Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Fifth War Zone Command Headquarters.

Chief of Staff Wang Hongshao hurried into Li Zongren's "study".

"Lord De, we just received news that the Sichuan Army sent people to contact Chu Yunfei and his group. The next day, Chu Yunfei arranged a corresponding itinerary. His purpose seems to be to make contact with Commander Sun Lianzhong."

Wang Hongshao was a Kuomintang general from Baodi.

He graduated from Baoding Military Academy and, despite being from the north, followed Li Zongren.

Guangxi clique generals.

When Xu Zuyi was alive, he was already the deputy chief of staff.

Later, after Xu Zuyi, who represented the Central Army, was transferred, Wang Hongshao naturally took over as deputy chief of staff.

At this moment, he looked slightly anxious.

Clearly, Chu Yunfei had learned some specific details about the Fifth War Zone from the Sichuan Army generals.

Li Zongren possessed excellent political qualities and a generous personality, making him well-suited to be a leader.

Although he was not as good at commanding battles as the Japanese, he was still considered quite capable among the generals of the National Revolutionary Army.

The predicament of the Sichuan Army and the Northwest Army in the Fifth War Zone was not actually caused by Li Zongren.

This is directly related to the decline in national strength.

After the stalemate began, the officials in the mountain city knew clearly that the Japanese army had lost its ability to launch large-scale offensives.

The location of the Fifth War Zone is no longer so important.

Therefore, the limited supplies from the mountain city were mostly supplied to the Central Army.

It should be noted that the Central Army in the Fifth War Zone consisted not only of Tang Enbo's original troops, but also of Central Army units such as Guo Chan's.

After General Zhang Zizhong's heroic sacrifice.

The entire Fifth War Zone was already a disorganized mess.

Although the ragtag troops still wanted to believe in Commander Li's personal character.

But no matter how good Li Zongren's character was, he was unable to obtain soldiers, pay, and supplies from the mountain city.

Furthermore, the transactions between Chongqing and the Guangxi clique involved territory, and the area surrounding the Dabie Mountains was also developed into the so-called base of the Guangxi clique.

Local military forces naturally had little room to survive.
In war, they naturally wouldn't want to exert themselves anymore.

This is the fundamental reason why Li Zongren never achieved any significant victories after the Battle of Taierzhuang.

Different stances naturally lead to different interests.

This is something that can't be influenced by personal relationships.

"Lord De, please say something! Chu Yunfei's arrival in our Fifth War Zone must have been ordered by the Mountain City."

Even the renowned anti-Japanese general Wang Hongshao lost his usual composure. He quickly turned around and stood to Li Zongren's left front: "He had barely left Shaanxi when the Eighth War Zone was thrown into chaos by him. I heard that even Hu Zongnan received a series of telegrams from the Chairman, in which he utterly berated him."

"The mountain city side doesn't even try to hide this kind of thing. You know the current situation of our Fifth War Zone. It's a powder keg. Once it's lit, it will definitely explode."

Li Zongren calmly put down his brush, looking completely at ease: "Anyone can start a fire, the key is that Chu Yunfei isn't some kind of firefighter."

"The Chairman wants to resolve the factional problems that have become too powerful in the local armies, but that really means taking our lives. Who would be willing to do that?"

Wang Hongshao nodded firmly: "Everyone knows what kind of person he is. The people from Shancheng cannot be trusted!"

He paused, then slowly added, "Lord De, if you can't even do it, how can Chu Yunfei possibly organize the troops of the Fifth War Zone?"

Li Zongren sighed softly: "I only regret that our national strength is insufficient."

Chang Ruiyuan is rough in his work, although his efficiency is quite good.

Some obedient local military commanders were given sinecure positions.

But that meager military pay was simply not enough to support a family.

The fundamental reason why many generals, and even warlords, were unwilling to relinquish their power was that it was easier to go from frugality to extravagance than from extravagance to frugality.

They were used to living the life of superiors, used to being local tyrants.

It would be very difficult to give such a person a sinecure position.

Chang Ruiyuan's favorite method is physical means, which is shameless and has earned him a lot of infamy.

But for warlords, this physical method was really effective.
To resolve the problems in the Fifth War Zone, you either need to provide financial assistance or resort to physical means.

But if physical means could really be used, would Chu Yunfei still need to come over?
No money.

Supplies are insufficient, and military pay cannot be paid.

In this situation, what other methods are there to reduce the number of local troops with poor combat effectiveness?
At least Li Zongren couldn't have imagined it.

mountain city.

Small conference room of the headquarters.

