Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

But Wanping was different. When the news of the Eighth Column's capture of Wanping spread, the whole country was shocked.

For the 8th Column, the unit involved, this was an even bigger deal.

Wei Hongjun had no choice but to put down his work. He handed over his work at the base to Deputy Political Commissar Chu He and brought Li Shiping, Deputy Commander of the 8th Column, to Wanping. No one could understand the excitement in Wei Hongjun's heart.

The Eighth Route Army actually captured Wanping.

This is Wanping.

Although the Hundred Regiments Campaign was a massive undertaking, with over a hundred regiments deployed, 20,000 Japanese soldiers captured or wounded, and numerous county towns captured, the Eighth Route Army, after all, had limited manpower and combat effectiveness, and limited methods of attacking Japanese strongholds and bunkers.

The Eighth Route Army also suffered heavy casualties during the Hundred Regiments Campaign. Even more seriously, after the first and second phases of the Hundred Regiments Campaign, many units lost their combat effectiveness due to heavy casualties and ammunition consumption.

We suffered heavy losses during the Japanese army's retaliatory raids.

In addition, the Japanese army intensified its mopping-up operations starting in 1941, so that many main forces of the Eighth Route Army were unable to recover within two or three years.

This is also one of the reasons why the base areas behind enemy lines became increasingly difficult starting in 1942, but this time and space is different.

The Eighth Route Army boasts more men and weapons than ever before, and its combat effectiveness has greatly improved. The new military reorganization campaign initiated by the Eighth Column has significantly helped the Eighth Route Army integrate other armed forces, improve unit cohesion, and enhance its combat effectiveness. Compared to the various major problems encountered in the reorganization of other armed forces in the past, the current Eighth Route Army is handling this effortlessly.

As a result, the Eighth Route Army expanded at a speed far exceeding history.

Just look at the development speed of a district.

The First Division had historically developed rapidly. However, due to its sole responsibility for the majority of mopping-up operations by Japanese and puppet troops, its growth was significantly constrained. However, during this period, the Eighth Column helped the First Division absorb pressure from the troops stationed in Mongolia, freeing it to focus on reorganizing the civilian anti-Japanese forces in Hebei. This reorganization process was swift and effective, and half of the First Division's main regiments now come from this process. This increase in manpower also led to the expansion of the Eighth Route Army's base area. The expansion of the base area and the increase in the number of civilians provided a solid foundation for the Eighth Route Army's expansion. Therefore, in this Hundred Regiments Campaign, the 129th Division, the Shanxi-Chahar-Yi Military Region, and the 120th Division were able to deploy over 200 regiments.

Then there are methods of attacking strongholds and bunkers.

The Eighth Route Army still had a lot of mortars at its disposal, especially the main force. Modified mortars were quickly introduced into the Eighth Route Army.

The mortar was used as a flat-fire cannon and shone brilliantly in the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

It was difficult to take down very strong bunkers, but for slightly inferior ones, a few mortar shots could basically bring them down. As a result, the Eighth Route Army was able to capture the Japanese bunkers quickly and with significantly less casualties.

By the end of the second phase of the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Eighth Route Army had destroyed over 800 Japanese bunkers, representing % of all Japanese bunkers in North China. Of course, some bunkers were not captured by the Eighth Route Army, but rather abandoned by the Japanese due to insufficient manpower and withdrawal. However, the Eighth Route Army didn't care whether bunkers were abandoned or not. Once they captured a bunker, they would demolish it and remove all its contents.

And now the Eighth Column on his side has actually captured Wanping.

How could Wei Hongjun not be excited?

There is a feeling that my trip to this time and space is not in vain.

"Old Xiao, this battle will definitely go down in history. Very good, very good."

"It's all thanks to the officers and soldiers of the column who have always been serving as law enforcement officers."

Xiao Yongshi spoke with a smile.

Very excited.

How could he not be excited? He had led his troops to capture Wanping City. However, he also knew that if the puppet army had not rebelled, Wanping City would never have been taken.

"How about the seizure?"

"Old Wei, we've made a fortune."

Wang Qiuyun next to him laughed out loud.

"Do you know? After destroying the headquarters of the 79th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, the 547th Independent Battalion, and their special forces, we seized 27 Type 4 rifles, 7 light and heavy machine guns, 3 field guns, 1800 infantry guns, and 1200 flat-fire guns. After that, we emptied the Japanese and puppet army's arsenal and seized a total of more than 120 Type 4 rifles, more than 6 Hanyang rifles, more than 20 light and heavy machine guns, 47 infantry guns, 57 flat-fire guns, more than 9 mortars, and 2000 grenade launchers. This is nothing. We got rounds of Type bullets, rounds of heavy machine gun bullets, and more than rounds of various artillery shells from the arsenal. With these weapons, we have more than enough to form three regiments.

