The father of the sword is Kong Jie

Chapter 1200 The evolution is all due to me
...The battle situation continues to evolve.

During the three months when Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei and others studied in Yan'an, there were basically no major changes in the anti-Japanese situation in North China. The Japanese army still occupied some major counties and transportation lines and gathered troops to defend it.

The elite Eighth Route Army in the Taihang area, dominated by the Iron Triangle Group Army, also changed its strategic policy towards the Japanese army, from proactive attack to containment.

Due to the substantial expansion of the Eighth Route Army's anti-Japanese revolutionary base area, coupled with the increase and extension of the front line.

The Japanese troops in North China were under heavy defensive pressure and could hardly move.

Soon after, the attention of the Japanese troops in North China and even the entire Japanese China Expeditionary Force was basically focused on their opponents in North China, mainly the elite Eighth Route Army in the Taihang area.

The New Fourth Army took the opportunity to launch more violent and larger-scale attacks on the Japanese troops in various areas in central China, northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, northern Guangdong, eastern Zhejiang, and northern Jiangxi, taking advantage of the freezing combat environment in winter. offensive.

The Japanese army responded hastily, originally thinking it was just an ordinary attack launched by the New Fourth Army, focusing on harassment and sneak attacks.

Unexpectedly, the war situation became more and more intense.

In the past, the New Fourth Army, which had been within the expected range of the Japanese troops on each line of defense, suddenly appeared with a considerable amount of offensive firepower.

The Japanese army was caught off guard by all kinds of machine guns and artillery and was in a panic.

The weapons of a large number of New Fourth Army troops seemed to have been changed, and the firepower was much stronger than usual. Unexpectedly, the Japanese and puppet troops in various areas were beaten to the point where they almost lost their armor.

In just half a month, the New Fourth Army fought consecutively and successfully, defeating the Japanese and puppet troops steadily under various winter offensives, and actually recaptured a considerable number of towns and villages, including some remote county towns.

As a result, the area of ​​various anti-Japanese base areas expanded rapidly, and even many base areas that were originally scattered were completely connected and formed into one, becoming more and more stable.

For a time, the Japanese troops in central China, northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, northern Guangdong, eastern Zhejiang, and northern Jiangxi were in emergency and requested reinforcements. In central China, the Japanese field troops originally assembled for other directions even had to be transferred to the occupied areas to assist in defense. .

At the headquarters of the Japanese Army's China Expeditionary Force, the old Japanese soldier Hata Junroku was shocked when he learned the news.

The situation at that time was that he focused most of his attention on the defense of the Eighth Route Army troops in the occupied areas of North China.

As the Eighth Route Army in North China grew stronger and stronger, it was already beyond the capabilities of the Japanese army in North China to ensure stable security in the occupied areas in the rear.

The helpless Hata Junroku is planning to dispatch some troops from Central China and East China to reinforce North China to stabilize this rear area and provide assistance to the Pacific battlefield and the main battlefield in Southeast Asia!

As a result, the Japanese field troops in central China had only been assembled for a short time, and before they had time to set off, news came that the New Fourth Army had launched a large-scale winter offensive, and the occupied areas in the central and southern parts of the empire were being continuously breached.

"Baga, do these damn New Fourth Army dare to be so rampant?"

Hata Junroku was furious.

Once upon a time, the anti-Japanese armed forces that survived in the cracks of the occupied areas, whether they were the Eighth Route Army or the New Fourth Army, were never looked down upon by the Japanese army and were just miscellaneous troops that could not gain a reputation.

But it was only a few years ago.

First, there was the rapid rise of the Eighth Route Army, especially the Iron Triangle Army troops that Hata Junroku wanted to get rid of quickly.

The sudden commotion caused turmoil in the Japanese rear area.

Not long after things had calmed down a bit, Hata Junroku was still rejoicing that the situation had finally stabilized, but then he turned around and found that the New Fourth Army in the south actually started to stir up trouble again.

In addition, according to the news that was continuously passed to the headquarters, Hata Junroku learned that the equipment of the New Fourth Army in the south seemed to have developed rapidly. Their considerable troops were equipped with a large number of artillery and machine guns, and the original defenses were simply not enough. .

Because of this omission, the Japanese army was caught off guard when faced with the large-scale, multi-directional, large-area winter offensive launched suddenly and proactively by the New Fourth Army.

When analyzing the matter at a military meeting, Chief of Staff Junroku Hata believed:
"There must be something fishy about this matter. I'm afraid there may be shadows of the Eighth Route Army!"

As soon as these words came out, all the Japanese officers suddenly realized.

