At the beginning of the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), after half a year of "encroachment," the Yue army basically occupied the quasi-security zone (guerrilla zone) in North China.

As a result, the Kuomintang and Communist armies, which were operating behind enemy lines, were in a predicament at the same time.

In terms of Yue Weihan's 39th Group Army, due to the creation of a solid base area in the Taihang Mountain, a huge number of military enterprises and a large number of civilian enterprises have also been established in the base area, so it has not been greatly affected.

However, Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Army and Yu Xuezhong's 3rd Army were not good.

Previously, the area controlled by Sun Lianzhong and Yu Xuezhong was much larger than that of Yue Weihan, but unfortunately, the area under their control was either mountainous or poor, and there were no decent military and civilian enterprises.

The situation on the side of the Eighth Route Army was even worse than that of the 2nd and 3rd armies.

Although the situation of the 2nd and 3rd Group Armies is difficult, the base areas are good or bad, the assembly of troops is easier, and the space for strategic maneuver is also greater, but the base areas of the major military regions of the Eighth Route Army are divided into small pieces by the army, and it is very difficult for the troops to assemble, and there is almost no room for strategic maneuver!

One shot penetrated the base area, for the Eighth Route Army, it is by no means a legend!

At this point, the conditions are ripe for the army to impose a military and economic blockade on the base areas of the Kuomintang and the Communist Army!

In January of the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), Okamura Ningji fully implemented the "cage" policy in North China.

For the Chinese in the security area, Okamura Ninji can be described as giving preferential treatment.

For the Chinese in the quasi-security zone (guerrilla zone), Okamura Ninji is also in every possible way.

But for the Chinese in the non-security area (base area), Okamura Ninji raised the butcher knife high.

When attacking and harassing the base areas of the Kuomintang and the Communist armies, most of them adopted the inhumane "three lights" policy, and this policy of differential treatment caused serious harm to the base areas of the Kuomintang and the Communist armies, and the people in the base areas began to be forced to move to the areas of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party because their lives and safety were not guaranteed, and this in turn aggravated the difficulties of the Kuomintang and Communist armies in the war of resistance behind enemy lines.

In June of the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), after half a year of brutal blockade and Qingxiang raids, the base areas behind the enemy lines of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were unprecedentedly heavy, due to the lack of medicine, tens of thousands of soldiers paid the price of their lives after being slightly injured, and because of the shortage of food, thousands of soldiers and civilians starved to death every day!

Although the Kuomintang and Communist armies also organized many counter-sweeps, they had little success.

Yue Weihan also thought about digging out the fortress in the east to support the Eighth Route Army and Sun Lianzhong's counter-sweep, but Okamura Ningji, the old devil, was very cautious, and the 5th, 10th, 18th, and 20th divisions directly under the North China Front Army were always stationed near Shimen, and Yue Weihan's 39th Group Army did not have the conditions to take the initiative to attack.

In July of the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), the situation deteriorated more and more.

In the mountainous area of Luzhong, Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Group Army was sharply reduced from more than 150,000 at the beginning of the year to less than 50,000, and there was a serious shortage of weapons and ammunition, heavy weapons were basically worn out, machine guns were basically furnished, and the number of rifles was also seriously insufficient.

In the Sulu border region, Yu Xuezhong's 3rd Group Army was also sharply reduced from 100,000 at the beginning of the year to 30,000, and in terms of weapons and ammunition, the 3rd Group Army was no better than the 2nd Group Army.

On the side of the Eighth Route Army, the number of troops was also seriously reduced.

During the Great War of the Hundred Battles, the main force of the Eighth Route Army once reached more than 250 regiments and more than 500,000 people!

However, by July of the 29th year of the Republic of China, the main force of the Eighth Route Army had been sharply reduced to less than 200,000 people, and the Eighth Route Army at this time was even more difficult than in history.

Because the historical Okamura Ningji did not meet Yue Weihan, a sworn enemy, and the blockade network of the army was not strongly challenged by the bazooka, the building strength of the artillery tower and stronghold was much lower than now, after the Eighth Route Army was reduced to zero, it could also pull out a gun tower in the east and build a stronghold in the west, so that it could be replenished on the hour, but now it is not possible, now that the gun tower of the army is built so strong, the Eighth Route Army will have nothing left to stare at.

