The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

Seeing that the troops had once again reached a considerable size, Xue Geming decided to take action again, this time in Luotian County!

There are four reasons for choosing this location:

First, after repeated battles between the Red Army and the Kuomintang forces, the two sides were in a state of equilibrium. Although the Kuomintang still controlled the area, its strength was far less than before.

Second, the hostile forces in this area have been almost completely wiped out after previous attacks. Our forces can develop rapidly once they are slightly strengthened.

Third, this is a decent county town. And with the year-end approaching, Xue Geming is certain that if they occupy this county town now, the enemy will not take any substantial action until at least February next year. Therefore, theoretically speaking, once his troops capture Hong'an County, they will likely have a period of respite and recovery!

Fourth, the autumn harvest has just ended, and once we capture Luotian County, we will have ample supplies!

Once the decision was made, Xue Geming immediately convened a military conference. Battalion commanders, company commanders, and platoon commanders all participated. After thorough discussion and several contingency plans were developed, and an optimal solution was determined, the conference reached a final resolution:

Yun Tian led the special agent squadron out of the mountains first to scout the situation. Several local leaders, including He Changgong, contacted the local Party organization. Xue Geming then led the main force to follow. The communications, engineering, and logistics detachments of the communications and supplies squadron accompanied them. Each soldier carried three days' worth of rations before the mission! Xue Geming also prepared a flag with a large Party emblem. He had originally planned to write "Hubei-Henan-Anhui Independent Brigade" on it, but later decided against it, feeling it would too easily expose their relatively weak strength.

The battle was a foregone conclusion.

With a calculated attack on the unsuspecting enemy and the help of an inside accomplice, Xue Geming's independent brigade once again launched a surprise attack on Luotian County in the dead of night. By the time the city's defense personnel reacted, the dark muzzles of guns were already pointed at them.

The county magistrate, the secretary-general of the Bai Party's county headquarters, the county police chief, the county tax bureau chief, and the county city defense bureau chief were all arrested. The special agent squadron and the first squadron attacked the city defense bureau as planned, the second squadron attacked the police station; and the third squadron arrested the county magistrate, the secretary-general of the Bai Party's county headquarters, the county police chief, the county tax bureau chief, and the county city defense bureau chief respectively.

When the residents of Luotian County opened their doors and windows the next morning, they discovered that everything had changed. Soon, they learned that the Red Army had attacked again. Having dealt with the Red Army before, they weren't too concerned; business continued as usual, and people continued their travels. After touring the town, Xue Geming nodded to himself, feeling that his strict discipline in the previous period had not been in vain.

In the homes of these officials and the county treasury, Xue Geming and his men amassed a total of 32 silver dollars and 22 small yellow croakers (a type of currency), of which over 16 silver dollars were taken from the county treasury. The other officials only received a little over 10 silver dollars. Upon learning this, Xue Geming nodded, knowing their terms were too short and they might not have had time to extort money, but still decided to spare their lives. Of course, the county police chief, with the blood of the people on his hands, was executed without question.

Because it happened right after the autumn harvest, all the taxes and levies had been completed and stored, and Xue Geming got his hands on them all. Without hesitation, Xue Geming transported all the grain in the county granary to the mountains, and had the logistics personnel use money to purchase various strategic materials, including grain, medicine, cloth, tung oil, ironware, salt, etc. He also specially prepared winter clothes, quilts and shoes and socks for each soldier.

The surplus shoes, quilts, clothing, medicines, salt, and cooking oil in all the shops in Luotian County and the homes of nearby residents were bought up. All of these supplies were used to equip the troops. In this regard, it was obviously not enough to rely solely on the personnel of the supply and logistics team. Fortunately, He Changgong and a few other locals were very good at this, and they quickly led some local party members to help, which made things a little easier for everyone.

The red flag was raised. On one hand, soldiers were recruited; on the other hand, prisoners of war were reorganized. Of the more than 400 people, including police and city defense soldiers, at least 220 were persuaded to join the Red Army; Li Jiansheng thus obtained 400 rifles. However, the army's equipment remained a problem.

Xue Geming then asked He Changgong to find Liu Yuhe, the old man who used to make hunting rifles for his family, based on his memory, and ask him to help make guns. The old man Liu recognized He Changgong, knew that he was He Dongyun's son, and also knew about He Changgong's later life, so he immediately agreed.

Later, at Xue Geming's insistence, Old Man Liu, along with his eldest son Liu Chongyun, second son Liu Jinyun, and eldest daughter-in-law Bai Mudan, joined Xue Geming's army. He Changgong, entrusted by Xue Geming, found two more skilled shotgun makers in the vicinity through the Party organization: Old Man Xu, named Xu Shidong, and a middle-aged man, a tall blacksmith named Wang Guosheng, whose entire family had also been persuaded to join the army. Xue Geming was overjoyed and hosted a special banquet for them. He also established a weapons research institute, directly responsible for weapons research and manufacturing, under the direct command of the Independent Brigade headquarters, with He Changgong in charge. Because both Wang Guosheng and Old Man Xu recommended Old Man Liu as their leader, Xue Geming conveniently appointed him as the director of the weapons research institute! Bai Mudan was unwilling to work with weapons. Seeing that she had some education and could read, Xue Geming assigned her to the logistics team of the communications and supplies company to participate in accounting.

Xue's revolutionary campaign in Luotian was a resounding success, with extraordinary influence. After he stationed himself in Luotian, young people and farmers flocked to join the Red Army every day, with more than 100 people joining in just a few days. In the following month or so, another group of people came, many of them even bringing guns.

Xue Geming was initially startled, but after inquiring, he learned that they were former Red Army soldiers. This group included two types: wounded and sick soldiers left behind by the former Fourth Front Army, and wounded and sick soldiers left behind by the former Twenty-Fifth Army, who had been scattered and returned home or gone into hiding. These people faced suppression under the White Terror after returning home; many who escaped were hunted down by the reactionary government, while others, sensing danger and knowing that Red Army troops had appeared in Luotian, rushed over. This group of over 100 people rejoined the ranks. After much deliberation, Xue Geming agreed to let them in, but laid down three rules: first, absolute obedience to orders; without orders, even if they were just passing by their own homes, they could not return home! Everyone quickly nodded in agreement. Later, Xue Geming learned by chance that most of these people's homes had been destroyed by the Kuomintang reactionaries, leaving them effectively homeless, which brought a bitter smile to his face.

Another team, the advance brigade of the 19th Division of the Red Army, which had retreated to southern China some time ago, also returned to Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces and made contact with Xue Geming. They arrived in Luotian County and, according to Xu Wenqing's orders, joined Xue Geming's team.