The news of the arrival of the main force of the Eighth Route Army soon spread in Shigou Village, and the people of the whole village were immersed in an atmosphere of joy.

Zhu Aiguo saw that the villagers were so enthusiastic about the Eighth Route Army, and his heart was warm, and he couldn't help but thank his fellow villagers.

Liu Tianshu didn't care about anything else at this time, but sat in a room with Zeng Wei, quietly listening to Zeng Wei's introduction to the situation of Fuya Mountain and the surrounding enemy.

When they left the branch, Captain Hong Feihu and the political commissar made it clear that the area where the three companies would be active in the future would be to establish a base area with Fuya Mountain as the center, mobilize the masses, and carry out the struggle against the enemy.

Because there were only more than 100 anti-Japanese guerrillas in Fuyashan, and they could only rely on Fuyashan to fight guerrillas, the detachment did not send local cadres to come, but only let Liu Tianshu take full responsibility. At the same time, it was clearly instructed that the Fuya Mountain anti-Japanese guerrilla force should be assigned to the Third Company system, and of course, when the Third Company arrived at Fuya Mountain, it would also be renamed the Fuya Independent Battalion of the Eighth Route Army.

After learning that the guerrillas only had a few villages in the mountains with a strong mass foundation and had not established a base area, Liu Tianshu asked Zeng Wei to introduce the surrounding enemy situation.

Shigou Village is the outer village of Fuyashan guerrilla activities, and twenty miles south of the village is Pingyuan Town, where a Japanese army squad and a squadron of puppet troops are stationed, and at the same time the devils built artillery towers there.

Thirty miles further south from Pingyuan Town, you will arrive at Fuchang County.

Liu Tianshu is naturally very familiar with Fuchang County, so to speak, he knows every corner of the city. His hometown, Yangshan Town, is southeast of the county seat.

Hearing a wing of the Japanese army stationed in the county, Liu Tianshu couldn't help but be surprised.

"Captain Zeng, you said that there is a wing of the Japanese army stationed in Fuchang County? You can't make a mistake, right? Liu Tianshu asked in surprise.

"Company Commander Liu, the intelligence is absolutely accurate, the commander of the Japanese army stationed in Fuchang, Ichiro Watanabe, is the wing commander of the 16th Wing of the Japanese Army. Because Fuchang County is very important in the northwest of Shandong, Watanabe, an old devil, set up the wing headquarters in the Tang family compound in the county seat. Zeng Wei looked at Liu Tianshu and said.

"In that case, the total strength of the devils in Fuchang County is close to 4,000 people, plus more than 3,000 puppet troops, and the total number of enemies reaches more than 7,000 people." Speaking of this, Liu Tianshu's face became solemn.

He didn't expect that his hometown of Fuchang County would have so many enemies.

"Company Commander Liu, although the enemy's forces are very strong, there is also a reason why the Watanabe Wing is guarding Fuchang County. Fuchang County is located on the main road from Jinan to Qingdao, and if the devil wants to determine the safety of the transportation line, he naturally has to send heavy troops to guard here. Zeng Wei explained.

Hearing this, Liu Tianshu thought about it carefully, and gradually put his mind at ease, since Watanabe wanted to ensure the safety of the transportation line, he divided his troops to guard the strongholds along the line, although the total strength of the devils was close to four thousand, but the transportation line running through Fuchang County was fifty kilometers long, and there were no less than ten strongholds along the line, that is, one infantry squad for each stronghold, and it also required almost a squadron of troops, plus the eight big towns in the county, he still sent troops to guard it, which scored hundreds of devils.

According to Zeng Wei, the devil has a material transfer station in the west of the county, so naturally he needs to allocate a part of the troops to guard it, so that in this way, in addition to the devils guarding the county, his mobile strength should be less than 2,000, that is, at most two brigades.

Of course, even the devils of the two brigades are not something that Liu Tianshu's current strength can challenge.

After burying the fallen soldiers in Shigou Village, the Third Company, accompanied by the guerrillas, went to Yaping Village, deep in Fuya Mountain.

Yaping Village was the foothold of the anti-Japanese guerrillas in Fuya Mountain, and when the Third Company left Shigou Village, Zeng Wei sent people back to Yaping Village to report the news.

Seeing a woman with short ear-length hair and a slightly darker complexion but very handsome greeted her, Liu Tianshu's eyes turned to Zeng Wei who was standing on the side.

"Come on, Company Commander Liu, Instructor Zhu, let me introduce to you, this is Comrade Xiang Shuyu, the instructor of our guerrilla force, this is Company Commander Liu Tianshu and Instructor Zhu Aiguo of the Eighth Route Army." Zeng Dawei introduced loudly.

When Xiang Shuyu heard this, a pair of good-looking eyes turned to Liu Tianshu and Zhu Aiguo, and stretched out his hand generously, holding it with the two of them, and said enthusiastically: "Company Commander Liu, Instructor Zhu, we have been looking forward to you coming, let's go, let's go into the village and say." ”

The four of them said as they greeted the enthusiastic villagers, and finally, the four of them came to the headquarters of the guerrillas.

After a brief chat, Zhu Aiguo took out the letter from the detachment headquarters and handed it to Xiang Shuyu

After the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and the detachment studied and decided, the advance detachment drew four companies and scattered them to four counties in northwestern Shandong to carry out struggles, and Liu Tianshu's third company was sent back to his hometown of Fuchang County.

