Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"Mr. Zhang, I didn't say that. It was Comrade Wei Hongjun, the political commissar of the Eighth Column, who said that. Being able to persist in the anti-Japanese war in Shangyi County, where the enemy was strong and we were weak, is something that many people cannot do. You are our role model."

Chapter 368: Forming a Self-Defense Corps

When two people meet, they flatter each other.

Then sat down.

After Zhang Zhiguang sat down, he looked at Feng Mulin carefully and couldn't help but ask, "Commander Feng, may I ask, how old are you this year?

Feng Mulin was stunned at first.

Because he hadn't heard this sentence in many years. He also didn't expect Zhang Zhiguang to be so polite, using such words for a junior like him. But he quickly reacted and said, "Mr. Zhang, I am thirty years old."

"Thirty years old? Young and promising, really young and promising.

Although thirty years old is not young, it is not too old either.

The devil already has tens of thousands of troops under his command.

If he were placed in the Nationalist army, he would be at least a division commander, and that was in the Central Army. If he were placed in the warlord army, with tens of thousands of troops under his command, he would be at least a corps commander.

Feng Mulin smiled and said, "Mr. Feng doesn't understand our Eighth Route Army. Our Eighth Route Army commanders are generally young. The commander and political commissar of our Eighth Column are twenty-seven and twenty-six respectively. Our veteran leader, the commander of the First Jin-Cha-Ji Division, is only twenty-seven this year. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, many college students joined our Eighth Route Army. Many are only twenty-five or twenty-six now, but quite a few have already risen to the rank of regimental commander."

"Not simple, not simple."

Zhang Zhiguang was even more shocked.

The Eighth Column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region was truly renowned in Chahar, having killed countless Japanese generals. Unexpectedly, the commander and political commissar of such an elite unit of the Eighth Route Army were both so young.

What a surprise.

Can't even think about it.

There are also those college students who joined the Eighth Route Army after the July 7 Incident, and they are now regimental-level cadres. The reason behind this is simple. The Eighth Route Army expanded rapidly, so those who joined the Eighth Route Army not long ago were able to become regimental-level cadres.

But he had experienced many ups and downs, and he quickly calmed down. Then he asked, "Are the Eighth Route Army entering Shangyi County this time to establish the base you mentioned? Are you going to leave now that the troops are here?"

Feng Mulin said without hesitation, "Originally, the Eighth Column had no plans to send troops into Shangyi County anytime soon. Previously, we were only planning to send a few work teams into Shangyi County to open up some rural bases.

However, the 35th Army of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army has recently been attacking Baotou, and the fighting there is currently intense. They have requested the assistance of the Eighth Route Army. They have asked us to contain the 26th Regiment of the Japanese 13th Division in Jining and prevent this Japanese unit from interfering with the ongoing Battle of Baotou. Therefore, our Eighth Column has decided that the Chaxi Detachment will advance into Xinghe County, while our Chabei Detachment will advance into Shangyi County, establishing a base there. Now that we're here, we naturally don't want to leave, and we will develop Shangyi County into our base.

"That's good, that's good. It's good that you're here. The Japanese are really unscrupulous. My Shangyi County has not had a high grain production since ancient times. After they came, they forced farmers to grow opium, resulting in a sharp drop in grain production in Shangyi County. Moreover, they also captured women everywhere and forced them to marry. The Japanese pirates have been bandits from ancient times to the present, but the most we can do is protect our homes and the people, and we cannot drive these pirates away.

Zhang Zhiguang was very excited when he heard that the Eighth Route Army was going to establish a base here.

Although Zhang Zhiguang was old, his passion remained. Whether it was joining the Chahar Anti-Japanese Allied Forces or organizing the Qidi Thirteen Villages Association after returning home, it was all for the purpose of resisting the Japanese. However, Qidi Thirteen Villages still had a small population. Although several villages later joined, it still only numbered around 3,000. Organizing a village association of over 300 people to protect Qidi Thirteen Villages was already the limit.

Now that the Eighth Route Army has arrived, everything will be easy.

Although the Eighth Route Army was ridiculed as a "beggar army," that was all in the past. The Eighth Route Army is now formidable, having launched the Hundred Regiments Campaign that rocked the nation just last year. Everyone in North China knows the Eighth Route Army's astonishing strength.

Therefore, Zhang Zhiguang was of course very excited when the main force of the Eighth Route Army arrived in Shangyi County.

