The spring is cold, and although the air is still filled with chill, there are more and more sunny days, and the troops have regained their combat effectiveness after a winter of training.
After several months of fierce fighting, General Li Zongren's command in the Fifth Theater has gathered more than 600,000 troops, and the Japanese army is also constantly dispatching troops from North China and Central China to the battlefield.
The scale of the battle between the two sides centered on Xuzhou continues to expand. On this burning battlefield, countless lives are strangled every day in this deadly whirlpool.
The Chairman of the Supreme Military Commission in Wuhan hoped that the troops of the Fifth Theater Command commanded by General Li Zongren could take the Taierzhuang victory as an opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack against the Japanese army in order to regain the lost territory and inspire the confidence of the country in the war of resistance.
However, as time went by, a steady stream of new Japanese troops entered the battlefield. The Chinese armies, which had been fighting since January, had been fighting fiercely for several months. They had gradually become exhausted and had to switch from offense to defense. The situation on the battlefield was unbearable.
optimism.
The Japanese base camp lost more than 10,000 elite soldiers in the Battle of Taierzhuang. At this moment, they were holding their breath and wanted to launch a violent revenge operation.
The Japanese army was as arrogant and arrogant as ever. They mobilized countless elite divisions from North and Central China to attack the Xuzhou area, trying to encircle and annihilate Xuzhou with the main force of 600,000 Chinese troops commanded by General Li Zongren.
At this moment, the Japanese army has undergone a new round of army expansion, and 90% of the army has gathered on the North China battlefield. In order to achieve the goal of encircling and annihilating the main force of the Chinese army, three more mixed brigades were specially transferred from the Kwantung Army stationed in the northeast to the battlefield.
The army led by General Li Zongren fought a bloody battle with the Japanese army on the vast battlefield centered in Xuzhou, and the direct troops of the Central Army reorganized in Wuhan also regained their combat effectiveness.
During this winter's training, the recruits of Yang Ling's 301st Regiment were trained by him to be as ferocious as wolves. Although they did not have the same battlefield experience as the veterans, their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.
During the training period, the army got rid of the unorganized and undisciplined situation on the battlefield. Under strict discipline requirements, every soldier in the army became orderly whether eating or washing, and various bad habits were corrected.
Due to the intensity of the war, the military uniforms originally worn on the battlefield sometimes did not have time to be changed for weeks, and became dirty and smelly. However, during the training period, every soldier developed good hygiene habits. Military uniforms
Become tidy.
The anti-Japanese war atmosphere in Wuhan is strong, and countless factories, companies and people have gathered together. The benefits of troops training here are also obvious. Patriots and patriotic groups have never stopped expressing condolences.
They carried bamboo baskets and shoulder poles every now and then, carrying various kinds of chicken, duck, fish and meat to reward the troops. The food for the troops was only steamed buns and rice tubes, and the brothers who were originally pretty and disheveled also became fatter.
There were more than a dozen brothers in the regiment who were captured from the Henan area. At first they were unwilling to become soldiers. After running away several times, they were caught and beaten with military sticks. They were almost beaten to death by the Military Justice Department.
However, with the improvement of food treatment, these brothers who were originally unwilling to serve as soldiers no longer ran away, but instead devoted themselves to intense military training like the others.
During these months of training, in addition to the ongoing Battle of Xuzhou under the command of General Li Zongren, with the support of the Japanese army, Peking and Nanjing successively established the Reform Government of the Republic of China and the Provisional Government of the Republic of China.
The two puppet military governments issued advisory letters to resist the Japanese military and civilians, and sent spies to spread leaflets in Wuhan city and military camps at night, asking them to break away from the anti-Japanese government led by Chairman Chiang Kai-shek and not to resist stubbornly in the corner.
Facing these traitors who seek glory from their vendors, Wuhan's military police showed no mercy and shot all those they caught.
The brothers who dropped the leaflets in the military camp didn't take them seriously, they all laughed and used them as toilet paper.
