Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Unfortunately, Yan Xishan overestimated the county governors under his command. Of Shanxi's 105 counties, only three were willing to stay and form guerrilla forces behind enemy lines to fight the Japanese; the others all fled. Furthermore, these three governors were all in southern Shanxi, not far from his base. When Yan Xishan ruled Shanxi, everyone obeyed him. After all, the promise was promotion and wealth.

But now you've been driven back across the Yellow River, and all of Shanxi has been lost. Even the main force of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, over 100,000 strong, couldn't stop the Japanese. What could these intellectuals do behind enemy lines? Wouldn't that be courting death? Of course, those Shanxi county magistrates wouldn't obey. After the fall of Taiyuan, virtually all the former county magistrates fled, leaving only a handful.

It can be said that this caused great embarrassment to Yan Xishan.

While the former county chiefs in Shanxi had fled, the Eighth Route Army had been sending cadres behind enemy lines. Once the Xishan chief fled, the entire county government followed suit, creating a power vacuum.

The Japanese army was still advancing on the front lines and had not yet established a large-scale puppet regime in the occupied areas. The escape of Yan Xishan's men gave the Eighth Route Army an opportunity. Local Eighth Route Army cadres quickly established various regimes behind enemy lines, began to control the enemy's rear, and established bases behind enemy lines.

This was the thing that Yan Xishan could not accept the most.

Yan Xishan was more wary of the Eighth Route Army than the Japanese. Although Yan Xishan had repeatedly telegraphed the Eighth Route Army to enter Shanxi to fight the Japanese during the tense Battle of Xinkou, he simply wanted the Eighth Route Army to be more powerful and to cooperate with the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army in the war. He did not want the Eighth Route Army to settle down in Shanxi and establish a regime there.

After all, Shanxi is his home base.

Now the Eighth Route Army directly set up camp in Shanxi and developed a base area, which made Yan Xishan very dissatisfied. Compared with the cadres of the Eighth Route Army, Yan Xishan was even more dissatisfied with the local cadres under his command.

Just when Yan Xishan was very angry, Feng Anmin suddenly appeared.

Although he was only a deputy county chief before the Anti-Japanese War, he organized the National Salvation Army in Sheng County, played the prestige of the Jinsui Army in the anti-Japanese war behind enemy lines, and carried the banner of the Jinsui Army in the northeastern Shanxi region. He won face for Yan Xishan.

Including the two times of retaking the county town, Feng Anmin's name has been mentioned by Yan Xishan and the war zone headquarters.

In order to develop the anti-Japanese war behind enemy lines, Yan Xishan divided the entire Shanxi Province into seven administrative districts. Feng Anmin, due to his contributions over the past few months, was appointed by Yan Xishan as the administrative director of the third administrative district.

In fact, Yan Xishan and others also understood it.

There was no Jinsui Army in the northeastern part of Shanxi. Although Yan Xishan and his men left some things in the northeastern part of Shanxi to temporarily support the development of the army, it was only temporary.

For many years, various forces have been fighting in the northeastern part of Shanxi.

The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army is not strong here.

Now that the Japanese army has occupied this place, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army has become even weaker.

In Yan Xishan's view, Feng Anmin was a banner, a banner of resistance behind enemy lines. Placing him in northeastern Shanxi was a waste of talent. He was even more worried that Feng Anmin would be killed by the Japanese in northeastern Shanxi, or that he would give up and surrender, thus making the banner of resistance behind enemy lines a laughing stock.

So he was transferred to the third administrative district as administrative director, not only to give Feng Anmin a bigger stage, but also to protect Feng Anmin's safety.

"Congratulations, Director Feng."

Xiao Yongshun and Cao Lei immediately congratulated Feng Anmin.

Feng Anmin had jumped several levels and was now in charge of over a dozen counties. Unfortunately, he was transferred to the Third Administrative District, which was located in southern Shanxi and thousands of miles away from northeastern Shanxi. Feng Anmin looked at his two generals and said, "Would you two like to come with me to the Third Administrative District?"

"This." Xiao Yongshun and Cao Lei were both hesitant.

