Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 313: Conquer Mianshan; Qian Bojun’s Wedding (Subscription Request)

Niangziguan.

Motoutan Command Post.

"The battle in the Mianshan direction has ended, and the Japanese army has retreated across the board. The enemy's deep positions that our army had previously judged do not actually exist. It seems that these little devils have no way to build qualified deep defense fortifications in a very short time."

Zhao Pengcheng chuckled when he said this: "It's just a piece of pure sheep shit, but it's shiny on the surface."

"It's a bit like the national defense line that I discussed with Senior Song before." Chu Yunfei touched his chin, and turned to look at Qian Zhaoyou beside him: "Brother Wuguan, you should be familiar with the national defense line. What is going on here?"

Qian Zhaoyou was suddenly asked and couldn't help but sigh: "This is a long story. Let me think about how to say it."

The national defense line refers to the fortifications built by the National Government to fight against Japan.

In fact, it is a product guided by pure strategic defense thinking.

In actual combat, relying solely on defensive fortifications and attrition warfare with the enemy is a very backward tactic.

There will inevitably be a large number of casualties.

The fortifications repaired by the Japanese are now in this situation.

Of course it is impossible because they don’t know how to build a deep defense line.

The main reason was that Chu Yunfei’s troops attacked too quickly.

The Japanese army did not even have time to mobilize resources.

But the Nationalist government should have had more than this much time to prepare, and there should not have been such mistakes before.

Qian Zhaoyou then slowly began to introduce: "After the Great Wall War of Resistance, the National Army felt that their weapons and training were inferior to those of the enemy, so they launched a training and reorganization plan. The General Manager should be aware of this, right?"

"Adjustment of division plan? I remember that the national defense plan required the General Staff to form a new fortress group to survey and build national defense fortifications in Suzhou, Jiaxing, Taihu Lake and other places. This is the Shanghai Line of Defense, which is known as the Maginot Line of the East."

Qian Zhaoyou sighed and said with deep emotion: "I don't know how many people got money out of this, and many of the works were not repaired to the standard."

"That's fine. It's unqualified. Even if it was destroyed by the Japanese's flat-fire artillery, at least there is something there. The key problem is that the entire Shanghai National Defense Line is less than 70% complete."

"When I was serving in the General Staff Headquarters and had not yet been transferred to the 358th Regiment, I heard that the Japanese did not break the national defense line, but crossed the national defense line."

Chu Yunfei had this impression.

There are records of this in Japan's war history.

Many histories of the participating regiments and memoirs of relevant personnel have recorded the incidents of being obstructed by national defense fortifications.

"The defense funds for Niangzi Pass were embezzled by Commander Yan. A portion of the funds was used to purchase PAK36 anti-tank guns, and the rest was basically used for business. I still remember the competition between Shanxi coal mines and the Japanese for cheap coal from Northeast China. It was a big mess."

"It has been almost a year since the war broke out, but Shanxi's coal has no chance of being sold to North China."

Qian Zhaoyou nodded: "The demand in the northwest is small, and XJ has its own coal mines. It seems that Shanxi, Shaanxi and other regions cannot provide a large amount of income."

Chu Yunfei frowned, feeling uncomfortable when thinking about this: "We need to find ways to increase revenue and also find ways to cut costs. Pensions are a huge expense every year, as are military pay and equipment. Even our main force can barely afford cloth shoes now."

The fact that a German-equipped adjuster wears straw sandals is abstract and annoying enough.

His ace attacking force is now almost at the point of wearing straw sandals.

This was the situation after Sun Weimou, under the instructions of Chu Yunfei, vigorously developed related enterprises and even mobilized the people of southeastern Shanxi to make shoe soles.

As the number of combat troops continues to increase, the demand will inevitably increase further, which will naturally lead to more gaps.

But if they are imported rubber-soled shoes, it is not worth it.

The Japanese had small feet, so they were previously issued with captured rubber-soled shoes.

Encountered various problems.

This type of shoes is not suitable for mountain warfare. During training, it was found that the soldiers were much slower in climbing mountains than those wearing cloth shoes.

In the long run, these rubber-soled shoes can only be distributed to second-line combat troops or even local troops.

As for things like cotton shoes and leather boots, they are even harder to obtain.

Less than one-third of officers are issued with it.

"How is the market in Wutai, Yuxian and other areas?"

