nothing more than to besiege Wei to save Zhao"

"I want to save their Minxi Military Sub-district"

"But now our troops heading south are at a critical juncture."

"I just hope Liancheng can hold on for a week."

"If Liancheng can hold out for a week, the Red Bandits will attack Changting."

"We can hold back the Meishan Red Bandits for half a month."

"Half a month is enough for our southbound troops to wipe out the Southwest Fujian Military Sub-district, and then turn around and attack the Meishan Red Bandits."

"Eradicating the Red Bandits in Southwestern Fujian in One Stroke"

"As long as we win, the higher-ups won't bother with Captain Hu and his men anymore."

After a night's rest, I went to the

Li Yan left behind a battalion and a regimental artillery company to defend Liancheng

He took the remaining 1300 people from Zhaowu's regiment, a battalion of the artillery regiment, the special forces battalion and the Dragon Blood Special Forces.

Heading towards Pengkou Town

Pengkou Town itself is a town under Liancheng

At 10 am, everyone arrived at the outskirts of Pengkou Town.

The city wall was severely damaged after the attack of the 108th Brigade and the 45th Division.

Only one battalion of security forces is repairing

Li Yan directly issued a combat order, and after a round of bombardment by the Stonemason Artillery Battalion,

The security guards of this battalion raised their hands in surrender.

I didn't expect that there were so many bullets and food piled up here.

Upon inquiry, it turned out to be the supply of the 108th Brigade and the 45th Division.

This made Li Yan very happy. He had already used up a lot of weapons and ammunition by firing blanks in Liancheng.

Now that we have these supplements, we don’t need to transport them from the hinterland of Meishan, which saves a lot of time.

After replenishing weapons and ammunition, Li Yan did not stay in Pengkou Town for long.

Directly lead everyone and the captives into the Tiger's Mouth outside Meishan

It is less than five kilometers away from Bijia Mountain where the 108th Brigade is located.

It is also the only way out of Meishan

Li Yan said to Zhao Wu: "Let the captured security team build fortifications at Tiger's Mouth."

"When the repairs are almost done, release the battalion commander of the security group."

"Tell him to go to Bijia Mountain and tell the commander of the 108th Brigade that they have been surrounded by us."

Zhao Wu said doubtfully: "Captain"

"We can sneak over and catch them off guard."

"If the 108th Brigade knows we are coming, prepare in advance."

“It will be difficult for us to attack.”

Li Yan smiled slightly and said: "I am not going to attack them by force"

"Yesterday Gao Xuan and his men had severely damaged two regiments of the 45th Division."

"The 108th Brigade is not stupid and will definitely strengthen its defenses."

"We can no longer achieve the effect of surprise by launching a sneak attack."

"But if the 108th Brigade knew that we had cut off their retreat and obtained their supplies..."

"We are still cutting off their retreat at the tiger's mouth"

“Do you think they will be anxious?”

"If they don't want to die of starvation or being trapped, they must think of breaking out."

"That's the heart of our Meishan. No matter how foolish the enemy is, they won't fall into our trap."

“They will definitely break through to our side.”

"We are building fortifications here now, so we can wait for the opportunity to arrive."

Zhao Wu nodded: "But what if the 108th Brigade doesn't move and is just wasting time with us?"

Li Yan said: "What you said is very likely"

"The Nationalist Army is short of time, but we are even short of time more than they are."

“But I won’t let them succeed.”