After the devil suffered a loss in Zihongkou, he did not rush to retaliate, but according to the original battle plan, he drew a circle around the Jinzhong base area and surrounded it.

Xiangyue Qingsi is a person, and he was quickly transferred to the reserve in history. But this guy is actually a fanatical militarist and belongs to the category of the culprits of aggression against China. He was the first person in the army to be vigilant about the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army. Of course, he was also removed from his post and transferred to the reserve because of the ineffective operation in Shanxi.

Now, after receiving the battle report of Zihongkou's defeat, Xiangyue Qingsi was not excited, and immediately went to attack and retaliate, but ordered the 20th Division to attack along the Tongpu Railway, open up contact with the 6th Division as soon as possible, and round the encirclement. As for the issue of eliminating the main force of Xu Qianqian in the Jinzhong area of the Eighth Route Army, it was carried out by the 1st and 8th Divisions. Kazuki Kiyoshi told Lieutenant General Kawagishi Fumizaburo: "After the encirclement of the Sixth Division is formed, it is equivalent to a chopping board, and the first division and the eighth division push forward horizontally, which is equivalent to smashing the hammer or knife and axe on the chopping board, and the Eighth Route Army is a fish that is placed on the chopping board waiting for the hammer to be smashed and chopped with a knife and axe, and the 20th Division and the 109th Division are the edges of the chopping board, as long as the fish placed on the chopping board are not allowed to slide out." ”

As soon as he said this, Lieutenant General Kawagishi Bunzaburo did not have to bother with the attack on Zihongkou, but he was very unhappy in his heart, and the commander's words clearly regarded the 20th Division and the 109th Division on an equal footing, and he simply forgot that the 20th Division, like the 6th, 1st, and 8th Divisions, were all four-unit divisions. This is a great injustice to the Twentieth Division by His Excellency the Commander.

Of course, although I thought so in my heart, Lieutenant General Kawagishi Bunzaburo, who had seen the Eighth Route Army's instructor Liu Yimin destroy the main force of the Fifth Division and the might of the Chahar Dispatch Corps, subconsciously still had an idea, that is, the cunning and murderous main force of the Eighth Route Army should be left to the First Division, the Sixth Division, and the Eighth Division to fight, and his Twentieth Division would still show its majesty when attacking the Jin Sui Army and the Central Army. is also a [***] team, and whoever fights is fighting. In comparison, the Jin Sui Army encountered during the Battle of Taiyuan was more in line with the taste of his 20th Division. Besides, Taiyuan Airport has just been attacked by the Eighth Route Army Air Force, and the losses have been heavy, and relying only on the remnants of the planes at Shijiazhuang Airport can not guarantee uninterrupted fire support for infantry operations.

Considering that the 39th Brigade had suffered heavy losses and low morale after the Battle of Zihongkou, especially the elite 77th Wing, which had lost its ability to attack and fight, Lieutenant General Kawagishi Bunzaburo had to send a report to the base camp asking for replenishment of the losses in the Battle of Zihongkou as soon as possible. At the same time, the 39th Brigade was ordered to retreat, stick to the communication artery, and ordered the 40th Brigade to speed up the attack and open up contact with the 6th Division as soon as possible.

After Luo Ronghuan broke up with Liu Yimin, he led the cavalry battalion of the Third Brigade to travel day and night and rushed back to Nangong.

Along the way, Luo Ronghuan's heart was extremely heavy, and the tragic situation after the bombing of enemy planes could be seen everywhere, and there were many broken walls and ruins in the county seats, villages and towns he passed, and many homeless people took shelter in temporary reed mat sheds. The most miserable villages and towns were even razed to the ground by devil planes, and those who survived were living in the tunnels. This southern Hebei was tossed miserably by devils!

When I returned to Nangong and entered the courtyard of the division headquarters, Wu Zheng, Yuan Guoping, and Han Qianjin came up and shouted "political commissar", and tears fell down in tears. Luo Ronghuan didn't greet them either, and ran to the place where the remains of the martyrs were parked in the backyard.

As soon as I entered the backyard, I saw a snow-white field, and the yard was full of stretchers for the remains of the martyrs, all covered with white cloth.