Feng Mulin said seriously, "Mr. Zhang, you are not allowed to speak. The North China Front Army has currently withdrawn most of its troops to participate in the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign. Therefore, the Japanese troops in Chahar are short of manpower, which has given us an opportunity. However, the Japanese army will not let our Eighth Route Army continue to develop in this way. After the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign is over, the Japanese army will inevitably gather heavy troops to sweep our Eighth Route Army base. In the summer of 1939, the Japanese and puppet troops mobilized people to sweep our Jin-Cha-Ji base. Next time, they will increase their forces, possibly or even Japanese and puppet troops. By then, the pressure on our Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region will be very great, and it will be a question whether we can keep our base in Shangyi County."

"Yes, I will definitely keep it."

Zhang Zhiguang spoke with confidence.

He said: "As long as we Chinese do not surrender, we will not be afraid of the Japanese army's raid. What Shangyi County lacks the least is passionate men. As long as the Eighth Route Army organizes them, they will definitely be able to defend their country. Even if the Japanese come, Shangyi County can be saved."

Zhang Zhiguang was worried that the Eighth Route Army would just take a look around Shangyi County and leave.

So express your determination quickly.

"Mr. Zhang, this is also my idea. In order to deal with the Japanese army's large-scale sweep and to protect Shangyi County, I plan to form a new regiment in Shangyi County, called the Self-Defense Corps. Our Chabei Detachment can currently provide about 800 rifles, and some of the various units have recently seized some. Our Chabei Detachment can provide at least 1,000 rifles to form this self-defense corps.

Of course, if we can capture more spoils from the subsequent annihilation of the Japanese and puppet troops, we will be able to produce even more weapons. I hope to receive Mr. Zhang's assistance. You are highly respected in Shangyi County, and you can help us quickly establish a self-defense group. With a self-defense group, we will be able to cope with various changes in Shangyi County in the future.

This is why Feng Mulin attaches so much importance to Zhang Zhiguang.

This time, Feng Mulin came to Shangyi County only to complete the column's mission and contain the Japanese 13th Regiment. Before the troops set out, they had not considered establishing a large-scale base here because the Chabei Detachment's strength was limited.

At most, when they completed their mission and left Shangyi County, they would leave some small troops here to continue the anti-Japanese war and open up several rural bases.

After all, the Chabei Detachment boasted over ten thousand troops, but only about five or six thousand of them were truly combat-ready. The remaining five thousand or so were either from local units or newly recruited soldiers. Furthermore, not only was the Chabei Detachment's combat effectiveness limited, it also suffered from a severe shortage of local cadres to develop its base.

The current base area consists of three counties, which is more than enough for the Chabei Detachment to operate. The Chabei Detachment does not have the strength or appetite to open up another county base.

However, after only a few days in Shangyi County, Feng Mulin immediately changed his mind.

After the Chabei Detachment arrived in Shangyi County, Feng Mulin discovered that Shangyi County was a good place for military expansion. It was even more suitable for development than the Chabei Detachment's previous base. The hatred between the local people and the Japanese puppet troops was very strong. When the Japanese puppet troops entered Shangyi County, they went on a killing spree, killing many people. Therefore, there was a blood feud between the people of Shangyi County and the Japanese puppet troops.

And this was not only the case when the Japanese and puppet troops entered Shangyi County.

Later, the Japanese and puppet troops ruled this place, which was a huge disaster for the local people.

Shangyi County is really full of traitors. Those traitors were really bad to the people of Shangyi County, to the extreme. The people here were forced to grow opium, which led to the people who already had little food not being able to eat enough, and they were also conscripted by the Japanese army to work as coolies at any time. Many coolies went to repair things and transport things for the Japanese, and died outside before they could return home. So the people of Shangyi County not only had a blood feud with the Japanese puppet army in the early years, but the hatred between the Japanese puppet army and the people was also deep after they entered Shangyi County. The more such a place is, the more suitable it is for developing a base area, and it is entirely possible to recruit soldiers on a large scale.

Now that the Eighth Route Army has arrived in such a place, how could they possibly give up?

While the idea was good, large-scale military expansion here was no easy task. This was, after all, a newly established base. The Eighth Route Army had no strongholds, and underground Party activity was not very active. Feng Mulin doubted he had Wei Hongjun's ability to establish a base in such a short period of time.

If the Chabei detachment was given enough time, it would certainly be able to mobilize enough people to join it. However, what the Chabei detachment lacked most was time. This time, entering Shangyi County was to gain a time advantage.

