The news of the freshly baked enemy engineering team, the enemy engineering captain who took office - the news soon spread throughout Hekou Village, and the 5th Company of the Second Battalion of the Eighth Route Army transferred 20 soldiers and a deputy platoon commander, all of whom were concentrated under Xiao Junping's men.

Wu Zijian had already decided that, in addition to the three commanders of the battalion headquarters, the short guns of the company commanders, deputy company commanders, and the battalion headquarters' guards, communications, and medical personnel would all be collected and uniformly distributed to the enemy's engineering team. These people, who had worn short guns, temporarily changed to pony pistols, and when the short guns were seized in the future, they were re-issued to the above-mentioned people, etc.

Xiao Junping was very grateful to the deputy battalion commander for his strong support to the enemy engineering team. He quickly convened a meeting of the whole team, and first briefly explained the key points of intelligence gathering and the methods of camouflage reconnaissance; Immediately, he sent the deputy captain and three team members to immediately set off to Fengdian County to find out the movements of the enemy army in the county - many days have passed since the puppet Mongolian army came to attack Hekou Village and was repulsed, and the Japanese puppet army has not seen a retaliatory action, which makes Xiao Junping feel bottomless.

Wu Zijian personally came to Xiping Village, and he wanted to report the affairs of the enemy engineering team to the battalion commander and instructors.

At present, Xiping Village is a scene of land reform and military training in full swing. The land reform, which was presided over by the Xiping Village Field Mobilization Committee, was still going on, and instructor Liu Shu and battalion secretary Zhang Xiu were leading and promoting it in their capacity as director and deputy director of the mobilization committee, respectively. As for the recruit company, which appeared in the form of a village self-defense unit, the battalion commander Feng Changzhi led the deputy company commander of the sixth company and several platoon commanders, squad leaders, and veterans to supervise the training throughout the day.

The cavalry company has been officially formed. The 60 cavalry were organized into two platoons, all equipped with Type 38 cavalry guns, which were nicknamed by the commanders and fighters, pony pistols and sabers -- because the Second Battalion had fought two battles with the cavalry of the Japanese army and the puppet army, the number of Type 38 cavalry rifles captured reached more than 100 -- in a sense, the cavalry company of which Xia Lianshan was the company commander had now become the most well-equipped and well-equipped unit in the entire Second Battalion.

The captured deputy battalion commander and his subordinates of the puppet Mongolian army also expressed their intention to repent and join the Eighth Route Army, and now they are under the supervision of Xia Lianshan to help the inexperienced cavalry company drill and train.

Seeing all this, Wu Zijian was so excited that his nose lit up. At the battalion headquarters, as soon as he saw Liu Shu, he took the initiative to shake hands enthusiastically:

"Instructor, you've done a great job in your base! This time, it was really an eye-opener for me! ”

Liu Shu was very proud in his heart, but he pretended to be reserved and said: "It's just the beginning, it's just the beginning, I didn't expect that the mass work here would be carried out so smoothly." ”

Feng Changzhi is also quite complacent, the current momentum of Xiping Village is so good that people can dream of laughing, according to this momentum development, it will not take a few months, the second battalion will connect other villages in the area of Guanmen Mountain.

The three commanders held their first meeting since the division of the troops.

At first, the atmosphere was very harmonious, however, when the situation of Wu Zijian's establishment of the enemy engineering team and the appointment of the staff officer of the Jin army, who had just joined the Eighth Route Army, as the captain of the enemy engineering team, Liu Shu's face really sank.

"I have no opinion on the establishment of an enemy engineering team, and the battalion commander and I have no opinion, but Xiao Junping from the Jin Army is the leader of the enemy engineering team, and I don't agree."

Feng Changzhi was also surprised by Xiao Junping's quick appointment, but Wu Zijian had tried to let Xiao Junping serve as the deputy commander of the 5th Company and replace the departed Xia Lianshan, so the battalion commander was somewhat mentally prepared.

"Battalion commander, what about your attitude?" Liu Shu began to be aggressive.

"Uh, Lao Wu, I think you should discuss with us in advance before announcing the appointment." Feng Changzhi carefully chose the words, he didn't want to see the instructor and the deputy battalion commander clash, but Wu Zijian's first cut and then play was indeed not in line with discipline.

"I reviewed, I did it too hastily, but I also made this decision out of retaining Xiao Junping, an intelligence talent."

"Talent?" Liu Shu smiled coldly: "If he is a staff officer of the Kuomintang Army and does not join the Eighth Route Army, no one in the second battalion of my Lin Division knows how to engage in intelligence?" Joke. ”

When Wu Zijian heard this, his face sank.

The atmosphere at the battalion headquarters instantly became solemn. Feng Changzhi had the intention to speak softly, but he couldn't find a conversation for a while.

"I think so," said the instructor, who apparently knew how to seize the initiative in a stalemate, "since the enemy engineer corps has been established and is indeed helpful to the military work of the second battalion, it is not appropriate to change it; But Xiao Junping can't come to the position of captain, I suggest another candidate, Xiao Junping temporarily in the enemy team as a member, and then consider his promotion when he has a good performance in the future. ”

"I'm against it!" Wu Zijian didn't wait for the battalion commander to express his position, and immediately said in a loud voice: "Our Eighth Route Army is policy-oriented, and we have already appointed someone to be the captain, and now we want to remove someone from their post for no reason, this will not work!" ”

Liu Shu continued to sneer: "It's already been appointed? Who appointed it? What right do you, Deputy Battalion Commander Wu, have to appoint a company-level commander directly under the battalion headquarters by yourself? ”

Feng Changzhi smelled the smell and hurriedly said: "What Lao Wu did was not appropriate, but Staff Officer Xiao does have a set of intelligence tactics. This has been proven. ”

