Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

Chapter 169 Yan Laoxi’s Ambition

After the Taiyuan Airport was shelled, the first person to receive the news was naturally the Eighth Route Army headquarters. After all, the actions of the New Second Regiment were approved by the deputy commander-in-chief.

No one in the headquarters is any less fearful of the First Army Army Aviation than Li Yunlong.

Those brave soldiers who died tragically under enemy planes are inspiring everyone to fight to the end all the time.

Based on the current situation between the enemy and ourselves, the deputy commander-in-chief believes that it is a rare opportunity to operate during the second phase of the Hundred Regiment War. After all, a large number of enemy troops are restrained by the three main forces.

 Having put together the above conditions, the New Second Regiment took action yesterday.

 The second person to receive the news was naturally Yan Laoxi.

The Jinsui Army successively conducted the Northern Shanxi Defense War, the Pingxingguan Battle, the Xinkou Battle, and the Taiyuan Defense Battle. After that, their vitality was severely weakened. The army lost 90% of its equipment and the main force was basically exhausted.

By the end of 1937, the army only accommodated more than 20,000 people, and the number was restored to 50,000 only after emergency expansion. 105 counties in the province fell one after another, and for a time they could only huddle in the southwest corner of Shanxi and lick their wounds.

But this is where the masters of philosophy made their fortunes, and the centipede is dead but not stiff.

Coupled with the fact that Yan Laoxi vigorously promoted the development of education, economy, industry and other industries during his rule, local people more or less remembered it well, so the mass base of the Jinsui Army in Shanxi was second only to the Eighth Route Army.

 This resulted in the intelligence network and spies of some Jin forces still remaining in Taiyuan City. Basically, after any major event occurs, Yan Laoxi can receive information as soon as possible.

 In fact, Shinozuka Yoshio also knew about this matter, but due to the policy implemented by the North China Front Army, Tada Shun always wanted to support the Jin faction as a puppet army, so the First Army and the Jinsui Army were in a rather ambiguous state.

As long as Yan Laoxi doesn't go too far and don't reach into sensitive places. The Japanese turned a blind eye to the dispensable information.

 September 24, 12 noon, Ji County, Shanxi Province.

At this time, Yan Laoxi was having lunch in his room, enjoying millet porridge, a specialty of Shanxi that nourishes people.

It seems that the several congratulatory telegrams from all over the country on the table did not affect his leisure and elegance at all.

Suddenly, a close staff officer broke into the room. The man looked a little flustered and had a folder in his hand.

“President! Something big happened! Someone framed us!”

“Just now, troops at all levels sent back the news that the bombardment of Taiyuan Airport was not done by our people without permission.”

“Would you like to communicate with Yoshio Shinozuka and explain this misunderstanding clearly?”

 Obviously this news was expected by Yan Laoxi. He put down the chopsticks in his hand and showed a playful expression.

 “Calm down, you are a soldier, what does it look like to be reckless?”

“Notify senior officers at division level and above to assemble. I am going to hold a meeting this afternoon to announce the strategic goals for the next stage.”

 Although there are troops of different forces in Shanxi and its surrounding areas.

For example, the Eighth War Zone in the Suiyuan area, the Guard Commander of the First War Zone, the Central Army of the Zhongtiao Mountain Generation, the Eighth Route Army at the intersection and his own Shanxi-Sui Army.

 But at this stage, the only one who has the ability and reason to bombard Taiyuan Airport is the Eighth Route Army.

 In Yan Laoxi's view, the opponent's strength and influence have grown too fast recently.

Not only did he quietly build up 105 regiments behind enemy lines, but he also fought victorious battles such as the Hundred Regiment Battle, which gave him, a staunch anti-G faction, a headache.

However, this is not entirely a bad thing. After all, the Eighth Route Army is a force that sincerely resists Japan.

 In a sense, their rise can buy valuable development time for the Jinsui Army.

As the head of the Jin Dynasty, Yan Laoxi dreams of regaining all of Shanxi and restoring the glory he had 37 years ago. That sentence back then was true.

 He ​​used the system of integrating soldiers and farmers to make full use of the human resources in the controlled area, and restored the strength of his troops to the level of 100,000.

  But after losing the important industrial system, the combat effectiveness of the troops was much worse than before.

With his current strength, he is simply not qualified to fight against Shinozuka Yoshio. If he insists on fighting, it will be like hitting a stone with an egg.

Yan Laoxi couldn't even think about attacking Taiyuan City. This was the headquarters of the First Army.

As a military man who had been in power for decades, he knew very well how difficult it was to attack the city, not to mention that his former home was over there.

 After losing the arsenal and several artillery regiments, the Jinsui Army was not even qualified to attack.

Even if the Eighth Route Army's Hundred Regiment Battle attracted the attention of enemies across the province, as long as Taiyuan was threatened by any threat, the Mongolian Army and the North China Front Army would be alerted.

 When the Japanese army presses the border, the three melons and two jujubes of the Shanxi-Sui army will most likely be used on the battlefield.

 But now the situation has changed. The sudden rise of the Eighth Route Army made him see some kind of opportunity. Yan Laoxi has been thinking about how to deal with all the forces in Shanxi at the same time.

