Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Ren Peiguo really likes Wei Hongjun's style.

Especially the rectification report of Hebei, Rehe and Chahar.

Although it was only a small-scale rectification movement, the content was very good.

They completely grasped the actual situation, and none of them were aimless. The entire rectification movement was a beautiful example of "linking theory with practice."

Therefore, he said, "Comrade Wei Hongjun's work style is very suitable for working in our organization department. Our organization department needs cadres like Comrade Wei Hongjun, who have a theoretical foundation and can apply this theoretical foundation in practical work. The cadres who came out of the 8th Column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Wing Army all have a good work style. I think this is inseparable from Comrade Wei Hongjun.

"Ren Huzi, stop trying to steal people from the Jin-Cha-Ji region. Comrade Rong Zhen will definitely be relentless if he hears this.

The commander-in-chief joked with Ren Peiguo.

Ren Peiguo sighed and said, "We are currently short of cadres, and even more so of qualified ones. All departments are vying for courageous and capable cadres. There are even fewer cadres like Comrade Wei Hongjun, who has worked in both the Party, government, and military, and done so well. I certainly hope to find such a cadre to work in our Organization Department."

"Comrade Peiguo, do you think our current party members and cadres are truly divorced from the masses?"

The Chairman asked Ren Peiguo while smoking a cigarette.

Chairman Mao also valued Wei Hongjun's report. It resonated with the rectification movement currently underway in Yan'an. If the Yan'an rectification movement achieved theoretical breakthroughs at the highest levels, then Wei Hongjun's work in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region was to integrate the rectification movement with grassroots work at the base area.

Ren Peiguo shook his head at first, but then nodded. "You can't say yes or no to this. Currently, there are indeed quite a few Party members and cadres who are divorced from the masses and display bureaucratic practices. Just as Comrade Wei Hongjun mentioned in his report, we keep saying we're educating, mobilizing, and organizing the peasants, but the reality is that when the peasants in our base areas have problems, they don't like to turn to the government. They prefer to resolve them within the village, seeking out a senior member of the same clan or someone who is highly respected. Of course, when people in rural areas refer to highly respected individuals, they don't always mean fair and well-loved. Rather, it's because they've always been the ones to solve village problems because their families are large and prosperous in the countryside, so naturally, everyone turns to them for help. This has become a subconscious reaction among the peasants, creating a contradiction. We're constantly educating, mobilizing, and organizing the people, but why don't they turn to us when they have problems? Instead, they continue to solve problems the old way."

"Comrade Peiguo is right."

Chen Yun continued, "In fact, the reason this kind of thing happened is that there is still a certain gap between our party members and cadres and the masses.

While this is also related to our lack of in-depth policy outreach to the masses, the broader issue lies within. Many people view our Party members and cadres as public servants, government employees, what they commonly call officials. Therefore, they see them as separate from the masses. In my time at government agencies in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, I've noticed that even when the public has issues, very few actually come to the agencies. This is only in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region; if you were in other military regions and sub-districts, the situation would be even more pronounced.

"Yes. The masses are afraid of government agencies, or rather, they have a deep-seated fear of public officials. This isn't entirely the fault of our Party members and cadres; for thousands of years, the idea of ​​officialism has been poisoning the minds of our people. But since we are the Communist Party, we should shatter this unequal mindset. We should make the masses understand that our Party is committed to building a society where everyone is equal, and let them know for themselves that everyone is equal. However, if we want the masses to understand this, our Party members and cadres must earnestly implement the mass line. Only when our Party members and cadres thoroughly integrate themselves into the masses can we gain greater trust from the masses."

The chairman nodded.

He said: "I used to work in the peasant movement and the workers' movement in Hunan. I was also very naive at the beginning. I had just graduated from school and thought I knew everything about astronomy and geography. So when I came into contact with workers and farmers, I always unconsciously thought that I was a scholar and was naturally superior to them. Looking at their dirty clothes and dirty hands, I felt that they did not pay attention to hygiene and were very unclean. At that time, the workers and farmers respected scholars like me and thought I was a learned person. But when it came to some real problems, they would not open their hearts to you. Because in their hearts, you are not one of them. Later, I took off my long gown, went into the coal mine with the workers, and went to the countryside to work in the fields with the farmers.

Soon, they trusted me, and because I considered myself a worker and a farmer, they treated me as a friend. They shared with me many things they had previously been reluctant to say. It was then that I understood that our workers and farmers, though their clothes and hands were dirty, possessed a pure and noble spirit. Our Party members and cadres must understand that only when we treat the masses as our comrades, our family, and our brothers, will they treat us as their own people.

"Yes."

