Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Because the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi Campaign, the Japanese army wanted to open up the land transportation line and connect with the Southern Army. If the situation on the Southern Army side was not good, they could withdraw through the land transportation line.

It’s a pity that the idea was good.

Overall, the fighting was not too bad, but the result was that it accelerated the demise of the Japanese army.

Although the Nationalist army suffered a crushing defeat in the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi Campaign, the Japanese army did not gain much advantage either, suffering heavy casualties and illness. Furthermore, the already limited manpower situation became even more severe as the battle line widened.

The Japanese army could only hide in cities and transportation lines and could not mobilize any mobile forces.

Even Wei Hongjun had doubts.

If Tang Enbo had not lost the vigor he had in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan, with his abilities and the troops under his command, facing the severely weakened North China Front Army, could the Japanese army really have won the Battle of Central Henan if they had fought well?

The current Nationalist army's weapons and equipment are not bad. They also have the support of American aircraft. If the Nationalist army really fights to the death, the Japanese army will definitely not be able to open up the mainland transportation line.

However, Wei Hongjun is not a high-ranking official in Chongqing, so it is not Wei Hongjun's turn to consider such matters.

Wei Hongjun's early assessment of the Japanese army's strategic direction gave the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army ample opportunity to prepare. As long as the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were adequately prepared, they would definitely gain astonishing advantages during this major Japanese operation. Historically, the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi Campaign began in April.

Unfortunately, the North China Front's combat effectiveness had severely declined during this time, and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region was far too strong. The Japanese couldn't just arbitrarily withdraw troops southward to launch the Central Henan Campaign, as they had done in history. If they were to withdraw so many troops without preparation, they wouldn't be able to hold any of North China's major cities. They wouldn't even be able to hold Peking.

Therefore, the Japanese army reorganized a large number of independent guard teams into North China to fill the gaps left by the withdrawal of these troops.

Another reason was that the Jin-Cha-Ji troops were too strong and would cut off railways and roads at any time. Therefore, it took the Japanese army a little longer to prepare logistical supplies for this battle and send them to the front line.

Therefore, by May, the Japanese army had not yet taken action.

But now it's almost there.

The Japanese army began to gather along the Yellow River, and the next step was bound to be an attack on central Henan. If the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi Campaign broke out, the Eighth Route Army would have the opportunity to launch a major counterattack. After judging that the Japanese army was about to launch "Operation Number One", Wei Hongjun was in a very good mood. Wei Hongjun really did not expect that the Japanese army would still launch "Operation Number One" after such a drastic change in the situation.

It was a tactical victory, but strategically it was a complete failure.

The Japanese headquarters came up with a strategy entirely on the spur of the moment.

"Old Sui, did it succeed?"

"Of course, it's a very simple thing, not too difficult technically."

After the meeting, Wei Hongjun did not return to the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region immediately because the Jin-Cha-Yi Central Bureau had been established and would subsequently hold a meeting of the Jin-Cha-Yi Central Bureau, a meeting of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and so on.

Some personnel adjustments will also need to be made within Jin-Cha-Ji.

Marshal Nie, while having a good temper, was not the type to forgive his enemies with a smile after being slapped. Had it not been for Wei Hongjun's advances and the Chairman and the Commander-in-Chief's affirmation of Jin Cha Yi, Marshal Nie would not have been able to escape so easily.

Now Marshal Nie has returned to Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.

When he left, Marshal Nie was only the secretary of the Jin-Cha-Ji branch bureau. But when he returned, he was already a member of the Politburo and secretary of the Jin-Cha-Ji Central Bureau. Combined with his position as commander and political commissar of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, his position in the Jin-Cha-Ji region became preeminent.

Marshal Nie still had an idea of ​​what had happened.

Some people wanted to rip out the Black Tiger's heart and reap the fruits of Jin-Cha-Ji's rule. Their initial goal was to remove General Nie. Even if they couldn't remove him, they wanted to create a conflict between him and the Jin-Cha-Ji cadres and generals, so that he would lose control of the region. Although they ultimately failed, General Nie was still furious. Of course, General Nie would not resort to a major offensive, as that would easily cause internal unrest within the region, which would be detrimental to its future development.

However, Marshal Nie would not be lenient with matters that needed to be dealt with. He would reassure cadres who were navigating the situation without knowing their place.

As a member of the Central Bureau of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, Wei Hongjun also had to attend these meetings.

This time, Wang Qiuyun removed the "code" from his official title and became the commander of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region. Therefore, he still had a lot of work to do when he returned to the region. However, before Wang Qiuyun left Zhangjiakou, Wei Hongjun dragged him to see Sui Twelve.

Before leaving Zhangjiakou for Yan'an, Wei Hongjun specifically sought out Sui Shier to discuss weapon improvements, primarily the issue of "unscrupulous cannons."

