Shouichi Terauchi and others were gloating here, while the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was gloomy, not only because the affairs of the Inner Mongolia Military Region had worried the head of the headquarters, but also because the Eighth Route Army was also in the limelight in the overall strategic situation.

On May 15, 1938, General Terauchi Shouyi, commander of the Japanese North China Front, pointed out in his report: "The northern part of Shanxi and the mountainous area connecting the Taihang Mountains, where the power of the Imperial Army has not been reached, are the lair of the communist army, and its influence has spread throughout North China to this day. Therefore, it must be thoroughly swept away to prevent future problems. ”

On May 28, 1938, the intelligence record compiled by the Japanese North China Front, which was intercepted by the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, read: "It can be concluded that in the future, the target of public security in North China will be the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in China and most of Han Yunhua entrenched in the Chahar region, and the main force of Han Yunhua's headquarters will be the focus of future operations." "This was the first time that the Japanese army had explicitly taken the communist army as its main combat target in the occupied areas of North China. The history of the Japanese army also particularly emphasized: "Although this kind of understanding has not reached a wide and in-depth level within the front army, intelligence personnel can pay attention to it and should pay attention to it." ”

If the main force of the Japanese army turns around and takes the Eighth Route Army as the main target of the operation, it will be difficult for the Eighth Route Army to develop in the future. Even the more than 2 million elite troops of the Kuomintang were defeated and retreated by the Japanese army, and how could the tens of thousands of Huazi troops of the Eighth Route Army, who lacked medical treatment and medicine, withstand the frantic attack of the Japanese army?

However, the development and consolidation of the anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines has indeed become a serious problem for the Japanese invading army, and of course it has also made the Kuomintang diehards feel extremely worried and uneasy. After nearly a year of frantic offensive, the Japanese army still failed to completely wipe out the main force of the Kuomintang, but instead made the various units of the Eighth Route Army develop vigorously in the areas occupied in its rear, and there was a great tendency to spark the prairie fire.

Although the regular defense forces of the Chinese army suffered heavy losses in the strategic defense stage, they also inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese army, making the Japanese army realize that it was not feasible to completely annihilate China in a short period of time, and the plan of destroying China in three months was even more absurd. After the arrival of the strategic stalemate stage, the Japanese aggressors realized that it was impossible to annihilate China in a "quick battle," so they changed their strategy: "Adopting a strategy of mainly political inducement to surrender to the Kuomintang, supplemented by military offensives." At the same time, the Japanese army shifted its strategic focus to digesting and consolidating its rear occupation areas, concentrating heavy forces on besieging the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the anti-Japanese base areas. Under this new situation, the attitude of the Kuomintang diehards toward Japan and the Communists also changed, and they felt that the main enemy was no longer Japanese imperialism, but the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, and the New Fourth Army. Therefore, the situation of the Eighth Route Army is very grim now, with the Japanese army frantically sweeping outside, and the Kuomintang reactionaries pressing each other hard.

At the beginning of June, the Japanese troops in the southeast of Jin and on the periphery of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area respectively advanced 20 kilometers to the base area, and the intention of attacking the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was very obvious. At the same time, an urgent telegram came from the intelligence staff of the enemy theater indicating that a large number of Japanese troops had gathered in the vicinity of Zhangjiakou and Tianjin, numbering about three or more reorganized divisions and regiments, and that they were also equipped with a large number of combat vehicles and field heavy artillery units.

The atmosphere at the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was very depressing, and the conference room was also dull, and several chimneys were smoking inferior cigarettes, making the entire conference room "smoky miasma," as if it was on fire from the outside.

Commander-in-Chief Zhu coughed lightly and said: "The situation is like this, the enemy's hypocrisy and stubbornness and our other forces are intertwined, which is quite unfavorable to me. Moreover, now the base areas are seriously threatened by the Japanese puppet army, and if they do not come up with a response plan as soon as possible, they are likely to be caught off guard by the Japanese army. Let's talk about how we should deal with the current situation. ”

Everyone knows very well the current situation that the Eighth Route Army is at an absolute disadvantage, unable to fight and defeat, reluctant to run away from those family businesses that have been accumulated with great difficulty, and unable to explain to the people in the base areas.

"It's okay for us to say here, after all, we have the 129th Division, the 120th Division, the 115th Division, and more than a dozen base areas, even if we can't defeat the devils, it's still okay to retreat. But Xiao Huazi is a little difficult to deal with, he is determined to fight to the death with the devils, and he also wants to rescue those disaster victims, with the little troops in his hand, I am really afraid that they will be dumplings by the devils. Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng said worriedly.