………… Shimen, the headquarters of the North China Front.

Tanabe Moritake said excitedly to Okamura Ninji: "Your Excellency, in the six months since the implementation of the 'cage' policy, the Tuba Road in North China, Sun Lianzhong in the mountainous area of Luzhong, and Yu Xuezhong on the border of Sulu have all suffered unprecedented heavy losses, and the combat effectiveness of these three resistance forces has been greatly weakened, and they are almost vulnerable!" ”

"Hmm." Okamura nodded happily, "It seems that the time is ripe for a big sweep." ”

Tanabe Moritake, Hirata Masashi and the senior staff of the headquarters suddenly looked excited, and finally about to carry out a large-scale sweeping operation against the non-security area, from the Huairou policy, to the encroachment policy, and then to the cage policy, the North China Front lasted more than two years, and spent a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, for this day!?

Tanabe Moritake immediately asked, "Your Excellency Commander, what instructions do you have for the next sweep?" ”

Okamura Ninji bowed his head lightly and said, "The Chinese have an ancient saying, called easy first and then difficult, and this sweep of the imperial army should also be based on this principle, first sweeping the base area of Tubalu, which has been divided and surrounded by the imperial army, and then sweeping the Luzhong Sun Lianzhong and Yu Xuezhong on the Sulu border, and finally it is Yue Weihan's turn to base the Taihang Mountain!" ”

"Hello." Tanabe Moritake suddenly bowed his head and said, "Your Excellency the Commander is wise!" ”

………… Jingcheng County, Headquarters of the 39th Group Army.

Yue Weihan, Liu Yi and a senior general of the 39th Group Army were also gathering in front of the simulated sand table.

Ma Zhankui said to Yue Weihan with a solemn expression: "General, Nanzao Yunzi has sent news from Beiping that Okamura Ningji has mobilized the 24th, 26th, 28th, and 29th divisions, plus the four group armies of the puppet North China Autonomous Army, with more than 300,000 troops divided into 16 routes, and at the same time launched a large-scale sweeping operation against the various base areas of the Eighth Route Army. ”

"His grandmother's." Chi Chengfeng said extremely depressedly, "I'm afraid that the eighth road is dangerous." ”

"yes." Cao Xinglong nodded, and said worriedly, "I was besieged by little devils for more than half a year, and the Eighth Route not only suffered serious attrition, but also a serious shortage of weapons and ammunition, and now with less than 200,000 tired divisions, we have to face more than 300,000 puppet coalition troops who have been recuperating for a long time, and the result can be imagined." ”

Liu Yi sighed and said: "Alas, I am afraid that the more than a dozen base areas of the Eighth Route Army will not be able to hold it, and the most urgent problem at the moment is to do everything possible to withdraw the troops as soon as possible, as long as the troops are still there, the base areas can be restored at any time, but if the troops are all gone, then everything will be over." ”

"How easy is it to say?" Gao Shuxun shook his head and said, "After two years of operation, the North China Army has built a complete and solid blockade network, and it is extremely difficult for the troops of the Eighth Route Army who have been squeezed in the base area by the Army to even turn around. ”

Yue Weihan couldn't help but bow his head lightly when he heard this, in history, the Eighth Route Army often did this during counter-sweeps.

"In my opinion, it may not be possible to stand out from the whole into parts." Lu Xiufeng said disapprerovingly, "Now the people's hearts in North China are no longer towards us, if the Eighth Road is really broken into pieces, it will be broken by the army on the way to break through, it is better to stick to the base and fight with the little devils, fight one is enough, fight two and earn!" ”

"Donkey, what do you call this bad idea?" Niu Dagen didn't have a good airway, "Today's eight roads, the three of them together can't get a broken gun, less than five bullets, and less than two grenades, what do people do to fight with the little devil?" Do you want to let the brothers of the Eighth Road take bayonets to fight the little devils? ”

"So what do you say?" Liu Fengsheng said, "What can you do if you don't fight?" ”

"It's definitely not going to work." Liu Yi shook his head and said, "However, it is indeed not easy to break through." ”

Yue Weihan sighed and said to Liu Yi: "Chief of Staff, immediately transfer the information to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army." ”

After saying this, Yue Weihan said to Meng Bozhao, the director of logistics: "Bozhao, you contact Chi Dianwen, and let the brothers of the Green Gang use the smuggling channel to urgently deliver a batch of supplies to the various base areas of the Eighth Route Army, and give as much ammunition as possible, that's all we can do, alas......"

