The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

The Qianligang Mountains extend into China from the Huaiyu Mountains in northeastern Jiangxi, with its spurs reaching the border between Lanxi and Jiande cities. The mountains are composed of sedimentary clastic rocks, with the central part being the Ganligang Sandstone. The mountain range extending into China is controlled by the Cathaysian tectonic system, and most of the mountains run in a northeast-southwest direction. They are also cut by northeast-southwest and east-west trending fault zones, resulting in numerous crisscrossing branches, fragmented mountain shapes, and intersecting peaks and ridges.

Around 5 o'clock, the special forces soldiers who had been sent out to scout returned to their camp one after another. Xu Wenqing continued to ask officers above the deputy platoon leader level to come up with their own combat plans.

By 6:30 p.m., everyone had completed their battle plans. Xu Wenqing also organized everyone to actively discuss and carefully analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each plan, as well as the areas that everyone needs to strengthen and focus on when making plans in the future.

In the end, everyone agreed that Zhou Gang's plan was the most reliable and prudent. After supplementation and revision, Zhou Gang's plan was officially approved.

The main content of the operation plan to capture Jinhua City was that special forces members would first infiltrate the city in batches, with 55 units launching the main attack from the east gate, while the rest would lie in ambush outside the other three gates to eliminate the fleeing enemy.

The 55th Regiment, which was mainly attacking the east gate, used a combination of some surrendered soldiers from the 51st Brigade Supplementary Regiment who had recently joined the Red Army in Quzhou and some Red Army soldiers from the original 55th Regiment to disguise themselves as defeated troops from Quzhou. They tricked the enemy into opening the city gate, then launched a surprise attack, took control of the south gate, and then helped the soldiers of the 55th Regiment to break into the city.

While the soldiers of the 55th Regiment were tricking the city gates open, the special forces members who were lying in ambush inside the south gate immediately cooperated with the soldiers of the 55th Regiment to launch a surprise attack and ensure control of the city gates.

After the attack on the South Gate began, some special forces members who had already completed their infiltration were tasked with attacking the headquarters of the 51st Brigade of the White Army and the headquarters of the 1st and 2nd Regiments. This decapitation operation left the entire enemy force in a state of paralysis, leaderless.

Once everyone had agreed on the battle plan, the special forces members responsible for the support reported that the entire 55th Regiment had arrived at the assembly and ambush location.

Xu Wenqing then immediately headed to the 55th Regiment's base with the battle plan.

All the officers and soldiers of the 55th Regiment were in high spirits, and there was no sign of the fatigue and exhaustion that the troops had just endured after two days and two nights of marching by day and night.

The soldiers seemed to know that this forced march was another major battle the regimental commander was about to lead them into. Everyone felt that following the commander meant they would definitely be able to fight a major battle and win. In the soldiers' eyes, the commander's age didn't matter. In the hearts of the soldiers of the 55th Regiment, Commander Xu Wenqing was their eternal commander.

The soldiers were very excited to see their young regimental commander, who was still quite thin and had a youthful face, and they quickly saluted Xu Wenqing.

The newly enlisted soldiers looked on with adoration and fanatical infatuation, no different from the obsessive and fanatical star-struck fans of later generations in Xu Wenqing's eyes. This made Xu Wenqing feel a little amused. He simply returned the soldiers' salute hastily and then strode towards the headquarters of the 55th Regiment.

By this time, Yao Hutou, Hu Jiu, and Wang Tielin already knew that Xu Wenqing had arrived. They stepped out of their temporary tent to greet Xun Bo.

It seems that the two-day, two-night forced march did not make Yao Hutou and his men look particularly tired; on the contrary, they all seemed full of energy.

Yao Hutou and the others welcomed Xu Wenqing into the temporary camp. Without even exchanging pleasantries, they immediately began to report to Xu Wenqing on the reorganization of the troops and the local conscription situation in Quzhou City.

Of the more than 2,000 prisoners captured in Quzhou, more than 300 were publicly tried, suppressed, and executed after review and verification. More than 600 were to be released and sent home at an appropriate time after criticism and education. In addition, more than 600 were seriously wounded and lost their fighting ability. Only more than 600 met the conditions for enlistment in the Red Army after strict review.

Under Yao Hutou's leadership, the 55th Regiment reorganized these personnel.

The 55th Regiment has now changed from an original eight-battalion structure to a ten-battalion structure, adding two training battalions. Currently, the two training battalions have more than 800 people, mainly composed of some liberated soldiers and new recruits.

The training camp's main officers were drawn from the core personnel of the original eight main battalions. The personnel of the other eight main battalions and the directly subordinate companies of each regimental headquarters were also supplemented and strengthened. The entire 55th Regiment now has nearly four thousand men.

Seeing the rapid development of the 55th Regiment made Xu Wenqing very happy. However, with two reorganizations, the original core members of the 55th Regiment were becoming increasingly scarce and diluted, making up a smaller and smaller proportion of the total number of soldiers. Now, most of the soldiers in the unit were rescued Red Army prisoners of war, and they had only joined recently. This made Xu Wenqing somewhat worried. The cohesion of the unit was a significant problem, and there was still a long way to go.

However, under the current circumstances, strengthening political and ideological work is of utmost importance. This is the only way for our Party and our army to overcome one difficulty after another and truly grow into towering trees, Xu Wenqing thought to himself.

After listening to the report on the 55th Reorganization and Training, Xu Wenqing immediately discussed the battle plan for attacking Jinhua City with everyone. To Xu Wenqing's delight, the battle plan he presented coincided with the battle plan that Yao Hutou and the others had discussed along the way.

However, Yao Hutou and his men were still somewhat conservative about their plans regarding the use of the special operations company. After some discussion, they quickly finalized the details of the operation plan, and Hu Jiu issued the operational orders. The entire 55th Regiment swiftly engaged in the surprise attack on Jinhua City.

Late on the 20th, a series of noisy commotions came from the road at the east gate of Jinhua City, which made the already tense and somewhat paranoid Jinhua City garrison even more nervous.

Before long, the soldiers of the 51st Brigade guarding the east gate of Jinhua City discovered that a large number of stragglers were coming from the main road in twos and threes. Some of them had not even reached the city gate yet, but were already shouting loudly to open the city gate and let their brothers in.

The soldiers on the city wall looked down and soon saw that about three or four hundred brothers had gathered below. Most of them were wearing the uniforms of the 51st Brigade, and many others were wearing the uniforms of the local security regiment. They were all disheveled and in a sorry state.

The officers and soldiers thought that these must be the defeated soldiers who had retreated from Quzhou City. Among them was an officer that everyone recognized: Qiu Hui, the battalion commander of the Second Battalion of the Supplementary Regiment.

The brothers on the city wall quickly reported to their battalion commander that the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment was guarding the east gate today.