The deputy battalion commander Zeng Quandao said: "Battalion commander, the instructor recruits will stuff me with one move." Fortunately, many of the recruits were the original Jin Sui Army, otherwise I would not have been able to train them at all. The training of almost 600 people was not sloppy at all, so I was also very busy! ”

"Sit down, it's something out of the mountains! Xiao Zhang, report what you learned to the instructor and the deputy battalion commander! Wang Ping pointed to the two stools in front of him and said.

When the guard introduced, the smiles on the faces of the two men disappeared and became heavy.

As soon as he finished the introduction, Cheng Xiao sighed with emotion: "Battalion commander, our opponent is very cunning, he must have seen the purpose of our intention to consume a large number of their veterans, and then quickly shrink his troops, and would rather give up his stronghold than keep these veterans to ensure the expansion of the troops!" ”

Zeng Quan immediately said: "In this way, the speed at which the devils will be expanded into brigades will definitely be faster than we expected, and the less time we have to accumulate strength!" ”

"In a word, the situation in Laiyuan is becoming more and more unfavorable for us!" Cheng Xiao said in a heavy tone, and then a worried expression appeared on his face.

Wang Ping opened his mouth at this time, and replied in a surprising voice: "Lao Cheng, and Lao Zeng, don't be discouraged by the two of you." The devil is indeed very cunning and has a quick reaction time. However, the reaction speed of our separate battalion was also impatient. Didn't the report just say that? Zhang Qing had already begun to contact the other two company commanders, preparing to attack the Japanese puppet army returning to the city. ”

"Our independent battalion is so well equipped, the company commanders and instructors of the three companies are all old Red Army, and guerrilla warfare is their home skill. I believe that the five or six hundred devils who were ordered to return to the city would be beaten off by them even if they did not die. ”

"Also, don't forget one more thing. After the devil gave up his stronghold for the sake of the veterans, except for Laiyuan City, there was no Japanese puppet army in the surrounding villages and towns in the entire Laiyuan, which was not an opportunity for our independent battalion! ”

Cheng Xiao reacted immediately: "Battalion commander, what do you mean is to take advantage of the opportunity of the Japanese puppet army to establish a base area by taking advantage of the snobbery outside the city!" ”

"No, it's too long to directly establish a base area, and the devil won't give us that much time!" Wang Ping shook his head and replied.

"We can use this opportunity to recruit troops throughout Laiyuan, and we can recruit as many people as we want. There is also an intelligence network, instructors, you can cover every village and town in Laiyuan with our intelligence network. ”

"In this way, even if the formation of the Japanese mixed brigade is completed in the future, their every move in Laiyuan City will not escape our eyes!"

"Fighting a war is intelligence, as long as we have more accurate intelligence than the Japanese puppet army, we can find fighters and defeat them!"

Seeing that Wang Ping was more and more confident, Zeng Quan on the side immediately asked: "Battalion commander, do you already have an idea!" ”

"Not bad!" Wang Ping affirmed without hesitation.

"On the surface, this is the devil who has seen through our combat purpose, and their series of reactions have also become our crisis. But nothing is absolute, as long as you think about it and arrange it, a crisis can also turn into an opportunity! ”

Cheng Xiao immediately asked, "Battalion commander, what do you think!" ”

"It's easy for me to get the devils to give up these strongholds outside the city, but it's not so easy to return to these strongholds and reoccupy them in the future. Not only will it not be easy, but it will also be difficult. As for how to do it, we can't decide yet, but we have to decide according to the situation at that time! Wang Ping replied with a mysterious smile.

"So what do we do now?" Zeng Quan continued to ask.

"Two things, first let the three companies quickly end the battle, and then transport all the harvest back to the station, the task of the first company and the guard platoon remains the same, continue to keep an eye on Laiyuan City, and prevent the devils from going out of the city to sneak attack us!"

"The second thing, the second and third companies are all scattered in platoons, instructor, you take out all the money in our hands, and then send out all the political cadres in the battalion, bring the money, follow these main platoons, and run all over every village and town in Laiyuan City to recruit soldiers for me, as long as the conditions are qualified, we will recruit as many as we want!"

"In the past few days, the second, third, and second companies have sent back a lot of oceans, plus what we left before, more than 3,000 yuan. According to the old rules, there is definitely no problem in recruiting a thousand! Instructor Cheng Xiao did not raise any objections and answered very affirmatively.

Wang Ping shook his head and retorted: "No, a thousand recruits must be missing." Tell a few main platoon commanders that it has been a few months since the Japanese army occupied Laiyuan City, and there must be many hardcore traitors around who are working hard for the devils. Now that their master is gone, when recruiting soldiers, as long as they encounter those who are confirmed to be traitors with real evidence, and have done evil things, and have blood debts in their hands, they will resolutely take them. ”

"The seized materials were divided into three parts, and one part was given to the local people, so that everyone could recognize our Eighth Route Army. All the remaining supplies were sent back to the station, and from now on, we will have to stock up on more supplies. As for the seized money, except for gold and silver, all ordinary silver dollars were left for recruitment! ”

"So what do we do?" Cheng Xiao and Zeng Quan asked almost at the same time.

Wang Ping didn't answer immediately: "Lao Zeng, your task remains the same, continue to train new soldiers." But the puppet army and the ordinary people in the recruits must be separated, and then we will definitely have a big battle to fight, many of the puppet army are veterans, as long as the time is ripe, they will be able to replenish the troops immediately! ”

"Instructor, your main task is to screen prisoners, and the next three companies will definitely send back many prisoners. Those who are willing to join us under suitable conditions will be sent to the deputy battalion commander for training as soon as possible, and those who are not suitable and should be required to serve hard service will all be sent to the engineer platoon. ”

"The time left for us by the Japanese army is getting shorter and shorter, and the progress of the construction of the fortification group by the engineer platoon must be accelerated!"

"As for me, I will immediately return to the military sub-district and try to establish a radio link between us and the military sub-district so that we can make contact in the future. In addition, now that the situation in Laiyuan has become more and more intense, an independent battalion will definitely not be able to face such a bad situation, so I plan to ask the commander for the establishment of an independent regiment! ”

The expansion of the independent battalion into an independent regiment, whether it is for Cheng Xiao or Zeng Quan, means that his status in the army has been improved.

As a military man, there is no one who does not aspire to have a higher platform to present himself.

Therefore, as soon as Wang Ping mentioned the expansion of the troops, the eyes of the two people became hot. Then after a while, Cheng Xiao slowly calmed down and reminded Wang Ping.

"Battalion commander, even if the situation in Laiyuan gets worse, wouldn't it be good to ask your superiors directly to prepare!"

"It's fine!" Wang Ping replied very affirmatively: "This is the agreement between the commander and me, as long as the troops are pulled up and a firm foothold in Laiyuan, the independent battalion will be expanded into an independent regiment, and Commander Nie of the military region also knows about this, you can rest assured!" ”

"In addition, I have to return the favor to Head Chen when I go back this time. I promised him to exchange the equipment of a Japanese-style infantry company for twenty veterans from him, but they gave it without saying a word, and I promised him weapons and I can't go back on it. ”

"We don't have enough Japanese-style equipment ourselves, so we won't give it, instructor, you prepare me two hundred Chinese formal ones, three Czech-made ones, and then three grenadiers, all of which are equipped with 100 rounds of rifles and 500 rounds of machine guns. When you return to the military division, bring it back to Commander Chen! ”

"No problem!" The influence and benefits of twenty veterans on the independent battalion are too great, Cheng Xiao is very clear about the pros and cons, and he affirms without thinking about it.