Luo Ronghuan looked at the white cloth from stretcher to stretcher, and suddenly felt that these soldiers had come to life again, and shouted political commissar around him.

Coming to Li Yimo's body, Luo Ronghuan uncovered the white cloth and looked at it for a long time, saluted, and then sat down, letting the tears flow on his face, his mind was full of the past with Li Yimo from the Autumn Harvest Uprising to Jinggangshan until the struggle in the Soviet area, the transfer of the Long March and the transfer of the instructor.

After a long time, Luo Ronghuan stopped his tears, returned to the office, and convened a meeting of Wu Zheng, Yuan Guoping, Han Qianjian, Song Renqiang, Lu Ben, Meng Qingshan, and Lu Zhengying, and reported on the situation of the main force of the instructor to eliminate the main force of the 21st Division of the Yue Army, the Fourth Brigade of Reading Force, and the breakthrough of Deshi Road and Cangshi Road, and the situation of recovering Jizhong, and listened to Han Qianjian's report on the air battle situation in Nangong, Song Renqiang's report on the bombing of Yuekou, and Yuan Guoping's report on the training of recruits and the reorganization of local armed forces in the Luxi area. Meng Qingshan's report on the breakthrough situation in central Hebei.

After listening to the report, Luo Ronghuan immediately decided:

1. Headed by Song Renqiang, set up a leading group for the resettlement of refugees in the southern Hebei region, and the instructor logistics headquarters will allocate a part of the money to mobilize organizations at all levels and various troops and militias in southern Hebei to take immediate action to resettle the refugees, and make sure that they have housing and food; All levels in southern Hebei should earnestly shoulder their responsibilities, establish prestige and authority in organizing refugees to rebuild their homes, and form a strong leadership core. The construction of tunnels in various localities in southern Hebei should also be strengthened, and it should play a dual role in air defense and operations.

2. Entrusted by the Central Committee, the instructors Liu and Luo are responsible for the reorganization of our army in central Hebei, and after consultation with leaders Liu and Luo, it is planned to report to the Central Military Commission, the General Headquarters, the Northern Bureau, and the 115th Division Lin and Nie, with Comrade Lu Ben as secretary of the Central Hebei District Party Committee, Comrade Meng Qingshan as political commissar of the Central Hebei Military Region, and Comrade Lu Zhengying as commander of the Central Hebei Military Region. The weapons and ammunition lost in the breakthrough of our army in central Hebei and the medicines, funds, clothing, and food that were urgently needed to be replenished by the instructor logistics headquarters were uniformly replenished. After the reorganization of the troops is completed, the regularization of the main force will be carried out, and political work cadres at all levels will be allocated in accordance with the political work model of instructors, and a campaign to complain about grievances will be carried out, and military training will be organized with reference to the military training model of instructors. After completing the complaint and preliminary military training, he quickly returned to Jizhong to organize and lead the anti-Japanese war in the central Hebei region. The central Hebei region should also build a network of tunnels, carry out tunnel warfare and mine warfare against the enemy, defend the base areas, and actively infiltrate the occupied areas.

3. During the large-scale bombing of the planes on 29 January, the air defense brigade led the first air defense regiment to fight the enemy repeatedly and without fear of a strong enemy, and won the brilliant record of shooting down 37 enemy planes. Chairman of the inscription to Comrade Li Yimo "Red Army Hero, Anti-Japanese War Pioneer, Model of the Times, National Elite", Vice Chairman Zhou, Commander-in-Chief Zhu and the leaders of the Central Committee all issued inscriptions and poems, and the Central Committee decided to hold a public memorial for Comrade Li Yimo and General Fan Zhuxian in Xi'an. Chiefs Liu and Luo decided to build a martyr's cemetery in Nangong to concentrate on burying the heroes of our army who died in the battles in southern Hebei and Luxi. In the middle of the cemetery is the martyr's monument, and the inscription and inscription are written by Liu Yimin. At the same time, it was decided to award the air defense brigade and the first air defense regiment with collective special merits, and posthumously confer the titles of special meritorious service instructors of Comrade Li Yimo's Red Eighteenth Regiment, Central Guard Division, Red Seventh Army Corps, and Eighth Route Army. Other meritorious personnel shall be reported to the Political Department of the division by the air defense brigade. Tomorrow and later said, the public memorial ceremony was held for the martyrs on the sixth day of the first month. On the ninth day of the first month, a public memorial ceremony was held for General Fan Zhuxian in Liaocheng. The public memorial ceremony was presided over by Han Qianjian, Luo Ronghuan officiated, and the preparations were organized by Lin Bo, deputy commander of the logistics headquarters, and Tang Xingying, deputy political commissar.

