Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

After all, they had heard of the reputation of the PLA's 18th Corps. The 18th Corps was a force that emerged during the Anti-Japanese War and had swept across Hebei. However, after the PLA's 18th Corps came into contact with Huang Wei's Nationalist Corps, the combat effectiveness it displayed surprised Huang Wei's corps.

This should not be the combat effectiveness of the 18th Corps.

Many of them advised Huang Wei not to continue advancing, fearing that they would fall into the trap of the People's Liberation Army.

But Chiang Kai-shek kept ordering Huang Wei to advance. Huang Wei also believed that the 18th Corps' reputation wasn't earned through hard work, but rather through hype. This was primarily because, in Huang Wei's view, both the Sun Lianzhong and Pang Bingxun factions were a mob.

The PLA was able to sweep them away only because their combat effectiveness was poor.

If it were the Fourth Field Army, Huang Wei wouldn't have underestimated it so much. In Northeast China, the Fourth Field Army was an elite force equipped with American and semi-American weapons that had annihilated half of the Nationalist army. So Huang Wei continued to follow Chiang Kai-shek's orders and kept moving forward.

As a result, they fell into a trap and were surrounded by the 18th, 19th and 20th Corps.

The Fifth Field Army moved south, with the 21st Corps going to Shandong and fighting under General Xu Shiyou. The 22nd Corps went to the Third Field Army and fought under General Su. Yang Quanwu personally led the 18th, 19th, and 20th Corps.

Yang Quanwu led three corps and had previously participated in the attack on reinforcements. This time, the goal was to annihilate Huang Wei's corps.

After encircling Huang Wei's corps, the 18th Corps immediately demonstrated its combat effectiveness, directly blocking Huang Wei's corps. Huang Wei organized elite troops several times to break through, but he didn't expect that the 18th Corps, which had been retreating step by step, would be like a wall.

No chance at all.

Huang Wei had no choice but to break out from the 19th and 20th Corps.

But it also failed.

The 18th, 19th, and 20th Corps were not the historical Second Field Army. With the exception of General Chen's Fourth Corps, the remaining Second Field Army units had barely recovered from their exit from the Dabie Mountains. As a result, the Second Field Army surrounded Huang Wei's Corps but was unable to defeat it. Ultimately, the Third Field Army had to dispatch troops to finally defeat Huang Wei's Corps. This demonstrates the combat effectiveness of Huang Wei's Corps.

Unfortunately, this time it was the Fifth Field Army that surrounded Huang Wei.

The weapons and equipment are very good.

Even compared to Huang Wei's Corps, it was not much behind. Huang Wei's several attempts to break out were unsuccessful. Not only did he fail, but he was also besieged by the 18th, 19th, and 20th Corps, suffering heavy casualties.

In terms of offensive capabilities, the 20th Corps was undoubtedly one of the best in North China. The 71st and 72nd Armies were known for their ferocious offensives. Both Song Yulin, commander of the 71st Army, and Ding Sheng, commander of the 72nd Army, were experts in offensive warfare.

Huang Wei's Corps lost one position after another.

Huang Wei was extremely anxious during this period.

I didn't expect such a good thing to happen. The more Huang Wei thought about it, the happier he became. He couldn't help but laugh out loud, "World War II proved that the United States is invincible. Now the Communist bandits dare to provoke the Americans. The Communist bandits' end is coming. World War III is coming, hahahaha."

“Will the Americans really join the war?”

"Of course. What kind of country is the United States? The Communists actually dared to provoke them. They simply want to die. I don't think the Communists have the guts to provoke the Americans. I guess they don't even know that they are facing the US military. Otherwise, they wouldn't dare to provoke them even if they had ten times the courage. But now that the Americans have been angered, how can they swallow their anger? The United States will definitely send troops to teach these ignorant Communists a lesson. Our chance has come.

Huang Wei really becomes more and more beautiful the more I think about it.

The leisurely feeling during this period disappeared in an instant.

So he shouted, "Tell the brothers below that the United States is about to join the war. World War III is coming. As long as we hold on for a while longer and wait for the United States to join the war, the Communist bandits will be unable to grow any longer."

