Canteen System Assistance Notes

The "Shirai Agency" was established to lead intelligence operations in Vietnam.

His authority was immense. It could even be said that, aside from direct control over headquarters, Bai Bing had complete control over the entire Japanese-occupied Indochina Peninsula, as long as he didn't interfere with intelligence operations around Singapore. However, the Japanese army didn't assign him many missions beyond counterintelligence operations.

This once made Shirai a little confused, but he soon understood the whole story - great authority, little work, free environment, prosperous economy and trade - this Vietnam

, it's the base camp where they make money for themselves...

Ah! What do you mean by making money? Of course, it's to expand the imperial kingdom and develop industries, and to grab war resources for the empire! It's just that in my spare time, I earn some bonuses for my company and old leaders, take care of the lives of the generals of the Nanyang Army, and improve my own life!

So, after Shirai reported the matter to the central government through the army code, he began to use his ability as a "special director" to build his own "money bag".

First, he flexibly utilized his position as an army agent and a leader of a secret service agency, fully demonstrating his operational capabilities and management resources. In the merger of East Asia Shipping (renamed Nissin Kisen Kaisha), he overwhelmed the leaders of various local shipping companies and won the position of Saigon branch manager of the national policy company East Asia Shipping Co., Ltd.

Afterwards, he relied on his identity as the head of the East Asia Shipping branch, as well as the cover of the East Asia Shipping National Policy Company and the "Royal Investment Enterprise", and by organizing collective transportation and liner systems, he violently integrated more than half of the Japanese army's civilian shipping in Vietnam and even in Southeast Asia.

Within half a year, he had made a killing from this lucrative, semi-monopolistic business. The Southern Army, the Japanese Army Intelligence Department, and the East Asia Shipping Headquarters, which had received the "tribute," were also delighted. They all gave him the green light and delegated authority to Shirai's subsequent actions.

Secondly, after learning some business information through the United Bank's business salon, Shirai used the money he earned to invest in plantations and processing plants in Vietnam and Hainan, and to conduct trade within the Japanese-occupied areas.

He took advantage of the business opportunity caused by the Japanese army's large-scale plundering in Southeast Asia, which led to soaring food prices, and purchased domestic food shipped from the Wan Chai port (during the Japanese occupation, the Kuomintang-controlled areas were still smuggling strategic materials into the Japanese-occupied Wan Chai). He started a food business in Southeast Asia, made a lot of money, and saved many Vietnamese people who suffered from this disaster. He took advantage of the Japanese army's thirst for rubber and the non-cooperation of Chinese plantation owners in Southeast Asia to enclose land in Hainan and carry out experiments in transplanting South Sea Hevea rubber trees, claiming to establish the empire's own rubber planting area.

Finally, he even bought a set of electronic tube production equipment from Shanghai through a freight forwarder and established "Saigon Communication Industry Co., Ltd." in Saigon.

The whole process production is of medium level in the Allied system, but it is top-notch in Japan.

This kind of goods would not only allow him to gain strong support from the army in Southeast Asia, but also allow him to establish a connection with the navy and start business cooperation with them.

For example, receiving some captured radar samples, technical data, technicians, etc. from Singapore... Shirai estimated that if he continued like this, by 43, he would probably become one of the few army members who could be treated with courtesy in various naval ports.

At this point, His Excellency Shirai Yukiyuki already looked a bit like the "underground emperor of Vietnam".

Since he is the emperor, Comrade Shirai must have his own team to let the people below do things.

Therefore, he naturally had no idea how many staff members with strange little notebooks were employed in his factories, how many people they were covering up, how many joint-stock companies he was covering up for himself, whether there were any comrades in his "Saigon Communications" who were establishing underground branches, and why the sailing schedules of almost all cargo ships were inexplicably sent to the far north through radio stations and strange encrypted signals.

Well, he was really tired, so none of that was very clear.

However, Comrade Shirai Yukiyuki's tasks are not all "easy" and can use violence. Some things, especially those involving comrades from friendly parties who are still underground, must be done in a "threading the needle" manner.

For example, dealing with a triple agent who holds a high position in a friendly party.

A few months ago, through sudden secret communications with the intelligence front and subsequent verification and search, Shirai learned what kind of person "Wright" was, who claimed to be a representative of the Communist International, the Communist Party of Vietnam, and a special commissioner of the Executive Committee of the Malayan Communist Party.