Ren Peiguo nodded and said, "Put yourself in their shoes. No one is truly stupid. If you treat the masses well, and you do it sincerely, the masses will sense it. They will remember your kindness and be willing to work for your benefit. But if you are hypocritical towards the masses, even if they are deceived for a while, they will soon realize that you are not one of them. Therefore, when we do mass work, we should fully integrate ourselves into the masses and become one of them."

"Comrade Wei Hongjun's report is well written. Comrade Peiguo, please edit it and print it in the Liberation Daily.

"it is good."

Ren Peiguo nodded.

The Chairman continued, "Also, this document on inner-party democracy and the collective leadership system of Party committees at the grassroots level should be distributed to the Central Committee members in Yan'an first. We should all sit down and discuss it later. I think its views on the collective leadership system of Party committees and inner-party democracy are particularly good. Look at what Comrade Wei Hongjun wrote. Inner-party democracy should not be limited to the Central Committee and the various military regions. Currently, it is the grassroots governments that need it most. Only by actively implementing inner-party democracy can grassroots cadres prevent the abuse of power and achieve democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision. These words are very well said."

"Old Mao, didn't I say that Comrade Wei Hongjun is the most suitable person to work in our Organization Department?

The chairman shook his head.

He said: "The front line needs him more, and Jincha needs him more. Even if he comes to Yan'an in the future, he will eventually be assigned to the local area. At this stage, local work still needs cadres more, and they need comprehensive cadres like Wei Hongjun even more.

"What a pity."

Ren Peiguo sighed.

He really liked Wei Hongjun.

However, Ren Peiguo quickly said, "It's okay if it's not Comrade Wei Hongjun. Comrade Duan Chengwei, a member of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Border Region Party Committee, is a very good comrade. In the early years, when Comrade Wei Hongjun was developing the Party organization in Sheng County, Comrade Duan Chengwei was the head of Party affairs and made great contributions to the construction of the Party organization in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region. The construction and development of the Party organization of the 8th Column is one of the best in our entire Eighth Route Army system."

Comrade Wei Hongjun is currently conducting a small-scale rectification campaign in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region, and Comrade Duan Chengwei is one of the specific leaders. I want to transfer him to the Organization Department, and none of you are allowed to compete with me for this position.

The Chairman and the Commander-in-Chief both smiled.

Ren Peiguo loves talents.

Wei Hongjun couldn't dig him out, so he set his eyes on Duan Chengwei who was beside Wei Hongjun.

As the person in charge of party affairs, Duan Chengwei has made great contributions to the party building of the Eighth Column to the present Jirecha Military Region. This time, Wei Hongjun launched the rectification movement, and Duan Chengwei was both the driving force and the person in charge.

"Old Mao, the situation in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei has stabilized. I think we should have Comrade Rong Zhen and his men come to Yan'an."

The commander-in-chief spoke.

The chairman nodded.

Since the beginning of the Rectification Movement, the Central Committee's strategy has been to send commanders from the front back to Yan'an in batches to participate in the Rectification Movement. In fact, this meant that they were sent in batches to Yan'an to study the Rectification Movement documents and unify everyone's thinking.

There were too many things happening in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei in 1942.

Marshal Nie needs to stay in Jin-Cha-Ji to oversee the overall situation. Now that the situation in Jin-Cha-Ji has stabilized and six second-level military regions have been established, it is time for Marshal Nie to come to Yan'an to report on the work in person and participate in the rectification movement.

The Chairman smiled and said, "When Comrade Rong Zhen comes, we can also ask Comrade Wei Hongjun to come along. Let's all see who this little kid is and why our Ren Huzi loves him so much."

Chapter 521: Japanese Army Attacks Baoding

While the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region and the Hebei-Rehe-Liaoning Military Region were both focusing on Rehe, and Wei's Red Army was building a base in the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region, the North China Front Army, which had been recuperating, suddenly took action. They mobilized two divisions and began to attack Baoding.

The national army immediately sent reinforcements, and the situation in Hebei suddenly became turbulent.

The theory of quick victory and quick defeat in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression are two sides of the same coin.

The so-called theory of quick victory and quick defeat stems from a failure to clearly understand one's own strength and an inability to objectively analyze the enemy's strength. Those who advance this view base their judgment entirely on subjective imagination, not objective analysis of the situation. Their judgments are based on subjective imagination, not objective analysis.

There were many people who put forward such unrealistic views in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

This is the case with Chiang Kai-shek today.

