Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

After the Japanese army started fighting, Yan'an asked each military region to take advantage of the current opportunity to expand its base and strengthen its army. The Jin-Cha-Ji, 129th Division, and 120th Division had actually entered the counterattack phase. The Eighth Route Army troops had completely trapped the Japanese army in major cities and transportation routes.

The 120th Division of the Jinsui Military Region gathered heavy troops and began to sweep away the puppet troops in the northwest and southwest of Shanxi and Suiyuan. Because the Japanese army currently had few troops in this area, except for the th Independent Mixed Brigade in Baotou.

The Japanese troops in Baotou were at their wit's end.

The puppet troops who followed them had basically all defected to Fu Zuoyi. The Japanese troops in Baotou were now short of food, men, and ammunition. The Jinsui Military Region had already launched several attacks on Baotou, not as a real attack, but to test the situation of the Japanese troops in Baotou.

The siege and attacks over the past few days have made the Japanese soldiers in Baotou very excited.

The Jinsui Military Region has begun preparing its main force to launch a final attack on the Japanese troops in Baotou.

At the same time, the Jinsui Military Region also retaliated against the Kuomintang troops that Fu Zuoyi had incorporated. Although Fu Zuoyi's troops were very powerful and had expanded rapidly over the past year, the Jinsui Military Region had also developed rapidly over the past year.

Then came the 129th Division.

The Japanese army had withdrawn too many troops from Shanxi, and now Shanxi is full of independent guards. These troops dare not come out. Although the previous 37th Division and 62nd Division were also weak in combat, they were still able to send troops out to carry out mopping-up operations.

But the independent guards now dared not go out at all. If they did, they would be beaten by the 129th Division. After receiving the notification from Yan'an, the 129th Division began to mobilize troops and form a detachment heading south.

After the Japanese Army launched Operation No. 129, the th Division first sent its main force into the Zhongtiao Mountains, southern Hebei, and northern Henan regions to consolidate and expand its base areas and attack the Japanese and puppet troops there. It then sent a southward detachment into central Henan, that is, into the Central Plains.

Open up the historically famous Central Plains base.

It can be said that within less than two months of the start of Operation No. 129, the number of county towns under the control of the th Division had expanded by more than ten, and the population of the base area had increased by more than three million.

As for the Shandong Eighth Route Army, it has always developed in a low-key manner.

Because there were more than 20 Japanese and puppet troops in Shandong, especially a large number of puppet troops. Many of the Nationalist troops that surrendered in the past two years basically entered Shandong to deal with the Shandong Eighth Route Army. This was mainly because the Japanese troops in Shandong were small. All the Japanese troops, including various miscellaneous Japanese troops, added up to less than 4000. But Shandong is a large province with a population of more than million, and it also has major cities such as Jinan and Qingdao, and the Jinpu Road passes through it. Therefore, this small number of Japanese troops was completely insufficient to stabilize the situation in Shandong.

Therefore, the Japanese army placed nearly 20 puppet troops in Shandong.

Every time the Japanese army raided, a large number of puppet troops would follow them.

Moreover, the Shandong Eighth Route Army also had to fight against the Kuomintang's stubborn troops. Therefore, the Shandong Eighth Route Army's development was relatively quiet. Although there were many anti-mopping-up battles, the large-scale ambushes were definitely not comparable to those of the Jin-Cha-Ji and 129th Divisions.

But don't underestimate the strength of the Shandong Eighth Route Army.

After years of development, the Shandong Eighth Route Army has become quite powerful. Previously, many of the puppet troops were Kuomintang troops that surrendered in their entirety, so their combat effectiveness was quite strong. They would often come to raid the Shandong Eighth Route Army base.

However, in the past two years, the puppet army troops no longer dared to raid the Eighth Route Army base at will.

This is because the Shandong Eighth Route Army also began to move from guerrilla warfare to regular warfare.

During the Battle of Central Henan, the North China Front's offensive was not going well, so the 133rd Division was withdrawn from Shandong. With the loss of the 133rd Division, the Japanese troops in Shandong were reduced by more than again. As a result, the Shandong Eighth Route Army quickly went over to grab territory. Just like the Hundred Regiments Campaign that shocked the whole of China and surprised the Japanese army. When the main force of the Shandong Eighth Route Army began to move, it immediately surprised the Japanese and puppet troops in Shandong. Although they knew that the Shandong Eighth Route Army had a large number of troops, they did not expect that the Shandong Eighth Route Army had developed so many troops under their noses.

