Regarding He Sanliang's faint worry, Li Ziyuan looked at him, but shook his head and said: "Old He, since you entered Shililing, you have been busy communicating with your superiors and getting in touch with your superiors, as well as explaining tasks to Liu Lianming, there are some things you don't know yet." When I interrogated the puppet officers we captured, I learned that the main battle on the Linxian side was over. ”

"Except for the New Fifth Army, which surrendered to the enemy in formation after the New Fifth Army was encircled, the remaining two armies have all been defeated. In the process of transferring, your old unit, the 40th Army, was heavily surrounded by Japanese troops in Lingchuan. Most of them were scattered, and only a small part of the troops broke through. ”

"A division of the Twenty-seventh Army has been crushed, and most of them, including their division commanders, have been captured. The remaining two divisions were also struggling in the encirclement of the Japanese army. As for the headquarters of their army group, the whereabouts of them are not known until now. In other words, the battle that has been fought so far means that it is basically over. ”

On the way to participate in this sweep from northern Henan to southern Jinnan, they had already seen a large number of captured personnel of the original 40th Army on the front line of Lingchuan. And before going north, he also took prisoners for a day. Among them, the 40th army of yours accounted for more than half of the number of prisoners. ”

"The rest are the captured personnel of the 27th Army, and the captured personnel of the New Fifth Army have been sent back to their own units after their commander surrendered to the enemy. At present, the Japanese puppet army is carrying out repeated dragnet sweeps on the front lines of Linxian, Huixian, and Lingchuan. It is estimated that this line will not be taken into account at the moment, let alone cause any misunderstanding. ”

"What's more, it turned out that in Huguan and Pingshun, it was not their defense area in the first place, but the jurisdiction of the fourth division of our Taihang Military Region. Their defense area was in Lingchuan south of Huguan and Linxian area to the east. In the Huguan and Binh Thuan areas, that is, adjacent to their defense areas, or some crossing. I want to go this route, and it shouldn't make a difference. ”

"Perhaps, we may have a chance to gather some of their scattered men and find a way to send them out of the Japanese encirclement. So Lao He, there are some things you shouldn't worry too much about. Everything has to look at both sides, and sometimes bad things don't necessarily turn into good things. ”

Hearing the news from Li Ziyuan's mouth, He Sanliang's face instantly turned pale. At present, although he has joined the Eighth Route Army, he has joined the party at the beginning of the year. Moreover, at Li Ziyuan's insistence, although he is only the acting chief of staff at the moment, the cadres of the whole regiment know that after this battle, he is estimated to be able to take off the word acting on his head.

But for He Sanliang, although the current identity is different. But the 40th Army was an experience in his life after all. His career in the army began with the 40th Army, and it was this army that trained him from a half-scholar into a fairly qualified officer who was proficient in staff business.

He once followed this army, rushed all the way in the sea of corpses and blood in the Linyi Defense Battle, and experienced the bloody battle of the Battle of Xuzhou together. If it weren't for that experience of being captured, perhaps he would still be living in this unit now, in front of his junior officers.

In his eyes, this ragtag army, despite its inferior weapons and weak firepower. But its performance on this battlefield that is vital to the survival of the nation has never been worse than that of any army. Even in the Northwest Army, it is a miscellaneous card, and it has endured all kinds of discrimination from its descendants, but it has always been known for being able to bear hardships and stand hard work and dare to fight tough battles.

At present, this army, which once defended Linyi twice with more than 10,000 troops, fought from more than 10,000 people to the last person with a gun, and could not make up a regiment. Under the absolute superiority of the Japanese army's ground-to-air firepower, it was a heroic unit that fought to the last soldier. But it collapsed so quickly in such a short period of time that he could hardly believe it.

Although after entering Taihang Mountain, he also knew the changes that had taken place inside and outside the army. He knew that after the hardships and hardships of the past few years after the enemy was alone, this army had long lost the heroic spirit of the bloody battle in Linyi. In addition to the July 7 Incident, there is only one division in the whole corps, which is still being abolished and downsized. When the whole army only paid one division, the whole army united with one heart and one mind.

In particular, the boss was facing internal constraints from the left and right, the troops were heavily infiltrated by Chongqing, and it was difficult to survive on the battlefield behind enemy lines. and has already passed the age of sixties, and has long lost his previous ambitions. In mobilizing the masses, they are far from being as good as the Eighth Route Army.

Lin County is also a notoriously poor place, and the grain production itself cannot sustain the survival of the two armies. In the entire area controlled by the Linxian side, the main grain-producing areas were controlled by the troops of the Central Army. All the replenishment of weapons and ammunition had to be transported from the south of the Yellow River through the Japanese-occupied areas.

Every bullet and every military uniform had to travel thousands of miles to break through the blockade of the Japanese puppet army. The living environment of the entire army is quite poor, and the three armies are fighting on their own, and no one buys anyone's account. In order to maintain the survival of the troops, smuggling was not less.

