The father of the sword is Kong Jie

Chapter 1202
Faced with Yoshimoto Teiichi's confident words, Okabe was stunned at first, and then hesitated.

As the commander-in-chief of the North China Front, and also an old senior of Yoshimoto Seiichi, Naosaburo Okabe's insight into war is naturally no worse than that of Yoshimoto Seiichi.

Okabe had not thought about the battle plan put forward by Yoshimoto Seiichi to attack the east and attack the west.

It's just that in recent years, the Japanese army has experienced so many disastrous defeats at the hands of the Eighth Route Army in the occupied areas that Okabe did not dare to gamble on a large-scale offensive campaign like Yoshimoto Teiichi's proposal.

Although Okabe is a gambler like most Japanese military officers.

But gamblers are not crazy.

Not everyone has the courage to go all out and go to stud.

If this fails, it will be a complete failure.

"The Kwantung Army is also responsible for guarding the Soviet Army. If the Soviet Army seizes the opportunity while the Kwantung Army moves south to deal with the Eighth Route Army, and takes the opportunity to send troops to attack the Northeast, the situation will be troublesome!"

Okabe's concerns represented the voices of many Japanese military officers participating in the meeting.

However, Yoshimoto Sadashi dispelled everyone's doubts with one sentence:
"At this point in the war, if we take another step back, we will lose everything. Do we still have the ability to think and hesitate?"

Yoshimoto Seiichi's words were like a stick that woke up Okabe and other officers.

Okabe also suddenly woke up.

Yes, at this point in the war, the empire has no way out.

The method of war that I hesitated at the beginning may now seem to be the last chance to make a comeback. If this is the case, why is there any hesitation?
If you don't try, you will fail.

Try, there may be a chance of victory!

In this way, we made up our minds, and in the subsequent discussion, we determined the operational strategy of feinting to attack Xi'an, sneak attack on Yan'an, and attacking in the east and west proposed by Yoshimoto Teiichi.

Okabe Naosaburo then reported his combat plan to the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, Tabata Shunroku.

To be honest, when he got the news, Junroku Hata was hesitant at first, but then he felt hope welling up in his heart.

He had already discussed with the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, Umezu Yoshijiro, that the two sides would join forces to deal with the Chinese army. Originally, he was still worrying about what kind of battle plan to prepare.

Yoshimoto Teiichi proposed the battle plan of pretending to attack Xi'an and attacking Yan'an, with the ultimate goal of completely opening up the mainland's communication lines and destroying the construction of the Eighth Route Army's base area.

This coincides with Hata Junroku's combat ideas.

Pretend to attack Xi'an first!
This step is completely fine.

Xi'an is located in the Guanzhong area with extremely steep terrain, bordering the Wei River to the north and the Qinling Mountains to the south. It has been the most difficult place for military strategists to conquer since ancient times.

With the help of the steep terrain, it is almost impossible for one man to pass the barrier and no one can break it. The main feature is that it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army initially thought about conquering Shaanxi, but they only fought a few battles on the outside and then gave up because of their own troubles.

For the Japanese army at that time, due to the terrain of Shaanxi that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, if they wanted to attack Shaanxi on a large scale, it would definitely not be feasible to go over land and cross mountains and ridges, so they had to cross the Yellow River westward.

As the homeland of China's rear area, there was no room for loss. Even the Chiang Kai-shek Army and the Eighth Route Army put aside all gaps and cooperated sincerely. With the help of the Yellow River's natural dangers, it was undoubtedly difficult for the Japanese army to forcefully cross the river.

In addition, Shaanxi was barren and poor at the time. For Japan, which was in urgent need of oil and other supplies, it spent a lot of effort to conquer it, but in fact, it could not capture many resources, so it simply gave up.

The two sides also formed a confrontation on the border of Shaanxi. In the following years, although the Japanese army launched several attacks, they basically did not have a strong will to attack.

This time, it would be reasonable if the Japanese army deployed a considerable amount of troops to attack Shaanxi in order to achieve the ultimate cover operation and express their intention to break into China's rear area.

Using this as a cover, Tu Qiong saw the enemy and then raided Yan'an.

According to Yoshimoto Teiichi's thinking: "The Eighth Route Army will definitely think that our army is preparing to drain fuel from the bottom of the cauldron and destroy the political rear of their Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop.

Yan'an is too important to the Eighth Route Army. Regardless of whether they can see through our army's strategic intentions, the Eighth Route Army will definitely allocate troops to strengthen the defense of Yan'an. At that time, the attention of all parties will be attracted to it.

But the Eighth Route Army never thought that this was still part of our plan to invade the east and attack the west. What we really want to deal with are some of the communication lines and important bases created by the Eighth Route Army in North China.