Wu Zijian gave a thumbs up to the battalion commander: "It's still the battalion commander who can grasp the key to the problem!" Let's not discuss my mistakes, I will review my mistakes. But Xiao Junping is really qualified for the position of the captain of the enemy worker. ”

Of course, Liu Shu refused to give up, so he finally started a quarrel with Wu Zijian. The two of them didn't give in to each other, and finally Wu Zijian slapped the table angrily again:

"You can deal with my mistakes as you like, and you can remove me from my position! But about Xiao Junping's appointment as the captain of the enemy team, it was decided! There is no possibility of any change! I'll take my position as deputy battalion commander in exchange for his appointment as a captain, it's always okay, right?! ”

After that, the deputy battalion commander got up and put on a cotton coat, and left when he went out: "Before you two remove me, I will first go to the cavalry company to inspect!" ”

Wu Zijian, who had gone away, actually knew in his heart that neither the battalion commander nor the instructor could remove him from the post of deputy battalion commander because he had appointed an enemy engineer captain on his own initiative.

In the wilderness outside the end of Xiping Village, Wu Zijian, who was riding a horse, saw the cavalry galloping and drilling, and his mood suddenly became very good. It was a flat, vast wasteland interspersed with a few lonely woods, ideal for training cavalry.

Xia Lianshan didn't know that the deputy battalion commander had just made a big noise at the battalion headquarters, and happily introduced to him the rapid changes of the cavalry company. It turned out that more than a dozen prisoners, including the deputy commander of the cavalry battalion of the puppet Mongolian army, were veterans of the cavalry for many years, and their riding skills were first-class, and they had rich training experience.

"Lianshan, I heard Captain Xiao say that at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, a hundred miles to the south, there is a flat river, and it is almost parallel to Nantongpu Road. With such terrain, cavalry is promising. So, you, the commander of the cavalry company, have a long way to go! ”

Xia Lianshan was full of joy when he learned that Xiao Junping had joined the Eighth Route Army and served as the captain of the enemy engineer of the second battalion, at this moment his horse and the deputy battalion commander's horse stood side by side, he pointed to the vast wilderness with his horse whip and said: "Deputy battalion commander, Captain Xiao is right, from here to the south are all such plains, and there is no obstacle for the cavalry to run. Moreover," Xia Lianshan paused, looked at Wu Zijian and said, "Seventy miles away is Pingquan County, where is my hometown." ”

Wu Zijian was stunned: "Pingquan County, your hometown?" Okay, take the time to take your vacation and go back, is the old lady at home okay? ”

Xia Lianshan was a little excited: "It's been five years since I left home, I should be fine, my father and mother have always been healthy." Deputy battalion commander, what's going on over there in Fengdian? ”

Wu Zijian understood that his subordinates were still worried about his sister's family: "Well, don't worry, the puppet Mongolian army that came to attack Hekou Village this time was opened from Fengdian, so Captain Xiao attaches great importance there, after the enemy engineering team is established, the first task is to send people to Fengdian to reconnoitre." ”

"In the past few days, I have chatted with the deputy battalion commander of the original puppet Mongolian army, and he said that Fengdian is still closed and people are not allowed to enter or leave."

"That's right, so Captain Xiao asked his team members to act with the camera, and strive to be able to blend in, but it really can't work, so he will send someone to watch outside the city first, and the Japanese puppet army will take the initiative as soon as there is a movement."

Wu Zijian intended to let Xia Lianshan go to the battalion commander and instructor to resign for him. Leaving the training ground of the cavalry company, he and the two soldiers accompanying him simply rushed to the return road of Hekou Village. The deputy battalion commander knew very well that the battalion commander at this time must be doing the work of an instructor in every possible way, and on the one hand, he denounced this lawless deputy battalion commander, and on the other hand, persuaded Liu Shu not to have the same knowledge as the deputy battalion commander.

Wu Zijian rode away triumphantly and with a wicked smile on his face.

At the end of Hekou Village, the deputy commander of the second battalion saw the artillery squad that was also training from a distance, and the squad leader Zhao Yejiao led the soldiers to gather in front of the 20-type 82 mortar, explaining the essentials of artillery operation in a comparative manner.

- With cavalry and artillery, Lao Tzu's second battalion is now no worse than the little devil's team!

Wu Zijian, who was more and more happy, ran his horse directly to the artillery squad. Zhao Yejiao, the leader of the artillery squad, asked again as soon as they met: When will there be a few more boxes of shells? When will two more cannons come? Also, there were only two plates of bullets left in the bullet box of the 92 heavy machine gun, and if they really wanted to put it into actual combat, it would not take a minute to completely run out.

Wu Zijian smiled and looked at the mortar first, and then went to fiddle with the 92 heavy machine gun, he asked Zhao Yejiao: "The Japanese 92 heavy machine, compared with our Makqin, which one is better to use?" ”

"Report to the battalion commander, I have not used the Min 24 style (author's note: the Min 24 style is a Chinese model of imitation of Makqin); But in the past, I heard from the brothers of the heavy machine gun company of the national army that it was water-cooled, which was not as good as the air cooling of the radiator in Little Japan. ”

Wu Zijian looked at the Type 92 heavy machine gun covered with heat sinks on the gun's body, and nodded: The little devil's heavy machine gun seems to be much stronger than their weird crooked light machine gun.

"Good! I'm going to try to get you shells and heavy machine gun bullets! ”

Hearing the deputy battalion commander say so confidently, Zhao Yejiao and the soldiers of the artillery squad couldn't help but get excited: "Deputy battalion commander, are we going to fight the little devil?" ”