Some Japs officers stationed in central China were even more convinced: "That must be the case. These New Fourth Army suddenly had a large amount of weapons and equipment. Most of them secretly built some kind of transportation channel with the Eighth Route Army and received weapons reinforcements from the Eighth Route Army." !”

Hata Junroku was having a headache about this, and this was what worried him the most.

Forget it that the Eighth Route Army in North China is making trouble in North China. It seems that it is preparing to break through the defense line of the Japanese Empire and even begins to reinforce the New Fourth Army in the south to promote the development of the New Fourth Army.

He almost dared not imagine what kind of bad situation the Empire of Japan would face once the New Fourth Army in the south grew as strong as the Eighth Route Army in North China.

The Japanese Chief of Staff also said: "Your Excellency, Commander, in this way, suppressing the rebellion of the New Fourth Army in the southern region is the top priority of our Central China Front Army.

I think what we need to do now is to seize the time to destroy the reinforcement channel secretly opened by the Eighth Route Army to the New Fourth Army and curb the development of the New Fourth Army.

Then our original plan of dispatching troops from Central China to North China may not be feasible. "

But the combat situation in North China is equally severe.

After some final thought, the somewhat helpless Hata Junroku finally realized that the only way left before him was to ask for help from the Kwantung Army!
"It's just that now we have lost even the last bit of face. We are afraid that we will be completely laughed at by the Kwantung Army!"

The relationship between the five major armies of the Japanese army, the domestic army (Japanese First General Army, Second General Army), Navy (Joint Wing), Kwantung Army, Chinese Expeditionary Army, and Japanese Southern Army is not as harmonious as it appears.

Even the original policy of invading China was controversial.

The September [-]th Incident and the rapid capture of the three eastern provinces can be said to have been led by the Kwantung Army.

But at that time, the other major armies did not agree with the Kwantung Army's approach.

They believe that China has a vast territory, a vast territory, and too much strategic depth. If you rush into action without making full preparations, it will be impossible to engulf China, and you will end up with self-destruction.

But the Kwantung Army didn't think so. They believed that the September [-]th incident was the perfect opportunity, so they captured the Northeast in one fell swoop and supported the establishment of the Puppet Manchukuo.

The two sides do not deal with each other.

Therefore, after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, each fought its own battle. Although the two armies nominally belonged to the same order of battle of the Japanese army, there were not many joint operations with each other.

The attitude of the Chinese dispatched troops is that our dispatched troops are responsible for dealing with the Chinese troops in the pass, and you, the Kwantung Army, will not intervene.

The Kwantung Army was too lazy to help. On the pretext that it needed to guard the border and be wary of the Soviet army, it simply guarded the areas outside the Kwantung and built the Northeast like an iron barrel.But now the fun is great.

The Chinese dispatched troops in the pass were defeated one after another, but they were beaten into disgrace by the original motley crew of the Eighth Route Army behind enemy lines.

As the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, Shunroku Hata did not want to admit that the Chinese Expeditionary Forces were inferior to the Kwantung Army, but in the current situation, he could only pull his old face and ask for help from the Kwantung Army.

During the call, after receiving Shunroku Hata's request, the 14th Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Kwantung Army, Umezu Yoshijiro, burst into laughter.

The old devil's mocking words were not disguised at all.

"Hatatsuki-kun, it's really hard for you to send troops to China. You boasted about destroying China in Haikou in three months, but it ended up evolving into the current situation.

Some Chinese troops, with their backward equipment and poor tactics, were able to force the imperial troops into such a situation. It is really a shame to the Japanese Empire.

If we, the Kwantung Army, had not been stationed outside the pass and prepared to fight the Soviet army, we would have sent our troops southward long ago, destroying the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army in one fell swoop! "

Umezu Yoshijiro was just bragging to himself. Anyway, bragging would not pay taxes, so there was no need for him to actually do it.

Being under the roof, it was hard for Hata Junroku, who wanted to ask for help from others, to refute too much, but he still teased:
"Yes, if they are like your 14th Division of the Kwantung Army, then the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army in this area can easily be wiped out!"

"..." Umezu Meijiro was silent.

The destruction of the Inoue Division was a severe pain in his heart. Umezu Yoshijiro once attributed the destruction of the Inoue Division to the poor combat performance of the North China Front. Those damn stupid guys actually betrayed their teammates, causing the Fourteenth Division to suffer The elite troops of the Eighth Route Army were besieged and eventually destroyed.

But think about it from another perspective.

