The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

"Since everyone is requesting this, our group leaders have agreed. But I need everyone to guarantee two things:"

First, I don't have three months to give everyone, at most two months;

Second, I demand that everyone guarantee that this fighting capacity will not decline in any way.

You must understand, although our troops have won several battles and our combat strength has improved to some extent, our expansion has been too rapid, and our actual combat strength is not high. At least, we haven't yet faced the enemy's main force head-on, so we can't be considered truly formidable. Since we can't be considered truly 'formidable,' further thinning our ranks is certainly unreasonable. Of course, it's not entirely without a solution. But the only solution is for everyone to train with their lives on the line! We must risk our lives to ensure the combat effectiveness of each expanded unit! Now I ask you all, do you have this confidence? Do you have this capability?

"Is there even a question?" The battalion-level officers, already spurred on by He Changgong's words, resolutely declared they would complete the mission! Xue Geming had been waiting for this; he immediately instructed everyone to go back and do two things:

First, we need to summarize the experiences and lessons learned from this operation and submit them to the staff office tomorrow. We will also have a special discussion on this topic at the meeting in a few days. Moreover, this post-battle summary should be institutionalized, just like the pre-battle simulations.

Secondly, everyone should go back and prepare to see what measures each battalion will take to train the troops when the unit reorganizes!

Upon hearing the words of the regiment's top leader, everyone knew things were looking promising and gradually dispersed. Yu Xiuguang, Guo Ligen, and a few others also offered their congratulations with smiles, before taking their leave one after another.

The next morning, Xue Geming had barely gotten up when the battalion-level officers arrived at his compound one after another. Seeing this, Xue Geming was somewhat amused, thinking to himself that these men were truly obsessed with expanding their forces. Without any arrogance, he ordered several battalion-level officers to immediately gather all the prisoners; he wanted to speak. Seeing the battalion-level officers go off to do their tasks, he followed them out.

Soon, all the prisoners were gathered together. Xue Geming, unfazed, stood on the high platform and began to speak to the prisoners:

"First, I would like to introduce the nature of our Red Army..."

This introduction was brief; Xue Geming directly stated his understanding of the Red Army. The gist was that the Red Army was an army that served ordinary people, unlike other armies. Equality and camaraderie were emphasized within the army.

Xue Geming emphasized this point so that everyone would have a general impression of the Red Army, at least know what the Red Army was all about. But he didn't elaborate. He knew that talking too much to these illiterate or poorly literate prisoners would be pointless and would only annoy them. Therefore, he gave a very brief introduction. Then, he got to the main point. Of course, what followed was different; it began with a question-and-answer session:

"I'd like to ask everyone, raise your hand if you have a family member who holds a high-ranking official position?"

No one raised their hands.

“Raise your hand if there is anyone in your family with an annual income of 5 silver dollars.”

No one raised their hands.

"And what about families with an annual income of 1 silver dollars? Please raise your hand!"

Still, no one raised their hand.

"Those whose families own 5 mu of farmland, please raise your hands!"

Still, no one raised their hand.

Seeing that no one raised their hand, Xue Geming smiled slightly. He then continued:

"We are just like you!"

He paused, then continued:

"Therefore, we and you are truly one, we are the same people!"

The prisoners below were somewhat agitated. Some were even agitated.

"But I want to ask you, do you know how much money the officers in your unit make?"

Seeing everyone shake their heads or remain silent, he continued smiling, offering his unique encouragement, and said: "Do you like it?"

"Our troops defeated you, and as a result, we seized a total of 8 silver dollars and 14 small yellow croakers directly from the commanders of your two regiments, including the commanders of the 47th and 53rd Regiments."

You should know that this is not military pay intended for you, but rather for their personal use, because it was found in a suitcase they were carrying with them.

Think about it, why would a regimental commander carry so many silver dollars in his personal bag when he's out on a military campaign? Also, why don't your two regimental headquarters have many silver dollars in their accounts, while the regimental commanders have so many in their personal bags?

"Think about it again, everyone. Your former regimental commanders carried so many silver dollars just for going out to war. You can imagine how well their families must have fared. And let me ask you another question: they didn't even have to risk their lives on the front lines to get so much money, while you who were truly fighting on the front lines didn't get much at all. Is that fair?"

"You're all soldiers, fighting the same battles. You don't get to eat meat, you don't earn money, and you're constantly being scolded and beaten. In battle, you're the ones who charge ahead as cannon fodder. But those of you who were originally regimental commanders, you gave your lives, they ate the meat, you fought the battles, and they enjoyed the good fortune. Is that fair?"

“Look at our soldiers, everyone. A few months ago, they were just like you, but they eventually joined us. Of course, the money is still not much, and we might not even have enough to eat. We might even bleed, sweat, or lose our lives, but at least one thing is certain: our officers and soldiers eat and live together, eat the same food, and receive the same pay. Although it's tough, everyone is happy. There's no other reason than that fairness is the core value of our military!”

……

It must be said that Xue Geming's rhetorical questions were exceptionally effective. In particular, the two consecutive questions "Is it fair?" and the exclamation "What we insist on is fairness" completely won everyone over.

Furthermore, the meat feast the previous night had left a deep impression on everyone. Now, with just a little deduction from Xue Geming's assessment, their attitude immediately became clear, almost unanimously in favor. By the afternoon, when several battalion commanders reported to Li Jiansheng, nearly 1300 of the 1400-plus prisoners were willing to join the Red Army. As for the remaining 100-plus, Xue Geming had travel expenses provided and arranged for their voluntary repatriation.

Xue Geming immediately convened a meeting of all battalion-level commanders to announce the expanded organizational structure. This time, he sighed inwardly:

During the last reorganization of the army, I unintentionally assigned one military commander and two deputies, as well as one political commander and two deputies, to each battalion. At the same time, I even established deputy positions for platoons. At the time, I only thought that more people meant more strength, and that three cobblers could equal one Zhuge Liang, so I assigned more than I needed.

But unexpectedly, that incident actually helped me out. Now that my troops need to expand, I can quickly appoint military and political leaders.