"Old Zhao, what do you mean, boss? How do you get Lao Li to act with us?"
Li Qiufan frowned and looked at Zhao Gang, wanting to hear Zhao Gang's thoughts.
"You don't even understand. How could I understand? If I had understood, I would be the teacher!"
Zhao Gang rolled his eyes at Li Qiufan angrily, and then uttered a rare curse word.
"Hey, Lao Zhao, why are you swearing!"
Li Qiufan became interested and pretended to correct Zhao Gang.
"Fuck you, if you let me lead the troops for a few more months, I will be able to scold the Japanese from Taiyuan and even give them a spanking!"
Zhao Gang didn't like Li Qiufan at all when he mentioned this matter. He led the troops for two months and even wore away what little bookishness he had left.
"Ahem, it's almost done, the brothers are all watching!"
Li Qiufan coughed twice, and then continued: "I think we can set off first, and then send a telegram to Lao Li and ask him to follow behind."
"Okay, you are the teacher and you have the final say!"
Zhao Gang nodded and said that he had no objection, and this time he would follow the troops and leave no one at the base.
Because as long as this battle is won, there will be no Shanglin County base area, and the entire Taiyuan and surrounding areas will be the territory of the Eighth Route Army.
After arranging for the dispatcher to send the report to Li Yunlong, Li Qiufan directly ordered the troops to set off to carry out this operation.
According to the instructions of the headquarters, this operation was divided into three main directions of attack, and some small troops followed to fight guerrillas.
The purpose is to clean up the surrounding towns and strongholds occupied by the Japanese, squeeze all the Japanese into one, and then form an encirclement to eat them all.
Li Qiufan and Li Yunlong's troops were one of the main forces, responsible for cleaning up in one direction.
He didn't know the other two directions, but together with Li Yunlong's troops, there were more than 30,000 people on his side, which was completely the strength of an army.
Not to mention that he also has large-caliber heavy artillery here, plus Li Yunlong also has an artillery battalion, and the firepower is even better.
"Brother! Brother!"
Just as the troops were about to arrive at the first county town occupied by the Japs, Li Yunlong led several guards and chased them on horseback.
"Old Li, why did you come here by yourself? Where is the army?"
Li Qiufan was a little surprised, but he didn't expect that Li Yunlong would chase after him.
"Army veterans Xing and Da Biao are with them. I'll come over here first and take a look!"
When he got close, Li Yunlong got off his horse and said cheerfully to Li Qiufan.
"Haha, what did you come here to see? Watch me fight the Japanese?"
Li Qiufan hugged his arms and looked at Li Yunlong. They hadn't seen each other for two or three months, and Li Qiufan was a little happy to be together again.
"Damn it, isn't our Lao Li under your control this time? Of course we have to come over and see the commander!"
Li Yunlong joked playfully, and then solemnly gave Li Qiufan a military salute.
"Old Li, what kind of trouble are you trying to make?"
Li Qiufan was a little confused. He was so confused by Li Yunlong that he could only return a military salute.
"It's okay, I just feel a little emotional. Brother, you have become our Lao Li's boss."
"But don't worry, brother, you will be our boss, and we will serve you!"
Li Yunlong patted Li Qiufan on the shoulder and said with emotion.
It is true that Li Yunlong was the regiment commander when Li Qiufan first joined the Eighth Route Army, and he was just a battalion commander at that time.
Now Li Yunlong has been promoted to brigade commander, and Li Qiufan has become division commander. The positions have been changed directly. Li Qiufan is one level higher than Li Yunlong. No wonder he feels emotional.
"Okay, Lao Li, we brothers have never had superiors before. Let's discuss something!"
Li Qiufan shook his head. He really didn't take this matter too seriously.
"Hehe, no problem. Brother, just tell me how to fight next. We, Lao Li, will listen to you."
Li Yunlong nodded. He actually didn't care much, he just sighed.
"Lao Li, how many people are there in your army now?"
Li Qiufan wanted to know about Li Yunlong's troops first. After all, two or three months had passed and he didn't know how Li Yunlong was developing.
"Brother, I even brought my family's wealth this time, more than 15,000 people! How about it?"
Li Yunlong immediately became proud when he talked about the situation of his army.
"Fifteen thousand people? Lao Li, you can do it. It's developing fast enough!"
Li Qiufan was a little surprised. He didn't expect Li Yunlong to expand the team so quickly. He relied on the assistance of the headquarters to expand the team this time. Otherwise, he didn't know how long it would take to expand.
"Hehe, it's not a big deal. I'm still worse than your brother. I think your marching team must have 20,000 people, right?"
Li Yunlong waved his hand, then looked at the marching team of the independent division and said.
"Well, more than 22,000 people are not bad."
Li Qiufan nodded and gave himself a wave of Versailles.
As for those more people than before, Li Qiufan had previously asked Zhao Gang to recruit them to supplement the artillery regiment.
The artillery regiment actually had enough manpower, but Li Qiufan considered that the artillery regiment would definitely need to be expanded in the future, so he simply recruited and trained people first, and then expanded the number of weapons units.
Calculated in this way, the two brigades of the independent division now have more than 6,000 people each, the guard regiment has more than 2,000 people, the cavalry regiment has about 2,000 people, and the artillery regiment has more than 5,000 people.
"Brother, you can do it. There are more than 20,000 people there. We, Lao Li, can't catch up with you!"
Hearing the figures Li Qiufan mentioned, Li Yunlong was truly envious. No matter how hard he pursued, he could not catch up with Li Qiufan's development.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. How far is your army?"
Li Qiufan waved his hand, and then asked about the distance between Li Yunlong's troops and his.
"It's about four or five miles away. We'll catch up soon. Brother, please tell me how to arrange the next step."
Old Li said briefly, and then waited for Li Qiufan to ask him to arrange tasks.
"Actually, there is no arrangement. We just follow the wishes of the headquarters and just push it all the way."
"Don't let our two armies merge together. Just divide them into two parts and advance at the same time. But don't rush in and make sure that each other can support each other in time!"
Li Qiufan shook his head. The arrangements for this operation headquarters have been completed, and all they have left is execution.
Moreover, he did not look down upon these Japanese squadrons that occupied the county seat.
Mainly Li Yunlong. Li Qiufan was afraid that he would be too impulsive and that he would suffer losses if he led his troops too deeply, so he could only warn him in advance.
"Sure, let's do as you say, brother. Then we, Lao Li, will be in charge of the left side. Our radio station will contact you at any time."
"Don't worry, I won't be impulsive. I'll send you a telegram as soon as I capture the next county town!"
Li Yunlong patted his chest and made a promise. After all, the boss was in charge of the overall situation this time, and it was such a big operation as the Taiyuan attack. He, Li Yunlong, did not dare to have fun.
