The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

Seeing that it was getting late and visibility was poor, Xue Geming frowned and came up with another plan. He immediately ordered all the soldiers of the Special Service Battalion and Special Operations Battalion to change into the uniforms of the 53rd Regiment of the White Army. He left the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Battalion, Engineer Company, and Logistics and Supply Company to guard the prisoners. His own troops were all equipped with equipment captured from the enemy. He also equipped the 1st Battalion, Special Operations Battalion, Special Service Battalion, Guard Company, and Reconnaissance Company with all the captured machine guns, and then headed towards Jinzhai County.

Meanwhile, the 47th Regiment of the White Army had already received news from their fraternal unit, the 53rd Regiment. However, Commander Xiao, having suffered losses at the hands of the Red Army, was timid and dared not venture out, only following the 53rd Regiment slowly. That afternoon, they received news that the 53rd Regiment had engaged the Red Army. Commander Xiao was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to advance or retreat. If he advanced, he feared being utterly defeated by the Red Army again; if he retreated, he feared the 53rd Regiment might actually defeat the Red Army, and he would lose his chance to earn merit. After much deliberation, he decided it was best to observe for a while. Not long after, news came from the front: the 53rd Regiment had been defeated!

Startled, he quickly retreated back to Jinzhai County. A short while later, sure enough, the defeated troops of the 53rd Regiment returned. He asked one of the retreating soldiers where their regimental commander was. The soldier said that their commander and deputy commander had both been shot by the Red Army and were likely seriously wounded, so they were following behind. Regimental Commander Xiao wanted to go check on them, but fearing that Luo Shiyin would blame everything on his own poor performance and lack of support, he quickly ordered his troops to patrol the area outside the city and then return quickly. Of course, he also let the defeated troops of the 53rd Regiment into the city. Watching these soldiers of the 53rd Regiment slowly enter the city, seemingly exhausted, Regimental Commander Xiao almost laughed: "You, Luo Shiyin, you always laughed at me before. Fine, this time you've lost too, let's see how you laugh now—humph, I'll let you laugh!"

As he pondered this, he glanced at the 53rd Regiment's ranks and saw that they were indeed a defeated army, wandering aimlessly as soon as they entered the city, with no intention of returning to camp. He was still thinking, lamenting, and planning how he would ridicule Luo Shiyin when he saw him later, when suddenly a bullet flew from nowhere and pierced his temple. Regiment Commander Xiao didn't utter a sound, but swayed and fell from his horse.

Commander Xiao fell from his horse without a sound. His guards, caught off guard, were also killed by a burst of bullets. The soldiers of the 53rd Regiment, who had just moments before seemed utterly exhausted and unwilling to move, suddenly became ruthless. They ripped off the white army insignia from their caps—a method of distinguishing friend from foe, as planned—and immediately opened fire on the unsuspecting and stunned soldiers of the 47th Regiment, firing and chasing them while shouting:

Surrender and you will not be killed! The Red Army treated prisoners of war well!

Ah! I never expected the Red Army to actually enter the city! It turns out that the defeated 53rd Regiment was actually Red Army soldiers in disguise! Are they planning a counterattack?

The regimental commander is dead, the deputy regimental commander is dead! The battalion commander of the 1st Battalion volunteered to lead the battle? He died after eating a peanut before he could even say a few words! The battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion led the battle? He's been captured alive! What about the heavy machine gun positions? They've been taken by the Red Army! And this kind of shouting is everywhere in the city. Heaven knows how many Red Army soldiers have entered the city—just now, Regimental Commander Xiao was laughing at the defeated troops of the 53rd Regiment wandering around, but in reality, it was Xue Geming's battalions, companies, and platoons occupying advantageous positions, taking out the enemy's heavy weapons, and of course, also aiming at the enemy commanders.

Therefore, once Xue Geming unleashed his power, the Independent Regiment immediately caught the 47th Regiment off guard. Half of the 47th Regiment was wiped out in an instant, and all valuable targets were eliminated immediately.

The 47th Regiment had been nearly wiped out last time, with veterans either killed, wounded, or captured. This time, a large portion of the regiment consisted of new recruits from various places who had never seen such a scene before. Seeing that the officers were either dead or captured, they were at a loss for what to do. But when they heard Xue Geming's men shout this, they all knelt down and surrendered with their guns raised.

The 19th Division of the Red Army's Hubei-Henan-Anhui Independent Regiment recaptured Jinzhai County!

This battle was fought brilliantly. Xue Geming's Independent Regiment suffered only 122 casualties, including 19 killed and the rest wounded. Of the 19 wounded, 11 were killed by the Special Service Battalion during the luring of the enemy, while the rest fell in the mountain ambush. Such small losses yielded enormous gains:

基本上歼灭敌人两个主力团。击毙敌人两个团长及以下700多人。俘虏残敌1483人。收缴重机枪24挺、两个团的各种炮共30门、轻机枪123挺、各类步枪手枪1900余支，还有200多支受损的枪，但经过修复可以再次投入使用。各类子弹10万发。炮弹200发。制式手榴弹近6000枚。银元8万元、14条小黄鱼。各类战马35匹，主要是两个团团级长官的坐骑，以及两个团辎重部队的运输马匹等。

When Cai Zhongshan told the other regimental commanders, who were looking at military maps in the command post, about the situation, they were all stunned, including Xue Geming. No one had expected such a rich harvest, especially the artillery! Later, after hearing Cai Zhongshan's somewhat excited explanation, they learned that the artillerymen of the two regiments had been captured almost immediately before they could load their guns and deploy, thus preserving both the artillery and the guns intact. As for the heavy and light machine guns, they were all captured from the battlefield.

Upon hearing of the victory, the regimental commanders were overjoyed. They skipped meetings and dinners, immediately checking the weapons. They quickly reorganized the troops and equipped them with the new weapons in batches. Each battalion received 4 heavy machine guns, 20 light machine guns, and 5 artillery pieces. The remaining 4 heavy machine guns, 23 light machine guns, and 5 mountain guns were all assigned to the newly formed machine gun company, formerly the grenade throwing company. The regiment's original 3 light machine guns were all assigned to the guard company. After some thought, Xue Geming renamed the grenade throwing company the machine gun company. This made the five battalion commanders and the machine gun company commander speechless with delight. They had just received the latest standard weapons, and now they were equipped with these heavy weapons—it was a great boon! Fighting the enemy would be much easier now!

After distributing the weapons and equipment to the troops, the group returned to the command post. The soldiers standing guard along the line stood tall and straight, their faces beaming with confident smiles. Their military bearing impressed even Xue Geming, who nodded in approval. "Hmm," he thought, "it seems the four months of intensive training were effective, because this military posture has the feel of modern military formations."

Of course, to prevent the prisoners from rebelling in the chaos, Cai Zhong and several others divided them into three groups for guard duty. Each infantry battalion assigned a company to guard about 500 men, while the rest were assigned to guard the perimeter. These soldiers, armed with their newly issued weapons, guarded the prisoners with high spirits. Fortunately, whether due to waning morale or the sight of the dark machine gun muzzles all around, the prisoners showed no intention of resisting.