Using his privileged access, Shirai first discovered Mr. Wight's birth information within the French Indies government archives preserved in Vietnam, along with evidence that he had served as a spy for the French during the French occupation. He then used Japanese military intelligence to uncover evidence in Singapore that Mr. Wight's spy identity had been "faked" and transferred to the British, leading him to work for them. He even found evidence that Wight had guided British police in a 1940 raid on a Malayan Communist Party meeting.

It seems that this Wright is the guy who has already wiped out all the executive members of the friendly party once.

Then, in this time and space, this Mr. Wright embezzled a large sum of funds from the top brass of the friendly party in Singapore, exchanged it for gold, and stole it onto a ship from Singapore to Saigon. Because he made little secret of exchanging gold on the underground black market, the Japanese military police in Singapore noticed this strange and suspicious individual. After checking the ship's schedule, the military police immediately contacted the Intelligence Section responsible for intelligence operations in the Saigon area and passed the news to Shirai.

Shirai immediately arranged for his men to arrest the man, and soon they caught the guy with a circle of gold around his waist at the port, controlled him, and conducted a basic interrogation.

-――—————

"Amaterasu, Malaysian comrades, why did you allow the secretary to withdraw so much money by himself? Or has your situation become so dire?" "And this secretary just so openly surrendered to Japan?"

The Shirai branch manager, who had rushed to Saigon due to this incident, took the gold his subordinates had sorted from the table and examined it carefully. He then picked up the interrogation report, but the more he looked, the more troubled he became. He couldn't help but complain internally. This Mr. Wight seemed to lack the unwavering loyalty of the Communists he had encountered before, and he even lacked the blind loyalty of the Imperial soldiers. After his arrest, before the Shirai agents could even torture him, Wight confessed his identity, stating that he was the secretary of the Malayan Communist Party. He even told the Shirai agents that if they treated him well, he would not only cooperate with them, but also use his position as secretary to convene a meeting of the Malayan Communist Party's executive committee and wipe out these "enemies."

"Malu Yelang."

Seeing this, Shirai couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Can this guy just die without bothering others?"

He stood up, glanced at the "Joint Shipping Order, June 1949" in his suitcase, and quickly drafted a coded message in his mind. "Fresh shrimp have arrived. Do you need processed shrimp?"

Shirai held up his high-end, gold-inlaid stick and played with it for a moment before rhythmically tapping it. To avoid mistakes, he tapped it twice in a row and ended by turning the stick around and making a "stick flower" motion.

After feeling several rhythmic vibrations from the tip of the stick, Shirai took off his pocket watch and used the watch chain to connect the copper head of the civilized stick to the monitoring radio in the room. This monitoring radio was connected to a large monitoring tower outside. It was a device set up by Shirai's agency in various parts of Vietnam according to the requirements of the Army Intelligence Department. It was mainly used to monitor the radio broadcasts of the British, Americans, and Macau people and analyze public intelligence. Naturally, such a high-specification antenna, driven by 4 18650 batteries, was more than enough for CW transmission.

Finally, he pressed the hidden little button and started the burst transmission program. An hour later, Shirai Yukiyuki received the following message.

"Shrimp without heads lacks flavor. The shrimp for the dish must be processed in-house. Please use normal procurement channels and provide standard sea shrimp." "Freshly processed in-house," "normal channels," "standard sea shrimp..." Do you need to act well, follow the procedures, and delay things?

Hmm... Mr. Igishiro has decided to follow the instructions and do what he should do. So, first of all, Mr. Wright should cooperate. Let's detain him until September.

At the same time, a more detailed and extensive telegram was sent via advanced encrypted digital radio to the Qiongya Anti-Japanese Base Area in Qiong Province. Its recipient was Chen Qingshan, head of the Political Department and Organization Department of the Qiongya People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Independent Column.

"Eliminate traitors? Fake representatives? Fake special commissioners? Spy? The traitor who betrayed the Nanyang branch has been found? I'll take care of it—Excellent! I guarantee the mission will be accomplished!"

Chapter 700: What? You want to attack too?

In August 1942, the Soviet Union and Germany were fighting in mud and trenches, Japan and the United States were fighting among mosquitoes and mountains, Britain and Germany were racing in the desert, the Eighth Route Army was fighting drought and disaster relief in the liberated areas, Japan...Japan was driving on the Wu Line railway to clean up poison gas pollution, and was showing off its power in battleships in Tokyo Bay - in short, everyone had a bright future.

Oh, and Italy, Italy has been happily building airplanes recently.

