Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"Correct."

Huang Yanjun sighed and said, "Commander, the lives of the people here are even more difficult than those of the people in northern Shaanxi when we were fighting guerrilla warfare. Especially after the Japanese forced the people here to grow opium on arable land, they also levied a large amount of taxes, and many people could not even eat. The situation is even more difficult for some families with many young and middle-aged people. The family has no arable land, and from time to time they are drafted by the Japanese and puppet troops to work, and they still can't eat enough. I counted the people who signed up to join the army this time. Of course, many people want to follow our Eighth Route Army to fight the devils because they have a grudge against the Japanese. But there are also many people who want to join the army to solve the problem of food because their families are too poor and cannot support several young and middle-aged brothers. This time, many people asked us directly whether they can have enough food and clothes to wear if they join the army. As long as the army solves the problem of food and clothing, they are willing to join the army."

“Poverty is indeed a big problem.”

Feng Mulin nodded.

Many people joined the army without any idealistic goals; they simply wanted to be soldiers and earn a living. Back when the guerrilla war was going on in northern Shaanxi, the region was very poor. Shangyi County was actually much better off than northern Shaanxi, especially in terms of arable land.

The arable land area in Shangyi County exceeds 500,000 mu.

For Shangyi County, with a population of less than 100,000, the arable land situation is actually quite good. Unfortunately, after the Japanese arrived, they forced the people here to grow opium. If it were just opium cultivation, it wouldn't be a big deal, after all, opium is valuable. The income from growing opium is higher than growing grain.

Unfortunately, the Japanese did not allow the people to grow opium to generate income for them, but to make money for themselves. Therefore, after the opium was planted, the lives of the people in Shangyi County became more difficult than before.

Opium cultivation not only does not make money, but also loses money because of the huge taxes that must be paid.

Being too poor to eat, they could only join the army to get food.

"Commander, I don't think two thousand men in the Self-Defense Corps are appropriate."

Huang Yanjun suggested Feng Mulin.

"what happened?"

“They are all new recruits, and we don’t have enough grassroots commanders.

A troop of two thousand new recruits would be problematic. Commanding too many people would also be problematic."

"What do you think?"

"Commander, I suggest not forming a large regiment of 2,000 men, but two small regiments of 1,000 men each. Large numbers are difficult to command, but small numbers are easier to command. Small regiments don't have battalion headquarters; the regimental headquarters directly leads the companies. The village associations of the Thirteenth Banner have many scholars, and they've fought in battles over the years.

We can build a regiment with them as the core, and send a few political officers in. If the other regiment only has 1,000 people, it will be much easier to deploy the officers.

"let me see."

Chapter 370: Victory? Defeat?

"Commander, the situation in Baotou is getting worse."

Zhangjiakou.

Shigetaro Amakasu, who had just served as commander of the Mongolian Army for less than half a year, was listening to a report from Shigeki Takahashi, chief of staff of the Mongolian Army.

Shigetaro Amakasu was not very willing to serve as the commander of the Mongolian Army.

Everyone knows that commanding the Mongolian Army is a dangerous position. Since its establishment, every Mongolian Army commander has left in disgrace. Amakasu Shigetaro was previously the commander of the 33rd Division, serving under Okamura Neiji.

Ningji Okamura trusted him very much.

This time too.

After Okamura Neiji assumed command of the North China Front Army, he recommended Amakasu Shigetaro to the Imperial Headquarters and the China Expeditionary Army as commander of the Mongolian Garrison. Despite the promotion, Amakasu Shigetaro preferred to remain with the 33rd Division rather than join the Mongolian Garrison.

The situation of the troops stationed in Mongolia is so bad now.

What can you do if you come by yourself?

As expected, within less than half a year of assuming the post of Commander of the Mongolian Army, he encountered a very bad situation. The 8th Column launched the Xuanhuai Campaign, captured Huailai, and annihilated the headquarters of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade and an independent battalion in Huailai.

Of course, compared with the Eighth Column, Fu Zuoyi is more powerful.

He mobilized all the troops he could, totaling over 50,000, to attack Baotou. Baotou was home to the Japanese 1st Cavalry Brigade, a 5,000-man Japanese unit. Gan Shigetaro had never imagined that Fu Zuoyi would actually dare to attack Baotou.

But the reality is that Fu Zuoyi not only captured Baotou, but also the combat effectiveness of Fu Zuoyi's troops was really good. In particular, the combat effectiveness of Fu Zuoyi's direct troops was far better than expected.

"Have the Chinese troops already broken in?"

"Yes. The outer positions have been breached. Fu Zuoyi's troops have entered the city."

"Baga, baga, baga.

Shigetaro Amakasu was sweating profusely in anxiety.

How could there be no rush?

This was a Japanese brigade of 5,000 men. The Mongolian troops were already under attack from both the east and west by Fu Zuoyi's troops and the Eighth Route Army, so they were already short of manpower.

