Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

There are currently three regiments of troops lurking in this place.

The Independent 3rd Regiment, the New 4th Regiment and the New 6th Regiment.

The Third Independent Regiment was the former Third Battalion of the Chaxi Detachment and the former Chasui Unit of the 120th Division. Since its incorporation into the Chaxi Detachment and the reorganization of the Third Battalion, the Third Battalion has developed very smoothly in Tianzhen.

The captain of the Third Battalion, Lian Han, who is now the commander of the Third Independent Regiment, is another outstanding young general emerging from the Eighth Column. Their political commissar, Jin Yongqi, has also performed very well in his position.

Of course, the rapid development of the Third Battalion is also largely due to the political commissar Huang Hao and deputy political commissar Lu Weisheng of the Chaxi Detachment.

Since Lu Weisheng arrived at the Chaxi Detachment, Huang Hao had essentially withdrawn from military duties. He focused most of his energy on building the base area. He implemented rent and interest reductions, established various anti-Japanese organizations, and recruited students. Especially after Wei Hongjun's repeated criticism, Huang Hao began to change some of the base area's previous policies, recruiting Party members from landlord families in Xining County, Yanggao County, and Tianzhen.

We also began to strengthen cooperation with local enlightened landlords.

To put it bluntly, it’s the same thing.

In the countryside, the only people who really have money, food, and hidden weapons are the landlords.

By cooperating with enlightened landlords, we can reduce resistance in implementing rent and interest reductions, and at the same time obtain money, food, and their privately stored weapons and ammunition from the enlightened landlords.

Moreover, recruiting students from better backgrounds into the party can rapidly expand the number of party members.

The smooth implementation of rent and interest reductions enabled the Eighth Route Army to gain the support of a large number of poor and hired peasants in the region. As a result, the number of people joining the army increased significantly, greatly enhancing the army's ability to expand.

Lu Weisheng was responsible for carrying out a new type of military reorganization.

The new military restructuring program implemented by Wei Hongjun within the Eighth Route Army draws upon the successful experiences of the PLA throughout history. This policy, developed in conjunction with the current realities of the Eighth Route Army, has proven effective not only within the Eighth Route Army but also throughout the entire Eighth Route Army.

The appointment of Lu Weisheng as deputy political commissar of the Chaxi Detachment was made by the Eighth Column in order to improve the political work level of the Chaxi Detachment.

The combat effectiveness, willpower, and cohesion of the troops increased rapidly. That is why Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun gave the Chaxi Detachment four independent regiments. Because the Chaxi Detachment was capable of forming four main regiments.

In addition to the main force, the local forces are also strong because they have been operating for many years.

As for the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments, both were formed less than four months ago. However, these two units currently lacked combat experience, and training was not a problem. This was because these new recruits had already received training, and Zheng Weishan was solely responsible for their training. Later, when the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments were formed, there was no shortage of cadres, as these cadres were primarily drawn from the Second Training Battalion of the First Division.

He is a grassroots cadre prepared by a division for its own troops.

The 1,000-man Second Training Battalion was more than enough to meet the needs of the company and platoon-level cadres of the New Fourth, New Fifth, and New Sixth Regiments. Combined with the Eighth Column's own training battalion, the newly formed troops had no shortage of grassroots cadres.

So what the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments lacked at the moment was combat experience. Of course, as newly formed recruits, their weapons and equipment were not very good.

But there are enough people.

Three regiments with more than 6,000 people, plus the Chaxi Detachment's direct brigade, ambushed a force of more than 7,000 people in this place.

Gao Wei, commander of the Chaxi Detachment, and Lu Weisheng, deputy political commissar, were both present. Also present were Shi Mangui, commander of the New Fourth Regiment, and Zhang Shan, commander of the Sixth Regiment. Gao Wei shook his head and said, "Mangui, are you still sure the Japanese army will pass through here?"

"Old squad leader, I am sure that the Japanese army will first choose to sweep Xinghe County this time."

Shi Mangui nodded.

Gao Wei and Shi Mangui are very familiar with each other.

When Shi Mangui was a new recruit, Gao Wei personally taught him how to shoot. This time, to counter the mopping-up operation, the column deployed several newly formed regiments. The New Second and New Third Regiments were assigned to the Pingbei Detachment, serving under its command. The New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments were assigned to the Chaxi Detachment, serving under its command. The New Fifth Regiment remained in Sheng County, serving directly under the column.

