Seeing Xiao Siming, Shi Poshan, who couldn't help but be overjoyed, reported loudly that 13 medium tanks, 20 armored vehicles, 12 75 field guns, and 12 75 mountain guns were captured by the Japanese army. Vertices M. updates the fastest

When Xiao Siming heard this, he was also overjoyed, and couldn't help laughing.

After laughing, Xiao Siming waved his hand and ordered directly to Shi Poshan: "Inform Yuan Gang that tanks and armored vehicles should be installed in armored battalions immediately, refueled, loaded with ammunition, and ready to fight at any time!" Inform Zhao Xiuchuan that all field artillery and mountain artillery will be equipped with artillery regiments, and the artillery regiment will set up mountain artillery battalions and field artillery battalions! ”

Shi Poshan frowned and said that the armored battalion did not have so many soldiers who could drive tanks and armored vehicles, and the artillery regiment did not have so many artillery. It seems that the second batch of recruits of the new corps must seize the time to replenish the troops.

Xiao Siming's principle is that recruits must go through at least three months of training!

The time for the second batch of recruits to arrive in the new corps is too short, and it is impossible to replenish the troops now! But the troops are indeed undermanned. Especially in the artillery regiment, the contradiction of insufficient troops is particularly prominent!

During the attack on Dezhou, the anti-aircraft artillery battalion of the artillery regiment used 12 Gaoping dual-purpose guns, of which eight were captured at Taiyuan Airport and four in Dezhou. The four Gaoping dual-purpose guns captured in Lianzhen in the custody of the logistics department did not participate in the battle at that time because of the lack of artillery and remained in Leling. When evacuating from the Jilu border this time, the logistics department also brought these four Gaoping dual-purpose guns, but unfortunately they could only be carried by the baggage battalion and managed as spare guns. Now that the four anti-aircraft guns of a squadron of the little devils have been captured in Chenqiao, don't they still have to let the pack horses be pulled and travel with the troops?

Not only the anti-aircraft artillery battalion, but also the anti-aircraft machine gun battalion used 20 high-level dual-purpose machine guns when attacking Texas. The number of anti-aircraft machine guns equipped with this anti-aircraft machine gun, according to the establishment of two anti-aircraft machine guns in a small squadron, six in a squadron, and eighteen anti-aircraft machine guns in a brigade, the strength of the anti-aircraft machine gun battalion should exceed that of one anti-aircraft machine gun brigade of the little devils. However, due to the shortage of troops, the antiaircraft machine gun battalions are equipped with one antiaircraft machine gun per squad, three antiaircraft machine guns per platoon, and nine antiaircraft machine guns per company.

That's not all, due to the lack of troops, the anti-aircraft machine gun battalion has only 7 people in each machine gun squad, and the whole battalion is about 160 people, and the actual strength is only equivalent to a squadron of the Japanese army.

There is no way, the eastward advance detachment does not include the second batch of recruits of the new regiment that is being trained, and the total strength is only 6,000 people, the three main regiments, the artillery regiment, the armored battalion, the cavalry battalion, the heavy machine gun battalion, the baggage battalion, the guard battalion, the reconnaissance company, the communications company, plus the various departments of the detachment organs, everywhere needs people, and any unit is not yet in order, but the degree of insufficient strength is different.

Now that six anti-aircraft machine guns of an anti-aircraft machine gun squadron of the little devil have been captured, according to the establishment of two anti-aircraft machine guns of the little devil's squad, then one more anti-aircraft machine gun company must be added.

Don't look at Zhao Xiuchuan pestering Xiao Siming every day to remind him to capture the little devil's field artillery and mountain artillery, now that he has really captured it, what about twelve field artillery and twelve mountain artillery, it is enough to make up two artillery battalions, see where he found so many artillery! You can't let these cannons sleep every day, can you?

In addition to the artillery regiment, the contradiction of insufficient strength of the baggage battalion is also very prominent.

Due to the lack of troops and manpower, when the baggage battalion marched, the soldiers all adopted the method of horse gang transportation, more than a dozen pack horses were formed into a team, and one person recruited more than a dozen pack horses, so as to save manpower to drive so many rubber cars.

As for the automobile soldiers, now there is a separate car company in the baggage battalion, and there is only one driver for each car, not even a co-driver!

Xiao Siming was a special warfare elite before his soul crossed, and he knew the importance of elite soldiers. Therefore, when the eastward advance detachment was expanded, he followed the line of elite troops, and did not directly break up the Wudi Independent Regiment and the Yanshan Independent Regiment into the main force.

Let Shi Poshan say this, Xiao Siming also realized the problem of serious shortage of troops. Not to mention anything else, so many ammunition and materials have been captured, someone has to carry them!

This problem was not a problem in the first place, as long as the eastward advance detachment buried itself in the base area along the Jilu border for one year, and the new corps continued to train new recruits, the unit could develop like a snowball. Moreover, the county brigades and district squadrons of each county can also be upgraded to the main force and incorporated into the main force structure after being tempered by the fires of war. But not now, after the capture of Dezhou, Xiao Siming made a suggestion, the headquarters assigned the base area on the Jilu border to Xiao Hua's eastward column, and all the foundations originally laid on the Jilu border were handed over to the eastward column, and Xiao Siming's department now has to re-create the base area and lay the foundation again, and it is impossible for the troops to replenish the troops from the local armed forces for the time being.

If it weren't for Xiao Siming's insistence that the recruits must be uniformly trained and distributed by the recruit corps, and with the prestige of the eastward advance detachment and the ability of the old Red Army cadres to be good at expanding the army, I am afraid that the current strength of the eastward advance detachment would have already exceeded 10,000, or even more!

