[Anti-Japanese Iron Blood King] Chapter 465: Southbound Plan (Ask for subscriptions, ask for monthly passes, ask for everything!) ）

"What? You took the initiative and why? It was Huang Sicheng who spoke this time, and it was obvious that even an old man like him, who had been following Ma Zheng from Jiangxi, didn't understand why Ma Zheng did this.

Ma Zheng smiled and said: "The reason has been told to you, if our Suicha Military Region and the entire Eighth Route Army want to continue to develop and grow, we must do this." Of course, there are deeper reasons, but I can't tell you yet. ”

The matter of Li Lanqing's trip to the United States is a top secret even in the entire party, and in addition to the parties involved, there will be no more than five people who know about this matter, including Ma Zheng himself. Therefore, it was impossible for Ma Zheng to tell them about going to Shandong to seize the sea mouth, even if Ma Zheng believed them very much.

"Commander, since you are going to Shandong to take up a post, do you understand the situation on the ground?" This time it was Liu Fengchi, commander of the Third Division, who asked questions.

Ma Zheng got up and said: "I still know a little about the anti-Japanese situation in Shandong, and to be honest, it is very serious. Although the Sulu Theater of the Nationalist Government was the focus of the encirclement and suppression, our Eighth Route Army also suffered heavy losses, and the Shandong Column and the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army suffered heavy losses, and part of the main force had withdrawn to the Yimeng Mountains and the southern Hebei region, and some troops were scattered. ”

"In other words, everything will depend on the commander himself for this trip south?"

"Pretty much the same!" Ma Zheng said.

"Commander, as far as I know, the Japanese army has stationed a whole army in the Shandong region, namely the 12th Army of Otaka Kamezo, which has four divisions and three mixed brigades under its jurisdiction, with a total strength of nearly 100,000 troops, making it the largest military group of the Japanese army in North China. Secondly, there are a large number of puppet troops in Shandong, such as Ma Liang's Shandong Security Corps, and most of the Daomen forces in Shandong have also defected to the Japanese, so the situation is extremely sinister and has to be guarded against! Liu Fengchi said in a deep voice.

"The 12th Army is so large?" Ma Zheng asked in surprise.

"Well, the main reason is that the power of the Nationalist Government in Shandong is still very strong, including the former Qingdao Marine Corps led by Shen Honglie, chairman of Shandong Province of the Kuomintang, the 4th Brigade of the Shandong Provincial Security Corps and Wu Huawen's new formation, Shi You's 3rd 69th Army, the 51st Army and the 57th Army of the Northeast Army, with a total strength of no less than 80,000 people. In addition, there are anti-Japanese forces such as the 115th Division of our Eighth Route Army and the Shandong Column, so the Japanese army naturally has more troops stationed here. Liu Fengchi replied.

"Don't be afraid, no matter how sinister the situation is, it can't compare to when we first arrived in Chanan two years ago. At that time, there was no food to eat, no clothing, not to mention the weapons and equipment of the troops, and there were less than 100 soldiers. I believe that our Eighth Route Army is a tenacious army that can survive tenaciously even anywhere. Ma Zheng said confidently.

"Commander, how many troops are you going to take with you when you go south this time, and you will be drawn from that division?" Yun Jian also asked.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were once again focused on Ma Zheng, obviously this is also the common concern of these military and political cadres in the conference room.

Ma Zheng said: "The Japanese army's surveillance of our military region is very strict, and the Japanese blockade line along the road is very tight, so I can only take a small part of the troops to the south this time, I plan to bring two battalions and a part of the special combat team, and I must go in batches." ”

"Two battalions, so few?"

"Two battalions are less than a thousand people, what can they do?"

