The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

However, what troubled Xu Wenqing, Yao Hutou, and Hu Jiu has now happened: the total number of prisoners is over 4,600. Among them, there are over 300 seriously wounded and over 400 lightly wounded.

Following the new prisoner-of-war reform movement, despite strict control, more than two hundred prisoners eventually joined the Red Army as surrendered soldiers. The remaining prisoners were released when conditions were ripe.

Because many people in and around Jinhua City enthusiastically joined the army, the 55th Regiment, after strict screening, recruited more than 400 new soldiers, bringing the total number of soldiers in the 55th Regiment to nearly 4,000.

Leading such a large force, Xu Wenqing, Yao Hutou, Hu Jiu, and Wang Tielin all felt immense pressure. After all, the 55th Regiment consisted of fewer than 500 veteran officers and soldiers from before the prisoner rescue, and roughly a thousand new recruits and liberated soldiers. However, more than 2,000 soldiers were rescued from prison, making up more than half. This severe imbalance was indeed worrying.

Moreover, there were still a large number of prisoners of war who had not yet surrendered and needed to be transported and processed. According to Xu Wenqing's plan, it was not appropriate to release these people immediately. Therefore, they could only accompany the army for the time being. Faced with this grim situation,

However, Xu Wenqing ultimately believed that after several more major battles, the troops would gradually develop into a stable and tenacious Red Army force. Therefore, after repeated discussions, Xu Wenqing and Yao Hutou finally decided to continue reorganizing the troops.

On this point, Yao Hu withstood enormous pressure and resolutely supported the continued reorganization of the troops.

After all, Yao Hutou, Hu Jiu, and Wang Tianlin were now the actual leaders of the 55th Regiment, and they would have to bear the consequences of the reorganization. Therefore, for them, making this decision to complete the reorganization was a complete disregard for personal gain or loss, demonstrating a Party member's boundless loyalty and unwavering devotion to the Party.

Fortunately, after receiving Xu Wenqing's telegram, the Southern Anhui Independent Regiment also arrived and clearly expressed its willingness to participate in the reorganization.

During this period, it was learned from captured newspapers that the 10th Red Army Corps had been surrounded by the White Army in Huaiyu Mountain. After several fierce battles, it suffered heavy losses, and many corps and division-level leaders had fallen into enemy hands, their fates unknown. In order to keep the banner of the 10th Red Army Corps, especially the 19th Red Division, from falling.

After several consultations with Xu Wenqing, Yao Hutou, Hu Jiu, Chen Xinchun, Wang Tielin, and Li Shubin, it was finally decided to upgrade the 55th Regiment to the 19th Red Army Division, comprising three main regiments and one special service regiment. Each main regiment was expanded from its original three-battalion structure to a reinforced four-battalion structure. The special service regiment consisted of the 55th Regiment's special service battalion, the former reconnaissance battalion of the 7th Red Army Corps from the Southern Anhui Independent Regiment, plus the newly expanded engineer and guard battalions. Thus, the 19th Red Army Division became a four-regiment structure.

Meanwhile, the 55th Regiment's artillery company was expanded into the 19th Division's artillery battalion, and the 55th Regiment's supply train was expanded into the 19th Division's supply battalion. Because several military trucks were captured in Jinhua, the 19th Division now possessed nearly twenty military trucks. Therefore, this reorganization also expanded the motor transport battalion into a transport battalion, with trucks forming a company. There were also three large truck companies. However, to conserve fuel, Xunbo decided that the trucks must be centrally managed and used cautiously. At the same time, other logistics departments also underwent varying degrees of expansion.

After a busy day, the reorganization of the 19th Red Army Division was finally completed in its initial stages.

For the sake of secrecy and ease of operation, everyone agreed that the 19th Red Army Division would use the designation of the Southern Anhui Independent Regiment for all external activities.

However, Xu Wenqing and the other leaders knew that this reorganization was still very superficial and lacked a solid foundation. They needed continuous combat and strengthened political and ideological work to truly develop the troops.

Therefore, before the reorganization work began in the morning, the 19th Division of the Red Army, led by Yao Hutou and chaired by Li Bing, held a special meeting for political officers at the level of company political instructor and above. Although Xu Wenqing did not concurrently serve as political commissar during this reorganization, he was still invited by Yao Hutou to attend the meeting as a special guest and delivered an important speech.

At the meeting, Xu Wenqing emphasized that the current focus of the political work of the 19th Red Army Division is to go deep into the grassroots of the troops, deeply explore the ideological level of the soldiers, strengthen their political awareness, and raise their political consciousness.

At the same time, Xu Wenqing emphasized the need to leverage the role of veteran Red Army Party members in passing on knowledge, skills, and experience, and to establish political and ideological support teams. He stressed that each veteran Red Army Party member should be responsible for the political and ideological work of three to four soldiers. Xu Wenqing further emphasized that political and ideological work must be integrated with the current war situation, enabling new recruits to quickly integrate into the 19th Red Army Division family. Furthermore, all officers and soldiers of the division must not belittle or discriminate against the liberated soldiers; they must make the liberated soldiers deeply feel that they are members of the Red Army, and members who are respected.

The meeting also discussed some problems that have arisen during the reorganization of the 19th Red Army Division, and in particular, it provided a profound summary of the problems that arose during the activities of the "speaking bitterness" campaign and the "three investigations" movement.

At the meeting, Xu Wenqing emphasized that the Three Investigations Movement should not be expanded, and that the campaign to express grievances and the Three Investigations Movement should not be transformed into a campaign to suppress counter-revolutionaries. He stressed the need to distinguish between contradictions among the people and contradictions between ourselves and the enemy.

This meeting of political cadres of the 19th Division resolved some unclear and outdated ideas held by a small number of comrades under the current political and ideological work. It unified the understanding of all officers and soldiers in the division, clarified their goals, and laid a solid foundation for the rapid development of the 19th Division through reorganization.

On the evening of the 21st, the 19th Red Army Division was about to launch its next, larger-scale operational plan. The 19th Red Army Division was preparing to shift its battlefield, handing over Jinhua City to the local Party organization and guerrillas.

After a quick dinner, in order to lure the enemy away, this young unit marched non-stop toward Chuzhou Prefecture.

On early winter nights, it was rare to see anyone in the wilderness. After several frosts, the temperature was already quite low. The biting north wind swept relentlessly through the marching column, making the chill even more biting. The soldiers' uniforms, after two months of marching and fighting, were tattered and worn. Those without padded coats had to wrap themselves in whatever cloth they could find to keep warm.

The route from Jinhua to Wenzhou was mostly mountain roads nestled among high mountains and hills. To conceal the troop's movements, the 19th Red Army Division avoided villages and deliberately followed winding mountain roads, resulting in a slow march.

Around four o'clock in the morning, the 19th Division of the Red Army arrived at Leigong Temple outside Chuzhou City. Xu Wenqing ordered the rear command and the supply battalion to temporarily garrison there and dispatched troops to block the news. The remaining troops continued to advance towards Chuzhou City, which was two kilometers away.