"well."

Wei Hongjun nodded repeatedly.

Combined with the ammunition captured at Zhuolu and the column's stockpiles, the column's rifle ammunition reserves alone reached approximately 1942 million rounds. This amount of ammunition would last until 1943. It's even possible, given the current combat situation, that this amount of ammunition could be used even until the Eighth Route Army's counteroffensive in 1944 or . As long as the Eighth Route Army had sufficient ammunition, its combat effectiveness would not be a problem.

Wei Hongjun could finally put down the heavy burden in his heart.

Previously, he had been worried about how the Eighth Route Army would survive the most difficult years of 1942 and 1943. Now that he had so many bullets, Wei Hongjun no longer had any worries.

Wanping is such a great place.

The arsenals and logistical supplies of the Japanese Army's 15th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 4th Army of the North China Security Army were all in Wanping.

"That's nothing. The Japanese puppet army's logistics warehouse has a batch of new winter uniforms, over 5,000 pieces. There's also a large amount of food, canned goods, and a lot of medicine. Recently, they confiscated the assets of the Han people, and they took over 400,000 silver dollars alone. Wanping is really rich, Shanxi can't compare. Besides silver dollars, there are also various gold bars, and they are all being cleared out now."

"Old Wang, it looks like we can have a good New Year."

Wei Hongjun was overjoyed.

The weather is getting colder now, and so many winter clothes are really precious things.

"Ah."

Both Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun were smiling.

Entering Wanping, the Eighth Column truly made a fortune. It could be said that even if they had captured four or five counties in Shanxi, they wouldn't have been as wealthy as Wanping. It's like when the First Division entered Hebei and immediately secured over 300,000 silver dollars in Yi County, making a fortune.

Wanping is richer than Yi County.

The Eighth Column entered Wanping and captured enough spoils to last the column for more than two years.

Wei Hongjun then asked, "Old Wang, how is the recruitment going?"

"Old Wei, think about it, capturing Wanping City was a huge deal. When they heard that our Eighth Route Army had captured Wanping City, aspiring young people from a hundred miles around came to join our Eighth Route Army. The newly formed new recruit regiment has recruited nearly 1900 people. Wanping has a really large population, and many of them are young and middle-aged. I learned from the commander that he had formed a student group. Do you know how many students have joined so far? Over , all of them with a high school education. All the students from around Peking who could make it to Wanping City came to join our student group. Now our army is completely full of educated people. However, how to train these students depends on the ability of you, the political commissar."

"no problem."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

The Pingjin area is really a good place.

The Eighth Route Army troops came here in batches to recruit students.

But as long as they come, there are still a large number of students joining the army. Although the number of educated people in the Eighth Column has increased significantly in recent years, the proportion is still seriously insufficient.

But it's different now.

Nearly two thousand students were enrolled at once. Once this group of students was trained, the Eighth Column would no longer be short of intellectuals. After years of exploration, the Eighth Column had developed its own set of methods for training students.

First, they were taught the policies of the Eighth Route Army and received basic military training. Most were then assigned to column headquarters and political departments, as well as to individual detachment headquarters and political departments, and finally to regimental headquarters and political departments. They were allowed to learn and practice there, and after a few months, they were assigned specific tasks. In this way, within six months to a year, these individuals would become qualified grassroots cadres for the Eighth Route Army.

Of course this is all in the military.

In addition to training grassroots cadres for the military, many of these students will enter local government and propaganda departments, and many will become teachers in the base areas. In short, as long as you are educated, you will not be afraid of being idle.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any other good things in Wanping?"

"Good stuff? Of course there are a lot of good stuff. How should I put it? Wanping is the western gate of Peking, so merchants gather here. They have everything that big cities have. But I don't understand the policies there, and I don't know how to treat these merchants, so I didn't touch them. Now that you're here, I'll leave all these things to you. These merchants have even more good stuff. I estimate that if we confiscate their property, they should be able to get millions.

"If only we could hold this place long enough."

Wei Hongjun sighed.

Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun both understood that the Japanese army would not just sit back and watch the Eighth Route Army occupy Wanping. After resolving the current situation, they would undoubtedly gather a large army to reclaim Wanping. Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun would not engage in battle against a large Japanese army for the sake of Wanping City.

"Old Wei, it's good that you're here. Since we've arrived in Wanping, we must take away the supplies the column needs. You still need to be in charge of this."

"Okay. This time we'll clear out Wanping."

By 1940, grain production in North China had begun to decline.

It's just not obvious yet.

