Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Just as the two men were eating, the commander-in-chief walked in and said cheerfully, "Old Mao, good news, there's good news from the Jin-Cha-Ji region. The Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region has completely broken the Japanese mopping-up campaign, and the results are very brilliant. Yang Quanwu of the First Division led his troops to completely annihilate the 35th Regiment of the Japanese 220th Division, killing the 35th Division Infantry Regiment's Major General, Iida Taijiro. And Wang Qiuyun led his troops to ambush the Japanese 1600th Independent Mixed Brigade, annihilating Japanese troops and killing the th Independent Mixed Brigade's Major General, Toranosuke Kosei."

Chapter 314 China's Hope Lies in Yan'an

"Okay."

The chairman was overjoyed when he heard the report.

The Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was truly remarkable. Chairman Mao called it a model base area, and it lived up to that expectation. The previous counter-mopping-up operation had already killed two Japanese major generals, and this time, they unexpectedly killed two more.

It’s really a great performance.

Accompanying Chen Jiageng was Li Tiemin.

Li Tiemin, secretary of the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Relief Association for Refugees, spoke both Minnan dialect and Mandarin. Therefore, he served as Chen Jiageng's interpreter during his trip to Yan'an. Li Tiemin immediately relayed what the commander-in-chief had said.

After hearing this, Chen Jiageng was very shocked.

A few months ago, the Eighth Route Army killed two major generals, but unexpectedly, they killed two more major generals.

When did it become so easy to kill a Japanese general?

But no matter what, he was happy. After arriving in Yan'an this time, although it was only the second day, he was already disgusted with the Kuomintang propaganda of "communism and sharing wives" and "long-haired bandits".

Anyone who has personally visited Yan'an will not believe these claims, because they are completely slanderous.

So he immediately asked, "Jin Cha Ji?"

"Mr. Chen, look at the map." Previously, the Chairman and Chen Jiageng had mainly discussed Party policies and the current friction between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. They hadn't discussed much about military matters. Seeing Chen Jiageng's interest, the Commander-in-Chief stepped forward and examined the map. "Currently, our Eighth Route Army bases are divided into four main areas. Southwest Shanxi, Northwest Shanxi, and Suiyuan are bases established by the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army. The small circles on this map represent the bases currently controlled by the 120th Division."

After all, Chen Jiageng is sixty-seven years old.

His eyesight wasn't as sharp as it had been when he was younger, so he moved closer to the map and took a closer look.

There are many small circles on the map.

Many circles were discovered in southwestern Shanxi, northwestern Shanxi, and Suiyuan. If all these circles were added together, they would form a large circle. Although Chen Jiageng did not understand military affairs, he understood that the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army controlled a lot of areas.

The commander-in-chief continued, "The base developed here with Taihang Mountain as its center is the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. In addition to Shanxi, the 129th Division also opened up a base in southern Hebei. That's right here."

Chen Jiageng looked at the map and nodded.

At this time, he already fully understood the situation on the map.

Because the map clearly showed where the Nationalist army, the Japanese army, and the Eighth Route Army were. He hadn't quite grasped the Chairman's concept of base areas behind enemy lines before. But after looking at the map, he completely understood the situation.

"This is the Shandong base. It was opened up by the Shandong troops and the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. As for Jin-Cha-Ji, it's right here. The Jindong area, the Chahar area, the Rehe area, as well as the Jixi area, the Jizhong area, and the Jidong area. These are all the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, opened up by the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. The First Division I just mentioned is here. The Eighth Column that killed two Japanese major generals and brigade commanders a few months ago was a unit affiliated with the First Division of Jin-Cha-Ji. This time, the First Division killed two major generals again. General..."

"well."

Chen Jiageng applauded repeatedly. Looking at the map, he understood more clearly the Eighth Route Army's development. So he began, "When I left Chongqing, Mr. Chiang invited me to dinner. He asked me where I was going. I said I wanted to visit Shaanxi, Xi'an, and eventually, Yan'an. Mr. Chiang told me that the Eighth Route Army was 'disobedient to orders,' 'high friction,' 'unresisting the Japanese,' 'wandering around without fighting,' and so on. But now it seems that the Eighth Route Army was not in the least bit unresisting. The Eighth Route Army truly was a formidable force."

Chen Jiageng was really excited that day.

On the way back to his residence, he couldn't suppress his excitement. Chen Jiageng wanted to know more about this unit that had killed Japanese generals one after another, so he asked his companion Chen Changfeng, "The Jin-Cha-Ji First Division is very powerful. How could they be so good at fighting?"

Chen Changfeng was the chairman's attendant.

