Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

The Ji-Re-Liaoning Army was plagued by serious problems during its early years: mutual distrust and widespread infighting. The Ji-Re-Liaoning Military Region boasted 20,000 to 30,000 main force troops, yet they had never engaged in a truly significant battle, with each unit always operating independently. After the establishment of the Ji-Re-Liaoning Military Region, preventing this situation from recurring was a significant challenge.

Marshal Nie thought for a long time, filtered all the generals under his command, and finally thought of Deng Guo.

Among the current Jin-Cha-Ji cadres, Deng Guo is the most suitable one to go to the Ji-Re-Liaoning Military Region.

The troops currently in the 13th Military Sub-district are all direct descendants of the Deng-Song Detachment, the 13th Column of the Eighth Route Army. The majority of the cadres in the 14th Military Sub-district are from this original Deng-Song Detachment. Furthermore, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Regiments of the current 31th Military Sub-district are also descendants of the troops from the Deng-Song Detachment that remained in eastern Hebei to persevere in the revolution. The cadres of these regiments all came from this Detachment. As for the st Regiment, it is the pure bloodline of the Eastern Hebei Uprising.

Xiao Zijing's execution of Gao Zhiyuan created a persistent rift between the Jidong troops and Xiao Zijing. However, this was not the case with Deng Guo. Deng Guo and Gao Zhiyuan, the commander of the Jidong Uprising, had a close personal relationship. They had first fought together in the revolution in Jidong and later faced life-and-death struggles together during the westward retreat. It can be said that before the establishment of the Ji-Re-Liaoning Advancing Army, the Deng-Song Detachment enjoyed a close relationship with the troops involved in the Jidong Uprising. Precisely because of this close relationship, when Xiao Zijing executed Gao Zhiyuan, Deng Guo and Song Shilun fell out with Xiao Zijing, then the top leader of Ji-Re-Liaoning.

Therefore, Deng Guo was not afraid that the Jidong uprising troops led by the 31st Regiment would not cooperate well when he returned.

As for the later formations, the 8th, 9th, and 10th Regiments, currently under Shifen District, all had their cadres brought in by Xiao Zijing. But now, Xiao Zijing, the commander of the Jire Army, has left the army and gone to Yan'an to sit on the bench. Without Xiao Zijing, they lack the confidence and recklessness of the 11th and 12th Regiments. Back then, the 11th Regiment had the support of the Jinchayi Division, the 12th Regiment had the support of the 120th Division, and the Jidong troops were even more local.

Xiao Zijing didn't dare to force them too much.

So after several rounds of screening, Coach Nie finally decided that Deng Guo was the most suitable.

Marshal Nie, of course, understood that appointing Deng Guo as commander and political commissar of the Ji-Re-Liao Military Region would inevitably offend Xiao Zijing, the former commander of the Ji-Re-Liao Military Region, who had returned to Yan'an. After all, Deng Guo had been expelled from the Ji-Re-Liao Military Region by Xiao Zijing, and Marshal Nie's appointment of him as commander of the Ji-Re-Liao Military Region was a complete slap in the face. For the time being, however, Marshal Nie was more concerned with the future development of the Ji-Re-Liao Military Region than with how to explain himself to Xiao Zijing.

Deng Guo returned and integrated the 10th, 13th, and 14th Military Sub-districts. Then the Rehe and Jidong areas would inevitably become the Eighth Route Army's territory. These three military sub-districts currently possessed 16 main force regiments, and their strength was still very strong.

Marshal Nie may not care about Xiao Zijing, but Cheng Zhihua is more hesitant.

Luo Qirong nodded. If most of the cadres in Jinchayi were from the Red Army, Luo Qirong was an even more legitimate figure. He was a favorite general of the Chairman during the Red Fourth Army era.

So he doesn't care about offending people.

He came to Jin-Cha-Ji because it was currently gaining momentum. The Central Committee had high hopes for it. Otherwise, how could he, the director of the Eighth Route Army's field political department, come to Jin-Cha-Ji to serve as the director of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region's political department?

He said: "I think Comrade Deng Guo is suitable. Comrade Deng Guo once worked in the Ji-Re-Liaoning Advance Army and has deep roots in these troops of the Yi-Re-Liaoning Military Region. Comrade Deng Guo has also performed very well in the Yanbei area in recent years."

