Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

The joy of taking over two counties in succession disappeared immediately.

Very angry.

"That's right. The military district is targeting our division and using berry wool."

Luo Renfa also sighed.

However, the two men also understood that the First Division was now truly strong. This time, the First Division and the Eighth Column had won consecutive victories, and the news had spread not only to the military district, but also to the Eighth Route Army headquarters and even Yan'an.

After all, this time the counter-mopping-up operation was fought with great enthusiasm.

The number of Japanese and puppet troops annihilated was also astonishing.

Luo Renfa thought for a moment and said, "Division Commander, the military district is exchanging the 10th Battalion for our 2nd Regiment. If we lose the 2nd Regiment, should we create a new regiment based on the 10th Battalion, or should we form a new regiment separately?"

To form a new regiment from the Tenth Battalion, all that was needed was to supplement the existing structure. This was because the battalions of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region were originally designed to expand the main regiment. They had cadres of all levels, so all that was needed was to supplement the troops.

If a new group is to be formed, the ten teams must be split up.

The cadres of the Tenth Brigade were split up into other units.

"Why should I reorganize a new group?"

Yang Quanwu smiled.

Said: "Now we have a main force in our hands."

"Main group?"

Luo Renfa was very surprised.

The First Division had numerous units, all with various designations. However, only the First, Second, and Third Regiments were recognized by the Military Region and designated as Main Force Regiments. Therefore, Luo Renfa asked, "Is the Division Commander planning to upgrade other local units to Main Force Regiments?"

"You, how can you be so honest? Don't we have the 17th Regiment?"

"The 17th Regiment? The division commander wants us to keep the 17th Regiment?"

"Yes. I carefully observed the situation of the 17th Regiment during this battle.

Although the 17th Regiment is not as strong as our main regiment, its combat effectiveness is not weak.

They also have many veterans who have fought in major battles. This is a ready-made force, and we don't even need to add another battalion. The battalions of the 17th Column each consist of four main companies. After the capture of Hunyuan and Dingbei, I saw that their th Regiment was busy recruiting, and I estimate that they have recruited three to four hundred men. A new battalion can be formed by taking one company from each of the two battalions. Furthermore, the th Regiment is well-equipped, and almost every combat unit can be equipped with a single rifle. With a little training and a few major battles, we can have another main force regiment in our division.

"Then how do we tell the 1th Column?" The 17st Military Region wanted to withdraw the main force of the nd Regiment of the st Division, so Yang Quanwu directly transferred the th Regiment from the th Column to supplement it.

But how can I tell this to Ba Zong?

After all, this is a main force group.

Yang Quanwu smiled and said, "Am I, Yang Quanwu, the kind of person who takes advantage of the troops below? I've thought it through. What the Eighth Column lacks most at the moment is cadres, both military and political cadres. Otherwise, how could Wei Hongjun take the risk of offending the Pingxi Detachment and the Pingxi Prefectural Committee and swallow up the local party organization in Huailai, the Pingxi Detachment Working Group. Didn't the Third District want to give us the Tenth Brigade? I will directly transfer the Tenth Brigade to the Eighth Column. The Tenth Brigade was formed by the Third District to build a main force regiment, but it was not successful. But because of this, the cadres of the Tenth Brigade are all composed according to the organization of a regiment. Don't look at the Seventeenth Regiment as the main force regiment. The Tenth Brigade has not yet been able to form a regiment, but in terms of cadre reserves, two Seventeenth Regiments cannot compare to the Tenth Brigade.

If our First Division hadn't been constantly in combat and needed to maintain a strong main force, I wouldn't have left the 17th Regiment. The th Battalion has a sufficient cadre reserve, which is most suitable for the current situation of the th Column. It can greatly make up for their shallow foundation and lack of cadres. Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun should thank me.

"What about the grenade launchers and heavy machine guns that Wei Hongjun specially assigned to the 17th Regiment this time?"

"Of course not. With these weapons, the 17th Regiment can be called a main force. Without these heavy weapons, the th Regiment is no better than the th Battalion of the rd Division. But didn't the th Column say they would send us a batch of weapons and ammunition? Tell them not to send them, let them use them themselves.

Just send two infantry guns to division headquarters. I'm going to organize an artillery battery."

"What about the organization of the Eighth Column? What will happen to the Eighth Column if the Seventeenth Regiment arrives here?"

"I will report this to the military district and assign the Eighth Column the designation of the Eighteenth Regiment.

And if that's not enough, I'm going to apply to the military district for two main regiment numbers. One for ourselves, and one for the Eighth Column. That way, my division will have seven main regiments."

Chapter 141 New Reorganization

Commander Nie's transfer order caused chaos in the Eighth Column.

After the First Division transferred the Second Regiment to the Third Division, Yang Quanwu directly detained the Seventeenth Regiment in the First Division. All the ammunition and heavy machine guns that Wei Hongjun had sent for the battle were retained by the division headquarters.

That's ten grenade launchers and ten heavy machine guns.

With these Zheng Danjian and heavy machine guns, the 17th Regiment has more than 2500 people. Its combat effectiveness is really strong.

