Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"That makes sense. To consolidate their occupied territories and plunder more supplies, the Japanese will inevitably resort to attacking our Eighth Route Army. I believe the most dangerous forces are the Ji-Re-Liaoning Advance Army and the Ji-Central Military Region."

Those who sit in this place are all battle-hardened generals.

Most of them had been in the military for over a decade. They were simply overjoyed by the news of the Pacific War, which had temporarily blinded their judgment. They were overly optimistic about the situation.

But after hearing what Wei Hongjun said, many people came to their senses.

After realizing this, they began to predict the Japanese army's next move. Deng Guo directly pointed out two places: one was the Ji-Re-Liaoning Advance Army, an important place connecting North China and Northeast China, and the other was the Ji-Central Military Region, which had long been in the heart of Hebei.

There was no need for Wei Hongjun to make a judgment, as they had already started analyzing it themselves.

Yang Quanwu said, "It should be the Hebei-Central Military Region. The Japanese army has swept our Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue region several times, but without much success. With the current strength of the Japanese North China Front Army in Hebei, a sweep of the Beiyue region will not be very effective. Even if it succeeds temporarily, it will not cause much damage to our Eighth Route Army troops who are accustomed to operating in the mountains. As long as we give them time, we can recover quickly. Since we can't resolve our Beiyue region in a short period of time by force, the Japanese army will inevitably find other ways. The Japanese army will definitely strengthen the blockade of us and blockade us from the supply side.

However, as long as the Jizhong Military Region exists, these blockades will always be ineffective. Therefore, the Japanese army will definitely target the Jizhong Military Region.

Sweep the Jizhong Military Region and blockade our Beiyue District. Eliminating the Jizhong Military Region would kill three birds with one stone. Without the Jizhong Military Region, the Japanese army would eliminate the biggest threat to the Pinghan Railway, while also allowing them to plunder even more supplies. They would also be able to cut off half of our supplies to the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District, effectively trapping us.

The Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue area has grown so large and powerful over the years that the Japanese army can no longer take it.

Unless Okamura Neiji was willing to mobilize 100,000 Japanese troops, plus another 100,000 puppet troops, to launch a large-scale mopping-up operation against the Northern Yue region of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei. If 200,000 Japanese and puppet troops could truly be mobilized to sweep the Northern Yue region, it would be possible to inflict a heavy blow on the Northern Yue region of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei. However, the North China Front Army currently lacked the resources to mobilize such a large number of troops. It was difficult for the current North China Front Army to even mobilize 50,000 mobile troops for a mopping-up operation.

Then the only way to deal with the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops is to find another way.

First, blockade and destroy the Jizhong Military Region, the largest source of supplies for the Jin-Cha-Ji region. Without the Jizhong Military Region, the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue Region would be severely short of supplies. Once the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue Region was short of food and supplies, they could gradually address the shortage. This was the judgment of Yang Quanwu and Deng Guo.

Marshal Nie nodded slightly.

Although the direction of the meeting began to change, Marshal Nie also began to be convinced by them.

"If the Japanese army were to sweep the Hebei-Central Military Region, what methods would they use?"

"Block important transportation routes and cut off the connection between the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District and the Ji-Zhong Military District."

Marshal Nie asked Yang Quanwu.

Yang Quanwu approached the map and said, "Block important transportation routes, cut off communication between the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District and the Ji-Central Military Region, and prevent our Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District troops from reinforcing the Ji-Central Military Region. The Japanese will concentrate their forces in Hebei, primarily the 110th, 27th, and 35th Divisions, as well as the st, th, th, and th Independent Mixed Brigade."

Perhaps some troops from other places will be transferred at that time, such as the 36th Division stationed in Henan and some troops in Shandong. Currently, there are many troops in the Jizhong Military Region. If the Japanese army wants to eliminate the Jizhong Military Region in one fell swoop, they will need to transfer at least 30 battalions. Including the puppet troops, the number of Japanese and puppet troops in the mopping-up operation should be no less than .

"I agree with Comrade Yang Quanwu's idea. If I were Ningji Okamura, I would mobilize all the troops I could.

Deng Guo spoke.

He said: "The North China Front Army has fought against our Eighth Route Army many times in the past few years, and should understand the strength of our Jin-Cha-Ji. If only a small number of troops are drawn to sweep the area, it will not pose any threat to us Jin-Cha-Ji. If I were Gangcun Ningci, I would not simply sweep the Hebei Military Region this time. A simple sweep would not produce any results. It is better to concentrate a large force at once and completely eliminate the Yizhong troops. Since last year, the drought and locust plague in North China have been very serious, and the military region is currently short of food. As long as the Japanese and puppet troops have solved the Yizhong troops and controlled the Hebei Military Region, they can If we implement a large-scale blockade, the shortage of supplies in our Beiyue region will be further aggravated. After a few months of refitting, the Japanese and puppet troops can launch a large-scale sweep of our Beiyue region. By then, we will suffer heavy losses due to the lack of supplies. To accomplish this, the most important thing is to sweep the Jizhong Military Region. Therefore, I believe that Okamura Neiji will not only draw troops from Hebei, but also from Shandong and Henan. The Jizhong Military Region must be prepared for a difficult sweep, because this sweep is likely to be the largest sweep the Jizhong Military Region has suffered since the outbreak of the War of Resistance.

Yang Quan glanced at Deng Guo and quickly looked away.

Yang Quanwu had a bad relationship with most of the current Jin-Cha-Ji military sub-district commanders and political commissars, and his personal relationship with Deng Guo was the worst. However, among these military sub-district leaders, Deng Guo was the one Yang Quanwu admired the most.

Because both of them are excellent military and political cadres.

Moreover, the two people's strategic judgments are surprisingly similar.

The course of the meeting changed.

Wei Hongjun, a small butterfly, could truly change history with a single flap of his wings. Of course, the current Wei Hongjun is no longer the small butterfly that just arrived in this time and space. Although Wei Hongjun has little experience, he has become a senior general in the Eighth Route Army and a pivotal figure in the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region.

After all, Wei Hongjun could now directly participate in the high-level meetings of the Jin-Cha-Ji region. Even Marshal Nie would not easily ignore what Wei Hongjun said.

So after Wei Hongjun spoke, the high-level meeting of Jin-Cha-Ji changed its direction. This was especially evident after Wei Hongjun's views were supported by Jin-Cha-Ji leaders such as Yang Quanwu, Guo Tianmin, and Deng Guo.

Commander Nie was convinced.

Afterwards, everyone began discussing how to deal with the Japanese raid next year. They began to re-analyze the situation for next year, and the previous optimistic atmosphere faded a lot.

Because everyone suddenly felt it. The Japanese army's overall strength seemed to be reduced, but the Japanese army would target the Eighth Route Army more closely. In other words, before, the Japanese army had 10 troops, and they spent 5 on the Eighth Route Army and the other 5 on the Nationalist Army. But now the Japanese army has 9 troops, which seems to be less overall. But the troops used to fight the Eighth Route Army have dropped to 7, which means that the pressure on the Eighth Route Army will be even greater.

Everyone has experienced the Japanese army's raids.

Every time the Japanese army raided, even if the Eighth Route Army repelled the Japanese army, the damage to the base area was very serious. The casualties of the military and civilians in the base area and the loss of property in the base area were all astonishing.

Therefore, no one in the Eighth Route Army would ignore the Japanese army's raids.

When everyone thought about the fact that the North China Front Army would focus its main energy on sweeping away the Eighth Route Army in the future, they immediately felt a lot of pressure. Therefore, everyone was thinking, if the Japanese army really swept through the Hebei Military Region next year as everyone thought, what would they do then?

How to deal with it?

Chapter 396 Strategic Counterattack Plan

The leaders of the Hebei-Central Military Region are under the greatest pressure now.

The strength of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region stemmed primarily from the dominance of the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District. This district boasted a large and highly effective military presence, and several of its sub-district commanders were highly skilled and capable generals. Over the past two years, the Japanese military has focused its sweeps on this region, but has been unable to curb its growth. On the contrary, each time the Japanese and puppet troops raided the Beiyue area, the area's base expanded.

It can be said that the North China Front Army's sweep of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region in recent years has mainly concentrated its forces in the Beiyue District. Compared to the Beiyue District, although the North China Front Army has also swept the Hebei-Central Military Region, it has never mobilized such a large number of troops as in the Beiyue District. Precisely because the main forces of the Japanese and puppet troops were sweeping the Beiyue District, the development of the Hebei-Central Military Region was very good. The Hebei-Central Military Region currently has full control over 26 counties, key control over 11 counties, and partial control over 9 counties. The Hebei-Central Military Region currently has 46 counties under its control, a population of over 800 million, and nearly 900 million.

There are 25 main force regiments assigned by the military region, and together with the main force regiments established by the Ji-Central Military Region itself, there are more than 40 regiments in total.

The main force has more than 60,000 people.

The Jizhong Military Region currently has people, weapons, money, and abundant supplies. They have no shortage of food or drink, and even have enough to support other bases.

However, the leaders of the Central Military Region were very nervous because the Eighth Route Army in Hebei Province had many soldiers, but their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of the Eighth Route Army in Beiyue District. In addition, the Central Military Region was a plain, which was very suitable for the Japanese army to deploy troops.

Fighting the Japanese army in the plains was not easy. Once the North China Front Army really concentrated its forces to sweep the Hebei base area, there would be many difficulties.

So after the meeting, the leaders of the Ji-Central Military Region held a small meeting of their own.

Because there aren't many occasions where we get together like this.

The leaders of the Hebei Military Region were discussing how to deal with the Japanese army's sweep. Of course, the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District was also considering how they could cooperate with the Hebei Military Region to break the Japanese army's sweep.

The safety of the Ji-Zhong Military Region is not only a matter for the Ji-Zhong Military Region but also a matter for the Beiyue District.

After the meeting, Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were called over by Commander Nie, who was accompanied by Zhan Tong, Director of the Political Department of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, Chief of Staff Tang Jie, and Yang Quanwu, Commander of the First Division.

"You two little brats, you've done a great job this year. Ah."

Commander Nie praised Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun.

These two men truly earned the Jin-Cha-Ji region's reputation. While most of the Eighth Route Army was still engaged in guerrilla warfare in the mountains, the Eighth Column alone had begun concentrating its forces for major battles. For example, in the recently concluded Battle of Kangzhuang, the Eighth Column mobilized over five regiments and over 10,000 men. Add to that the participation of troops from the Chadong and Pingbei detachments during the Japanese reinforcements, and the Eighth Column mobilized over 23,000 men for a single battle.

Except for the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, such large-scale concentrated troop combat was rare.

But this situation frequently occurred on the Eighth Column's side.

Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun even wrote a report stating that given the current situation in Jin-Cha-Ji, the military sub-districts below should try to form fist units. This would allow these fist units to increase their offensive capabilities and transition from guerrilla warfare to regular warfare based on mobile warfare.

Very bold.

"I've read the plans you two submitted. Are you confident?"

"Commander, we are actually trying. When we attacked some county towns before, we rarely directly attacked a county town with sufficient troops.

We could either combine our forces internally and externally, or attack county towns with only one squadron. However, both Huai'an and Xuanhua had over 500 Japanese soldiers. Including the puppet troops, the Japanese and puppet troops numbered over . We haven't attempted a forced assault on such county towns yet, but we'd like to give it a try. During the battle, we'll improve our infantry and artillery coordination, our siege capabilities, and our ability to capture and break through obstacles.

Wang Qiuyun spoke.

Wang Qiuyun was no longer the company commander of the Eighth Route Army, but a senior general commanding tens of thousands of troops. Therefore, he was no longer hiding his thoughts, but was expressing them clearly.

"And as long as our 8th Column takes over Huai'an, Xuanhua, Wanquan and other places, Zhangjiakou will become an isolated city in Chahar. We can try to take Zhangjiakou. If the Japanese army is reluctant to give up Zhangjiakou, then we can use Zhangjiakou as bait and create a battlefield around Zhangjiakou. Specifically ambush the Japanese army that is reinforcing Zhangjiakou.

"Using Zhangjiakou as bait?"

Commander Nie was also shocked by Wang Qiuyun's idea.

He hadn't expected the Eighth Column to have such a big appetite now, even daring to use Zhangjiakou as bait.

Wang Qiuyun pointed on the map and said, "At present, our Eighth Column controls all the areas around Zhangjiakou, and the Pingsui Road has also been cut off by us. If the Japanese want to rescue Zhangjiakou, they must either withdraw troops from near Peking or from Datong. The troops withdrawn from Peking can only go through our Pingbei base, Chadong base, and Chanan base. The troops withdrawn from Datong can only go through the Chaxi base. As long as the Japanese army reinforces, we will have the opportunity to create an opportunity to ambush the Japanese army. Chahar is a place with poor transportation conditions, and it is difficult for the Japanese mechanized troops to deploy. There are places for ambushes everywhere. Let alone two independent battalions, even if a Japanese regiment comes, we can create conditions to annihilate it in a field battle.

Commander Nie looked at the map and nodded.

I was also very proud of myself.

He had never expected that the 11th and 12th Military Divisions under his command had developed to this point, even daring to confront a regiment of Japanese soldiers head-on.

“And once we successfully capture Huai’an and Xuanhua, we will have accumulated experience in siege warfare and honed our troops’ offensive capabilities.

Next, we could attack Zhangjiakou or Jining. Either capture would profoundly alter the situation in the War of Resistance in northwestern Shanxi, Chahar, and Suiyuan. Furthermore, if we possess the combat capability to capture Zhangjiakou and Jining, our 8th Column would be able to conduct large-scale operations. We could deploy local forces to engage in guerrilla warfare against the Japanese, gradually developing our base areas. Our main forces could then concentrate their forces and annihilate the Japanese forces through mobile warfare, transforming a strategic stalemate into a strategic counteroffensive.

What Wang Qiuyun said made her blood boil.

Strategic stalemate turns into strategic counteroffensive. The CCP's "On Protracted War" divides the War of Resistance into the strategic defensive phase, the strategic stalemate phase, and the strategic counteroffensive phase. China's War of Resistance has now entered the strategic stalemate phase.

No one knows how long this strategic stalemate will last.

Many Eighth Route Army generals did not dare to consider the strategic counterattack stage.

Because the war of resistance was still in a difficult stage, Wang Qiuyun could be said to be the first Eighth Route Army general to call for a strategic stalemate to be transformed into a strategic counterattack.

Yang Quanwu, standing nearby, strongly agreed with Wang Qiuyun's idea. He spoke up, "Commander, the Eighth Column currently has the strength to 'besiege the city and attack the reinforcements.' Using Zhangjiakou as bait, we can turn the entire base into a pocket. As long as the Japanese army marches in regiments or battalions, rather than divisions or brigades, the Eighth Column is fully capable of consuming one or two enemy groups. Given the Japanese army's current situation, they simply cannot accept the Eighth Route Army swallowing up a battalion or regiment as a whole. This is because the Japanese army's recruitment rate would be slower than their casualties."

"Besides, if the Chahar region really achieves a local strategic counterattack, then Suiyuan, Rehe, and Jidong will all be affected.

Given the current strength of the North China Front Army, if they dispatch a heavy force to sweep Chahar, they will quickly find themselves severely short-handed in Hebei and Shanxi. This will present significant opportunities for development for our Beiyue District, the Yi-Re-Liaoning Advance Army, and the Hebei-Central Military Region. If the Japanese abandon Chahar and focus their forces solely on defending key cities and transportation hubs, a new situation will emerge in the Chahar, Suiyuan, and Rehe resistance campaigns. We must use this key point to lead the entire region, starting with the 8th Column. Use the 8th Column to drive the entire Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region from a strategic stalemate to a strategic counteroffensive.