Just two months ago, under the coordination of the "Mustache" (likely referring to a specific company name), the German Air Force contacted Mercedes-Benz to utilize the manpower of its Luftwaffe divisions to open several new engine workshops and increase production of the DB.605 series engine. Consequently, the Germans contacted their close ally Italy, demanding that Fiat and Aermacchi accelerate the development of their replica engines. Furthermore, to keep pace, Germany would each provide 100 engine assemblies per month, starting in August.

Of course, as a price, Fiat and Macchi factories needed to complete the production line debugging from October 1942, and transfer C.55 and MC.205 fighters to the German Air Force at a rate of 50 aircraft per month as equipment for the newly established "Führer Air Force".

Compared with history, the German Air Force, with more sufficient synthetic fuel production capacity, is responding to a more intense war situation.

This is also a good thing for the Italian Air Force. Although some aircraft will be divided up, it is always a good thing to get engines and free up production capacity. As a result, Reggiani, which has a less close relationship with the Italian Air Force, was unable to get a share of the pie because of its weak background.

Now, in the grand examination hall of national power during World War II, all candidates from both the Axis and Allied camps had finished half of their papers and were sprinting towards the final questions, aiming for a good overall score. However, at this moment, a bald candidate sitting in the corner suddenly caught everyone's attention.

He held the answer sheet with his left hand while his right hand danced across it, painting with a flourish. His brushstrokes were as swift as a swimming dragon and as still as a mountain. He was a true freehand calligrapher. The only problem was that the answer sheet was supposed to be used by blacking out the correct answers.

But at least it's written down, right?

This wasn't the first time the KMT launched a counterattack during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Historically, the Nationalist Army had launched a massive counterattack in the winter of 1939. According to the original battle plan, this campaign would mobilize forces from several theaters of war and engage the Japanese through containment, surprise attacks, offensives, and encirclements. The campaign would aim to disrupt their Yangtze River shipping and recapture Wuchang, Hankou, Xinyang, Daliang, Lucheng, and Yongzhou, effectively shifting from a defensive position to an offensive and securing victory.

Of course, the actual execution was far less successful than planned. The Nationalist forces on the front lines struggled to execute orders, sabotaged each other to protect themselves, and the various major battle zones harbored ulterior motives, displaying a knack for evasion and treachery. This, coupled with early intelligence leaks, ultimately led to the failure of the so-called frontal counteroffensive, which achieved nothing but some casualties against the Japanese and cost them many lives. Conversely, Fu Yisheng's troops, acting as a diversionary force, achieved some success.

In this time and space, the winter counterattack in 39 was squeezed out by the "February Incident" that caused trouble for the Eighth Route Army. Chiang Kai-shek, who had not achieved any military results but was still pushed back by the Eighth Route Army, was successively humiliated by the results of the "Yellow River Air Battle", "Mongolian-Western Campaign Victory" and "Spring Offensive Victory in 42". He was forced by the Eighth Route Army at gunpoint to fight drought and disaster relief, while he only had one thing to show off, which was "Recapture Xingcheng" (following the retreating Japanese army).

There are even some rumors now saying that Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union did not invite him to the Allied Conference!

They even asked the Eighth Route Army to attend a meeting!

Damn it!

Although the authenticity of this news cannot be further confirmed, the party-state, which relies heavily on "bond issuance recognized by Europe and the United States", cannot tolerate its comprador status being taken away by the Eighth Route Army. Chiang Kai-shek could not imagine what kind of reckoning he would face if he really condoned the development of the Eighth Route Army and waited for the complete collapse of the country's "legitimacy".

In short, the Party and Chiang Kai-shek urgently need something that can enhance their own "legitimacy" and reflect their own value and unite the people in the context of the Anti-Japanese War.

Something that proves existence.

This is easier said than done, all we need to do is win a great victory over Japan.

To fight Japan...

Defeat Japan...

Forget it, let’s fight...The Eighth Route Army really can’t win now.

In the past, Chiang Kai-shek in the mountain city would at most curse a few times, then mobilize some troops to create friction, or vent his anger on the Eighth Office and newspaper staff in various places. But this time, the situation is indeed different - the Eighth Route Army next door has clearly written "replace" on their faces, and Chiang Kai-shek really "has to fight".

If you want to launch a campaign, you must first determine the target.

On this issue, Chiang Kai-shek naturally had some thoughts in his mind: At present, the Eighth Route Army has recovered two provinces and recaptured many areas. If he wants to surpass the Eighth Route Army in terms of victory - at least in terms of propaganda, then he must choose a city that can surpass Lucheng, Yunzhong, and Jinyang.

