When the army in Xuzhou was busy mobilizing and organizing troops and plotting big moves, Liu Yimin was not idle in Huaiyin.

Since Lianyungang went south, Liu Yimin caught up with the Second Brigade of Jiao, the Luxi Garrison Brigade, and the Southwest Luxi Garrison Brigade.

After Liu Yimin led the main force to cross the Yellow River eastward, Liu Jianli led the Second Brigade to stay in Luxi, and this time was also the first meeting between the two after crossing to the east.

Xu Shiyou, political commissar Zhu Liangcai, commander of the Luxi Garrison Brigade, Chen Shiqu, commander of the Luxi Garrison Brigade, Tang Liang, political commissar, and others, some of whom had never met Liu Yimin, and some of whom had met by chance in Zunyi, Chengdu, or Xi'an, were generally not familiar with him.

Since the army did not move for the time being, Liu Yimin convened a meeting of cadres at and above the three brigade and regimental level in Qingjiangpu, first, to further deploy the next combat tasks of the three brigades, and second, to exchange heart-to-heart talks with the cadres.

Zhu Liangcai, Chen Shiqu, and Tang Liang are all old men of the First Army, and Liu Jianjian, the commander of the Second Brigade, and Cheng Cuilin, the political commissar, are all acquaintances. Although Xu Shiyou is from the Fourth Front Army, he has gotten along well with Liu Jianli and others since he worked with him, and he has a tacit understanding. These people, except for Liu Jianli and Cheng Cuilin, who died on the Long March, the other four are all famous founding generals in history. It is the regiment commanders and political commissars of the Luxi Garrison Brigade and the Luxi Garrison Brigade that are either famous martyrs in history, or the founding lieutenant generals and major generals. These people gathered together and sat around Liu Yimin, which made Liu Yimin a little trance. However, Liu Yimin has been accustomed to seeing the founding generals in history since he crossed over, and this trance was only a momentary thing, and he immediately returned to normal.

Liu Jianli reported on the fighting since he went south, but in fact, it was only the battle of breaking through Longhai Road and the battle of Lianyungang. Xu Shiyou and Chen Shiqu respectively reported on the training and combat situation of the Luxi Garrison Brigade and the Luxi Garrison Brigade since their establishment. Cheng Cuilin, Zhu Liangcai, and Tang Liang respectively reported on the political and ideological work of the three troops.

Since this was the first time that the Supreme Commander of the Shandong Eighth Route Army had made such a formal report on the work, the brigade commanders and political commissars of the three brigades were very well prepared, and they made a clear report on everything from the allocation of cadres and tactical training to the operational command of several battles and the post-war summing up.

Liu Yimin was very satisfied after hearing this, but he was still not satisfied, so he simply asked the commanders and political commissars of each regiment to make reports, focusing on the ideological situation of the soldiers and the problems existing in various units.

In this way, the meeting will be a bit long. From the time of lunch to the time of the lantern.

Dinner is eaten in Qingyan Garden, although this Qingjiangpu at this time due to the construction of shipping and Jinpu Road and Longhai Road, it has lost the status of the original Grand Canal Caoyun transit station, and there is no prosperity such as the past, but here is an important town in northern Jiangsu, the hometown of Huai cuisine, and the dinner is still good.

Xu Shiyou drank wine, and heard that Liu Yimin had a special relationship with the boss of Moutai, and he could receive 200 catties of Moutai every year, so he was very hungry for a long time. Therefore, when eating, he said: "Senior Commander Liu, you are a famous general of the Anti-Japanese War, and I have long heard that your belly is like the sea and your wisdom is like the sea, and I admire you very much." Sometimes when I think about it, I pat myself on the head, hating myself for not reading much and being less resourceful. Now that I am a soldier under you, can you put some of the things in your head into my head? Don't ask for more, just pack a little. ”

Xu Shiyou's remark made the cadres who were eating laugh.