Cao Lei himself was from the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, but his experience was very limited, just a small battalion commander. If he went to the Third Administrative District, the Jinnan area would be full of high-ranking officials. There were also many main forces of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, and they were also fighting guerrilla warfare there.

In Sheng County, he was a regiment leader and had many people under him.

When you get there, they are all your superiors.

Although he wasn't the top official in Sheng County, he didn't have many people above him. But in southern Shanxi, everyone he met would be his superior, so Cao Lei was not very willing to go there.

This is true for Cao Lei, and even more so for Xiao Yongshun.

Xiao Yongshun was a bandit who stayed in Chahar after the Central Plains War. He wasn't part of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. During the Republic of China era, the warlords' internal relationships were deeply intertwined, making it difficult for outsiders to integrate.

A "remnant" of the Northwest Army like Xiao Yongshun would be bullied if he went to southern Shanxi.

"Sheng County will belong to the Eighth Route Army sooner or later, and northeastern Shanxi will be the territory of the Eighth Route Army in the future. Look at our independent detachment in Sheng County. In just a few months, their troops have expanded to nearly 3,000 people. And now Sheng County is full of Eighth Route Army troops expanding their territory and expanding their troops. The Jin-Cha-Ji Eighth Route Army in Fuping is now making a big fuss. They are grabbing territory everywhere and expanding their troops. They already have tens of thousands of troops. There is no future for you to stay here. I know that some people in your army are secretly selling weapons and ammunition. But I didn't care because I knew there was nothing I could do. Sheng County is such a big place, and we only have a small territory, Beilingzhuang. Relying on this small territory, plus the county seat, we can't support so many troops."

Feng Anmin is able to rise against the trend, which shows that he is very capable.

He actually knew that the National Salvation Army was secretly selling guns and ammunition, but he could not stop them because he could not provide them with enough military pay. The situation in northeastern Shanxi was also very obvious.

After the establishment of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, the speed of its expansion was alarming. Less than six months after the Eighth Route Army's establishment, its main force had already expanded to over 20,000 men. This was after a large number of main forces split up and moved south to southern Shanxi. If local forces and guerrilla units were strengthened, the entire Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region would now have a strength of nearly 50,000 men.

This is Shanxi.

Yan Xishan had been running Shanxi for twenty years, and the Eighth Route Army had little foundation there. But after arriving in Shanxi, the Eighth Route Army quickly gained recognition from the people of Shanxi, which was truly remarkable.

Feng Anmin had originally thought that the people of Shanxi all supported Yan Xishan and that the Eighth Route Army would have a hard time gaining a foothold in Shanxi. Unexpectedly, the people of Shanxi supported the Eighth Route Army even more than when Yan Xishan was in power.

They are indeed a group of poor Koreans who can never be tamed.

When the Eighth Route Army arrived, they unexpectedly all turned to the Eighth Route Army. Even when Commander Yan was in office, they had never seen such enthusiasm for joining the army. Under such circumstances, there would be no room for the National Salvation Army in northeastern Shanxi.

"Director Feng, my people are all from Sheng County. If we go to the Third Administrative District, I'm afraid they won't be willing."

Cao still spoke up and rejected Feng Anmin's invitation.

Feng Anmin sighed.

Although he had been promoted this time, he was alone in the Third Administrative District and had no real power. Furthermore, although Feng Anmin's fame had greatly increased, his foundation was still shallow. It would be difficult for him to consolidate his position in the Third Administrative District. Therefore, he wanted to take the National Salvation Army with him. After all, the National Salvation Army had fought alongside him, and in the Third Administrative District, everyone needed to gather together for support. However, judging by Cao Lei's attitude, it was clear that Cao Lei was unwilling to go.

So he looked at Xiao Yongshun.

Xiao Yongshun said more directly: "Director Feng, you know me too.

I'm from the Northwest Army and fought some of you back then. Going to the Third Administrative District will pay off. I'll fight the Japs here, but if I can't win, I'll just run away and continue my banditry in the mountains. If I get into trouble there, I'll lose my head and I won't even know how it happened.

Feng Anmin doesn't force some things.

After all, everyone has their own interests. Besides, if the two of them didn't want to go, Feng Anmin didn't have the ability to force them to go together. So he sighed and said, "Then you should be careful. But you can go ask the troops if there is anyone willing to go to the Third Administrative District with me.

