Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Rebirth of My Life in Jin-Cha-Ji Author: Author: Be content with what you have

Traveled back to 1937

Chapter 001: Sheng County in Northeast Shanxi

"Everyone take a break. Big guy, come here."

"Instructor."

He is over 1.8 meters tall, standing out among a group of people who are 1.6 or 1.7 meters tall.

The group numbered about thirty, each one dusty and exhausted, with several wounded. But after stopping, no one completely relaxed; instead, everyone became even more alert, a testament to their well-trained character. They all wore gray uniforms with armbands emblazoned with "115th Group Army 115D," signifying them as members of the th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

Wei Hongjun looked at the big man and said, "The third platoon will set up security. You take two more people to scout and see where we are. See if there are any villages nearby."

"Yes."

After the deployment, Wei Hongjun sighed.

He had never imagined he would find himself in this war-torn era. He was merely a grassroots government worker, yet now he was a grassroots commander leading troops into battle. The original owner of this body was a veteran Red Army soldier, descended from eight generations of impoverished peasants in western Fujian. After the Red Army arrived and distributed land, his family finally had land. Wei Hongjun's father, delighted, gave the originally nameless Wei Hongjun the name "Hongjun."

And let all the children in the family join the Red Army.

Wei Hongjun and his two brothers all served in the army, and now only Wei Hongjun is still alive.

Wei Hongjun joined the army at the age of fifteen, participated in the anti-encirclement and suppression campaign in the Central Soviet Area, and also accompanied the Central Red Army on the Long March. It was in the Red Army that Wei Hongjun learned to read and escaped the ranks of illiterate people. Before the reorganization of the Eighth Route Army, Wei Hongjun, only 115 years old, had already become a battalion political instructor. After the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, he became a company instructor in the Independent Regiment of the th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

The Eighth Route Army crossed the Yellow River eastward into Shanxi, and Wei Hongjun joined the main force in the Battle of Pingxingguan. Then, to support the Nationalist Army's Xinkou Campaign, the 115th Division moved south from Mount Wutai, preparing for another battle behind enemy lines. While supporting the main force's southward advance, Wei Hongjun's company, unfamiliar with Shanxi, lost its way and was attacked by a small Japanese unit, suffering several defeats. The company of over a hundred men was reduced to only about thirty, and contact with the main force was lost. To escape safely, they plunged into the mountains, where they eventually lost their way after several days and nights.

Wei Hongjun is under a lot of pressure now.

I was afraid that I would accidentally destroy this army.

"Instructor, the company commander has a fever."

"Let me see."

Wei Hongjun came to his partner Wang Qiuyun and touched his forehead.

Piping hot.

Wei Hongjun frowned.

Wang Qiuyun's name is quite elegant. Like Wei Hongjun, his family also came from poor peasants. He was given such a name not because his father was educated, but because he was the only literate person in his village.

Wang Qiuyun was twenty-three years old, only one year older than Wei Hongjun, and very young. Among the current Eighth Route Army, there were many company-level cadres in their early twenties, and even battalion-level and regimental-level cadres in their twenties were common.

The two have been partners for many years, including during their time with the Red Army.

During this encounter with the Japanese army, Wang Qiuyun was shot twice. Although the shots were not fatal, he had no medicine and no doctor nearby, so his injuries did not improve.

"Instructor, this won't work. Including the company commander, we now have four wounded soldiers with fevers. If we don't get medical treatment in time, I'm afraid..."

Platoon leader Kong De was not tall, about 1.67 meters.

Twenty-nine years old this year.

However, his many years of military service made him look much older than his actual age. Some people would even believe he was forty.

"I need to find a place to repair it."

The Eighth Route Army was relatively unfamiliar with Shanxi.

This was the case with the 115th Division's Independent Regiment. While its name might suggest a ragtag unit, its predecessor was the Red 115st Division, which emerged from the Jinggang Mountains. The Red 115st Division was reorganized into an Independent Regiment directly under the 115th Division headquarters, making it the only of the Eighth Route Army's three divisions to boast five regular regiments. Most of the officers and soldiers of the Independent Regiment came from the Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Jiangxi regions. Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun, among others, were from western Fujian and had only visited Shanxi during the Eastern Expedition. This was the first time such a large-scale engagement in the heart of Shanxi had taken place.