Marshal Luo is a first-class political marshal.

Not only did they develop their bases, but their military expansion was second to none in our army. It might seem that the Shandong Eighth Route Army didn't have many iconic battles. Yet, Luo had quietly and unnoticed developed an astonishing force. After the Shandong Eighth Route Army began its major operations, not only the Japanese and puppet troops, but even Yan'an was awed by the sheer size of the army.

Marshal Luo reported to Yan'an that the current Shandong Eighth Route Army's main and local forces totaled 25 men. Furthermore, Marshal Luo reported that Shandong could continue to expand its forces as long as necessary, as the militia development in the Shandong Eighth Route Army base areas was exceptional.

This is how many troops.

Taking advantage of the Japanese offensive, the Shandong Eighth Route Army quickly assembled a large force and launched an offensive against the puppet troops. Within a short period of time, the Shandong puppet troops were reduced to panic and panic. Within less than two months, over 4 puppet troops were annihilated, rapidly expanding their base. Many of the Shandong Eighth Route Army's bases began to connect.

This is something no one expected.

The Shandong Eighth Route Army troops are either silent or make a big splash.

Anyway, overall, the current situation in North China is very favorable for the Eighth Route Army, or it should be said that it is very good, especially very good.

Because the situation was so good, Yan'an once again issued orders to various military regions.

The Jin-Cha-Ji Central Bureau had also received the order from Yan'an, so after a brief discussion, they prepared to hold a meeting of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. Leaders from the lower-level military regions were required to attend. Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun also arrived in Zhangjiakou.

Chapter 559: Jin-Cha-Ji Conference

"Comrades, I have good news. Following the Battle of Kursk and the Battle of the Dnieper, the Soviets have launched a major counteroffensive across the board. So far, they have launched six major offensives, annihilating nearly a million German troops and nearly recovering all the territory lost in the early stages of the Soviet-German War. The German army is being steadily defeated by the Soviet offensive. On June 6, the Allied forces landed in Normandy, France, opening a second front. German defeat in Europe is only a matter of time. The Central Committee estimates that Germany will be defeated within a year.

"In the Pacific theater, following their victories at the Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal, the US military launched the Marshall Islands Campaign, killing over 3 Japanese troops and occupying the Marshall Islands. The Japanese launched the Battle of Imphal in March of that year in an effort to advance into India, but ultimately ended in defeat, with nearly 10 casualties. In the Battle of the Marianas, the US Navy sank three Japanese aircraft carriers, and the Japanese lost over 600 aircraft. The US military has already captured Saipan and Guam. Allied forces have gained a complete advantage in both the European and Pacific theaters."

"Comrades, based on the development of the world situation, the Central Committee believes that my country's anti-Japanese situation has also undergone new changes. From the stage of strategic stalemate, we must fully enter the stage of strategic counterattack. Our Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army troops should seize the current favorable situation, develop bases, expand troops, counterattack the Japanese and puppet troops, and usher in victory in the War of Resistance. The Central Committee requires us to intensify the political offensive against the puppet troops, so that the vast majority of puppet troops in North China will defect and surrender, and quickly disintegrate the puppet troops, puppet guards, and puppet police forces entrenched in North China. As for those Japanese and puppet troops that refuse to surrender, they must be resolutely eliminated. Force the Japanese troops into several major cities and cut off their transportation in North China. Finally, force the Japanese troops to surrender and capture the major cities."

The leaders of the second-level military regions under Jin-Cha-Ji are all present.

Marshal Nie conveyed the central government’s order.

The situation developed so rapidly that even Yan'an was taken aback. After the Japanese launched Operation No. 1, progress was not smooth and they suffered heavy casualties. However, despite the difficulties, they still proceeded according to plan.

The Japanese army gradually opened up the land transportation lines during the Battle of Central Henan and the Battle of Changheng. In order to open up the land transportation lines, the Japanese army invested nearly 30 people.

It looks ok.

But the Chinese expeditionary force soon found it completely useless.

They concentrated so many troops and worked so hard to open up the Pinghan and Yuehan railways, but what was the point? They suffered so many casualties. After opening up these transportation lines, they were cut off by the Eighth Route Army.

Because the Japanese army suddenly withdrew so many troops, it gave the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army too much room to develop. The situation in North China was particularly changing rapidly. Even Shandong, which the central government had previously been concerned about, was actually stronger than expected.

