Chapter 8: The War of Resistance, New Organization and New Team
Since the review report of the Battle of East Henan specifically raised questions about the problem of insufficient manpower in grassroots units, this round of reorganization of the Northwest Army mainly involved four levels: squad, platoon, company, and battalion. The most fundamental changes occurred at the "squad" level, which is the smallest unit in the entire command system.
According to the new organization table, the strength of a single infantry squad was expanded from the original seven to fifteen people, including a sergeant squad leader, a corporal squad deputy, two three-person light machine gun groups, a five-person rifle group and a two-person grenade launcher group, equipped with two Northwest-imitation ZB-26/ZB-30 Czech light machine guns, one 45mm Northwest-made special grenade launcher, five Northwest-imitation MP-28 submachine guns, and eight imitation Mauser 98k rifles.
Three infantry squads plus a lieutenant platoon leader, a second lieutenant platoon deputy, a platoon sergeant with the rank of staff sergeant and two messengers form an infantry platoon. Each infantry platoon will be equipped with six light machine guns, three grenade launchers, seventeen submachine guns, twenty-seven rifles, and two imitation White Lannin 9mm seven-bullet pistols for officers.
The newly organized infantry company consists of three such infantry platoons plus a firepower platoon and a company headquarters.
The fire platoon consists of two heavy machine gun squads and one mortar squad.
The number of personnel in each heavy machine gun squad is equivalent to that of an infantry squad, divided into two five-man heavy machine gun teams commanded by a corporal and a five-man guard/transport group directly commanded by a sergeant squad leader. They are equipped with two Type 97 Maxim heavy machine guns, two submachine guns, five rifles, and six mules and horses.
The mortar squad consists of thirteen people. In addition to the squad leader with the rank of sergeant, the other two are divided into two six-man mortar groups commanded by corporals. They are equipped with one rifle, two submachine guns, two 82mm mortars, and six pack mules and horses.
The company headquarters consists of one captain, one lieutenant, one company sergeant with the rank of third-class sergeant major, three reserve and trainee officers, one warrant officer company clerk, one company accountant, one company cashier, one company clerk with the rank of third-class sergeant major, five company-level medical soldiers, four company flag guards, four company headquarters messengers, and four cooks in the company kitchen.
Such an infantry company will have 225 officers and soldiers, equipped with two mortars, four heavy machine guns, 18 light machine guns, nine grenade launchers, 67 submachine guns, 106 rifles, 13 pistols for officers, nine 9mm revolvers for warrant officers and non-commissioned officers, and 20 mules and horses.
The three infantry companies, together with the battalion's artillery unit, medical unit, baggage unit, police and communications unit, and the battalion headquarters, form a complete infantry battalion.
The battalion artillery unit was composed of four ten-man artillery squads, a fifteen-man guard squad, a fifteen-man logistics squad, and a squad headquarters, totaling seventy-seven people, equipped with four 120mm heavy mortars, two light machine guns, one grenade launcher, seven submachine guns, fifteen rifles, two officers' pistols, and twenty pack horses/draft horses.
The medical team consisted of an emergency squad of three doctors, twelve medical soldiers, two stretcher squads of fifteen people and a storage squad of ten people. The entire squad, including the squad headquarters, had a total of sixty-two people, equipped with two submachine guns, fifteen rifles, five pistols for officers, twelve pistols for non-commissioned officers, a set of medical equipment and medicines, two horse-drawn carriages, and eight towing horses.
The baggage detachment was composed of two 15-man unarmed supply squads, a 15-man transport squad and a 10-man horse maintenance squad. The entire squad totaled 62 people, equipped with two submachine guns, 16 rifles, two officer pistols, 24 pack horses/draft horses, and six four-wheeled rubber carts.
The police communications detachment was composed of a radio squad, a telephone squad, a human messenger squad, a service squad and two guard squads, totaling ninety-seven people. They were equipped with two 20-watt and two 30-watt radios, twenty field telephones, four light machine guns, two grenade launchers, thirty-two submachine guns, thirty-three rifles, two officers' pistols, eight pack/trailer horses, and two four-wheeled freight wagons.
The battalion headquarters is composed of one major battalion commander (the most senior one is lieutenant colonel), one captain deputy battalion commander (the most senior one is major), one captain battalion chief of staff, one lieutenant battalion operations and intelligence staff, one second lieutenant battalion sergeant staff, two each of the battalion accountant, cashier and quartermaster officer, four to five reserve and trainee officers, and two cooks in the battalion kitchen.
By this calculation, an infantry battalion should have about one thousand officers and soldiers and general staff, and be equipped with ten infantry guns and mortars, seventy-two light and heavy machine guns, thirty grenade launchers, more than two hundred and fifty submachine guns, about four hundred rifles, more than one hundred pistols of various types, more than one hundred and thirty military horses and mules, and more than ten carts.
——"Several Organizational Adjustments in the History of the National Defense Force (Part 2)" National Defense History Collection.
"This is Ma Buyuan, the captain of the Henan Hui Anti-Japanese Detachment."
Ma Benzhai had been serving in the Fengtian Army since he entered the Northeast Military Academy. He once held the rank of commander of the Northeast Army. After the "August 20th Northeast Incident", he resigned and returned home because he could not stand Zhang Xueliang's policy of non-resistance.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he saw the loss of North China and the Japanese army showing off its power in China, so he organized an anti-Japanese force in Dongxinzhuang, Xian County, his hometown. At the beginning, it was just a civilian armed force with more than 60 people and five or six miscellaneous guns.