If the 1st Cavalry Brigade was destroyed, the situation of the troops stationed in Mongolia would become even more dangerous.

"Is the 13th Regiment really unable to move?"

"The Eighth Route Army has tens of thousands of troops in Xinghe and Shangyi counties.

If we transfer the 13th Regiment, Jining may not be able to be saved.

Baotou is important, but Jining is more important.

Jining was the most important city at the junction of Chahar and Suiyuan. Once Jining was captured by the Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Army in Chahar and Suiyuan would be connected without any hindrance.

By then, the situation in Suiyuan will become even more dangerous.

Because the Eighth Route Army controlled Jining, it would cut off the connection between Chahar and Suiyuan, and Datong and Suiyuan.

Amakasu Shigetaro pondered for a long time, but could not come up with any solution. He said dejectedly, "Send a telegram to Lord Okamura, informing him of the situation here. Have the 4th Cavalry Brigade and the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade return as soon as possible. Otherwise, the Empire will lose control of Suiyuan."

The Mongolian troops stationed in Mongolia were no longer able to solve the Suiyuan issue on their own.

The only thing they could do was to ask Ningji Okamura to hand over the troops stationed in Mongolia.

At this time, Ningji Okamura was not in a good condition either.

1941 7 Month 22 Day.

After 33 days, Zhongtiao Mountain finally fell completely, and the Japanese occupied all the Nationalist positions. By this time, the Nationalist troops on Zhongtiao Mountain had basically left the area. Some broke through from the front and went to the Eighth Route Army base to rest and regroup. For example, the 5th Army of the 98th Group Army chose to break through from the front and entered the Eighth Route Army Taiyue Military Region. Some crossed the Yellow River from the ferry and entered Henan.

But the road is not easy.

Because the important crossings of the Yellow River were occupied by the Japanese army, there were not enough boats to cross the river. As a result, many troops crossing the river were killed in the process. In addition, they were heavily bombed by Japanese aircraft while crossing the river. It can be said that the heaviest casualties in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain occurred when the Nationalist army crossed the river in large numbers.

The main Nationalist forces on Zhongtiao Mountain had already left the mountain, gradually abandoning the positions that the Nationalist army had built there for several years.

Of course, we can only say that the Japanese army has occupied Zhongtiao Mountain, but the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain is not completely over. Although the main force of the Nationalist Army has left Zhongtiao Mountain, many troops have not been able to successfully break through. Therefore, they remain in Zhongtiao Mountain in regiments, and these scattered troops still number tens of thousands of people. The Zhongtiao Mountain area is mountainous and densely forested, and the small number of troops hiding there is not easy to find. In order to encircle and suppress them, the Japanese army began to mobilize troops to sweep the entire Zhongtiao Mountain area.

It would take another week to ten days, or even longer, to deal with these isolated Kuomintang troops. Only then would the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign be considered completely over.

The battle lasted for such a long time that the total number of casualties and prisoners of war among the Nationalist army was about 120,000.

There were nearly 40,000 captured Nationalist troops alone.

For the national army in Zhongtiao Mountain, this was a huge casualty and a tragic defeat.

The Japanese army suffered about 16,000 casualties.

Judging from the casualties, this was an undeniable victory. After all, with only about 16,000 casualties, the Chinese army inflicted 120,000 casualties on the Nationalist army, while completely breaking the defense line of Zhongtiao Mountain.

No matter how you look at it, no matter how you analyze it, this is a victory, and a big victory.

But Ningji Okamura, who was commanding this battle, did not look good at all.

For Okamura Neiji, the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain was a complete loss, even considered a failure. Many of the attacking troops were crippled, and too much time was wasted on Zhongtiao Mountain. Okamura Neiji's original plan was to completely eliminate the main force of the Nationalist Army within a dozen days, and then completely end the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain in about twenty days. After that, the troops would return to rest and prepare for a major sweep of the Eighth Route Army base.

However, it took 33 days after the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain to eliminate the main force of the National Army. It would take some time to completely eliminate the National Army in Zhongtiao Mountain.

It took too long.

As a result, not only did the troops suffer heavy casualties, but they were also very tired.

After all, the troops had been fighting for over thirty days. Given their current situation, they needed to rest and recuperate. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to fight at all.

Moreover, when he pulled the main force of the North China Front Army to fight the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign, the situation in the occupied areas was very bad. Ningci Okamura judged that the Eighth Route Army was not strong enough to attack. However, although the Eighth Route Army did not mobilize on a large scale like the Hundred Regiments Campaign, it continued to expand its territory and recruit troops.

After the Hundred Regiments Campaign and the massive withdrawal of troops this time, the North China Front Army could only retreat to cities and important transportation arteries. All other places were taken by the Eighth Route Army.

More than two-thirds of the strongholds and bunkers built by Tada Shun were destroyed.

