During this period, in addition to the continuous training of troops, the various units of the Reading Division also began to carry out large-scale production and build base areas under the leadership of the political commissars. In the words of division commander Liu Hua, it is necessary to seize this favorable opportunity for development, and before the army reacts and concentrates its forces against our Eighth Route Army, it is necessary to carry out large-scale military training and accumulate grain to prepare for the big war that it will face in the future.

A few months have passed, and after more than half a year of busyness, the entire base area has slowly ushered in the most important harvest period of the year. Looking at the golden waves of wheat in the base area, division commander Liu Hua knew that this year would be a bumper harvest year in the entire base area, which also indicated that there would be no shortage of food for tens of thousands of his troops.

Of course, the grain in the base area, because it is within the control of the reader, will not fall into the hands of the little devil. However, in the enemy-occupied areas, there are also countless fertile fields and countless grains. But all of this food, except for the people themselves, basically fell into the hands of the little devils. The little devils used the food handed over by the common people as military rations, and then after eating and drinking enough, they picked up the weapons in their hands and killed the Chinese people.

As the head of the reading teacher, Liu Hua, of course, could not tolerate this kind of thing happening. Looking at the constantly tumbling wheat waves, a trace of murderous aura that had not appeared for several months slowly appeared on his face again. At the same time, the idea of armed food grabbing also slowly surfaced in his mind. With an idea, of course, Liu Hua did not hesitate, and immediately returned to the division headquarters, ready to discuss it with the political commissar.

"Commander, I agree with your opinion, the food that our people have grown with their own hard work cannot fall into the hands of little devils. Teacher, you can first tell us what you think in your heart, and we will discuss what to do. In a word, we must not let these grains fall into the hands of little devils. After learning that the division commander was going to arm the little devils to grab food, political commissar Luo Ronghuan did not have any opinions, and raised his hands in favor.

"Commissar, my idea is very simple. Isn't the strength of the little devil insufficient now, then we will send troops, beat him, beat them up, and let them all shrink into the county town protected by the city wall. In this way, vast rural areas are occupied and controlled by us. At this time, it is also the time of grain harvest, when the time comes, in addition to their own consumption, the rest of the grain harvested by our special battalion will be collected and transported back to the base area. Of course, if the enemy does not counterattack the vast rural areas we occupy, we will slowly turn them into our base areas. However, if the enemy gathers heavy forces to counterattack, we will retreat one after another, and return the rural areas that have no grain to these little devils. Division commander Liu Hua said with a smile

"Okay, Commander, I agree with you. It's just that if the little devils gather heavy troops to counterattack, although we can easily retreat, but the local people will suffer," the political commissar nodded, and at the same time, thoughtfully asked a question.

"Well, if we leave easily, the little devil will definitely take revenge on the local people because of the lack of food. This is a very important issue, and we must not leave the danger to the local population. But if you want to solve it, it is also very easy, that is, how many little devils come, how many we destroy. At the same time, form guerrilla units in the local area, establish organizations, and organize local people to help themselves," Zhang Hua quickly replied.

In this way, after a detailed agreement, the two finally finalized a complete battle plan. At the same time, the name of this combat plan was also directly named "armed grain grabbing" by Liu Hua without any scruples

So, on the battlefield in North China, which had been quiet for more than two months. In order to compete for countless grains in the enemy-occupied areas and not fall into the hands of little devils, gunfire once again rang out on the battlefield in North China. However, this time it was no longer the little devil who took the initiative to attack, but the reader who had been quietly developing for several months in his own base.

After more than two months of training, the entire unit to which the Reading Division belonged could be said to have been reborn, and in front of the little devils, it once again broke out with amazing combat effectiveness. The various units, supported by all kinds of artillery fire, quickly gained a foothold in the enemy-occupied area like an autumn wind sweeping away the leaves. At the same time, they began to continuously expand their occupied areas, so to speak, the main forces of dozens of regiments basically swept away all the puppet army strongholds around the base area with a garrison size of less than one squadron, just like an autumn wind sweeping away the leaves.

In the face of the sudden armed grain grabbing operation launched by the Eighth Route Army, and in the face of the sudden counterattack of the main force of the Eighth Route Army. The entire North China army, especially the little devils in Shanxi, can be said to have been caught off guard, and there is no room to fight back. When urgent distress telegrams were sent to the High Command. Once again, the entire North China Command was in a mess.

Looking at the small red dots on the map in front of him, which represented the strongholds of the imperial army of the Great Empire, one after another were erased by the operational staff officers next to him, in less than two days, in the vast area of Jindong, Jinnan, and even Jinxi, there were only a few large strongholds with the county seat as the support point.

