Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Yang Quanwu understood that both he and Guo Tianmin had hot tempers. Discussions with Marshal Nie had ultimately turned into arguments, and they were powerless to stop him from cutting down the troops. Wei Hongjun, however, had a plan. Not only had he made preparations well in advance, but he had also seen the situation and immediately adopted a different approach to persuade Marshal Nie.

Guo Tianmin said on the side: "Fortunately, we have made preparations in advance this time. Originally, we prepared those things to fool the Americans and the Kuomintang, so that they could not figure out how many troops we have in Jin-Cha-Ji. In this way, when we reduce the army, we will have a lot of room. I didn't expect that the things we are doing now will become to fool the commander. But no matter what, it is a good thing. We have made enough preparations. Otherwise, if we reduce the army according to the commander's statement, we will really be seriously injured. The commander meant that our first round of reduction is one-third, and there will be a certain scale of reduction later. In the end, Jin-Cha-Ji will retain 20. About 13 field troops, and around local troops. If that were the case, how could we continue the war? The situation on our side isn't very good right now. Since arriving in Taiyuan, Yan Xishan has recruited a large number of Japanese and puppet troops in Taiyuan and Datong, even retaining entire Japanese units. His forces have expanded again, reaching over men. In southern Shanxi, there are also troops dispatched by Hu Zongnan. Wu Shimin's force has expanded by over and is currently under Hu Zongnan's command. Our Yanbei Military Region is currently under immense pressure, sandwiched between Taiyuan and Datong. If we follow the commander's plan to reduce our forces, how will we cope with Yan Xishan's forces in the future?

Guo Tianmin's expression was the ugliest.

Although Guo Tianmin also came from a cadre background in the Jin-Cha-Ji region and served in the Jin-Cha-Ji Revolution for eight years, his relationship with Marshal Nie was not as close as Yang Quanwu's. However, Guo Tianmin was no ordinary person and enjoyed a very good relationship with the central leadership. Chairman Mao, in particular, greatly liked and admired him.

He truly felt the pressure in the Yanbei area.

It was obvious that Yan Xishan had reorganized so many Japanese and puppet troops, especially the fully-organized retained Japanese troops, specifically for the purpose of fighting. How could he reduce the army at this time? What made Guo Tianmin even more amused was that everyone had previously thought about how to convince Marshal Nie to join in deceiving the Americans and the Kuomintang.

I didn't expect that it would become a trick to fool Marshal Nie.

What is going on?

Wang Zhi, the political commissar of the First Field Army of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region, also nodded, supporting Guo Tianmin's statement.

Wei Hongjun said, "I think the commander is under a lot of pressure. We in Jin-Cha-Ji are too close to the Beiping Military Mediation Center. The Americans and the Kuomintang in the Beiping Military Mediation Center are all targeting us in Jin-Cha-Ji. Now that the KMT and the Communist Party are negotiating, if we in Jin-Cha-Ji don't make some noise and carry out some disarmament work, how can we show our sincerity for peace? So we in Jin-Cha-Ji must disarm. This is not only to show the Americans and the Kuomintang, but also to show the supporters of peace across the country. The commander must consider not only the military battle, but also the political battle."

Wei Hongjun made some excuses for Marshal Nie.

"Yes."

Wang Zhi nodded.

He said: "Now all parties are watching us, Jin-Cha-Ji, and the commander is under great pressure. We, Jin-Cha-Ji, are big trees that attract wind. Among all the bases, we have a large territory and a large number of troops. Now if we want to negotiate and reduce the troops, we, Jin-Cha-Ji, will inevitably bear the brunt. We must not only adopt the posture of disarmament, but also reduce the troops in a real way. But our disarmament means cutting off the excess troops of the field army and improving the combat effectiveness of the field army. I think we should use this opportunity to thoroughly complete the regularization of the army's logistics so that our field army can go into battle lightly.

Wei Hongjun set a good example.