The reason why Wei Hongjun was preparing to develop the conscienceless cannon was because the Eighth Route Army was about to launch a major counterattack.

After the Jin-Cha-Ji troops captured Zhangjiakou, Jining, and Baoding, the Japanese army realized that they also had a lot of infantry guns and mortars. As before, it would be difficult to use the city walls to stop the Eighth Route Army troops.

So they began to build various forts and bunkers on a large scale outside the city.

To deal with these bunkers, infantry guns and mortars are not impossible. However, compared to infantry guns and mortars, the most effective one is the conscienceless gun. It is simple to make, has no technical difficulties, and is extremely powerful.

The infantry guns currently used by the Eighth Route Army were mostly Japanese Type 92 infantry guns, and the largest shells were only about three kilograms. However, the unscrupulous guns could be loaded with ten or even twenty kilograms of explosives.

The power is completely different.

In the future, when attacking a city or even in positional warfare, the conscienceless cannon will still be very useful. Although it has many limitations, it is a very effective weapon for the Eighth Route Army to attack a city. So I told Sui Twelve about my thoughts.

When he came back this time, Wei Hongjun went straight to find Sui Twelve.

"Come on, let's go take a look."

"what?"

Wang Qiuyun was very confused.

There were many Japanese troops in the Rehe area. However, the more Japanese and puppet troops there were, the more difficult it would be to maintain their logistics. The Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region and the Hebei-Rehe-Liaoning Military Region had originally planned to force the Japanese and puppet troops out.

But the Japanese army was determined to stay in Rehe.

So even though there was a shortage of food, they still gritted their teeth and persevered.

As the 71st Division moved south, the Kwantung Army dispatched a large number of independent guards to Rehe. However, despite the increase in independent guards, the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops in Rehe continued to decline. Now that Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun had returned, it was a perfect opportunity for them to have a major fight. Why are you still wasting time?

"nice one."

Wei Hongjun spoke to Wang Qiuyun in a mysterious manner.

Wang Qiuyun was also curious when she heard it.

They soon arrived at the weapons testing site. Wei Hongjun spotted a section of a gasoline barrel buried in the ground, and then saw several people manipulating it. Sui Twelve said to Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun, "This thing is powerful, but inaccurate, and its range is only about 200 meters. Once it's fired, it's basically impossible to tell where it's going. But it's definitely heading towards the enemy, so don't worry about that."

Sui Twelve said this while making gestures to the arsenal staff.

Soon the staff came to the front of the "heartless cannon" and began to ignite the propellant.

Explosives quickly flew out from the gasoline barrel.

The range is indeed very short, only about 200 meters.

"boom-

"I go"

Wang Qiuyun was startled.

He jumped back a bit, staring with wide eyes and said, "What is this thing? It's so powerful."

It’s true.

The Ji-Re-Cha Military Region possessed a considerable number of artillery pieces. Wang Qiuyun had even seen the Japanese Type 38 field gun, a heavy artillery piece. However, the power of this field gun was comparable to this one.

It's really shocking.

But soon a smile appeared on Wang Qiuyun's face.

He said, "This thing is great. If we pull this thing out from those Japanese bunkers, underground bunkers, and defensive positions, we can hit them with one shot. Recently, the Japanese have built a lot of bunkers, underground bunkers, and hidden bunkers around Chifeng. I briefly tested it and it's very difficult to break through. It's much more difficult than when we took Zhangjiakou. If we pull this thing up, it will be a heavy artillery."

Wang Qiuyun walked forward and looked left and right.

Then he said loudly: "Old Sui, can this thing be mass-produced? Is it easy to operate?"

"Manufacturing is easy, and there are no technical difficulties. Although there are many problems to solve during use, after many trials, we have found a way to use it safely. Now, as long as you want it, there are enough gasoline barrels, and we can give you as many as you want.

While this thing is easy to build, it's not as easy to use as a mortar or grenade launcher. It requires specialized training. Because it's a relatively simple weapon, it's easy to blow yourself up if you don't operate it correctly. It requires specialized training. Ideally, it should be handled by engineering troops, as they're more familiar with it.

"That's no problem."

Wang Qiuyun said proudly, "Our Eighth Column, no, our Ji-Re-Cha Military Region has no shortage of engineering troops. The reason our civil engineering work in the Ji-Re-Cha Military Region is so good is because we have specialized engineering troops. If we can get one or two hundred of these, I can immediately capture Chifeng when I get back."

"Is this thing useful?"

Sui Twelve was a little confused when he saw Wang Qiuyun was happy.

Compared to the 50mm and 60mm cannons, mortars, and infantry guns currently produced by the arsenal, this thing was just junk in Sui Twelve's eyes. If Wei Hongjun hadn't solemnly requested it before going to Yan'an, he would never have considered developing such an outdated weapon.