Besides Chang Jui-yuan, other attendees included Ho Ching-chih, Lin Sen, T.V. Soong, Chen Ci-hsiu, and H.H. Kung.

And Gu Zhutong, Commander-in-Chief of the Third War Zone; Zhu Shaoliang, Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth War Zone; Xue Yue, Commander-in-Chief of the Ninth War Zone; and Yu Hanmou, Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth War Zone.

The attendees were from outside the Fifth Theater Command.

It can be said that all the commanders-in-chief of the Nationalist Army's war zones in the entire Jiangbei region were present.

Chang Ruiyuan, accompanied by Zhang Zhizhong, quickly entered the conference room.

"Please be seated, everyone."

There were no pleasantries, nothing more.

After a brief opening statement, Chang Ruiyuan spoke directly, indicating, "Gentlemen, you should now be clear about the current reorganization and restructuring plan for the Second World War Zone."

"Next, let's invite Wen Bai to give you a detailed introduction to the results of the past month's work and future expectations."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately turned to look at Zhang Wenbai.

Zhang Wenbai slowly opened the folder in his hand: "This time, the Second World War Zone reorganization plan has eliminated more than 36,570 redundant personnel, promoted 647 junior officers, and established three divisional districts."

"In addition, the number of reserve troops in the theater has been further increased to 63,000. These troops are dispersed in comprehensive training grounds in northwestern Shanxi, Longcheng, Changzhi, Jincheng and other places for comprehensive training. Once needed, they can be directly added to the combat troops without affecting the combat capability of the troops."

"The Second War Zone plans to build a new comprehensive training ground in Linfen to assist the Eighth War Zone in conducting corresponding troop training and instructor training. It is estimated that the number of troops trained annually will reach 16,000, and the number of new training instructors will reach 1,200."

Lin Sen was a military layman, but he could still understand data.

"General Wenbai...how much national currency would it cost to build such a comprehensive training ground?"

After a moment of silence, Zhang Wenbai said, "Dean Lin, the amount of resources required varies greatly in different war zones and provinces." "Oh?"

Lin Sen looked at Song Ziwen, who was in charge of the finances, with a suspicious expression.

Soong Tse-ven pushed up his glasses and said rather bluntly, "The mobilization level of the people in the Second World War zone was relatively high, and the local young and middle-aged people would also participate in local construction during the off-season for farming."

"Since it works in Shanxi, you can follow suit in other provinces."

Song Ziwen shook his head, thinking to himself, "If only it were that simple: these able-bodied men not only don't need national currency for labor costs, but they often even bring their own food, which saves a lot of food waste and expense."

It's not accurate to say that Shanxi people are simple and honest.

But after these years of fighting, the people of Shanxi have heard more or less from those "new Shanxi people" talk about what the outside world is like.

Being able to eat your fill and not go hungry, living a peaceful life in Shanxi, is the greatest happiness.

Shanxi has become a paradise on earth.

Perhaps their level of awareness isn't that high.

But we should protect our own lives, contribute to the development of our hometown, and support the cause of resisting Japanese aggression.

The vast majority of people will be very proactive.

Moreover, the Shanxi region not only has flat terrain that simulates warfare in plains areas, but also mountains, hills, rivers, deserts, and saline-alkali land.

Aside from swamps, river and jungle assault tactics are difficult to learn and practice.

An ordinary soldier can be trained to experience virtually every type of war scenario in his lifetime.

"This..." Lin Sen was shocked.

Although I know that things are developing very well in Shanxi.

But this good turn out to be something he hadn't expected.

Given that most provinces are struggling to feed themselves, it is remarkable that Shanxi Province still has the capacity to accept refugees.

It appears that there are still considerable grain reserves among the people of Shanxi.

"The amount of national currency required to maintain the Changzhi Comprehensive Training Ground alone for one year exceeds five million yuan. The national currency expenditure for maintaining the daily operation of comprehensive training grounds in the entire Shanxi region is as high as 36 million yuan. Among them, the Jincheng Training Ground was built earliest and is the largest in scale, and can train 6,500 new recruits at the same time."

Xue Yue spoke slowly, seemingly trying to persuade someone: "According to our calculations, if such a comprehensive training ground were set up outside Changsha, it would cost approximately 12 million national currency per year, and its scale would be roughly equivalent to that of a division."

“Our Third War Zone has also had similar experiences. I wonder if the Ministry of Finance has sufficient budgets,” Gu Zhutong said after a moment of silence.