Field troops consolidated their disorganized logistics organizations into the Logistics Department, and other units were also configured for combat. No other considerations were needed. Previously, everyone operated independently, and if they fought across regions, they had to worry about supply issues, the placement of the wounded, and so on.

Now that the military region has established a logistics department to unify management, this problem has been perfectly solved.

Field troops didn't have to worry about these things. If they were short of men, they would ask the logistics department for new recruits. If they were short of supplies, they would simply ask the local logistics agency, no matter where they were. And if they had wounded soldiers, they didn't have to worry; they could just hand them over to the local logistics department, who would make all the necessary arrangements.

Field troops only need to think about fighting.

The Third Field Army has already completed this, and the First and Second Field Armies have only recently begun this work. This is a good opportunity to take advantage of the current disarmament to completely complete the formalization of logistics.

"Red Army, how long does this take?"

Yang Quanwu asked Wei Hongjun.

Over the years, Wei Hongjun has repeatedly correctly judged the development of the situation, which has made the cadres of Jin-Cha-Ji region trust him quite a bit.

It's the same this time.

If Wei Hongjun hadn't informed everyone a few months ago, this time wouldn't have been so calm. The Jin-Cha-Ji Army currently has a large organization and many numbers, but many of them are empty numbers with few people.

Even Marshal Nie was preparing to downsize the army, so he was shocked when he investigated the situation of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops.

Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei sent more than 100,000 people to the Northeast, but according to the current organization, there are still more than 500,000 people, nearly 600,000 people, in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.

The Peking Military Mediation Office was also shocked after receiving this report from Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.

However, they had no doubts. This was because the Jin-Cha-Ji region had performed so well during the War of Resistance. Without so many troops, how could they have fought so effectively? Therefore, the Beiping Military Mediation Office was dissatisfied with the reduction of one-third of the Jin-Cha-Ji region's troops. Because the Jin-Cha-Ji region had so many troops, even if they reduced one-third, the main force and local troops would still number nearly 400,000.

Therefore, it is hoped that after Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei has reduced its military by one-third, it will continue to reduce its troops.

Wei Hongjun said: "Now the National Army is just delaying time with us so that their troops can prepare. The National Army has millions of troops in the southwest, and it will take more than half a year to transport so many troops to the front line. So I estimate that the National Army will have to prepare for war by April at the latest. And then they will definitely find some excuses to create friction with us, and then fight with us. In this way, the time will be the end of May or the beginning of June." Yang Quanwu began to consider in his mind.

It is now the end of February.

In other words, this time of disarmament can be overcome.

Guo Tianmin said, "Old Yang, Old Wang, I need your support here. I think we should not only not cut back on our troops, but expand them. After cutting down the old and weak and merging the logistics units like we did with the Third Field Army, I want to ensure that my Second Field Army still has at least 50,000 combat personnel. I can't cut these troops anymore because Yan Xishan's troops on the Tongpu Road are numerous. But if the military region no longer supports us, then it will be difficult for us, the Yanbei Military Region, to support so many troops alone."

Guo Tianmin is not someone who bows his head easily.

But this time he had no choice.

After the establishment of the field army, each unit was still able to obtain supplies from the military region. However, according to Marshal Nie's intention, in order to reduce the military, Marshal Nie wanted to cut off the logistical supplies of each unit, especially the field army.

Yang Quanwu nodded.

The Yanbei region is poor, even poorer than Wei Hongjun’s Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region.

It is not easy to feed 50,000 combatants. In Jin-Cha-Ji, the only two regions that can support them are the Central Hebei Military Region and the Hebei-Shandong Military Region, which have money, supplies, and personnel.

Just as everyone was discussing the next situation, Zhu Liangcai walked in from outside. He sat down next to Wei Hongjun and said, "The commander just spoke to Comrade Yao Yilin, Comrade Liu Ding, and Comrade Liu Zaisheng."

Everyone's faces turned ugly.

So he looked at Zhu Liangcai. Zhu Liangcai frowned and said, "The commander means that since the army is going to be disarmed, our military factories must also reduce their production tasks."