Fortunately, Yang Quanwu is a leader who gets along with others.

After detaining the 17th Regiment, the th Battalion was transferred intact to the th Column. In reality, the division headquarters had simply kept the th Battalion there, and the th Column couldn't say anything. After all, the st Column was also short of cadres, and keeping the th Battalion would have been of great benefit to the st Column. But Yang Quanwu wasn't the kind of superior who simply took advantage.

Afterwards, Yang Quanwu also applied to the military district.

The military district was asked to approve the addition of three main regiments to the First Division. This was partly to fill the gap left by the Second Regiment, and partly to appease the military district. The Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region had only been established for a short time, and already two main regiments had been taken from the First Division. Yang Quanwu's request for the military district to appease the First Division was entirely justified.

The Eighth Route Army seems to attach no importance to its designation.

The troops were dispersed and allowed to develop freely.

But in reality, the various units of the Eighth Route Army still attached great importance to their designations. Although Chiang Kai-shek did not recognize the designations granted by headquarters and military regions, they were considered official designations within the Eighth Route Army. For example, the commander of a regiment in a division had a designation recognized by both the division and the military region, and it was even registered at headquarters.

The cadres in such a group are all registered regular cadres.

It is a resume and qualifications recognized by the headquarters and military region.

Compared to the First Division, or the Eighth Column's self-established independent regiments and guerrilla detachments, while they were both regimental commanders and their units were highly effective, their seniority and rank were inferior to those of the main regiment commanders. This was because these were merely designated units by the subordinate military divisions, and from the perspective of the headquarters and military region, they were considered to be local units. Their cadre rank was also half a level lower than that of the main regiments.

Therefore, having one more main regiment number will allow for the placement of more cadres.

Don't think Eighth Route Army cadres didn't care about this. In fact, it was very important. If you were the head of a regiment recognized by the military region and then became the head of an independent regiment in a military sub-district, you would be demoted.

Therefore, having an additional main regiment number is a very good thing for motivating cadres.

Commander Nie felt rather embarrassed about repeatedly transferring troops from the First Division. After all, since the Jin-Cha Military Region was established, the region had transferred over 7,000 troops from the First Division. These were all the first-tier troops built by the First Division. Therefore, he agreed to Yang Quanwu's request and added the 18th, 19th, and 20th Regiments to the First Division.

Yang Quanwu is also very generous.

The First Division only retained the number of the 20th Regiment, and gave the numbers of the 18th and 19th Regiments to the Eighth Column.

"We lost the 17th Regiment, but we got back two empty designations. But Li Yong is one of the few cadres in our unit who can handle artillery, grenade launchers, and heavy machine guns. We can't let the division commander take him away. I'm sending a telegram to the division commander, and you have to sign it with me. The grenade launchers and heavy machine guns can be kept by the th Regiment, but Li Yong can't keep them. He must come back."

Wang Qiuyun felt helpless.

Although the 17th Regiment's combat effectiveness was not the strongest in the 8th Column, it was still a main force in the 8th Column. It was taken away by the division headquarters and given two empty designations.

The 8th Column also needs to build two main regiments of its own.

"Old Wang, be patient. Although we're without the 17th Regiment this time, we're not at a disadvantage. I've read about the 10th Battalion of the Third Division, and they've arranged their cadre exactly like a main regiment. The 10th Battalion's cadre configuration is incredibly complete. Not to mention the 17th Regiment, even the 16th Regiment can't compare to the 10th Battalion in terms of cadre reserves. Furthermore, the 10th Battalion has been fighting alongside the Third Division in central Hebei for the past few months. These cadres, added to our 8th Column, will greatly make up for our cadre shortage."

This is Wei Hongjun's true words.

The Eighth Column is not actually short of soldiers now, but of cadres.

Precisely because of the cadre shortage, many officers in the 8th Column had to juggle multiple duties. Wang Qiuyun was so anxious to establish a column operations department because the column lacked a chief of staff and the operations department was incomplete. This forced him, the commander, and Xiao Yongshi, the deputy commander, to oversee everything. While Xiao Yongshi concurrently managed the headquarters and performed the duties of chief of staff, he also had to manage the Cha'nan Cadre School and the training brigade, keeping him constantly busy.

That's why Wang Qiuyun wanted to improve the military headquarters.

"That's no match for our Seventeenth Regiment. Our Seventeenth Regiment, along with the cartridge and machine gun crews you sent, has nearly 2500 men. The Tenth Battalion in the Third Division has fewer than a thousand men, less than half the number of our Seventeenth Regiment. No matter how you look at it, we're at a disadvantage. Fortunately, the division commander told us not to send any weapons or ammunition, otherwise we would have suffered a huge loss this time."

"You."

Wang Qiuyun was furious.

Deputy Commanders of the 8th Column Xiao Yongshi and Li Shiping, and Director of the Political Department Han Weiguo all remained silent.

Only Wei Hongjun joked with Wang Qiuyun, trying to ease everyone's anger. After Wang Qiuyun calmed down, Wei Hongjun said, "There's no point in talking too much. Now we need to consider how to form the 18th and 19th Regiments."