 The so-called forces naturally include enemy forces and friendly forces.

 Being able to become the overlord of a party in troubled times, Yan Laoxi has always been a person with ideas and strength, and can even be said to be a weirdo.

 He is a born speculator, but it is a pity that he was not born in an ugly country. Wall Street has lost a strong man.

 When he was young, in order to be admitted to the Shanxi Military Academy, he directly hired a gunman to take the exam on his behalf. After enrolling in school, he hung out with people during the day and got involved in craziness at night. In the end, no one expected that the place to study in Japan would actually fall on him.

 From the uprising in 1911 to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, the philosopher traveled among the major forces. At his most glorious time, he ruled the four provinces of Shanxi, Chacha, Sui, and Hebei and the two major cities of Beiping and Tianjin.

Even in the 19th year of the Republic of China, Yan Laoxi lost all his pants in the Central Plains War. But you can still make a comeback a few years later and change your previous state of being out of the field.

 He has always had a good relationship with Xiaoli, and he is recognized as a pro-Japanese faction in Guoju. When Benzi was studying abroad, he met a group of monsters.

Okamura Neji is his captain, Itagaki Seishiro is his instructor, and Doihara Kenji is his classmate. He himself also said that he was the only one who could follow the bookish route in the Republic of China.

But this man also understood national justice and refused the olive branch offered by Xiaoli. He could not tolerate the Japanese invasion of China the most.

Even after the fall of Taiyuan, they still persisted in resisting Japan and carried out military and peasant integration, difficulty-overcoming campaigns and furnace training in the rear.

 But he will also negotiate peace with the Japanese, but the process will only stay at the agreement stage without substantial progress.

This time the Eighth Route Army successfully attacked Taiyuan Airport, which made him feel more comfortable than ever before. The enemy lost so many aircraft, which made Yan Laoxi want to look up to the sky and scream.

 In 1937, the Jinsui Army's air force was wiped out within a few days. The troops under his command were killed in batches by the Japanese bombings.

Now that there is one less big enemy, how can we not be happy?

However, this move broke the balance of multiple forces. As an opportunist, of course he had to make corresponding changes.

  After all, the Eighth Route Army is a threat to him, but it will not affect Shanxi now. Moreover, the opponent is brave and good at fighting. If it can be used properly, it will be easy to restore its previous glory.

　　——————————

 A few hours later, more than a dozen senior generals from the Jinsui Army arrived at Kenanpo, Ji County. They looked serious and walked into the combat conference room one after another. After seeing everyone had arrived, Yan Laoxi stood up from his seat and said to the people in front:

"I called you here this time because we have important matters to discuss. For a long time to come, we will gradually distance ourselves from our small lives and help the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army take back Shanxi."

The senior generals who are still in the Jinsui Army are without exception die-hard loyalists of the Jin faction.

After hearing the heroic words of their president, everyone stood up from their seats and started applauding enthusiastically towards the people on the stage.

But Yan Laoxi was very dissatisfied. He hated people disrupting his train of thought, so he frowned and said in a dialect accent: "How much applause? Everyone, please sit down!"

　　glaring at the subordinates at the front, the philosopher pulled his military cap and threw it on the table, and then made a classic speech that "will last forever."

"I often say, existence is everything! Everything is for existence! Being pro-Japanese is for existence! Being anti-Japanese is also for existence! Existence is the truth!"

"Being ambiguous with Xiaoli is just a means. Ambiguity is changeable, but existence is immutable! It cannot be said that being ambiguous is right, but fighting is wrong!"

"You know what happened to the Eighth Route Army. Now we are going to use their power to drive the Japanese out of Shanxi! But we have to balance the power of both sides! We will reap the benefits!"

　　After saying this, Yan Laoxi looked depressed, as if what he just said was really playing the piano to a cow.

 “You stopped clapping when you should have?”

This complaint immediately woke up the senior generals below. They all stood up and said in unison: "Sir Yan's far-sightedness and foresight are beyond the reach of our peers."

The subordinate's response was pretty good. He nodded with satisfaction and then warned:

“Shanxi is a land of outstanding people. I, Yan Baichuan, don’t raise a woman, and I don’t smoke cigarettes. I have the remaining money to support young people like you in school.”

"Within fifty miles from my hometown, there was a Bo YB in Wen and a Xu XQ in Wu, and all the people who were attacked went to the Eighth Route Army."

　　“You people, please cheer me up! I don’t want to hear anyone say that I am blind and unable to recognize people and make good use of them.”

　　——————

 Let us turn our perspective to the 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Sui Army.

 It was still 1940, and Chu Yunfei's military strength had not yet reached the outrageous figure of five thousand men, but he still had more than three thousand well-equipped infantry artillery under his command.

At present, the Jinsui Army is still in the recovery period, with an average division of just over 4,000.

Even the 23rd Army and the 43rd Army, which were newly established in March this year, often have less than 4,000 infantry divisions under these two armies.

The reason why the 358 regiment has so many troops is because after the capable generals Xu, Fu, and Shang left the Jinsui Army, what was left were some obedient and loyal wine bags and rice bags.