Seeing the overwhelming dominance of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Eighth Route Army in North China, Chiang Kai-shek concluded that the North China Front Army was already weakened. Even a beggarly force like the Eighth Route Army was able to inflict such heavy losses on the North China Front Army. Now, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Eighth Route Army had successively captured major cities like Zhangjiakou and Baoding. In Chiang Kai-shek's memory, even at the peak of the Red Army's power, it couldn't have dared to claim the successive capture of major cities garrisoned by the Nationalist Army.

Chiang Kai-shek was still very confident about this.

However, the Japanese troops in the North China Front were actually defeated by the Eighth Route Army in capturing large cities. No matter how you look at it, the current North China Front Army is a group of garbage troops. Of course, compared with the previous North China Front Army, the current North China Front Army is indeed much weaker.

The decline in strength is even more serious.

But that doesn't mean that the current North China Front Army can be destroyed easily.

Especially after a chaotic battle, the North China Front Army finally completed the recruitment of new soldiers and transferred five independent guard teams.

Together with the original divisions and some garrisons of the North China Front Army, the strength of the North China Front Army expanded to 25 people.

There are a lot more troops than in previous years.

Although Chiang Kai-shek observed the North China Front's recruitment, he judged the Japanese forces in North China to be no longer strong. If the Japanese forces in North China were truly strong, it would be a serious disadvantage for the Nationalist Army. The areas near important cities in North China were entirely occupied by Eighth Route Army troops, with few Nationalist troops. The situation became even more serious after the defeat at the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain. Only a few Nationalist troops remained in southern Shanxi and southern Hebei; the rest had already crossed the Yellow River.

Chiang Kai-shek certainly couldn't allow the Eighth Route Army to occupy all of North China. If the Eighth Route Army truly occupied North China and captured major cities like Peking, Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Tianjin, Taiyuan, and Datong, then the Nationalist government would no longer have a foothold in North China. This was unacceptable to him, so he had to get a piece of the action in North China.

Although the previous campaign in Northern Henan had failed, resulting in heavy casualties and a loss of face, Chiang Kai-shek still stated that if the Nationalist Army had not launched the Northern Henan Campaign and tied down the main force of the Japanese army, there was no way the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei would have been able to capture Baoding. Therefore, he forced the Eighth Route Army to make concessions and allowed the 24th Army to enter Hebei and Baoding.

Pang Bingxun served as chairman of Hebei Province and established the Hebei Provincial Government in Baoding.

He then dispatched Sun Lianzhong's Second Army and Sun Tongxuan's Third Army to the Linzhou area, Pang Bingxun's former base, and began to expand his forces in southeastern Shanxi and southern Hebei, eyeing Hebei with eager eyes.

To put it bluntly, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to intervene in Hebei. He felt that the North China Front Army was already a formidable force, but he was also somewhat afraid of it. Therefore, he was reluctant to send his own troops, hoping to test the waters with the troops of local warlords. Pang Bingxun, Sun Lianzhong, and Sun Tongxuan all came from the Northwest Army.

During the Central Plains War, Sun Lianzhong defected to Chiang Kai-shek with his troops after Feng Yuxiang resigned from office. Sun Tongxuan, then a general under Han Fuqu, defected to Chiang Kai-shek along with Han Fuqu when he rebelled against Feng Yuxiang.

As for Pang Bingxun's problem, many people believe that he took money from Chiang Kai-shek and finally betrayed Feng Yuxiang.

But that's not the case.

Pang Bingxun didn't send someone to try to smooth things over with Chen Cheng until Feng Yuxiang finally left the army. This attempt was unsuccessful, as Chen Cheng refused to accept Pang Bingxun's offer. Therefore, Pang Bingxun was one of the last people in the Northwest Army to accept Chiang Kai-shek's reorganization.

Sun Lianzhong was a direct descendant of Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army and was related to Song Zheyuan, a former commander of the 29th Army. He had extensive experience and a high reputation in the Northwest Army, and many of the remaining Northwest Army troops followed his lead.

Sun Tongxuan, a subordinate of Han Fuqu, gathered Han Fuqu's troops after his execution. Pang Bingxun, while a well-known leader of the Northwest Army, was not actually a direct subordinate of Feng Yuxiang. He rose through the ranks of the 15th Mixed Brigade under Sun Yue, a prominent general of the Cao Yin Baoding faction, and later defected to Wu Peifu. During the Northern Expedition, he joined Tang Shengzhi's Hunan Army, openly hailing the banner of the National Revolutionary Army. Later, during the Ning-Han split, both sides were fighting for this unit, and it was during this period that Pang Bingxun chose to defect to Feng Yuxiang, thus becoming a general under Feng Yuxiang.

Because of this experience, Pang Bingxun was a very intelligent person. He knew how to preserve his strength even in the most unfavorable times. However, Pang Bingxun had been a fierce general since his time under Cao Kun's general Sun Yue. After the July 7 Incident, he also performed quite well.

