Liu Yimin led the first battalion of guards back to Weixian by car, and when he arrived in Jiaoxian, he joined Zeng Zhongsheng, who had already arrived here.

At this time, Tan Zheng and Guo Huaruo had not yet arrived, and there was only one leader in the Ludong command of the Eighth Route Army.

Since Liu Yimin rescued him from Zhang Guotao, Zeng Zhongsheng has lived very freely in a good environment for his tutor. Not to mention Liu Yimin's cheerfulness and generosity, nor Luo Ronghuan's elder's demeanor, fairness and decency, and Cai Zhong's rock-solid will, just the atmosphere of unity and victory that permeated the entire army made him feel that he was truly in a big revolutionary family. In particular, Liu Yimin's use of cadres is an absolute person who makes the best use of his talents, and several battles have authorized him to command one aspect of the operation with full authority.

Now that the instructor has eliminated the Eighth Division, one of the most elite units of the Yue Army, the fool knows that the Yue Army will inevitably take extreme retaliatory measures. At this time, as the supreme leader of our party and our army in Shandong, Liu Yimin ordered the establishment of the Ludong Command of the Eighth Route Army to unify the command of our army in Ludong to resist the struggle.

During the war years, life and death existed between the front line, and between comrades-in-arms, today it is said to be a happy gathering, and it is said that it may be the separation of yin and yang. Therefore, the friendship between comrades-in-arms is very important. Seeing Liu Yimin returning from Qingdao, Zeng Zhongsheng was overjoyed, asked the soldiers to boil water for cooking, and arranged for Liu Yimin and his party to rest.

Liu Yimin was in no mood to rest at this time, so he asked Li Chengyi to hang up the map of Shandong, pull Zeng Zhongsheng, and study the possible offensive route of the Yue army against the map.

Zeng Zhongsheng is indeed a famous military strategist in our army, and in history, he was killed too early by Zhang Guotao, otherwise, the position of the top ten marshals may have to be rearranged, and maybe he will become eleven marshals. Of course, no one can decide the fate of man, and history has no assumptions.

The two of them looked at the map for a while, and Zeng Zhongsheng said worriedly: "Division commander, I have a very bad premonition, saying that if the army does not move this time, it will be a big encirclement and sweep beyond our imagination. Because, you see, now that central Hebei, southern Hebei, and western Hebei are connected, and the border of Hebei and Luxi is basically under the control of our army, the army is fighting back and forth, and the North China Plain has become our world. ”

Liu Yimin looked at the map and smiled himself, the situation is indeed gratifying, if you add Shandong, the little devils in North China are already surrounded by the bases of the Eighth Route Army, and only the Pingjin area and the Jinpu line and the Pinghan line are left. If he cut off the devils on the Jinpu line again, wouldn't the entire Shandong and North China Plain be connected and become a powerful anti-Japanese base area? If the devils on the Pinghan Line and the Pingjin area are eliminated again, won't this North China become the world of the Eighth Route Army?

Thinking of the excitement, Liu Yimin couldn't help but lick his chapped lips with his tongue.

Zeng Zhongsheng watched it funny on the side, so he reminded: "It's a pity that the little devils will not sit idly by and watch the Eighth Route Army develop and grow in North China, and at this stage they still have enough strength to destroy our base area." ”

Liu Yimin nodded and asked, "Chief of Staff, do you have any good ideas for the next step to break the encirclement and suppression of devils?" ”

Zeng Zhongsheng thought for a while and said: "Division commander, first of all, I have to remind you that this army is different from the [***] who fought with us during the Red Army, their will to fight is very strong, our army has won so many battles, and only when the Qingdao garrison was eliminated did it capture hundreds of prisoners, but this Qingdao garrison is not strictly speaking the elite troops of the army, it is just a group of police used to maintain social order. From the elimination of the cavalry wing of the 5th Division to the elimination of the 8th Division, these little devils fought to the last man and refused to give up until they were all killed. I'm afraid the next battle will be very tragic! ”

Liu Yimin nodded again and motioned for Zeng Zhongsheng to continue.