"Yes."

"Boom boom boom

"Da Da Da—

"Commander, Commander."

Someone ran in hurriedly.

"Commander, this is bad. Liao Yunzhou has defected, and the People's Liberation Army has launched a general offensive from all directions."

Chapter 738 Stalin’s Choice

"Comrade Stalin, this is what Bevin just said at the press conference."

Moscow, Soviet Union.

Mikoyan handed Stalin the content of the statement just made by British Foreign Secretary Bevin.

Stalin took it and looked at it.

After seeing the contents inside, a sarcastic smile appeared on his lips, and then he threw it aside.

Said: "A bunch of idiots, a disgrace to us."

Bevin stated that the world today needs a Western alliance to jointly counter the threat from the Chinese Communist Party. This was essentially a countermeasure against the threat from the Soviet Union. After World War II, Britain and France were deeply terrified of the Soviet Union.

The truth is, during World War II, the Soviet Union's behavior was incredibly frenzied. Hundreds of thousands of casualties in a single battle, and the Soviets didn't bat an eye. Britain and France simply couldn't handle such frenzy. If the Soviets had used such frenzy against Britain and France, they would have been unstoppable. Furthermore, World War II dealt a heavy blow to Britain and France.

The economies of Britain and France were very bad after the war.

The economies of Britain and France were in ruins, and workers' movements were rising and falling. Behind these workers' movements was the Soviet Union.

Britain and France were wary of both the Soviet Union's military might and its export of revolution. As established imperialist nations and former world hegemons, Britain and France had their own pride.

Deep down, they look down on the United States.

But reality is pressing.

While they despised the "barbarian" United States, they feared the Soviet Union even more. The United States aspired to be Britain and France's superior, while the Soviet Union aimed to overthrow their regimes. The socialist revolution the Soviet Union exported was the mortal enemy of their own capitalism. Therefore, Britain and France absolutely could not bow to the Soviet Union. To counter the Soviet Union, Britain and France had previously signed the Anglo-French Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance. This military alliance, intended to guard against the emergence of a nation like Nazi Germany, was essentially designed to counter the Soviet Union.

But Britain and France understood.

Relying solely on Britain and France, let alone fighting against the Soviet Union, even their own economic crisis would be difficult to resolve in a short period of time.

Although Britain and France don't understand, they know they need the United States now.

Bevin's proposal for a Western Alliance wasn't a British idea, but an American one. At the recent meeting of the foreign ministers of Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union, significant disagreements arose. The conflict between the two sides, particularly over Germany, was particularly acute, leading to the breakdown of the conference. The United States, after all, was far removed from continental Europe, so he sought to consolidate Western European power. Bevin's words echoed Marshall's own.

The reason why Stalin mocked was because he looked down on Britain and France.

No matter how powerful Britain and France were, they were once the world hegemons.

Now it has become the United States's follower, and Britain has become the mouthpiece of the United States. The two countries signed the "Anglo-French Alliance and Mutual Assistance Treaty"

As if that weren't enough, they were so scared that they had to worship the United States as their big brother. This really brought shame to the old imperialism.

"Comrade Stalin, Britain, the United States, and France are planning to form a military alliance.

Malenkov spoke.

He continued, "Recently, some newspapers in Western European countries have been claiming that we are behind the CCP's actions, allowing it to test the United States. This is why the CCP and the US military clashed. They say this is our conspiracy, and they shouldn't be fooled."

After the conflict between the People's Liberation Army and the US military, the most anxious countries were Europe and Europe, mainly Britain and France.

Britain and France are currently in urgent need of support from the United States.

The primary need is financial support from the United States. Countries with strong industrial bases like Britain and France can quickly recover their economies with an influx of capital. Europe currently lacks capital, and the only country capable of providing it is the United States.

If a conflict between the United States and China in East Asia, or even between the United States and the Soviet Union, a conflict in East Asia, were to occur, how could the United States possibly care about European issues? Therefore, Britain and France quickly responded, beginning to claim that this was a Soviet conspiracy. The Soviet Union was deliberately stirring up trouble in East Asia in order to undermine the Western alliance.

