Fang Ligong guessed what Chu Yunfei was thinking as soon as he saw his expression, and couldn't help but remind him: "Tuan Zuo, you don't want to help the independent group, do you?"
"Strict order from the war zone: The 358th Regiment must not send a single soldier to reinforce the Eighth Route Army. Anyone who violates the order will be subject to military law. Don't be confused!"
Chu Yunfei smiled and replied: "Brother Ligong, don't worry... I, Chu Yunfei, am not stupid enough to disobey the principal's order and ruin my own future just to support the Eighth Route Army!"
"But I can't just watch Kong Jie being wiped out by the Japanese and remain indifferent!"
"I haven't been in contact with Kong Jie for a long time, but there is always a feeling of sympathy for each other. During the independent group, he called me brother Yunfei, and he taught me everything he wanted. He said whatever he wanted without hiding anything. We are still apart. Give me a command knife before you go."
"He treats me like a brother. I, Chu Yunfei, cannot be an ungrateful person, and I will never refuse to save him!"
"What about the orders from the war zone?"
Seeing that Chu Yunfei had made up his mind, Fang Ligong knew that nothing he could say could change this decision. We can only do the next best thing and move out the war zone orders, hoping to stop the regiment leader's impulse!
Chu Yunfei smiled and answered confidently: "We are not allowed in the war zone to send out a single soldier to reinforce the Eighth Route Army. We are not allowed to fight back in self-defense!"
"The Japanese reinforcements want to return to Taiyuan in the shortest possible time. There must be troops passing through our defense area!"
"The troops were attacked by the Japanese in their own defense area and were forced to fight back in self-defense and block the Japanese returning reinforcements. Even if the war zone knew about it, they wouldn't say anything?"
"We can't just retreat when we are attacked and just ignore it!"
"If the Japanese army is allowed to pass through the 358th Regiment's defense area unharmed, the war zone can afford to lose this person, but I, Chu Yunfei, can't afford to lose him!"
"Order, the first battalion, the second battalion, the third battalion, the artillery battalion directly under the regiment, to prepare for battle immediately, and to fortify layers of defenses along the road at all costs to stop the little Japanese who want to pass through our defense area!"
"Even if we can't stop them, we still have to let the little devils who cross the border shed a layer of skin!"
When Fang Ligong thought that this was really what happened, he immediately accepted the order: "Please rest assured, everyone, I will make arrangements now... to ensure that the Japanese are not allowed to pass through our defense area smoothly!"
At the north gate of Taiyuan, two fireballs suddenly rose into the sky at the city gate, and billowing black smoke immediately poured out from the city gate.
More than a hundred Eighth Route Army soldiers rushed towards the city gate, broke through the city gate and entered the city with just one attack.
"Company commander...the siege troops have entered Taiyuan!" Zhong Chengjun became excited as soon as he saw the city gate was breached.
"Assault company... enter the city... hurry up to prevent the little devils from blowing up the arsenal..." Huang Yu took out the box cannon and started giving orders.
"The armored platoon takes the lead, followed by the first, second and third platoons...the newly formed anti-aircraft platoon takes the last...kill..."
At the top of the east gate of Jinzhong County, Chief of Staff Li Wensheng was looking toward the end of the road with a telescope.
Under the cover of night, everything was dark and nothing could be seen.
I don't know how long it took, but an exclamation suddenly reached Li Wensheng's ears: "Chief of Staff...torches...there are torches at the end of the road...the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment are here!"
"Inform the fellow villagers in the city to heat up rice and dishes immediately..."
"The brothers have traveled for dozens of hours, and they must be tired and hungry... They must be able to eat hot meals and dishes when they enter the city..."
"Stew all the pork we seized in the Japanese warehouse. We must let the soldiers eat and drink well!"
After saying that, he rushed down from the tower, mounted his horse, and with a few guards rushed towards the New First and Second Regiments.
"Captain Li, Commander Ding, Political Commissar Zhao...Captain Kong asked me to meet you in Jinzhong. I saw that hot meals and dishes have been prepared in the city. The soldiers can eat them when they enter the city." Li Wensheng saw Li Yunlong and Ding Wei saluted.
"Hello, Chief of Staff Li... The soldiers are indeed working hard... I'll trouble you next!" Zhao Gang quickly returned the greeting.
Li Yunlong didn't come here for such a long time just for a hot meal.
He spoke bluntly and asked: "Chief of Staff Li... I heard from the correspondent that Kong Er has prepared a large amount of weapons and ammunition for us in Jinzhong..."
"What treasures do you have? Tell us about them!"
"After breaking out of the encirclement of the Japanese and puppet troops, the New Second Regiment lost almost all of its heavy weapons, and the ammunition was almost used..."
"If we don't replenish weapons and ammunition quickly, and we encounter little Japs again, the New Second Regiment won't even be able to fight a small-scale raid!"
Ding Wei answered: "The situation of the new group is similar..."
"Fortunately, there are no Japanese blocking our way...otherwise we wouldn't even be able to deal with an infantry brigade!"
Li Wensheng understood the truth and promised on the spot: "Please rest assured, two captains..."
"There are plenty of weapons and ammunition in Jinzhong City... I'm afraid you don't have that many troops to operate them!"
"Are there any heavy weapons?" Li Yunlong became more and more expectant as he listened, staring at Li Wensheng and continued to ask.
Li Wensheng replied: "Two mountain cannons, two infantry cannons, eight mortars, and eight heavy machine guns were seized from the Jinzhong Arsenal..."