4. Order Han Qianjin to concurrently serve as commander of the air defense brigade, Yan Yaohui to serve as deputy brigade commander of the air defense brigade and commander of the first air defense regiment, and appoint Long Huwa as commander of the second air defense regiment of the air defense brigade and other cadres of the second and third air defense regiments to be supported by the artillery brigade in accordance with the division commander's previous order, and Yuan Guoping to be responsible for the transfer of soldiers from the training personnel of the training headquarters.

5. Wu Zheng led the cavalry battalion and baggage regiment of the 3rd Brigade of the Jiao Brigade to be responsible for the reorganization of the various units from Luxi to southern Hebei, and unified them into the 1st to 4th Luxi Garrison Regiments, and the cadres of each regiment at or above the squad leader level were transferred from the 2nd Brigade, the 4th Brigade, the 5th Brigade, the Cavalry Brigade, the Artillery Brigade, the Division Engineer Regiment, the Heavy Machine Gun Regiment, and the Baggage Regiment. After completing the grouping, he was trained in Nangong for a month, and then returned to Luxi and came under the command of the Luxi Military Region.

6. Yuan Guoping commanded the infantry battalions of the Engineer Regiment and the Artillery Brigade, and was responsible for reorganizing the Zhao Yunxiang, Duan Haizhou, Qiao Mingli, and Fan Zixia Divisions that had been withdrawn from central Hebei to southern Hebei, and unified them into the 1st to 4th Garrison Regiments of Southern Hebei. After completing the grouping, they were trained in Nangong for one month and placed under the command of the Southern Hebei Military Region. Zhao Yunxiang, Duan Haizhou, Qiao Mingli, and Fan Zixia may be appointed as deputy brigade commanders of our army's brigades or deputy directors of the administrative offices of the southern, western and central Hebei regions, and their opinions will be solicited for specific appointments.

7. After the units of Luxi and Jizhong that need to be reorganized are fully organized into the garrison regiments, all the surplus personnel will be assigned to the training headquarters for training.

After the deployment, Luo Ronghuan left Lu Ben, Meng Qingshan, and Lu Zhengying, and let the others act separately.

After the others left, Luo Ronghuan said to the three people in a serious voice: "This big sweep of Jizhong by the devils has brought a heavy disaster to the people of Jizhong", and our army and organizations at all levels in Jizhong have suffered heavy losses. Objectively speaking, it is because the enemy's strength is too strong, and subjectively speaking, it is because our foundation in Jizhong is unstable, the cohesion of our troops is not strong, and the combat effectiveness is too weak. The reason for this problem is that the base area in central Hebei was newly established, and our army has not sent a strong backbone force, and the education and training of the existing troops are not in place. However, even under these circumstances, our army in Jizhong still bravely and stubbornly resisted the Yue Kou and broke through the siege victoriously. Now, under the blow of the main force of our instructor, Yu Kou is afraid that our army will come to Pingjin, so he has withdrawn his troops from Jizhong and retreated to Baoda Road, Pinghan Road, and Jinpu Road. The main force of our army will sweep away the Han annihilation forces in Jizhong in a very short time, and now the three departments of Gao Shuncheng and Shi Province who have surrendered to the army have been solved by our army, and Division Commander Liu personally sits in Jizhong, and other Han annihilation forces will also be completely wiped out this time. In this way, you will complete the reorganization and return to Jizhong, and you will not have so many fetters in your work, just deal with the devils wholeheartedly. ”