Looking at the so-called "front lines," with the Japanese already evacuated Xingcheng and now locked in a standoff with the Nationalist army in Yueyang, the only area that could meet this standard was the three towns of Hankou, the "crossroads of five provinces." If our army could break through Yichang and Jingzhou, continue eastward, and recapture Hankou... then at least as the ultimate goal of the campaign, and as a motivational slogan, there would be no problem.

Chiang Kai-shek quickly set the goal of this operation. Once the goal was determined, the main forces participating in the operation were also determined - the Fifth War Zone located north of Yichang and the Sixth War Zone to the west will take on the main offensive tasks, while the Ninth War Zone, the Third War Zone, the Su-Lu War Zone, etc. will mainly carry out diversionary operations to consume the Japanese troops and reduce the strength of their reinforcements.

So, the next step is to determine the command.

The overall command of the great counterattack was naturally to be carried out by Chiang Kai-shek's own men, but the commander-in-chief in the enemy lines had to be someone else. Urgently in need of answers, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to be pragmatic and condescend to seek out Li Delin, a man he normally disliked and constantly guarded against, but who nonetheless possessed considerable ability. He appointed Li Delin, one of the three great leaders of the New Guangxi Clique, as the commander-in-chief of this campaign and promised him free rein in command of his own central army.

Li Delin could command the troops of the Fifth War Zone, but he could not command Song Xilian, the deputy commander of the Fifth War Zone. In order to express his sincere request for help and to achieve the purpose that was inconvenient to state clearly, Chiang Kai-shek agreed to Li Delin's request for "command within the unified war zone" and made a promise to him as a brother - this time, Chiang Kai-shek sent his son Nicholas Jr. to the "deputy commander" of the Fifth War Zone in the Laohekou area, and appointed him as the temporary director of the Political Reform Office of the Fifth War Zone, and countersigned Li Delin's order so that the instruction could be conveyed to the Central Army.

As for Song Xilian's troops, which had begun to become militarized, Chiang Kai-shek said that he would bring his own "Military Control Station Chief" Wu Jingzhong with him. By using a combination of soft and hard tactics, he would be able to ensure that he would not hold back and would send troops to assist in the battle.

As for the new commander of the Sixth War Zone, Sun Fanglu, because he had emptied his own troops in the great victory of Taijiazhuangji and lost his base, one of his basic forces, Chi Fengcheng's troops, was transferred by Chiang Kai-shek to deal with the New Fourth Army. Now he is no longer what he used to be and has achieved "semi-centralization of the army". He is no longer able to question Chiang's orders.

"Two major war zones will serve as the main force, three major war zones will provide support, and a total of 60 troops will participate in the counterattack - this will at least be enough to fight."

Although Li Delin, nicknamed "Li Mengzi", knew that Chiang Kai-shek had his own little thoughts, in the end, the "millions of troops from Yichang to Jiangsu and Zhejiang all fought back" and the power to command 60 troops and 5 war zones more or less impressed him.

"This time our army has gone through the 'Twenty-Nine Enhancement Plan' training, and with the strong support of the United States, we should be able to fight now, right?" Li Delin decided to bring his own staff team and start to seriously plan the battle.

Chapter 701: The Great Counter-Offensive in the Autumn of 1941 (1) Chiang Kai-shek's Confidence

(Update)

To be honest, compared to the original historical "Winter Counteroffensive" of 39, the Nationalist Army in this time and space in 1942 did have some more favorable conditions. In short, the Nationalist Army did have some capital for confidence.

First of all, the national army's reorganization campaign has achieved certain results.

After the February Incident, when the Eighth Route Army seized control and destroyed several army-level units, the Nationalist Army once reflected deeply on the painful lessons and learned profoundly: "Elite troops and strengthen the military, and train them into a force that can fight for a hundred battles." At that time, Boss Chen, who was still the commander-in-chief of the Sixth War Zone and in charge of the "Civil Engineering Department", called in staff officers and academies to formulate a "Twenty-Nine Years Elite Troops and Strengthen the Army Plan", and came up with a set of organizational structures similar to those of the 29th year of the Republic of China.

This system has been adjusted many times, but the overall idea has not changed - by reducing the size of the system, the purpose of reducing the proportion of empty salaries and corruption in the army can be achieved.

By strengthening "heavy firepower", we can ensure the basic combat capability of the troops.

