In the headquarters of the Northwest Group Army in Zhangbei County, there was a calm abnormality, and there was no hint of an atmosphere of imminent battle. Since mid-May, Commander Lin has ordered another attack on Zhangjiakou, and for 10 consecutive days, the attack has not improved at all. At this time, Lin sat at the table and closed his eyes to recuperate, and many combat staff officers had nothing to do at all, some sat on chairs and took a nap, and some chatted. The political commissar Teng Dai has gone down to the army, and the deputy commander Nie Rongzhen is sitting in Taiyuan, Shanxi, and after Shanxi is recovered, there must be a powerful figure in charge.

At this time, Chief of Staff Zuo Quan stood in front of the map to check, his eyes staring at Beiping thoughtfully. The sound of the engine of a military jeep came from outside, and the sound of the engine stopped abruptly, and in a moment, a burly general broke in. "Mr. Lin, this battle is too wretched, obviously you can take Zhangjiakou, why do you want to stop fighting. The officers and soldiers can't figure it out, and I can't figure it out either. The commander of the column, Xu Shiyou, had a fiery temper and shouted loudly. He didn't get used to it, picked up the tea on the table and drank it down.

Since the Japanese army was forced to retreat to Shanxi in the second half of last year, according to the overall arrangements of the General Headquarters, the Northwest Group Army has integrated and expanded its troops while leaving Tianzhen and entering Hebei from Shanxi. It stands to reason that the Northwest Army, with the might of a great victory, should carefully launch a fierce attack to the east. But half a year has passed, and they have not moved.

At present, the Northwest Group Army of the Eighth Route Army has expanded from 5 corps to 10 corps and formed 5 columns. There were 2 flying regiments, 3 artillery divisions, 1 independent cavalry division, and an independent armored division (Li Yunlong's armored brigade had been expanded into an armored division as needed), and the total strength of the Northwest Group Army reached 400,000. After the reorganization of the troops, Xu Shiyou served as the commander of the 5th Column. In the face of Xu Shiyou's yelling, Lin opened his eyes and seemed indifferent. Chief of Staff Zuo Quan was dissatisfied: "Xu Shiyou, what are you arguing about." Everyone wants to be happy, is it so difficult that we don't want to take Zhangjiakou as soon as possible? ”

Chief of Staff Zuo Quan continued: "Do you know how much trouble the headquarters has spent to prevent Beiping from being destroyed by the war and to protect the ancient buildings of Beiping?" You see, if we want to be happy, we don't need to fight Zhangjiakou at all, the main force goes straight to the front line of Fengning and Chengde along Chicheng County and the northern foot of Yunwu Mountain, blocking the way for the Japanese army to flee north, and the Japanese army in the entire Beijing-Tianjin area will not be able to escape. If that is the case, the Japanese army will defend Beiping, and Beiping will inevitably be destroyed in the war, and we will become sinners for the ages! Zuo Quan's harsh reprimand made Xu Shiyou's head sober up.

Lin Dao: "If we take Zhangjiakou now, the Japanese army in Baoding and Hengshui will quickly shrink to the Beiping line, Wei Lihuang and Chen Cheng's corps will quickly descend to the city of Beiping, and the Japanese army will be determined to hold on to Beiping. The purpose of the headquarters is to finally fight the Japanese army in the northeast, are you still worried that there will be no battle? As a commander, you must have a sense of the big picture! "Mr. Lin, I understand!"

Xu Shiyou rubbed a pair of big hands and was a little embarrassed, straightened his chest and saluted and left. "Mr. Lin, Deputy Commander Peng has arrived in Xuzhou, and it seems that he is going to attack Jinan." Left Authority.