It's generally safer over there than here, and the logistics are guaranteed. If you're willing to go with me, I'll give you a seat wherever you get there."

"Okay, Director Feng."

Chapter 098 Great Development

1938 3 Month 2 Day.

Time began to enter the spring of 1938.

At the independent division's headquarters in Yi County, Yang Quanwu paced back and forth anxiously. A moment later, Luo Renfa walked in, a wide smile on his face. Yang Quanwu immediately stepped forward and asked, "What's going on?"

"It worked, it worked."

"how many people?"

"Meng Fei, deputy commander of the Yi Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Army, Cao Kaiwang, chief of staff, and many of their officers were very dissatisfied with Lei Kun. They believed he wasn't a leader capable of fighting the Japanese. Furthermore, we had people in his unit. Zhang Huainan, the military chief of the underground party in Zhuo County, had done a lot of work in the army, recruiting many members among the students. This time, Comrade Song Zhiyuan helped connect with officers and soldiers from the Northeast Army. Together with the party organization developed by Zhang Huainan, and generals led by Meng Fei and Cao Kaiwang, they all supported joining our Eighth Route Army. As a result, they brought in 4,000 people at once."

"Four thousand?"

"Yes, we have basically brought here all the main forces of the Yizhuo Anti-Japanese Guerrillas."

"Okay, great."

After the independent division entered Yi County, it recruited 3,000 new soldiers and reorganized about 3,000 civilian anti-Japanese forces. Now it has recruited another 4,000 anti-Japanese forces, expanding its army by 10,000 in just two months.

In the entire Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and indeed in the entire Eighth Route Army, no division was more capable of recruiting troops than the Independent Division. After the 115th Division split, the Independent Division recruited three main regiments. One of these regiments was taken away by the Pingxi Detachment. However, just two months later, the Independent Division had expanded its forces by another .

"Commander, we previously only focused on Yi County and ignored the surrounding counties. This time, while working with the Yizhuo Anti-Japanese Guerrillas, I also took the opportunity to inquire about the situation in Laishui, Zhuo County, and other places.

These counties also have large populations and numerous anti-Japanese armed forces. The situation is similar not only in Laishui and the counties surrounding Baoding, but also in the counties surrounding them. There are countless civilian anti-Japanese armed forces. These are excellent sources of troops. If we reorganize these armed forces, even if we lay off the old and weak, we can still bring 20,000 to 30,000 men to the first division.

"I'm a little conservative."

Yang Quanwu nodded.

"I just think there are a lot of anti-Japanese armed forces in Yi County, and it's not easy to reorganize them. Besides, Yi County is surrounded by the Pingxi Detachment to the north and the Third Military Sub-district to the south. So I never thought about these places."

Yang Quanwu felt a little regretful.

I am too conservative.

The troops only developed in Yi County. There were also many anti-Japanese armed forces in other areas of Hebei.

"I have carefully investigated the Yizhuo Anti-Japanese Guerrillas. There are a large number of Northeast Army officers who are unwilling to retreat, as well as many officers from the 29th Army. Moreover, many officers from the Northeast Army and the 29th Army are from this area. The Northeast Army and the 29th Army took turns stationed in the Pingjin area and recruited a lot of people in this area. These people basically stayed here, and some units even stayed in the western and central Hebei areas as a whole. Moreover, this place is very close to Peking and there are many students. Among the Yizhuo Anti-Japanese Guerrillas that were incorporated this time, there are nearly college students, and even more students with high school education, about to people. Our independent division has always been short of educated people, and these are all first-class educated people.

I've asked many people carefully, and they all say that the anti-Japanese armed forces in this area are most in need of students. There are tens of thousands of college and high school students in the Peiping-Tianjin area, and perhaps tens of thousands of them are involved in various anti-Japanese organizations. These students are invaluable talent to us."

Luo Renfa's eyes lit up.

The Eighth Route Army was extremely short of cadres, and training them was even more challenging. Students were the fastest at training cadres, especially political cadres.

The difficulty of training educated cadres and cadres who come from a peasant background is completely different.

Educated cadres can be deployed after a brief period of study at cadre schools. Even if they are somewhat immature at first, they can gradually grow through practice. However, cadres who come from humble backgrounds, lacking education, experience much slower growth.

