Start as a young leader, grow bigger and stronger, and create more glory

Xu Le took great pains to calm everyone down and get production back to normal.

In fact, Xu Le did this on purpose, and it was also his innermost thought. Although he had lived two lives, it had only been less than half a year since he traveled to the Tang Dynasty, and he had only lived for more than 20 years in his previous life, so his actual experience was less than 30 years.

But in previous lives, China had a developed economy and prosperous technology. In that era of information explosion, anyone could learn a lot through the Internet and television, which enabled Xu Le to understand many ways to win people's hearts.

But he didn't do those things just to win the hearts of his subordinates. It can only be said that he had multiple purposes and wanted to achieve a win-win situation.

From the moment he officially took over as the young marshal and led the team, he never thought that a general needed to eat and live with the soldiers.

He vigorously expanded the military merit system and officer rank system!

Being able to sit in the position of an officer naturally has its own uniqueness, so an officer can have an independent room, his own kitchen team, receive a salary several times higher than others, and even be able to marry freely at the regimental level and above.

If the soldiers envy this kind of life, then you should contribute during the battle. In order to stimulate the morale of the soldiers, the military merit reward of the Independent 176th Division is the highest in the entire Tang Dynasty. Killing ordinary soldiers can not only obtain a full set of enemy equipment, but also 5 oceans. In comparison, the monthly salary of 1 ocean seems insignificant.

Xu Le specially made the third change to the military merit rewards for this purpose. While keeping the original reward system unchanged, he raised the rank limit for direct kills to captain. From then on, any enemy officer below the colonel level could be killed directly. An enemy captain was worth 300 oceans.

And those who capture puppet soldiers can get the same reward!

Once you have accumulated enough military merits, you can directly upgrade your military rank without accumulating military service!

On the premise of ensuring that all soldiers were well fed and clothed, the Logistics Department also set up an additional department to sell various foods to the troops, such as braised beef, pork heads, cigarettes, and liquor.

The soldiers had more money in their hands, so they had to find a place to spend it, which formed a cycle and the army prospered.

Most of the supplies for the logistics department were purchased from civilians within a hundred kilometers around, or from towns occupied by the Japanese. There were dedicated people in charge, and there had never been any mistakes. Vehicles were definitely not allowed to appear in those places, which allowed the troops' mules and horses to be of good use, and this would not attract the attention of the Japanese and puppet army sentries.

......

The Independent 176th Division was developing rapidly, and the Japanese and the Shanxi Army were also busy deploying their troops. The events in Heifengzhai did not seem to have attracted the attention of the Japanese, or perhaps the Japanese did not have the time to take care of it for the time being, or perhaps there were other reasons.

The Japanese invaders in the entire southern part of Shanxi Province and even in the central region were frequently mobilized. There were countless trains running back and forth on the Tongpu Railway, and countless military supplies were gathered around Jie County.

The Jin troops in the Zhongtiao Mountain area were also being reorganized on a large scale, and the Jin troops in Shaanxi Province were also moving towards it. The main forces of the two National Guard armies were also gathering along the Yellow River in northern Henan Province.

The National Guard troops and some local troops of the Crocodile Province are also gathering near Tongguan, which is the last line of defense at the intersection of the Longhai Line and the Tongpu Line. It is the throat of Guanzhong connecting the Northwest, North China and the Central Plains. Its geographical location is of strategic significance.

However, after the Jin Army received intelligence about the 176th Division's betrayal from the 74th Division, there was no news of any investigation. Instead, the 74th Division, which was supposed to be on the flank, was slightly mobilized.

The deployment position did not change. The Jin Army Headquarters transferred the artillery regiment and an infantry regiment of the 74th Division on the grounds that the front-line positions lacked heavy firepower.

Originally, the deployment position of the 74th Division was neither important nor light. While being responsible for the security of the flank, it also had to ensure that if any abnormalities occurred to the main force of the Jin Army on the front line, and guarantee their retreat route.

In view of this, such a transfer did not arouse suspicion, but Wei Cheng, the commander of the 74th Division, began to become a little suspicious.

"Why does it feel a little wrong?"

"Why do you say that? We really don't need the artillery regiment, so it's reasonable for the military to transfer our artillery regiment!"

Wei Cheng was just a little suspicious. He shook his head and said, "I don't know why, but I always feel that everything is too smooth and too reasonable! The decisive battle is about to begin, and all divisions have completed their deployment. It is taboo to mobilize troops under such circumstances.

Moreover, the Japanese's liaison with us has always been that woman, Yamaguchi Keiko, who is no small figure. At such a critical moment, why would they let her men come to contact us on her behalf?"

"Commander, are you overthinking it? After all, the war is imminent and all checkpoints are strictly checked. As a senior agent of the Japanese, Yamaguchi Keiko is definitely unwilling to take such a big risk and come here in person. Anyway, we have already planned the rebellion in detail, and now we are just making some temporary supplements. There is no need for her to come."

"Maybe. This war is of great importance. The Tang army has deployed nearly 20 troops. Although our Jin army is the main force on paper, the actual main force is the elite of the Central Army of the National Guard.

This will be a battle of great impact. If we lose, if the outcome is good, we can still defend Yongji and Ruicheng. If the outcome is bad, I am afraid that the entire Shanxi Province will fall into the hands of the Japanese.

I don't want to live like this anymore, so I took the risk of cooperating with the Japanese. There must not be any mistakes in this matter, otherwise the 74 soldiers of my th Division will not have a good end!

By the way, before this, Yamaguchi Keiko seemed to have said that she would contact the old knife-holder of the Black Wind Village and ask him to take advantage of the chaos to eliminate the scattered guerrillas in the surrounding area. Is there any news about this?"

"Commander, that's just what Yamaguchi Keiko said! Besides, almost no one knows the location of Black Wind Village, and we can't find any information. Although the guerrillas are poorly equipped, they are not that easy to deal with, otherwise they wouldn't have caused the Japanese so much trouble for so long!"

"Yes, now there are guerrillas in many places in the Tang Dynasty, and they are a group of tough guys! Lao Daobazi is just a bandit, but he still wants to get close to the Japanese. Little does he know that the Japanese only use him as cannon fodder.

No matter how well the old knife boss performs, the Japanese have lost a hidden hostile force in southern Shanxi, and they can also take the opportunity to weaken the old knife boss.

These little devils really know how to play, making us Tang people fight against ourselves!"

"Commander, there is nothing we can do! The temptation given by the Japanese is too great. We have worked hard for the Jin Army for so many years, but in the end, we got nothing!"

"Alright! Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. It's better to be safe than sorry. Go and move the positions of the two regiments. If something goes wrong, we will have a way to retreat!"