Shen County is located at the southwest end of Liaocheng in western Shandong, at the junction of Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 It is bounded by the Jinxian River in the east and Yanggu County in the east, Handan in Hebei Province in the west, Puyang, Nanle and Qingfeng in Henan Province in the west, Fan County and Puyang in Henan Province in the south, and Guan County in the north.

Its unique geographical location also made it the location of the division headquarters of the 117th Division to advance into Luxi to fight behind enemy lines. Hold this choke point, strike at the surrounding Japanese puppet army, and use it as the center to develop anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines.

After the 117th Division was stationed in Luxi, the local Japanese puppet army also swept it. But every time, the results are not satisfactory. On the other hand, the troops of the 117th Division fought more and more in the sweep of the Japanese army.

Moreover, with the later stationing of the 129th Division in Xingtai and the establishment of a new base behind enemy lines, the Japanese army in Hebei, which originally needed to be guarded against, could no longer threaten the 117th Division. So far, the 117th Division's days in Shandong have been very peaceful.

Compared with Xu Shiling and others, they only received a combat readiness order from the headquarters, but Xu Xiangqian, as the division commander, received a secret telegram from the headquarters. It was clear that the headquarters would be in Henan next, and there would be a big battle with the Japanese army trying to capture Zhengzhou.

Before He Zhengdao returned to Yan'an for a meeting, he also made a special detour to their 117th Division, and he didn't just want to visit them. The headquarters also hopes that they can have in-depth exchanges on response and combat deployment.

When he was full of wine and food, He Zhengdao also soaked the tea purchased from Dabie Mountain. Although it is not a good tea, for people who usually only drink strong tea, they still think that this tea tastes good.

As the military leader of the 117th Division, Xu Xiangqian also said in a timely manner: "Zhengdao, regarding the next battle, you must already have a specific plan, right?" What can our 117th Division be responsible for in this battle? ”

Saying such words is enough to show that Xu Xiangqian clearly informed that if this battle was commanded by He Zhengdao, the 117th Division would also fully cooperate. This kind of trust still touched He Zhengdao a little.

He also quickly smiled bitterly: "Old chief, thank you for your trust." I haven't really thought much about the battle plan this time. Regarding my return to Yan'an for a meeting, I believe several old leaders should have heard about it, right?

If I can be elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee this time, then I want to unload the matter from Central China. From the day the independent column arrived in Yan'an, what I really wanted to do was to recover the three eastern provinces as soon as possible.

Even in a short period of time, I will not be able to completely wipe out the Kwantung Army, which has occupied the Northeast for many years. But I believe that as long as I am given a certain amount of time to develop. I have the ability to stop the Kwantung Army's southward movement.

As long as this operational objective is achieved, the old chiefs should think about what our situation in the north will become. At the moment, although we are developing rapidly, I think it is necessary to speed up a bit.

Letting little devils always hold us back is still very detrimental to our liberation cause. If we can pacify North China and Northeast China as soon as possible, I believe that our Party and our Eighth Route Army will achieve better and faster development.

According to my judgment of the current international situation, I am afraid that in less than one to two years, a large-scale war that will sweep the military powers of Europe and the United States will break out. This is a rare opportunity, an opportunity for us to rise on our own. ”

Listening to He Zhengdao's words, everyone was stunned and said, "Are you going to step down as the commander of the new 67th Army?" What about the troops you left behind in Central China? Lao Jiang, I'm afraid I won't agree, right? ”

It doesn't matter if you agree or not. In the intelligence of the little devils and the Central Army, the new 67th Army has collapsed. At present, only some remnants of the New 67th Army are operating in Xinyang.

In the previous incident, whether it was me or the Central Committee and the headquarters, I actually didn't care much about the name of the new 67th Army. If I step down, I will return to Yulin and continue to serve as commander of the independent column.

As for the troops currently fighting in central China, there should be a new leader as commander at that time. Although the current situation in Central China is not optimistic, in terms of the overall victory or disadvantage, the chances of us repelling the little devils are still quite high.

What we are waiting for now is not for the little devils to attack Zhengzhou, but more for the central army to withdraw from Zhengzhou. Once they dare to retreat on all fronts, then our two main divisions, which are currently assembled on the border of Shaanxi, will take advantage of the situation to move south.

In front of us were two main divisions plus a new main division, and behind were my troops from the New 67th Army and the New Fourth Army, as well as the 117th and 129th Divisions. The little devil wants to occupy Henan, how can he succeed?

Once we can take Henan, it will play a very important role in our war of resistance behind enemy lines in Central China. At least for those of us who are behind enemy lines, the liaison with the rear of the headquarters will also be smoother.

This step, we can't take it in advance, we must let Lao Jiang take the first step. In this case, we will have ample excuses to take over Henan's defense. The meaning of the chairman and the boss is that this time they will let Lao Jiang compensate his wife and break his army! ’

From He Zhengdao, I knew for the first time that this time the headquarters planned to use so many main combat troops in order to recover Henan. While the division leaders of the 117th Division were excited, they also knew that they had not experienced much of this kind of big battle.