"The population is still too small, less than 600,000. Relatively speaking, it can be increased a lot, but after all, it is the territory of the Eighth Route Army. We can't collect taxes, and the Eighth Route Army also needs money."

Qian Zhaoyou frowned slightly and sighed.

Many old classmates from the fifth term are still leading guerrillas to fight guerrilla warfare all over the mountains.

"Not to mention the level of their positions, even their food and drink, I heard that most of these old classmates can barely afford to eat, and I don't know what they are looking for." Qian Zhaoyou muttered.

Chu Yunfei didn't respond.

What a revolutionary is revolutionizing for is what he has been learning and thinking about since he was a child.

It’s just that it’s not appropriate to say it at this time with my current identity.

Don’t people like Qian Zhaoyou know the various problems that exist in the Nationalist government?
On the contrary, they know it better than anyone else, but they also believe that once external threats are eliminated and internal unrest is quelled.

The Blue Party will get better.

Only a very small number of sober people, including Chu Yunfei himself, know that this is almost impossible.

"report!"

The three men looked up at Gong Yuxin, the commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment, who was standing at the door, but Gong Yuxin was looking at the hot pot in front of them.

"Have you got a meal yet?"

"No."

"Sit down and eat." Chu Yunfei waved at Gong Yuxin and said, "I just heard from your report that the battle is over. What are the casualties of the troops?"

Taking the chopsticks handed over by Qian Zhaoyou, Gong Yuxin continued to report in detail: "Our army suffered 270 casualties, 193 sacrifices, no serious injuries, and it is estimated that about 180 to 350 Japanese troops were annihilated."

"We didn't capture anything of value. There were four grenade launchers, one heavy machine gun, three light machine guns, and not much ammunition. However, we did capture a considerable number of bayonets, about a hundred pairs."

"We are currently counting the number of shells consumed. We estimate that we consumed a lot of shells. We fired about 300 to 400 81mm mortar shells, and we also consumed some smoke bombs."

Chu Yunfei nodded and motioned him to eat. "The number of casualties is acceptable. After all, it was an offensive battle. Basically, all the battalions participated in the battle. How many of the casualties were new recruits? Have you ever done a statistics?"

Gong Yuxin choked on a mouthful of steamed bun and responded, "70% new soldiers, 20% veterans, and 10% officers."

"The work of the old leading the new must continue and must not be interrupted. Take a rest. The Ninth Regiment will defend Mianshan. I have to go back to attend Bojun's wedding. Brother Wuguan, you must pay more attention to the combat. I will take care of your gifts."

"Please rest assured, General, the Japanese army will never be able to break through our defense line."

Chu Yunfei laughed: "Of course I am relieved... Pay attention to air defense and the enemy's poison gas bombs. I have seen Mianshan before. Everything is good, but the battlefield is not wide enough. Although the enemy cannot deploy a large number of troops, it is very suitable for the use of poison gas bombs. Be careful."

"Yes!"

Second World War Commander Headquarters.

Chu Xichun walked quickly to Yan Laoxi's side: "Commander Yan"

"Qingbo, if I'm not mistaken, it's good news again, right?" Yan Laoxi smiled and guessed.

Chu Xichun nodded and said, "You guessed correctly. Qian Bojun's 9th Infantry Regiment Gong Yuxin's unit, the 8th Infantry Regiment Guo Yanzheng's unit, and the 7th Infantry Regiment Chen Zejun's unit launched a battle for the Mianshan and Taoyuan lines this morning. The battle is going smoothly. In less than a day, they successfully captured the Japanese Mianshan position and killed or wounded more than 500 Japanese soldiers."

"What about our military casualties?"

"About 800 people, 560 of whom died."

Yan Laoxi was extremely shocked: "In such a tough battle, the casualties of both sides were less than twice. I remember that these regiments were formed later. They can't be considered Yunfei's old foundation?"

"The predecessor of the Seventh Regiment was the Second Battalion, the predecessor of the Eighth Regiment was part of the Third Battalion, and the Ninth Regiment is a completely newly formed unit, so its combat effectiveness is somewhat inferior."

"This is incredible. This group of guys have grown up. Yun Fei knows how to lead troops."

Yan Laoxi's smile was filled with happiness from the bottom of his heart.

As for being afraid of Chu Yunfei.