"yes, it's only two battalions"

Ma Zheng signaled everyone to be quiet, and then said: "The strength of the two battalions is well-founded, first of all, our Suicha Military Region has now spread out, and the defense area has been more than three times larger than last year. At the same time, the Japanese army has gathered a large number of troops around our military region, so I can't send all the elite troops of the military region south, otherwise it will easily attract the attention of the Japanese army. ”

"The second is that the number of troops is small and it is good to act, you must know that the strength of the Japanese army in Shandong is not weak now, and if our army gathers in Shandong on a large scale, it will be very unfavorable to our army's next actions. Therefore, I plan to take only the first squadron of the Thor Special Operations Brigade and two backbone infantry battalions composed of officers to the south of Shandong. In this way, the number of people was less than 1,000, and the southward movement in batches would not attract the attention of the Japanese army, and the purpose of concealment was achieved. At the same time, all the remaining 1,000 people, except for the special operations squadron, are combat backbones, and their combat effectiveness is absolutely guaranteed. ”

Everyone was shocked when they heard that Ma Zheng only led 1,000 people south, especially Huang Sicheng and Wang Hansen, a large number of old cadres who followed Ma Zheng at the earliest, raised objections one after another.

Yun Jian frowned and asked, "Commander, it seems that the superior leaders have not restricted you from leading the Dushao troops south, right?" Although it has the advantage of being concealed by bringing less than 1,000 people south, how much can this 1,000 people play in Shandong, which is a key area ruled by the Japanese army, and is not comparable to the Suicha region. ”

"Yes, I'm afraid that these thousand or so people won't even be able to make a splash in that chaotic place in Shandong, I suggest you bring all the military district guard regiments and mechanized infantry regiments, and the safety of the commander will not be a problem with them." Yang Chengwu also spoke.

"Yes... Right... Yes, the political commissar and Division Commander Yang are right, the troops of less than a thousand people are not more than the number of an infantry brigade of the little devils! In addition, this time the journey to the south is long, and heavy weapons such as mountain artillery, field artillery, and infantry guns cannot be carried, even if it is mortar, it is enough, and if the troops bring less, we are really worried about the safety of the commander. It was Ma Desheng who spoke.

This strong man like a black tower has been following Ma Zheng from Yan'an to the present, from a big soldier all the way to the commander of the military division and the commander of the cavalry division, commanding these tens of thousands of troops under his hands. He knew very well that all this was given by Ma Zheng, so he was very loyal to Ma Zheng. So when he heard that Ma Zheng was only leading two battalions of troops south and placing himself in the midst of more than 100,000 Japanese troops, he was the first to disagree.

"I know your worries, everyone is afraid that my little devils will eat them. Of course, if the crockpot does not break from the wellhead, the general will inevitably die in battle, and it is not impossible to do so. But believe me, comrades, everyone knows what kind of situation we were in when we first arrived, the remnants of more than 100 men were defeated, the average was two people with one gun, the whole regiment had less than 2,000 grenades, less than five rounds of ammunition per rifle, only one light machine gun, and not many bullets. Have we been killed by the little devils? ”

"No, instead of destroying us, the little devils were almost wiped out by us. At present, our army has five infantry divisions and one cavalry division, not counting the regular troops alone, plus other directly subordinate units and garrison regiments, with a total strength of nearly 180,000. Moreover, we will expand our troops, and strive to expand the total number of troops in the military district to 300,000 by the end of '39. ”

"Two years ago, when we did not use the allocation of a single gun and a bullet from our superiors, we pulled up an elite army of more than 100,000 troops, and we not only had our own cavalry regiment, artillery regiment, engineer regiment, but also our own armored troops. All this has been completed in just one and a half years, and since I, Ma Zheng, can build a Suicha Military Region, we can create a new Shandong Military Region, so please believe me, comrades. Ma Zheng said proudly.

All the officers present were silent, and they all felt like a dream when they recalled the miracles created by Ma Zheng in the past two years. Thinking that the Japanese army was as strong as the Japanese army, and was frequently deflated in the hands of Ma Zheng, all the officers present subconsciously believed Ma Zheng's words and believed that he could continue to create his own glory.

In their eyes, Ma Zheng is not just a commander who can fight and fight, he is synonymous with victory and an equivalent symbol of good news. Two years ago, he was able to lead them to a great fight when they were poor and white, and he can do the same now, even better than two years ago. (To be continued.) )