Liu Tianshu stood by the river, until the New Seventh Brigade crossed the Yangtze River, and finally put his mind at ease, however, he was a little puzzled, it stands to reason that more than 20,000 people of the independent division crossed the Yangtze River, and the Japanese army could not have noticed it at all, but the strange thing is that the devils near the river crossing area did not have a trace of abnormality, and they still patrolled and inspected as usual, even the river defense patrol boats of the devils in the Yangtze River, and there was nothing unusual. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Although he was puzzled, the troops successfully crossed the river, which was the biggest victory, and Liu Tianshu did not think about the reason. After letting the New Seventh Brigade drive to the position designated by the military headquarters, it immediately rushed to the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army in Huanghuatang together with Su Lan and Xiang Luoquan.

When the three of them arrived at the military headquarters, they naturally went to the military headquarters to report to Commander Chen and the political commissar. When Commander Chen saw Liu Tianshu coming in, he immediately beckoned him to sit down with a smile, and then after asking a few words with a smile, he listened to Liu Tianshu's detailed report on the situation of the independent division in recent years together with the political commissar with a more serious expression.

Although Political Commissar Jiang had already made a work report to the military department, as the commander of an independent division, Liu Tianshu naturally had to report the situation in detail to the two chiefs.

An hour later, the report ended, and Commander Chen enthusiastically left Liu Tianshu and the three of them to have dinner, which allowed them to return to the independent division together with Jiang Jinyong and Zhang Zhouhong, who had arrived earlier.

When the independent division entered the base area in northern Jiangsu, it naturally would not stay here for a long time, and the army commander and political commissar were naturally clear about this. The power of the Japanese puppet army in northern Jiangsu is not very strong, and the troops operating here can already cope with it, and it is of little significance to leave the strong brigade of the independent division here.

However, the cadres at all levels of the independent division used to carry out the struggle against the enemy in Tianmu Mountain, and although they were also stepping up their study of the party's line, principles, and policies, they naturally fell behind in political study compared with the cadres of the troops around the military headquarters; besides, most of the cadres of the independent division were cadres who had grown up with the independent division, and their qualifications were a little worse than those of other divisions.

Anyway, there is no major event now, and Liu Tianshu, the master commander, has also received a notice to participate in the centralized study of cadres above the independent division and brigade level.

After studying in northern Jiangsu for a month, the cadres at all levels of the independent division have gained a lot in terms of political literacy, especially many of those who came to give lectures were people from the theoretical circles within the party, which opened the eyes of these cadres who were only concerned with fighting wars in the past.

Just when Liu Tianshu and others were actively participating in the study, the instructions of the central authorities arrived, and the independent division left the base area in northern Jiangsu and went north to the border area of Hebei, Shandong, and Henan to carry out the struggle against the enemy.

When they left Jiangbei and went north, they were guessing where the central authorities would place the independent division, and they had thought that it was the border area between eastern Henan and Henan-Anhui, but they did not expect to go so far north and go to Hebei, Shandong, and Henan to carry out the struggle against the enemy.

It is supposed to be the area where the Eighth Route Army operates, so how can the independent division of the New Fourth Army be driven there.

However, the central authorities had the central authorities' considerations, and although Liu Tianshu and Jiang Jinyong were a little puzzled, they immediately expressed their resolute intention to carry out the central authorities' orders.

Subsequently, Commander Chen asked them to go back and immediately formulate a plan to go north, and at the same time said that the base area in northern Jiangsu would provide them with necessary food supplies.

After returning to the station, Liu Tianshu and Jiang Jinyong immediately called the chief of staff, deputy division commander Zhang, deputy chief of staff Sun, and director of the Political Department Su Lan, and after conveying the orders of the military department to them, several people began to study the next plan for going north.

There are two routes to the north this time, one is from northern Jiangsu to Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, and the other is from northern Jiangsu to Hebei, Shandong, and Henan.

"Division commander, political commissar, if we go northeast through Shandong, we will either pass through the Shandong base area, or we will go north along the Jinpu Road, if we go north from the Shandong base area, this road is not very risky, it should be very safe, but such a large army passing through the base area, will it increase the burden on the base area. However, if you go north along the Jinpu Road, you will face the interception of the Japanese army. If we go from northern Jiangsu to northeast Anhui, and then go through northeast Henan, the strength of the devils on this route is relatively weak, but Henan was hit by a severe drought last year, and the people are very poor, and if there is any accident, I am afraid that we will not be able to raise supplies. Xiang Luo Quan stared at the map and pondered for a while and said.

"Let's talk about it, what do you think?" Jiang Jinyong nodded, his eyes swept to the rest of the personnel.

Zhang Zhouhong also thought about the route carefully in his mind at this time, and when he heard the words of the political commissar, he said in a deep voice: "Political commissar, division commander, I think it is best to go to the northeast of Anhui and the northeast of Henan." ”

"Tell me why." Liu Tianshu heard his words and said calmly.

"Political commissars, division commanders, comrades, you see, the enemy in northeastern Anhui and eastern Henan is not strong, but our strength in that area is even weaker, if our independent division passes through there, we can find an opportunity to destroy the enemy, strengthen the strength of our army in that area, and at the same time attract Japanese troops to come to reinforce, so as to reduce the pressure on the Taihang Mountain base area and the Shandong base area." Zhang Zhouhong said in a slow voice.

