Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 157 Northward to the 5th War Zone

Zhang Wenwu's brows were furrowed as he listened to Lei Dong's report on the current inventory of materials in the Quartermaster Department. He learned from Lei Dong's report that there was almost nothing left in the Quartermaster Department now, even the most numerous military uniforms and socks were almost gone. As for firearms, there were only 300 rifles picked up from the battlefield, and no light or heavy machine guns were left.

Even the artillery battalion that Zhang Wenwu had managed to fully staff up before now had not even a wheel left for its gun carriage, and the few officers and soldiers left in the battalion could only spend their days basking in the sun.

There is still no shortage of military funds, and the Military Commission still pays the monthly salaries of the Central Army on time. However, since the war broke out, everyone has been receiving "national crisis wages", and being able to pay salaries on time is already very good at the moment.

Zhang Wenwu was smoking a cigarette, and he was also thinking about where he could get some weapons and ammunition to replenish the troops. There was no hope for the military warehouse in Jinling, which was probably moved away long ago. Moreover, Zhang Wenwu thought that the current military warehouse was probably empty a long time ago. After fighting for two or three months, the inventory had been destroyed. You know, it’s not just Shanghai that’s fighting in China now, the northern Shanxi Province is also in a mess.

The weapons and ammunition of the British and Americans are not compatible, otherwise I would have found a way to buy a batch of weapons and ammunition from them this time.

Zhang Wenwu thought for a long time but couldn't come up with any good solution. Now all the participating troops needed reinforcements, and the Military Commission would definitely give priority to replenishing weapons and personnel for the troops participating in the defense of Nanjing. The other troops would have to wait.

That night, Zhang Wenwu stood in the yard of the Quartermaster Department smoking a cigarette. He thought that in less than a month, the city of Nanjing would face a fierce attack from the Japanese army. After the fall of Nanjing, the Japanese army created a tragedy in the city of Nanjing that would be remembered by all Chinese people for the rest of their lives.

But he had no ability to prevent this tragedy from happening now. Feeling annoyed, Zhang Wenwu smoked fiercely. He really had no good way to solve the current problem.

The next morning, Zhang Wenwu was called to the operations hall of the division headquarters by the signalman. As soon as he entered, he found that the chief officers of various units had rushed over one after another. Zhang Wenwu wondered what was going to happen next.

When the chief officers of several troops saw Zhang Wenwu, they greeted him warmly and thanked him for getting so many additional troops for them when he was in Shanghai, allowing them to hold their positions smoothly.

Before anyone could say a few words, Division Commander Huang, Chief of Staff Zhao Dong and Deputy Division Commander Qi walked into the operations hall together. Everyone immediately shut up and stopped talking. They were all confused and didn't know why they were called over.

"Everyone, I just received an order from the military. The Military Commission asked us to select a powerful part of the 102th Army and put it under the command of the Fifth War Zone. It will join the operations on the Jinpu Road and enrich the combat power of the Fifth War Zone. Our nd Division was sent by the military to carry out this mission. Everyone go back and prepare. The troops will set out tomorrow and the marching sequence will be notified by Chief of Staff Zhao in the afternoon." Division Commander Huang announced the reason for calling everyone to the meeting with a bit of helplessness.

As soon as Commander Huang finished giving the order, the officers in charge of the troops below immediately said in unison: "Commander, the troops have not yet completed their replenishment and rest. Many soldiers have not completed their due training, and the heavy weapons have not been delivered. We really should not fight the Japanese army head-on at this time."

"Yes, Commander, this Military Commission is really something. They should send a capable force instead of sending our army, which is now just an empty shell, to make up the numbers."

Zhang Wenwu listened to everyone's noisy speeches and understood that everyone was not afraid of fighting the Japanese. They were discussing based on the actual situation of the troops. If it was the 102nd Division before the war, no one would say anything. But the current 102nd Division, to put it bluntly, any one of the two brigades of the 102nd Division before the war could defeat the current 102nd Division. More than half of the recruits in the army still need some time to train. Pulling this understaffed army to fight the Japanese would be pure suicide and would not be of any useful help to the battle situation.

"Okay, be quiet. What's the point of making so much noise? Do you behave like a revolutionary soldier? Everyone knows the situation of the troops, but the situation of other troops is even worse than that of our 102nd Division. At this critical moment, we as revolutionary soldiers must forge ahead bravely. In addition, the Military Commission and the Military Headquarters have also taken into consideration the situation of the troops and have specially approved our unit to incorporate the security groups and local armed forces along the way to make up for the shortfalls in the troops. In the afternoon, the Military Headquarters will also transport a batch of weapons, ammunition and other supplies to us." Chief of Staff Zhao loudly stopped everyone's discussion and gave a supplementary explanation of the situation.

Hearing that they could recruit additional troops along the way, the commanders of each unit stopped talking, but everyone still frowned. This person can be recruited, but the combat effectiveness of the unit cannot be improved by just recruiting him. That requires time to train. However, the order has been issued, and everyone can only improve the combat effectiveness of the unit as much as possible within the limited time.