Marshal Nie breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Luo Qirong's words. Putting aside Luo Qirong's qualifications and rank, the fact that he was sent by the Central Committee to Jin-Cha-Ji as Deputy Political Commissar and Director of the Political Department was a very significant accomplishment.

With his support, things will be much easier.

Seeing Luo Qirong's support, Cheng Zhihua had no choice but to nod as well.

"Secretary, since we're holding this meeting today, let's take this opportunity to finalize the leadership list for these military regions. Once we've finalized it, we'll report it to the Central Committee."

Luo Qirong knew that after the leadership adjustment of the Jin-Cha-Ji Branch, everyone was still in the adjustment stage.

In particular, Luo Qirong's sudden arrival in Jin-Cha-Ji as deputy secretary of the branch office made the leaders of Jin-Cha-Ji wary. Marshal Nie, Luo Qirong, and Cheng Zhihua were all in the Central Soviet Area at the time and knew each other.

But when the Anti-Japanese War broke out, everyone was fighting in different places.

Meeting times are limited.

Still needs to be re-adjusted.

However, the current situation in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei is in a stage of great development.

There was no time to waste. That was why Luo Qirong spoke.

Marshal Nie nodded.

He said: "Regarding the establishment of the second-level military regions, I have also carefully considered the leaders of each military region. Comrades can listen to me, and if there is anything wrong, you can point it out. After the establishment of the Yanbei Military Region, I propose that Comrade Guo Tianmin serve as the commander of the Yanbei Military Region and Comrade Liu Daosheng as the political commissar. After the establishment of the new Jizhong Military Region, Comrade Yang Quanwu will serve as the commander and political commissar of the Jizhong Military Region, Comrade Meng Qingshan will serve as deputy commander, and Comrade Luo Renfa will serve as deputy political commissar and director of the political department. The Jilu Military Region was established, with Comrade Huang Yong as commander, Comrade Wang Zhi as political commissar, and Comrade Zhang Caifang as deputy commander.

Marshal Nie is indeed a very meticulous political marshal.

Every aspect has been thought of.

Marshal Nie already had an idea about the leadership of the newly established military region.

After this round of adjustments, the leadership of the second-level military districts under the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was essentially all from the Beiyue District. This arrangement was relatively reasonable. Of the three main components of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, the Jizhong Military District, while impressive, was the lowest in rank. Not only compared to the Beiyue District, but even compared to the Ji-Re-Liaoning Advance Army, it was significantly inferior.

Because when the Jizhong Military Region was established, there were no senior party leaders involved. The Jizhong Military Region was jointly established by a regiment of Lü Zhengchao's Northeast Army, the guerrillas formed by the underground party, and the Jizhong Military Region's civilian anti-Japanese armed forces. In order to win over those civilian anti-Japanese armed forces, the Eighth Route Army gave high positions to the leaders of those civilian anti-Japanese armed forces. They were often appointed as brigade commanders, regiment commanders, and later some even served as military sub-district commanders. But precisely because they were all civilian anti-Japanese armed forces, although the troops here were large in number and had a huge momentum, their combat effectiveness was very poor. Later, the central government sent a lot of cadres, and the 120th Division came to the Jizhong Military Region, which allowed the troops here to gradually become regularized and their combat effectiveness began to improve.

While the Yizhong Military Region had high-ranking officials like Cheng Zhihua, many of the lower-ranking cadres were newly admitted to the Party. Their revolutionary history was relatively recent, and they couldn't compare to the Beiyue District. Their current rank seemed high, but that was because they had originally led troops into the Eighth Route Army.

After all, they were leaders of the civilian anti-Japanese armed forces, and their passion for fighting the Japanese was worthy of respect. However, many of them had never fought in a war before, let alone learned how to fight, and their skills were relatively poor. In the brutal battles, they gradually retreated to the sidelines and engaged in other work.

Even those still in command at the front lines saw only modest progress. Besides them, the ranks of the Eighth Route Army officers assigned to their units were considerably less experienced. This was the current state of the Yizhong Military Region.