Lin shook his head and said: "The intention of the headquarters is already very obvious, not to attack Jinan but to directly attack Tianjin in the north, otherwise Mr. Peng will not go to Xuzhou to point out." "Taking Tianjin and forcing the Japanese troops on the front line of Beiping to retreat to Shanhaiguan and recovering Beiping without a single shot or bullet is a big deal. But how sure is it to attack Tianjin? Even if the Japanese army could not hold it, they could safely retreat from Tanggu or Tangshan. "To attack Tianjin is to eat all the Japanese troops in Tianjin, and only in this way can it have a deterrent effect and force the Japanese troops in Beiping to flee north. I estimate that the headquarters will use the Airborne Forces again this time. ”

"The use of airborne troops to occupy Tanggu and interspersed with troops to block the way for the Japanese army to flee north, the second battle plan is completely feasible. But when are we going to take Zhangjiakou? "When Tianjin started, it was also the time when Zhangjiakou launched a general offensive." "Mr. Lin, we have to prepare in advance, once the Japanese army in Beiping retreats, we can take the opportunity to attack the northeast!" "We are not going into the Northeast, but into Outer Mongolia. Attract the Japanese army to fortify in Manchuria, but the real purpose of our entry into Outer Mongolia is to deal with the Soviet army! Zuo Quan was taken aback when he heard this: "You mean that we may break out into a military conflict with the Soviet army!" ”

"The pretext for entering Outer Mongolia was to launch an attack to the northeast, and Soviet Russia had no reason to refuse. However, Soviet Russia will definitely demarcate the area to enter, but since we have entered Outer Mongolia, it is inevitable to control Outer Mongolia militarily. At present, Fu Zuoyi's Chen Bing is in the junction of Inner and Outer Mongolia, and the target is the western part of Outer Mongolia, because the time is ripe to recover Outer Mongolia. "Mr. Lin, like this, will a large-scale war break out between China and the Soviet Union?" "Impossible, a large-scale war is extremely dangerous for Soviet Russia, and it is not only worried that the United States will profit from it, but also that once China achieves a military victory, the entire Far East will be lost."

"Mr. Lin, you mean to say that the purpose of the Soviet army is to drive us out of the Mongolian steppe!" "That's exactly the case, so in the future, we are in the Mongolian steppe, and it is very likely that a military conflict will break out! After the end of the Shanxi Campaign, the headquarters asked us to quickly expand our army, and the purpose was the Mongolian steppe. Lin walked to the map and continued: "After the Battle of the Taiwan Strait, the decisive battle in the Northeast has been revealed. After the He Long Corps and Bai Chongxi's Ninth Corps completed the combat mission of the Taiwan Strait Campaign, Lao Chiang quickly recruited three armies of Xue Yue's division to Taiwan to join the Ninth Corps, bringing its total strength to 250,000. ”

"At present, the 2nd and 9th Corps concentrated in Taiwan have a total strength of 500,000 troops. What are the 500,000 people doing on the island of Taiwan? There is no doubt that a landing operation was launched against the northeast. The northern part of Bohai Bay, including the western part of the Korean Peninsula, will become the site of landing operations. The total strength of Su Yu's 1st Corps has reached 300,000, Xiao Ke's Shandong Independent Column has grown to 30,000 troops, and the strength of Xu Haidong's Independent Column in Jizhong is 20,000. According to the strategic deployment of the headquarters, the Shandong Independent Column and the Jizhong Independent Column were placed under the command of the 1st Corps. The total strength of Suyu's 1st Corps reached 350,000. ”

Wei Lihuang's 8th Corps currently has a total strength of 250,000 troops, and Chen Cheng's 4th Corps has a total strength of 350,000. Lao Jiang will never let us monopolize the Northeast, and Wei Lihuang and Chen Cheng's troops are all ready to fight in the Northeast. Excluding us, the total number of troops engaged in the Northeast operation in the future will reach 1.5 million. With the shrinkage of the Japanese army, the total strength of the Japanese army in Northeast China and Korea will reach 2.5 million, but the Japanese army will face multiple defenses and the strength will inevitably be scattered, so 1.5 million troops will be enough. Chief of the General Staff Ouyang, let me devote myself to studying the operational characteristics of the Soviet army, especially Zhukov's command characteristics, and I guessed the intention of the headquarters. ”

"Zhukov is the most talented general in the Soviet army, and other factors aside, I would like to really compete with him." "Mr. Lin, I didn't expect that we could be the enemy of the Soviet army, it's unimaginable." "Yes! I didn't expect such an ending, in fact, Chief of General Staff Ouyang had already thought of it, a few years ago he asked Fu Zuoyi to extend his tentacles to Outer Mongolia, and now the western part of Outer Mongolia is already in his bag, just waiting to send troops. In the future, our goal must be Ulaanbaatar. "Report, call from headquarters!" As soon as Lin's words fell, a combat staff officer reported with a telegram in his hand.

