For Guo Bingxun's consolation, Yang Zhen smiled and said, "Old Guo, don't worry, I'm fine. However, although this campaign was launched in a bit hastily, for us, it was something that we had to do. There is no strategic room for maneuver, and when the Japanese puppet army besieges us, we don't even have a place to turn around. ”

"You know, it's not my style to fight to the death. And looking for fighters to destroy the enemy in the movement can exchange the greatest victory with the smallest casualties. If it is compressed by the Japanese puppet army into such a small space as the area from Heli to Luobei, and it can't even be adjusted, what kind of movement is there to annihilate the enemy? ”

"In this battle, although we have conquered the entire territory of Foshan, Luobei, Suibin, Tangyuan, Heli, and Fengshan, as well as some areas of Wuyun and Suileng. It seems that the area of the base area has expanded, and there is room for maneuver, but in fact, it has not fundamentally changed our current situation. ”

"Now it seems that although the Japanese army has not laid siege to us on a large scale, its strategic intention is already obvious. They want to compress us into a sparsely populated area west of the Songhua River and east of the Xiaoxing'an Mountains. We have lost the supply of soldiers and food, and weakened our strength little by little. ”

"Although the area of these counties is not small, except for Tangyuan, which has a slightly larger population, the population of the other counties is only 50,000, and the population of Fengshan, which is smaller, is only 30,000. The northernmost counties of Foshan and Wuyun are even less than 20,000 people together. The agricultural population is even smaller. In this environment, it is difficult for us to get reinforcements, even to eat enough. ”

Speaking of this, Yang Zhen shook his head and said, "The size of the army has expanded, but the combat effectiveness has declined. The number of people has gone up, and the number of supplies required has also increased significantly. As the head of the army, we are under a lot of pressure. We can't follow the old path of the Anti-Japanese Union, we were compressed by the Japanese army into the deep mountains and old forests, and we couldn't get out, and there was no place for supplies and soldiers. Hunger also starved itself. ”

"Although we can still sustain our supplies for a while, because of the environment and shape we are in, we must take precautions. Can't wait until you get on the sedan chair now, and you can prick your ears and eyes. That way, by the time it happens, it's too late to do anything. ”

Yang Zhen took a sip of water, moistened his thirsty throat and said, "But Lao Guo, you are right about one thing." We are a little hot-headed from top to bottom, thinking that after a few consecutive victories, Lao Tzu will be the first in the world, and all the Japanese puppet troops will not be taken seriously. This setback will allow them, including us, to cool down their heads that burn to forty degrees. ”

Speaking of this, Yang Zhen waved his hand and said in a firm tone: "Whole training, whole training." Not only recruits should be trained, but veterans should also be trained. Now that a month has passed, the rescued laborers should have largely recovered. We need to fully restore the intensity and system of training in the mountains. Take out some of the ammunition in reserve and practice it well. ”

"The devil will not leave us much time, only by winning the battle, we can fight stronger and stronger. Only by eliminating the Japanese puppet army can we strive for a greater living space for ourselves. And all of these are based on strength. As I have said several times, what we need is not a sandy army that can only fight with the wind, not against the wind. ”

"Now our equipment is enough to meet the needs of the troops, compared with the lack of guns and ammunition of the Anti-United Nations, it is simply a heaven and an underground. With such a good foundation, if you can't train an iron-clad army, you and I, as well as those regiment commanders, political commissars, and how can we meet people. ”

"Lao Guo, you have good calligraphy, tomorrow you will organize those talents in the political department and write a few big characters: sweat more in peacetime, and bleed less in wartime. A picture was hung on the training ground of each regiment. Tell the cadres and soldiers plainly, your slackness on the training ground today will be repaid with your life on the battlefield tomorrow. ”

After that, Yang Zhen picked up the phone and directly asked Zhang Zhenhua, the political commissar who temporarily presided over the work of the logistics department after Peng Dingjie crossed the river with the commander-in-chief. Let him immediately rush to the headquarters with Zhang Ting.

After recruiting Zhang Zhenhua, Yang Zhen said directly to the point: "You immediately transfer 600,000 rounds of ammunition and allocate 300,000 rounds to each supplementary regiment." The remaining 300,000 were allocated to the main regiments, and the remaining 100,000 were allocated to the two sub-divisional backbone regiments, with 50,000 per regiment each. ”

"In addition, 300 rounds of artillery shells from each of the mountains and fields are being allocated to the artillery regiment. Mortar and infantry shells for each regiment were allocated in the number of 10 rounds per gun. In addition, you are allocating 40,000 Japanese grenades, all of which are allocated to the replenishment regiment. Two for each recruit. ”

