Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Again.

If you are not the person involved, you will never be able to understand his or her feelings.

Empathy is basically bullshit. Unless you've experienced something similar, you can never truly empathize simply by listening to someone else's story. That's what those newspaper reporters did.

They simply couldn't understand the deep-seated hatred between the Eighth Route Army and the Nationalist Army. They were pen-wielding men who could only write articles advocating for a united resistance against Japan. How could they possibly understand the rage of the Eighth Route Army's commanders and fighters?

Ever since the April 12th Incident, the hatred between the two sides has run deep. Those killed by the Kuomintang were relatives and friends of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. This kind of hatred cannot be easily abandoned.

Use public opinion to oppress the Eighth Route Army.

However, regarding the situation of the Eighth Route Army, this kind of public opinion does need to make some statement.

Yang Quanwu looked at Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun and said, "Headquarters and the military district have carefully considered your situation. The Japanese army is currently weak in the Chahar area, with the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade on the Zhongtiao Mountain front. The troops of the 15th and 16th Independent Mixed Brigades that moved south were left in Baoding on their way back to protect the Pinghan Railway and did not return to Changping or Wanping. Therefore, the pressure on you here is very small. The only independent mixed brigade stationed in Mongolia in Zhangjiakou is the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, and three of its independent battalions are newly recruited. In Chahar, your 8th Column currently has the absolute upper hand. You can definitely make a big move. As long as you make a big move here, all public opinion will be shattered."

"Are there any other orders from headquarters or the military district?"

"Headquarters and the military region hope that your Eighth Column will cause a big stir, but only within the limits you can bear. Don't fight the Japanese army to death over this matter. When the Japanese army conducts future sweeps, your Eighth Column may be the main target of the Japanese sweeps. So don't let the Eighth Column suffer too much loss because of this incident. We must fight back against unfavorable public opinion, but we must also act within our capabilities.

"We understand."

Chapter 357 Making a Plan

Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun both understood what the headquarters and the military region meant.

This is a political battle, and we must fight it.

The campaign needed to be loud and clear, letting everyone in the country know the Eighth Route Army was still fighting the Japanese, thus countering the negative public opinion. However, a head-on battle with the Japanese wasn't necessary; the sheer number of casualties wouldn't be worth it. If the Hundred Regiments Campaign hadn't occurred, the current Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain would have been a good opportunity to expand the base. However, the Hundred Regiments Campaign had severely weakened the various units of the Eighth Route Army, leaving them without the strength to launch a battle of this magnitude. Therefore, the mission fell to the Eighth Column.

The military district was worried that Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun wouldn't understand, so they sent Yang Quanwu to give them instructions. After carefully instructing the two, Yang Quanwu left Sheng County and returned to Laiyuan.

Because now there is also a lot of work to be done in one partition.

The First Division suffered heavy casualties during the Hundred Regiments Campaign, and similarly, it had to recruit a large number of new soldiers. Yang Quanwu's job now was to restore the First Division's troops to combat effectiveness as quickly as possible in preparation for the next major Japanese raid.

After Yang Quanwu left, Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun immediately convened a column meeting.

Just as the headquarters and the military region were worried that Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun didn't understand, or perhaps misunderstood, their request for a visit from their veteran leader, Yang Quanwu, was a concern. Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were also worried about the lack of unity within the column and a lack of understanding of the higher-ups' direction. Therefore, a unified understanding within the column was essential.

In fact, the Eighth Column didn't care much about the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign because everyone in the Eighth Column was very busy and had a lot to do.

Southern Shanxi was far from the Eighth Column's base. Besides, what did the battle between the Japanese and the Nationalist troops in Zhongtiao Mountain have to do with the Eighth Route Army?

The Nationalist Army and the Eighth Route Army had already engaged in several armed conflicts. After the Southern Anhui Incident, these conflicts became more numerous and more intense.

Also hope that both sides can laugh off their grudges.

Fortunately, there were no Nationalist troops in Jin-Cha-Ji. If there were Nationalist troops in Jin-Cha-Ji, these hot-tempered generals would definitely cause friction with the Nationalist troops.

How can we vent our anger without a few blows from the National Army?

So now, upon hearing that they were being asked to support the Nationalist troops in Zhongtiao Mountain, many people expressed dissatisfaction. Although they were all high-ranking officials in the 8th Column, they were also ordinary people with the most simple emotions. The Nationalist army had already attacked the New Fourth Army, so asking the 8th Column to support the battle in Zhongtiao Mountain was naturally reluctant.

Wei Hongjun slapped the table lightly and said, "Now is not the time to discuss whether we should or should not do this, because headquarters and the military region have already given us orders. Therefore, this battle must be fought, and it must be fought beautifully."

