Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

The Jin-Cha-Ji Right Column made extensive use of modified mortars, employing them as flat-fire artillery. If the Japanese had come out to engage the Eighth Route Army head-on, three Eighth Route Army regiments wouldn't have been able to defeat a single battalion of Japanese soldiers. Even if the Japanese and puppet troops had attempted to break through, the Eighth Route Army wouldn't have been able to stop them. However, the Japanese and puppet troops, holed up in their bunkers, became targets for the Eighth Route Army.

The fight lasted all night.

The 4th, 5th, and 19th Regiments cleared the bunkers around Niangzi Pass and occupied four surrounding stations, then completely destroyed the entire railway.

The Japanese army suffered heavy casualties in this battle. Unsure of the Eighth Route Army's situation, the Japanese troops only defended their own bunkers and did not support other troops.

As a result, these bunkers were taken down one by one by the Eighth Route Army.

Nine hours passed, and the Japanese army, still holding their ground and waiting for reinforcements, suffered over 600 casualties. Together with the casualties of the puppet troops, the total number exceeded 1,000.

Moreover, the remaining Japanese and puppet troops are now surrounded, and it is only a matter of time before they are eliminated.

The Jin-Cha-Ji Right Column truly won a victory. In the decisive battle, they wiped out more than a thousand Japanese and puppet troops in one night, which is a significant achievement in the history of the Eighth Route Army.

The battle at Mohetan was also fought cleanly and efficiently.

Soon, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Central Column and the Left Column also began to attack.

The left column is very powerful.

After all, there were six infantry regiments and two cavalry regiments. They not only attacked the section of the railway from Weishui to Shijiazhuang, but also the surrounding roads. The troops of the Hebei-Central Military Region were particularly active.

Last year, there was no large-scale sweep by the Japanese army, and the Hebei-Central Military Region suffered heavy casualties.

The troops of the Jizhong Military Region were indeed not as powerful as those of the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue Region. Furthermore, the Jizhong Military Region, situated on a vast plain, was at a disadvantage in combat with the Japanese and puppet troops. Both the local troops and the civilian population of the base area suffered greatly.

Therefore, the soldiers and civilians of the Yi Zhong Military Region were all very angry.

This is a good opportunity for the Ji-Central Military Region.

This time, the headquarters personally ordered the raid.

The Hebei-Central Military Region mobilized all the troops that could be mobilized.

At the end of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei consolidation campaign in 1939, the Hebei-Central Military Region already had 19 main force regiments. After the anti-mopping-up campaign and the recovery in 1940, the Hebei-Central Military Region established the 55rd and 56th Security Brigade, along with the th and th Regiments, adding six main force regiments.

Although the combat effectiveness of the troops in the Hebei-Central Military Region is average, the speed of military expansion is really fast.

With a total population of over 800 million, it was easy to recruit soldiers. Moreover, the people in the Hebei region really supported the Eighth Route Army in its fight against Japan.

In other words, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the people of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region truly supported the Eighth Route Army with all their heart.

If you need people, you have people; if you need food, you have food.

Because for the people of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, this base was snatched from the Japanese by the Eighth Route Army. And during the repeated raids by the Japanese army, many Eighth Route Army soldiers sacrificed their lives on the battlefield to cover the transfer of the people.

I saw all of this.

Marshal Nie was also exceptional at building the base. Looking at the cadres Marshal Nie favored, many were both military and politically proficient. They were decisive in fighting, and even more so in building the base.

Therefore, the people in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area really contributed money and people.

After liberation, statistics showed that almost every household in the rural areas of the Jin-Cha-Ji base area had a martyr, which shows how much support the people of the Jin-Cha-Ji base area had for the Eighth Route Army.

The problem with the Jizhong Military Region was that it had an abundance of manpower. Not only was the region abundant in manpower, but it also had abundant supplies. Food was readily available, cotton was readily available, and logistics for the troops were no problem at all. However, training these troops was a major challenge. If there were sufficient cadres to train the troops, the Jizhong Military Region could easily form a force of 200,000.