During this period of time, our army's strategic policy towards the Eighth Route Army has changed, using offense as defense, and garrisoning major county towns and transportation lines.

As long as we make sufficient preparations, we can completely cover the Kwantung Army's secret march south in batches. With the support of this sudden increase in military power, I want to see how these Eighth Route Army can continue to run rampant! "

……

……

While the little devil was planning how to deal with the Eighth Route Army, Kong Jie was still discussing the New Fourth Army's follow-up strategic policy with the relevant leaders of the New Fourth Army.

During the meeting discussion, Kong Jie changed his previous low-key and humble image and repeatedly stated: "I believe that the next development of our New Fourth Army's base areas will have two general directions.

One is to strengthen the Dabie Mountain base area, and the other is to build a stable anti-Japanese revolutionary base area in the Lianghuai area. With the help of the Lianghuai area's geographical protection and military reinforcement of the Dabie Mountain base area, we can completely guarantee that our Dabie Mountain base area can advance, attack, retreat, and defend, killing two birds with one stone. ! "

"In addition, we must specially build a rapid troop transport channel to the Huaihe and Huaihe regions and the Dabie Mountains to ensure that our New Fourth Army, including the main force of the Eighth Route Army, can transport sufficient troops to the Huaihe and Huaihe regions in the shortest possible time. "

Kong Jie’s plan actually has a long-term vision.

On the one hand, it is to guard against future rebellion by Jiang Jun.

On the other hand, it was the pain in my heart. At that time, the time had extended to 44. The Japanese army continued to suffer defeats behind enemy lines. It was also retreating steadily in the Pacific battlefield and the Southeast Asian battlefield. It was already at the end of its war effort.

Then on the frontal battlefield, in Henan, Hunan, Guangxi and other places, the Japanese army launched an active large-scale attack, and the two sides started the Battle of Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi.

The top Japanese commander commanding this battle at that time was still the old Japanese commander-in-chief Shunroku Hata of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces.

However, from the perspective of the troops participating in the war, the Japanese army at this time was basically at the end of its rope. A large number of elites were transferred to the Pacific battlefield, resulting in a serious decline in the proportion of veterans in the troops. In addition, the troops' resources were insufficient and their equipment was declining.

In Li Yunlong's words - this is a group of little devils with second-rate combat effectiveness.

As a result, the outcome of the war between the two sides was a surprise to all parties. The Japanese army defeated Chiang Kai-shek's troops, which was the second major defeat in the history of Chiang Kai-shek's frontal resistance war, the defeat of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi.

The failure of this conference war also led to a series of tragic consequences, causing China to pay a heavy price and even lose a large amount of land.

None of this is what Kong Jie wants to see.

Therefore, Kong Jie's purpose was very simple, to deploy troops in the Huaihe and Huaihe regions and the Dabie Mountains in advance to prepare for the outbreak of the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi battle in the future.Even if Chiang Kai-shek's army was defeated and fled, the vast land in Henan, Hunan, Guangxi and other provinces could not be left to the Japs in vain. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army could take the opportunity to break into enemy lines and continue to deal with the Japanese army.

In order to minimize the losses of China's defeat in this battle.

Regarding Kong Jie's insistence on building a solid base in the Huaihe and Dabie Mountains areas and opening up an anti-Japanese battlefield, although many generals participating in the meeting did not have the insight into the future war situation like Kong Jie, they were also aware of this move with their long-term vision. deep meaning.

What is the most important thing?

——This was said by Lao Kong. Nowadays, the weight of Lao Kong’s words is not unimportant. Even the boss, deputy chief of staff, and even Yan’an attach great importance to some suggestions and suggestions.

Since Kong Jie led the independent regiment, then expanded into a team, and now the Eighth Route Army Special Experimental Zone, countless facts have proved Kong Jie's long-term vision and excellent foresight ability.

No one will ignore Kong Jie's words.

The final plan stipulates that the New Fourth Army's follow-up development policy will include the combat tasks of building a stable anti-Japanese revolutionary base in the Huaihe and Dabie Mountains.

At this point, Kong Jie also breathed a sigh of relief, and that was all he could do.

... In terms of cooperating with allied countries in all aspects and seeking assistance from allied countries, Kong Jie also specifically mentioned: "This year is already 43 years. With the evolution of the war situation, the combat situation of various countries in the world has reached a critical node. .

This should be the last year that countries around the world still rely on us to contain the Japanese army, and we can still obtain certain assistance from the allies.

Therefore, for us, this year is a golden year for troop building and stable development of base areas, and we must seize it.

Don’t leave behind all the assistance you can apply for, don’t hesitate to expand all business and military industries, and cooperate in all aspects.

In short, we must do everything possible to obtain more resources for the development of our base area.