Many roads are unfamiliar.

Wang Qiuyun is currently injured and unconscious. As the company instructor, Wei Hongjun has full authority over the direction of the troops' operations. Wei Hongjun makes every decision with utmost caution, because this isn't a game after all. A wrong decision could cost lives. Wei Hongjun needs to think about his next move.

Fortunately, Wei Hongjun inherited the memory of the owner of this body, otherwise it would be really difficult.

The 115th Division was marching south along Mount Wutai to support the Xinkou Campaign. It was now the end of September 1937, and in just over a month, the 115th Division would engage in an ambush at Guangyang, even more spectacular than the one at Pingxingguan.

Logically speaking, Wei Hongjun should now quickly move south to find the main force.

But the situation of the troops is not good now.

Without a guide and not knowing the situation in various parts of Shanxi, Wei Hongjun did not dare to go directly south.

"Tap Tap"

Gao Wei, the third platoon leader and the tallest man in the company, returned. He was followed by another man, also 5'8", carrying an old-fashioned slingshot. In those days, 5'8" was considered tall.

"Instructor, I understand. This is Sheng County."

"Sheng County?"

"Yes. He is a hunter from Zhangjiagou Village, Sheng County."

"Hello, fellow countryman."

Wei Hongjun was quite angry.

Shanxi was a completely unfamiliar place, and the troops were in a bad state. Gao Wei was out on a reconnaissance mission, so how could he bring anyone here? But Wei Hongjun still greeted him politely.

If you want to survive in Shanxi in the future, you must have good relations with the people of Shanxi.

The tall hunter excitedly stretched out his hands and shook Wei Hongjun's hands tightly, saying, "Are you really the Eighth Route Army?"

"Correct."

"Excellent, Commander. I'm from the Zhangjiagou Village guerrilla unit."

“Do you have guerrillas here?”

Wei Hongjun was very surprised.

The Eighth Route Army sent a large number of troops to establish anti-Japanese bases behind enemy lines and develop local guerrilla forces after the establishment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region. Although Wei Hongjun was not familiar with the specific situation in Shanxi, he was relatively familiar with the map of Shanxi. Before entering Shanxi, these grassroots commanders had studied the map of Shanxi.

Sheng County is located at the junction of northeastern Shanxi and northwestern Hebei, and is the southern part of Chahar.

Sheng County itself isn't much to look at. It's nestled in a mountainous area with dense forests, a backward economy, and a modest but not insignificant population—it's just an ordinary, poor county in Shanxi. However, Sheng County is surrounded by several important cities in northeastern Shanxi and northwestern Hebei. To the north lie the Chahar counties of Xuanhua, Zhuolu, and Huailai, and further north lies Zhangjiakou, the region's largest city. To the south lies Laiyuan County, a crucial gateway from Peking and Baoding to Shanxi. Further south lies Fuping, the future headquarters of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region.

To the east lay Peking and Baoding, but Shengxian County had poor transportation and was surrounded by dense forests and mountains to the east, so there wasn't much contact with Peking. Materials and personnel from the Jingji region either passed through the Zhengtai and Pingsui railways or Laiyuan County.

Wei Hongjun had some understanding of the anti-Japanese history in northeastern Shanxi.

The Northeast Shanxi Anti-Japanese Base Area began to flourish with the establishment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Anti-Japanese Base Area. Later, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Pingxi Detachment, the 120th Division, and the 115th Division all established bases here.

However, compared to several key base towns in northeastern Shanxi, Sheng County's development was much slower. Although the Eighth Route Army established a base here and the Japanese army also entered the area, Sheng County's real importance did not come until late 1939. The Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army were fighting back and forth in Laiyuan County and Fuping County. For logistical reasons, the Japanese army opened up another route. This route was to go from Peking through Wanping and Huaiyuan to Sheng County and Yuanyuan. As a result, Sheng County became a key battleground for the Japanese and Eighth Route Army.

