The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

Meanwhile, Xue Geming had completed the first phase of the troop reorganization and immediately threw himself into the second phase of training. This round of training, besides strengthening essential military skills, added a third round to the original twice-daily 10km armed cross-country march with 30kg loads, making it three rounds a day. Although the soldiers complained bitterly, the increase in the number of armed cross-country marches—from once to twice, and now three—was manageable. Furthermore, the commander had already made it clear that those who refused to train would only be given one chance, otherwise they would all be expelled. Everyone was unwilling to give up, and some were also afraid, so they endured it. Of course, it was only difficult at the very beginning. After only half a month of training, these young soldiers, from peasant backgrounds and with excellent physical condition, no longer felt the strain! Thus, this special training finally became routine!

In fact, at present, Xue Geming did not feel that this reorganization of the army had any advantages or special features. He just felt that it should be done this way because he knew that there would be many big battles to fight, but his troops were not strong enough, so he could only rely on mobile warfare to annihilate the enemy.

The key to mobile warfare lies in the word "mobile," which means being able to walk and run! At the very least, if you can't win a fight, you should be able to outrun them.

Therefore, he had to train his troops in this way. As the highest-ranking officer of this unit, Xue Geming personally led his troops to the front lines throughout the entire reorganization process, participating in training, eating, living, practicing tactical maneuvers, and engaging in weighted cross-country runs alongside the soldiers, without giving much thought to the specifics of this reorganization. However, this reorganization was named the "New-Style Reorganization" by historians and has been extensively documented by later historians as a significant event.

Everyone agreed that this was a landmark military reorganization. In a sense, this reorganization had a significant impact on later generations, even pioneering entirely new concepts in combat methods and doctrines.

Meanwhile, once the troop structure was finalized, Xue Geming, along with several leaders from the regiment, including He Changgong, immediately went to the front lines. At this time, Guo Mugen, Yu Xiuhuo, Yang Po, and others were already capable of independently supporting the local Party organization, finally freeing He Changgong to assist Xue Geming. However, less than a month into their training, intelligence personnel provided information that the 27th and 33rd Regiments of Zhou Yuan's 24th Brigade of the Hubei Army were approaching! They were estimated to enter Jinzhai in five days.

Upon hearing this, Xue Geming felt a little strange. This brigade was from Hubei, so what were they doing in Anhui?

Upon further reflection, he guessed that this brigade was originally intended to cooperate with other units in "encircling and suppressing" the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Revolutionary Base Area, and most likely planned to launch an attack from Anhui towards the Dabie Mountains. However, due to the significant trouble he had caused in northwestern Anhui, which affected the various White Army forces "encircling and suppressing" the Dabie Mountains, this unit was sent "incidentally" to "raid" the area. With this in mind, Xue Geming felt more confident. On the one hand, he accelerated the transfer of strategic materials such as grain to the mountains, and on the other hand, he strengthened preparations for war. His idea was that he had to train his troops, ideally by annihilating a portion of the enemy.

Of the two regiments, Xue Geming was somewhat familiar with the 27th Regiment, having dealt with them before; however, he was unfamiliar with the 33rd Regiment. The two regiments together comprised a total of six battalions, three each from the 27th and 33rd Regiments. When these two regiments arrived in northwestern Anhui, things unfolded exactly as Xue Geming had predicted:

Originally, the plan was simply to use northwestern Anhui as a route to coordinate with Wu San's First and Second Divisions of the Hubei Army in Hubei to attack Dabeishan from the Anhui direction. However, upon learning of the commotion in Hubei and Anhui and that Wu San's troops had already completed their deployment, the 24th Brigade, still en route to Anhui, was ordered to change course, rush to northwestern Anhui first, pacify the area, and then return to attack the Dabie Mountains. Frankly speaking, in the eyes of these regular Anhui and Hubei troops, these troublemaking Red Army soldiers were nothing! According to Zhou Yuan's understanding, the Red Army in northwestern Anhui only numbered a few hundred; sending two regiments would be a piece of cake. He had already planned that this time he would "incidentally" go to northwestern Anhui and, excluding travel time, completely annihilate this group of Red bandits from southern Hunan within three days!

Upon learning that two regiments of the enemy's Zhou Yuan's troops from Hubei had come to northwestern Anhui to annihilate them, Xue Geming immediately ordered his reconnaissance staff to lead a provisional reconnaissance brigade to gather intelligence; He Changgong and others led the main force to withdraw from the camp and lie in ambush, and all those who were to be stationed in the mountains were to be stationed there; he himself led those staff officers to discuss the battle plan with the other regimental commanders.

After an emergency consultation, everyone reached a consensus: given the current strength of their independent regiment, in terms of manpower, weapon quality, and soldier skill, it was impossible to fight the enemy head-on. However, the enemy's advance could not be ignored, so they had to use strategy, employing clever and intelligent tactics to strike the enemy. Of course, given the current situation, it was advisable to adhere to the tactic of "luring the enemy deep into their territory, concentrating superior forces to annihilate them piecemeal," first seeking an opportunity to destroy one part of the enemy, then finding another opportunity to destroy the rest, in order to achieve victory. Everyone nodded in agreement after listening to Xue Geming's explanation. Xue Geming, however, thought to himself, "Emperor Mao Zedong used this very tactic to defeat the enemy several times in a row. Let's see if I can use his methods to defeat the enemy."

Of course, to achieve this, preparations must be made in three aspects in advance:

First, we need to gather intelligence on the enemy. There's no rush for this. We have the regimental reconnaissance company and the reconnaissance platoons of each combat battalion, which together make up more than two reconnaissance companies. We'll form a temporary reconnaissance brigade and conduct reconnaissance in all directions. We'll understand the situation, and everyone is familiar with the local terrain, so we shouldn't be afraid.

Second, send out harassment troops to lure the enemy's main force deep into their territory, then look for an opportunity to annihilate them. That's fine too; these special operations battalions and special service battalions are completely trustworthy and won't require much thought.

Thirdly, he needed to familiarize himself with the terrain and find a good battlefield to annihilate the enemy's main force. He decided to personally investigate this. Of course, this was on the premise that the commanders of the several regiments acted separately and then met again to determine the best ambush site.

Having thought this through, he felt confident and issued the reconnaissance order:

Yang Guisheng led the reconnaissance troops—currently, the reconnaissance platoons of various units were assembled, along with the reconnaissance company, to form a temporary reconnaissance brigade, all under Yang Guisheng's leadership, to conduct reconnaissance of the enemy situation; Yun Tiansheng led the special service battalion and special operations battalion to prepare for the mission of luring the enemy deep into their territory; he and several regimental commanders dispersed to various locations to survey the terrain and select ambush sites.

Soon, Huanglong Bay, located more than 30 kilometers south of Jinzhai County, caught Xue Geming's attention. Xue Geming was the first to discover this location, and after careful comparison and analysis by everyone, it was finally confirmed as the main ambush site. This pit-shaped area was situated precisely on the road from Jinzhai to Manshan, flanked by highlands and dense forests, with a lower area in the middle consisting entirely of loess soil—a route the enemy was bound to take, making it an absolute natural ambush site.