Hearing that Yang Zhen was actually going to allocate such a large amount of ammunition, Zhang Zhenhua, who had just made a fortune, was taken aback. Thinking that there was going to be some big military operation soon, he hurriedly asked: "Commander, you have allocated so much ammunition this time, is there another military operation?" ”

In response to Zhang Zhenhua's question, Yang Zhen shook his head and said: "Within two months, before the Japanese army did not make a major move, the troops did not have any combat missions except for training. These munitions are used for training in the troops. ”

Yang Zhen's answer couldn't help but make Zhang Zhenhua stunned, such a large amount of ammunition that seemed to him to be almost astronomical, enough for the two main forces of the Third Route Army to fight for a year, was actually only used for training? Yang Zhen is such a big man, he has stayed too long in the Anti-Japanese Federation that is accustomed to making ends meet and can only rely on diligence and thrift to keep his family alive, and he thinks that this is really a bit suspicious of Lang Fei.

Regarding Zhang Zhenhua's stunned expression, Yang Zhen smiled and said, "Is this more?" These munitions appear to be large quantities, but on average they are only fifteen rounds of ammunition per recruit for training, and the average for veterans is not even five rounds if they do not count the ammunition in their own stockpiles. ”

"I said comrade, these are already the lowest numbers. You can't send recruits to battle without firing a single bullet, can you? That's not called war, it's sending them to death, so those of us who are commanders are committing crimes. Go ahead, I can't bear to let the child catch the wolf. If you don't come up with some family resources, how can you train the troops well? ”

Zhang Zhenhua shook his head and said, "Commander, it's not that I'm reluctant. In any case, I am also a person who has served as the political commissar of the division, and I understand the truth you said. It's just that in addition to the ones you sent over some time ago, the Japanese ammunition is now a little insufficient. ”

"The number of Type 38 rifle and machine gun ammunition reserves is okay, even if it is transferred according to your requirements, there is a slight surplus. However, the 7.7 mm heavy machine gun cartridges used in the Type 92 heavy machine gun and the Japanese Type 97 and Type 91 grenades can only be temporarily maintained at a low number. ”

"I counted that in the previous battle of the troops in a medium-scale, like Guanmenzuizi Mountain, the amount of ammunition consumed by a regiment was even more than the ammunition consumption of the Third Route Army in a year when the Anti-United Nations Third Route Army was in its heyday."

"Our production capacity is still very limited, except for a small number of mortar shells, although the Japanese mountain artillery and infantry artillery shells have warheads and primers in stock, but because the propellant must give priority to ensuring the reloading of infantry ammunition and ensuring the production of mortars, it cannot be produced for the time being. Only on seizures and previous reserves can be relied upon. ”

"The reloaded infantry ammunition is mainly focused on rifles, light machine gun ammunition and urgently needed submachine gun ammunition, as well as the modification of Japanese-style hand grenades."

"In addition, a large reserve of smokeless gunpowder was consumed in order to prototype and produce rockets. Now we have a small amount of smokeless gunpowder on hand, which can only ensure that the maximum rifle and light machine gun ammunition is needed for reloading. In the case of heavy machine gun shells, the progress of reloading is relatively slow. The number has always been small. ”

"If you pull too much at once, once there is a big operation, this ammunition supply? In particular, heavy machine gun ammunition, once the inventory consumes embers, the captured quantity cannot meet the demand, which has a great impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops. ”

"Moreover, we can only modify Japanese-style grenades now, and our own production capacity is extremely limited. Even if the horsepower production is started every day, there are only more than 1,000 pieces. The 40,000 Japanese-style grenades were transferred, which is almost half of the entire stock today. ”

Zhang Zhenhua's worries are not unreasonable, because due to the limitation of raw materials, the production capacity of the military industry is still limited to reloading light weapons and ammunition, and even some ammunition can only rely on the consumption of reserves, it is indeed somewhat difficult to transfer so many ammunition for training at once.

But Zhang Zhenhua, who was born as the political commissar of the Anti-United Nations Division, knew that what Yang Zhen said was true. Sending a unit that has not even fired a few rounds of live ammunition to the front line is almost tantamount to sending them to their deaths. The ammunition that should be allocated for training should still be allocated. At the very least, let the recruits know how to shoot and not be afraid when they hear the gunshots.

