War of Resistance: Glory of the Beasts

Chapter 729: I can afford a tank, but I can’t afford the gas

Chapter 729: I can afford a tank, but I can’t afford the gas…

The snow stopped and the ground was covered with white. The soldiers of the headquarters were holding brooms and sweeping the snow in the yard to prevent the yard from becoming muddy when the sun shines tomorrow. At the same time, Xu Chaoyang started talking about business with his hands behind his back in the house.

“It’s going to be a big battle.”

Xu Chaoyang stood in front of everyone and said, “This time we will not know who our opponent is or how many people there are. We may even face countless enemies rushing towards Shanxi.”

“And our military strength will no longer be 5,000…”

Xu Chaoyang took out the commendation order issued by the Yan’an Military Commission, unfolded it in front of everyone and read: “Due to the outstanding performance of the 217th Military Division in the Shanxi ‘Recovery War’, the Military Commission and the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region specially proposed to commend and commend all members. The merits of each unit will be evaluated after being reported by the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region!”

“Also, the troops under the 217th Military Region will be expanded to the ‘217th Column’, with Xu Chaoyang as the leader…”

After the Pingxingguan Campaign, in addition to the three divisions, five columns were added. The first column was established later, in June 1939, with Xu Xiangqian as the head and Zhu Rui as the political commissar. It was abolished in 6 and its main force was incorporated into the Shandong Military Region.
The Second Column was established in February 1940, with Zuo Quan as its chief and Huang Kecheng as its political commissar. It was abolished in 2.

The Third Column was established in April 1938, with Lü Zhengcao as its chief and Sun Zhiyuan as its political commissar. It was abolished in 4 and its main force was incorporated into the Jinsui Military Region.
The Fourth Column was established in May 1938, with Song Shilun as its chief and Deng Hua as its political commissar. It was abolished in 5 and its main force was incorporated into the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Advance Army.
The Fifth Column was established in August 1940, with Huang Kecheng as its leader…

At that time, the column was not an official designation. The main reason for establishing the column was that many troops were behind enemy lines, too scattered and inconvenient to mobilize, so they were covered by the column organization. This would make it easier for informal troops such as county brigades, district squads, and militia to participate in the war.

The establishment of the 217th Column was because the entire Shanxi Province was covered by the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. When Xu Chaoyang wanted to mobilize these troops to participate in the war, he needed to report to his higher authorities. Once the Japanese invaders attacked, the time for mobilizing the troops would be delayed, which could easily lead to fatal tactical mistakes.

“I order, immediately, to fight constantly!”

Chang Zhan stood up.

Standing in a proper manner: “Immediately recruit new soldiers for standardized training, with a minimum training duration of ten hours per day. The training subjects will be reduced to the simplest training methods, with enhanced training in shooting, obedience, and bayonet fighting. The rest of the training subjects will be put on hold for the time being.”

The moment he said this, Xu Chaoyang had a deeper understanding of why those great men on the Heavenly Ranking in real history only carried out ‘skilled soldiers’ training during this period, instead of ‘elite soldiers training’. This was something that could only be understood under a time-sensitive environment.

“Yes!”

“Specifications, according to the division.”

After Xu Chaoyang finished speaking, everyone looked at Chang Zhan with envy: “Old Chang, are you going to be a division commander?”

“It’s your treat!”

Dang, Dang, Dang!

Yang Jingyu knocked on the table: “It’s a meeting!”

These guys, who even Xu Chaoyang couldn’t handle, just shut up quietly like a group of sheep without any reaction when Lao Yang shouted at them.

Xu Chaoyang said again: “New Second Regiment, Wang Tianhao.”

“arrive.”

Wang Tianhao also stood up.

Xu Chaoyang continued, “Your men were all new recruits originally, but after this ‘Battle of Recovering the Land’, most of the soldiers have combat experience and have undergone a full six months of training. Therefore, all the existing county battalions, district squads, and militias in the military region will be incorporated into the formal organization and will be under your command. The main training subjects are shooting, physical fitness, and coordinating operations with mechanized troops. All other subjects will be put on hold.”

“Yes!”

“Specifications, according to the division.”

At that moment, while everyone around him looked at Wang Tianhao with envy, Qu Yong had already puffed out his chest. He had just come out of the guard battalion and had already become the head of the regiment. He had never expected that he could be promoted so quickly…

“Qu Yong!”

“To!”

Qu Yong also stood up, and Xu Chaoyang spoke up: “The 67th Regiment suffered the greatest losses and currently has the most recruits. I will give you all the little 217s sent back from Yan’an. I will use them as a framework so that you can have a stable structure while recruiting new recruits.”

“At the same time, the main training subjects of the troops you lead are ‘shooting, infantry and artillery coordination, physical fitness, and pursuit and annihilation of the enemy’…”

“Specifications, according to the division.”