It's just that Zeng Zhongsheng soon said: "Zhengdao, according to what I have learned, the proposal to recover Henan this time was also suggested by you to the headquarters. At this time, you should be the most suitable person in charge, why should you leave? ”

'Old chief, I dare not take this seriously! You are all old-timers, and you are all more experienced than me in operational command. Such a big battle, with my current ability, I am afraid that I am really not up to it.

If nothing else, the campaign to recover Henan should be directly commanded and dispatched by the headquarters. And the troops of our two divisions and the New Fourth Army are more responsible for preventing and following behind enemy lines to launch surprise attacks.

The real battle should be handled by the two main divisions transferred from the Shanxi Theater by the headquarters. As for the other newly formed main division, it will do more things to provide logistical support and stabilize local law and order.

What the specific battle plan will be, I don't know at the moment. The most important thing is that we do not yet know when the Central Army will fully retreat, and when the little devils will really launch a general offensive.

Only when they begin to act can our battle plan unfold. Otherwise, we will take over Henan before the withdrawal of the Central Army, but I am afraid that Lao Jiang will preach everywhere again, and we are grabbing territory with them again. ’

After saying this, He Zhengdao's attitude and words seemed very sincere. As division-level cadres in the Eighth Route Army, Xu Xiangqian and others all knew that before the new 67th Army left for the Wuhan battlefield, the affairs of Central China were also managed by He Zhengdao.

But no one expected that He Zhengdao would open up such a large base area so quickly when he arrived in the Dabie Mountain area. Not to mention the encirclement and suppression of a main division of the Japanese army, it also restored the Dabie Mountain base area opened up by the Red Fourth Front Army in the past.

As the main division of the Red Fourth Front Army, Xu Xiangqian and others are undoubtedly very sure of He Zhengdao's work. But they also know that He Zhengdao's rise is too fast, and his age is also a shortcoming.

Sometimes when they return to the headquarters to have meetings with the Central Committee, they have also heard that some people are not very satisfied with He Zhengdao, who is in such a high position at such a young age. And commanding such a big battle, even if He Zhengdao is capable, others probably won't let him go.

The reason is very simple, if He Zhengdao can really command this battle well. Then He Zhengdao's prestige in the army, within the party, and even among the people will be unprecedentedly enhanced. How will other veteran cadres deal with themselves then?

In the final analysis, He Zhengdao is a junior in the Red Army after all!

Xu Xiangqian, who thought about this, could only sigh in the end: "It's really a pity that I can't fight side by side with you!" It's just that at this time, the boss shouldn't let you go, right? ”

Regarding He Zhengdao's desire to step down from the post of commander of the new 67th Army, Xu Xiangqian also understood that He Zhengdao did not want to fight with others. If the Eighth Route Army really organized so many main divisions to participate this time, the commander really needs to think carefully.

The most important thing is what Xu Xiang learned before, and now He Zhengdao only holds the position of deputy secretary in the Central China Bureau. And many times, He Zhengdao doesn't seem to manage much, and Liu Shaoqi is in charge of the work of the Central China Bureau.

At present, Xu Xiangqian naturally knows some about the current situation in the central government. As a localist, Mao Taizu did become the core leader of the party and the army because of his prestige in the party and the support of the Eighth Route Army.

However, with regard to the Soviet side, which commanded remotely from time to time, they hoped that the pro-Soviet faction would have more say in the matter. In this case, as Mao Taizu's confidant, it seems normal for He Zhengdao to be suppressed in some way.

Moreover, the most inappropriate situation is that He Zhengdao is now only in his early twenties, not to mention becoming a military general in charge of one side, and is about to become an alternate member of the Central Committee.

If he held an important position in the battle to recover Henan. At that time, what new positions will He Zhengdao be given to the central government and the headquarters? In the final analysis, He Zhengdao's promotion speed is indeed a little fast and scary.

Even if He Zhengdao is promoted to his current position, he has real combat exploits as a backing. However, the problem is that the age, party age, and seniority of the promotion of leaders and generals in the party and the army need to be fully taken into account.

To put it bluntly, the credit cannot be monopolized by He Zhengdao alone. It may be more modest to give some credit to others. In a sense, He Zhengdao's mentality is very positive.

At this age, he can take into account such a deep problem, and Xu Xiangqian also admires it very much. The other party and government leaders of the 117th Division, from He Zhengdao's plan to step down from the post of army commander after becoming an alternate member, also knew that this was a clumsy hiding.

At least according to their understanding, the new 67th Army currently in Central China is a unit single-handedly pulled up by He Zhengdao. From the division commander to an ordinary soldier, no one can match He Zhengdao's prestige.

This also means that in the selection of the successor to the new army commander, the central authorities and the general headquarters must give full consideration to He Zhengdao's suggestion. In this way, He Zhengdao's strength in the army is actually still undiminished! (To be continued.) )