This time, the military and civilians of the Jizhong Military Region participated enthusiastically. Not only the main regiments, but also local guerrillas, militias, and even the people in the base area participated.

The Jizhong Military Region, with its main forces and local troops combined, had over forty regiments participating in the raid, roiling the entire Yizhong area with fighting. The Jincha Yi Third Division didn't have as many troops, but was equally formidable.

After all, he has four main infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment.

After Huang Yong took over as commander of the Third Division, he focused on troop training, and the troop's combat effectiveness increased rapidly.

This time Huang Yong wants to let the three-zone play a big role again.

Therefore, the Third District also dispatched a force of 10,000 people this time.

Besides the three columns under the command of the military region, many other units also had their own missions. Their primary mission was to destroy the roads while simultaneously blocking any incoming Japanese reinforcements. It could be said that a truly spectacular scene unfolded throughout North China.

On the battlefields of Shanxi and Hebei, more than 200,000 Eighth Route Army troops launched the attack at the first opportunity.

They attacked various Japanese strongholds and bunkers, destroyed railways, roads, and power lines. Not only the main force, but also more than 100,000 local troops and the people in the base area participated in the raids.

After the Japanese station was occupied and the surrounding strongholds and bunkers were taken down, a large number of local residents poured in. Under unified command, they dug up all the rails and sleepers.

As a result, the entire Japanese army is now in a state of panic.

There were calls for help everywhere.

Chapter 328 Panic

North China Front Army Headquarters.

The entire headquarters was brightly lit. The staff inside were bustling with activity. Telephones and telegrams buzzed outside, as calls for help filled the air.

Tada Shun was extremely anxious and of course very angry.

After the Eighth Route Army attacked the Zhengtai Road, numerous strongholds requested assistance. However, the First Army commander in Shanxi, Yoshio Shinoya, was slow to respond and ignored these requests. Like other Japanese generals, Shinoya didn't believe the Eighth Route Army could make any significant moves. After the successful blockhouse tactics in 1940, Japanese generals from top to bottom began to underestimate the Eighth Route Army. They believed that the current blockhouse tactics were a magic weapon to restrain the Eighth Route Army and that their annihilation was imminent. Because of this belief, when the Hundred Regiments Campaign began, even in the early morning when his subordinates informed him that many strongholds were calling for help, he ignored them and continued to sleep, and even the next morning, he didn't respond.

He just regarded this as the Eighth Route Army's "Dragon Prison Strategy"

A small-scale counterattack.

So I don't care about those requests for help at all.

It was not until noon that he held a meeting to consider countermeasures.

The solution he came up with was to withdraw some troops to support those strongholds. How many people did he select? Only about 200 in total. Not long after they set out, they were ambushed by the Eighth Route Army and wiped out.

Soon there were telegrams asking for help everywhere.

The entire Zhengtai Road stronghold was begging for help. The 3rd and 4th Independent Mixed Brigade were mentally cursing Shinoya Yoshio. They had already stated that this wasn't just a small-scale battle for the Eighth Route Army; the Eighth Route Army was deploying its main force. Yet, Shinoya Yoshio, commander of the First Army in charge of the Shanxi battlefield, was surprisingly slow to react.

It wasn't until the third day that Yoshio Shinoie realized what was happening.

This kind of thing had happened before, but it was mostly a trap set by the Eighth Route Army. Suddenly, attacks were everywhere, and many strongholds called for help, claiming they were under attack from the Eighth Route Army. But in the end, it turned out to be just the Eighth Route Army's attempt to mobilize Japanese and puppet troops, seeking an opportunity to strike. Since the Eighth Route Army guerrillas were everywhere, Shinozuka Yoshio initially ignored it. But when he sent out a squadron and it was swiftly wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, he sensed something was amiss. He quickly analyzed the calls for help and suddenly realized that the Eighth Route Army was preparing for a major battle, not just the harassment tactics they had been using. By this time, the entire Zhengtai Road area was in chaos, with the Eighth Route Army committing more and more troops, and the Japanese and puppet troops coming under attack. Seeing this, Shinozuka Yoshio realized that this was a problem that the First Army could handle, so he hesitated to make any decisions on his own, as he didn't have many troops at his disposal.