Seeing the sudden changes in front of him, Lieutenant General Tada Jun, commander of the North China Army, could be said to be anxious at this time. In the face of the strong attack of the Reading Division, General Toshishi Tada, who was already overstretched, issued the only order that the troops were to hold on to and wait for reinforcements, prohibiting each unit from leaving their strongholds or county towns to engage in field battles with the Reading Division, but relying on various fortifications to hold on to the spot.

However, although the little devil has the cover of a stronghold. However, no matter how strong the stronghold is, it cannot stop the direct aiming fire of 75-mm mountain guns and infantry guns. Only two days have passed, and nearly 100 small strongholds, large and small, located around the Reading Power Base Area, have been wiped out. As for the remaining dozens of larger strongholds and heavily garrisoned county towns, they were surrounded by various participating troops and were in danger of being wiped out at any time. At the same time, the entire reader's sphere of control has unknowingly expanded by more than a third.

"Baga, those officers of the General Staff Headquarters, when will it become clear that in current China, the regular troops of the Kuomintang are no longer our main enemy, our main enemy is in North China, it is the Eighth Route Army." Seeing that the larger and larger area in front of him was occupied by the Eighth Route Army's Reading Division, Tada Jun couldn't help but slap the table in front of him and roared loudly.

"Your Excellency, Commander, please calm your anger, those people in the General Staff Headquarters do not believe in our information at all, and refuse to send us troops for reinforcements. However, Your Excellency, I think they will soon find out the seriousness of the problem. Your Excellency, Commander, we must now seize the time to solve the problems encountered by our garrison troops in North China, and if we do not change our battle plan, the entire region of North China, especially the whole of Shanxi, except for some big cities, will basically be occupied by this reading division. Looking at the commander with an angry face, Lieutenant General Tada Toshi, the chief of staff hurriedly reminded.

"Yaga, those rice buckets, how many Imperial warriors, all died in their wrong orders. Chief of Staff, the current situation has reached this point, and our stronghold cannot stop any offensive of the Reading Division of the Eighth Route Army. You start by saying what you think, what should we do? Do you really want to abandon all the small strongholds and order all the imperial soldiers to retreat to the county seat? Give up vast rural areas to this reader. Tada Jun frowned and replied helplessly.

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander, I think that the situation we are currently encountering, only this method can ensure the viability of our North China garrison as much as possible. Your Excellency, Commander, in just two days of attack by the Reading Division of the Eighth Route Army, we have once again lost more than 6,000 excellent Imperial soldiers. If we hadn't given the order to retreat sooner, our casualties would have skyrocketed at the rate of 3,000 a day. Therefore, for the sake of the future of the North China garrison, please make a decision as soon as possible. The chief of staff replied loudly.

"But, Chief of Staff, have you ever thought about it, now is the season for grain harvest in the vast areas of Shanxi. If we abandon the vast rural areas, we will hand over all the large grain-producing areas to the Eighth Route Army. In the next year's fighting, we fought what the Imperial Army ate, and if there was no food, we would continue to fight with the Eighth Route Army. You must know that at this time, due to the shortage of domestic food, the military department has stopped asking my brother to distribute military rations to the garrison troops, and instead each unit has raised military rations on its own in its own defense area. The commander asked rhetorically, frowning.

Listening to the words of Commander Tada Jun, the chief of staff could only smile bitterly. Because what the commander said was all true. Due to the various resources and materials of the empire, there was a shortage of arable land. Food and soldiers are all urgently needed to be replenished by the North China garrison army. However, now they can only choose one of them, which makes it difficult for any commander to make a decision.

"Your Excellency, Commander, there is an idiom in China called a strong man who breaks his arm, and when it is broken, it is broken. For the sake of the future of the North China garrison, we can no longer afford to lose even a single soldier. Therefore, please make a decision as soon as possible, Your Excellency, Commander. If there is no food, we can allocate it from the northeast and even grab it from the local people. However, if there are no soldiers, then the entire empire has no hope at all. The chief of staff still stuck to his plan and continued.

At this time, Lieutenant General Tada Jun, after listening to the chief of staff's analysis, fell into deep thought. However, soon this Lieutenant General Tada seemed to have made up his mind and slowly raised his head.

"Chief of Staff, give orders to all the strongholds located around the Reader's base immediately. The garrison was ordered to evacuate at once, which was smaller than the stronghold of the Imperial Army of one squadron, and to assemble in the nearest surrounding county towns, and prepare to encircle these county points. However, the scope of the retreat is limited to the strongholds around the base area of the Reading Division, and the farther ones, like the vast rural areas of western Jinxi, we cannot abandon them under any circumstances. Not only can it not be discarded, but it is also necessary to strengthen the directional strength of the entire western Jin. Order the troops of a brigade of the Eastern Army Division to immediately reinforce Jinxi, and ensure that the entire grain-producing area in Jinxi is in the hands of our Imperial Army. The commander, Lieutenant General Tada, ordered loudly.