Soong Tse-ven sighed with a hint of helplessness: "The estimated fiscal deficit for this year is around 1.3 billion yuan. Even if the Americans are willing to provide $300 million in low-interest economic aid, it will be difficult for our national economy to turn around in a short period of time. Increasing revenue is extremely difficult, and what we need to do most right now is to cut spending."

Chen Cixiu slowly spoke: "Take the Second World War Zone as an example. Its booming economy, sufficient manpower, and good morale are essentially due to the large number of young and middle-aged people working in the countryside. They live and work in peace and contentment, can produce stably, and can provide corresponding tax revenue."

"The Second World War Zone had previously established a tax police brigade specifically for tax collection, with a size of about a thousand people. Now it has been expanded into a tax police regiment directly under the war zone, which is dispersed in various places to ensure that taxes can be actually paid to the county governments in various places."

Song Ziwen slowly reminded us: "This model is indeed worth learning from. However, the tax collection model in Shanxi is somewhat different from the traditional one. Shanxi is financially self-sufficient and has abundant key resources, so it has not yet been affected by the shortage of supplies."

"Since last year, the private economy has been in decline, economic construction has been difficult to carry out, people's livelihood work has almost come to a standstill, the relief agency's funds are not sufficient, and there is little possibility of raising taxes."

obviously.

Kong Xiangxi's exploitative practices were seen as heretical by Song Ziwen, who considered them utter nonsense.

The people are so poor now. If we had followed Kong Xiangxi's methods, the War of Resistance against Japan would probably have ended before the people turned their guns on Chiang Kai-shek.

The methods of increasing taxes, imposing additional taxes, and forcibly levying taxes are absolutely unacceptable.

This was Song Ziwen's attitude, and it was quite clear.

Chen Cixiu sighed slowly: "Since there's no way to open source it, let's try to save some money."

"It is estimated that the reduction of redundant personnel in the Second World War Zone will save about 14 million yuan in military expenditure. While ensuring combat effectiveness, streamlining the number of combat troops is also a good option."

Zhang Wenbai spoke slowly at this moment.

At this moment, Yu Hanmou looked up thoughtfully at the other theater commanders.

as predicted.

Even He Jingzhi looked rather grim at this moment.

Not to mention Gu Zhutong, and high-ranking officials like Xue Yue.

The Second World War Zone reorganized its troops, resulting in the reduction of a large number of personnel.

That's Chu Yunfei's attitude.

If the Second World War Zone has already reorganized its troops, what reason do the other war zones have not to do the same?

The number of Nationalist troops is increasing, but their combat effectiveness is decreasing.

The problem of receiving salaries without working naturally became more and more serious.

Coupled with inflation, material shortages, and other factors, this is a bottomless abyss and a road of no return.

Chang Ruiyuan was naturally eager to end all of this, using the pretext of anti-corruption to reorganize the military and save money.

The pressure on the three theater commands is relatively less.

Having just concluded the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, the Japanese had successfully secured their transportation lines, so naturally they wouldn't launch a larger-scale campaign.

The Ninth War Zone has the largest troop strength among these war zones, and its number of miscellaneous troops is no less than that of other war zones.

The pressure on the Sixth War Zone is relatively small, as it is responsible for protecting the mountain city.

Now that the major battle has basically subsided, there is nothing left to defend in the mountain city.

If it weren't for the desire to use the name of the Sixth War Zone to draw troops from various regions.

The Sixth War Zone may have already been abolished.

Everyone had different thoughts, but they all considered many things at the same time.

It can be said that, apart from the fact that the Guangxi clique, which Bai Jiansheng currently controls, is not easy to touch,

The troops of everyone else present could be eliminated under this pretext.

Chu Yunfei himself is currently in the Fifth War Zone, the war zone with the most serious conflicts and the most distinct factions.

This demonstrates Chang Ruiyuan's determination and attitude.

The commanders of the war zones exchanged glances. Gu Zhutong was the first to speak: "The main forces of our Third War Zone have just finished a major battle and are still resting. At present, our combat strength is relatively scarce and the organization is not complete. If we want to reorganize, we can start from the local garrison forces, investigate unqualified young men (old, weak, sick, disabled, and slippery), and further reduce military expenditures."

Chang Ruiyuan gave Gu Zhutong a deep look, and then slowly asked, "How many soldiers and officers does Mo San estimate can be reduced?"

"Reporting to the Chairman, if it doesn't affect combat effectiveness, we can reduce our forces by about 18,000. However, due to the limited troop strength, it will be difficult for our army to launch counterattacks or even carry out corresponding liberation operations in local battles." (End of this chapter)