In this organization, the National Army's "29th Infantry Squad" will be equipped with a Czech/Madsen machine gun, the platoon will be equipped with two imitation Japanese grenade launchers, the company will be reinforced with a platoon of "Min 24' heavy machine guns, and the regiment will be arranged with a company of 60 mortars. Compared with the National Army's previous unmatched grassroots firepower, this kind of grassroots firepower, allowing such a regiment of just over a thousand people, to be more confident in gaining an advantage over a Japanese squadron.

At the 'mini-division' level, Chen Chi-hsiu's team made a number of "S-adjustments" that suited the National Army's habits. For example, although this level had one company each of communications, cavalry, guards, engineers, and special forces, the staff officers were still very cautious in defining the National Army's division-level support firepower as 32mm mortars or anti-tank infantry guns, and only allowed some "very capable" troops to be organized with lighter 75mm barreled artillery such as the K-type mountain gun and the Japanese mountain gun.

In addition to the three combat regiments, "the 29th Organization also allows the National Army to organize 13 unarmed supplementary regiments" to assist the division headquarters' mule and horse transport units in transporting supplies. The commander of the unit could either use traditional skills to report empty salaries and pocket the prescribed amount; he could use his connections to arm these troops and turn them into regular combat regiments, or he could break them up and divide them into battalions and companies to fill in combat units, expanding them into reinforced battalions and reinforced regiments. In short, such a division-level unit of about 10,000 people should, under normal circumstances, be able to effectively pose a serious threat to the Japanese army's large forces.

Simply put, this is "Tian Ji's Horse Racing" in a sense.

-------one

Secondly, this military reorganization has the strong support of "friendly countries".

After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States went to war with Japan. Despite its own relative weakness, the Nationalist army, despite its relative strength, received substantial support from the US military under the White House's "neutral" policy.

The Nationalist army said they were short of rifles, so the US military unsealed P17 rifles from their warehouses and provided them with ammunition. The Nationalist army said they had no machine guns, so the US military obtained some M1919 light machine guns and British-made Bren rifles, saying they had plenty of M1917s. The Nationalist army said they were short of submachine guns, so the Americans purchased Thompson and a certain AR submachine gun on the market, even adding bayonet lugs to meet KMT requirements. The Nationalist army said they lacked long-range artillery, so the US military suggested they use the modernized 75mm Miss M1897A5, even going so far as to transfer some of the equipment and tooling to the Nationalist army so they could produce this type of artillery.

Even after the Nationalist army performed artillery drills for American observers, the American observers directly reported to the Army Advisory Group in China and the Army Department, stating that if they wanted the Nationalist army to receive artillery support as soon as possible, it would be better to immediately send a large artillery advisory group to the Nationalist army and directly provide long-range artillery assistance, rather than waiting for the Nationalist army to produce/assemble it themselves.

Even if they just wanted the national army to move and fight the Japanese, the Americans were indeed very "righteous" to be able to do this.

于是乎，截至1942年8月战役发动前，国军的实力是切实地出现了提升∶三个拥有36门火炮的炮兵团，依托原有的春城补训处、金筑（黔省首府)补训处以及原本的炮兵11、13团完成了建设，分别装备了翻新的M1897A5火炮以及新锐的M2A1型"重榴弹炮"各36门。

These units were composed of former Nationalist artillerymen intermixed with "educated youth" who had joined the army. American military advisors were assigned directly to company headquarters and commanded the artillery observation teams, giving them an indirect fire capability rarely seen in Nationalist artillery. Furthermore, under the direct control of American advisors, each of these three artillery regiments was equipped with a sufficient number of "ten-wheeled trucks," making them less susceptible to the common Nationalist problem of having guns but no ammunition.

Finally, this battle saw the participation of Nicholas Chiang, the "Crown Prince" who held the "Imperial Sword".

Although the Youth Army, which appeared to be large in organization and well-equipped on paper, was still in its embryonic stage, and the educated youth and able-bodied soldiers who joined the army still needed to be reorganized and trained, Chiang Kai-shek's arrival was like throwing a large white carp into the group of tilapia of the National Army, forcing it to swim.

As long as we take action, changes will occur; and on the Kuomintang side, almost any change will not be worse than the original situation.

In the original time and space, Chiang Ching-kuo achieved a remarkable feat with his Youth Army in 1944. Under his supervision, the Nationalist soldiers, who had previously been rationed only 18 liang (Republican taels) of hulled grain and salt water daily and often suffered from deductions, were now able to eat rice and pickles at dinner, "until they were full." Although lunch was still not guaranteed, the "full dinner" treatment boosted the morale of the newly formed Youth Army and ensured strong fighting spirit.