Zeng Zhongsheng continued: "Why do we judge that the next retaliatory sweep of the Yue army will be extremely tragic? I see it this way, one is that it is impossible for the army to accept the fact that the permanent divisions and regiments have been wiped out by us, and this is too irritating for them. You must know that from the establishment of the army to the present, they have never suffered such a big defeat, they can't get over their face, and they can't explain themselves at home and abroad, so they have to retaliate! The second is that it is even more impossible for the army to tolerate the fact that they drove away at the front door and entered the Eighth Route at the back door, and the current situation in North China is more unpleasant, that is, the army is busy coming and going, and in the end it provides an opportunity for the Eighth Route Army to develop and grow, and this fact is even more unacceptable to the army. Revenge is a must! Third, since the beginning of the war, the results of our instructors have been so great that they have been unable to eat or sleep. In this way, we have become stronger and stronger, and the lieutenant generals and major generals of Xiao Yuben have been killed one after another, and the elite troops of brigades and divisions have been wiped out. Therefore, they will inevitably list our army as the most dangerous enemy, and we must be destroyed and retaliated! ”

Zeng Zhongsheng said three times in a row, "must retaliate", and Liu Yimin laughed in his heart, so he said: "Chief of staff, don't say this." If you analyze it, if this army wants to destroy us, where is it most likely to start? ”

Zeng Zhongsheng said: "According to common sense, after our army eliminated the Eighth Division and the Reading Power Mixed into the Third Brigade, Luzhong, Jiaolai, Qinghe, and Jiaodong all fell into the hands of our army, and the army will inevitably determine that the main force of our army is in these areas, and will establish political power here to raise grain and grass. And this area is a plain and close to the sea, which is very suitable for what you often call the three-dimensional combat of the army's sea, land and air. Therefore, I judged that the army was very eager to fight our army in this easy to attack and difficult to defend place. According to the preliminary judgment, the army may have three choices, one is to mobilize heavy troops to attack Luzhong and find our main force for a decisive battle, which is called smashing Huanglong; The second is to rely on the Jinpu line, arrange a large encirclement, first cut off the passage of our army's retreat to the mountainous area, fight with our army point by point, and finally compress the main force of our army in Luzhong or Jiaolai or Jiaodong, and complete its work in one battle, which is called the net of heaven and earth; Third, the army carried out a strategy of great detour, confronted us in central Shandong with the main force, and detoured to Qingdao with the backbone troops along the way, recaptured Qingdao, and outflanked our army. This trick is the most commonly used by the army. ”

Liu Yimin sighed in his heart, Zeng Zhongsheng said this, which can be regarded as a more thoughtful judgment. But will the army really do this? You must know that this was the time when the army was at its peak, and they were fighting three-dimensional warfare on land, sea, and air, and the whole province of Shandong was not only within the coverage of the army air force, but also within the coverage area of the army and navy air force, and the mountains of Shandong were different from the mountains of Sichuan, Hunan, and Guizhou, and most of them were bare, and the army was probably not afraid of our army's withdrawal to the mountains.

Thinking of this, Liu Yimin felt that this anti-encirclement and suppression was not simple, and I am afraid that he would have to think about it at a deeper level, otherwise he would suffer a big loss.

The rice is ready, millet soup, steamed buns, green onions and tofu are mixed.

Liu Yimin forked two steamed buns with chopsticks, took a bite, and said casually: "What a good steamed bun, if the little devil comes, I'm afraid it will be bitter." Not to mention the white flour steamed buns, I'm afraid I can't eat the sorghum lumps! ”

As soon as the words fell, I couldn't help but chuckle in my heart, the wheat was ripe, and some places were opened, what does this mean? The common people are waiting for wheat, and the Eighth Route Army is waiting for wheat, so don't you wait for this devil? I did two ruthless things in Tianjin and Qingdao, and in addition to transporting the army's logistics supply from the northeast, it could only be transported from the northeast, and the temple Shouyi was afraid that his eyes were sore and sore when he looked forward to the food, and he didn't say anything, just to grab the grain, the devil was afraid that he couldn't wait. If you say so, not only Shandong, but also the Jizhong Plain is a famous granary, and Xiao Yue is afraid that he is dreaming of eating the white noodles in Jizhong!