For example, the Jireliao Advance Army originally had a very high cadre level.

Xiao Zijing was the commander, Chen Manyuan was the political commissar, Cheng Shihua was the chief of staff, and under them were generals such as Deng Guo and Song Shilun.

Unfortunately, the Ji-Re-Liao Advance Army was later disbanded, with the commander returning to Yan'an and the political commissar never taking up his post. Generals Deng Guo and Song also left Yidong, leaving the army significantly short of senior cadres. Even so, the cadres remaining from the Ji-Re-Liao Advance Army were still significantly higher-ranking than those in the Ji-Central Military Region.

Of course, the two of them combined cannot compare to the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District. The Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District is now really full of generals, and there are many cadres with rich experience and great contributions.

Of course, the main reason is that Beiyue District made amazing progress during the War of Resistance.

The Beiyue District not only boasted a vast territory and numerous troops, but also boasted a record of military success unmatched throughout the entire Eighth Route Army, resulting in the strongest combat effectiveness. To put it bluntly, this time, the Beiyue District had annexed the territory of the Jizhong Military District and was reorganizing its troops. Jizhong Military District Commander Lü Zhengchao left for the Jinsui Military District, while Jizhong Military District Political Commissar Cheng Zhihua moved directly to the Jinchaji Military District, even serving as Deputy Secretary of the Jinchaji Branch. Aside from these two individuals, there was no one else in the entire Yizhong Military District qualified to serve as a second-level military district commander or political commissar.

Yang Quanwu, Deng Guo, Huang Yong, Guo Tianmin and others were all veterans of the Red Army, veteran Party members, and veteran cadres, and were famous generals with distinguished military achievements during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Facing the commanders and political commissars of the Jizhong Military Region, they were completely overwhelming.

So Marshal Nie was very calm.

The commanders and political commissars of the second-level military regions were all from the Beiyue District. But Marshal Nie had no regrets.

Cheng Zhihua's face looked the worst. Cheng Zhihua was, after all, the political commissar of the Jizhong Military Region and had been there for several years. However, he also understood that the current situation was very unfavorable for the Yizhong Military Region. After Lü Zhengchao and Cheng Zhihua left the Jizhong Military Region, there was no big boss in the Jizhong Military Region who could stand up and compete with Yang Quanwu, Huang Yong and others for the positions of commander and political commissar of the second-level military region. This time, Marshal Nie nominated Meng Qingshan as deputy commander of the Yizhong Military Region because Marshal Nie was considering him as a cadre of the Yizhong Military Region. Otherwise, with Meng Qingshan's qualifications, rank, and record in the War of Resistance Against Japan, he would not even be qualified to be the brigade commander under Yang Quanwu. This shows the gap in the cadre reserve of the Jizhong Military Region.

If there was a slightly outstanding cadre in the Ji-Zhong Military Region, Cheng Zhihua would fight for them.

After all, the Ji-Zhong Military Region has a large territory and a large number of troops.

Unfortunately, reality is so cruel. The Yizhong Military Region, which has nearly 30 main force regiments, can't even produce a representative general.

So although Cheng Zhihua wasn't very happy, seeing that everyone else agreed, he could only agree, "I agree with this arrangement."

Chapter 489: Nie Shuai's Support

Cheng Zhihua was the former political commissar of the Hebei-Central Military Region. Since he agreed, there was no problem with this matter. Marshal Nie saw that everyone agreed to this arrangement, so he continued, "As for the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region and the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region?

Let's start with the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region. Currently, the 8th Column's Chahar North and Chahar West Detachments primarily command the area west of Zhangjiakou. There are also six regiments sent to Suiyuan by the 8th Column, totaling over ten regiments. Although only a subset of the 8th Column, and many of them relatively new, these units are still highly effective in the Chahar-Suiyuan region. It was these troops that captured Jining.

My suggestion is that Comrade Zhao Lu serve as the commander and political commissar of the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region."

Zhao Lu is currently the commander and political commissar of the Fourth District.

After the merger of the Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Seventh Divisions, the Hebei-Shandong Military Region was established. Marshal Nie supported Huang Yong as the commander. Although Huang Yong had a bad temper and was not obedient, he was a good fighter.

