Resistance against Japan: Starting with the local militia

Chapter 237 Summary Meeting

The noise from the celebratory banquet still echoed in the regimental headquarters compound, and the soldiers' laughter drifted into the conference room through the windows.

The heads of various departments of the militia and the commanders of various units had already gathered in the brightly lit conference room, and the air was filled with a tense yet excited atmosphere.

Tang Dazhuang, who had left the regimental headquarters earlier, dropped everything and rushed to the headquarters as soon as he received the message.

Pushing open the conference room door, Tang Dazhuang saw that Tang Weiguo had not yet arrived, and knew that he was not late.

"Dazhuang, here, here."

Tang Dazhuang heard a familiar voice and turned his head to see Niu Dali calling him over. Li Debao and Zhou Liansheng were sitting next to Niu Dali.

"You two are here pretty early," Tang Dazhuang greeted them.

“We just arrived!” Zhou Liansheng said.

"Xiao Hu, you're always at the regimental headquarters, do you know what big thing the regimental commander called us to announce at this meeting? Give us a sneak peek," Tang Dazhuang asked Tang Xiaohu, sitting down beside him.

"I don't know the specifics either, but I guess it's related to our defensive battle. Based on our regiment's usual practice, we should hold a battle debriefing meeting."

"Little Tiger, you're so smart. How come my stupid brain didn't think of that?" Tang Dazhuang said, patting his head.

While Tang Dazhuang and the others were chatting, Tang Weiguo walked into the conference room.

Tang Weiguo, the head of the delegation, stood in front of the conference table, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"Thank you all for coming to the meeting so late."

"Commander, everyone's working so hard!"

Tang Xiaohu jumped to his feet, his young face flushed with excitement.

Thinking about all these recent good things, everyone's even more motivated, don't you all agree?

"Yes! Battalion Commander Tang is right!" A chorus of agreement immediately rang out in the conference room.

Tang Dazhuang slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Commander, I wish we could have a few more battles this intense!"

Tang Weiguo's lips curled into a slight smile, a rare occurrence these past few days: "Don't worry, there will be more and more battles of this scale in the future. Everyone's task now is to train the troops diligently and prepare for battle."

He paused, then said firmly,

"Sooner or later, we will drive the Japanese devils out of our homeland!"

"That's right, Commander!" A chorus of agreement erupted from the audience. Tang Xiaohu stood up and shouted, "Let's all work harder and strive to drive the Japanese devils out of our hometown as soon as possible!"

Tang Weiguo tapped the table at the opportune moment: "Alright, everyone, quiet down and let's begin tonight's meeting." As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room fell silent.

"We've been fighting the Japanese for three or four days now."

Tang Weiguo opened the document in front of him.

"Today's meeting serves two purposes: first, to summarize the experiences and lessons learned from the previous phase of operations; and second, to formulate the development plan for our militia in the next phase."

He turned to look at Zhang Haoshan.

"Now, please let Deputy Regiment Commander Zhang introduce the results we achieved in this operation."

Zhang Haoshan stood up and said.

"Yes."

He then opened a notebook with a kraft paper cover and said in a steady, powerful voice:

"The defensive battle of Wolong Mountain lasted for a week. During this period, everyone demonstrated a fighting spirit of fearlessness and perseverance, which enabled us to achieve significant results."

Everyone in the conference room held their breath, waiting for the results they had won with their blood.

"In this operation, we annihilated three Japanese battalions, defeated the Sakai Regiment of the 109th Division plus two other Japanese battalions, and killed or wounded more than 6000 Japanese soldiers."

Zhang Haoshan's voice trembled slightly; even he himself was shocked by the number.

A collective gasp rippled through the audience. Tang Dazhuang's eyes widened, and he snapped the pencil in his hand with a sharp crack.

Zhang Haoshan continued, "When the Japanese besieged our Wolong Mountain, we didn't choose to defend it entirely. The regimental commander ordered the reconnaissance battalion to operate on the outer lines, concealing themselves and lying in ambush near Wolong Mountain county town."

"Afterwards, the reconnaissance battalion seized the opportunity and decisively launched an attack on Wolongshan County, where the Japanese forces were weakly deployed."

"The remaining Japanese troops, who were originally confronting us at Wolong Mountain, immediately returned to reinforce the county town after receiving news of the attack." Zhang Haoshan's baton traced an arc on the map.

To ensure the reconnaissance battalion's successful capture of the county seat and to coordinate with the logistics transport units to promptly transfer the Japanese military supplies stored in the county seat, the 1st Battalion put up a fierce resistance in the Lijia Gou area.

At this point, Zhang Haoshan paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present: "According to Director Bi's preliminary estimate, we have seized at least 30 rounds of ammunition, tens of thousands of artillery shells, and a large quantity of military supplies."

His voice suddenly rose, "Comrades, for a long time to come, we won't have to worry about weapons and ammunition anymore!"

The meeting room erupted in excitement. "Three hundred thousand rounds of ammunition!" a company commander jumped up excitedly. "That's enough for so many battles!" Another battalion commander slapped his thigh and shouted, "This is great! Finally, we don't have to count bullets anymore!"

Tang Dazhuang and several battalion commanders shouted at Bi Shoucai, the logistics director, "Old Bi, you can't be so stingy with ammunition allocations from now on!"

Bi Shoucai retorted without backing down: "No amount of ammunition can be wasted; allocate as much as is needed!"

"Alright, alright, everyone quiet down." Tang Weiguo tapped the table, and after the noise subsided, he nodded to Zhang Haoshan, "Continue."

Zhang Haoshan turned to the next page of his notebook:

"In addition, we also found several machine tools used for gun repair, as well as two generators, at the Japanese military police headquarters."

His voice was filled with undisguised joy, "This batch of equipment is currently being transported to headquarters by the logistics transport battalion."

Bi Shoucai immediately stood up and added, "This batch of machinery and supplies will arrive at our base tomorrow afternoon, and I will arrange for its handover to the arsenal as soon as possible."

"That's fantastic!" Wang Qiang, the head of the arsenal, jumped up from his seat excitedly, his glasses slipping down to the tip of his nose. "This will expand our arsenal once again! Director Bi, I'll be waiting for you first thing tomorrow morning!"

Zhang Haoshan smiled and shook his head: "You two can discuss the details of the handover of this batch of equipment after the meeting. Now I want to talk about another important achievement."

He glanced around to make sure everyone's attention was on him. "As the Japanese troops returned to reinforce Wolong County, the reconnaissance battalion seized the opportunity and, with the cooperation of a regiment of the Eighth Route Army, captured Qingshan County!"

The news exploded in the conference room like a bomb. Everyone stared in shock, some even unable to believe their ears.

"We liberated a county town?" a young company commander murmured to himself, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Didn't they say that this county town was captured by the Eighth Route Army?" Many people began to mutter quietly.

"Zhang Haoshan explained."

"I discussed it with the regimental commander. To avoid exposing our strength and being retaliated against by the Japanese, this county town was nominally occupied by the Eighth Route Army, but in reality, it was under our control."

He paused, then continued, "So, after this battle, our militia gained its first county seat!"

Thunderous applause and cheers erupted in the conference room.

"Fantastic! We've actually liberated a county town!"

"We never expected to have such a great haul!"

"Let's see if those little devils dare to look down on us now!"

Amid cheers, Tang Weiguo stood up and pressed his hands down: "Just let everyone know this, don't spread it around. The Japanese won't stand idly by and watch us grow stronger." His voice turned serious. "This county will be our secret supply transfer center and intelligence outpost; it must be kept strictly confidential."

"Yes, Commander!" everyone answered in unison, their voices firm and strong.