Of course, as the number of "second-generation" soldiers and relatives of relatives increased in the Youth Army, this guarantee quickly disappeared. The Youth Army, which had once been a good organization, became a ridiculous existence during the War of Liberation. However, for a short period of time, this food guarantee of being able to eat rice and pickles for dinner did effectively boost the morale of the Nationalist Army.

During this time, Chiang Ching-kuo and his troops arrived at the headquarters of the Deputy Commander of the Fifth War Zone, commanded by Song Xilian. Large quantities of rice and wheat from the Sichuan-Chongqing Basin were transported from Laohekou to the war zone. Shortly thereafter, while large quantities of rice and wheat looted from Henan Province lay dormant in warehouses, the fruits of the Sichuan people's labor were cooked into steaming hot rice and steamed buns and distributed.

"Director Jiang has issued an order! Tonight, everyone will receive four large steamed buns and plenty of pickles! Brothers, the battle is imminent. Director Jiang hopes that everyone will bravely advance and fight for the country!"

“Ouch—!”

The Nationalist soldiers in the Fifth War Zone didn't dwell on this. They simply stared at the baskets of hot steamed buns carried on shoulder poles, swallowing their saliva and trying to soothe their long-accustomed stomachs, enduring the final pangs. The words they couldn't understand went in one ear and out the other, but it didn't matter. As long as they didn't spoil their superiors' mood and could get through this lecture, they'd have more steamed buns to eat.

Finally, as the steam from the steamed buns finally dissipated amidst the commander's lengthy and drawn-out speech, dinner finally began. Each soldier, with unprecedented formality, stood in a crooked, unsteady stance, their hands and feet simultaneously aligning as they advanced to claim their steamed buns. As the slightly crusty buns passed through their hands, everyone instinctively held them to their chests and hearts, glancing around.

It’s great, it’s not a dream! It’s a real big bun! The exact group number is: 775111838

This time, we are fighting against the Japanese invaders and recovering lost territory! I won’t hide it from you all, this is a job that requires your head to be pinned on your belt - Director Jiang’s steamed buns are not eaten in vain! So -"

A well-dressed officer, pistol strapped to his chest, took a bag from the guard beside him and slammed it to the ground. A dull but pleasant metallic clatter echoed from the bag. Someone, chewing a steamed bun, puffed out their cheeks and turned to take a look, their eyes suddenly widening, as if their gaze were glued to the bag.

"Suicide Squad! Volunteer to sign up! Come and get a bottle of white liquor, a piece of white meat! And five dollars in cash! "Patriotic sitting on the dollar, 100% silver, find it now and take it!"

Chapter 702: The Great Counter-Offensive in the Autumn of the 31st Year (2) Gathering Troops to Attack

Chapter 702: The Great Counter-Offensive in the Autumn of the 31st Year (⑵: Gathering Troops to Attack

In the original time and space, the combat effectiveness of the National Army was a bit difficult to describe throughout the War of Resistance - in other words, the National Army was an existence that collapsed deeply in the early stage and collapsed deeply in the later stage.

Those passionate patriots either shed their blood and died heroically on the front lines, or suffered harsh injustice and died with hatred. When their passion cooled and their loyalty faded, what remained were either calloused zombies or glib-tongued veterans.

However, it is undeniable that if the most basic conditions can be guaranteed, the National Army, a force composed of Chinese people, will definitely be very capable in the Anti-Japanese War battlefield.

In fact, they do not need equipment comparable to that of Europe and the United States, they do not need perfect logistics, and they do not need command from Zhuge Liang. They only need commanders to use them with care and give them the most basic respect and care. Soldiers with a conscience will pick up their guns and fight for their country at the risk of their lives.

This time, the Chiang Kai-shek government's actions of transporting ammunition, replenishing food supplies, and dispatching reinforcements to the war zone finally ignited a last glimmer of hope for those soldiers whose hearts were not yet dead and whose blood was not yet cold: Is this time really different?

After months of preparation and planning, the National Army finally launched the offensive in this campaign in mid-August 1942.

While Li Delin wasn't considered a particularly talented general compared to the 1,000 capable commanders of the Eighth Route Army, he was nonetheless considered a skilled fighter within the Nationalist army. During the planning phase of the campaign, he traveled to Laohekou and conferred with Bai Jiansheng, the "Little Zhuge Liang," the Minister of Military Training and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Military Commission, who had arrived. They ultimately determined the key principles for the operation.