Now it is out of the question.

Ever since Chu Yunfei was promoted to legion commander.

In essence, it has already escaped from Yan Laoxi's control.

But Chu Yunfei was not disrespectful at all. Instead, he became more grateful to Yan Laoxi.

Both parties are clear.

Yan Laoxi was not capable of promoting Chu Yunfei to this position. Even before returning to the Second War Zone, Chu Yunfei was already below two people in the First War Zone.

"The generals under Yun Fei are all capable. They are basically new officers. The new era generals are relatively flexible and can adapt to more intense battles and battlefields..."

"Guo graduated from Shanxi Military Academy, Gong is also from Shanxi...The kid from the Chen family graduated from Huangpu."

Yan Laoxi nodded and said: "Yun Fei has his hometown in his heart. Once progress is made in the direction of Niangzi Pass, I think the next step will be to plan for the northwest region of Shanxi. However, we currently have no available troops..."

"Yun Fei has thought about this before. He will select some officers from the Eighth Route Army to form an officer training group to guide and train the officers of the Sixth Army and the Thirteenth Army. It is said that Qian Bojun himself will lead the team..."

"That's good, it's finally on the right track." Yan Laoxi nodded with satisfaction: "I heard that Bojun is also planning a wedding?"

"Yes, Yun Fei has already returned from the front line."

"When a military commander marries a wife, the gift money cannot be too shabby. So, you go there and give this amount of gift money on behalf of our Second War Zone Commander Headquarters and on my behalf."

"Ten thousand dollars?" Seeing Yan Laoxi holding out his finger, Chu Xichun was extremely surprised: "Chief Yan, isn't that a bit too much?"

"One thousand. During the national crisis, ten thousand dollars is a bit extravagant. Tell Yunfei to follow this standard. During the national crisis, the weddings of officers at all levels will be reduced by two hundred dollars."

"Yes!" Chu Xichun nodded, having understood Yan Laoxi's good intentions.

But in the blink of an eye, five days had passed.

When Chu Xichun arrived in Lin County.

Only then did he realize that this so-called wedding was very different from what he had imagined.

What extravagance and waste? Just keep everything simple.

"Sir, everyone says that General Qian is known as the Little Commoner General. Now it seems that he is worthy of the title."

Chu Xichun nodded expressionlessly.

Qian Bojun's family background is pretty good.

The Qian family is considered a wealthy family in the local village.

Although there is only the eldest brother in the family, he has many brothers in the clan.

When I heard that Chu Xichun was coming to attend the wedding.

Qian Bojun was also extremely surprised and quickly got up and went out to greet him.

"Bojun, who's coming?"

"A high-ranking official has arrived from the Second War Zone Command Headquarters. I have to go greet him."

"Bigger than Commander Chu?"

"On the same level, father, you have to come with me."

Upon hearing this, Qian's father nodded, quickly adjusted his hat, and followed Qian Bojun out.

After hearing the noise, Zhao Pengcheng immediately found Chu Yunfei and reported the situation.

Chu Yunfei, who was strolling in the village, was discussing with the guards how to assume that the machine gun could control an entire village road.

The next second, I heard the news that Chu Xichun had arrived.

Chief of Staff of the Second World War.

The representative is naturally the Second War Zone, and also represents Yan Laoxi.

Chu Yunfei, who heard the noise, also laughed.

He also hurried back.

Soon, he met Chu Xichun at Qian's father's house.

After a simple military salute between the two sides.

Chu Xichun exchanged a few pleasantries with the Qian family members, said a few auspicious words, and then walked out of the courtyard with Chu Yunfei on the pretext of being on official business.

Seeing that there was no one around, Chu Xichun spoke up to remind them, "Before I came here, Commander Yan told me that in times of national crisis, we should keep things simple and avoid extravagance. As for things like gold, we should not display them in public."

Chu Yunfei immediately understood Yan Laoxi's intention, but he misunderstood Chu Xichun's meaning: "Sir, how could we have gold? Even the payment of military pay has become a problem. Is someone interfering?"

Chu Xichun waved his hand: "No, Commander Yan is also afraid of bad influence."

"I personally paid for Bojun's wedding, so why does Chief Yan care about this?"

In his opinion, it was all about the past and the future.

The wedding, which cost less than three hundred dollars excluding the buffet, was already as shabby as it could be.