Liu Yimin does not know how the central government is dealing with Zhang Guotao now, but Zhang Guotao did not take advantage of the opportunity to worship the Yellow Emperor's mausoleum in April to defect as in history, which shows that the central government's education and handling of him are relatively in place. This kind of thing is not something that you should ask, but according to the historical trajectory, after the Wuhan War, the Central Committee will hold the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee, and I am afraid that many problems will have to be resolved at this meeting. Now that part of the troops of the Fourth Front Army has been reorganized into the 129th Division, and part of it has remained in northern Sichuan, the cadres and fighters have no ideological burden, which shows that the central authorities have done a great deal of fruitful work in dealing with the Zhang Guotao issue, and the cadres and fighters have thoroughly recognized Zhang Guotao's mistakes and have turned a turn in their thinking.

Xu Shiyou also caused a storm in Yan'an in the past, and now there is no such thing, and he happily took the initiative to invite Ying and transferred him to the tutor, I don't know how the chairman talked to him, but depending on the situation, there is no ideological baggage. This is better, the tiger general who does not have any ideological baggage will naturally be a tiger and a tiger when he goes into battle.

Liu Yimin's mind turned, and he said with a smile: "Lao Xu, say it, if you have any ideas, just say it." ”

Xu Shiyou scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "Senior Commander Liu, I heard that you have 200 catties of Moutai wine a year, I don't know if you have brought it with you?" ”

When Liu Yimin heard this, he smiled and said, "It turned out to be a drunken offender." It's easy to do, I have two cans with me, so you can enjoy it. But let's say it first, I don't have 200 catties of Moutai liquor, and Comrade Chen Yun confiscated all those wines, and now it only falls into my hands 20 catties a year. I can give you two catties a year in the future, and there will be no more. ”

When Xu Shiyou heard this, he laughed happily, and said: "Two catties are two catties, the teacher is interesting!" After speaking, he called the guards to go to the division commander's guards to ask for Moutai wine.

Xu Shiyou is really good at drinking, after the wine is brought, he put away a small can, picks up a small can and unseals it, only divides it with Chen Shiqu, and drinks the rest of the goo. After drinking, he wiped his black and red face and said: "Good wine, really good wine, just rush to two catties of Moutai wine every year, and come to teach the tutor is the right one." ”

Liu Yimin said to Xu Shiyou with a smile: "Old Xu, it's okay to drink, but there is one thing you have to remember for me, you have to control your temper, don't take out anger on the soldiers at every turn when you are in a bad mood." We are the Red Army and the Eighth Route Army, and we don't want to beat and scold the soldiers. The soldiers are our comrades, comrades-in-arms, and brothers, and they are those who follow us to make revolutions, but they are not angry with us. ”

Liu Yimin said that this was by no means untargeted, and Xu Shiyou was stunned on the spot. It turned out that when the Fourth Front Army was in the army, in addition to the internal purge, there were also cases of individual cadres beating and scolding soldiers, Xu Shiyou couldn't imagine that Liu Yimin even knew this.

Hurriedly stood up, scratched his head again, Xu Shiyou said in a snort: "Division commander, when I was in the Sichuan-Shaanxi base area, sometimes, some new soldiers didn't understand anything, and they couldn't learn how to teach, so they learned by kicking them in the ass a few times. Later, the Fourth Front Army learned from the First Front Army and taught the soldiers to learn culture, and there were fewer things to beat and scold the soldiers. I promise you, I will never make such a mistake in the future! If my hands itch, hit myself! ”

Liu Yimin said with a smile: "Okay, I'm just talking, the purpose is to remind you, as a senior cadre, not only to think about how to win a battle, but also to think about how to improve your own cultural level and self-cultivation, to be both civil and military, not only to fight a battle to be a winning general, but also to build and manage base areas to be knowledge-based and learning-oriented management personnel." ”

Xu Shiyou smiled, sat down and continued to eat.

Chen Shiqu saw that Liu Yimin taught Xu Shiyou a lesson quietly, thinking of Chen Zaidao's cancellation of the command of the Seventh Brigade by Liu Yimin in southern Hebei, he knew that this young chief had a splendid belly, and if he wanted to be recognized by him, he must thoroughly learn the style and tactics of the instructor.