Because this was a political battle. The situation in Zhongtiao Mountain was very unfavorable to the Nationalist Army, so Chiang Kai-shek wanted us to send troops. But Chiang Kai-shek also knew that the relationship between our two families had been very bad in the past six months, and we would never obey his orders.

So Chongqing is now using public opinion to force our Eighth Route Army to join the war.

After all, national public opinion is now controlled by Chongqing, and it's not in our favor. If we, the Eighth Route Army, don't attack, we'll be criticized for not resisting. Some newspapers are even asking whether we, the Eighth Route Army, no longer want to fight the Japanese and are preparing to make peace with them. We absolutely cannot afford such accusations, as this would put us politically in a very passive position. Therefore, the Eighth Column's attack was ordered by the Party Central Committee in Yan'an, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, and our Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region. There's no room for negotiation. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss how we can achieve the greatest results at the lowest cost, so that no one can criticize us, the Eighth Route Army."

"The political commissar is right. Now it's no longer a question of whether to fight or not. We must fight. What we need to discuss now is how to fight so that our Eighth Column can reduce losses and achieve remarkable results."

Wang Qiuyun repeated Wei Hongjun's words.

This made everyone stop making other noises.

Xu Luomin stood up and said, "I have an idea."

"Comrade Xu Luomin, please speak."

"Commander, political commissar, and all comrades, if we want to minimize losses but achieve remarkable results, I think there is only one place we can make a move. That is Huailai. During the Hundred Regiments Campaign, our goal was to force Zhangjiakou and force the Mongolian garrison to withdraw its forces in order to expand our base. Judging from the results, it was very successful. The bases of the Chaxi and Chabei detachments have more than doubled, and the detachment strength has also increased by several thousand people. Up to now, the situation in the Zhangjiakou area has not changed much. A large number of troops have gathered around Zhangjiakou to prevent our Eighth Column from launching an attack on Zhangjiakou. We have previously blockaded Huailai, so the headquarters of the Huailai Independent Mixed Second Brigade and their special forces, as well as the Independent First Battalion have been stationed in Huailai. Although we have blockaded Huailai, we have not completely blockaded the entry and exit of merchants and civilians as long as they do not carry weapons and ammunition.

But now is an opportunity. We can completely blockade Huailai and make it an isolated city. Once we turn Huailai into an isolated city and make a tentative attack on Huailai, the Japanese troops stationed in Huailai will definitely not be able to stay for a long time. Because they use merchants to replenish food, but they haven't replenished ammunition for a long time. During the Hundred Regiments Campaign, our troops had tentative attacks on Huailai. If we attack Huailai again this time, the Japanese army will definitely run out of ammunition. At most, they will have to leave Huailai in no more than a week. They have too many people in Huailai County. If we attack it head-on, the casualties will be too great. But once they leave Huailai County, the only place they can go is Xuanhua. This way we have the opportunity to severely damage them in a field battle, or even annihilate them.

Xu Luomin drew a circle in Huailai.

The Mongolian Army's manpower was becoming increasingly insufficient. For the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign, the 26th Regiment of the 12th Division and the 26th Independent Mixed Brigade were deployed to the Zhongtiaoshan front. The 11th Regiment of the 12th Division was particularly devastated during the Hundred Regiments Campaign, with fewer than a thousand men returning to Datong. Now, the th Regiment was deployed to the Zhongtiaoshan front.

The 26th Regiment of the 11th Division had just been replenished with new soldiers in Datong, and the 13th Regiment was stationed in Jining, Suiyuan. Fu Zuoyi's troops in Suiyuan were so brave that the Japanese army did not dare to relax their control over them.

As a result, the Mongolian troops stationed in Zhangjiakou only had one independent mixed brigade, the 2nd Brigade.

During the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Eighth Column successively annihilated the Japanese Second, Third, and Fourth Independent Battalions. Later, as the Japanese army sought new recruits, they dared not enter Zhangjiakou from Changping, Chifeng, or Huailai. Because these areas were already occupied by the Eighth Route Army bases, the Pingsui Road had been completely unreachable.

The Japanese army had no choice but to enter Taiyuan from southern Hebei and southeastern Shanxi, and then enter Datong from Taiyuan. Finally, they passed the Longyanchi base and reorganized the three independent battalions of the Independent Mixed 2nd Brigade in Huaian County and Xinghe County.

Because the strength of the Chaxi Detachment had greatly increased, the Japanese army was also worried that the Chaxi Detachment and the Chabei Detachment would jointly attack Huaian.