Although almost all the troops in Shanxi were under the First Army, each unit in the First Army had its own mission. Shinoya Yoshio really had no mobile troops to deploy to support Zhengtai Road.

So they had no choice but to pass this difficult problem on to the North China Front Army.

He immediately sent a telegram to Tada Shun, hoping that Tada Shun would find a way to protect Shota Road as soon as possible.

After receiving Shinoya Yoshio's telegram, Tada Shun cursed him countless times. "What a bastard! The Eighth Route Army has been raiding the Zhengtai Road for two days, and they still haven't figured out which Eighth Route Army unit it is, how many Eighth Route Army troops there are, and what the Eighth Route Army is actually doing."

Even after two days, the First Army Commander, Yoshio Shinoie, had not taken any action except sending a squadron of troops, allowing the Eighth Route Army to wreak havoc on Zhengtai Road.

As a result, the Japanese troops on Zhengtai Road and Tongpu Road did not know whether they should hold their ground and wait for reinforcements or break out.

Of course, what shocked Tada Shun even more was that the "cage policy" that he had always been proud of did not trap the Eighth Route Army, but instead encountered such a powerful counterattack from the Eighth Route Army.

In particular, Tada Shun was very confident that the blockhouses he could use to contain the Eighth Route Army were not playing the role they should have. In just over two days, the Eighth Route Army destroyed at least 200 blockhouses.

Tada Shun couldn't understand how the Eighth Route Army, lacking heavy weaponry, had managed to eliminate over 200 strongholds and bunkers in just two days. While the Japanese bunkers weren't as sturdy as those built by the Kwantung Army on the Sino-Soviet border, the bunkers constructed by the North China Front were still difficult to breach without heavy weaponry.

"How many people are there in the Eighth Route Army?"

"It's not clear yet. However, judging by the number of stations we've been attacked, the Eighth Route Army has deployed no fewer than thirty regiments on the Zhengtai Road this time.

"30 regiments? Are you sure the Eighth Route Army deployed 30 regiments?"

Tada Shun took a deep breath.

Although Tada Shun knew that the Eighth Route Army was expanding rapidly, he was shocked to see that 30 regiments of troops could be deployed on the Zhengtai Road. In just a few years, the Eighth Route Army had expanded to this extent.

"Yes. Only an Eighth Route Army of this size could attack so many of our stations simultaneously. If they had fewer troops, it would be impossible for the Eighth Route Army to be everywhere at once. This time, unlike before, when they sent small units to harass stations to confuse us, they actually attacked and captured the stations on the Zhengtai Railway. For example, at Niangzi Pass, the Eighth Route Army deployed no fewer than 129 troops. Our strongholds at Niangzi Pass were captured by the Eighth Route Army. Commander, the entire Zhengtai Railway has been completely destroyed by the Eighth Route Army. If we don't rescue them quickly, the Eighth Route Army will destroy the entire Zhengtai Railway. Once the Zhengtai Railway is destroyed, the Eighth Route Army's th Division will be able to connect with the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region, and they may even be able to cut off our connection with Shanxi."

Yamashita Tomoyuki was also very surprised. Although the North China Front Army suffered a lot of losses at the hands of the Eighth Route Army, and many generals were killed, in the eyes of the North China Front Army, the Eighth Route Army was still a unit that only knew how to fight secretly.

When did the Eighth Route Army become so powerful?

Sending so many troops to attack Zhengtai Road at one time.

In previous battles, the Eighth Route Army's preferred method was to disperse its main forces and launch small-scale surprise attacks on the Japanese. Such concentrated forces were rare. Since the outbreak of the July 7 Incident, the Eighth Route Army had never launched such a large-scale attack.