But after entering 1941, the shortage of supplies in the base area would become more and more serious. This time, after finally entering Wanping, Wei Hongjun would of course reserve more supplies for the troops.

Through the difficult years that followed.

Chapter 343: Panic in the North China Front

Peking was in chaos.

The fall of Wanping caused the Japanese troops in Peiping to be exhausted.

I was afraid that the Eighth Route Army would attack Peking next. Wanping is the north, and Wanping is the western gate of Peking. What if the Eighth Route Army really did nothing and concentrated its forces to attack Peking?

Can we stop the Eighth Route Army?

Of course, given the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops in Peking, Tada Shun did not believe the Eighth Route Army could capture Peking. But the danger had already arrived. After the July 7 Incident, there was no lack of gunfire in Peking.

But they were mainly small-scale harassment, assassinations, etc.

Never before had a large Chinese military force come so close to Peking. Even the artillery of the Eighth Route Army was able to fire directly into the city.

Now Beiping only has the 35th Regiment of the 220th Division. Although it is no problem for one regiment to defend a big city like Beiping.

But the adverse impact of the fall of Wanping was too great.

The traitors in Peking were all restless, their minds no longer focused on their normal work. Every day they thought about their own escape routes. Like headless flies, they were searching for connections and escape routes. This was true for the big traitors at the top, the petty traitors at the bottom, and the puppet police.

Everyone is slacking off.

Now they don’t know whether the Japanese will continue to control Beijing tomorrow, so how can they concentrate on their work?

Even when they saw anti-Japanese elements on the street, they did not dare to arrest them.

Of course, it is not just these traitors who are like this.

Even the Japanese businessmen were now terrified, and some even used their connections to flee Peking to safer places.

Their escape from Peking also led some powerful Han people to flee with them.

It's really a mess.

However, the North China Front Army Headquarters did not take any action on this matter. After hearing the news of the fall of Wanping, Tada Shun was already in despair.

After the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Japanese and puppet troops suffered heavy casualties in North China. The Eighth Route Army's expansion to such an extent, coupled with the scale of the conflict, was unpredictable. This was not only unforeseen for the Japanese, but also for the Nationalist army, and even for those in Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army headquarters themselves. Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army headquarters controlled designated military district units. They had not anticipated the numerous local units within each military district and sub-district. Furthermore, these local units, unlike guerrillas and militia units, were quite capable.

All of North China was in complete chaos. The order established by the Japanese army in North China had completely collapsed. Imperial Headquarters and the China Expeditionary Army were deeply dissatisfied with the North China Front Army. The Eighth Route Army had reached this point right under their noses, which was undoubtedly the North China Front Army's responsibility. Therefore, Imperial Headquarters and the China Expeditionary Army took turns reprimanding Tada Shun, demanding that he urgently find a way to stabilize the situation in North China. The Eighth Route Army's offensive in North China completely dispelled the pessimism that had permeated the country. Instead, this large-scale deployment of the Eighth Route Army boosted the nation's morale in the war of resistance. This was unacceptable to the China Expeditionary Army. Imperial Headquarters and the China Expeditionary Army were forcing Chongqing to surrender.

In order to force Chongqing to surrender, the headquarters and the Chinese dispatched troops exerted pressure on Chongqing through military, political and public opinion. However, the outbreak of the Hundred Regiments Offensive of the Eighth Route Army completely destroyed their carefully prepared public opinion war.

How could the headquarters and the Chinese Expeditionary Force not be angry?

After being reprimanded by both the Imperial Headquarters and the China Expeditionary Army, Tada Shun realized that his position as commander of the North China Front Army was already in jeopardy. He was now actively taking countermeasures in order to mitigate his punishment.

But before he could come up with a good plan, Wanping City was captured by the Eighth Route Army, dealing a heavy blow to Tada Shun. Tada Shun knew his situation was dangerous. If Peking was truly affected, he would not only face a simple punishment upon his return, but he might even face a military trial.

He couldn't think of any other solution now.

My head is empty.

He simply couldn't understand. After he arrived at the North China Front Army as commander, he had been diligently eliminating the Eighth Route Army. He even tried to suppress the Eighth Route Army by not attacking the Nationalist troops in Zhongtiao Mountain. Instead, he concentrated large forces on every mop-up operation against the Eighth Route Army. So how could the Eighth Route Army have developed to its current state?

It was precisely because Tada Shun was now in such a state of disarray that Beiping was in such a state of chaos that no one had come up with any policies to appease the emotions of those traitors, big and small, in Beiping. The less action the North China Front Army took, the more panicked those traitors, big and small, became in Beiping.

Panic spread throughout Peking.