The Shandong Eighth Route Army concentrated its main forces this time and captured more than ten county towns in a short period of time. The population of the base areas under the control of the Shandong Eighth Route Army has now exceeded 1700 million and is still increasing.

Marshal Luo reported to the Central Committee that the Shandong Eighth Route Army's formation of so many troops for the counterattack was intended to expand the base area and increase its population to 2000 million. The strength of the Shandong Eighth Route Army convinced the Central Committee to make a decisive move.

The Central Committee has made a new assessment of the current anti-Japanese situation.

Previously, the Central Committee had always judged that the current war of resistance was still in the strategic stalemate stage, but only some local areas could enter the strategic counterattack stage.

But now the Central Committee judged that China's war of resistance was about to enter a stage of comprehensive strategic counter-offensive. This strategic judgment directly led to a change in the Central Committee's strategy for the war of resistance.

The central government immediately began to adjust the original plan.

The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were required to take advantage of the current opportunity to expand their base areas and their forces. At the same time, each military region was required to begin organizing field troops, shifting from guerrilla warfare to mobile warfare, and from dispersed operations to large-scale troop operations.

Furthermore, a new policy towards the Japanese and puppet troops was announced. The policy towards the Japanese and puppet troops was different. The political offensive against the puppet troops was to intensify, so that they would defect and surrender.

It’s really because there are too many puppet troops in North China.

The regular puppet army alone, including the surrendered Nationalist troops, the puppet Manchurian troops, the puppet Mongolian troops, and the North China Security Forces, totaled over 40 men. Add to that the puppet security forces established by the Japanese throughout North China, totaling over 10. This is already a significant decrease. The Japanese established puppet security forces in every county, with their peak strength exceeding 20 men.

In addition to the fake security forces, there are also fake police everywhere.

There are also quite a few fake police officers.

Of course, the Japanese army's accomplices in North China were not limited to these, and there were also a large number of traitorous armed forces. Those traitors had many lackeys in their hands. All together, there were 700,000 to 800,000 puppet troops of various types in North China.

The policy towards the puppet army differed from that towards the Japanese army. With regard to the Japanese army, the central government's policy was to resolutely annihilate them and drive them into the major cities. However, with regard to the puppet army, the central government's policy was to intensify the political offensive and undermine their morale, so that they would voluntarily defect and surrender.

Luo Qirong saw Marshal Nie finish his words and added, "The Central Committee's intention is for the Eighth Route Army in North China to quickly control all the towns and villages in North China, then take over small and medium-sized cities, then control the transportation lines, and finally take over the big cities. These big cities include cities like Taiyuan and Datong in Shanxi, as well as Beiping, Tianjin, Baoding, Shijiazhuang in Hebei, and Jinan and Qingdao in Shandong.

"Comrade Luo Qirong is right. The Central Committee hopes that our Eighth Route Army troops can connect the base areas of Shanxi, Suiyuan, Chahar, Rehe, Hebei, Shandong, and even Henan into one.

Central ambitions are now also increasing.

After all, the situation was so favorable that of course we wanted to control all of North China. If we could control North China and split these bases into two, and then add the New Fourth Army bases, the population of the bases controlled by our party would be comparable to that of the Chongqing government.

Marshal Nie continued, "The Jin-Cha-Ji Central Bureau held a meeting to discuss this.

In order to complete the central government's orders, tasks were assigned to each military region.

First, it was the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region, Comrade Zhao Lu.

"arrive."

"Sit down, sit down. Comrade Zhao Lu, the Jin-Cha-Ji Central Committee hopes that your Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region will cooperate with the Jin-Suiyuan Military Region in the Baotou Campaign. We must conduct the Baotou Campaign while also guarding against Fu Zuoyi's forces. As Fu Zuoyi's forces reorganize more and more puppet troops, the friction between them and the Jin-Suiyuan Military Region is growing. Over the past year, there have been constant clashes between the two sides. Once the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade in Baotou is resolved, we will be directly confronting Fu Zuoyi's forces. In the future, there will inevitably be a struggle between our two forces for control of Suiyuan."

"Yes."

Zhao Lu accepted the order.

In fact, the Jinsui Military Region had long wanted to deal with the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade in Baotou, but because they had never found a good opportunity, and they did not know how to deal with the relationship with Fu Zuoyi's troops.

Therefore, the Jinsui Military Region chose to consolidate its current base.