"Old Wei, tell me your idea first. You must have an idea in mind."

"Then I'll tell you. When we develop the Chahar base, Xuanhua, Zhuolu, and Huailai are the top priorities, and we must send heavy troops to these places. The 16th Regiment is centered in the Sanggong area, and the Huailai base has already laid the foundation. So my idea is to reorganize the Second Detachment into the 18th Regiment and continue to develop bases in Xuanhua and Zhuolu. As for the 19th Regiment, I think it should still be placed in the Third and Fourth Districts. Just like this time we cooperated with the division headquarters, the 19th Regiment will still need to cooperate more with the division headquarters in the future to strike the Japanese troops in the direction of Datong. I think the 19th Regiment should be built based on the Fourth and Seventh Battalions.

Wang Qiuyun looked at the map and nodded.

Wei Hongjun was only considering the strategy of the 8th Column.

Due to the geographical situation of the 8th Column, its main enemy was the troops stationed in Mongolia.

The troops stationed in Mongolia were composed of the 26th Division and the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, one from Zhangjiakou and the other from Datong.

Therefore, on the one hand, we had to continuously develop the Chahar base, and on the other hand, we had to cooperate with the First Division to attack the Japanese troops coming from Datong.

The same applies to the distribution of the 16th, 18th, and 19th Regiments.

Two regiments opened up the Chahar base, and one regiment was placed in the south.

"And what I mean is that the 18th and 19th Regiments will be formed, and support will be sent from the 10th Battalion of the 3rd Division."

"It should be so."

Wang Qiuyun nodded.

While all were Eighth Route Army units, the Eighth Route Army also had its own factions. For example, the Eighth Column, if traced back to its earliest days, can be traced back to the Autumn Harvest Uprising. More broadly, it originated from the First Corps of the First Front Army and the Central Red Army. More specifically, it originated from the Eighth Route Army's Independent Regiment, which is now part of the First Division.

After all, the Tenth Brigade of the Third Division is the main force of the Third Division.

It's impossible to build a new unit based on the Tenth Battalion. For ease of command, the Tenth Battalion must be split up. But how to split it up is a science. How to split it up without affecting combat effectiveness is also a science.

"Old Wang, what I mean is that one battalion of the Tenth Brigade should be directly merged into the Second Detachment. A battalion of the Tenth Brigade has a complete cadre configuration. As long as the Second Detachment has enough manpower, it can be built into a main force battalion."

"That's a good idea. What the Second Detachment lacks is cadres. Which battalion of the Tenth Detachment do you think would be suitable?"

"Of course it's the First Battalion. The First Battalion has the most officers, the most complete personnel, and the strongest combat effectiveness within the Tenth Brigade. Assigning the First Battalion to the Second Detachment will create the Eighteenth Regiment without any problems, and its combat effectiveness will be guaranteed. However, the First Battalion's commander and political instructor are both highly experienced and capable cadres. My suggestion is that Guo Lin serve as both battalion commander and political instructor. He's a political cadre by training. Transfer the First Battalion's political instructor, Chen Qizhong. Many of our units are currently short of political cadres, and having two of them in the same battalion would be a waste."

Chapter 142 New Reorganization 2

Like Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun, Guo Lin joined the guerrillas at the age of fifteen. He later joined the Red Army, initially serving as a military commander and later as a company instructor, participating in the Long March. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he participated in the Pingxingguan Victory and later remained in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region. He served as company instructor and battalion commander of the 10th Battalion in the Third Division. This time, the 10th Battalion was transferred to the First Division, and he joined the 8th Column.

Chen Qizhong is a veteran underground party member who has been doing underground work. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he organized an anti-Japanese guerrilla force of more than 500 people. When the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was established, he brought these guerrillas to the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. He first served as the company instructor of the Tenth Battalion and is currently the battalion instructor. Guo Lin and Chen Qizhong worked well together in the First Battalion, which was also the most powerful unit in the Tenth Battalion.

Both of them were excellent military and political cadres, and it was a waste to put them both in the first battalion. Of course, this was mainly because the Eighth Column was short of cadres.

"Then transfer Chen Qizhong out. Where do you want him to go?"

"Fourth Battalion."

The Fourth Battalion was originally the First Battalion of Recruits.

After Song Zhiyuan became the battalion commander, the 4th Battalion's training was back on track, and its combat effectiveness improved significantly. However, its foundation was weak, and many problems remained. The shortage of cadres was also a serious problem.

Transferring an outstanding political cadre like Chen Qizhong will be of great benefit to improving the combat effectiveness of the Fourth Battalion.

"Well, yes."

Wang Qiuyun nodded.

Then he said, "Since the Tenth Battalion is splitting up, let's split up the Second Battalion as well. Take two companies from the Second Battalion and assign them to the First Detachment to strengthen it. One company will be assigned to the Guerrilla Detachment, and have Feng Mulin arrange for it. This way, when we open up the Chanan base, we'll have the Sixteenth and Eighteenth Regiments, as well as the First Detachment and the Guerrilla Detachment."

Gao Wei's first team has always developed independently.

The column also had limited support for them.