Known as the flower of the Imperial Army, as the elite [-]th Division of the Japanese Kwantung Army, this division is almost full. No matter what the circumstances are, it is wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. This is an unforgivable extreme. Big humiliation.

Umezu Yoshijiro never believed that his Kwantung Army troops were incompetent in combat effectiveness, but he was also unwilling to admit that the mere Eighth Route Army in Kwantung could have such combat effectiveness!

In the end, both sides had their own pains, and the two old devils, who had some sympathy for each other, decided to join forces.

Umezu Yoshijiro promised that after adjusting the original deployment of the Kwantung Army outside the Pass, corresponding troops would be dispatched south to reinforce North China.

In this way, the Japanese troops dispatched by China to the Central China Front could stand still and continue to guard the Central China area against the New Fourth Army's forces in the south.

Until this time, after discussion, these two old Japanese soldiers believed that the Eighth Route Army in North China would no longer launch an active offensive at the moment, and the next step was likely to be to unite the New Fourth Army in the south to deal with the imperial army.

From beginning to end, neither of these two old devils dared to even think about it.

How dare these Eighth Route Army dare to attack the Kwantung Army!
……

North China region.

The Japanese army and the Eighth Route Army are still in a tense confrontation.

Especially in the Shouyang and Yangquan areas, the Japanese and puppet troops, who were facing the most elite Iron Triangle base of the Eighth Route Army, were in panic all day long. They were worried about sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Army's helmeted soldiers all day long.

But what surprised the Japanese army was that although they received information about the Eighth Route Army's mobilization in the base area from time to time, for more than two months in a row, the Eighth Route Army did not take the initiative to launch any offensive against the Japanese army.

It seems like what they said, they are just renovating the troops in the base area.

However, the old Japanese Harada who was ordered to station in Yangquan and Shouyang areas did not care about this. Over the years, he had already made an astonishing discovery:

Regarding the management of the imperial occupied areas, the continuous strengthening of security and external raids and military attacks will often encounter stronger backlash from the Eighth Route Army and other anti-Japanese armed forces, which will in turn lead to increasing instability in the occupied areas.

On the contrary, if we can be more tolerant and not so targeted at the Eighth Route Army, and even if the two sides can conduct friendly business transactions in private, the occupied area will be peaceful and more stable, and there will be basically no incidents of the Imperial Army being attacked by the Eighth Route Army or guerrillas. occur.

This is what Harada did after he led the 35th Division to station in Yangquan and Shouyang.

All plans to conduct raids on the Eighth Route Army base areas were shelved.

Even some rural cleansing campaigns targeting quasi-security areas were stopped.

In addition to the solid defense of the main county towns and transportation lines, the remaining counties and towns are even allowed to open their city gates to allow caravans from various places to travel, and the requirements for inspections are not too strict.

In other Japanese-occupied areas, at least on the surface, the Eighth Route Army's border area tickets will not be allowed to circulate.

However, Harada did not strictly prohibit these. Even his soldiers dared to openly use the Eighth Route border tickets in the county.

Sometimes when military pay was issued, Harada even used border tickets instead of day tickets.

In Harada's words: "These Eighth Route tickets are easy to use, can buy things, are recognized by the people, and can keep our soldiers full, so why not use them?"

As the saying goes, under such an open policy.

In the Yangquan Iron Triangle Kawashima, Qian Dekai and others were so happy that they soon got along with Harada and just put money in their pockets.

At first, they did some ordinary material business with the outside world. The Japanese were smart enough to hide behind and not show up. Instead, they ordered the puppet soldiers to help resell some materials, and then exchanged money from those businessmen.

Later, this group of people became more and more courageous, and even expanded their business without much concealment, and even dared to sell some arms and equipment secretly.

Who makes the price of this thing so high?

Harada was an old profiteer. He made money from merchants in Shouyang and Yangquan by selling supplies and arms at high prices, and then turned to other Japanese-occupied areas to purchase supplies at low prices, including arms from some Japanese troops at low prices.

After all this back and forth, Harada made a lot of money as a middleman, and by the way, he tied a large number of Japanese military officers to a ship, forming a stable alliance.

As for guilt?
"Ah! What do I, Harada, feel guilty about? I have no guilt in my heart! How many troops were so hungry that they couldn't even eat? If I, Harada, hadn't helped, the soldiers would have starved to death. How would they still have the energy to train and fight?

Looking at the occupied area now, the public security is stable, the economy is recovering, and more and more military resources can be provided to the imperial army. Who dares to say that this is not my contribution to Harada? "

Lieutenant General Harada said confidently.

(End of this chapter)