Chen Shiqu stood up and said, "Commander, I think you are good at everything, but not at all. ”

Liu Yimin knew that Chen Shiqu was playing a round for Xu Shiyou, so he smiled and said, "Brigade Commander Chen, what's not good?" ”

Chen Shiqu said: "Just talking doesn't count. When you were in Tianjin, you kept saying that you were guarding Tianjin, and as a result, the little devil was excited to dispatch troops and send troops to be busy. This time Lianyungang is like this, and the little devil's legs are tired. Don't talk about this, you must not be polite to the little devil. However, I remember that last time you said that you would equip the Southwest Lu Garrison Brigade with an artillery regiment, and you also said that whoever can eliminate the devils at a time will be equipped according to the standard of the main brigade, you can't forget! ”

Liu Yimin laughed: "I said Brigade Commander Chen, such a big brigade commander, don't you always stretch out your hand to your superiors!" I said to equip you with an artillery regiment, that must be equipped, and the Luxi Garrison Brigade must also be equipped. We do not lack artillery, we lack well-trained artillery fighters. In this way, when you train the artillery fighters of an artillery regiment, I will send you cannons, pack horses, and shells. ”

Chen Shiqu immediately said: "Okay, after returning to Shandong this time, I will immediately send soldiers from a regiment to the training headquarters for training. But there is a problem, my soldiers are drawn to the artillery regiment, and the infantry regiment is not enough. Can the division commander allow us to expand our troops? ”

Liu Yimin pointed to Chen Shiqu's nose and said: "Okay, you Chen Shiqu, or the old Red Army who came down from Jinggang Mountain, you actually said such a funny question." How suspicious is the resistance? What are you doing in Jiangsu? The first is to fight devils, the second is to expand the army, and the third is to raise grain, cotton, and other materials. These three tasks are equally important, and they cannot be accomplished. You are now three regiments, won't you make up supplementary regiments and new regiments? Can you do preliminary training while marching and fighting? With the new Second Regiment and the Supplementary Regiment, can't the Second Supplementary Regiment, the Third Regiment, and the Fourth Regiment be supplemented? I can tell you well, what our army now has is weapons, and units like the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Brigades can be expanded into divisions? There are so many little devils, how can we defeat them with our existing forces alone? Of course, the expansion of the army cannot affect the combat effectiveness of the main force, and the recruits must undergo strict training in the supplementary regiment and the new corps before they can continue training at the training headquarters for three months and then be assigned to the troops. ”

Xu Shiyou had already relieved himself at this time, raised his head and asked: "The division commander means that if you are enough for a division, you can be a division commander, and if you are enough for an army, you can be a military commander, isn't that so?" ”

Liu Yimin waved his hand: "Right!" ”

The faces of the cadres immediately had an expression of eagerness.

A few people talked while eating, and when they had finished eating, they began to meet again.

Liu Yimin first praised the three brigades for their firm grasp of political work and training, and for inheriting the fine traditions of the old Red Army units. On this issue, Liu Yimin again gave a detailed account of the ideas, methods, and results of the campaign to complain about grievances when the army was being reorganized in the west, and asked the Luxi Garrison Brigade and the Luxi Garrison Brigade to learn more from the Second Brigade and do a solid job in political work.

Next, Liu Yimin talked about the significance of creating a strong Shandong anti-Japanese base area and the overall deployment of the Shandong Bureau.

Talking about the current war situation, Liu Yimin said: "There are two factions in the country, one faction advocates expanding the scale of aggression and fully occupying China; The other faction wanted to control the scale of the aggression by forcing the Nationalists to recognize the puppet state of Manchukuo and their special rights and interests in North China. In fact, these two factions are the same thing. It is naturally the ambition of the wolf to advocate the complete occupation of China, and it is also the ambition of the wolf to advocate not expanding aggression. The difference is that the latter are a little more sober, knowing that their national strength is limited, and if their appetite is too great, they will kill themselves. ”

