The more Captain Zhou listened, the more solemn his expression became.
I only equipped four mountain cannons with my back to the war zone... The independent regiment was actually equipped with field cannons, large-caliber mortars, and even heavy mountain cannons through capture.
After getting angry, a flash of worry quickly flashed in my mind.
The Independent Regiment is even equipped with heavy artillery, while the 354th Regiment has been depleted and only has four mountain cannons. If a conflict breaks out between the two sides, I will be a dish in front of them, and they can eat whatever they want without being able to resist.
Looking at the chief of staff, he continued to ask: "Have they recruited troops in the base area? How many people do they plan to expand the troops to?"
"Several counties controlled by the Independent Regiment are recruiting troops. They originally had six main battalions, and there are rumors that they plan to expand by three more battalions. This will give the Independent Regiment a strength of nine battalions."
"We calculate based on a battalion of 500 people, the nine main battalions alone have 4,500 people!"
"With the addition of the cavalry battalion, artillery battalion, guard battalion, and supply battalion... there are seven or eight directly affiliated troops, and the total strength is definitely 6,000!"
Captain Zhou's face became more solemn and he stared at the sand table in silence for a while without answering.
The chief of staff also looked ugly.
If the Independent Regiment also belongs to the Shanxi-Sui Army, and the two sides are neighbors, the stronger they are, the safer the 354th Regiment will be.
The key to the problem is that they do not belong to the Jinsui Army, and the war zone is still targeting them and guarding against them.
In this way, the stronger they are, the worse the situation of the 3rd, 5th and 4th regiments will be, the greater the pressure for survival, and the risk of being swallowed up by them at any time.
This is no joke.
The 354th Regiment was in enemy-occupied territory, with many Japanese and puppet troops separated from the war zone.
If a conflict breaks out between the two sides, and the Independent Regiment wants to attack the 354th Regiment, the war zone will be unable to help if it wants to help...
Seeing that the regimental leader kept a sullen face and said nothing, the chief of staff couldn't help but ask: "The regimental leader..."
"The expanded independent group is too powerful, and the gap in strength between us and them is huge!"
“Not only can’t you threaten them, but you may also be attacked by them!”
"I suggest reporting this matter to the war zone immediately and asking the war zone to provide us with weapons, equipment and ammunition supplies, and to expand our troops!"
"Even if it doesn't reach the 6,000 members of the Independent Regiment, it can be expanded to 4,000 people!"
"Otherwise, when a conflict breaks out between the two sides, we won't even have a chance to fight back, and we will be swallowed up by them!"
Captain Zhou's mind was in a state of confusion, and he did not think of any way to break the situation. The chief of staff's suggestion was exactly what he wanted, and he quickly nodded in agreement...
An hour after the telegram was sent, there was no response from the war zone...
Two hours have passed and the war zone has not sent back any message.
Commander Zhou became anxious again and quickly contacted his old classmates at the theater headquarters to ask about the situation...
Another hour later, Captain Zhou's long-awaited call back was finally received by the Chief of Staff.
But the chief of staff looked particularly ugly, and he could guess at a glance that the content of the telegram was not a good thing.
"Regimental leader, the theater has rejected our proposal to expand our troops!" the chief of staff reported with a frown.
"Why?" Captain Zhou asked with a puzzled look on his face!
"If we don't expand our troops, how can we suppress the independent regiment and restrict their development!"
"Did those officers at the theater headquarters take the wrong medicine? Don't they want to suppress the independent regiment anymore and plan to hand over northwestern Shanxi to the Eighth Route Army..."
The staff officer sighed and explained: "Your old classmate sent a telegram saying: The war zone doesn't believe us anymore!"
"We are worried that we are reselling arms and equipment in the name of expanding our troops..."
"Am I a pig?" Captain Zhou became angry when he heard it.
"The independent regiment has grown so big. I still sell them weapons. I think I have lived too long and dug my own grave. How can the theater headquarters doubt us like this!"
"Hurry... send a telegram to the headquarters to explain!"
"From now on, we will never resell a rifle or a bullet!"
"The expansion of the troops this time is really to guard against the independent regiments, put pressure on them, and prevent them from encroaching on the defense area of the 354th regiment and taking control of northwest Shanxi!"
"Go and send a telegram now. The more sincere you are, the better!"
"No matter what the final result is, the first thing that must be changed is the attitude of the war zone towards us!"
"If the theater no longer trusts us, not only will the 354th Regiment be unable to continue to expand its troops, but the supply of ammunition will also be greatly restricted in the future!"
"I'm going to send a telegram now!" The chief of staff also realized the seriousness of the problem and rushed to the telecommunications room.
Captain Zhou followed closely behind, saying as he walked: "After you finish sending it, I will send another telegram to my old classmate!"
"He is quite talkative at the headquarters, let him help us!"
Another two hours passed, and Captain Zhou stayed up until dark before waiting for the telegram from his old classmate.
The situation was more complicated than he imagined.
Someone in the headquarters actually felt that the reason why the Independent Regiment was able to defeat the Japanese and continue to grow in northwestern Shanxi had a lot to do with the weapons and ammunition sold to them by the 354th Regiment.
Some people even proposed to hold the 354th Regiment responsible.
There are also many people who took advantage of Commander Zhou to speak to the 354th Regiment, believing that the 354th Regiment’s sale of weapons and ammunition to the independent regiment was approved by the theater headquarters, and they cannot be held responsible, otherwise the troops operating in enemy-occupied areas will definitely
You will be heartbroken and do things that are not conducive to the war zone, and the gains outweigh the losses!
But no matter how much these people helped and spoke, the majority still proposed punishing the 354th Regiment.
Especially Commander Yan, who lost a lot of weapons and ammunition, not only failed to achieve the purpose of killing people with a borrowed knife, but also offended the Japanese, and he always felt resentful in his heart.
The 354th Regiment ran right into the muzzle of the gun, and it was difficult to escape.
The final result was that although Captain Zhou retained his position as head of the 354th Regiment, his military rank was demoted one level, and future ammunition supplies were reduced to 60% of the original level.
In the words of some officers in the war zone, Commander Zhou of the 354th Regiment must have made a lot of money by reselling arms. Now that the war zone is in trouble, it is time to give some of the money back to the troops...
Captain Zhou wanted to cry but had no tears.
For a person like him who is greedy for money, it is simply more difficult to get money into the ocean than to reach the sky.
So he will never support the troops with his own money.
But the army is his capital to protect himself in troubled times, and he must not make any mistakes.
As he thought about it, he became more complaining and angry about the war zone. He felt that the war zone was too fussy and pushed him to death.
When Captain Zhou was racking his brains to consider the future of the 354th Regiment, the message regarding the punishment of the 354th Regiment in the war zone was also guessed in the conference room of the Special High School of the Japanese Army in North Shanxi.
The 354th Regiment went deep into the area occupied by the Imperial Army alone. If the World War II zone cut off their ammunition supply, this unit would become rootless duckweeds. As long as the military headquarters gives them some benefits and gives them military support
Under some pressure, he will definitely join the imperial army!