Shi Mangui didn't read much, but he had a very flexible mind.

He is becoming more and more like a general.

This time, under the leadership of the Chaxi Detachment, he analyzed the current situation of the Mongolian Army for Gao Wei. He judged that the Mongolian Army would first sweep Xinghe County. After listening to his analysis, Gao Wei also agreed with his judgment.

That's why they set up an ambush on the road between Huaian County and Xinghe County.

However, after lying in ambush here for more than two days, no Japanese troops were seen coming.

Many people became anxious.

Especially for the new recruits, ambushing in this place for two days is a great test of their endurance.

"Old squad leader, I still say the same thing. Unless the Mongolian troops do not participate in the North China Front Army's large-scale sweep, if they want to participate in the sweep, then they can only sweep Xinghe County.

"You are still so calm at this time."

Gao Wei smiled.

After three years of training alone outside and serving as the commander of the Chaxi Detachment, Gao Wei has become much more stable.

He would have exploded long ago.

Gao Wei wasn't without his concerns, however. The Japanese troops in Jining were already showing signs of moving out, and he had been ambushing three regiments here for over two days. If there was no movement here, and he misjudged the situation, he would be on the defensive in this counter-mopping-up operation. The Chaxi Detachment in Xinghe County currently had few troops. Besides the Independent 13st Regiment, there was only the improvised self-defense regiment in Xinghe County. Facing the Japanese th Regiment, they were at a complete disadvantage.

Once the situation in Xinghe County becomes unstable, Shangyi County controlled by the Chabei Detachment will also be affected.

But he knew he couldn't show impatience.

Otherwise, the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments are composed of new recruits, which can easily affect their emotions.

"Commander, there's a situation."

The reconnaissance company commander came to Gao Wei.

Gao Wei immediately looked up and asked, "How is it?"

"Scouts discovered a large Japanese force leaving the county seat, heading this way."

"how many people?"

"We can't tell the exact number yet, but the Japanese army should be no less than a thousand. In addition to the Japanese army, there are also four or five hundred puppet troops following them."

"More than a thousand Japanese soldiers?"

"Yes. And these Japanese troops also carried five infantry guns. We counted the number of heavy machine guns, a total of 18. As for light machine guns, there were even more, at least over . As for the puppet troops, they were also equipped with a number of light and heavy machine guns."

"so much?"

Gao Wei was quite surprised.

I hadn't expected this Japanese force to be so well-equipped. Five infantry guns, 5 heavy machine guns, and over 18 light machine guns—not something an ordinary independent battalion could possess. Gao Wei had originally estimated that the Japanese could deploy only 40 to men, and even then, only to .

There are roughly 20 light and heavy machine guns.

If there were only this number of people and this kind of equipment, then the ambush would be easy.

But with infantry artillery and so many heavy machine guns, it wasn't just a simple independent battalion. A force of over a thousand men must have been the brigade's artillery and machine gun squadrons, otherwise there wouldn't be so many. And with four or five hundred puppet troops accompanying them, the total number of Japanese and puppet troops deployed was at least around fifteen hundred. This was significantly more than previously anticipated.

With so many Japanese and puppet troops and such good weapons and equipment, it would not be easy to ambush them.

But now the arrow is on the string and has to be shot.

This counter-mopping-up operation had just begun, and he had gathered so many troops. If he chose to retreat after the first battle, it would directly undermine the morale of the troops. This would not be a good thing for the entire counter-mopping-up operation.

Therefore, Gao Wei said: "All troops enter the ambush position, wait for the Japanese to enter our ambush circle and step on our mines, then ambush according to the plan. Each regiment knows what they have to do, right?

"Yes."

How to ambush, which high ground to occupy after the battle, how to split the Japanese army, how to cut off the Japanese army's retreat, etc., had been planned long ago. It was just that compared with the previous plan, there were more Japanese and puppet troops coming.

After the regimental commanders left, Lu Weisheng said, “Commander, the enemy is stronger than we imagined.

At present, Lu Weisheng is in charge of the daily military work of the Chaxi Detachment, and Lu Weisheng also follows Gao Wei during the battle. When Lu Weisheng heard about the number and weapons and equipment of the Japanese and puppet troops, he took a deep breath.

