Li Ziyuan looked at the map in front of him that had indicated the recent enemy situation in all directions, and found the Japanese airborne landing site marked on the map. He dragged the tools on the desk of the deputy chief of staff and marked all the interspersed routes of the three Japanese advance teams in his hands on the map.

At the same time, according to the Japanese puppet army marked on the map that is still in the base area, the prediction of the direction of the next sweep is marked. The deputy commander-in-chief and the deputy chief of staff watched Li Ziyuan do the homework on the map very patiently, and did not urge Li Ziyuan in any way.

After Li Ziyuan cleanly completed the homework on the map, the deputy chief of staff, who graduated from the first phase of Whampoa and studied at the Frunze Military Academy in the Soviet Union, could not help but praise: "Let's not talk about whether your judgment is accurate or not, that is, the level of your work on the map, there are few staff officers in our headquarters who can compare with it." How about coming to the headquarters to be my operational staff officer? ”

The deputy chief of staff's voice fell, but the deputy commander-in-chief on the side shook his head and said: "Don't ask, I asked this kid when the Japanese army swept in the autumn last year and fought the Japanese Okazaki detachment." It's a pity that people don't look down on our headquarters organs, but they are still willing to lead troops below. ”

"This kid is a proud disciple brought out by their master when he was a teacher at Hongda. You and their division commanders are also classmates of the Frunze Military Academy. According to our old Chinese rules, this kid can be regarded as your junior in terms of seniority. ”

"So, don't dig into the wall. It's useless for me, the deputy commander-in-chief, to come forward, and it's the same for you, an unnamed uncle. This kid is very ambitious to exercise below, where does he have the mind to come to the headquarters to be restrained? ”

The deputy commander-in-chief, who has always been serious, made an extremely rare joke, looked at the homework on the map that Li Ziyuan had done, and said with some emotion: "This kid has a good head and fights well, and the kung fu on this picture is also first-class." What you said is really right, at his level, we can't find a few staff officers at the headquarters. ”

"I think it's too good to stay at the headquarters and be a staff officer for you, and there is no way to give full play to his abilities. It's a pity to go down and lead the troops. I think it is most appropriate to transfer him to Kang University to be a military instructor, so that he can better suppress the contents of his stomach. This guy is always hidden and tucked, and the oil and water in his stomach should be squeezed well. ”

Hearing the conversation between the two leaders, Li Ziyuan hurriedly shook his head and pointed to the location on the map and said, "I suggest that our headquarters organ should return to the original place of departure." There is a good mass base and the surrounding terrain is also favorable. The most important thing is that the Japanese army does not necessarily think about where we will return. ”

"It was the area that the Japanese army had focused on sweeping before, and it had already been repeatedly pulled by the Japanese army. The Japanese army would never have thought about where our headquarters offices would return. However, it is still a word, and the vigilance of the inner and outer lines also needs to be strengthened. I have a not-so-good hunch that the Japanese are very likely to take advantage of this sweep and use some means to plant nails in our base area. ”

Looking at the dots drawn by Li Ziyuan on the map, the deputy commander-in-chief and the deputy chief of staff glanced at each other, nodded after pondering for a long time, and said, "I think it's okay, so I'll go back there and hide and wait." As for the guards during this time, I think you kid will be arrested first. Other questions will be discussed after the end of this anti-sweep. ”

Seeing the deputy commander-in-chief speak, Li Ziyuan could only suppress the idea of wanting to return to Hubei. At this time, he didn't dare to bargain with the deputy commander-in-chief, if he really annoyed the boss, maybe after the anti-sweep was over, he would really transfer himself to Kang Da as an instructor. If you can't go to the battlefield, what's the point?

The deputy commander-in-chief made the final decision, and Li Ziyuan could only honestly follow the headquarters organs through the second half of the Japanese army's sweep. Throughout the beginning of June, although Li Ziyuan was anxious, he could only stay at the headquarters honestly, and cheer up his spirits and be responsible for the security work of the headquarters.

It was not until mid-June, after the Japanese army completely ended the sweep of the Taihang base area, that Li Ziyuan was let back by the deputy commander-in-chief who had already seen his thoughts. Of course, the matter of transferring Li Ziyuan to Kang University as a teacher was just a joke between the deputy commander-in-chief and him, and it was not really implemented.

However, before Li Ziyuan returned to Hubei, he still returned to the division headquarters to report to him. After all, the troops he is carrying now are not his own troops, although they have been under his own command during this time. But the problem is that this unit is only assigned to his own command, and is not officially handed over to himself. Now that the mission is complete, it's time for me to go back.

It's just that after returning to the division headquarters, Li Ziyuan received an order that surprised him even more. Let him leave the troops behind, and he will go to the Party School of the Northern Bureau to continue his studies. After receiving the order from the division headquarters, looking at the political commissar who personally conveyed the order to him, with a posture that could not be discussed, Li Ziyuan could only touch his nose helplessly.

The few remaining people in his army were handed over to Ma Yongcheng to bring back to Hubei to rectify and replenish the system. He packed up his backpack and rushed to the Party School of the Northern Bureau to continue his studies under the personal escort of a section chief sent by the division headquarters. The so-called escort, Li Ziyuan knew that this was the political commissar who was worried that he would slip away halfway, so he sent someone to watch him report for duty.

Along the way, Li Ziyuan, who was extremely depressed, didn't say a word. And his old comrade-in-arms who served as a section chief in the division headquarters next to him didn't know how to persuade Li Ziyuan. In fact, both of them believed that what Li Ziyuan should do most at the moment was not to go to the party school to continue his education, but to return to the Ludong Military Division to reorganize the troops.