As soon as his thoughts opened, Liu Yimin couldn't sit still, and after eating, he immediately asked Zeng Zhongsheng to send a report to the base areas in Shandong, and he must mobilize the villagers to collect and fight quickly, and hurry up to dry and hide the grain, and the little devil is about to start fighting. Then he sent a report to the chairman and the headquarters, asking him to urge central and southern Hebei to speed up the wheat harvest, do a good job of clearing the fields, and prepare to deal with the devil's sweep.

After sending the telegram, Liu Yimin told Zeng Zhongsheng that he must organize all districts in eastern Shandong to further mobilize the masses and do a good job in harvesting wheat and clearing the wilderness, while the old base areas should pay close attention to improving the tunnel facilities, and the new base areas should step up the establishment of militia organizations at all levels, train them to learn how to shoot, bury mines, and drop bombs, and organize the masses to collect wheat during the day and dig tunnels at night.

After thinking about it, Liu Yimin also told Zeng Zhongsheng that it was imperative to convey this spirit to all units and base areas, not only should the grain be hidden, but the logistical baggage and equipment in the central base area of Yimeng should be concealed, and the arsenal should be operating at full capacity for production, and concentrate on the production of reloaded artillery shells, mines, and explosive kits. Ten days later, the arsenal equipment was completely hidden.

After the explanation, Liu Yimin did not stay any longer, and quickly rushed back to Fangzi with a battalion of guards.

Due to the need to avoid the machine on the road, the convoy was not fast, and it was not until dark that it returned to Fangzi.

When he walked into the division headquarters, Zhu Zhexiao, deputy chief of the General Staff Office, told him that Mrs. Sun and Mrs. Jiang would arrive in the morning, and that Political Commissar Luo, Director Cai, and President Ni would accompany them to offer condolences, and in the morning they would go to the county seat of Weixian County to express their condolences to the masses, and in the afternoon they would go to the division's field hospital, the 1st Teaching Brigade, the 3rd Teaching Brigade, the 4th Teaching Brigade, and the Cavalry Brigade Field Hospital to comfort the wounded. I ate at noon in the county seat of Weixian, and went back to the division headquarters to eat in the evening. The political commissar said that if the division commander returned, he would hurry up and meet them.

Liu Yimin's whole mind is now on dealing with the sweep of devils, and after listening to Zhu Zhexiao's words, he just sighed, and asked Zhu Zhexiao to bring the battle plan formulated by the General Staff Office, he wanted to see it.

The operational plan drawn up by the General Staff Office can be summed up as containment on the northern front, defense on the southern front, and decisive battle on the central line, that is, our army in western and Hebei-Shandong provinces actively attacks and harasses the enemy, and southern and southeastern Shandong resolutely block the enemy by virtue of their superiority in mountainous areas, so that they cannot enter the central base area of Yimeng, and because the central Lu region has the 1st Brigade, the 3rd Brigade, the 4th Brigade, the cavalry brigade, and the firepower units directly under the division, it is easy for the plain area to give full play to the advantages of our army's strong firepower and strong assault force, and it is necessary to completely annihilate the main force of the devils here and consolidate the base area.

After reading the battle plan, Liu Yimin smiled bitterly, including himself, I am afraid that everyone underestimated the scale of the heavy encirclement and suppression of the army. If the devil is a few divisions, of course this plan can be used. But if the Yue army really regarded the instructor as a stumbling block to their invasion of China, how would Xiao Yue Ben retaliate?

Thinking about the achievements of Shouichi in the temple in history, Liu Yimin feels that this old devil is not an ordinary person, how can the father and son two generals and the father and son two marshals be in vain? Just looking at the fierce strength of his troops when he conquered Southeast Asia in four ways, he knew that once this guy exerted his strength, he would definitely be thunderous. Moreover, although Terauchi Shouichi suffered a lot in front of the Eighth Route Army during this time, he was very embarrassed and embarrassed, but he was a veritable real power faction within the army, a confidant of the emperor, and one of the main decision-makers and executors of the army's aggressive policy. If he made up his mind to eliminate the instructor, I am afraid that it would not be too difficult to mobilize the entire strength of the army, army and navy. Besides, he is the one who has been dealing with his instructor for the longest time in the entire army, and with his military qualities, he will not fail to concentrate on studying his own tactics. If he really studies it carefully, I'm afraid he will judge the true strength of the tutor. After all, in the past, in order to boost the morale of the army and the people, various newspapers gave full publicity to the combat effectiveness and achievements of the Red Seventh Army Corps and instructors. In particular, the military parade in Xi'an was tantamount to exposing the strength of the Red Seventh Army. These are all published in the newspapers, and with the intelligence capabilities of the army, they can be easily gathered.