And although Huang Yong was not very good and sometimes disobedient, he had never done anything that disobeyed orders on the battlefield and affected the overall situation. In addition, Huang Yong had performed very well in the third division in recent years and had made great achievements.

The Jin-Cha-Ji forces currently held the upper hand in Hebei, overwhelming the North China Front Army. However, the Japanese and puppet forces had not yet completely collapsed, and the Jin-Cha-Ji forces still had many major battles to fight. Therefore, Jin-Cha-Ji was not ready to relax and still needed skilled and capable generals, and Huang Yong was more suitable than Zhao Lu in this regard. Therefore, Marshal Nie, after careful consideration, supported Huang Yong for the position of commander of the Hebei-Shandong Military Region. Zhao Lu of the Fourth Division was also a highly skilled general, both civil and military.

It is impossible to discard it.

Zhao Lu wasn't suitable for commanding the Jilu Military Region, but a transfer to the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region would be a different story. The Japanese and puppet forces there were relatively weak, and with the support of the Saibei Military Sub-district, a commander like Huang Yong was essential. The Chahar-Suiyuan region was relatively poor, and sourcing supplies was a major challenge. Zhao Lu was an expert in this area.

Since the Red Army era, logistics has always been Zhao Lu's forte. Zhao Lu, a political cadre by training, was skilled in both combat and logistics, making him a perfect fit for a place like Chahar-Suiyuan.

No one had any objection to this appointment.

Zhao Lu has extensive experience. During the Central Red Army era, he served as the Head of the Supply Department of the First Red Army Corps. After the Long March to northern Shaanxi, he served as the General Commander of the Red Army Front and Head of the Supply Department. After the outbreak of the July 7 Incident, he served as Deputy Head of the General Supply Department of the Eighth Route Army.

Afterwards, he came to Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, first serving as the commander of the Second Division and later as the commander of the Fourth Division.

His qualifications are as senior as those of several currently appointed second-level military sub-district commanders.

"The last one is the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region. Whether it's the Chahar-Suiyuan Military Region or the upcoming Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region, those troops were all single-handedly established by our 8th Column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and these bases were also single-handedly conquered by the 8th Column. Therefore, I believe that Comrade Wang Qiuyun and Comrade Wei Hongjun should be appointed as the commander and political commissar of the military region."

In fact, appointing the commander and political commissar of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region was the most difficult task for Marshal Nie.

This time, the second-level military region is completely different from the previous Jin-Cha-Yi Military Sub-district.

The Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region established a total of 14 military sub-districts. Aside from the first few, the subsequent sub-districts were severely under-represented. Whether it was the five sub-districts of the Ji-Zhong Military Region, or the th and th Military Sub-districts, the military sub-districts were of low rank, far inferior to the previous st, nd, rd, th, and th Military Sub-districts.

Historically, the commanders and political commissars of the first and second military sub-districts, as long as they remained in the army, were generals. However, the commanders and political commissars of the military sub-districts established later were only lieutenant generals at most, and most were major generals.

They were both military sub-district commanders and political commissars under the Jin-Cha-Ji region, but their ranks were completely different.

At that time, Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were already very conspicuous.

But it's still understandable.

After all, at the time, many bases within the Eighth Route Army were establishing various military sub-districts. Some sub-districts consisted of only a single regiment, with the commander serving as both the sub-district commander and the regimental commander. Therefore, there wasn't much of a problem. Furthermore, the Eighth Column had such significant military achievements and Yan'an's support, so Marshal Nie didn't mind.

But it's different now.

Because now the second-level military region of Jin-Cha-Ji has been officially established.

The newly established second-level military region possesses immense power and a high rank. Even within the entire Eighth Route Army system, there will only be about ten formal second-level military regions established in the future. Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun are both too inexperienced. Many of their former company-level officers are still only regimental-level officers. Some are even merely regimental-level officers in ragtag regiments.

However, this second-tier military region is only one level lower than the current Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. Furthermore, once Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun become the commander and political commissar of a second-tier military region, they would be on par with Deng Guo and Huang Yong within the Party and the military. Historically, those who have achieved the rank of commander and political commissar of a second-tier military region have at least reached the rank of general.

This is the status of the second-level military region.