………… In July of the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), the army mobilized more than 300,000 troops, and launched a large-scale sweeping operation against the Jin-Cha-Ji, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan base areas of the Eighth Route Army in 16 routes.

In addition, the 39th Group Army urgently provided a large number of weapons and ammunition to all units of the Eighth Route Army through the underground communication line of Chi Dianwen, the boss of the Green Gang, which greatly supported the Eighth Route Army's breakthrough battle.

By the end of the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), the main forces of more than a dozen base areas of the Eighth Route Army finally broke through the blockade of the Yue Army and entered the Taihang Mountains to join the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.

Although the strength of the Eighth Route Army was less than 150,000 men, the combat effectiveness of the troops had been greatly improved, and the reason was very simple: those who could survive the brutal anti-sweeping and breakthrough battles were basically ruthless people with outstanding physical fitness and excellent military skills.

At this time, the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness caught up with the old Red Army that had just finished the Long March!

These 150,000 people will be able to immediately regain their combat effectiveness as long as they are reorganized and trained, and if the 39 th Group Army can support a batch of obsolete weapons and equipment, this Eighth Route Army will immediately become a howling wolf unit, and its overall combat effectiveness will never be much weaker than that of the 500,000 troops of the Hundred Battles Regiment.

………… Yan'an, Wayao Fort.

[***], Mr. Zhu and Zhou Gong can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

In this half year, it can be said to be the most severe test for the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield behind the enemy, but the Eighth Route Army finally withstood the test, and the 150,000 heroic and warlike old Eighth Route Army successfully broke through the layers of blockade of the Yue Army, successfully advanced to Taihang Mountain, and successfully joined forces with the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army led by Mr. Peng.

"Chairman, boss." Zhou Gong said with emotion, "History will remember this unprecedented breakthrough, this breakthrough, its historical merits are even better than the 25,000-mile Long March, the Long March only saved the Chinese revolution, but this breakthrough saved the entire Chinese nation!" ”

"Hmm." [***] nodded heavily, "This is a great victory!" ”

Throughout the 5,000 years of China, I am afraid that only [***] can regard the "fiasco" as a "victory", but the reason why [***] was able to become a great man who surpassed all the heroes at that time was because he was able to find "victory" from "failure" and "positive" side from "negative"!

In the view of [***], after the breakthrough, although the strength of the Eighth Route Army has shrunk significantly, but the combat effectiveness has not been weakened too much, and the flame of resistance has been tenaciously preserved...... Mr. Zhu thought more realistically, and said worriedly: "Although the troops have successfully broken through, the difficulties are still not small, mainly due to the shortage of food, weapons and ammunition, Lao Mao, can you send a secret message to Yue Weihan, and ask him to find a way to support another batch of supplies, as well as weapons and ammunition?" ”

"I'm afraid this won't be easy." Zhou Gong said without worry, "Three of the five main divisions of the 39th Group Army have been reequipped, and all the eliminated weapons and equipment have supported our army, and Yue Weihan's Taihang base area is now a big business, the expenses are also huge, and the food supply is also very tight." ”

[***] put the "Taihang" cigarette butt in his hand to the soles of his feet and snuffed it out, and then said: "I think it's okay, boss, you will send a secret message to Yue Weihan immediately, but the wording should be as euphemistic as possible, Yue Weihan's Taihang base has a big business, and the foundation is also thick, just take out a little family foundation, it is enough for Lao Peng and them to insist on being young for half a year." ”

(To be continued)