Many of the brothers had come back from Shanghai and Nanjing, so they naturally hated the Japanese army. After training, their weapons and equipment were brand new, and their morale was high. They were eager to seek revenge from Japan, where they would listen to those traitors.
To be a traitor.
In early April, Yang Ling's 74th Army left its outskirts of Wuhan and headed to Huangpi to receive a review from the Supreme Military Council chiefs.
The 74th Army is a direct branch of the Central Army. After this winter of training, it has become mighty and majestic. During the review and competition, each brigade and regiment exerted all their strength to express themselves.
Yang Ling's 301st Regiment performed exceptionally well, whether it was shooting, bombing, or battalion and company coordination, and was highly praised by the Supreme Military Council.
However, in the assessment of political training, the 301st Regiment was slightly inferior to Zhang Lingfu's 305th Regiment, and finally received an excellent evaluation by ranking second in the overall training.
Among them, Zhang Lingfu, the commander of the 305th Regiment, was specially promoted to deputy brigade commander of the 153rd Brigade due to his outstanding performance in training, but he still served as the commander of the 305th Regiment.
Yang Ling won second place in the evaluation and was relieved of his temporary position as regimental commander. He was officially promoted to deputy commander of the 301st regiment and awarded the rank of colonel.
In addition to Yang Ling and Zhang Lingfu, Captain Qiu Weida, the commander of the 306th Regiment who fought bravely in Nanjing, was promoted to deputy commander of the 151st Brigade and became Yang Ling's immediate boss.
The promotion of a large number of officers boosted the morale of the entire 74th Army. The Supreme Military Council also specially distributed two months' military pay to the troops. For a time, the entire army was filled with excitement and joy.
After the review, General Yu Jishi, commander of the 74th Army, specifically ordered a day off so that the troops who had been training all winter could relax and unwind, which was enthusiastically supported by the brothers.
During the training, the brothers were like tigers constrained by rules and regulations. They had long been exhausted. Not only did they have to train desperately all day long, but they also had to learn all kinds of housekeeping. Learning basic Chinese cultural knowledge was not included.
They also have to learn some simple Japanese, which is killing them.
Fortunately, all this is over. With the completion of the review, their training has come to an end.
"Deputy commander, let's go have a drink!" As soon as Yang Ling returned to the camp, he was dragged straight to the nearest restaurant by a group of officers such as First Battalion Commander Lu Xing.
During these days of training, in order not to affect their training, they had abstained from alcohol. Now that the army commander gave them a holiday, they naturally wanted to have a good drink.
When Yang Ling and others arrived at Huangpi Town, the town was already crowded with soldiers who came out to drink and have fun.
However, the first battalion commander Lu Xing had already made arrangements, and they soon entered a luxuriously decorated restaurant.
"Shopkeeper, you can serve us good wine and good food, but we won't come home until we get drunk today!" Captain Liu Yidao, the company commander, shouted loudly as soon as he stepped into the restaurant.
The lobby of the restaurant was already filled with brothers who were drinking and fist-fighting. When they saw Yang Ling and the others arriving, they all stood up and saluted.
Yang Ling knew that the brothers had worked hard in training. Their contribution to the second place this time was indispensable, so he did not restrain them: "Brothers, don't be restrained. There are no officers here tonight. Feel free to drink and eat."
Yang Ling and other officers naturally did not eat or drink in the lobby, but went directly to the reserved private room on the third floor. Because the shopkeeper's business was booming, two tables were soon filled with fragrant wine and food.
"This is the plump Wuchang fish..." The shopkeeper originally wanted to introduce his store's signature dishes in the hope of attracting repeat customers, but was interrupted by the tall and handsome Wang Meng with a wave of his hand.
"Shopkeeper, I don't understand what you said, so go ahead and go ahead." Wang Meng said, picking up a chopstick of fish meat and putting it in his mouth. He chewed it and cursed: "Damn it, you'll burn me to death
Got it!"
"Hahaha," the brothers all laughed together, and the atmosphere became extremely lively.
Second Battalion Commander Chen Ming grabbed the wine glass and stood up with a smile: "Let's not worry about eating yet, let's drink one first."