However, Marshal Nie still supported Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun.

Because compared with the contributions they both made to the development of Jin-Cha-Ji, their qualifications can be completely ignored.

"Secretary Nie, I think we should still be cautious."

Hearing Marshal Nie's words, Liu Huafu, deputy secretary of the Jin-Cha-Ji Branch, disagreed and said, "They have both made great contributions, but everyone present should be aware of their situations. They were only battalion-level cadres during the Red Army period, and after the reorganization of the troops, they were only company commanders and instructors of independent regiments. But the military region established now is no longer the former military sub-district. With such a large scale, I think we should send a mature and steady cadre to preside over it. I think Comrade Li Fangqi, the former commander of the 14th Military Sub-district, is more suitable. Comrade Li Fangqi was a fourth-term graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy and an old party member who joined the party during the Great Revolution. He also participated in the Northern Expedition and was the party representative of the Northern Expedition Corps. Before the July Incident, he served as secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Ji-Re Border Special Committee, and restored the severely damaged Hebei Party organization. It was because Comrade Li Fangqi restored the party organization in eastern Hebei that we were able to lead and launch the great uprising in eastern Hebei.

Comrade Li Fangqi has been leading the revolution in the most difficult Jidong region for the past few years. I recommend Comrade Li Fangqi as the commander and political commissar of the newly established Yirecha Military Region.

Marshal Nie frowned.

He hesitated because he knew that some people would oppose it.

As for Li Fangqi, who was recommended by Liu Huafu, Marshal Nie would never agree. Li Fangqi had a long experience. He graduated from the fourth term of the Whampoa Military Academy and studied at the Guangzhou Peasant Training Institute. He was a party member during the Great Revolution and was an absolute veteran party member and cadre. When Comrade Xiuyang served as the secretary of the Northern Bureau and restored the party organization in North China, Li Fangqi was considered a capable general in Hebei. He made great contributions to the restoration of the party organization in Hebei. However, after the July 7 Incident, apart from his achievements during the Yidong Uprising, he did not have any outstanding performance in recent years. When he was in Jidong, he did not handle the relationship with many former cadres of Jinchayi. Li Fangqi himself was a local cadre of Yidong, and he had the problem of prioritizing local cadres and excluding cadres from outside Yidong.

Although the situation in Jidong is much better now than before, there is no such thing as someone with outstanding performance being able to become the commander of a second-level military region.

Besides, the 8th Column was built up by Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun.

This time, a second-level military region was established, leaving these two aside and letting Li Fangqi come over?

What do you think the Eight Thousand Army will think?

"The Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region was created by the Eighth Column. It was fought for by Comrades Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun. Now that the Yi-Re-Cha Military Region is being established, they are not being allowed to serve as the commander and political commissar of the military region. This is like killing the donkey after it has served its purpose. What do you think the cadres of the Eighth Column will think? What do Comrades Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun think? They have made great achievements, but they are not valued by the organization. This is not a clear distinction between rewards and punishments. If Comrade Li Fangqi were to go to the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region, how would he carry out his work facing the cadres of the former Eighth Column?"

This was Yang Quanwu's first time attending the Jin-Cha-Ji Branch meeting.

When he heard that Liu Huafu opposed Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun as the commander and political commissar of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region, and asked Li Fangqi to come and serve as the commander and political commissar of the military region, he immediately exploded.

When Liu Huafu heard Yang Quanwu's words, he immediately said, "Comrade Yang Quanwu's thinking is very problematic. Are we revolutionizing just to get promoted and make money? If we can't get official positions, then there's no point in revolutionizing."

"Humph, Comrade Liu Huafu's words sound good. But what's the point of boasting? Reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have made mistakes. Rewarding and punishing clearly is the first priority of military management. Therefore, when we lead troops to fight, we must especially understand the distinction between rewards and punishments. Those who cannot clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments are not qualified to be leaders. If you talk about others here, what will happen if it is your turn?

"Bang! Nie Shuai slammed the table.

Then he said, "What nonsense! This is a Party meeting, how can you speak so recklessly? Remember, you are now a member of the Jinchayi Branch, not an ordinary Party member. You must be more strict with yourself."

Marshal Nie knew Yang Quanwu's temper.