After Okamura Neiji assumed command, he also implemented Tada Shun's tactic of besieging strongholds and bunkers. However, this tactic proved ineffective. This was because the Eighth Route Army, while not storming strongholds and bunkers, opted instead for a siege strategy. This meant surrounding Japanese strongholds and bunkers and severing their supply lines. Within a few days, the Japanese and puppet troops in these strongholds and bunkers could no longer withstand the pressure and were forced to evacuate. Due to the lack of supplies, many strongholds and bunkers were running low on food.

This tactic was highly effective against the undermanned Japanese army. Once they surrounded their strongholds and forts, the Japanese and puppet troops were limited in the number of reinforcements they could send. Without sufficient troops, they would be easily ambushed by the Eighth Route Army. Consequently, the Japanese and puppet troops were forced to abandon their strongholds and forts.

The Japanese army wanted to encroach on the Eighth Route Army's base, and the Eighth Route Army in turn encroached on the Japanese army's territory.

Of course, these repeated battles didn't immediately yield any significant results. Each time a stronghold was conquered or a fort was relocated, the base area expanded by a few miles at most. However, two major battles occurred in the occupied areas, inflicting heavy losses on the Japanese. The first was the 8th Column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Army, which annihilated 3,000 Japanese and puppet troops in Huailai.

The Japanese Army's Independent Mixed 2nd Brigade's Major General Hitomi Yoichi was killed.

The current situation is that Zhangjiakou is surrounded by Eighth Route Army troops.

The situation in Zhangjiakou is getting worse and worse.

A larger battle was the Battle of Baotou, fought by the 35th Army of Suiyuan. The main battlefield of this battle was Baotou, where the 35th Army, with more than troops of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army as the main force, attacked the Japanese th Cavalry Brigade in Baotou.

The Eighth Route Army troops cooperating with the 35th Army numbered more than ten regiments.

The 120th Division's Daqingshan Detachment helped the 35th Army cut off the Japanese Army's th Cavalry Brigade's logistics line. The troops of the st and th Jin-Cha-Ji Divisions attacked the Tongpu Road again, intimidating Datong and preventing Datong from sending reinforcements.

The Eighth Column attacked Xinghe County and Shangyi County.

The Japanese troops in these two counties dared not even show their faces. The 13th Regiment in Jining was already prepared to support Baotou. Suddenly, however, the Eighth Column appeared in Xinghe and Shangyi counties, deploying five infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment, totaling over men.

More importantly, the people of Xinghe County and Shangyi County warmly welcomed the arrival of the Eighth Route Army.

As a result, the Eighth Route Army quickly wiped out the grassroots puppet governments in the towns and villages of Xinghe and Shangyi counties, eliminating the traitors and their armed forces. The Eighth Route Army's success in Xinghe and Shangyi counties was so great that the 13th Regiment in Jining immediately became afraid to move.

How to move?

What if I go to support Baotou and end up losing Jining?

Given the current situation in Baotou, it was completely useless to send a small unit there. Not to mention facing the 35th Army, even if they encountered the Daqingshan Detachment, they would be unable to defeat it. But the 13th Regiment was unable to move.

As a result, he watched quietly as the 35th Army took Baotou.

Fu Zuoyi is definitely a famous anti-Japanese general who will be included in the history of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

He led his troops to capture Baotou, even killing Sakuma Hitoshi, who had just been appointed Major General of the 4th Cavalry Brigade less than a year earlier. The 4th Cavalry Brigade, along with some of the garrison troops and puppet troops in Baotou, destroyed nearly Japanese and puppet troops in this battle. Some Japanese and puppet troops retreated from Baotou but were ambushed by the Daqingshan Detachment, killing nearly of them.

A great victory that will go down in history.

But this is not the first time he has won such a beautiful victory.

Before the July 1938 Incident, he had fought in the Suiyuan War of Resistance, where he achieved the stunning "Bailingmiao Victory" that shocked China and the world. In 5000, he achieved another astonishing "Suiyuan Victory," nearly annihilating two Japanese regiments, killing, wounding, and capturing over 1939 Japanese soldiers, and annihilating three divisions of the puppet Manchukuo cavalry. This truly resonated throughout the nation. In 35, the 26th Army achieved another sensational victory in the "Jining Victory," completely annihilating the 12th Regiment of the Japanese 26th Division, along with some of its special forces, for a total of 3000 Japanese troops. Furthermore, they also completely annihilated four divisions of the puppet Manchukuo cavalry. Although the Daqingshan Detachment also participated in these battles, it primarily played a supporting role. The real decisive battles were fought by Fu Zuoyi's troops.

The puppet Mongolian Cavalry Division suffered successive attacks from the 35th Army and the Eighth Route Army, and has not yet recovered.

The Japanese army no longer trusted the puppet Mongolian cavalry division.

Cavalry divisions are expensive and useless. Therefore, the puppet Mongolian government currently only has two cavalry divisions, and the rest have been converted into infantry divisions. Compared to cavalry divisions, infantry divisions cost much less.