If we think about it along these lines, the problem will be serious. Since it is possible that Terauchi Shouichi knows the strength of his instructor, and there is the Luzhong Battle as proof, he will definitely not use one or two divisions to carry out roundabout and risky operations, which is tantamount to sending weapons and ammunition to himself. It is very likely that when he carried out a multi-way attack, each road was a group of more than three or four divisions and regiments of troops rolling forward, not to mention too much, if he attacked in three or four ways, it would be 12 divisions or 16 divisions. With such a huge force, it would be too whimsical to rely on tunnel warfare, mine warfare, and mountain guerrilla warfare to repel the attacks of devils. Moreover, it is said that the army will concentrate all the planes of the North China Front Army to carry out wanton and indiscriminate bombing, and when the time comes, it is very likely that a situation will arise, that is, because the devils' heavy army group will gather together, and they will not be able to defeat any of them, so they can only watch the devils advance step by step, encroach on the base areas step by step, and force the main force of the instructors to a narrow area step by step. It would be terrible if that were the case.

There is also a situation that Terauchi Shouichi did not attack the main force of the instructor at first, but only relied on the Jinpu line to arrange a solid defense line and concentrate on solving the problems of central Hebei, southern Hebei, western Hebei and Hebei and Lubian. After these areas are resolved, we will concentrate our efforts on Luzhong. At that time, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to defeat the devils and attack all the way.

Liu Yimin's thinking was right, but he didn't expect that Terauchi Shouichi's determination to eliminate the instructor was so great, and the scale of the troops used was as high as 32 army divisions, as well as cavalry, heavy artillery and puppet troops to cooperate in the battle. Moreover, the combined fleet of the Chinese army is also rushing to Qingdao, and when the time comes, the sky in Shandong will be black and oppressive, and it will be full of planes of the Japanese army.

The more Liu Yimin thought about it, the more involved he became, so he simply moved a chair and sat down, smoking a cigarette in front of the map and pondering it carefully.

The cadres of the division headquarters all knew Liu Yimin's characteristics, and when he sat in front of the map to think, he often sat for a day or a night, without even eating, and no one could disturb him, as long as he prepared enough cigarettes.

The more I pondered it, the more interesting I found it to be, the army in eastern Henan had stopped attacking for a few days, and it stands to reason that the third division, the fifth division, the sixth division, the ninth division, the fourteenth division, and the sixteenth division in eastern Henan are all the backbone of the army, that is, the 27th division that has just left, and the old foundation is also the first wing of the infantry brigade of the North China Zhutun Army, which is a group of guys who are confused by the spirit of bushido, what are they doing now? Qingdao was lost, the Eighth Division was annihilated, and more than 20,000 overseas Chinese were captured. Why is there no information on their mobilization?

In addition, the Yue army now knows that after this series of great victories, the weapons and equipment have already been formalized, and the artillery strength is very strong, and it is impossible for the 108th Division to block its footsteps by relying on Jinan City, so why haven't they sent the main division back to Jinan? You must know that the army even has paratrooper units, and it is very convenient to increase troops to Jinan. Could it be that Shouichi Terauchi is a vegetarian, so he is willing to confront the Eighth Route Army tepidly like this?

There must be a ghost in this! Shouichi Terauchi must have hatched an amazing plan that he couldn't have imagined, and it is quietly being implemented.

Liu Yimin couldn't help but keep his eyes on Lianyungang on the map.

Originally, Liu Yimin had an idea in his heart, that is, to mobilize the devils, lead the devils by the nose, and always maintain the initiative of our army on the battlefield.

The first places he set his eye on were Xuzhou and Lianyungang. Because Qingdao was lost, and Tianjin was once occupied by the Eighth Route Army, the logistics supply of the Yudong Group of the army must be transported through Lianyungang, and taking Lianyungang is the same as taking Tianjin and Qingdao, which is equivalent to kicking over the devil's job again, and the little devil will inevitably be frightened again and follow his baton.