"Attacked Jinzhong County and Taiyuan Airport, ambushed Japanese and puppet reinforcements, and attacked surrounding small and medium-sized strongholds. We also captured two mountain cannons, four infantry cannons, twelve mortars, and fourteen heavy machine guns..."
“All these weapons are hidden outside the city and can be replenished at any time for the new first and second regiments.
Li Yunlong was happy after hearing this. He called Ding Wei and started to divide the spoils: "Old Ding, four mountain cannons, two for each of us... six infantry cannons, three for each of us, just enough to form an artillery company!"
"Twenty mortars, each of us has ten mortars, plus the ones we brought, we will try to have three for every battalion!"
"Twenty-two heavy machine guns, each of us has eleven, plus the ones we brought, we will try to equip each battalion with four heavy machine guns, and form a cannon battery..."
"Damn it, I didn't expect that I, Li Yunlong, could be so rich... The regiment formed an artillery company, and the battalion formed a machine gun company!"
Li Wensheng suddenly interrupted: "Captain Li... we still have fifty or sixty grenade launchers... all equipped with troops, and each company can set up a grenade launcher squad!"
"There are seventy or eighty machine guns of all kinds in total, which is enough for each infantry platoon of the New Regiment and the New Second Regiment to set up a machine gun squad... I just don't know if you have that many manpower!"
"Of course!" Li Yunlong replied without hesitation.
"Although there are some shortages of manpower now, it does not affect the troops' use of those weapons!"
"Only the primary and secondary shooters and gunners are assigned to the light and heavy machine guns and artillery, and the riflemen are all assigned to serve as secondary shooters and ammunition carriers!"
"When we complete the mission and return to the base, we will expand the army to 4,000 people and become real rich men!"
Ding Wei thought about the problem more comprehensively than Li Yunlong. After he was happy, he thought of the specific task of the troops marching for more than 100 kilometers.
Looking at Li Wensheng, he asked: "Chief of Staff Li, Lao Li and I have been thinking about what the troops are doing when they come too far."
"Ask the correspondent you sent, he doesn't know either!"
"You are Lao Kong's partner, you must know the mission... tell us quickly!"
Li Wensheng said directly: "Send the military equipment we seized from the Taiyuan Arsenal back to the base safely!"
"The brigade commander sent a special telegram. For this batch of military equipment, our three regiments will not hesitate to spend all their money!"
"Hiss..." Ding Wei and Li Yunlong gasped at the same time, seeing shock and admiration in each other's eyes.
Li Yunlong was bold and quick to respond. He stared at Li Wensheng and asked.
"Escorting the military equipment seized from the Taiyuan Arsenal? You mean that the independent regiment has taken down the Taiyuan Arsenal!"
"I remember that the Taiyuan Arsenal is in Taiyuan City. If you want to capture the Taiyuan Arsenal, you must first capture Taiyuan... Could it be that you captured Taiyuan City as well!"
Li Wensheng quickly shook his head: "We didn't completely capture Taiyuan City, we just conquered the outer city of Taiyuan!"
"The arsenal is in the outer city. Taking the outer city of Taiyuan is equivalent to taking the Taiyuan arsenal!"
"Before meeting you, the leader has already broken through the east gate and north gate of Taiyuan."
"The assault company entered the outer city of Taiyuan from the north gate and equipped two armored vehicles. The Japanese army was eager to shrink its troops and defend the inner city. It shouldn't take too long to capture the arsenal."
"You idiot!" Li Yunlong became jealous after hearing this.
"Thankfully, I just said that he was interesting enough and would be the first to think of us when he gets something good!"
"In the end, I turned around and forgot about my old comrades... It's too much to do such a big thing as fighting Taiyuan without waiting for us!"
"Jinzhong is only 20 to 30 kilometers away from Taiyuan...it takes less than an hour to get there by horseback..."
"Old Ding, anyway, the troops will have to rest for a while after arriving in Jinzhong before they can continue their missions. Are you interested in going to Taiyuan with me? I'll meet with Kong Erluzi, a wealthy local man, and discuss the missions of each regiment!"
"Although radio is convenient, it is certainly not as direct as face-to-face discussions!"
Ding Wei knew as soon as he heard that Li Yunlong's real purpose was to go to Taiyuan...
I have been fighting Japanese for so long, but I have never been to a big city like Taiyuan!
Moreover, Taiyuan is also the headquarters of the Japanese First Army. There are a large number of Japanese expatriates and traitors living there. There will definitely be a lot to gain... You will definitely not lose money by going to Taiyuan.
He immediately answered: "Let's bring our respective cavalry companies over!"
"I heard that there is a cavalry brigade permanently stationed in Taiyuan. Although this unit has been transferred to the front line, they must have left a lot of war horses at the station!"
"If Kong Erluozi takes down the Japs Cavalry Brigade's station, maybe we can take the opportunity to add some war horses and restore the cavalry company to full strength!"
Li Yunlong's eyes lit up and he said: "Let's set off immediately!"
After saying that, he ordered Zhao Gang: "Old Zhao, I will leave the army to you!"
"The soldiers finished their hot meals and replenished their equipment while resting!"
"The regiment is directly under the artillery company, the battalion is directly under the machine gun company, the company is directly under the grenade squad, and the platoon is directly under the machine gun squad. They are all established by me... Without affecting the march of the troops, you can carry as much ammunition as you can."
"Jinzhong County is so big, there must be a lot of mules and horses in it!"
"Ask Chief of Staff Li to borrow some ocean to buy mules and horses, and make up the baggage company's equipment with 200 mules and horses... No, directly add to 300 horses, and transport all the ammunition!"
"Today I will become a rich man for once!"