"How could this happen? Our greatest advantage is our powerful military-industrial complex, which can provide the troops with large quantities of weapons and ammunition. Military factories should be operating normally right now to prepare for future battles. How can we reduce production targets? No, I need to speak to the commander."

Guo Tianmin stood up angrily.

Wei Hongjun immediately stepped in front of Guo Tianmin and said, "Commander Guo, calm down, calm down." Wei Hongjun was now truly certain that Marshal Nie truly wanted peace. Marshal Nie always said that the army and people of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei were tired of war, but Wei Hongjun now believed that Marshal Nie was the most war-weary.

Everyone was acting, except Marshal Nie, who was tricked into going in. He really thought peace was possible.

But at this moment, it was even more impossible to go against Marshal Nie. After all, Marshal Nie was the top leader of the Party, government, and military in Jin-Cha-Ji, and the only Politburo member in Jin-Cha-Ji. Furthermore, local Party members like Liu Huafu also supported disarmament.

At this time, we should persuade Marshal Nie instead of arguing with him.

Guo Tianmin, like Yang Quanwu, possessed a stubborn temper. If things got serious, they might even come into direct conflict with Marshal Nie. Just as in history, Guo Tianmin directly criticized Marshal Nie at a meeting, leading to a complete falling out between the two. Ultimately, Guo Tianmin could no longer remain in the Jin-Cha-Ji region, forcing him to move to the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu region. Guo Tianmin was a skilled general, and Jin-Cha-Ji needed him.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Commander Yang and I will go talk to Marshal Nie."

"Commander."

Yang Quanwu and Wei Hongjun immediately came to Marshal Nie's office.

Prepare to have a private talk with Marshal Nie.

"You guys played a good trick."

Marshal Nie snorted coldly when he saw Yang Quanwu and Wei Hongjun.

Marshal Nie was indeed fooled during the meeting. However, as the Secretary of the Central Bureau of the Jin-Cha-Ji region, Commander and Political Commissar of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and Commander and Political Commissar of the Jin-Cha-Ji Field Army, Marshal Nie was undoubtedly the top leader of the Party, government, and military in Jin-Cha-Ji. Many things could not be circumvented by Marshal Nie.

Marshal Nie is not a fool.

After the meeting, after a little thought, he understood what was going on. Marshal Nie was well aware of the strength of the Jin-Cha-Ji troops. But how could he possibly trust so many troops coming out at once?

So after the meeting, I came back and thought about it carefully, and immediately understood what tricks Yang Quanwu, Wei Hongjun and others were playing.

Marshal Nie had been focusing more on base construction in recent months, and he had begun to consider what would happen after peace. Therefore, the daily operations of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region and the Jin-Cha-Ji Field Army were overseen by Wei Hongjun. Since there had been no fighting in recent months, Marshal Nie hadn't paid much attention to the military region and field army operations. Yet, in just a few months, so many confusing designations had appeared. Marshal Nie had single-handedly developed the Jin-Cha-Ji base area; how could he have believed so many troops would appear in just a few months?

Marshal Nie knew that since the decision had already been made at the meeting and he had been fooled, it would be difficult to go back on his word. However, Marshal Nie did have some solutions. After all, he was the top leader of Jin-Cha-Ji and had plenty of ways to solve this problem.

So he chose to start from the military industry.

All the princes under his command wanted to retain their troops, so Marshal Nie cut them off at the source.

"Commander, we didn't mean to do this."

Wei Hongjun said immediately.

Marshal Nie is angry at this time, and you must not resist.

"We originally wanted to persuade the commander, but the atmosphere was so tense, so this is all I could do."

"What do you want?"

Marshal Nie was also helpless.

A disarmament plan was unexpectedly opposed by all the frontline generals in Jin-Cha-Ji. Even Yang Quanwu, Wei Hongjun, and other close associates of Marshal Nie were against it. This shocked Marshal Nie and also made him hesitate.

After all, so many people opposed it, almost all the military leaders in Jin, Chahar and Ji opposed it.