The main focus for the year was bandit suppression, followed by base construction. Regarding the Japanese troops in Datong, the main focus was to deny them food, harass them, and deplete their ammunition. Now that the time was ripe, Yan'an no longer believed it was possible to win over Fu Zuoyi's forces. As pressure from Chongqing and Yan Xishan increased on Fu Zuoyi, and as his power grew, his relationship with the Eighth Route Army grew increasingly distant.

Especially during this period, the conflicts between the two sides have become increasingly intense.

Therefore, Yan'an completely gave up trying to win over Fu Zuoyi. Since the conflict continued, everyone decided to compete in Suiyuan.

Therefore, it was agreed to launch the Battle of Baotou.

However, the Jinsui Military Region felt overwhelmed by the need to simultaneously deal with the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade in Baotou and Fu Zuoyi's forces. The Jinsui Military Region lacked the strength to independently carry out the Battle of Baotou. Therefore, the Central Committee decided that the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region should assist the Jinsui Military Region by sending troops to launch the Battle of Baotou.

Marshal Nie gave this task to the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region. Currently, the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region has four brigades, including the 6th and 7th Brigades, the newly added 1st and 2nd Self-Defense Brigades, each with a total of about 5,000 to 6,000 men.

However, the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region currently has about 30,000 field troops.

It is entirely possible to send troops to participate in the Battle of Baotou.

And there won’t be too many problems in cooperation between the two sides.

The current commander of the Jinsui Military Region is Lü Zhengchao, the former commander of the Jizhong Military Region. Many of the troops under him are Jizhong troops brought by him. Although the Jizhong troops had been developing independently before, they were still under the jurisdiction of the Jinchaji Military Region.

Cheng Zhihua, the political commissar of the Ji-Central Military Region at that time, is now the deputy secretary of the Jin-Cha-Ji Branch and deputy commander of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region.

There shouldn't be too many problems in the cooperation between the two sides.

Marshal Nie continued, "In addition to assisting the Jinsui Military Region in completing the Baotou Campaign, the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region will also dispatch troops to wipe out the Japanese and puppet forces surrounding Datong. This will prepare for the next Datong Campaign."

We really need to fight a big battle.

The central government wants to take over all the major cities in North China.

Therefore, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region also began to make plans in this regard. Currently, the only major city in Shanxi that the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region could attack was Datong. The other major cities were basically in the territory of the 129th Division.

Therefore, the Jin-Cha-Ji Central Bureau held a meeting and decided that if possible, the next goal of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region would be to capture Datong.

As long as Datong is captured, the situation in Shanxi will be completely different. At that time, the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region, the Jinsui Military Region, the Yanbei Military Region, and even the base of the 129th Division will be connected. If this can be achieved, the Eighth Route Army will truly have an absolute upper hand in Shanxi.

Of course, all this is based on the situation of taking Datong.

But this is not easy.

Datong currently served as the headquarters of the Mongolian Garrison, housing the 26th and 115th Divisions. In addition to these two divisions, Datong also housed the Independent Guard and the Independent Garrison, as well as some villagers who had been armed by the Mongolian Garrison. Furthermore, numerous puppet troops were stationed in Datong, resulting in an estimated Japanese and puppet troops surrounding the city. Defeating this large force and capturing Datong would be no easy task. Therefore, the Jin-Cha-Ji Branch Bureau proposed laying siege to Datong.

"Comrade Guo Tianmin."

"arrive."

"Your mission at the Yanbei Military Region is to completely cut off the Tongpu Road and sever the connection between the Japanese and puppet troops in Taiyuan and Datong. At the same time, work with the Chasui Military Region to wipe out the Japanese and puppet troops surrounding Datong. Your mission is to isolate Datong, depriving the Japanese and puppet troops within it of any logistical supplies. Ultimately, force them to leave. Of course, if the timing is right, we also have sufficient strength to capture Datong by force."

"Commander, rest assured. Our Yanbei Military Region will completely cut off the Tongpu Road, preventing the Japanese and puppet troops in Taiyuan from communicating with those in Datong."

Guo Tianmin is very confident.

There are no field troops in Taiyuan now.

The 62nd Division, previously stationed in Taiyuan, was also transferred south to participate in the Battle of Central Henan. Taiyuan now only had two independent guard units, one independent garrison unit, and a few scattered Japanese and puppet troops. With over a dozen main regiments at the disposal of the Yanbei Military Region, Guo Tianmin had enough confidence to cut off the Tongpu Road.