Stalin asked: "What is the situation in China? What is the current situation of the Chinese Communist Army and the US Army?

The PLA and the US military clashed.

This is a big deal.

Needless to say, the United States, Europe, and the Soviet Union were all paying attention to this matter. However, this incident happened so suddenly that Stalin didn't know what to do. Therefore, the Soviet Union has not yet made a statement.

Mikoyan said: "The Chinese Communist Party accuses the United States of interfering in China's civil war."

"There's no need to report this kind of thing. Just tell me what they're doing now."

Stalin tapped his pipe.

What's so good about a war of words? Michael Yang stood up straight and said, "The Chinese Communist Party has over 30 troops in Shandong. They've already gathered over troops in Qingdao, setting up positions outside the city. Wedemeyer has also assembled nearly three million Marines in Qingdao to confront the Chinese Communist Army."

“The CCP didn’t retreat?”

"No. According to the intelligence we have received, the Chinese Communist Army has not only not retreated, but has been sending more troops. And news from the Northeast is that the Chinese Communist Army in the Northeast is using the railway to move south.

Stalin stood up.

He came to the map, looked at it, and asked, "How many troops does the CCP have in the Northeast, and how many are heading south now?"

"The CCP has at least one million troops in Northeast China. According to the intelligence we have received, more than half of the CCP's troops in Northeast China are heading south, and the estimated number is no less than 700,000.

“There are quite a few Chinese Communist Party troops.”

"Comrade Stalin, China is a populous country, and what it lacks most is people. According to our current intelligence analysis, the CCP currently has nearly 400 million main forces in China, as well as a large number of local forces. If the CCP needs it, it will not be difficult to mobilize or million troops."

"Li Desheng is an interesting person."

Stalin puffed out his cigarette.

Suddenly, he wanted to meet the Chinese Communist Party leader. He hadn't expected the CCP to make such a choice. However, the number of troops and combat effectiveness are not the same thing. So Stalin asked, "What is the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Communist Party's army?"

Vasilevsky immediately said, "Judging from the recent clash between the 74th Army of the Chinese Communist Army and the US Army, the Chinese Communist Army is still very combat-capable. Our General Staff has carefully studied the composition of the Chinese Communist Army. The 74th Army that clashed with the US Army this time is not the most elite unit among their forces. However, in this clash with the US Marine Corps, the US Marines suffered heavy casualties and even lost two positions. If it weren't for the disparity in weaponry, perhaps the Chinese Communist Army could have entered Qingdao."

"Is there really such combat power?"

Stalin was somewhat unconvinced.

Is the Chinese army also combat-ready?

"Yes."

Vasilevsky nodded.

Vasilevsky continued, "There are countless units within the Chinese Communist Army that are more powerful than the 74th Army. Just in North China, where the 74th Army is located, there are five or six armies with over 20 troops more powerful than them. What the Chinese Communist Army lacks most right now is weapons and equipment."

"If their weapons and equipment were better, would they be able to fight against the US military?"

Stalin was very shocked.

I didn’t expect that the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Communist Army has reached this level.

Vasilevsky did not answer immediately.

Because this question is difficult to answer. After thinking for a while, Vasilevsky said, "Comrade Stalin, it's hard for me to say. After all, we have never fought a war with the US military. But judging from this conflict, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Communist Army is not to be underestimated. If they have good weapons and equipment, they should have no problem fighting a certain number of US troops."

"How many American troops do you think you can fight against?"

“If the weapons and equipment are good, it shouldn’t be a problem to contain at least 400,000 or 500,000 people.

Vasilevsky answered affirmatively.

“Four or five hundred thousand, four or five hundred thousand.

Stalin was always thinking.

At the end of World War II, the US military had approximately 1300 million troops. However, within two years of the end of World War II, the military was severely reduced.

Hundreds of thousands of troops were cut almost every month, and now the entire US military has only about two million troops.

If China could tie down four or five hundred thousand American troops, it would be a good thing for the Soviet Union.