现在是延安公安分局局长。他1929年参军1930年就开始跟着主席，担任他的勤务员。对于这些是非常熟悉的。因此介绍道：“我八路军部队都是原红军部队改编的。晋察冀一分区是八路军115师独立团发展出来的军分区。而115师独立团前身是红一师，是中共在1927年秋收起义的时候率领的部队。”

Then the origins of the troops were introduced in detail.

Chen Jiageng nodded repeatedly.

I didn't expect that the troops came from such a background, no wonder they are so good at fighting.

"Comrade Yang Quanwu, commander and political commissar of the First Division, is a veteran Red Army soldier who has served for ten years. Chairman Mao once called him the 'Zhao Zilong of the Army.' Since the Red Army period, he has fought many tough and fierce battles.

Chen Jiageng listened with great interest.

I had never studied the Eighth Route Army before, so I wasn't very familiar with it. But now, after listening to the introduction, I realize that these commanders of the Eighth Route Army have so many stories.

Chen Jiageng thought for a moment and asked, "Is their living standard good? What do they usually eat?"

"When food was plentiful, we could eat some cornmeal. But cornmeal wasn't always plentiful. During the rest of the year, when food was scarce, we ate black beans, potatoes, and wild vegetables. Our Eighth Route Army was poorly equipped, and we suffered heavy casualties in direct confrontations with the Japanese. Therefore, our bases were mainly in mountainous areas, where food production was low, and the food we ate was poor.

"Is it so difficult?"

"The poor food is actually tolerable for us. After all, we've all been through this hardship. But the biggest problem facing the Eighth Route Army right now is the lack of medicine, medical equipment, and of course, doctors. So after each anti-mopping-up campaign, a large number of wounded soldiers die because they lack medicine, and we're powerless to do anything. After the last anti-mopping-up campaign, over 3000 wounded soldiers from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region died in hospitals due to a lack of medicine."

Listening to Chen Changfeng's words, Chen Jiageng couldn't help crying.

Although Chen Jiageng was old and had seen a lot, he was still very sentimental at times. He couldn't accept the thought of so many excellent soldiers losing their lives due to lack of medicine.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen."

Chen Jiageng is old.

Li Tiemin saw that Chen Jiageng was sad, so he pulled Chen Jiageng and said, "Mr. Chen, I think we can allocate some of the materials donated by overseas Chinese to Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army.

Li Tiemin has been traveling between Southeast Asia and China.

In Chongqing, he had frequent contact with Wu Hao, Ye Jianying, and others. As a result, he completely distrusted the Nationalist government's propaganda and gradually leaned towards Yan'an. Therefore, Chen Jiageng's visit to Yan'an was also facilitated by Li Tiemin.

Li Tiemin was very sympathetic to the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.

After all, the Eighth Route Army's combat environment was very harsh.

Look at the Nationalist army's mainstay units: even company commanders received a salary of 100 yuan, while division commanders received 800 or 1,000 yuan. Even so, these division commanders and army commanders were dissatisfied, and many of them were idle and insolent. A corps reportedly had 10,000 troops but actually had less than 5,000 combat-ready personnel. This practice of unpaid salaries was widespread in the Nationalist army.

But the allowance of the division commander of the Eighth Route Army was only five yuan, and even the chairman's allowance was only five yuan.

The monthly allowance for the lower-level officers and soldiers was only one or two yuan. Of course, this was just a regulation, and many units of the Eighth Route Army could not even pay this allowance because they had no money.

The Eighth Route Army fought against the Japanese in such a difficult environment.

That's why he persuaded Chen Jiageng when he saw Li Tiemin.

"Yes, yes. Comrade Chen, how much military rations does the Nationalist Government provide to the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army each year?

Chen Jiageng asked Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng said, "The Eighth Route Army receives approximately 600,000 RMB per month, and the New Fourth Army receives approximately 70,000 RMB. However, starting in August and September, there were some frictions between the Eighth Route Army and the Nationalist Army, so the Nationalist Government cut off our military pay.

"The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army each have less than 700,000 troops per month?"

"Yes."

After listening to this, Chen Jiageng remained silent for a long time.

From the July 7 Incident until today, overseas Chinese have donated over 300 million yuan. Unexpectedly, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army donate less than 10 million yuan a year. A month's worth of donations from overseas Chinese would cover their annual salaries.

Before Chen Jiageng came to Yan'an, he really didn't expect this situation to happen.

The Eighth Route Army faced such difficulties, yet they fought so beautifully.

Chen Jiageng spent more than a month in Chongqing and learned about the combat situations of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. After the Battle of Wuhan, the Eighth Route Army became increasingly active in North China.

In the past two years, the Eighth Route Army has fought many brilliant battles.

Chen Jiageng believed that the Eighth Route Army, with its prowess in combat, should have received at least several million in monthly pay. However, it received less than 700,000. Furthermore, the Nationalist government had already stopped paying the 700,000.

