Bright Sword's Bloody War of Resistance

As early as the Red Army's Eastern Expedition, Mao Zedong proposed the strategic idea of ​​developing eastward, occupying Taihang, and marching eastward to the North China Plain.

The plan for the Eastern Expedition at that time was divided into three stages. The first was to advance across the river, the second was to establish the Luliang Mountain base area, and the third stage was to continue to establish the Taihang base area eastward.

In **'s words, to establish a base in Jin Province, the most important thing is the Luliang Mountains, and the most ideal is the Taihang Mountains.

Among them, Luliang Mountain played the role of connecting northern Shaanxi and the Taihang base area. Unfortunately, the Eastern Expedition did not achieve the initial strategic purpose.

Since ancient times, those who conquer the Central Plains will conquer the world, and the Taihang region is the barrier to the Central Plains. If you want to conquer the Central Plains, you must gain a firm foothold in the Taihang Mountains.

Both history and current reality have proven the importance of this strategy. After the 115th Division and the 129th Division occupied the Taihang Mountains in the north and the south, they quickly opened up the situation in the North China Plain.

So far, the Eighth Route Army has reached a preliminary strategic vision, but the development of the Taihang base area has reached its upper limit. Apart from cleaning up the Japanese counties in the gaps between the base areas, there is almost no room for development.

The Taihang Mountains were a place of great beauty, allowing the Eighth Route Army to gain a foothold. However, after it developed to a certain level, it also faced restrictions. Neither the population nor the products were as good as those in the southern Hebei Plain, let alone the Shandong base area.

The essence of Jin Province lies in the Yuncheng area in the southwest, which was called Hedong in ancient times, and the Changjin area in the southeast, which was called Shangdang in ancient times.

Today, the Yuncheng area has become a Japanese-occupied area, and the Changjin area has become a defense area for the Nationalist Army. After the main Japanese-occupied areas were cleared, the main forces withdrew, leaving only the 69th Division and four puppet divisions stationed.

Among the nearly 3 Japanese and puppet troops, most of the Japanese troops were stationed in Yuncheng, and the rest were along Zhongtiao Mountain and Wangwu Mountain to defend the first theater south of the Yellow River and the national army in the Changjin area respectively.

In the past, the National Army was stationed in the Zhongtiao Mountain area, but the situation was very different from the current situation. The National Army's defensive direction was in the north, with the Yellow River as its back, which was tantamount to a last-ditch battle.

On the other hand, the Japanese army relied on Zhongtiao Mountain and used the Yellow River as a natural barrier to defend the first theater of war. If the Chinese army wanted to counterattack from the south bank of the Yellow River, it would be difficult to reach the sky.

The westward attacker from the Changjin area had a chance, but was blocked by the fortifications built by the Japanese army based on Wangwu Mountain.

Fortunately, the national army in the Changjin area did not fight alone. After resting and reorganizing, the Zhong Xinsheng Department of the 9th Army and the Cun Xingqi Department of the 12th Division received orders from their superiors and both sneaked back to the occupied areas to fight guerrillas.

The decisive column of the Eighth Route Army and the elite troops of the Taiyue Military Region are also developing their strength in the occupied areas. Once the vanguard has established a foothold here, the main forces of Taibei, Tainan, and Taiyue will then go to open up the situation.

This is the development strategy for the Taihang base area set by the Eighth Route Army headquarters, and Zhou Weihan’s overall strategy for the Eighth Route Army in the entire document can be summarized in eight words: “Defend to the south, develop to the north!”

The main force of the national army was trapped in the southwest, while the Central China Front occupied the prosperous southeast. The Central Plains south of the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River was where the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, and the Japanese were intertwined.

The main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Central Plains is only the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army holding on in the Hubei-Henan base area. The situation is precarious, facing a double encirclement and suppression by the Guangxi clique entrenched in the Dabie Mountains and the Japanese army.

This is why Zhou Weihan proposed the strategy of defending to the south and developing to the north. The ideal situation is for the Hebei, Shandong and Henan base areas to be connected with the Shandong base area and the New Fourth Army Huaibei base area, forming an encirclement of Xuzhou, an important town on the Longhai line.Huaibei is located at the junction of the four provinces of Henan, Anhui and Shandong. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. As the saying goes, to defend the river, you must defend the Huaihe River, and to defend the Huaihe River, you must defend Xu. This is why the national army launched a large-scale battle in the Xuzhou area. reason.

"You mean that the Hebei-Shandong-Henan base area uses the natural dangers of the Yellow River as defense, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan base area and Shandong base area as the support, and the Huaibei base area as the protrusion?"

"Yes, I always believe that the best defense is to attack. The geographical location of Huaibei is too important. Once the Japanese army surrenders, only by holding the vast area of ​​Huaibei in their hands and intimidating the southeast at any time will the national army be afraid to attack. The four eastern provinces have sent too many troops!”

"Of course, the basis for all this is that the Shandong base area can develop in advance, increase its strength, and provide strong support to Huaibei and even the entire New Fourth Army!" Zhou Weihan said.

Seeing that the leader was deep in thought, Zhou Weihan continued: "Currently, the Kwantung Army is entrenched outside the Pass and it is difficult to develop outside the Pass. The closest our army is to the Pass is the Jidong base area. Previously, the comrades in Jidong obtained a batch of machinery and equipment in Jinmen. This is a unique advantage!”

"If we can mobilize the main force to support Jidong and establish a base in the Jire and Liao areas, we will gain the opportunity to occupy the outside of the pass!"

Zhou Weihan's intention was very obvious. He planned ahead of time to strengthen the Eighth Route Army's strength in the Jire and Liaoning areas, and at the same time developed the Huaibei base area, forcing the national army not to move too many troops to Manchuria.

In history, it was not until 1944 that the Eighth Route Army developed from eastern Hebei to the Hebei Reliao area, and the troops in the Hebei Reliao base area were also the first to cross Shanhaiguan.

The military chief of the Jidong Army Division was Li Yunchang. He graduated from the fourth phase of Huangpu and was a classmate of 101. After receiving the order from Yanzhou, he immediately ordered 2500 soldiers and [-] local cadres to advance outside the customs.

At the same time, Yanzhou ordered that the remaining troops of the 359th Brigade and more than [-] soldiers of the First Guard Brigade, the Shanxi-Sui Military Region, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, the Shandong Military Region, and the New Fourth Army rushed outside the pass.

This can be called the first large-scale military mobilization in the history of the Eighth Route Army, with a total of 11 troops and more than [-] cadres of various types.

The strategy of "defend to the south and develop to the north" greatly agreed with Mao Zedong, but he did not immediately give a reply.

After Zhou Weihan came out of the cave, he still felt excited. Although the proposed strategy was aggressive, once the strategic goal could be achieved, the overall strength of the Eighth Route Army would be greatly enhanced compared to the same period. He now wished he could spread his wings and fly back to the base.

When Zhou Weihan returned to his residence, he found that Li Yunlong and his wife had been waiting for a long time. The two women were chatting in the house, while Li Yunlong was leaning outside the door and smoking, with his face red from the cold.

"What did the superiors say? When can we go back?" Li Yunlong asked hurriedly.

The Southwest Shandong Military Division where Li Yunlong was located bordered Shandong and Huaibei. Of course Zhou Weihan wanted to find out the situation from him. When Li Yunlong learned the whole story, his originally silent mind immediately became heated.

If this war really breaks out, the Southwestern Shandong Military Division will definitely be at the forefront, and Li Yunlong will definitely be able to command the troops from the base. (End of chapter)