Marshal Nie must also have to think about it.

"Commander, we all long for peace. But shouldn't we gradually disarm and wait and see how the situation develops? If peace truly prevails, we will continue disarmament according to plan. We would even support a two-thirds reduction. However, if the situation becomes unfavorable, we can completely stop disarmament. Chiang Kai-shek cannot be trusted. Can we forget the lessons of April 12th?"

Yang Quanwu wanted to say something, but Wei Hongjun held him back.

Wei Hongjun knew Yang Quanwu had a bad temper. Even when facing Marshal Nie, he would say anything if his temper flared up. In the current situation, he should go along with Marshal Nie, not confront him.

Marshal Nie shook his head and said, "You think too much. Chiang Kai-shek is untrustworthy, but this time the peace plan is mediated by the United States. With the United States' guarantee, Chiang Kai-shek will never dare to do anything."

"Commander, don't forget. We are currently engaged in a fierce battle with the Nationalist Army in Northeast China. Moreover, the Nationalist Army in Northeast China was transported by American warships. Chiang Kai-shek cannot be trusted, and neither can the Americans."

Yang Quanwu still couldn't help it.

“The Northeast’s problems are complex.”

Marshal Nie still didn't give in.

Wei Hongjun frowned and said, "Commander, we don't harm anyone, but we can't be completely defenseless. We used some tricks and some deceptions, but we also carried out real disarmament.

If peace truly comes, our forces can still be rapidly disarmed in a short period of time. I promised the commander that as long as peace is truly established, our Third Field Army will retain three brigades. However, if this peace proves to be false, we must always have combat-ready forces on hand.

"Do you know how many eyes are on us in Jin-Cha-Ji right now?"

Marshal Nie looked at his two favorite generals, Yang Quanwu and Wei Hongjun, and suppressed his anger.

Although angry at Yang Quanwu and Wei Hongjun, Marshal Nie knew they were truly acting in his best interest. When Wei Hongjun heard Marshal Nie's words, he realized there was a chance for a turnaround. He immediately said, "Commander, precisely because so many eyes are on us, the Jin-Cha-Ji Army, we must make a big announcement. We must cancel those old designations and let the outside world see that we, the Jin-Cha-Ji Army, are truly demobilizing."

"Number, number. Who came up with this idea? How come we in Jin Cha Ji have so many numbers?

Although Marshal Nie asked questions, he still looked at Wei Hongjun.

Among the generals under his command, Wei Hongjun had the most clever ideas.

Wei Hongjun replied, "Commander, ever since we signed the peace agreement with Chiang Kai-shek, I've known that both sides would definitely disarm. Therefore, I've discussed with everyone about increasing our organization and establishing more units. When the time comes for us to disarm the Jin-Cha-Yi region, we can do so with ease. Commander, we're doing this to confuse the Americans and Chiang Kai-shek. It doesn't mean we don't support peace. We're reluctant to part with our troops, but we're just being prepared. As long as we're sure this time is truly peaceful, we'll absolutely support disarmament the next time, and no one will object. Commander Yang, don't you agree?"

Wei Hongjun arrested Yang Quanwu.

Yang Quanwu immediately said, "Commander, I want to express my stance here.

If there is truly peace this time, I will retain five brigades of our First Field Army without hesitation."

Yang Quanwu suddenly thought of what Wei Hongjun said.

So he reassured, "Commander, just two months. We'll wait and see. As long as, after two months, both sides truly want peace, then I'll keep my word and there will be no second thoughts about disarmament."

Marshal Nie frowned.

Because Marshal Nie already understood the attitudes of Yang Quanwu and Wei Hongjun.

They are all firmly opposed to large-scale disarmament, and do not believe in peace at all. Now that these generals are opposed, it will be really difficult to push forward the disarmament work in Jin-Cha-Ji. Therefore, Marshal Nie thought for a while and said: "Two months, just two months. The first two months will be based on the meeting plan for disarmament, and after two months,

"We must not say anything."