Speaking of this, Liu Yimin changed his words and began to talk about the current war situation: "As far as the current war situation is concerned, the heavy army group of the Yue Army has fought from central and southern Hebei to Xuzhou. On the surface, our army has basically lost the base areas in the North China Plain and the base areas in Shandong, and the army has achieved great results. But, guys, look at things by nature. It is precisely because of the continuous fighting of our army that great results have been achieved that the little devils have panicked and will mobilize heavy troops to pursue us relentlessly. Since our Eighth Route Army entered the war, it has attracted the vast majority of the troops of the invading army to North China, forcing them not to dare to attack Henan and Wuhan with all their might. In the past year since the start of the war, our instructor alone has eliminated the two permanent divisions of the Eighth and Tenth Divisions of the Devils, and eliminated the elite of the Devils in four brigades, including the 21st Brigade and the Chahar Dispatch Corps. These troops are all the backbone units of the Chinese army that dare to pursue a division with a brigade, and we have completely annihilated them in a systematic manner, which is tantamount to destroying the seeds of the expansion of the Japanese army. It's remarkable! As for the 21st Division, the 116th Division, and those mixed brigades, they are all third-rate and fourth-rate troops of the Chinese army, and they are not worth mentioning. Let's calculate, how much strength has the army lost? Now they are constantly expanding their army, and they are constantly sending them to China. This is very good, if they continue to fight like this, Xiao Yue will fall into a situation from which he will never recover, and their young and middle-aged people will become cannon fodder, and in the end, the country will run out of vitality. ”

After a pause, Liu Yimin continued: "The second account is the economic account. We captured Tianjin, Qingdao, and Lianyungang, and Wang Laohu and they even went to Jinan to make a big fuss, which was to fight an economic war with the Japanese army and use the funds and materials of the Japanese army to support our army in a protracted war of resistance. Let's talk about it, what is missing from our army compared to the Chinese army? That is, warships and airplanes! In the future, we can think about seizing the aircraft, and we can just seize the aircraft because the industry is developed and we can produce the aircraft. This is just the beginning, and as soon as the international situation changes in the future, the United States and Britain and other countries will inevitably suspend trade with the United States. At that time, they will not be able to plunder funds and materials from China, and they will not be able to buy arms and materials from the United States and Britain, and they will become truly destitute. How far am I going to beat them? That is, to let their soldiers recognize the Chinese people as godfathers in order to eat! ”

The cadres laughed with a "whoop".

Liu Yimin waved his hand and said again: "The third account, that is, the moral account." As you know, at the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, only the Soviet people supported us, not only by providing weapons and ammunition, but also by sending air force volunteers to China to participate in the war. The United States, Britain, France, and Germany all put on a neutral face, and on the surface they kept saying that they were mediated and neutral, but in fact they sold a large amount of oil, rubber, and steel to themselves, making a lot of war money. What now? After a series of our work, the Americans began to come to their senses, and the people have spontaneously donated money and materials to support our war of resistance. I believe that in the future, the US political axe will also take action to directly assist China in terms of funds, weapons and ammunition. Of course, most of this aid will go to Chiang Kai-shek's pockets, are they legitimate political axes! Whoever this support is handed over, it will be conducive to the war of resistance and a good thing. In short, in the year since the start of the war, Xiao Yueben has gradually become isolated in the international community, and China has begun to win the sympathy and help of most countries. This is what the Chinese say is that there is much help for the righteous and little help for the unjust. ”

Cheng Cuilin chuckled in his heart, and in the past, he thought that Liu Yimin and Ni Hua's affairs were a little bad and violated discipline. Now listening to Liu Yimin's important surname of external propaganda and striving for foreign aid from this perspective, Cheng Cuilin feels that everyone's understanding is a big gap from that of the division commander. The division commander is planning a strategic plan, and some comrades are thinking about discipline and moral issues. Dr. Ni is afraid that he is too aggrieved.

After Liu Yimin finished talking about this, he began to talk about the specific combat tasks of the three brigades: "Now, the little devils are gathering heavy troops on the front line in Xuzhou, what do they want to do? That is, to find the main force of my mentor for a decisive battle, in a vain attempt to destroy us in one fell swoop. The burden on the shoulders of the comrades is very heavy, and they must not only lead the devils by the nose and lead them all the way south, but also be careful not to fall into the encirclement of the devils' heavy army group and avoid heavy losses. This task is what the common people call the cow, leading the cow away, and not letting the mad cow get hurt. What to do, when the common people take the cow, they have to tie the cow's nose ring, so that it can be held. We're going to do the same! It is to keep ambushing and harassing in front of the little devils, so that they know that we are in front of them, and that we are about to fall into their encirclement, so that they will chase forward desperately. ”

Liang Xingchu, the head of the Third Regiment of the Luxi Garrison, has a nickname called Liang Daya, he may not know it himself, but Liu Yimin knows that this is definitely a first-class fierce general in our army. Hearing what Liu Yimin said so well, Liang Xingchu raised his hand and asked to speak.