The conscienceless cannon had been tested many times and now had no technical or operational problems. But Sui Twelve still couldn't understand why Wang Qiuyun was so happy about this backward weapon that could only hit within 200 to 300 meters and had no accuracy.

In Twelve's opinion, this kind of primitive weapon should not appear on the modern battlefield.

Wei Hongjun looked at Sui Twelve and said with a smile, "Old Sui, you are a university professor and a great intellectual. Although you have been in the military industry for many years, manufacturing weapons for our troops and are very familiar with weapons, you have never fought in a war after all. You are a layman in this area.

Although this thing has many shortcomings and seems to be very backward, if used properly, it is a powerful battlefield weapon, capable of inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese and puppet troops. By the way, are there enough gasoline cans?

"There are plenty. After the capture of Zhangjiakou, a large number of gasoline barrels were seized."

"Then make a hundred for the Ji-Re-Cha Military Region. We'll need them when we return. We'll soon send an engineering corps over to learn from them."

"it is good."

"And this thing is very useful. We should promote it throughout our Jin-Cha-Ji region. Maybe the Jin-Cha-Ji troops will need it when they capture Baoding and Shijiazhuang."

Chapter 550: Battle of Central Henan

The situation is developing rapidly.

The Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region had just finished a meeting and reported to Yan'an. After analyzing the situation, Yan'an believed that Jin-Cha-Ji's analysis was reasonable.

So while passing the analysis to Chongqing, he ordered the 129th Division to form a southbound force. Because the 129th Division was in a very good position, it was the easiest to form a southbound force.

The troops can move south to control the Central Plains bases such as northern Henan and western Henan.

At the same time, Yan'an also passed this news to the New Fourth Army headquarters.

Let the New Fourth Army be prepared as well.

After receiving the telegram from Yan'an, Chiang Kai-shek also convened a meeting of his senior officials. In fact, the Nationalist army was not unprepared since the Japanese troops were stationed along the Yellow River. They were not fools or blind. Seeing the heavy concentration of Japanese troops along the Yellow River, they would have thought that the Japanese army's target was the Chinese army in Henan.

But they couldn't figure out the Japanese army's specific thoughts.

What exactly do the Japanese army want?

Neither side had fought for quite some time. Was the Japanese army planning a full-scale conflict with the Nationalist army? Furthermore, the Nationalist army now looked down on the Japanese. Japan was beaten like a traitor by the United States in the Pacific Theater. To counter the US's constant withdrawal of troops from the Chinese battlefield, both the China Expeditionary Army and the Kwantung Army were now significantly weakened. Under such circumstances, could the Japanese army still be capable of launching a large-scale campaign?

If it were the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the National Army would definitely be nervous now.

But what about the Japanese army now?

Therefore, the National Army has always been unable to guess what the Japanese army is trying to do when they gather troops in northern Henan.

The Eighth Route Army's analysis indicated that the Japanese were attempting to open up their land transportation lines. This immediately alarmed many high-ranking members of the Nationalist Army. After all, these individuals had fought on the battlefield for many years and possessed excellent foresight. Therefore, they immediately agreed with the Eighth Route Army's analysis and began to analyze the Japanese army's next move: first, attack central Henan, then Hunan, and finally Guangxi.

When Chiang Kai-shek saw this analysis, he immediately became nervous.

Chiang Kai-shek immediately appointed Tang Enbo, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the First War Zone, as commander-in-chief of the front lines to block the Japanese advance southward. He deployed troops defending Guangwu, Huishui, and the rivers east of them to prevent the Japanese from crossing the river. If the enemy successfully crossed, he would occupy the areas around Xingyang, Zhengzhou, Nanchuan, Changge, and Xuchang, establish fortifications, and wear down the exhausted Japanese forces. Meanwhile, part of Tang Enbo's corps and the 4th Army formed a defensive zone from Mixian to Huishui in the mountainous terrain north of Dengfeng and Mixian. Furthermore, an offensive zone was established deep in the areas of Linru, Mixian, Yuxian, and Yexian. The 78th and 89th Armies held the four strongholds of Xuchang, Bucheng, Suiping, and Wuyang, while the 72nd, 13th, and 29th Armies were secretly assembled in the offensive zone, all under the command of Tang Enbo, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the First War Zone, to engage in a decisive battle with the Japanese.

Henan actually has a lot of troops.

More than 400,000 to nearly 500,000 troops.

Henan also had the most problems. This was because the relationship between Chiang Ting-wen, commander-in-chief of the First War Zone, and Tang Enbo, deputy commander-in-chief, was very bad. Chiang Ting-wen had his own office, and Tang Enbo also had his own office.