But this was an order personally given by the political commissar to let him take care of Li Ziyuan to study at the party school. There is not a single political commissar who has never allowed bargaining, and there is not a single person who does not understand this character characteristic of the personnel working in the division headquarters. So even if they are old comrades-in-arms, it is not easy to say anything about this matter, and the two of them seem quite silent along the way.

Compared with the dullness along the way, on the contrary, when he arrived at the party school, Li Ziyuan was quite popular. He took these people who broke through, and the students of the Party School of the Northern Bureau accounted for a large part. This time, Li Ziyuan returned to the party school to continue his studies, and he was greeted with a thumbs up.

Facing these teachers and classmates who greeted him, Li Ziyuan, who knew that there was no way to change it, could only endure to stay in the party school to continue his education. Although the time in the party school made Li Ziyuan feel extraordinarily long. But this kind of study is actually a refresher course, after all, it is not a formal university education, and there is always an end to it.

After graduating, Li Ziyuan naturally returned to Hubei directly without receiving a transfer order. It was not until Li Ziyuan returned to the military subdivision that he realized how big the losses of the anti-sweeping operation army subdivision were. Only then did he know how big the losses in Hubei were after his troops were transferred away from the mountains by the Japanese army.

Liang De, who openly rebelled, was like a mad dog. Taking advantage of his familiarity with the entire Ludong region, he brought huge losses to the military sub-district's anti-sweeping operation. Not only was the local system badly damaged, but the losses of the troops were also significant. A large amount of food and supplies, which had been fortified, were found by the Japanese army and looted or burned.

Several fortress villages in the entire Hubei territory have all suffered serious damage. And this guy also pulled the local government in Ludong and some cadres into the water. In addition to the defection of some cadres in the first district, some cadres in the second and third districts of Hubei, as well as the cadres in Ludong, including the county magistrate of Ludong, were also instigated by this guy to mutiny after being captured.

This guy also took advantage of being familiar with the terrain of the entire Ludong and took a part of the Japanese puppet army to wrap dumplings for the Ludong Independent Second Regiment. Although the troops finally broke out of the encirclement after several hard battles, they suffered two-thirds of the casualties and losses. Three battalion commanders sacrificed two, and the company platoon commander was completely replaced.

Nearly half of the combat regiments that remained in Ludong were also killed or wounded, and they also lost their combat effectiveness in a short time. The military divisional headquarters was also in danger several times, and it took several hard battles to get rid of the pursuit of the Japanese army. At present, the vitality of the entire military division is greatly damaged, and in a short time it can only retreat to the mountainous areas further east.

Li Ziyuan's Hubei Independent Battalion had been ordered to be withdrawn and incorporated into the 2nd Independent Regiment, which suffered the heaviest losses. However, it is quite difficult to restore the vitality of the 2nd Independent Regiment in a short period of time. The head and political commissar of this regiment were not fully equipped at the moment, and Li Ziyuan was ordered to temporarily act as the head of the regiment.

After temporarily taking over this shelf group, Li Ziyuan did not treat this job as a temporary errand, and became a monk for a day. Instead, a great deal of energy was devoted to the reorganization and training of the regiment, and the adjustment of the deployment was begun in light of the current situation of the regiment.

On the one hand, we first compressed those structures that had already been emptied, and made certain internal adjustments to cadres and fighters. Make sure that the troops have two fully equipped infantry companies so that they can be pulled out at any time if needed. As for the rest of the troops, all the veterans are gathered together to learn squad tactics and conduct daily training.

In view of the fact that the losses of various units in this sweep are not light, the military region has also adjusted and reduced its establishment. The Ludong Army Division, where Li Ziyuan was located, abolished the establishment of the Second Independent Regiment. Instead, it was based on the current structure of the 2nd Independent Regiment, supplemented with a part of the troops, and formed a detachment of five companies.

Just one month after Li Ziyuan returned to the Ludong Army Division, Li Ziyuan was officially appointed as the head of the Luhu Detachment, which belonged to the Ludong Army Division. The independent battalion of Zhang Zijian, who was transferred to supplement this detachment, was reduced to the establishment of a company. For the time being, the political commissar is concurrently the deputy political commissar of the military sub-district, the chief of staff is Zhang Zijian, and Ma Yongcheng is the director of the political department.

Zeng Sheng was ordered to transfer the detachment and form a new Hubei County backbone guerrilla force. The remaining dozen or so veterans of the original Hubei Independent Battalion, except for He Sanliang, Liu Lianming, and He Huizhang, who were left behind by Li Ziyuan, were all transferred out of the Luhu detachment and incorporated into the new Hubei Basic Guerrilla Force.

The task of this newly formed detachment was to cooperate with the independent regiment of the Ludong Army Sub-district and to persist in the struggle in Ludong on the spot. It's just that the establishment has been decided, and five companies are the establishment of a small regiment. But the problem is that Li Ziyuan currently has only three formed companies in his hands, and everything from weapons and equipment, ammunition to recruits is lacking.

At present, there are too many troops in the entire territory of Ludong that need to be replenished with a large number of new soldiers. In addition, several county brigades and independent battalions also need to be reorganized. At present, in the entire sweep, it is difficult for the conservative and devastated base areas to provide enough recruits at once.

In order to bring both units to full strength as soon as possible in the state of at least a small regiment, the military sub-districts have also tried their best. But it can only guarantee that one regiment will first complete the task of reorganization. Li Ziyuan's regimental-level detachment could only find ways to replenish and mobilize new recruits on its own.