Feng Mulin needs to expand the army in a short period of time and then let them form a certain combat effectiveness.

The Chabei detachment does not have that many weapons, so it is preparing to expand the army here by a regiment. The insufficient weapons can be prepared by fighting against the traitorous armed forces here.

Now that the column had begun using the designations of the New Regiment and the Independent Regiment, Feng Mulin planned to use the designation of the Self-Defense Regiment. He would form a Self-Defense Regiment in Shangyi County and incorporate it into the Chabei Detachment.

Because of this, he fell in love with Zhang Zhiguang.

As long as Zhang Zhiguang was willing to step forward, recruiting a 2,000-man self-defense group would be easy. Zhang Zhiguang was already a well-known figure when he joined the Chahar Anti-Japanese Allied Forces in his early years. Many people in Shangyi County followed Zhang Zhiguang and joined the Chahar Anti-Japanese Allied Forces. His subsequent formation of the Qidi Thirteen Villages to resist the Japanese and puppet troops made him an idol for many in Shangyi County.

Zhang Zhiguang said without hesitation, "If Shangyi County had a regiment of troops, how could the Japanese and puppet troops be so crazy? I will do this favor without hesitation. As long as the Chabei Detachment has weapons, I will recruit as many people as you want."

Zhang Zhiguang understood that Feng Mulin was planning to expand his army in Shangyi County.

But this is a good thing for Shangyi County.

Besides, Zhang Zhiguang and the CCP were not enemies. On the contrary, when he participated in the Chahar Anti-Japanese Allied Army, he came into contact with many well-known CCP members and supported the policy of the Anti-Japanese United Front.

To put it bluntly, the Eighth Route Army in North China is now the mainstream.

The more troops the Eighth Route Army develops, the better the anti-Japanese war in North China will be. Using one's influence to support the growth of the anti-Japanese forces is the right thing to do. After hearing Zhang Zhiguang's answer, Feng Mulin said happily, "Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for your help.

Chapter 369 Recruiting troops

After meeting Feng Mulin, Zhang Zhiguang was very excited.

Although Zhang Zhiguang had previously led the Thirteen Villages of Qidi to resist the Japanese invasion, his organization was limited in scale. The village association of the Thirteen Villages of Qidi consisted of only about 300 members, and the population under its control was no more than 3,000.

Earlier, Zhang Zhiguang joined the Chahar Anti-Japanese Allied Army but ultimately failed.

So, while Zhang Zhiguang fought against the Japanese, it was only out of simple patriotism. He wasn't entirely sure he could defeat the Japanese. After all, in Shangyi County, he had witnessed hundreds of thousands of Nationalist troops being pursued by the Japanese, losing one crucial location after another. He had also read in the newspapers about the fall of major cities like Peking, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Wuhan.

The successive defeats in the early days of the War of Resistance were a huge blow to many pro-war factions.

In his early years, Zhang Zhiguang lost some confidence in the War of Resistance. At the time, he considered sacrificing his life for his country if he couldn't defeat the Japanese. However, as the 8th Column grew stronger in Chahar and achieved increasingly successful victories, Zhang Zhiguang became increasingly convinced of the situation outlined in the CCP's "On Protracted War." It can be said that Chairman Mao's "On Protracted War" gave people like Zhang Zhiguang immense confidence.

In the past two years, Zhang Zhiguang gradually regained his confidence in the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

So the mood is completely different now.

Feng Mulin led the main force of the Chabei Detachment into Shangyi County, sweeping away the local traitorous government. In a short period of time, they wiped out the traitorous grassroots government in Shangyi County with overwhelming force. Even the Japanese garrison was afraid to show their presence, due to the sheer number of Eighth Route Army troops entering Shangyi County. This was the first time a major Chinese army had entered Shangyi County since the Japanese occupation, dealing such a heavy blow to the Japanese and puppet forces and giving the people of Shangyi County confidence.

Of course, Zhang Zhiguang is not only excited, but also a little anxious.

Feng Mulin had made it clear. It was only because of the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain that the Japanese army was too busy, giving the Eighth Route Army an opportunity. Once the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain was over, the Japanese army would undoubtedly sweep through the Eighth Route Army's base areas behind enemy lines. By then, Shangyi County might have fallen back into Japanese hands.

This is something Zhang Zhiguang cannot accept.