In addition to the bloody battle in Linyi, the troops' already weak bodies and bones suffered quite heavy losses. Although a division was added, a solid military structure was finally assembled. However, under the frequent sweeps of the Japanese army, it has never been effectively reorganized, and the combat of the troops has declined rapidly. It was not an accident that he lost the battle, but he did not expect to lose so badly.

He never believed that this unit, which was the starting point of his military career, would collapse so quickly. Especially in the complex terrain around Linxian County, which can be relied on. It's only been a few days, and an army has collapsed. Even if the New Fifth Army deployed in the north surrendered to the enemy and got out of the way for the Japanese attack, the whole army would not collapse in such a short period of time.

Looking at He Sanliang's somewhat pale face, Li Ziyuan shook his head and said, "Old He, you have to control your emotions." No matter how deep your affection for that troop is, your current identity is different after all. There are some things that can be shown in front of me, but in front of others, you must control them. ”

"It doesn't matter what kind of feelings you once had for this army. But you remember, you don't know who you are now. Lao He, you must calm down and control yourself. Remember, you are now a cadre of the Eighth Route Army, not an officer of this army. ”

Li Ziyuan's somewhat warning words fell, but He Sanliang shook his head gloomily, turned around and left without saying anything. Looking at He Sanliang's back, Li Ziyuan sighed, and he didn't persuade anything. For He Sanliang's gaffe, although it is the first time he has seen it since he realized it, Li Ziyuan is still expected.

Li Ziyuan knew that although he had joined the Eighth Route Army now, He Sanliang still had a lot of feelings for the unit he was in, especially the boss. I heard that although the boss said that the training was very strict, he had always loved the soldiers like a son and was able to share weal and woe with his subordinates. The food and clothing are no different from those of ordinary soldiers.

It is precisely because of this that we have been able to maintain the troops under quite difficult conditions, and there has been no obvious decline in combat effectiveness. Before the Battle of Linyi, his troops' salaries had been in arrears. Even if it is a military salary, it is a military salary that only one division is paid, and it can even be said that it can only be barely maintained. But when he was pulled out to the battlefield, he was still able to fight a bloody battle with the Japanese army.

Although He Sanliang said that he didn't say it, he still respected this boss in his heart. This time, this army was about to collapse at the touch of a button, and Li Ziyuan felt that his chief of staff, the sense of identity with the original old army in his heart was rapidly collapsing. As for whether his feelings about the boss are also changing, Li Ziyuan is a little unclear.

At present, the knot in He Sanliang's heart can only be eliminated little by little by time. In this matter, not only can others not help him, but it may also backfire. But now some things are very complicated, and he doesn't want He Sanliang to be caught with some bad tricks. Li Ziyuan gave He Sanliang a warning, asking him to suppress his inner feelings as much as possible and not to show them.

However, Li Ziyuan has a feeling that after experiencing this incident, maybe He Sanliang will really integrate into the Eighth Route Army. Although he was not in Cao Ying and his heart was in Han before, Li Ziyuan also felt that He Sanliang stayed in the Eighth Route Army. More because of myself, rather than identifying with this army from the bones.

Just like what he said when he was dragged to join the army, Li Ziyuan still remembers it clearly. Although he is now gradually integrating into this army, which is completely different from the unit he was in before. But to say that it is completely integrated, it can only be said that it will take a certain amount of time. The run-in of the appearance does not mean that the heart is also completely integrated.

After this experience, maybe it will be a new beginning for him. As for whether He Sanliang can really come out, Li Ziyuan does not have any doubts. Although He Sanliang has some weaknesses in his personality, he is still a tough guy after all. Just give him some time and he'll figure something out.

Shaking his head, Li Ziyuan did not continue to think about He Sanliang's question. He put more of his mind on the feasibility of his own idea. However, he still needs to think carefully about what to do next. At least in the absence of accurate information, he still needs to weigh it repeatedly.

The previous tragic lesson made him much more cautious this time. A fall in a pit may have been accidental, but other excuses could be found. If you fall twice in a row in a pit, it means that you are not qualified as the head of the regiment.

Just when Li Ziyuan was thinking about the next direction of action, Ma Yongcheng over there walked over. Seeing Ma Yongcheng, who was a little in a low mood, Li Ziyuan smiled and said, "Why is the old horse, the mobilization work is not going well?" Do these guys still want to go back over there and continue to be accomplices to the devils? Don't tell me, your dude has been talking about it for so long, or is it empty-handed? ”

Li Ziyuan's inquiry, Ma Yongcheng nodded and then shook his head: "It's not that it's empty-handed, but it can be regarded as barely achieving some results." Although we were not able to win over the majority of the people, we mobilized nearly 200 people who were willing to join us. If you give me some more time, I should be able to fight for more. ”

Hearing Ma Yongcheng's answer, Li Ziyuan couldn't help but widen his eyes: "I said that your brother can, in just a few hours, you can mobilize 200 people to join our army without any foundation, which is beyond my imagination." These guys aren't that easy to do. ”

"People have food and drink over there, and they have a good military salary to take. After all, we are in difficult conditions now, we have no military salary, and we have to face the constant sweep of devils. It's not easy for you kid to achieve such a big result and win so many people to join the army. ”