Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

why?

Because the commander of the Second Detachment, Bao Shen, was a formidable fighter, Cai Debao greatly admired his abilities. Although the Second Detachment had fewer men than the Third Detachment, its combat effectiveness was no less than that of the Third Detachment.

Cai Debao would not lose his temper with a capable officer like Bao Shen, but rather would be completely convinced and cooperate with him in battle. For example, he was willing to follow Commander Deng Guo of the Fifth Division. However, he could not stand those who were incompetent in fighting and who were meddling in other matters.

Wei Hongjun is someone Cai Debao admires very much.

Although he was a political cadre, he built the Eighth Column and such a large base. Moreover, Wei Hongjun was not a scholarly political commissar, but a political commissar who had fought on the battlefield.

So I was very impressed with Wei Hongjun and spoke to him in a good tone.

"Qiu Delong, the puppet battalion commander of the 7th Regiment of the North China Security Army.

His connections will be transferred to the Political Department, and Director Han will have someone specifically liaise with him. Unless you have anything else to do, avoid contact with him. I understand this. …

"Commissar, I agree with this matter."

Cai Debao waved his hand.

He said nonchalantly, "This is what should be done. Just send someone to tell me."

Wei Hongjun has a good attitude and Cai Debao doesn't lose his temper.

He agreed very politely.

"Then I would like to thank Comrade Cai Debao on behalf of the Political Department for introducing this insider comrade.

A puppet army battalion commander who also wanted to join the revolution was extremely valuable to the puppet army. Such a person should be handed over to the enemy work department of the political department.

Because the Political Department will not simply contact Qiu Delong. They will also use his connections to send our own underground operatives to the North China Security Army. Moreover, they will send underground operatives to the North China Security Army and eventually take control of this armed force.

Wei Hongjun didn't expect Cai Debao to hand over this line so readily.

Chapter 318 Doing Business with the Puppet Army

"Commissar, there is one more thing."

"whats the matter?"

"Someone told me that the top brass of the North China Security Army wanted to sell a batch of weapons and ammunition."

"How many weapons and ammunition? How much do they cost?"

Wei Hongjun immediately became alert.

It's a wonderful thing to be able to buy weapons and ammunition with money. Throughout the Eighth Route Army's history, they purchased weapons and ammunition from both the Nationalist Army and the puppet army. Compared to risking their lives to capture them on the battlefield, buying them with money is far better.

The Eighth Route Army and the North China Security Army had extensive historical dealings, including in weapons and ammunition. Wei Hongjun not only did not oppose trade with the North China Security Army, but on the contrary, encouraged it. While the North China Security Army wasn't particularly skilled in combat, it still possessed abundant resources. Besides weapons and ammunition, the North China Security Army also possessed many of the items the Eighth Route Army desperately needed. Furthermore, they were willing to trade with the Eighth Route Army and earn money.

Or perhaps it could be said that for the puppet army, they didn't care who they did business with. As long as they could make money, they would sell anything.

"It's 9000 yuan."

"So much money? How much munitions does he have?"

Wei Hongjun was shocked.

Wei Hongjun originally thought that the other party only wanted to sell dozens of guns, or at most a hundred guns, but he didn't expect them to ask for so much money.

“他有六五式子弹140箱，七九二子弹40箱东北造手榴弹30箱，20响驳壳手枪160支。当然这只是他要出售的一部分军火。

"Who is it? Who has so many bullets?"

Wei Hongjun was dumbfounded.

That's a lot of ammunition. 140 boxes of Type 15 ammunition equals nearly 36 rounds. During the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region's main forces and local forces deployed approximately 26 regiments. But after fighting for several months, only 129 rounds of ammunition were used. Including the th Division in the Taihang Mountains, nearly regiments participated in the Hundred Regiments Campaign, using approximately one million rounds of ammunition.

For the Eighth Route Army, firing three or four thousand rounds of ammunition per regiment in a single battle was a considerable luxury. This was also the purpose of Chairman Mao's emphasis on mountain guerrilla warfare.

If you engage in face-to-face combat, not only will you suffer heavy casualties, but you'll also lack ammunition. Only through ambushes can you seize sufficient weapons and ammunition from the Japanese and puppet troops. It can be said that many of the weapons in the hands of the Eighth Route Army were purchased at the cost of the lives of their comrades.

The puppet army now possesses a staggering 15 rounds of ammunition. And that's just the mm rounds. There are also forty boxes of mm rounds, totaling over rounds. If this much ammunition were to flow into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, it would undoubtedly improve their combat effectiveness.

The Eighth Route Army lacks everything.

But what they lacked most was bullets. If they had enough bullets, the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army would be directly raised to a higher level.