Although their judgment was correct, the Japanese army did take this path.

However, the number of Japanese troops was misjudged. The Japanese were far more powerful than previously thought. Although the Chaxi Detachment had been established for quite some time, it was still inferior in weaponry and combat effectiveness to the 16th and 18th Regiments, the main units of the Eighth Column.

"Yes. But it's nothing."

Gao Wei was also surprised, but he steeled his resolve and said, "The situation is like this now, and we have no way out. At this point, it's a case of the brave prevailing when they meet on a narrow road. The geographical conditions in Huaian County are quite different from our previous battles. They are all low mountains. After the ambush, as long as we are fast enough, we can close in on them in a short time."

As long as we blend in with their forces, their infantry artillery won't be able to fully exert its power. Furthermore, we have an absolute advantage in numbers, and this ambush was a surprise attack, so there will be no problems in this battle.

Although there were three regiments, the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments were composed of new recruits and had never fought such a large battle. If all three regiments were from the Chaxi Detachment, namely the Independent First, Independent Second, and Independent Third Regiments, Gao Wei would not have the slightest concern.

Even if the Japanese army’s weapons and equipment are good, so what?

I have many troops at my disposal.

If 7,000 or 8,000 men ambush your 1,000 men, there will be no problem no matter how they fight. But the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments are new recruits, and they have only fought some small battles before, not a big battle.

Will there be problems if the war goes against us?

This all needs to be considered. These two units were temporarily transferred to the Chaxi Detachment to accept the command of the Chaxi Detachment. Gao Wei could not fully judge the combat effectiveness of the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments. However, the current situation did not allow Gao Wei to withdraw from the battle.

We have been preparing for this battle for so long, we absolutely cannot retreat.

Gao Wei is a fierce general.

The more this happens, the less likely Gao Wei will evacuate.

"Will Huai'an send reinforcements?"

“Maybe, but not necessarily.”

Gao Wei was not without worries.

But Gao Wei no longer cared about these things; this battle had to be fought. So he said, "Huaian County doesn't have many Japanese troops. They've deployed so many troops this time, so even if Huaian County sends reinforcements, how many can they possibly send? Besides, this place is almost a hundred miles from Huaian County, so even if they come to rescue, it will take several hours. We have plenty of time. As long as we completely wipe out the Japanese in this battle, the anti-mopping-up situation here will be greatly improved."

Lu Weisheng nodded and said, “Okay, let’s fight this battle.”

After joining the army, Lu Weisheng also fought many tough battles and rose from a student to a political cadre in the army.

Since Gao Wei has made the decision, Lu Weisheng has no objection.

Because Gao Wei is right.

The North China Front Army was short of troops, and the Mongolian Army was even more short of them. Currently, the Mongolian Army had very limited troops it could mobilize, with the main force, the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, currently only having around 3,000 men.

Huaian only has two independent battalions and some garrison battalions.

Once this group of Japanese and puppet troops is eliminated, the Japanese troops in this area will be seriously understaffed. In other words, there will not be many Japanese troops around Huaian, or even around Zhangjiakou. This will have a huge impact on the anti-Japanese situation in this area.

After about two hours, the Japanese troops appeared in everyone's sight. Gao Wei looked at the Japanese troops with a telescope and found that they were indeed more numerous than he had imagined. The intelligence brought back by the scouts became more and more accurate. The number of Japanese troops was even greater than expected, more than 1200.

Gao Wei was nervous, because this was the first time Gao Wei commanded so many people and ambushed so many Japanese troops.

Chapter 378 A tragic victory

The leader of the troops this time was Colonel Keijiu Mano, commander of the Independent 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade.

He was very cautious in this raid.

This area was not without its own anti-Japanese forces. Back then, the Japanese army would send out a squadron for a large-scale sweep. Normally, they would send out a small detachment, accompanied by a company of puppet troops. This allowed them to quickly quell the anti-Japanese forces.

But it's different now.

The Eighth Route Army is causing too much trouble now.

A single Japanese squadron on a raid could easily be wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. Not to mention a squadron, even a battalion would be wiped out if they weren't paying attention. Under such circumstances, how could Mano Keijiu dare to be even slightly arrogant? After arriving at the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, Mano Keijiu carefully studied its history. The more he studied its history, the more wary Mano Keijiu became of the Eighth Route Army.