If Huai'an were also lost, the most important barrier to the west of Chahar would disappear. Therefore, two independent battalions of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade were currently stationed in Huai'an to prevent attacks from the Chaxi and Chabei detachments. As a result, the Japanese forces in Huailai were now isolated. However, after the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the 8th Column only blockaded Huailai but did not attack it.

Furthermore, the blockade was a blockade, and merchants and ordinary people could enter and exit. Perhaps there were Japanese troops and puppet army spies inside. But the Eighth Column didn't care about that. As long as there was no exchange of weapons and ammunition between the Japanese and puppet troops inside Huailai County and the outside world, the Eighth Column would not intervene.

The Eighth Column will not block normal grain trade.

Therefore, Huailai is relatively stable.

Now that the headquarters and the military region require the Eighth Column to take action, Xu Luomin pointed out Huailai.

Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun exchanged glances.

Because Xu Luomin's idea was similar to what Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun had discussed before the meeting. Under the current circumstances, Huailai was the most suitable target for the Eighth Column.

Wang Qiuyun looked at the commander Zhang Zihua and political commissar Lei Jiabin of the Cha'nan detachment, as well as the commander Zhang Dahu and political commissar Xiahou Wen of the Cha'dong detachment.

Because to implement the strategy of besieging Huailai, the cooperation of the Cha'nan Detachment and the Cha'dong Detachment is needed.

Zhang Zihua immediately stood up and said, "My Cha'nan Detachment can completely blockade Huailai at any time and then launch an attack on Huailai County. Although we haven't attacked Huailai County in the past six months, our small troops often go outside Huailai County at night to shoot at the Japanese and puppet troops, consuming their ammunition inside Huailai County. Huailai County has been under our blockade for six months, and the Japanese and puppet troops have also consumed a lot of ammunition in the past six months. As long as we take up a siege posture, the Japanese and puppet troops will inevitably run out of ammunition and ammunition."

After Zhang Zihua captured Zhuolu, he had actually been eyeing Huailai with great vigilance.

It’s just that there are more Japanese and puppet troops in Huailai County.

Can't be taken down.

Moreover, after the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Eighth Route Army's overall strategy was to recuperate. Therefore, although Zhang Zihua had thoughts about Huailai, he had never taken action. Now, hearing Xu Luomin's suggestion, Zhang Zihua was very happy.

That's how it should be.

Huailai is good at fighting.

Zhang Dahu stood up and said, "My Chadong Detachment is confident that we can cut off all reinforcements from Beiping and Changping. We can also accompany the attack on Huailai and consume the Japanese troops' ammunition in Huailai."

Wang Qiuyun nodded.

He said: "Then we will launch the Huailai Campaign. Besiege Huailai, blockade Huailai, make Huailai an isolated city, and force the Japanese troops in Huailai to evacuate Huailai. As long as they withdraw from Huailai, we will concentrate our troops to inflict heavy damage on them.

Chapter 358: Siege of Huailai

June 1941, 6, the fifth day of the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain.

The situation in Zhongtiao Mountain is becoming increasingly critical.

Less than five days into the battle, the Japanese troops had already begun to divide and encircle the Nationalist troops in Zhongtiao Mountain according to their original strategy. Historically, the Japanese army had basically achieved its set goal by the fifth day, completely dividing and encircling the main Nationalist army.

The next period of time will be to annihilate them one by one.

That's why Chiang Kai-shek called the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain "the greatest humiliation in the history of the War of Resistance." A force of nearly 200,000 men, armed with a geographical advantage, was divided and surrounded by the Japanese in just five days. Many people are baffled.

In fact, the biggest problem of the Zhongtiaoshan troops was that each unit fought independently.

No support for each other.

In fact, it was obvious that if another army sent a division, it would be able to block the Japanese army's advance. However, the other troops watched the Japanese army attack the friendly forces, and although they were able to help, they did not help at all.

Friendly troops are in trouble and remain as motionless as a mountain.

This is indeed the consistent tradition of the National Army. It was also very obvious in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain.

As a result, the Japanese army easily completed the division and encirclement.

However, during the Battle of Zhongtiaoshan, the Japanese army had just recovered its strength, and many units had only been recruited for about a month, which significantly affected their combat effectiveness. When many units advanced, their speed was significantly slower. In fact, their offensive capabilities had greatly decreased, and were far inferior to the offensive speed of the Japanese army at the beginning of the full-scale war of resistance.

And they take too long to prepare.

It has taken nearly half a year from the beginning of the year to now.