"It's Huang Peng, commander of the Second Army of the North China Security Army."

"Huang Peng?" Wei Hongjun had heard of this person's name.

This man was a direct subordinate of Qi Xieyuan, the leader of the North China Security Army. A 1925 graduate of the Japanese Military Academy, he held a high position within the North China Security Army and had good relations with the Japanese. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the commander of the Second Army. Who would have thought that this man would be the one to do business?

I also found it funny that this was the puppet army supported by the Japanese.

Qi Xieyuan was obsessed with building his own army so he could make a comeback and bargain with the Japanese. His subordinates, on the other hand, were all eager to get rich. They were willing to do business with the Eighth Route Army, even engaging in arms sales.

Qi Xieyuan was ambitious, having once been a powerful lord. But the people under him no longer shared that ambition. Without ambition, they only wanted to make money.

"How come this person has so many good things in his hands?"

"During the Japanese summer mop-up operation, Commander Yang not only swept through the Third Army, the Ninth Independent Regiment, and the Tenth Independent Regiment of the North China Security Army in one battle. In addition, some other troops from the First Division attacked the Second Army of the North China Security Army in Liangxiang. At that time, Fangshan, Liangxiang, Laishui, and the county were in chaos. Not only was the North China Security Army in chaos, but the local puppet police force was also in chaos. Huang Peng had his own troops swallow up a batch of Japanese and North China Security Army munitions and also falsely reported a batch of losses. He has been hoarding these things for a few days, and now, after a few months, he wants to sell these things. However, there are too many things and it is not easy to find buyers, so he set his sights on our Eighth Route Army."

"How did you get in touch with him?"

"Last September, we ambushed a convoy. The man we captured was a logistics officer from the Second Army Group of the North China Security Army. He was the younger brother of Huang Peng's concubine. We gave him a lecture and then released him. It was through him that we got in touch with Huang Peng. He wanted to do a first deal with us. If this first deal goes well, he'll have a lot of good stuff in his hands. As long as we, the Eighth Route Army, can pay, he'll be willing to sell it to us."

“But why is the price so cheap?”

What puzzled Wei Hongjun was that the price was too cheap.

At this price, these bullets are about one-tenth of the normal price. Currently, a single pistol bullet costs one or two yuan on the black market. Even if you buy in bulk, one yuan only buys a few rounds. However, these bullets cost only one yuan each, even in the dozens.

Some are unbelievably cheap.

Even Wei Hongjun suspected that Huang Peng was an insider planted by our army among the puppet troops. Otherwise, why would the Eighth Route Army take such a big advantage?

"Political Commissar, this price is correct. Huang Peng's cheap brother-in-law said so. Huang Peng is very dissatisfied with the Japanese meddling in the army's affairs. As the commander of the North China Security Army, he does not have much autonomy in the war. The Japanese have stipulated the marching routes and garrisons, and they must follow these routes. Unauthorized changes are not allowed. If the troops' actions are slightly different from their plans, the Japanese advisers sent to the troops will hold them accountable. Moreover, the North China Security Army is currently very poor, and their officers have very low incomes. Therefore, Huang Peng and his men have always wanted to find a profitable business. But now there are no other troops around Peking except our Eighth Route Army. So he can only do business with our Eighth Route Army."

"So, this is someone we can win over?"

"Political Commissar, I dare not say that. But I guess he's selling the arms so cheaply this time because he has too much and he's eager to sell them. I've made inquiries. Currently, when a group army of the North China Security Army performs daily tasks, such as looting nearby food, the troops can carry about 15 rounds of ammunition. If they follow the Japanese army to sweep our base, their group army can carry about 27 rounds of ammunition. So these Imperial Army troops are not short of ammunition. To them, these bullets are nothing. This is also the result of the Japanese army reducing their ammunition supply after they were swept by us last time. When the North China Security Army was first dispatched, it was heard that a group army carried nearly 40 rounds of ammunition, and almost everyone could carry 100 to 150 rounds of ammunition. The last time Commander Yang swept the Imperial Army troops, there was chaos and the Japanese and puppet troops lost a lot of ammunition. In addition to the ammunition seized by the first division, it is estimated that Huang Peng took this opportunity to swallow up a large amount of ammunition and weapons."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

It was several years later that the Japanese began to control the North China Security Army's ammunition. Because the Eighth Route Army often ambushed the North China Security Army to obtain ammunition, the North China Security Army should still have a sufficient amount of ammunition at that time.

When going out for a raid, one person can carry 100 to 150 rounds of bullets.

It made Wei Hongjun drool.