After quickly weighing the various ammunition reserves in his heart, as well as the number of weapons and equipment in the army, Zhang Zhenhua looked at Yang Zhen, gritted his teeth and said, "In this way, commander." Although the amount of ammunition for Japanese heavy machine guns was insufficient, ammunition for rifles and light machine guns was guaranteed. ”

"You have so many Italian-made rifles and French light and heavy machine guns that you have raised up to the north, and you have plenty of ammunition. In my opinion, first of all, several supplementary regiments were reequipped with Italian-made rifles, French light and heavy machine guns. All the Japanese-style weapons that have been issued now will be recovered and used as reserves. Wait for the recruits to get out of the army before changing their outfits. ”

"These Italian-made rifles were made in the twenties, although they were not rusted or used because they were well maintained. But after all, it has been more than ten years since it was produced. Neither in terms of reliability nor in other respects, it can no longer be compared with the Type 38 rifles that we have in stock that have been in production for less than five years at most. ”

"And even if the ammunition is maintained well, it has a shelf life, and the shortest production life of those ammunition was also produced before the 918 incident, which is at least eight years ago. If we don't use it to the fullest, we are afraid that these munitions will be in danger of being scrapped according to the way we store them as we currently do. ”

"And these Italian-made rifles, although they also use six or five millimeter caliber rifle rounds, but the bullet length is fifty-two millimeters. It is not compatible with the Type 38 rifle cartridge, which is also 6.5 mm, and its ammunition performance is not as good as that of the Tomosaka rifle cartridge used in the Type 38 rifle. ”

"If this batch of weapons is reequipped with field troops, it will be a big mistake if we get the wrong object of use on the battlefield when our logistics and supply personnel are still inexperienced."

"I think it's better to take out these Italian rifles and use them for recruit training instead of risking the supply chaos of using two non-universal 6.5mm ammunition at the same time after going to battle."

"These Italian-made rifles, unless it is absolutely necessary, try not to use them on the battlefield. Anyway, the structure of manual rifles is similar, as long as you learn to use one, you will be no stranger to other similar weapons. ”

"In addition, at the bottom of the cave where the munitions were stockpiled, we found a batch of Manlisha rifles made in Austria that were not on the list you gave us. This rifle is compatible with the Czech and Liao-13 rifle ammunition that fire 7.92mm rifle ammunition that we have in small quantities, and the quality of its products is better than that of Italian products, so we continue to use it as a reserve equipment. ”

Regarding Zhang Zhenhua's replacement of the weapons of the supplementary regiment, the Italian-made rifles handed in by Ma Chunsheng, and the French-made light and heavy machine guns to replace the Japanese-style weapons currently in use, Yang Zhen thought about it for a while, then turned his head to look at Guo Bingxun, who nodded slowly at him, and said, "I think it's okay." ”

"But as you said, no matter how well these rifles are maintained, they have been in production for more than ten years, and it is not known what kind of reliability they are. Before the weapons are issued, you must organize a group of experienced veterans to conduct a thorough inspection of the firearms, and you must ensure that the weapons do not cause any accidents after they are issued. ”

"In addition, the chief of staff and I will issue a special order for each unit to collect the shells and hand them back to the logistics department after firing live ammunition. Including these Italian-made rifle cartridges, ready for reloading. Don't we have a large amount of primers from Tomosaka rifle cartridges on hand? They all use the same Berdan primer, which should work together. ”

Speaking of this, Yang Zhen paused and said, "Political Commissar Zhang, you are an old comrade." The commander-in-chief and Lao Peng are not there, and now you, as the political commissar of the logistics department, have to grasp the party and government work, and your burden is very heavy. It is necessary not only to do a good job in the supply of tens of thousands of troops, but also to do a good job in the production of arsenals. At the same time, it is also necessary to plan ahead and prepare for winter cotton clothes in advance. ”

"As the old saying goes: before the soldiers and horses move, the grain and grass go first. And now it's not just food and grass, but also ammunition. It is not easy to satisfy the food of these more than 40,000 troops, and you and the comrades of the logistics department must work harder. You are also a veteran of the Anti-Japanese Federation, don't let the tragedy of our fighters freezing to death and starving to death repeat again. Please. ”

After saying that, Yang Zhen turned his head to Zhang Ting on the side and said, "Xiao Zhang, you are the director of health of the logistics department appointed by the organization. Now I will give you a promotion, and you will also be the deputy director of the logistics department, and I will go to the political commissar Li. ”

"In your daily work, you have to help Lao Zhang pick up some more burdens. In addition to organizing medical personnel to do a good job in treating soldiers injured in training, and at the same time doing a good job in the overall epidemic prevention work of the troops. For other things, you're going to have to catch a little more. ”

"Especially the uniforms of the troops, the production and construction regiment and other aspects that are more suitable for your work, you have to worry a lot. Let Political Commissar Zhang focus his main efforts on military production, the distribution of weapons and ammunition, and the supply of food. ”

"Jiangbei has agreed to our request, and soon a batch of military raw material production lines and a large number of raw materials will arrive. Lao Zhang's burden is now very heavy, not only to achieve strict secrecy, but also to organize the acceptance, transportation and installation work. At the same time, it is also necessary to grasp some other aspects of work. You must do your best to help Lao Zhang do his job well. ”