Therefore, whether it was the political work department of a unit or the local cadres for base construction, educated students were a very good source. Although there were many restrictions on the use of these students due to policy reasons, all units and bases greatly appreciated students.

It is of course a happy thing that there are so many students in Hebei Province now.

Development in Hebei is faster than in Shanxi.

Many areas in Shanxi are poor, with small populations and low grain production. Their only advantage is their mountainous terrain, making them ideal for guerrilla warfare. Hebei's advantage, on the other hand, is its large population; even small counties have populations of around 1. Furthermore, Hebei was once the domain of the Beiyang warlords, and its educational foundation is excellent. Furthermore, its proximity to the capital region has led to a greater number of students from Peking and Tianjin. Although many schools relocated south, the majority of students remained. They were unwilling to be slaves of a conquered nation, so various anti-Japanese organizations emerged in the capital region.

Even among these guerrillas there were a large number of students.

"In the future, we should send more work teams to these civilian anti-Japanese armed forces. Luckily, we acted quickly this time, otherwise, who knows who would have benefited next. Zhang Huainan is a member of the Zhuo County underground party. We brought him in with him and the troops. I don't know how the commander would criticize me. With only 4,000 people, we are not afraid."

The underground party in Zhuo County is currently under the leadership of the Pingxi Prefectural Committee.

In other words, the Pingxi Prefectural Committee was currently in contact with this armed group. Unfortunately, they were too cautious and lacked the courage to act. They couldn't match Yang Quanwu's direct approach, which involved bringing in the entire force.

In fact, the Pingxi Prefectural Committee also considered bringing in this force.

But they were worried about internal affairs in this unit. Because the main force of the Pingxi detachment was not here, once this unit had internal affairs, who would be able to bear the responsibility? If Lei Kun defected to the Japanese in anger, it would be a very serious political incident. The whole country might accuse the Pingxi Prefectural Committee of annexing other anti-Japanese armed forces. Therefore, the Pingxi Prefectural Committee was a little hesitant and prepared to slowly infiltrate and control this unit. Therefore, it mainly recruited party members from among the students in the army. Who would have thought that Yang Quanwu would act so quickly and directly pull the troops away. Although he might be blamed by the military district, Yang Quanwu didn't care. A unit of 4,000 people is worthy of any criticism or punishment. With these 4,000 people, if they are well trained, the strength of the first division will be greatly increased.

Moreover, Yang Quanwu looked down upon the style of the Pingxi Prefectural Committee.

There's no time for hesitation and dithering when the situation in the war against Japan is changing so rapidly. What's needed now is decisiveness. Only decisiveness can lead to rapid progress.

"Division Commander, what about the independent detachment?"

Luo Renfa said, "That kid Wei Hongjun said that we should give him ten grassroots commanders and forty students."

"It's a beautiful thought."

Yang Quanwu laughed and scolded, "That kid has a really good idea. He wants me to give him ten grassroots commanders and forty students at once? What is he thinking? Does he really think I am a noble and want to fight against the local tyrants? I reorganized this army and still feel that it is short of cadres. However, their independent detachment performed well this time. Song Zhiyuan has some good relations with several Northeast Army officers, so he can agree to let them go to the independent detachment. As for the students, ten people will be transferred. There will be no more." <1 If it weren't for the fact that the independent detachment made a relatively large contribution this time and he reorganized more than people, how could Yang Quanwu be so generous.

Now that the independent division has expanded to 20,000 people, more cadres are needed.

"I'll make arrangements."

After receiving the report from division headquarters, Wang Qiuyun curled his lips and said, "Our old commander is really stingy. After reorganizing more than 4,000 people, we only want a few grassroots commanders, and he's so stingy."

"If they hadn't been so stingy, the independent division wouldn't have so many troops now."

Wei Hongjun smiled.

Yang Quanwu was working so hard to develop the First Division, but the Eighth Route Army wasn't a warlord army. In a few years, a single order from headquarters would relocate him. Historically, the First Division had thrived, serving as the most developed base in the entire Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. Yet, a single order would still force him to relocate to the Central Hebei Military Region.

The same is true for Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun.