Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Xuanhua's steel industry is well-developed. The Japanese built machinery plants, explosives factories, and smelters based on steel production. Xuanhua currently boasts a small integrated steel industry, with dozens of factories dedicated to steel production. The heavy industrial plants around Xuanhua employ tens of thousands of workers.

It is precisely because of so many factories that Xuanhua has become an important industrial city in Chahar.

With a little change, these factories in Xuanhua that rely on steel can produce military products. In other words, if they support the military industry of Jinchayi a little, it will be able to achieve a huge development.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun has always been coveting Xuanhua.

This time, Xuanhua was finally captured.

After the Xuanhua factories are taken over and digested, the industrial strength of Jin-Cha-Ji will be able to expand.

Especially the Arsenal.

There will be a leap forward.

Therefore, conquering Xuanhua is just the beginning. The most important thing is how to take over the factories in Xuanhua, how to resume production in these factories, and how to make these factories completely become factories of Jin-Cha-Ji.

"The Xuanhua underground party gave us intelligence about the Xuanhua factory. Once Xuanhua City stabilizes, we will immediately take over the Xuanhua factory.

Li Shiping nodded.

Long before the siege, this was the topic Wei Hongjun and Li Shiping talked about the most.

After entering the city, we must control the Xuanhua Factory as soon as possible.

Let the Xuanhua factory merge with the Eighth Column’s own factory to produce a chemical reaction.

"Teacher Li, there are steps to take over the factories. The steel plant is the top priority, and the factories surrounding the steel plant are the most important. The other factories can be taken over more slowly, but the factories related to the steel plant must be taken over quickly and production must be resumed as soon as possible.

Due to the war, and because the iron ore and coal needed by the steel plant were controlled by the Eighth Column, the Japanese steel plant in Xuanhua had stopped production for almost a year.

"I see."

In today's war, nothing is more important than steel.

Xuanhua is a major industrial and commercial city. Besides heavy industrial enterprises like steel, there are also a large number of factories of various kinds. Currently, most of the factories in Xuanhua are controlled by the Japanese.

Xuanhua currently has paper mills, porcelain factories, fur processing factories, food processing factories (flour processing factories), printing factories and other factories.

These factories are also good.

But during the war, the steel industry was of course important, including explosives factories, machinery factories, metallurgical factories, etc.

"Also, you should investigate the area around Xuanhua. The small blast furnaces at the steel mills can't be concentrated together. See if you can disperse them. It would be best to build several small steel mills. When the revolution is victorious, we can then concentrate them and build a large steel mill.

This work must be done as soon as possible, otherwise the good steel mills will be bombed by Japanese planes."

What Wei Hongjun was most worried about was the bombing by Japanese planes.

The Japanese army is now preparing to sweep the Hebei-Central Military Region and may not have the energy.

But when the Japanese army has time and energy, they might bomb the factories in Xuanhua. So it is absolutely impossible to build a large steel plant now.

Besides lack of money and technology, they were also worried about Japanese bombing.

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

"Another point is that after our receiving cadres go down, they must unite the factory workers extensively. They must let the workers know that these factories belong to all the workers. They must establish trade unions among the workers to protect their rights and interests.

"it is good."

Han Weiguo said from the side, "Political Commissar, according to our upcoming battle plan, we may not have enough forces to protect the factory. We can't divert too many people from the main force to defend the factory, as that would mean we won't be able to fight. So my suggestion is that we transfer some cadres from the army to the factory to serve as security officers, and then transfer some people from the workers to form a factory security department."

All the factories in Xuanhua are good factories.

If it is destroyed by the enemy, the loss will be too heavy.

However, the troops would have to fight the Battle of Zhangjiakou next, which would be the 25th Column's main battle. The th Regiment, including the current one, was only temporarily serving as the Xuanhua garrison. Once Xuanhua stabilized, they would still have to go to the battlefield.

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "This is one solution. When the revolution triumphs, we'll have so many factories to take over that even if all the troops were deployed, we wouldn't have enough men. We're fighting a people's war, and we need to mobilize the masses to actively participate in the revolution. The same goes for defending the factories. Relying solely on the army won't be successful. We need to understand how to mobilize the workers and let them defend the factories themselves. How to smoothly take over the factories, without disrupting production, and while ensuring their safety—this is a new challenge for us. Teacher Li, Director Han, please carefully document any problems that arise during the factory takeover process. We have no experience in this area, so we'll work together to resolve them. This is our first time, so don't overly pressure them just because a problem arises. Don't shy away from addressing any issues. We'll encounter these problems again. So, we need to compile this information and submit it to the military region and the central government to inform their decision-making."

"it is good."

Chapter 406 The bumpkin enters the city

After arranging all the tasks, Wei Hongjun breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course this is just the beginning.

Although a lot of work has been deployed, Wei Hongjun still needs to follow up on the specific situation.

Marshal Nie had only come to Xuanhua for a brief inspection before leaving with the various military region leaders. This time, Marshal Nie had brought a large observation group simply to witness the 8th Column's attack on the city, to personally witness its strength. The 8th Column was considering a strategic counterattack and the formation of a large corps, something Marshal Nie was also considering.

Although Marshal Nie supported the 8th Column's strategic counteroffensive in Chahar, including support from Yan'an, how to conduct the strategic counteroffensive and how to mobilize the other Jin-Cha-Ji Military Sub-districts during the 8th Column's strategic counteroffensive were still under planning. However, the 8th Column's desire to form a large corps was met with hesitation from Yan'an and Jin-Cha-Ji. After all, forming a large corps would require many changes, from troop organization to logistics.

That's why Marshal Nie came to Xuanhua in person.

Now that he had seen the combat effectiveness of the 8th Column and how it had easily taken Xuanhua, Marshal Nie had already made a decision in his mind.

However, there is still a lot of work waiting for Marshal Nie in Jin-Cha-Ji.

The generals, especially General Okamura Ningji, were now recruiting new soldiers while preparing for a large-scale sweep. The Jin-Cha-Ji troops also had to prepare for a counter-sweep.

Marshal Nie and other military sub-district leaders had no time to stay in Xuanhua.

After taking Xuanhua, Wang Qiuyun began to consider the next step of the troops' operations.

Therefore, he spent the entire day discussing battle plans with Xu Luomin, Zheng Weishan, and the others, especially considering how to capture Zhangjiakou. They were always at the column headquarters, while Wei Hongjun was responsible for all matters in Xuanhua.

Wei Hongjun recorded all the problems he encountered after entering the city in a book.

At first, Wei Hongjun thought nothing would happen. But he soon realized that his assumptions were too simple. Attacking a city was easy, but taking it and managing it was much more difficult than he had imagined.

When a country bumpkin comes to the city, he makes all kinds of foolish mistakes.

This wasn't the first time the 1939th Column had captured Xuanhua. Following the Xiahuayuan Campaign, the th Column had captured Xuanhua once before. However, at that time, the th Column was only there to gather supplies and weapons and ammunition. They had no intention of controlling Xuanhua, and the troops didn't have the luxury of remaining there. At the time, the troops moved in and out quickly, gathering supplies and then leaving immediately. The primary method of gathering supplies was confiscating the property of the Japanese and puppet troops.

More than 30 yuan was raised in ocean funds alone.

Basically, the troops entered the city with the purpose of ransacking the houses of the Japanese and puppet troops. After collecting the necessary supplies and funds, the troops immediately withdrew.

So nothing can be seen yet.

But after taking Xuanhua this time, the Eighth Column really owned Xuanhua, and the result was a complete embarrassment.

Xuanhua, the gateway to Zhangjiakou, was much richer than previously imagined. The Eighth Column was too strong in Chahar, capturing one county after another.

As a result, traitors from around Xuanhua fled to Xuanhua, as did some of the surrounding landlords. Of course, these traitors and landlords weren't very powerful, so they didn't flee to Zhangjiakou, but took up residence in Xuanhua. While it wouldn't be called a place packed with merchants, there were certainly a lot of them. There were Chinese merchants, and there were Japanese merchants. With so many traitors and landlords, and so many merchants, Xuanhua became a wealthy county, not just in Chahar, but in the entire Jin-Cha-Ji region. After years of fighting in the mountains and spending all day in the countryside, they were all country bumpkins. Upon entering Xuanhua, they saw so many good things that many didn't know what to do.

Furthermore, after the troops entered Xuanhua, they didn't establish strict regulations regarding Japanese expatriates and Japanese trading companies. This was something Wei Hongjun hadn't anticipated. There were some Japanese trading companies and expatriates in the counties they had previously captured, but their numbers were small. Therefore, simply confiscating these items after the troops entered wouldn't have had much of an impact. It was also permitted by policy.

But Xuanhua was different. There were thousands of Japanese expatriates in the city, as well as numerous Japanese trading companies. When the number of Japanese expatriates increased significantly, the problem became extremely serious. In the past, confiscating the assets of a few Japanese expatriates didn't have much of an impact because they were so few in number. Furthermore, the Japanese expatriates in the county towns weren't ordinary Japanese citizens; they were either Japanese businessmen or workers serving the Japanese army. But with the thousands of Japanese expatriates in Xuanhua, the situation was much more complicated. If you tried to confiscate their assets, conflict would immediately ensue. The result was chaos among the troops. These troops had been fighting the Japanese puppet army for years, and their hatred for the Japanese was deep-rooted. Although the Eighth Route Army maintained its discipline, the Japanese expatriates resisted, and the troops weren't polite to them. But the confiscation of assets by the troops was seen by the ordinary people in Xuanhua as plunder.

After the situation on the streets stabilized, the people of Xuanhua came out to inquire about the news.

Knowing that the Japanese puppet army's military warehouses and more obvious commercial warehouses in Xuanhua had been taken over by the Eighth Route Army and no one was allowed to rob them, they also set their sights on Japanese expatriates and trading companies.

They saw the troops confiscating things, so they thought that was just looting, so the people followed suit and looted.

There is absolutely no order.

Wei Hongjun issued an order not to allow chaos in the city.

In particular, looting of military-controlled warehouses was prohibited. However, there were no clear orders regarding the possessions of Japanese expatriates and Japanese trading companies. When the troops saw these civilians coming to loot, they didn't know what to do.

Seeing that the troops did not stop them, the people in the city became even more frightened and started looting.

They started by stealing valuables, and then, after everything was gone, they started taking sofas, furniture, and even Japanese kimonos. For ordinary people, these were valuable items. Since Japanese kimonos couldn't be worn outside, they just had them altered.

Of course, due to the lack of rules during this process, murders, rapes, and other crimes were frequent. Previously, when the Japanese controlled Xuanhua, Japanese expatriates held a higher status than the Chinese, and bullying of the Chinese was common. Now that the situation had reversed, the local residents began to bully the Japanese expatriates. Conflict was inevitable, but the casualties were primarily those of the Japanese. Some ruffians, in particular, took advantage of this opportunity to do anything. Soon, this trend spread to the traitors.

But who is the traitor?

The Eighth Route Army's policy has always been to execute die-hard traitors and to punish those who were forced into a desperate situation or those who just went with the flow.

As for the so-called traitors who had some connection with the Japanese army but did not do much harm to the anti-Japanese war or the people, they were basically criticized and educated.

But when chaos follows, there is no order at all.

This is true for both the army and the people.

Anyone who had collaborated with the Japanese army, or even worked for them, was labeled a traitor. Even before the Column could determine who was a traitor, local residents began looting the property of wealthy Xuanhua residents, accusing them of being traitors. In reality, they didn't care about being traitors; their goal was to steal. The term "traitor" was merely an excuse.

There is absolutely no order.

Many Eighth Route Army officers and soldiers entering the city were swaggering around in Japanese military overcoats and leather shoes. Even in February, the temperature was still very low. Japanese military overcoats were warmer than the Eighth Route Army's own uniforms. As for leather shoes, while they weren't necessarily more comfortable than cloth shoes, wearing them with their shine was a real honor.

Go to the theater to listen to a play, go to the photo studio to take pictures, and go to the restaurant to eat.

The impact is very bad.

After entering the city, Wei Hongjun only temporarily assigned two battalions from the 25th Regiment to maintain security. As a result, they didn't know how to handle the Japanese expatriates who were still parading around. Especially since they were all comrades, many from the Chanan Detachment. It was difficult to punish them simply for their display of activity. Even the 25th Regiment itself began to imitate them. Furthermore, 1941 was a difficult year, with limited food supplies and people struggling to eat.

After coming to Xuanhua, I found that Xuanhua is really rich.

So more and more people are going out to eat.

But where could they get that kind of money? They sought help from the Japanese and puppet troops. After the troops entered Xuanhua, officers seized cars and used them for their own use. They were also looking for better accommodations to sleep in comfortably.

Anyway, there are many properties owned by Japanese and puppet troops and traitors in Xuanhua City.

It was easy for the troops to divide up these properties.

Even more serious things happened.

After the troops entered the county town, they released all the prisoners in the city's prison before the column could identify them. In their view, those who entered the Japanese and puppet army prisons must be good people.

Unfortunately, there are both political prisoners and criminal prisoners among them.

After those criminals got out, they immediately joined the ranks of looting supplies.

Chaos is frequent.

Even more ridiculous is that some troops surrounding Xuanhua heard that the troops entering Xuanhua had made a fortune. So they immediately sent people to find the column and asked them to distribute supplies to them as well. In addition to the troops, many farmers around Xuanhua heard that the Eighth Route Army had made a fortune in Xuanhua, and they also rushed to Xuanhua, hoping to make a fortune there.

The local government of the old base also sent people over hoping that they could also distribute the things.

There really is everything.

Of course, if we trace this back higher, it would be the fault of the column leaders.

Because before entering the city, no detailed procedures for taking over the city, nor urban management policies, were established. Political Commissar Wei Hongjun was primarily to blame for his failure to formulate detailed policies for taking over the city, leading to confusion among both the troops and the civilian population. Wei Hongjun had no alternative. In his previous life, he had been an ordinary civil servant who had only recently started working, and his understanding of history was only cursory. He didn't have much work experience, having learned and accumulated much of it slowly in this time and space. Of all the cities captured by the Eighth Column over the years, none could compare to Xuanhua.

Wei Hongjun and other leaders of the column had no experience.

Before entering the city, Wei Hongjun was actually confused about how to take over and manage the city.

However, Wei Hongjun didn't think the chaotic situation was bad. On the contrary, he was quite happy about the current problems. He didn't have to worry about them because Xuanhua was just a small county.