I didn't expect that after spending several days and nights in the mountains, I would actually enter Sheng County.

What surprised Wei Hongjun even more was that Sheng County already had a guerrilla force. Wei Hongjun was very interested and immediately asked a large hunter. This hunter was named Zhang Shan, and his family had been hunters for generations.

Zhangjiagou Village is not a big village in the densely populated Central Plains, but it is an absolutely big village in the sparsely populated Shanxi.

The village has over 140 households and a population of over , half of whom are surnamed Zhang. Zhang Shan's introduction finally made Wei Hongjun realize that Sheng County is actually a former revolutionary base. As early as more than a decade ago during the Great Revolution, underground party activities had been underway here, and during the ten-year Agrarian Revolution, the underground party had even organized riots.

Although the underground party organization was later severely hit, it still retained many members after going underground.

After the second KMT-CPC cooperation against Japan, Sheng County's underground party began to operate openly in towns and villages, organizing guerrilla units in rural areas. Zhangjiagou Village was one of the most important places.

Zhang Shan is a member of the guerrillas. This time he went into the mountains to hunt and provide some meat for the guerrillas.

"Zhang Shan, how many people are there in your guerrilla team?"

"More than eighty people."

"Where's the gun?"

"Thirty-seven strokes."

"How far are we from Zhangjiagou Village?"

“It takes three hours to walk.”

Chapter 002 Contact with Sheng County Underground Party

Zhangjiagou Village is located in the southwest of Sheng County, surrounded by mountains on three sides and connected to Sheng County's Southwest Township by a single road. Yan Xishan promoted "village-based politics" in Shanxi. Instead of the traditional county-township-village model, the county established districts, which directly governed the villages. The former Southwest Township became Sheng County's Third District, and Zhangjiagou Village was affiliated with it.

Wei Hongjun followed Zhang Shan to the mountain west of Zhangjiagou Village.

"Comrade Zhang Shan, I need to see your leader. Could you please quietly ask your leader to come here without letting anyone know? I'll wait here for them and discuss some things with them."

"Yes."

Zhang Shan gave Wei Hongjun an unstandard military salute, and then went down the mountain very happily. Zhang Shan was very happy about the arrival of the Eighth Route Army. Because compared with the Eighth Route Army, their guerrillas were just a mob.

Seeing Zhang Shan coming down the mountain, Wei Hongjun's smile disappeared. He immediately said, "Big guy."

"arrive."

"Send someone to observe the situation in Zhangjiagou Village, especially their guerrillas. Take three more people to occupy the commanding heights in the north."

"Yes."

"Conde."

"arrive."

"You take three people to occupy the commanding heights in the south."

"Tao Laifeng."

"arrive."

"Take the company commander, the wounded, and the rest of the men, and head south along this mountain. Go at least five miles south and wait there. If you hear gunfire, ignore everything and head south to find the main force. According to my calculations, our main force should be in the Lingqiu and Fuping areas. If there's no gunfire, come back and I'll send someone to find you."

"Yes."

The troops were dispersed, and only a few officers remained.

Gao Wei was the first platoon leader, Kong De was the third platoon leader, and Tao Laifeng was the second platoon deputy leader. Upon hearing Wei Hongjun's order, Gao Wei immediately said, "Instructor, don't you trust Zhang Shan?"

"It's better to be prepared for the worst. I've seen Zhang Shan. He's agile in the mountains and forests, climbing and walking as if he were walking on flat ground. Although I haven't seen his marksmanship, the calluses on his fingers tell me he's been shooting for years. So I have to be on guard. What if he's not a guerrilla, but a defeated soldier from Yan Xishan's Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, or a local bandit, or even a Japanese spy? Our troops can't withstand any attacks now."

"Instructor, I think you're just overthinking it."

"Excuting an order."

"Yes."

About twenty minutes later, the scout sent by Wei Hongjun came back.

"Instructor, I saw it clearly. They are indeed ordinary guerrillas, a group of militia. There are more than sixty people in training, and half of them are armed with swords and spears. Judging from their training, there should be no veterans."