So Zhang Zhiguang immediately issued a call, asking the people of Shangyi County to actively join the army and support the Eighth Route Army in forming a self-defense corps. At the same time, he called on the wealthy households in Shangyi County to take out their hidden weapons and food to support the arming of the self-defense corps.

"how is the situation?"

Feng Mulin is now very confused.

Originally, the purpose of entering Shangyi County was just to follow the orders of the column and support Fu Zuoyi. But after entering Shangyi County, he changed his mind and planned to turn Shangyi County into a base.

But base construction is complicated.

Especially in recent times, the Chabei Detachment's territory has expanded too rapidly, and the local cadres at hand are simply insufficient. Without sufficient local cadres, base construction is very difficult. Therefore, Feng Mulin, the commander and political commissar of the Chabei Detachment, has been busy with base construction.

But Feng Mulin is a military general after all.

Although I know a little about base construction, it is not my strong point.

"Commander, Mr. Zhang Zhiguang is truly a powerful figure in Shangyi County. Ever since he came forward, the wealthy families in Shangyi County who had previously been estranged from us have all come out to support us. In particular, these wealthy families had some weapons and ammunition hidden in their homes that had not been confiscated by the Japanese army. This time, after Mr. Zhang Zhiguang came forward, they donated all these weapons and ammunition. I counted them and found that there are more than 1700 rifles and more than 2000 pistols. Adding the weapons and equipment brought in by our detachment and the weapons and equipment of the Villages Association of the Banner, we can piece together about rifles. Although many of them are old-fashioned and homemade guns, they can still be used in battle. It is more than enough to form a -man self-defense group.

Huang Yanjun, commander of the 6th Independent Regiment of the Chabei Detachment, reports on the current situation.

Huang Yanjun was an old subordinate of Feng Mulin's from his days as a guerrilla fighter in northern Shaanxi. Having fought guerrilla warfare for years, he was quite familiar with the base area. Therefore, Feng Mulin entrusted Huang Yanjun with the task of recruiting soldiers and forming a self-defense corps.

"Have you done a census of the landowners in Shangyi County?"

"We've already started counting. Those die-hard traitors who followed the Japanese during the suppression and were forced into fake positions but didn't do anything outrageous will be punished. Those who were close to the Japanese but didn't become traitors will be criticized and educated. As for those landlords and wealthy families who were oppressed by the Japanese and traitors, we will actively win them over. In Shangyi County, because the Japanese and traitors were so brutal, many wealthy families were oppressed by them. These people are still very enthusiastic about resisting the Japanese. In addition to actively disposing of hidden weapons and ammunition, they have also donated a lot of food to our troops."

"That's good. Remember, the traitorous landlords who need to be suppressed must not be spared. But those powerful landlords who are being forced can be let off a little.

We haven't established a firm foothold in Shangyi County yet, so it's difficult to expand the scope of our attack. There will be plenty of time later.

Feng Mulin nodded.

After several years of base construction, the Eighth Route Army had gained sufficient experience in how to deal with these landlords.

Feng Mulin continued, "Also, I've sent a telegram to the Column, requesting they send some local cadres to Shangyi County. Shangyi County must implement rent and interest reductions as soon as possible. This is the most important thing for the long-term survival of the base. Before the cadres sent by the Column arrive, I plan to transfer a company from your Sixth Regiment to take the lead in conducting a land survey in Shangyi County."

Reducing rent and interest does not simply mean reducing land rent and interest.

This is a complete rural land policy for the base areas behind enemy lines.

Including the collection of taxes in the base areas, all of this was based on rent and interest reductions. Wei Hongjun attached great importance to rent and interest reductions in the construction of the base areas. Besides the fact that the Eighth Route Army needed to develop rural base areas based on rent and interest reductions, more importantly, Wei Hongjun needed to accurately grasp the current land situation in the base areas.

For example, how much land is held by large landlords, how much is held by small and medium-sized landlords, how much is held by rich households and middle peasants? How many people are self-employed farmers, how many are semi-self-employed farmers and poor hired peasants?

Wei Hongjun needs detailed statistics in this regard.

Because the statistics being conducted now will become the most important data for future land reforms. When land reforms are carried out in the future, these statistics can be used to formulate land reform policies.

"Yes."

"How's the recruitment going?"

"Very good, Commander. Our decision to form a self-defense group and recruit soldiers here is absolutely the right one. It's only been three days since we started recruiting, and we've already had over nine hundred people sign up, and the number is still increasing. Judging by the current situation, we should have no problem recruiting two thousand."

"More than 900 people?"