At that time, there were countless similar civilian armed forces in Hebei with the slogan of anti-Japanese. Although they all fought under the banner of anti-Japanese, there were many people who were actually doing something else.
However, as time went on, as the Japanese army successively established independent mixed brigades to garrison and carry out mopping-up operations in Hebei, these so-called anti-Japanese armed forces either disappeared, were eliminated by the Japanese army, or simply became puppet troops. The remaining ones who were still able to hold on naturally stood out.
However, in order to gain the support of He Guangfu, the current chairman of Hebei Province, it was not enough to simply insist on armed resistance against Japan. In the final analysis, they had to move closer to the northwest from head to toe. So Ma Buyuan took charge of the Hui Muslim Anti-Japanese Volunteer Team.
"Captain Ma was born in the Ma Family Army in Qinghai. He was skilled in archery and horse riding since childhood. He also studied the cavalry department of the Northwest Army School. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he was ordered to lead the cavalry battalion of the Henan Hui Muslim Anti-enemy Corps. He killed so many Japanese heads on the Guide battlefield that the Japanese were terrified. This time, Chairman He personally named him to be sent from Henan to support our Hui Muslim Anti-Japanese Volunteer Corps. Well, I won't introduce the rest. Now let's welcome Captain Ma to speak to us."
Thunderous applause soon broke out. Ma Buyuan then took a step forward, showing himself in front of everyone. He saluted everyone present before saying anything: "We are all church members, so I won't say any more polite words. I just have one thing to say. Although I am new here, I will have a part in fighting the Japanese in the future. You don't need to call me captain anymore. From now on, I am a member of the Volunteer Corps, and you can just call me instructor."
The applause became even louder, although of course some people did not applaud because of Ma Buyuan's military-like words.
Just as Ma Buyuan was about to retreat behind Ma Benzhai, Ma Zhongsan, the former captain of the Hui Muslim Training Team of the Hebei Guerrilla Army and now the deputy captain of the Volunteer Team, hurriedly asked, "Captain Ma, no, Instructor Ma, what did you say about the headquarters? In addition, our Volunteer Team currently has more than 200 people, but the weapons are very insufficient. I wonder how many weapons the instructor brought this time?"
"Seventeen brothers are like this."
Ma Buyuan didn't say anything, so Ma Benzhai started explaining first.
"During this trip to Fuping, Chairman He was very satisfied with our struggle and approved the expansion of the Volunteer Corps to a corps level. Three battalions will be set up below the corps and military ranks will be granted. I am a colonel and you are a lieutenant colonel. Yongen and Guozhong were appointed as captains."
It was said that the corps was granted a number and more than 30 blank commissions were given from colonel to second lieutenant, but in fact, He Oucai's move was more lip service than substance.
The vacancies in officers and soldiers had to be filled by the Volunteer Corps themselves, and the shortage of firearms could only partially solve the problem.
Even so, for the volunteer team that had been under the encirclement and suppression of the Japanese and puppet forces for a long time, it was already a rare honor to gain the recognition of the Hebei Provincial Government, whether it was empty favors or means of restraint.
First, the Volunteer Corps now has a formal identity and has gotten rid of the embarrassing status of a civilian armed force; second, with the number and organization, the Volunteer Corps can expand its momentum and manpower; third, and the most practical point, is that the Hebei Provincial Government will continue to subsidize part of the military pay and military supplies that cannot be bought with money.
It was precisely because of the various benefits of being incorporated that Ma Zhongsan came to his senses and nodded, and the matter of "expansion" was thus put to rest.
However, Ma Zhongsan still looked at Ma Buyuan relentlessly, and it was obvious that he was still waiting for the new instructor to solve another problem for him.
"As for the lack of weapons in the headquarters, it is indeed a problem."
Who is Ma Buyuan? He fought his way out of the bloody sea of East Henan. If he hadn't been wounded in Minquan, he would still be riding his horse and galloping on the front battlefield. How could he be stumped by a small farmer like Ma Zhongsan? He responded with dignity.
"But at present, the transportation lines between the provincial government and the enemy's rear are intermittent, and the Taihang Mountain Arsenal has just started, so there are too many people and too little porridge, and Chairman He is also very embarrassed. However, even though it is so difficult, Chairman He still took into account the difficulties of the Huimin Volunteer Corps. Look, this time the brothers brought a total of 12 Northwest-produced Mauser pistols, two Czech-style portable machine guns, four MP-28s, a Taisho 10th-year type 50mm grenade launcher, 20,000 various bullets, 100 50mm grenades, and 400 Min 17th-year type grenades."
You know, as the Japanese army's rule in Hebei became increasingly strict, it was quite rare for these shady things to be transported to Hejian, which was deep behind enemy lines. So when Ma Buyuan said this, Ma Zhongsan and the cadres of the Volunteer Corps had their eyes shining: "It's a lot, a lot, thank you very much, Chairman He."
"No, it's still too little."
Ma Buyuan's attitude was unexpected.
"But we can't just rely on our superiors to provide us with supplies. We also have to find a way to defeat the Japanese."
Everyone was shocked and listened to Ma Buyuan continue.
"We can't attack the county town yet, but can we attack three or five lone devils? Of course we can!"
Ma Buyuan's voice struck everyone's eardrums like the sound of a huge bell.
"The devils want to collect food but they are worried about the puppet army, so they have to come out of their shells, right? This is our chance.
Can't defeat them? You guys think too highly of the Japanese.
So, we can first train according to our Northwest military training outline for a while, and then find puppet troops and traitors to train with. I don't believe that we are all made of flesh and blood. The Japanese were beaten and fled in Henan, but they will become iron in Hebei?"
