lovenovelstory Chapter 25 Cavalry and Artillery
Chapter 25 Cavalry and Artillery
At this moment, a large number of villagers and soldiers have gathered under the old locust tree at the entrance of Changning Village.
Then I saw a large group of people standing on the main road, about sixty or seventy people, lined up in a not particularly neat but rather orderly queue.
Most of these people were wearing worn-out but starched gray-blue or khaki old military uniforms, and a few were wearing civilian clothes, but they all stood straight, with sharp eyes and a fierce aura that had been through the baptism of war.
Leading the group were three men around thirty years old. The middle one was burly and had a resolute face. Upon seeing Yang Zheng and his group approach, he immediately recognized Yang Zheng as the highest-ranking officer in the area. He stepped forward, gave a crisp military salute, and spoke in a loud voice:
"Sir! We are scattered brothers from the former 67th and 29th Armies of the Northeast Army. We were separated from the Japanese at Fenglingdu and the Yellow River and ended up in this area."
I heard a few days ago that your unit had inflicted a crushing defeat on the Japanese invaders here, achieving a brilliant victory. My brothers and I are filled with admiration! We are all soldiers of China, unwilling to be slaves of a conquered nation, only wanting to fight the Japanese devils!
"I have come today to join the Eighth Route Army, requesting to be taken in and fight against the Japanese together! Please grant my request, sir!"
The dozens of men behind him also straightened their chests and looked intently at Yang Zheng.
The surrounding villagers and soldiers from the Eighth Company whispered among themselves, their faces filled with surprise and excitement. So many veterans had suddenly appeared!
Yang Zheng glanced around, but his first sight was of the three tall and powerful warhorses behind them. A thought struck him, and he quickly lowered himself, gave them a military salute, and said loudly:
"Welcome to the Eighth Route Army! Anyone who is truly committed to fighting the Japanese is welcome. I am Yang Zheng, the company commander of the 8th Company, New 1st Regiment, 386th Brigade, 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. From now on, you can call me Company Commander Yang. In the Eighth Route Army, there is no distinction between superiors and inferiors; we are all comrades!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the leading man's face lit up with excitement, and he saluted again: "Thank you for taking me in, Company Commander Yang!"
My name is Liu Tiegang, former platoon deputy of the 67th Army of the Northeast Army! Most of these brothers are veterans who fought bloody battles against the Japanese devils. As long as we have guns in our hands, we will never retreat!
"Alright!" Yang Zheng patted him on the shoulder, then looked at Chen Xiaoquan and said, "First, arrange for the comrades to go into the village to rest, register their names, and have them checked. Also, inform the cooks that there will be an extra meal at noon; let's welcome the new comrades!"
Yang Zheng emphasized his words on the registration list, and Chen Xiaoquan immediately understood what he meant, nodding and replying, "Yes, Company Commander!"
He then turned to the people in front of him and said, "Comrades, please follow me!"
Led by Chen Xiaoquan, the new recruits from No. 70 rushed into the village, while Yang Zheng stood still, watching each soldier walk by.
These people were summoned by the system, so their origins should be foolproof, but he still asked Chen Xiaoquan to investigate them thoroughly and do his job properly.
However, his attention was mainly focused on the three soldiers leading their warhorses. As they walked past, he asked, "Which unit did you belong to before?"
The three soldiers were tall and strong, with a cavalry saber at their waists. Upon hearing Yang Zheng's question, they immediately stopped, and the one in the middle stepped forward, saluted, and replied, "Reporting to the company commander, we are from the Sixth Cavalry Army."
The Sixth Cavalry Corps, a unit of the Central Army, Yang Zheng nodded, understanding.
At the same time, he also had a guess in his mind: if he summoned warriors and soldiers at the same time, would the troops that came be cavalry again?
If it were really like this now, then it would be much easier for him to build a cavalry force in the future.
After all, a cavalry unit cannot function solely on warhorses; without matching warriors, even the best warhorses cannot be of much use.
Training cavalry would take at least three to six months; don't even think about it.
"Go ahead, welcome to the team! From now on, we'll fight together to kill the enemy!"
As Yang Zheng finished speaking, the three cavalrymen were visibly excited, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, sir! We swear to fight to the death!"
Yang Zheng smiled and waved, signaling them to leave.
Then Zhao Dahu, who had rushed over after hearing the news, approached him and said, "Company Commander, this is damn strange. We've never seen so many defeated soldiers joining our Eighth Route Army before. Don't they all look down on us for being poor and unsophisticated?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Zheng became displeased and kicked him in the butt, saying, "You son of a bitch, how can you say that?"
"Ouch!" Zhao Dahu jumped up, clutching his backside. Then, quick-thinking, he said, "Company Commander, Company Commander, don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand! I mean, could this be a trap?"
Yang Zheng was taken aback, then looked at him with some surprise, as if to say, "When did you learn to use your brain?"
Zhao Dahu felt he understood Yang Zheng's gaze. His face flushed red, but he dared not speak out, fearing that Yang Zheng would continue to kick him.
"Ahem!" Yang Zheng coughed tactically, then said, "I have already instructed Chen Xiaoquan. He will find out the details of these people one by one!"
Of course, most importantly, our Eighth Company isn't worth the effort others would expend to infiltrate us.
Zhao Dahu nodded, feigning understanding, a smile of excitement spreading across his face. "Company Commander, my second platoon is almost empty. When are we going to reorganize the troops?"
This is a very good point. The current organization of the Eighth Company is a complete mess. There are comrades from the original first and second platoons of the Eighth Company, soldiers from the Northeast Army and Northwest Army who joined later, and 49 new recruits. Now there are 70 more mixed "deserted soldiers". It really needs to be readjusted, otherwise command will be a problem.
Yang Zheng stroked his chin, dismissed Zhao Dahu to continue overseeing the construction of the barracks, and began to ponder things himself.
Half a day later, Chen Xiaoquan, beaming with joy, walked into the company headquarters with a list and reported to Yang Zheng: "Company Commander, we've already checked it once, and their backgrounds are all fine. Here's the list of personnel, along with their previous branches of service."
Yang Zheng took it and looked at it, and a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.
"Damn it, we've struck gold!"
The list was mostly made up of ordinary soldiers, but there were some special cases. In addition to the three cavalrymen, there were also four artillerymen from the Jin-Sui Army.
Damn it, it's like a pillow appearing just when you're about to fall asleep.
His Eighth Company didn't have any artillery, but they were also struggling to find people to operate the two grenade launchers. Although Luo Dashan had already led people in training, the results were unsatisfactory, and a lot of time was still needed.
But now, we have operators for the grenade launchers.
Chen Xiaoquan had clearly considered this as well, and said emphatically, "That's right, Company Commander, Yu Dahai and the other three are incredibly talented. And Sun Ming and his two cavalrymen are also exceptional! We've truly struck gold this time."
The voice was filled with joy.
"Good, excellent! Here's what we'll do: have someone call Zhao Dahu, Luo Dashan, Zeng Dahui, Liu Tiegang, Yu Dahai, and Sun Ming over! We should reorganize the Eighth Company!" Yang Zheng slammed his hand on the table and gave the order.
"Yes, sir!"