Chief of Staff Zuo Quan glanced at the telegram: "There is a call from the headquarters, let us hurry up the preparation of winter combat uniforms and the reserve of winter combat materials. In addition, the headquarters provided us with an additional 5,000 military trucks. The headquarters requested that the expanded tank division be equipped with all the equipment by the end of the year. Mr. Lin, your judgment is not wrong. After Zuo Quan finished speaking, he immediately ordered an operational staff officer to inform the logistics minister to come to the headquarters quickly. Lin's gaze turned to the military map, as if lost in thought. After Chief of Staff Zuo Quan finished explaining to the Minister of Logistics, he walked beside Lin and said, "Mr. Lin, is the main force moving north?" ”

"No, we must wait for orders from headquarters. We must not allow Soviet Russia to discover our intentions. Lin stood up and moved his arms and continued: "Actually, the chief of the General Staff has long paid attention to Outer Mongolia, he has always been not interested in Soviet Russia, and he is by no means rash, I really understand it now." Great power game, interests first. "Mr. Lin, Chief of General Staff Ouyang is an extraordinary person on the left and a regrettable one on the right, which is simply dazzling. I didn't expect that we would quietly build a fleet abroad, two medium destroyers, and 6 attack submarines, just like a dream! ”

"Chief of Staff, you only know one and you don't know the other." Lin waved his hand and entered the discord, and Zuo Quan followed in a little confused. "Headquarters reported that we have purchased two ocean-going ships in Mexico, which is very strange. With my understanding of Ouyang Jian, it is very abnormal to go to such great lengths to let the fleet cover the return of two ocean-going giant ships! "Mr. Lin, what's wrong?" "The ocean-going fleet is protected by the US fleet, is it necessary to have the pocket fleet escort two freighters all the time? I guess these two freighters must have a cat, most likely aircraft carrier warships! ”

"Aircraft carrier battleship?" Zuo Quan's eyes widened when he heard this. Lin smiled and continued: "Two months ago, two new fighters of the Xi'an Aircraft Factory successfully flew test, but the new fighters have no plans to be installed at all, isn't this very revealing?" "Could it be that the new model of fighter is a carrier-based aircraft?" "Quite possibly! After the end of the Battle of the Taiwan Strait, the Chief of the General Staff sat in Shanghai, what does the mystery here explain? "The aircraft carrier fleet, so to say that our navy came out, it was the aircraft carrier fleet, which is simply very exciting." At this time, the sound of the jeep's engine was heard outside again.

"Report! General Fu Zuoyi came to visit! "An operational staff officer made an urgent report. Lin and Zuo Quan were a little surprised when they heard this, "Hurry up and invite General Fu!" The two sides did not greet each other too much, Fu Zuoyi said: "Yesterday I received an order from the Ministry of National Defense, asking me to secretly send troops to the western region of Outer Mongolia, and be sure to control Kobdo and Uriya Sutai before October!" Lin and Zuo Quan were taken aback when they heard this. Commander Lin, Chief of Staff of Zuo Quan, the stakes are very high, and I must report to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. Lin did not dare to slack off, and immediately wrote a handwritten letter, and sent an operational staff officer to hold the handwritten letter and rush to Datong. Then take a direct flight to Ruijin.

Such confidential matters must not be telegraphed, and after the combat staff officer left, Lin said: "General Fu, when the time comes, you can stay here for two days with peace of mind, and let me do my best as a landlord!" "Commander Lin, I'm worried that Lao Jiang has discovered our intentions." Lin Shen groaned for a moment and said: "It's impossible, but Lao Jiang must have seen the Soviet army's heavy troops into a major counteroffensive, and he took care of the Eastern Front flawlessly." At this time, the timing of sending troops to the Outer Mongolian grassland is excellent, if the Outer Mongolian grassland can be successfully recovered, Lao Chiang's political prestige will rise, this is a great opportunity to leave a name for the ages, with Lao Chiang's keenness, it will not be impossible to see. ”

"Mr. Lin, if the Japanese army is aware of it, it will definitely strengthen the first-line defense of Manchuria, and it will even affect the first-line operation in Beijing and Tianjin!" "It's not something we can control, let's wait for the order from the headquarters!