"Hey, Your Excellency Commander, I'll send a report to my unit right away," the chief of staff replied loudly, convinced.

With the issuance of the order of the little devil headquarters, those small strongholds, the little devils who shook every day, immediately withdrew from the stronghold after receiving the order to retreat. Even many troops, even forgetting to destroy the large amount of military supplies hoarded in the store, hurriedly retreated, and gave these military supplies to the soldiers of the Reading Division in vain.

However, in the face of the vast rural areas where there is almost no one devil, the soldiers are also very happy. The individual units, almost without any attack or losses, easily captured them. Facing the county towns with heavy troops stationed in the areas they occupied. While the soldiers seized the time to collect the rations, they also wiped them out from time to time.

"Division commander, good news, all units on the front line have sent good news. Judging from the current situation, all the remaining vast rural areas in Shanxi, except for Jinxi, have been occupied by our readers. Now the various units are occupying the area, seize the time to help the people harvest grain" Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan held a stack of telegrams and pointed to the increasing number of small red flags in front of him, but the white flags representing the strongholds of the little devils were less and less sand tables. The political commissar said with a smile on his face.

"Political commissar, I didn't expect that the little devil, who has always been arrogant and unwilling to admit defeat, would take the initiative to retreat this time, give up the vast rural areas, and only occupy the west of Jinxi." Liu Hua also replied with a smile on his face because of the good form in front of him.

"Division commander, now the little devils in the three directions have already cowered in the county seat and other county towns covered by city walls. Only Jinxi, we didn't solve it. You see, whether it is an order to all the troops on the front line to continue the offensive. Take back the vast rural areas of the entire western part of Jinxi, and let the little devils fight us hungry in the coming year. Looking at the good form in front of him, the political commissar said with confidence on his face.

After listening to the words of the political commissar, Zhang Hua did not rush to answer this question, but calculated, calculating, calculating how much grain he could collect from these grain-producing areas he occupied. At the same time, think about whether the enemy's actions have changed, and whether they will change with them. Soon, though, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Political commissar, order all the troops on the front to suspend the offensive to the vast rural areas of western Jinxi and hold their own occupied areas. After all, rabbits will jump off the wall when they are in a hurry. Since the little devil has made such a big concession to us, then we will accept it when we see it. However, shouldn't we change the original battle plan? A smile appeared on the corner of Zhang Hua's mouth.

"Change the battle plan? Division, tell me first," the political commissar asked suspiciously.

"The original battle plan of our army was only to arm and grab food, and if the enemy counterattacked in a big way, we would retreat. However, now that the little devils are taking the initiative to retreat, why can't we turn the various units and the vast rural areas occupied into our real base areas? Liu Hua proposed with a smile.

"If we can become our own base in this way, the whole of Shanxi, except for Jinxi, will be the world of our readers. Commander, your idea is so bold. However, in its current form, it is really the best opportunity to develop a base area," the political commissar replied excitedly with a pair of big eyes.

"Well, this is also an opportunity created for us by the little devil. Don't the little devils think we're just here to fight for food? Hehe, when we have collected enough food, we will stay in the local area. Zhang Hua said with a smile.

"Commander, what are you going to do?" Thinking that his base area would be more than a dozen counties because of this, Political Commissar Luo Ronghua couldn't help but light up his eyes and asked excitedly.

"It's simple, order the fighters of the various units to stop the offensive and form guerrilla units, various militia units on the spot. In addition, send out the direct subordinate corps, concentrate troops as much as possible, eliminate these counties where a large number of little devils have gathered, and completely drive out or completely eliminate the little devils in the occupied areas. Of course, there is also the most important thing, that is, local cadres, and local cadres must enter the occupied areas in the shortest possible time, exercise management over the occupied areas, and thoroughly turn these places into our base areas. Liu Hua slapped the table in front of him and said loudly.

"Ah, completely eliminate the little devils in the occupied area, this is more than a dozen county towns, one or two thousand little devils and tens of thousands of puppet army troops, your tone is really big, it's just, division commander, so many little devils, and the protection of the city wall, do we have such good teeth?" Regarding Zhang Hua's plan, the political commissar opened his mouth and asked rhetorically with a worried face.

"Political commissar, then you underestimate the combat effectiveness of the column directly under our reading division. Whether there is such a good tooth opening, you can only know if you go up and take a bite. When the time came, three brigades, forming three assault groups, carried a large number of siege artillery. Concentrate superior forces, one county and one county town. Of course, if the little devil is afraid and retreats in advance, it will be better and destroy him in the wild. Zhang Hua replied affirmatively.

"Commander, since you are so confident. I absolutely support you. The political commissar said with a smile.

(To be continued)