Speaking of this, Luo Ronghuan glanced at the three of them, and when he saw that they were all excited, he said again: "Regarding the issue of personnel appointments in the Jizhong Military Region, we know that the 115th Division and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region originally had orders, and Comrade Lu Ben also conveyed to the comrades of the special committee for the protection of the subordinates, and Comrade Meng Qingshan was originally appointed as the deputy commander. After careful consideration, Division Commander Liu believed that Comrade Meng Qingshan, who had previously served as the main force commander of the Central Red Army, had studied at the Red Army University for another year, and after returning to the Central Army, he had made contributions to the establishment of the Hebei Guerrilla Army. In view of Comrade Meng Qingshan's familiarity with the situation in Hebei, Division Commander Liu and I decided to make a proposal to the Central Committee, the General Headquarters, the Northern Bureau, and the 115th Division to appoint Comrade Meng Qingshan as political commissar of the Central Hebei Military Region. Comrade Lu Ben was responsible for the overall work of the central Hebei region, and Comrade Meng Qingshan and Comrade Lu Zhengying were responsible for army building and military struggle. I don't know if the three of you have any opinions? ”

All three of them expressed no opinion and obeyed the organization's decision.

When Luo Ronghuan saw them off, he told them to quickly come up with a reorganization plan and implement it immediately after studying. The main force of the instructor has other tasks, and it is impossible to stay in Jizhong for a long time. In the future, central Hebei, southern Hebei, and western Hebei should rely on each other and support each other. In the future, we should build the North China Plain into the granary and military source base of our Eighth Route Army, and contribute to our protracted war of resistance.

Meng Qingshan asked if he could meet with Division Commander Liu Yimin, and before breaking through, he had promised the cadres and soldiers that he would invite Division Commander Liu to inspect the troops. Now that he has arrived in Nangong, Division Commander Liu has gone to Jizhong, can you please ask Political Commissar Luo to tell Division Commander Liu, just say that the cadres and soldiers of the Jizhong army are looking forward to him being able to visit everyone.

Luo Ronghuan nodded in agreement, and the three of them left happily.

Hu Di, the minister of security who had rushed back to Nangong earlier, saw the end of the meeting and hurried to Luo Ronghuan to report to him on the negotiation with the army.

Hu Di said that this time, the army was very honest, and did not raise any objection to the price of the corpses offered by our army, nor did they bargain, and the money had been paid in full, and the corpses of the soldiers should also be shipped. However, the representative of the army proposed to meet with Division Commander Liu Yimin or Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan, but Hu Di flatly refused. At present, the representatives of the Yue army are still in Ningjin, and they have brought with them a batch of medicines, three women and three North Korean women, and they have repeatedly asked the division commander and political commissar to meet with them, saying that they are negotiating on behalf of General Terauchi Shouichi, commander of the North China Front Army, and the instructors of the Eighth Route Army, and all three can negotiate, including the division of defense areas.

As soon as Luo Ronghuan heard this, he asked if the army was coming from Major General Xi Duochengyi, the head of the special service of the North China Front?

Hu Di replied that it was not, and that Xi Duocheng did not dare to come when he stayed in Shijiazhuang, and that it was the head of the special service agency of the army stationed in Shijiazhuang who was sent.

Luo Ronghuan sneered and said: "You go and tell that little devil that our Eighth Route Army and the Yue Army are natural enemies, and neither I nor the division commander will meet them, let alone negotiate with them." You tell him to get out of here with his woman quickly, if you get out slowly, when the division commander returns, he will definitely cut off his head to avenge the martyrs who died. ”

When Hu Di heard this, he immediately said: "Political commissar, let's just arrest them and kill them!" ”

Luo Ronghuan thought for a while and said, "This time they came in the name of ransom for the corpses, and it is not appropriate to kill them." You tell him that he is of a low rank and that it is useless to kill. If Kita Makoto comes, he must be killed. ”

Hu Di then saluted and left.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the instructor of the Eighth Route Army, the Party Committee of the Southern Hebei District, and the Administrative Office of the Commissioner of the Southern Hebei District held a public memorial for Li Yimo and other martyrs.

At 7 o'clock in the morning, Liu Yimin rushed back to Nangong from Hengshui.

Seeing Liu Yimin rushing back, Luo Ronghuan knew that there must be a major event in Jizhong, and Liu Yimin rushed back overnight to see off his comrades after completing the task of recovering Jizhong and stabilizing the situation on the front line.

――――

(To be continued)