At this point, Xu Chaoyang looked at everyone and said, “The original artillery battalion will be expanded into an artillery regiment before our own imitation new artillery arrives. The recruits will be trained with the Type 92 infantry artillery. Soon I will have the arsenal produce a batch of ‘imitation Krupp’s’ and will give you priority in producing 100 training artillery shells…”

“The 1st Cavalry Battalion will be expanded to the 1st Cavalry Regiment. Before the new tanks arrive, use the Type 95 Light Vehicle and our existing armored vehicles as the basis for training. The arsenal will provide you with a small amount of ammunition for live-fire exercises;” “The Cavalry Battalion will be disbanded.”

“Kuaizhe, Shen Kuaizi, will be transferred from the Guard Battalion to form a direct subordinate ‘Engineering Battalion’ and serve as the battalion commander; the Guard Battalion commander will be the big guy.”

“Listen carefully, the organization has changed, but I am only responsible for military pay, food, weapons and ammunition. Don’t ask me how to recruit subordinates and whether you can figure it out. If you have the ability, I will still pay you even if you can recruit an army. But if you can’t even figure out how to manage your subordinates, then get out of here…”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

All the soldiers stood up at this moment, causing the experts to bow slightly, not knowing whether they should stand up or not.

“Lao Yang?”

“You have to hurry up and set up political departments in each division. Especially after a large number of new recruits have poured in, there will definitely be a lot of troublemakers. The guys under our command are used to being wild. Don’t let any of the new recruits get angry and shoot them with their guns. Otherwise, the new recruits will think that we will bully the common people…”

“I’ll go to the troops.” Yang Jingyu made the decision on the spot without saying a word.

“You guys!” Xu Chaoyang turned his head and looked over: “From today on, you will be different from before. When you walk out of this door, people will start to call you leaders. You should know what you can and cannot do.”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes!!!”

The whole room full of soldiers straightened their bodies and stood at attention to salute Xu Chaoyang. Xu Chaoyang seemed to have heard the soundtrack of “Drawing Sword”. Their faces that were tanned to the point of peeling on the battlefield, their lips that were cracked to the point of bleeding, and their eyes with mucus hanging from the corners of their eyes all showed a sense of determination.

They followed Xu Chaoyang from the Northeast to Shanxi. Today, they have all grown up…

“Go.”

Xu Chaoyang waved his hands vigorously, and these people walked out of the 217th Headquarters steadily. But as soon as they left the hospital, Qu Yong jumped up and shouted: “Woohoo!”

Xu Chaoyang just turned around, and immediately turned back, took off his shoes and walked towards the door: “I will make you lose your confidence!”

bump!
The old cotton-padded shoes, which were covered in dust, hit the door, causing it to shake. When the loud noise was heard, Qu Yong immediately shrank his neck…

When the big guy strolling outside the door picked up Xu Chaoyang’s shoes, Qu Yong ran away faster than a rabbit and dared not stay at the door of the military sub-district headquarters for even a minute.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Xu Chaoyang then smiled at the experts and said, “Well, let’s talk about our business?”

“Everyone, with the current production capacity of the arsenal, if it runs 24 hours a day, how many bullets can it produce by the beginning of next spring?”

Professor Xiao Wang, one of the two Wangs, responded, “Commander, your question is right on the point. Last year, we were waiting for electricity and mines. Before the war, we only had more than 600,000 rounds of ammunition, less than 700,000. Even if we work non-stop now, we have only a limited time. At most, we can only have 1.2 million rounds.”

Professor Lao Wang added: “This is only the case when the machinery does not have any problems and does not need maintenance. Our machinery comes from the Dagu Factory, which is very old for this era. Although we can produce many weapons and ammunition independently, our production capacity is not as good as that of the Taiyuan Arsenal.”

“Unless, you have a new production line.”

Xu Chaoyang shook his head: “How could the Russians sell me the production line right now…”

It’s good enough that those bastards are willing to provide BT5 light tanks, and the bullet caliber of the vehicle-mounted machine guns on the BT5 light tanks is not 79, but 762. If the support is in place, all the vehicle-mounted machine guns will have to be replaced. But it doesn’t matter. The MG30 imitated by their own arsenal will have more firepower. But the purpose of doing this is equivalent to giving you a mobile phone for free and asking you to pay a fixed monthly bill, right?
“What is the status of Garland’s research?”

Tong Meng spoke up: “It’s ready for mass production. I suggest that all H34Y production lines be changed to Garand. The American guns are much better than H34Y in terms of performance and failure rate. Even if the troops are not used to it, they should change it.”

“But…” Bi Sheng looked at Xu Chaoyang with disapproval.

“Director Bi, there’s no need to be so hesitant. Just speak your mind!”

“It’s no problem to produce guns. We have the blueprints and experience in producing semi-automatic rifles. But with more than a million rounds of ammunition to be distributed to the expanded 217th Army and the Sichuan Army, how many bullets can each person get? Once we distribute the Garand, won’t we become the devils?”

Tong Meng glanced at Bi Sheng and asked, “Why did you become a devil?”

Bi Sheng smiled evilly and said, “I can afford a tank, but I can’t afford the gas…”

(End of this chapter)