According to this idea, it is necessary to divide the troops into several parts, let Zeng Zhongsheng command the Ludong troops to deal with the Yue army that landed in Qingdao, let Lei Ming lead the Fourth Brigade to fight guerrilla attacks with the Yue army coming from the direction of Jinan, and let Hong Chaoyuan command the Lunan troops to use the mountainous area to resist the Yue army from the direction of Xuzhou. Then he quietly moved to Linyi and Juxian with the first brigade, the third brigade, the cavalry brigade and the divisional troops, and when the army in the direction of Xuzhou, that is, the elite of the army returning from eastern Henan launched an attack on the base area, he led the army to raid Lianyungang and Xuzhou. Then he waved his troops in the Sulu-Henan-Anhui border area, smashing all the little devils' altars and jars, making them cry bitterly again, exclaim that they were fooled again, and once again transfer the main force to the south. He calmly returned to Shandong and recovered the base area.

It would have been an excellent plan. But the devil's lack of movement made Liu Yimin feel bottomless. You must know that Shouichi in the temple is a first-class general in the army, and it will be forgotten if he is fooled once or twice, if he is fooled one after another, I am afraid it will be a bit insulting to his wisdom, maybe he will arrange a pocket in the direction of Xuzhou, waiting for himself to drill it! Because Shandong faces the sea on both sides, and the Jinpu Railway on the west, once the army is heavily blocked, the only way out for the troops is to go south. This is something that Shouichi Terauchi will not fail to see.

Thinking about it, I was a little anxious, and I felt that my intelligence ability was still too poor, and the big war was imminent, and the army could launch an attack at any time, but I couldn't even figure out the movement of the heavy army group in eastern Henan, and it was too dangerous to go on like this. turned his head and called Zhu Zhexiao, asking him to find Qian Zhuangfei and Luo Yan immediately.

Seeing that the division commander woke up from his contemplation, Zhu Zhexiao hurriedly called Qian Zhuangfei and Luo Yan, and Li Xiaoshuai took the opportunity to bring the meal up, wanting Liu Yimin to eat first and cushion his hunger. Unexpectedly, Liu Yimin was furious, and he directly took Li Xiaoshuai and opened the bear: "Eat, eat, just know to eat." The devil is about to kill the door, and if you eat again, there will be no more people to eat, and you won't have to eat it again! ”

As soon as the words fell, I remembered the footsteps at the gate of the courtyard, and then a soft female voice with a Zhejiang accent came: "Senior Commander Liu, I said why can't I see you, it turns out that you are angry at the soldiers here!" Who messed with you? ”

As soon as Liu Yimin heard it, he knew that it was Mrs. Jiang who was coming, and his scalp exploded, and he hurriedly greeted him.

When I went to the door, Song Meiling walked in front, followed by Mrs. Sun Song Qingling, Ni Hua followed behind the two of them, and then there were those Mingzhuo party figures. Luo Ronghuan and Cai Zhong walked last, and the guards and soldiers illuminated them with flashlights.

Liu Yimin adjusted his military uniform slightly, stepped forward to salute, and reported: "Report to Mrs. Jiang and Mrs. Sun: Liu Yimin, the instructor and division commander of the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army, reports to you, please instruct!" ”

Song Meiling chuckled and said, "Forget it, you're welcome." You're a soldier, you're very busy, and it's understandable that you don't want to see us. Let's come in and talk! ”

When Liu Yimin heard this, he hurriedly said: "Mrs. Jiang is joking, you are the wife of the supreme commander of the [***] team, and you risked your life to come to comfort the troops, and the officers and men of the whole army were all moved. How could I not want to see you? Wouldn't I be too ignorant of what to do? Come, please, Mrs. Jiang, Mrs. Sun, distinguished guests, please! ”

Song Meiling is no longer polite, and she is the first to enter the house. Ni Huashan took Song Qingling's arm in front of him and carried her into the house, and everyone else also rushed in.

When Luo Ronghuan and Cai Zhong entered the house, they both glanced at Liu Yimin, and a wry smile appeared on their faces.

(To be continued)