The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

To the surprise of the political commissar and others, the highly motivated technicians, who were given special attention, made significant contributions. Several radio operators took turns monitoring enemy radio stations day and night, gathering much important intelligence. The repair shop modified a batch of captured Mauser pistols into 20-shot repeating rifles. Furthermore, with Xu Wenqing's guidance, they solved the problem of direct-fire mortars, enabling the Red Army to possess direct-fire artillery.

Wang Zhongxin, in particular, had studied wired telegraphy with his uncle before joining the army and later received systematic training in wireless communication technology at an officer's school. He was quite familiar with the White Army's communication codes and official document procedures. He analyzed, compared, and deciphered the enemy telegrams he received word by word. After studying them through the night, he finally cracked the first code. This initial victory greatly excited Wang Zhongxin, and he subsequently worked tirelessly for half a month, cracking more than ten enemy codes in succession. This greatly supported the 19th Division's future battles, but that's another story.

After Xu Wenqing arrived in Cixi with the forward command post of the 19th Division, the 59th Regiment had already taken complete control of the county town and sent its training battalion to advance towards Nianzhou Prefecture in preparation for joining forces with the 58th Regiment.

Just as Xu Wenqing and his subordinate units had settled into their lodgings at the forward command post, Ding Fujiang, the commander of the 59th Regiment, arrived at the division's forward command post with several men. It turned out that guerrilla leader Liu Deliang had found Secretary Xie Yunfeng and reported on the events in the county town. Upon learning that the 19th Division of the 10th Army Corps of the Red Army had occupied Cixi County, the Central County Committee immediately convened a meeting and decided to send Secretary Xie Yunfeng, accompanied by Liu Deliang, into the town to make contact with the main Red Army force. Upon seeing the high-ranking officials of Cixi County, Xu Wenqing warmly shook their hands and inquired about the local situation.

"There is a sizable guerrilla force operating in western Zhejiang, but unfortunately, they are severely lacking in firearms and ammunition!"

Xie Yunfeng looked at the well-equipped and powerful troops and felt very envious.

Xu Wenqing was very happy to hear that there were still Red Army guerrillas in the area, and said:

"Secretary Xie, weapons are not a problem. Our 19th Division will allocate more than 300 rifles to your county committee, as well as several machine guns and dozens of pistols, so that you can fully arm your guerrillas and fight the enemy more effectively!"

"Thank you so much, thank you so much to the main force!"

Secretary Xie could hardly believe his ears. His guerrilla force of over four hundred men originally only had a dozen or so broken guns, but now the main force had nearly four hundred guns, truly ensuring that everyone had a gun!

"We're helping each other, all for a common goal. But the military also needs your help. We hope the county committee can send us a group of key personnel."

Xu Wenqing also revealed his true colors, but there was nothing he could do. Most of the recruits in the camp were converted prisoners of war, and a large number of political workers were in great need.

"The selection of cadres to serve in the military needs to be discussed by the county party committee, but I believe everyone will agree."

After listening to Xu Wenqing's introduction of the 19th Red Army Division, Xie Yunfeng readily replied:

"We will get this done as soon as possible."

"There's one more thing I need your help with."

Xu Wenqing looked at the other person and said:

"The next step for the troops is to attack the capital of Nianzhou, which requires the cooperation of the local Party organization."

Secretary Xie Yunfeng immediately stated:

"I'll go back now and contact the Nianzhou Central County Committee to ask them for their cooperation."

"Thank you for the help from the local organizations!"

While seeing off Secretary Xie, who was in a hurry to leave, Xu Wenqing arranged for the guns allocated to the Cixi guerrillas to be prepared.

"Bring plenty of bullets, and also four machine guns!"

Just as the director of the political department was about to speak, Minister Chen of the logistics department rushed in and said:

"Commander, Director, many of the porters in the supply corps are asking to leave our unit and go home."

Are there many people asking to leave?

Xu Wenqing was also somewhat annoyed. Having recently acquired a surplus of firearms, he had armed the porters as well, and had the escorting team teach them shooting skills in their spare time. He intended to recruit these men, but things didn't go as planned. However, as the saying goes, "If it rains, it pours," and there was nothing he could do. He could only helplessly say:

"Let them do as they please. If there are not enough people, the central county committee should mobilize new porters to fill the gaps. Also, continue to purchase horses and mules at high prices to transport supplies."

Director Chen smiled wryly:

"Commander, our troops have quite a few livestock, six or seven hundred, and nearly two hundred carts."

"What's there to worry about? This just means we've captured a lot of supplies!"

The director of the political department chuckled and joked.

"One-third of them wanted to leave, while the majority of the rest wanted to join the Red Army!"

Xu Wenqing leaned against the table, closing his eyes to rest, but judging from his furrowed brows, his mind was far from idle. Sure enough, he spoke:

"We should take this opportunity to reorganize the troops. For the porters who want to leave and those wavering in the troops, we should adopt the principle of voluntariness. Those who are willing to stay can stay; those who are not willing to stay can leave freely."

"Too many people leaving might affect the military!"

"Isn't leaving now better than leaving when we're engaged in fierce fighting with the enemy?"

After extensive ideological work, the troops underwent a two-day reorganization. More than 300 porters and over 100 new recruits wanted to leave the army. The porters who wanted to leave received the agreed-upon compensation, with additional allowances depending on the distance traveled. Those leaving the army also received five to ten yuan for travel expenses.

Based on the guerrillas of the Seventh Army Corps, more than 500 porters who joined the Red Army were reorganized into a new recruit battalion, which was responsible for protecting the porter team mobilized by the Cixi County Committee.

The 59th Regiment was also expanded, with the local guerrillas sending 30 political officers and prisoners of war who were mobilized to join the army, bringing the total number of soldiers to more than 1,100.

The special operations brigade was not to be outdone, and selected sixty strong and capable soldiers from among the new recruits;

The instructor of the radio communications team went even further. He searched for soldiers in the army who had received a few years of schooling and mysteriously said that he would recommend them for a special job. He told them that they could eat four meals a day and listen to operas when they had nothing to do. He tricked more than a dozen people into joining, bringing the total number of trainees to nearly thirty.

When the temporary group of people who wanted to go home left the army, Xu Wenqing came to see them off. For their safety on the road, he gave each of them a spear and a grenade, hoping that they would travel together and look out for each other.

Finally, addressing everyone, Xu Wenqing shared his hopes and advice:

"We hope that after you return to your hometown, you will continue to participate in revolutionary work. You may come back in the future if you wish, but you may not participate in the revolution, but you must never be counter-revolutionary, and you must never aid and abet evil! Otherwise, our Red Army will not let you off lightly."

The commanders and soldiers discovered that after the reorganization, the number of troops had actually increased, wavering elements had been eliminated, and the troops were more streamlined, more cohesive, and their combat effectiveness had been greatly improved.