In accordance with the instructions of the provincial party committee and the detachment, after the Third Company joined forces with the anti-Japanese guerrillas operating in the Fuya Mountain area, the unit was reorganized into the Fuchang Independent Battalion of the Eighth Route Army, with Comrade Liu Tianshu as the battalion commander, Comrade Zhu Jiaguo as the instructor, Xiang Shuyu as the deputy instructor, and Comrade Zeng Wei as the deputy battalion commander.

However, when the Fuyashan anti-Japanese base area was formally established, Comrade Xiang Shuyu was mainly responsible for the construction of local political power.

After hearing Zhu Aiguo's order to establish an independent battalion and establish a base area on behalf of the provincial party committee and detachment, Liu Tianshu's expressions were very excited and solemn.

Liu Tianshu mainly thought that the burden on his shoulders was suddenly much heavier, but Xiang Shuyu and Zeng Wei were full of excitement.

The arrival of the main force of the Eighth Route Army made them full of confidence in the next struggle, especially Zeng Wei, who saw the three companies cleanly eat the devil team, and it was as if they saw an incomparably bright future.

"Deputy Battalion Commander Zeng, Comrade Xiang Shuyu, and Instructor Zhu, in accordance with the instructions of the superiors, our main tasks at present are, first, to complete the reorganization of the troops as soon as possible, and second, to immediately start the construction of base areas. My initial assumption for these two tasks is that the independent battalion will temporarily have three infantry companies and one reconnaissance platoon. I calculated that there were 120 members of the guerrillas, and in addition to the older ones, there should be 100 people who could be incorporated into the combat units, and the captured puppet army could do the work to see if we could mobilize some of them to join our ranks, and in addition, we should send people to the villages to mobilize and strive to mobilize some young people to join our ranks. For the time being, Deputy Battalion Commander Zeng is in charge of the expansion of the team. The weapons that are missing for the expansion of the troops, I can think of them from the strongholds of the devils around. I'll take care of that. Comrade Xiang Shuyu and the instructors immediately set about establishing a base area, and I think it can be based on these eight surrounding villages. Immediately establish an anti-Japanese regime in each village, and at the same time form a militia organization in each village......" Liu Tianshu looked at a few people and slowly said his plan.

Since it is necessary to establish a base here, it is necessary to establish a democratic regime led by the Communist Party in each village, and at the same time, in order to prevent sneak attacks by devils, it is necessary to establish militia organizations in each village.

Regarding the matter of mobilizing the masses in various villages and establishing an anti-Japanese democratic regime in the villages, Zhu Aiguo and Xiang Shuyu are experts, and Liu Tianshu naturally wants to let them go.

His main task at present is to complete the reorganization of the unit and to secure weapons and ammunition for the expanded independent battalion.

Subsequently, after discussions among several people, it was decided that Comrade Yang Donghu would be the commander of the first company of the independent battalion, Jin Zhenbiao would be the commander of the second company, and Comrade Yu Yongzhong of the guerrilla unit would be the commander of the third company.

At the same time, it was decided that the first company should be formed on the basis of the first platoon of the old third company and the first squad of the guerrillas, the second company should be formed on the basis of the second platoon of the old third company and the second squad of the guerrillas, and the third company should be formed on the basis of the third platoon of the old third company and the third squad of the guerrillas.

Each of the three companies was temporarily organized into two platoons, and when new recruits were recruited, three more platoons were formed.

Hua Xiaohu served as the instructor of the third company, Liu Sutang served as the instructor of the second company, and Yang Donghu temporarily served as the instructor of the first company.

More than 100 fighters of the old third company and more than 100 members of the guerrilla unit all stood on the empty dam in front of Yaping Village, and Zhu Aiguo, on behalf of his superiors, first announced the establishment of the Fuchang Independent Battalion of the Eighth Route Army, then the list of battalion-level cadres, and then announced the mixed organization of the old third company and the guerrillas, and at the same time announced the appointment of company-level cadres.

After Zhu Aiguo announced the decision of her superiors, she stepped forward to speak, and she first looked back with emotion on the course of the guerrillas' arduous struggle over the past six months, and then talked about the arrival of the Eighth Route Army, which would open a new chapter in the anti-Japanese struggle in Fuchang County. In the end, she hoped that after the reorganization, the guerrillas would learn from the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army with an open mind, practice hard their skills in killing the enemy, and fight to drive the Japanese devils out of Shandong at an early date.

The final speech was naturally made by Liu Tianshu, his eyes swept over the soldiers in front of him one by one, and then said emotionally: "Comrades, today, the Fuchang Independent Battalion of the Eighth Route Army was officially established. In the future, whether it is the soldiers of the old third company or the comrades of the guerrillas, all of us are comrades-in-arms, comrades, and brothers who share life and death. In order to achieve this goal, the next training may be very hard, but I believe that none of the soldiers of the independent battalion are bad breeds, none of them are cowards, and only by practicing a good ability to kill the enemy can we destroy more enemies and better protect ourselves. I don't want you to be martyrs, I just want you to be heroes who kill the enemy. ”

After making a speech, Liu Tianshu asked each company to bring back the troops, and then the captured weapons and ammunition were also distributed to the three companies.

At the same time, the first company was deployed in Yankou Village to the south of Yaping Village, and the third company was arranged in Xiaotangba Village on the east side of Yaping Village. The second company remained in Yaping Village, together with the battalion headquarters.

As for the reconnaissance platoon, it is actually still the original reconnaissance squad.

Until there were no suitable fighters to join, it remained the size of a squad. (To be continued.) )