Although the top leaders of the National Army did not pay much attention to the Japanese troop movements, and even some National Army generals in Zhongtiao Mountain did not care too much. But there are nearly 17 troops in Zhongtiao Mountain, and not every unit is so relaxed. Some of the troops are still worried about the situation in Zhongtiao Mountain when they see the movements of the Japanese army. After all, the Japanese army is continuously heading to southern Shanxi. Divisions like the 21th Division, the 33st Division, and the 37rd Division are all new troops that have arrived in southern Shanxi. They are obviously different from the original 41th Division and the st Division. Those front-line National Army troops stationed in Zhongtiao Mountain are still a little wary of the Japanese army deploying so many unfamiliar troops, so they made some preparations. Under such multiple factors, although the Japanese army's strategy has been advancing, and overall it is relatively smooth.

But it is not as easy as it was in history.

In some areas, they were even blocked by Nationalist troops, leading to fierce fighting between the two sides. The Ninth Army, in particular, on the eastern front, temporarily halted the Japanese advance, preventing them from completing their planned strategy. The Japanese army subsequently reinforced its forces several times, but the results were limited. The original Japanese strategy was to launch a surprise attack on the eastern front and ultimately encircle the Nationalist 14th Army. The 14th Army was an elite unit of the Central Army, well-equipped and combat-capable. The Ninth Army, under its command, performed particularly well.

They firmly blocked the attack of seven Japanese battalions.

The Japanese advance on the western, northern, and northeastern fronts was proceeding relatively smoothly. While the pace of their advance was somewhat slow, they were steadily advancing. The Nationalist front had collapsed, and many troops were unsure where to retreat or rebuild their defenses. The only area where the Japanese were experiencing slow progress was the eastern front.

It was now the fifth day of the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, but the Japanese had not yet completed their encirclement of the Nationalist forces there. However, judging by the overall situation, the Japanese strategy had already begun, while the Nationalist army lacked a comprehensive defensive strategy, with only scattered units resisting. Therefore, despite the efforts of some Nationalist units, they were unable to compensate for the overall strategic disadvantage. Even the outstanding performance of Nationalist units on certain defensive lines could not reverse the overall decline of the battle.

People in Chongqing are becoming more and more anxious.

Anyone who has a basic understanding of military strategy knows that if the Japanese army completes the division and encirclement, the battle will be a major defeat. Zhongtiao Mountain is the most important line of defense for the Nationalist Army in North China, and there are nearly 200,000 Nationalist Army troops here. Once it is breached, the entire southern Shanxi will fall into the hands of the Japanese army. When the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain just broke out, Chongqing initially invited the Eighth Route Army to join the battle and used public opinion to force the Eighth Route Army to join the battle. However, as the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain became increasingly unfavorable, Chongqing no longer cared about face and directly ordered the Eighth Route Army to join the battle.

The Eighth Column, which had been making preparations, suddenly took action on this day.

The Eighth Column troops officially began to blockade Huailai.

Moreover, large numbers of troops came to Huailai and used the tactic of surrounding Huailai on three sides and leaving one side behind.

The sudden action of the Eighth Column made the troops stationed in Mongolia instantly nervous.

I thought the 8th Column was going to launch another large-scale attack like the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

The troops stationed in Mongolia were now extremely nervous about the Eighth Column, even fearful. They overreacted to the slightest movement from the Eighth Column. This was because the troops stationed in Mongolia understood that they were at their weakest. Shigetaro Amakasu, who had just assumed command of the troops stationed in Mongolia, was a timid person.

All the commanders of the Mongolian troops ended up badly.

Starting with the first commander, Hasunuma Han, and the second commander, Okabe Naosaburo, they were both dismissed from their posts and returned to Japan to be questioned because of their repeated defeats on the Chahar battlefield.

Yamawaki Masataka, who later became commander of the Mongolian Army, was dismissed from his post within just three months. His outspokenness led him to criticize and oppose the Japanese Army's southward expansion strategy wherever he went and to any Japanese general he encountered. The Japanese Imperial Headquarters, enraged by his outspokenness, dismissed him from his post. Yamawaki Masataka also became the shortest-serving commander in the history of the Mongolian Army.

The current commander of the Mongolian Army, Amagashige Taro, has been in office for just over two months.

Only after arriving in Zhangjiakou did he realize how dire the situation in Chahar was. In Chahar, it wasn't the Japanese army sweeping through the Eighth Route Army base. Instead, it was the Eighth Route Army troops pressing forward towards Zhangjiakou.

If the Eighth Route Army had not had heavy siege weapons and was not worried about Japanese planes, the Eighth Column would have gathered its troops to attack the Zhang family long ago.

So Amakasu Shigetaro is really cautious.