If the Eighth Route Army had such abundant bullets, it would be able to overthrow the North China Front Army within a few years.

In 1944, the Jidong Army ambushed two regiments of the North China Security Army, numbering approximately 30 men, and captured nearly rounds of ammunition. This suggests that even at the end of the War of Resistance, the North China Security Army was not short of ammunition. While hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition might have been a significant amount for the Eighth Route Army, for the North China Security Army, this small amount was nothing. It was simply the equivalent of daily carry-on ammunition.

If Huang Peng had acted faster, he would have had as many bullets as he wanted.

In particular, Huang Peng was selling approximately 160,000 rounds of Type 65 ammunition. The Type 65 was a Type 38 rifle, and the Imperial Army was primarily equipped with Hanyang and Zhongzheng rifles. This meant that Huang Peng had likely taken advantage of the chaos and embezzled ammunition from the Japanese arsenal.

The Japanese army carried more ammunition in each battle, several times more than the North China Security Army.

Wei Hongjun couldn't even tell how much ammunition Huang Peng had.

This person is truly courageous, careful, capable, and, more importantly, greedy. He actually dared to embezzle so much ammunition, not even afraid of dying from it.

"It seems we need to strengthen our intelligence work on the North China Security Forces."

Wei Hongjun reflected on his work.

The North China Security Army was a very easy target for infiltration, but the Eighth Column was clearly somewhat negligent in this regard. One of the important reasons why the North China Security Army was not very effective was that the Japanese paid them too little.

The Japanese army built garrisons in various counties and towns, and they were treated very well.

For example, the leaders of the garrison received a monthly salary of fifty or sixty yuan. Lower-level officers in the garrison received twenty or thirty yuan, and ordinary soldiers received around ten yuan. Rice cost only about ten cents per pound. This meant that an average soldier's monthly salary could buy over a hundred pounds of food. Even at the end of the war, when the Japanese army began to run out of money, they didn't mistreat the garrison troops. They were given ample food and wages every month.

Why the Guard is more tenacious than the North China Security Army.

You can tell from the salary.

They were paid to do things, and given so much money, of course these people would work for the Japanese.

But the North China Security Army is different.

He needed to be paid by the puppet government in North China, but the Japanese didn't care. When the North China Security Army was first established, the Japanese provided some money and weapons. But after that, the North China Security Army was responsible for its own military pay.

It was good enough for an ordinary soldier to get three or four dollars a month.

It is difficult to support yourself, let alone support a family.

Therefore, the morale of the North China Security Army was low. The exceptions were those with garrisoned areas. With garrisoned areas, they could extort money from the wealthy families within them, robbing them to sustain themselves. However, the salaries of the North China Security Army, who lacked garrisoned areas, were pitifully low.

How can such an army fight a war?

"We have to make this deal. Even if we have to sell everything we have in the Eighth Column, we have to take these good things. You can also transfer this relationship to the Political Department, and don't worry about what happens next."

Wei Hongjun didn't let Cai Debao take care of these things, not only because it was a rule, but also to protect Cai Debao.

Cai Debao is a good general.

He was truly capable of fighting. When he arrived at the 8th Column, the column provided him with over 500 men. Their weapons and equipment were primarily Hanyang-made, and with the special forces company he brought with him, the total number was only around 700.

But it's only been three months.

He crisscrossed Wanping and Fangshan, appearing and disappearing like a ghost, specifically targeting Japanese and puppet army convoys. He even attacked certain strongholds in the Wanping and Fangshan areas. In this way, he increased the number of troops to nearly 2000. Moreover, the weapons in the hands of the troops were all brand new, and their combat effectiveness was also very strong.

Such talents are the Eighth Route Army's precious wealth.

But precisely because of this, he shouldn't participate in too many such events. If a military officer leading troops into battle interacts too much with the puppet army's high-ranking officials, it can easily cause other problems.

Many things cannot be explained clearly.

Wei Hongjun did not want an outstanding Eighth Route Army general like Cai Debao to have some unclear historical issues.

"Yes."

After Cai Debao left, Wei Hongjun immediately convened a meeting.

Because this is not a small matter.

Moreover, it was already 1940, the most difficult year of the Anti-Japanese War, and Wei Hongjun had to prepare early.

Chapter 319 Reserves

"Buy it, you must buy it. This amount of bullets is enough for us to launch ten ambushes."

When Wang Qiuyun heard Wei Hongjun mention this, she agreed without hesitation. There was no need to think about this. Any normal Eighth Route Army general would not object. Seizing so many bullets on the battlefield would cost countless lives.

In the past two years, the Eighth Column has fought many annihilation battles, so the number of weapons and equipment seized has increased.