Qian Bojun was his number one general.

The brother who had been with him through thick and thin for more than a decade, the commander of the Flying Tigers' attack army.

You only get married once in your life.

If Chief Yan makes him unhappy, how can he continue to be a chief?
Chu Yunfei is also a person who cares about face.

Absolutely! No way!
Chu Xichun emphasized: "After all, it is wartime. Once the Japanese army finds out, they will definitely launch a new round of public opinion offensive."

"Please rest assured, this situation will never happen."

"Bo Jun has been with me through life and death for many years."

"Besides, many things have been decided. Commander Yan didn't mention it earlier, but now it's not auspicious to change it." Chu Yunfei shook his head and rejected Chu Xichun firmly: "Besides, if a commander gets married in a shabby way, it will be a disgrace to our Jin Army. After the wedding, I will apologize to Commander Yan myself."

Chu Xichun had no choice but to slow down his tone again and continued, "Yun Fei, Commander Yan has specifically instructed that the expenses should not exceed one thousand dollars, and the expenses for junior officers should be reduced in turn. After this wedding, relevant policies will be issued to regulate and restrain the generals at all levels under the Second War Zone."

"Three thousand national currency (the purchasing power of the dollar and national currency converted in January 39)?" Chu Yunfei came to his senses and was relieved. "Sir, you should have said it earlier. How could three thousand national currency be spent?"

"How much did you spend?" Chu Xichun was also confused at this time.

"This number." Chu Yunfei stretched out two fingers.

"Two thousand national currency?" Chu Xichun raised his eyebrows, feeling a little strange.

It would cost more than this much money for these group leaders to marry a concubine.

After all, the Jin army can barely be considered a new army.

That's only compared to those rubbish old warlords.

Judging from modern people's moral standards, it is somewhat unbearable.

There was corruption within the Jin army, and it was also very serious.

But compared with warlords and some military leaders in other places, it is really much better.

Chu Yunfei smiled and nodded: "No matter what, Bojun is a hero of the War of Resistance. The bulk of the wedding expenses are nothing more than this troupe and the buffet."

"The troupe invited famous actors from Shanxi. They rushed to set up the stage even though it was free. I personally paid for the banquet, and the total amount was no more than 2,500 national currency."

"Speaking of which, Bojun's money is basically spent on the brothers below, as for my money."

Chu Yunfei added with a smile: "I still have a lot of money left from the reward from Chairman and Commander Yan, and I have nowhere to spend it."

Chu Xichun nodded in understanding, and Chu Yunfei even called the reporter from Changzhi Newspaper in front of him.

They were all old acquaintances, and after a brief explanation, the wedding went on as usual.

The auspicious day is tomorrow.

After hearing the news, Qian Bojun went to Chu Yunfei to find out what happened. After learning the whole story, he was very grateful: "Sir, my father has worked hard all his life. You also know that my eldest brother was a scoundrel before. Although he repented and turned over a new leaf, he is nearly fifty years old and has no chance of turning over a new leaf. I have been in the army for a long time and have not made any achievements at the age of thirty. My father is counting on me to fight for his reputation. If it weren't for your promotion, Bojun would not be where he is today..."

Qian Bojun became more and more excited as he spoke, and was about to half-kneel to show his loyalty.

PS: The feudal rituals of the old warlord period, Feng Yuxiang's troops are a model, except that he recruited sons. The Northwest Army also knelt on both knees, which was later interpreted as the style of a patriarch. Kneeling in front of the head of the family is an act of filial piety. Basically, those who kneel down can rise to a high position.

"Why do you and I need to do this?" Chu Yunfei hurriedly helped him up: "Bojun, you have been with me through life and death for many years, and you have led the troops many times and fought bravely. Tomorrow is your big day, don't think about the past anymore."

"Yes, sir." Qian Bojun wiped away the tears of excitement from the corners of his eyes.

"Bojun, you are a soldier. You should know clearly how to arrange things at home after the wedding."

"Please rest assured, sir. I will abide by the rules and will never allow my relatives to oppress the local people or even abuse my name to bully the locals. My father has been honest and upright all his life, and my nephew also wants to join the army..."

"You can arrange for your own family members to come in, and you can rest assured. But be aware of the impact. If they fail the physical examination, it is best to give up this idea."

"Bojun understands."

(End of this chapter)