At this time, the Japanese army was busy with strategic offensives, and it was the time for the expansion of the troops of the Eighth Route Army to flourish behind enemy lines. If this opportunity is missed, after the Japanese army captures Wuhan, it will be very difficult to expand the army by going back to consolidate the occupied areas, and the base areas behind the enemy lines will enter the most brutal period of strategic stalemate!

Xiao Siming knew that after the Japanese army ended the Battle of Wuhan, it began to return to North China, carrying out heavy troop sweeps against various base areas behind enemy lines, and finally formed a blockade network relying on railways and highways. The Eighth Route Army was forced to be helpless, and in the need to break the Japanese blockade, it launched the Battle of the Hundred Regiments. As a result, it provoked even more frenzied retaliation from the Japanese army. In 1942, during the most difficult period of the Anti-Japanese War, the base area of the Eighth Route Army shrank significantly, and the loss of troops was great. Some of the most brutal base areas, such as the Jin-Cha-Ji No. 1 Sub-district Base Area, have run out of food and soldiers, and it is impossible to expand the army!

If we want to expand the army, we really have to seize the opportunity now. Otherwise, you will regret it!

According to the guiding ideology of the Yan'an Headquarters and the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, it is necessary to divide troops for development, build the army, build the party, and build the government, and the more troops, the better!

But Xiao Siming was unwilling to blindly expand the army, and dilute the combat effectiveness of the main force because of the expansion!

The Great Plains are densely populated and there is no shortage of soldiers. Put up the recruitment flag, and there will be people who eat food. Not to mention the elite troops with outstanding achievements and outstanding achievements such as the Eastward Advance Detachment, even those miscellaneous armed forces, can't they also recruit troops and develop and grow? It's just that these miscellaneous armed forces are easy to collapse as soon as they encounter the difficult situation of heavy siege by the Japanese army. There's no way, can't you fight hard!

I remember that Zhang Aiping, the founding general of the People's Republic of China, said in his memoirs that when he first arrived in northeastern Anhui to pull troops, he quickly developed a force of 5 or 6,000 people. However, due to the lack of backbones, as soon as a battle is fought, the troops will suffer heavy losses, and many of them will be scattered. Until the end of the Anti-Japanese War, this armed force has always been five or six thousand people, but it has been tempered into the elite of a hundred battles in the war!

It is indeed a contradiction that we must seize the opportunity to expand the army, but we must not blindly expand the army, and still less should we dilute the combat effectiveness of the main force because of the expansion of the army!

After thinking for a while, Xiao Siming said to Shi Poshan: "Send a report to the political commissar, and the troops should pay attention to mobilizing the masses and mobilizing young people to join the army during the battle. All regiments, battalions, and companies directly under them must set up supplementary battalions and recruit battalions to train while marching. It is necessary to make it clear to the cadres that the purpose of fighting a war is to destroy the enemy, and it is also to preserve, strengthen, and develop themselves. The Eighth Route Army is still very weak, and it has grown to 200,000, 300,000, and 500,000, which is still very weak. No matter when, the guiding ideology for the development and growth of the Eighth Route Army will not change! If we have millions of field troops, we will scare the little devils to death! ”

It is indeed a good way for Xiao Siming to have all regiments and battalions and companies directly under him set up supplementary battalions and recruit battalions to train while fighting. These supplementary battalions and recruit battalions move with the main force, and after a period of training, they can cooperate with the main force to participate in the battle. At a certain time, with an order, these supplementary battalions and recruit battalions can be directly incorporated into the troops!

As soon as Shi Poshan heard this, he felt a sense of relief, and immediately shouted loudly: "Yes!" ”

Seeing that Shi Poshan was leaving, Xiao Siming called out to him and explained: "The land of northern Henan is densely populated, the people are simple, and the army is sufficient, which is suitable for expanding the army. Tell the political commissar that after capturing Puyang County, it is necessary to quickly divide the troops and sweep away, destroy the Japanese puppet regime, and publicize and mobilize young people to enlist in the army. Especially for young people who have received junior high school, high school, and university education, there should be as many as they want! Our arsenals, artillery regiments, armored battalions, engineer battalions, all need fighters with a cultural base! Entering the hinterland of Shandong to create a base area in the east also requires a large number of cadres! ”

When he said this, Xiao Siming sighed and said with a little regret: "It's a pity that the Japanese army won't leave us enough time to expand the army, so we have to hurry!" ”

Shi Poshan asked: "Commander, do you confirm that each battalion and company directly under it can also build supplementary battalions and recruit battalions?" ”

Xiao Siming replied yes, like the cavalry battalion, the armored battalion, the heavy machine gun battalion, the baggage battalion, the engineer battalion, and the guard battalion, all of which are to be expanded into regiments, and the existing strength is seriously insufficient. Including reconnaissance companies and communications companies, in the future, all main forces will have to establish reconnaissance companies and communications companies, not to mention doubling or tripling in size, and it is normal to expand them by several times!

This is a large-scale recruitment and expansion of the army, but it is just to let the main force train new recruits on its own!

Shi Poshan had no more doubts, turned around and ran to report to Wang Lushui.

It was also because of Xiao Siming's decision to expand the army in Chenqiao Town that it opened the prelude to the great development of the eastward advance detachment! Since then, this army has continued to grow and become a veritable main force in the Eighth Route Army!

With Xiao Siming's advanced strategic and tactical thinking that his soul has traversed, after the great development of the eastward advance detachment, given the time, it may no longer be starved to avoid the heavy sweep of the Japanese army at the wing, brigade, and even division and regiment levels. The unlucky days of the little devils are ahead! (To be continued.) )