Soon Chen Jiageng said to Li Tiemin, "We will allocate some of the supplies we brought this time to Yan'an. As for donations, I intend to prepare some for Yan'an as well. I will explain this to everyone in person. Please help me organize the two million yuan I brought with me. I will give it to Yan'an. In Chongqing, I only saw singing and dancing, corruption and decadence, and a life of luxury. I didn't see any hope. But although I only spent one day in Yan'an, I saw hope for China here.

Chen Jiageng was really touched.

So he decided to donate the money himself. Business had been slow in recent years, and Chen Jiageng's assets had shrunk significantly. But he still managed to raise funds this time, securing two million yuan. He had originally intended to donate it to Chongqing.

But he was in a bad mood in Chongqing, so he didn't take out the money.

This time he planned to donate it to Yan'an.

As for the overseas Chinese funds, although he was the president, he could not make arbitrary decisions. Previously, overseas Chinese funds were donated directly to Chongqing. But Chen Jiageng began to have other ideas. He wanted to take a certain percentage of it and donate it to Yan'an.

But he needs to discuss this matter with others.

"it is good."

Li Tiemin nodded.

Chen Jiageng and Li Tiemin spoke in Minnan dialect, which Chen Changsheng could not understand.

However, he could still sense the change in Chen Jiageng's mood. Chen Changsheng was not only the Chairman's orderly, but also a very outstanding scout who had led troops in battle in the Red Army.

If he had not been smart, he would not have been the Chairman's attendant for seven years, and he would not have been sent to accompany Chen Jiageng.

Living conditions in Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army were poor, and they also hoped to receive some assistance. Unfortunately, both the Soviet Union and overseas Chinese had their money supporting Chongqing. This time, Chen Jiageng came, and Yan'an also wanted to unite with him.

Even a small amount of donations from overseas Chinese would be a huge support for the Eighth Route Army.

That is why Yan'an attached so much importance to Chen Jiageng.

There was no need to compare with Chongqing; Yan'an would be very satisfied if it were given only one-tenth, or even one-twentieth, of Chongqing's output. After Chen Jiageng left, the Commander-in-Chief said, "Old Mao, this is Comrade Rong Zhen's telegram. He wants to upgrade the Eighth Column into two military sub-districts. Furthermore, the Eighth Column is split into two military sub-districts, but only in name. He hopes to fully retain the cadre structure of the Eighth Column and maintain its independence in this regard."

The Chairman took the telegram and quickly understood what Marshal Nie meant.

The 8th Column is indeed a special unit.

This unit, with its relatively young history and recent rise, boasts a distinguished record of military success. Therefore, establishing a military sub-district presents numerous challenges, the most significant of which is the issue of cadre deployment. With the establishment of two new military sub-districts, I wonder how many cadres will be eagerly eyeing their positions.

Marshal Nie had previously told Yan'an that he hoped to stabilize the structure of the 8th Column first.

The Chairman put down the telegram, thought for a moment, and asked, "Boss, what are your thoughts?"

"From a military perspective, the Eighth Column is currently developing very well and is progressing smoothly in Chahar. Maintaining a certain degree of independence is indeed the best option. If the current cadre structure is disrupted and personnel issues arise, it will definitely affect the combat effectiveness of the unit.

Comrade Rong Zhen should also be considering this issue. But factionalism is unacceptable."

The Chairman and the Commander-in-Chief immediately understood Marshal Nie's thoughts.

But there is a strong mountain flavor in it.

Marshal Nie had always supported and trusted the Eighth Column. This was driven by considerations of the current development of the Chahar base area. However, in the eyes of the Chairman, the Commander-in-Chief, and other military regions, this appeared to be a tendency toward protectionism and factionalism.

The Chairman thought for a moment and said, "Comrade Rong Zhen is more familiar with the Eighth Column's situation than we are. Let the Jin-Cha-Yi Branch make its own decision. However, this is only a transitional issue. We must still tell Comrade Rong Zhen that factionalism must not be allowed to develop."

Chapter 315: Upgrading to a Military Sub-district

"Commander, what does Yan'an mean?"

Zhan Tong looked at the telegram, feeling a little unsure.

The telegram from Yan'an was very short. It generally agreed to the military region's request, but also included some criticism. It agreed to the military region's proposal to upgrade the 8th Column to a military sub-district, but later on it included criticism. As someone who worked in political science, he could see something unusual in the Yan'an telegram.

Because this was a telegram sent in the name of the central government.

But it was different from ordinary telegrams. In addition to the Central Committee's response, there was also a telegram drafted and sent by the Chairman himself. The Chairman's telegram was less than 200 words long, and the tone was not too harsh, but the content was unusual.

"The Chairman supports the upgrading of the Eighth Column to a military sub-district, but opposes our protection of the Eighth Column in this way.