We can completely foresee that after this year's solid development, what we will face in the future is the need for continuous resource output and continuous war! "

In North China, on the battlefield behind enemy lines.

The strategic policy implemented by the Eighth Route Army is still mainly to contain the Japanese army.

At the same time, it also actively launched some small-scale military attacks to regain some lost territory. At the same time, it gradually developed the original guerrilla zones into more stable anti-Japanese revolutionary bases, further reducing the living space of the Japanese army.

In the Shandong Military Region, the Eighth Route Army troops in various base areas are also actively seeking some proactive military attacks to contain the local Japanese troops and the Kwantung Army troops moving south.

Time gradually passes under such a situation...

In April, when the weather in the north became slightly warmer, the Japanese army suddenly gathered a considerable amount of troops. Under the command of the newly appointed commander of the First Army in Shanxi, Yoshimoto Teiichi, they forcibly crossed the Yellow River westward and advanced towards Xi'an.

After the news came out, everyone was shocked.

The Northwest Army was also very surprised. In recent years, the Japanese army also tried to cross the Yellow River west to attack, but they all ended in failure.

I originally thought that the Japs had completely given up the idea of ​​marching westward to Shaanxi. Who would have thought that they would suddenly launch an attack again.

The Eighth Route Army also expressed surprise.

Especially for the Eighth Route Army Experimental Zone Headquarters, since the last discussion and analysis of the possibility that the Japanese army, as a gambler, is very likely to make a desperate move.

Kong Jie, Ding Wei, and Li Yunlong believed that they and the Eighth Route Army bases were always on guard against possible crazy moves by the Japanese army.

Then the news came that the Japanese army was marching westward, crossing the Yellow River and advancing towards Xi'an.

"Damn it, what do you mean, little devil, you got kicked in the head by a donkey and went to Shaanxi for excitement?"

Within the headquarters, Li Yunlong expressed confusion when analyzing the matter.

Ding Wei pointed out after thinking: "Forcibly crossing the Yellow River westward, no matter from any aspect, the gains outweigh the losses for the Japanese army. The newly appointed Yoshimoto Sadichi should not be a fool.

Then there is only one possibility. Maybe the Japanese crossing the Yellow River to the west was a fake to cover up the secret military operation, which is the real thing. "

"Old Ding, what do you mean..."

As Li Yunlong spoke, his eyes had drifted towards Yan'an, Shaanxi Province.

Ding Wei nodded: "The possibility is extremely high. Yan'an, our rear area, is too close to the Yellow River. Once the Japanese forcefully cross the Yellow River, they can attack Yan'an directly! We have to guard against it!"

Kong Jie said: "The direction that Lao Ding is worried about coincides with the direction that the boss, deputy chief of staff and others are worried about.

Preparations have been made in advance for this in the direction of Yan'an, and the garrison of troops has been strengthened. It is still unclear the true combat intentions of the Japanese, but they are always prepared. "

Kong Jie suddenly asked political commissar Li Wenjie: "Wenjie, do we have the latest trends in the Japanese army in our intelligence network?"

Li Wenjie shook his head: "It's all irrelevant news. There is no important information yet."

"Is there any other news from the Kwantung Army?"

"There has been no movement for the time being, and we have not received any information about the Kwantung Army's large-scale march south. However, we have noticed that the Japanese army has specially strengthened the security of some counties and transportation lines, and imposed special martial law. Even caravans are not allowed to enter.

In this case, if the Kwantung Army moves south and transfers troops in multiple batches on a small scale, we may not be able to detect the movement! "

Ding Wei looked at Kong Jie suspiciously: "Old Kong, don't you think that the Japanese army's westward crossing of the Yellow River is related to the Kwantung Army?"

Kong Jie shook his head: "Not sure, we can only think in various directions at the moment."

On the 27th, the Japanese troops crossing the Yellow River westward toward Xi'an fought for several days, and a fierce battle broke out with the blocking Northwest Army. Both sides suffered heavy losses.

The Northwest Army Headquarters even stated that the Japanese army was attacking fiercely and had strong intentions to advance. Perhaps they wanted to completely break through the defense line and hoped to receive reinforcements from the Eighth Route Army troops in Yan'an to jointly block the Japanese advance.

For this reason, even Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, and Ding Wei were a little confused.

"The little Japanese fought to cross the Yellow River at such a heavy cost of casualties. Do they really want to break through the Yellow River defense line in one fell swoop and invade our rear? Are we overthinking it?"

Then, on the 28th, the frontline garrison of the Eighth Route Army in the direction of Yan'an suddenly sounded the alarm, and a large number of Japanese troops launched a fierce raid.

The little devil I saw in the picture seems to have really come to Yan'an...

(End of this chapter)