Yan Laoxi wanted to train Chu Yunfei, a top student in the fifth phase of Huangpu, to become a leading member of his army in the future.

Deputy official Ligong walked into the regiment headquarters with the document just issued by his superior. At this time, he was in extreme shock.

　　It seems that he doesn’t understand why his leader suddenly changed the strategic direction, so that his expression is a little gloomy.

Compared with the command rooms of friendly forces, Chu Yunfei's room looked even more luxurious than the Eighth Route Army headquarters.

After seeing his adjutant, he took the document handed to him with his white-gloved hand, and then asked nonchalantly:

“Brother Ligong, what shocked you so much? What orders came from Commander Yan?”

 Perceiving that the other party was silent, Chu Yunfei shook his head helplessly. He opened the folder on his own and began to read the documents sent by his superiors.

 After roughly reading a few lines, the eyes of this fierce general of the Jinsui Army shone. As if awakening the memory of his past life, he repeatedly praised his boss's clever tricks.

 After reading it thoroughly, he waved to his adjutant. Then he pointed at the large map hanging on the wall, his eyes looked very contradictory, full of surprise and serious.

“This is the map that Chief Yan sent to me this morning. The province is really busy during this period. Except for our area in southwestern Shanxi, other areas are almost reduced to a pot of porridge.”

Chu Yunfei's words made Fang Ligong slightly stunned. He walked to the map and observed it carefully.

General regiment-level units of the Jinsui Army are not qualified to obtain such detailed maps. If they want to understand the recent battle situation, they can only rely on their own staff to collect intelligence.

However, the 358th Regiment is the apple of Yan Laoxi's eye. In order to cultivate Chu Yunfei's strategic vision, he will naturally be notified of any major events that occur.

On this new map, arrows symbolizing the First War Zone, the Eighth War Zone, the Eighth Route Army, Little Days and other forces are intertwined, and jagged horizontal lines are arranged in a messy manner, making the entire map look quite chaotic.

 Although Fang Ligong's vision is not good, his view of future development is always very limited. But there was no problem with the military quality at all. He could tell at a glance that this was the Eighth Route Army's latest Hundred Regiment Battle.

Among them, the various units of the Eighth Route Army were completely mixed with the Japanese. This really confirmed what my regiment leader said, and the entire Jin Province was reduced to a pot of porridge.

And he could tell at a glance that the Eighth Route Army was now the dominant side and was pressing forward against the troops of the Japanese First Army.

“Tuanzuo, I’m sorry for my stupidity, but I don’t know what you mean. Besides, didn’t Commander Yan say before that we need to be more careful with the Eighth Route Army? Why have we changed our strategy now?”

Such a question obviously disappointed Chu Yunfei. He held up the brim of his hat and explained helplessly:

“This major frontal attack by the Eighth Route Army has completely exposed their strength. In just a few years, those people have developed to such an extent in enemy-occupied areas. As a Chinese soldier, I admire them very much.”

 After saying this, he thought for a moment. His face became more and more serious, as if he had thought of something terrible.

"As far as I know, they seem to have received some international assistance. Although they are both armed forces fighting against Japan and saving the country, the two sides have different beliefs after all. One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers."

"Chief Yan's meaning is very simple. This is a conspiracy to drive away tigers and swallow wolves. Although the Eighth Route Army has become stronger, the Japanese can still maintain their advantage with their strength."

"Once they slow down, they will definitely mobilize a lot of troops. At that time, we will help. While driving away the devils, we will also drive away these friendly forces."

As soon as these words came out, Fang Ligong immediately became enlightened, and his expression also became serious.

 After losing many factories in Taiyuan, life of the Jinsui Army became increasingly difficult. If we cannot seize this opportunity, our own survival space will be almost gone after Xiaori and the Eighth Route Army decide the outcome.

Just in the southwestern corner of Shanxi, it is already the limit to expand the army to 100,000. If we don't take action, we may not be able to cross the Yellow River on sheepskin rafts.

However, Fang should not think too deeply about these things, as he cannot get involved in the superiors' games.

“Tuanzuo, the troops bombarding Taiyuan Airport have been determined not to be ours. According to the analysis of superiors, there is a high probability that they are the Eighth Route Army.”

Chu Yunfei nodded, knowing his own affairs well. Based on his understanding of his colleagues, those people would not dare to take action without permission even if they were brave enough.

“It seems that there are quite a few tiger generals at the grassroots level of the Eighth Route Army. Counting Li Yunlong who dared to go head-to-head with the Bantian Regiment, there are already two commanders who impress me.”

"Sir Yan will definitely send us to communicate with each other in a while and find out the details of the Eighth Route Army. I will definitely meet these two people by then."

“We will inevitably have to fight swords in the future. While the two sides are still friendly forces, we should get more information about the other side to avoid the hidden consequences of a fight.”

 Fang Ligong nodded, he very much agreed with his group leader's opinion.

“In just one month, the Eighth Route Army inflicted such heavy losses on the Japanese that they almost lost the Shottai Line. We will definitely allocate forces to encircle and suppress them, and we will be busy as well.”

It’s coming, it’s coming, this one may be changed

 (End of this chapter)