Force the Japanese army to slowly retreat, finally retreating to the cities of Peking, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, and Baoding. Completely cut off the connection between the Japanese army in Hebei and other areas.

Yang Quanwu was considering the development of the entire Jin-Cha-Ji region.

Yang Quanwu felt the most profound benefits brought by the Eighth Column, because the rise of the Eighth Column directly protected the security of the northern part of Yang Quanwu's First Division.

Only by allowing Yang Quanwu to develop his large forces in Yixi without any worries can we have the powerful base and troops in the current Division 1.

Without the rise of the Eighth Column, the First Division would not only be responsible for the Yanbei region, but also have to guard against threats from the Mongolian troops stationed in the north. How could such a large force expand so rapidly in western Hebei?

Now Wang Qiuyun proposed that the 8th Column shift from strategic stalemate to strategic counterattack, and Yang Quanwu naturally fully supported it.

As long as the 8th Column really switched to a strategic counterattack and started large-scale operations, the North China Front Army would be distracted. If they chose to send a large force into Chahar to wipe out the 8th Column, the 8th Column's strategic counterattack would fail.

However, the North China Front Army was already short of troops. If a large number of troops were sent to Chahar, what would happen to Shanxi, Hebei and other places?

But if the Eighth Column is not stopped, the situation in Chahar, Suiyuan, Rehe, and even the eastern Hebei region may get out of control. Yang Quanwu has deeply felt that the strength of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region has really grown. With the current strength of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, it is already fully capable of confronting the North China Front Army head-on.

Moreover, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was divided into the Beiyue District, the Ji-Re-Liaoning Advance Army, and the Ji-Central Military Region, surrounding important cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Baoding, and Shijiazhuang. It was possible to attack from all sides, leaving the Japanese army with nowhere to defend.

Thinking about it this way, Yang Quanwu strongly supported Wang Qiuyun's idea.

The situation in Chahar has allowed the Eighth Column to change its fighting style.

Commander Nie was deeply captivated by the future depicted by Yang Quanwu and Wang Qiuyun. While the Eighth Route Army in this time and space was significantly stronger than in history, as evidenced by the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Eighth Route Army fought more major and challenging battles than in history. They annihilated more Japanese troops than in history, while suffering fewer casualties themselves. Furthermore, during the subsequent retaliatory raids by the Japanese, the Eighth Route Army did not suffer the heavy casualties and extensive base area losses of history. Instead, they engaged the Japanese with considerable back-and-forth, ensuring their retaliatory measures were anticlimactic. However, overall, the Eighth Route Army remained on the defensive.

But some troops in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region were already preparing to launch an offensive.

If the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region takes the lead in launching a strategic counterattack, it will leave a significant mark in history and may even directly change the current environment of China's war of resistance.

Seeing Commander Nie lost in thought, Wei Hongjun added: "This is the Japanese army's strategy when rescuing Zhangjiakou. If the Japanese army is unable to rescue and decides to abandon Zhangjiakou, then we will seize Zhangjiakou. Zhangjiakou is the headquarters of the Mongolian Army and is also one of the important reserve centers of the Kwantung Army, with a large amount of arms and supplies.

Once we capture Zhangjiakou, the munitions and supplies in Zhangjiakou will further enhance the strength of our Jin-Cha-Ji Eighth Route Army. Moreover, with Zhangjiakou, we can connect with the Jin-Sui base area to the west and with the Rehe-Liaoning Advance Army to the east. We can use Zhangjiakou to create a safe route from Yan'an, the Jin-Sui base area, the Jin-Cha-Ji base area, Rehe, Hebei, and the east, all the way to the Northeast. In the future, our cadres and our troops can develop along this route to the Northeast. Moreover, Zhangjiakou is the central city of Chahar, a large city with a population of over 100,000. Our Jin-Cha-Ji troops have always fought in the mountains and have never occupied a large city like Zhangjiakou. We lack experience in managing large cities. But once we capture Zhangjiakou, we can learn how to manage large cities here and train urban management cadres. We will reserve cadres for the management of large cities in the future when we establish a new China."