Zhang Wenwu wondered why the 102nd Division was sent to the Fifth War Zone to participate in the war. The commander of the Fifth War Zone was replaced by Mr. Li from the Guangxi clique some time ago. The troops there were basically composed of various local troops and miscellaneous troops. If the 102nd Division went there, it would be as conspicuous as eating Western food in a ramen restaurant.

It turned out that due to the failure of the Shanghai battle, it was only a matter of time for the Japanese army to occupy Shanghai. During this period, the Japanese army in North China almost occupied the entire Hebei Province and continued to attack Shanxi Province westwards. The Fifth War Zone was located between the two Japanese armies, guarding the very important Jinpu Railway. The Japanese army would definitely move south or north to attack the defense area of ​​the Fifth War Zone. Boss Li knew that the troops in his war zone were not enough, so he asked the Military Commission for reinforcements and specified that at least part of the Central Army should be sent to the Fifth War Zone to fight. At the same time, it also served as an example for other miscellaneous troops in the Fifth War Zone.

Therefore, the Military Commission searched for a suitable force, and found that all the troops of the Central Army were crippled, and most of them had to participate in the defense of Nanjing. So after searching for a long time, they found the 18th Army that was resting in Jiangbei. It just so happened that the 18th Army's combat record fully met the requirements of Boss Li, and it was the absolute main force of the Central Army. Moreover, only a part of it needed to be sent to the Fifth War Zone. So an order was issued to the 18th Army, requiring it to dispatch a combat-capable division-level force to participate in the war in the Fifth War Zone, which would just be a good opportunity to publicize the government's determination to resist.

After receiving this order, Commander Luo of the 102th Army was a little bit amused and helpless. The 102th Army now has no combat-capable division-level units. Every division has been beaten to pieces. It is not easy for him to appoint generals for this matter, so he can only call all the division commanders to the military headquarters for a meeting. When the division commanders heard what Commander Luo said, they all said that their troops did not meet the requirements of the Military Commission, and began to compare their misery with each other. As a result, Commander Huang was unfortunately defeated in the comparison. There was no way. Among all the division-level units of the 102th Army, the nd Division has the highest combat power. The th Division and the th Division are almost beaten to the point of being removed from the Chinese army. Several brigade commanders and regiment commanders of the th Division have been killed. Therefore, the nd Division was honored to be selected as the seed unit to be sent to the Fifth War Zone. In addition, Zhang Wenwu's previous good logistics support also played a key role in the election of the nd Division.

The next day, after the 102nd Division handed over the defense line to the th Division troops that came to take over, the entire army headed north to report to the Fifth War Zone. However, along the way, the troops' advance speed was very slow, basically described as a snail's pace. Whenever they arrived at a place, the first thing they did was to incorporate the local security group or local militia. Where there were bandits, Wang Mazi would lead his men to negotiate for amnesty. If the bandits were unwilling, they would surround them, fire a few mortar shells, and then rush up to capture all the bandits. The leader would be dragged to the county town to be beheaded in public, and the remaining bandits would be incorporated into the army to make meritorious contributions while serving their sentences.

Whenever Zhang Wenwu arrived at a place, he would take the three guys from the Quartermaster Department to visit the local gentry, preach the great principles of resisting Japan and saving the country, and ask everyone to contribute money and manpower, and those who had supplies should of course contribute them. Along the way, he gained a lot.

The Fifth War Zone was very satisfied with the 102nd Division of the th Army assigned to it by the Military Commission. At least this was the attitude of the Military Commission and the top leadership. This would also make the miscellaneous troops in the war zone feel more at ease and they would not feel that the government was using the Japanese to deplete the strength of their own troops.

However, the marching speed of the 102nd Division was really slow. They could have reached a city on the Jinpu Road and taken a train to Xuzhou, but the 102nd Division chose not to take the train and just moved slowly towards Xuzhou a little bit every day.

"Commander Li, the 102nd Division is advancing at an incredible speed. At this rate, it would be a blessing if they can report to Xuzhou in early December." Chief of Staff Xu of the Fifth War Zone complained to Commander Li somewhat helplessly.

"Yan Mou, don't worry. It's already very good that the Military Commission can send us a division of the Central Army at this time. The 102nd Division has no other choice. Their losses in the previous battle in Shanghai were also quite heavy. They have been dawdling all the way. I guess they are learning from their commander Chen, constantly incorporating local armed forces along the way into the army to enrich the combat effectiveness. This is a good thing for us. The stronger they are, the more combat effectiveness they have. For us, that is the biggest help. Otherwise, if we only send an army that is left with an empty shell, where can we get reinforcements for the Central Army? Haha." Commander Li took a sip of the hot tea in the cup, smiled and comforted Chief of Staff Xu.

"I'm also worried about the Japanese offensive. When the Japanese attack from the north and south, it will be difficult for the troops in our theater to withstand the aggressive Japanese army." Chief of Staff Xu also expressed his concerns with a wry smile.