After Chen Zhengyu finished speaking, he lay on the table to calculate something. When Zhou Cheng was about to deal with the next question, he suddenly spoke: "Captain, as your order just now, after the National Rescue Army is full, the total force will exceed 8,000."

"Now the entire regiment can continue to fight, only more than 3,600 troops left, including two guerrilla squadrons that have been built. In addition, there are 1,053 wounded people in the field hospital. After all the wounded people are recovered and returned to the team, the total strength is only 4,700. If the troops want to be fully enclosed, they still need at least 3,500 people!"

Tang Yufeng was in charge of affairs in the defense zone, and no one knew better than him about the source of troops in the defense zone.

When he heard Chen Zhengyu's words, his brows frowned as soon as he stretched out, and he had a serious analysis on his face!

"Captain, although the old defense zone can still recruit three or four thousand new recruits, after recruiting them, the production in the defense zone will definitely be affected."

"I think the three or four thousand new recruits that the troops lack can only recruit people from the new defense zone that they just occupied!"

Zhou Cheng's brows also frowned.

The new defense zone just captured by the army was only half a county. Although it was a large grain-producing county with a large population, it could not withstand such large-scale recruitment.

I thought about the order: "This anti-sweeping campaign, the militia troops performed very well. Lao Tang, you have drawn 500 soldiers with the best military literacy from the militia to supplement the main force. The militia vacancies are directly supplemented by the young people who performed better in the local area!"

"I will recruit 1,000 soldiers from the new defense zone that the troops just took down, and I will solve the gap between the two thousand new recruits."

Chen Zhengyu interrupted again: "Captain, I just calculated it wrong. Two thousand people are not enough. You have to recruit at least three thousand new recruits. It would be best if you can recruit four thousand new recruits back!"

Zhou Cheng frowned and asked, "Why are there two thousand more people suddenly?"

Chen Zhengyu quickly explained: "I just said that 3,500 people were just a vacancies for the main force, and the vacancies for the new recruits were not included."

"Now there is only one empty space left in the new recruits. In order to deal with the next Japanese storm, the new recruits must gather at least a thousand people to train first. With the new recruits, the main force will dare to fight with confidence on the battlefield without any worries!"

Hearing this, Zhou Cheng suddenly thought of another question.

"Old Tang, as the Chief of Staff said just now, the total strength of the National Salvation Army will directly exceed 10,000. In addition to the subsidies of local cadres and regiment headquarters to militia troops, the population that needs to be raised by the people in the defense zone will exceed 11,000. Do we have so much food? Is the grain produced by Xiyanghe Pingding enough for our troops to eat?"

Tang Yufeng shook his head without hesitation.

"Although we had reserved a lot of food before the anti-sweeping, it was only enough for 5,000 people to eat for a year and a half."

"Now the number of grain-eating troops increased to 10,000, plus a few hundred local cadres and subsidies to militia troops, we can eat up to nine months of food, and if we save a little, we can last ten months."

"As for the grain produced in the defense zone every year, the weather is good, and the grain produced in Xiyang County is just enough for the people to be self-sufficient. If you save some food, you can support one thousand more people."

"Putting up many fields, high grain production, can feed 4,000 people. If there are more, you can only deduct food from the mouths of the people!"

Zhou Cheng's face quickly sank.

Without food, no matter how many troops the National Salvation Army forms, it will be useless. By then, just hunger can cause the troops to collapse.

This means that the National Salvation Army relies on the troops that support up to 5,000 people in Pingding and Xiyang. If there are more, it will face the risk of the troops having no food to eat.

Of course, if you insist on expanding the national rescue army to 10,000 people, you can only find a way out from the Japanese if you give out 5,000 extra rations.

This means that the National Salvation Army is likely to provoke war for hundreds of thousands of kilograms of food in the future, take the initiative to attack the Japanese-occupied areas, and exchange the lives of the soldiers for food.

In this way, the National Salvation Army and the Japanese army will continue to fight endlessly, consuming each other's strength, allowing the war zone to reap the benefits.

"I didn't expect that we once again became chess pieces in the war zone. They sold them and still counting the money for them!" Zhou Cheng suddenly sighed.

Seeing Chen Zhengyu and Tang Yufeng frowned, looking at him with confusion, not understanding why he had withdrawn the topic to the war zone again.

I quickly explained: "Old Tang, Chief of Staff, our National Salvation Army has been plotted by the war zone again!"

Tang Yufeng still didn't understand it, frowned and asked, "Captain, hasn't the plot to kill us through the Japanese in the war zone failed? Is it also related to them that our shortage of food?"

Zhou Cheng directly expressed his analysis just now: "The war zone allowed the National Salvation Army to expand its troops privately, which seemed to give us great power, and also gave us Xiyang and Pingding together, allowing us to raise our army, but in fact, it dug a big hole for us!"

"If we do not consider the issue of food, we will expand the troops in the defense zone. When the troops have no food to eat in the future, in order to stabilize the morale and morale of the troops, we can only take the initiative to attack the Japanese-occupied areas and grab food from the Japanese."

"The National Salvation Army attacked the Japanese army for food, and the Japanese army attacked us for revenge. The enemy and us will continue to fight and consume each other's strength."

"If the battle continues, the defense zone will not have time to develop, and the troops will become weaker and weaker because they don't have time to rest. In the end, we will be consumed by the Japanese on the battlefield."

"The war zone can be guarded by the side and reap the benefits of the fisherman. It not only uses the Japanese to kill us, but also uses us to consume a lot of their troops, killing two birds with one stone!"

The more Tang Yufeng heard, his brows became deeper and deeper, and he immediately raised his opinion: "Captain, since the large-scale expansion of the troops was a big pit dug for us by the war zone, we must not jump into the pit ourselves."

"I suggest that we put as big as the pot, and just expand the main force to 5,000 people, and at most one thousand new recruits."

"The main force usually saves a little bit, and then seizes some food from the Japanese, so it should be fine to feed an additional thousand people!"

Chen Zhengyu was also shocked by Zhou Cheng's analysis just now, but he was surely unwilling to let him give up the 10,000 army he had obtained and reduce the total strength of the National Rescue Army to the original 5,000 people.

Without a commander, you don’t want to see more troops under your command.

Moreover, the National Salvation Army now needs guns, guns, cannons, and arsenals continuously provide various ammunition, so there is no reason not to expand the troops.

Although Tang Yufeng's final proposal was very pertinent, Zhou Cheng, who was unwilling to accept it, did not nod and object, but stared at Zhou Cheng with a silent face and waited for him to make the final decision.

Zhou Cheng didn't want to give up the nearly 10,000 army that could be formed at any time.

But there is a prerequisite: the problem of food shortage in the army must be solved first, otherwise the expansion of the army will become a joke, and it may also lead the national rescue army into a dangerous situation that will never be restored.
Chapter completed!