Within just two or three days, the Eighth Route Army fought several battles, focusing on key locations around the Zhengtai Road. In particular, Yang Quanwu led the Central Column, whose numbers were numerous and powerful, and few Japanese troops could stop them. The Central Column immediately destroyed the most important light coal mines.

There were about 600 Japanese soldiers in the Jingqing Coal Mine.

They couldn't even hold off the Central Column for an hour. In particular, the Japanese army's heavily invested artillery towers were easily breached by the Central Column. This was because the Central Column, led by Yang Quanwu, had an artillery regiment, with over ten infantry guns alone. The Japanese and puppet army's artillery towers were nothing but targets for Yang Quanwu's artillery regiment. Yang Quanwu dealt with them however he pleased. Then, he led the Central Column in blowing up the entire coal mine.

Jingyin Coal Mine has new mines and old mines.

Yang Quanwu asked people to dismantle the machinery and equipment.

Of course some of them can be taken away, but most of them are large machines that cannot be taken away in a short time, so blasting is the only option.

The machinery in the old mines was old and easily destroyed. But the machinery in the new mines was brand new, imported from Germany by Japan and only four years old. The troops of the First Division tried many methods without success. Finally, Chinese engineers from the Jingjing Coal Mine came and showed the Eighth Route Army how to destroy the mine's machinery.

The bombing of the Jingqing Coal Mine dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army.

Because according to the current situation, the coal mines cannot be restored without one or two years. For Japan, which is currently short of resources and wants to obtain resources from China, the loss will be huge.

Furthermore, Jingjing Coal Mine alone employed over 3,000 miners, along with numerous other workers. After the destruction of Jingqing Coal Mine, virtually all of these workers returned to the First Division with the Eighth Route Army. Having suffered immensely from the Japanese, these miners were eager to join the Eighth Route Army and fight against the Japanese invaders. Yang Quanwu had already begun considering forming a miners' group.

The battle in the coal mines was not just about destroying the light coal mines.

The next day, Jingjing County sent a force of over 500 men to reinforce the Jingjing Coal Mine. They were ambushed by two regiments that Yang Quanwu had prepared in advance. Only about 30 men escaped and fled back to Jingqing County. The rest were annihilated by the Central Column.

The main force of the Central Column is six infantry regiments in the first division and one artillery regiment.

Only two regiments from the First Division and an artillery company attacked the Jing Light Coal Mine. Of the remaining troops, two regiments were tasked with ambushing the Japanese troops emerging from Jing County. The remaining troops were simultaneously attacking other stations along the Zhengtai Road. The First Division's troops were well-armed, and the artillery regiment even had some field artillery.

The bunkers on Zhengtai Road could not withstand the bombardment of these cannons.

Yang Quanwu led the Central Column, which had already destroyed more than 30 kilometers of Zhengtai Road in two days. After destroying these Japanese strongholds, this place had become the most bustling place for the people in the base area.

Railroad tracks, sleepers, electric poles, and the cement blocks left after the bunker was taken down.

The base was able to mobilize tens of thousands of civilians at once to participate in the destruction of railways and power lines. Along the Zhengtai Railway, civilians could be seen everywhere dismantling rails, sleepers, and power poles.

It was really crowded.

Basically, anything that could be used was dismantled and taken away.

“Where are the troops now?”

Tada Shun was very troubled.

The 3rd and 4th Independent Mixed Brigade had been responsible for guarding the Zhengtai Road. Together with the garrison battalions stationed along the Zhengtai Road, there were nearly 15,000 Japanese troops along the entire route. The Japanese army relied on these troops to protect the Zhengtai Road.

But three months ago, the Japanese army launched the Zaoyi Campaign.

The Central China Front Army was also short of troops.

However, in order to complete the task, the Central China Front Army could only mobilize all the mobile forces it could and launched the Zaoyi Campaign. However, the Central China Front Army was also worried that problems would arise later when its large forces were fighting.