Liu Yimin nodded and motioned for Liang Xingchu to speak.

Liang Xingchu stood up and saluted and said, "Report to the division commander, I think this battle still needs to be pondered again. There are so many troops, it is completely possible to outflank us from both flanks, instead of chasing us behind our butts all the time. When we first arrived in northern Jiangsu, we went to central Jiangsu and went to the river network everywhere, and the lack of bridges and boats limited the mobility of the troops. Besides, there are many miscellaneous Kuomintang troops and local security teams here, and we are tantamount to entering the scope of their strength, and there will be contradictions if we don't do it well. Please consider these questions. ”

Liu Yimin felt that this Liang Xingchu was really a tiger general, and he really considered it in place. After signaling Liang Xingchu to sit down, Liu Yimin said: "Liang Xingchu is right, I hope that comrades can learn from Liang Xingchu, and before every battle, they must consider more unfavorable factors and think more about difficulties." Our battle plan is very clear: We must move and deploy before the enemy. What is the first enemy? It's one or two beats faster than the enemy. For example, if the army is now assembled in Xuzhou, we must act immediately, withdraw the main force to the outside of the big net of the little devils before the devils launch their troops and pull the net to pursue, and use the small troops to disguise the main force to lure the devils. Our plan is to lead the devils to the Yangtze River, but the main force must not go to the Yangtze River, where the little devils are on the Jiangbei defense line, and there are planes and warships to help, and going there is tantamount to throwing themselves into the net. You can't go to the sea, the combined fleet of devils is very powerful, hundreds of planes are waiting to bomb our army! The main forces of our army can only go west. It was necessary to take immediate action, and when it advanced south to the Gaoyou line, the cavalry battalions of the three brigades were left behind to lure the enemy's troops, and the main force quickly turned around and marched westward, concealed and waited in Bengbu, striving to knock the devil there fiercely, and then break through the Jinpu Road and enter northern Anhui. Let the little devil understand that we are going in the direction of Wuhan and defending Wuhan. After evading the right flank of the heavy army group in the south, the main force returned to southwest Lu, and each brigade left behind its troops to cooperate with the four detachments of the New Fourth Army to carry out guerrilla warfare in the Suzhou-Anhui border area. After completing the task of luring the enemy, the three cavalry battalions responsible for luring the enemy should quickly break away from contact with the enemy and move to guerrilla operations behind enemy lines. Jiangsu is so big, no matter how strong the little devil's troops are, it is impossible to pull out an airtight skirmisher line, there are always loopholes. This is not difficult for our small cavalry units from the old Red Army. ”

When Liu Yimin said this, he finished talking about the basic ideas and methods of this morning glory operation.

Cheng Cuilin felt that this plan was very good on the whole, but there was one thing that seemed inappropriate, that is, whether it would arouse Chiang Kai-shek's displeasure by disguising the suspicion that the westward expansion would cause trouble and the water to move eastward.

Liu Yimin said that the purpose of the little devils chasing the main force of the instructor was to eliminate worries and clear the way for the capture of Wuhan. Only by feintting to the west can the devil believe that the main force of the instructor has completely left Shandong. Since the devils want to capture Wuhan, let them fight well. The main force has been resting for so long, and it's time to bump into the little devils. I believe that the devil can't take much advantage. From the perspective of the Anti-Japanese War strategy, only by letting the little devils occupy more places can they continue to divide their troops and turn the field division into a garrison division. This is also the embodiment of Chairman Chiang's strategy of exchanging space for time. When the little devils frantically attacked Wuhan and were inseparable from the main force of [***], we stabbed them in the ass again and made them feel painful.

When Liu Yimin said this, the cadres had already thoroughly understood it.

After the meeting, Liu Yimin told Liu Jianli that he should quickly send troops to reconnoiter the route, and at the same time organize the common people to clear the wilderness. The little devil is now angry and angry, and he will definitely take revenge on the common people, and he must do everything possible to reduce the losses of the masses. Of course, the most fundamental method is to move the troops quickly, fight fiercely and ruthlessly, and let the little devils run around and do not care about the scourge of the locality.

(To be continued)