Chief of General Staff Xu took over and said: "I still believe in Comrade Han Yunhua, the last time they fought with the devils, Comrade Han Yunhua dispatched more than 20 regiments at once, even if there are casualties, now the Inner Mongolia Military Region is afraid that there will be no less than 15 regiments of regular troops, which is not inferior to any of the main divisions of **, Liu Bocheng, and He Long." Moreover, Comrade Han Yunhua is good at winning more with less, and he has always been able to carry out a Jedi counterattack under a disadvantage, so I still believe that he can successfully repel the Japanese attack this time. ”,

Commander-in-Chief Zhu said: "The situation is different this time, I can basically judge that the main target of the devil is still Han Yunhua's troops, and those troops on the periphery of the other departments are just auxiliaries of the Japanese army in order to contain our main force, but I am afraid that our headquarters will send troops to support Han Yunhua and them, so we are still very safe now." Even if the devil wanted to eat us in one bite, it would be after beating Han Yunhua and them. The Japanese army attacking the Inner Mongolia Military Region is what we should pay attention to, although Xiao Huazi has some family background in his hands, but he can't be compared with the devil. In particular, there were more light and heavy machine guns in his troops, and the logistical pressure was even greater than that of the Japanese army, especially in terms of the supply of ammunition. I heard Comrade Shen Yuquan talk about it by chance, and it seems that there is a huge problem in the supply of ammunition to the Inner Mongolia Military Region, and some time ago Comrade Han Yunhua personally took a trip to eastern Hebei in order to solve this thorny problem. "The problem that is worthy of the commander of a large military region personally venturing into the enemy-occupied area to solve is definitely not a trivial problem, and the head of the headquarters in the conference room realized that the current situation of the Inner Mongolia Military Region is really not good.

Commander-in-Chief Zhu continued: "Comrade Han Yunhua followed the Party Central Committee step by step from Ruijin, and his loyalty to the Party and the people is no less than any of us here. Therefore, while cultivating his character of not being afraid of hardship, tiredness, or sacrifice, he also created a style in which he would rather pay for his own life than disregard the life and death of the people. Therefore, I think that the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army has the obligation and responsibility to support the Inner Mongolia Military Region, and I don't want to see his name "Han Yunhua" on the list of martyrs, otherwise the chairman and Lao Zhou will definitely be anxious with me. ”

"Han Yunhua is a good comrade, he did not forget to support our headquarters and other fraternal units while developing the troops, whether it was the Jinchaji base area or the 120th Division of He Dabeard, he had received Han Yunhua's favor. Therefore, it is very necessary to support some of their troops and supplies, and I think we might as well support them with some food and medicine, which is what they urgently need. The left deputy chief of staff analyzed.

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng also responded: "Very good, now that the big war is imminent, I propose to transfer the 715th Regiment and the 716th Regiment of the 358th Brigade of the 120th Division (Zhang Zongxun and Deputy Brigade Commander Li Jingquan) to Chahar for the time being, and at the same time mobilize some food, medicine and ammunition to urgently transfer to Chahar to support Han Yunhua's operation against Japan. ”

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng's proposal was endorsed by the leaders attending the meeting, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu immediately decided to send a telegram to the Inner Mongolia Military Region to inform Han Yunhua of the decision of the meeting and to solicit his personal opinions.

Soon Han Yunhua's reply was sent to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu took the telegram and read it aloud: "General Headquarters Commander Jun Jian: Although the Japanese invaders are arrogant and will not die, our department has made all preparations, and tens of thousands of soldiers in our department have the confidence and ability to repel the enemy who will attack in the future. Moreover, the current situation of the war is critical, and all units of our Eighth Route Army are in an emergency, so it is really inappropriate to transfer troops to the north, so I think there is no need to transfer the 715th Regiment and the 716th Regiment to Chahar, and I hope that the head of the headquarters will consider my opinion. As for the supplies, I hope that the head of the headquarters can support us with some food and medicine, and as for the weapons and ammunition, I know that the headquarters is also living a tight life now, and those weapons and ammunition will be left at the headquarters for emergencies! We have the ability to solve the ammunition shortage in our department by ourselves, and we will not cause trouble to the headquarters. Han Yunhua, commander of the Inner Mongolia Military Region of the Eighth Route Army, June 15, 1938. ”

After listening to Han Yunhua's telegram, the heads of the headquarters were silent, all wondering whether Han Yunhua really had a way to solve the current crisis, or whether he was talking about it.

It was Commander-in-Chief Zhu who broke the deadlock first, and said with a smile: "Don't think it's too complicated, you all have a certain understanding of Xiao Huazi's character, and he won't talk about it without being completely sure, so I believe that he has thought of something, we have to believe him, and I believe that he will create another miracle for our Eighth Route Army." Speaking of which, Commander-in-Chief Zhu seemed to roar and said that he was using practical actions to support Han Yunhua's opinion.

In the end, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army decided to urgently transfer the 715th Regiment and the 716th Regiment to the north, but they did not enter the Chahar area, and they must leave a way back for Han Yunhua's troops, and if they were unable to do so, they must ensure that Han Yunhua's troops can retreat safely. At the same time, the cavalry regiment of the headquarters was ordered to rush to the Inner Mongolia Military Region with more than 5 million catties of grain and more than 20 truckloads of medicines. The other units of the Eighth Route Army are also making active combat preparations, especially the headquarters of the 120th Division stationed in the northwest of Shanxi Province, and they must be ready to go north at any time to support Han Yunhua's headquarters.

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