All three were very clever local warlords, possessing considerable power. Chiang Kai-shek was therefore using them, while also being on guard. The perilous task of advancing into Hebei was, of course, best left to these ragtag armies.

It can not only test the strength of the current North China Front Army, but also use the Japanese army to consume the strength of these miscellaneous troops.

Of course, they do have the Central Army's direct troops under their command.

For example, the 52nd Army, under Sun Lianzhong's Second Army, was a legitimate unit of the Central Army. However, since the 1939 Winter Offensive, this unit has been in a period of renovation. Nominally affiliated with the Second Army, it had not operated with it for several years. This time, when Sun Lianzhong led the Second Army into Linzhou and into southeastern Shanxi and southern Hebei, the 52nd Army did not accompany it at all.

The 24th Army of Pang Bingxun's 27th Army Group, despite its chaotic origins, became a direct unit of the Central Army after several reorganizations. The 27th Army was also in the same situation. It was nominally affiliated with Pang Bingxun's 24th Army Group. This time, it entered Baoding and followed the 24th Army Group to Hebei.

But he acted almost independently.

The 27th Army usually obeyed Hu Zongnan and the 34th Army Group. If it was normal, the 27th Army would still give face to Pang Bingxun, but when it really came to its own interests, the 27th Army did not take Pang Bingxun seriously at all.

This factional situation in the national army is very serious.

Despite being dignified group army commanders, Sun Lianzhong and Pang Bingxun were completely unable to control the Nationalist troops under their command. Not only were they unable to control corps-level units, but they also lacked control over even division-level units. This was because their troops directly obeyed the orders of their own faction leaders, or directly from Chongqing. Generals of ragtag armies like Sun Lianzhong and Pang Bingxun held no weight in their ranks.

After Pang Bingxun entered Baoding, he was relatively stable.

Businessmen, landlords, and even puppet troops around Baoding sent a large number of people to contact Pang Bingxun. The Chinese have a deep sense of legitimacy. Although Baoding was conquered by the Eighth Route Army, in the minds of many wealthy and powerful people, Chongqing is the legitimate and orthodox government.

The Eighth Route Army was at most a local force.

Moreover, they trusted Chongqing more. After all, the Eighth Route Army was a CCP army. Although their policies were not too radical now, many of them knew the policies of the Red Army back then.

Chongqing has the support of Britain and the United States outside and millions of troops inside.

Furthermore, Pang Bingxun was no stranger to the wealthy and powerful in Baoding. He served under Sun Yue, a senior general of the Cao Baoding faction, and had been stationed in Baoding for many years. He had connections with many people there.

Therefore, after Pang Bingxun arrived in Baoding, he was warmly welcomed by the business community and landlords in and around Baoding. His support increased dramatically. Many people from all over Hebei came to join Pang Bingxun. Even many bandits in Hebei brought their men to join him upon hearing that Pang Bingxun was in Baoding.

It took less than two months for Pang Bingxun to arrive in Baoding and set up the Hebei Provincial Government.

Four Hebei security brigades have been established in Baoding.

Of course, these so-called security brigades were nominally brigade-level units, but some had around 2,000 men, while others had only 700 or 800. The four so-called security brigades combined only had around 5,000 men.

But this number is already quite a lot.

Therefore, he had only been in Baoding for two months, and many powerful people in Hebei were also waiting and watching. If Pang Bingxun could stay in Baoding longer, more and more people would come to him.

It can be seen that Pang Bingxun began to consolidate his position in Baoding.

Unfortunately, the North China Front Army would never agree to Baoding being controlled by the Chinese army. Since Baoding was captured by the Eighth Route Army, the section of the Pinghan Railway north of the Yellow River has been completely severed, and traffic has been blocked for three months.

This situation is very bad.

The North China Front Army's control over Hebei, northern Henan, and Shanxi relied on four key railways: the Pinghan Railway, the Zhengtai Railway, the Pingsui Railway, and the Tongpu Railway. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Eighth Route Army now directly controlled the Pingsui Railway. Previously, the Eighth Route Army attacked and attacked the Pingsui Railway, preventing safe travel. Now, the situation has eased, with the Eighth Route Army maintaining the Pingsui Railway, while the Japanese frequently bombed it. With the Pingsui Railway, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Eighth Route Army could mobilize troops and supplies much more quickly than before.

Of the remaining three railways, the 129th Division would occasionally raid the Zhengtai Railway. As the 129th Division grew stronger, it could easily dispatch a main force regiment and successfully raid the railway under cover of darkness, destroying a significant section of the Zhengtai Railway.

But it can still be used.

The same goes for paving roads.