Hearing his words, Liu Tianshu couldn't help nodding in his heart, since the independent division crossed the river to the north, it has been resting and studying, and during this time, the whole division has long been looking forward to fighting a good battle with the devil.

If the route to the north is determined to be through northeastern Anhui and eastern Henan to northeastern Henan, we can not only take the opportunity to strike at the enemy, but also reduce the pressure on the two major base areas by attracting the enemy's attention.

"Tianshu, what do you think?" Jiang Jinyong looked at Liu Tianshu.

"I personally think that Comrade Zhang Zhouhong's suggestion is good, so the chief of staff should immediately draw up a plan of action for our division to go north in accordance with Deputy Division Commander Zhang's suggestion and submit it to the military department for approval." Liu Tianshu made the final decision.

After the military headquarters received the plan sent by the independent division to go north, the army commander conducted some research, and then sent it to Yan'an by radio.

Although independent divisions belong to the New Fourth Army structure, after all, they are troop operations at the division level, and the central authorities can only make the final decision on such a major operation.

Fortunately, the central government's reply arrived the next day, and the plan for the independent division to pass through northeastern Anhui and eastern Henan to the border area between northeastern Henan and Shandong and Hebei was agreed.

As soon as the plan was decided, Sun Xuexuan, the deputy chief of staff in charge of intelligence work, suddenly became busy, and the twelve special teams quickly went north first. The sharpshooters of the Independent Division, Shi Hu, Hu Yezhuan and Zheng Guangdong, also followed the special squad.

As for Su Lan, because most of the logistics departments of the independent division did not go north, at this time he naturally served as a part-time logistics minister, responsible for the supply and replenishment of the brigades of the division, fortunately, the ammunition brought by the independent division was not large because there was no fierce battle with the Japanese army when crossing the river, and the consumption was not large, so it could maintain the needs of this northward movement, but food and so on had to be temporarily provided by the base areas in northern Jiangsu.

After the troops were replenished, under the personal witness of the head of the military headquarters, the 21 st Brigade took the lead in moving north, suddenly advancing westward from Yanghe in northern Jiangsu, and the two regiments suddenly captured Tangji and Shunshanji north of Si County. And its 64th Regiment occupied Jiangchongling to the west to the north of Lingbi.

The Japanese army in northeastern Anhui was only guarding some county seats, and Tangji and Shunshanji were only guarded by some puppet troops, which were the opponents of the 21st Brigade of the Independent Division.

When the Japanese troops guarding Lingbi and Sixian learned that a large force of the New Fourth Army had suddenly appeared nearby, they were so frightened that they shrank their forces while reporting to the top.

After the 21st Brigade took control of Tangji and Shunshanji, the division's direct subordinate and the New 7th Brigade immediately followed, passing between Tangji and Shunshanji, and then passing through Jiangchongling to approach the Jinpu line.

In order to allow the troops to pass smoothly through the Jinpu line, the 71st Regiment of the New Seventh Brigade immediately put on a posture of advancing in the direction of Xuzhou after passing through the Jiangchong Ridge, and uprooted the large and small strongholds along the way like autumn wind sweeping away leaves.

The 72nd Regiment approached in the direction of Suzhou, making it look like it was going to attack Suzhou.

The 70th Regiment immediately cut off the Jinpu Road and covered the 22nd Brigade to move westward through the Jinpu Road.

The sudden appearance of the independent division on Jinpu Road took the Japanese troops stationed in Xuzhou by surprise. However, after knowing that it was most likely the independent division that destroyed the Jinpu Road to the north, the commander of the North China Front, Kazumura Ningci, immediately ordered the Japanese army in Xuzhou to make preventive preparations and not allow the independent division to attack Xuzhou in the north, so as to enter Shandong.

The Eighth Route Army in Shandong was enough for the Japanese army in North China to have a headache, and if Liu Tianshu's independent division entered Shandong again, the small advantage it occupied might be taken away by the New Fourth Army of the Eighth Route Army.

If Shandong was all lost to the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, the Jinpu Line, which was the main transportation artery, would lose its role at all.

It's a pity that at this time, Okamura Nints couldn't draw up extra troops to encircle the independent division in a short time.

Although he had not fought with the Independent Division, he knew all the examples of the Independent Division, the Seventeenth Division was the elite division of the Empire, and the then Commander Doze dispatched a full division, and finally retreated in disgrace, he naturally did not think that just one or two wings were enough to wipe out the independent division of the New Fourth Army.

At present, the safest way is to prevent the independent division from entering Shandong.

As for the real goal of the independent division going north, Okamura Nintz believes that it should be Henan.

Because of the severe drought in Henan last year, the influence of the troops of the First War Zone in Henan fell sharply, and many places in eastern Henan, northern Henan, and central Henan fell into the hands of the empire.

It's a pity that the empire's forces are really limited, and it can only control the cities above the county seat, and as for the countryside, the most it can do is to send the imperial army to defend. Fortunately, after the imperial army entered Henan, it was still easy to find people who were willing to work for the empire, and these imperial allied troops composed of Chinese, with the surveillance and command of imperial officers, maintained law and order even better than the imperial army. (To be continued.) )