As the saying goes, there is great strength in numbers, and because of the concerted efforts of millions of soldiers and civilians, the three eight-meter-wide highways with a total mileage of 1,500 kilometers have basically taken shape after a month of solid struggle.

The next step is to pave these dirt roads with gravel, mortar blocks, and even the coal quarry to mine and use the remaining cinder stone, at this stage subject to technical and mechanical reasons, paving such a long cement road, it is not realistic, so only with the above dry hard stone instead.

Although it is not as smooth as the cement road, it is solid enough, and it will not be muddy and difficult to walk on rainy days, which can really provide great convenience for the use of troops in the base area in the future, and will also greatly improve the connection and travel of all parts of the base area.

Pingshan County, inside the headquarters of the Dragon's Tooth Column.

In the past month or so, Zuo Quan and Guo Mengke have not been idle for a day, going back and forth to the road construction sites in various parts of the Longya Anti-Japanese Base Area, guiding and encouraging the work of the road construction army, and verifying whether the people below have deducted the wages of migrant workers without authorization.

The great Cheng dù ensured that the road construction would proceed smoothly, and Qiao Youhua was in a hurry to find him back this time because he had important matters to discuss with him, the chief of staff.

Therefore, as soon as Zuo Quan came to the main hall of the column headquarters, Qiao Youhua spoke: "Brother Shuren, you are finally back." ”

"Brother Youhua, why are you in such a hurry to discuss with me?" General Zuo Quan asked as he patted the dust off his body.

Qiao Youhua said: "That's right, the three roads we built have basically completed the foundation laying and paving, just waiting for another layer of stone cinders to be paved on top before they can be put into use."

We have millions of migrant workers, and I wonder if it is possible to transfer tens of thousands of troops from the three divisions and let them officially return to the building, and prepare to mix with the newly recruited recruits during this period to expand the strength of our army! ”

In the past, the various units of the Longya Column stationed on the front lines in various places have never stopped recruiting new recruits at all, and many strong laborers who meet the requirements for conscription have even been directly drawn out of the road construction army and joined the recruit training camps of the divisions and regiments of the Longya Column.

Preliminary military training has been carried out for nearly a month, and it is time to mix them and the veterans into an army, and after only one or two baptisms of actual combat, they can transform into combat effectiveness.

When Zuo Quan heard this, he couldn't help but nod and said: "This is okay, as far as I know, as of now, in the past period of time, the troops in our base area have recruited new recruits from all over the country, and there have been more than 20,000 people.

Two new infantry divisions can be added to our Dragon's Tooth Column. ”

Qiao Youhua said: "Since you have no objection to the chief of staff, then it is so decided, and order the main infantry regiments of each division to immediately end the road repair task, return to their respective stations, and prepare to receive new recruits." ”

"Well, I think so." General Zuo Quan nodded, paused and said: "However, Youhua, if nothing else, our next combat target will definitely be the Pingjin region, which is close at hand, with only the 100,000 combat troops we have in our hands, plus 20,000 new soldiers, I'm afraid that the strength is still a little insufficient, right?" ”

"It makes sense, we both agree on this." Qiao Youhua nodded happily and said: "The reason is very simple, Beiping and Tianjin are absolutely strategically important, and the Japanese devils will definitely not be willing to give up, because this is the political and economic center of the entire North China, and the influence is too great."

Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that, if necessary, the Japanese army in North China may again mobilize the Kwantung Army from outside the pass to fight in the pass. Even if this is not possible, we should be prepared for the emergency, so it is not enough to recruit only 20,000 new soldiers now. We need to recruit at least another 30,000 to 50,000 people. The total strength of our regular combat troops should reach more than 150,000. ”

"It makes sense, but if we want to expand the army by more than 50,000 troops, and then train and reorganize the recruits, a series of things, it is definitely not something that can be completed in three or two months, and the period of attacking Pingjin may have to be postponed." While Zuo Quan agreed with Qiao Youhua, he also expressed his own opinions.

Qiao Youhua said: "In order to win in one fell swoop and recover Pingjin, even if it is half a year late, it is worth it." ”

"Time is naturally abundant for us, and if we are afraid, we are afraid, and after a long delay, Japanese imperialism will recover its vitality and send additional troops to Pingjin and even the whole of North China, which will not be very good. After all, little Japan's war potential is far from being exhausted. Zuo Quan said worriedly.

According to the table of the Japanese Empire during World War II, Japan at this time had not launched the Pacific War, let alone the Nomenkan conflict with the Soviets, and the reason for this was because the losses of the army in the Chinese battlefield, especially in the North China battlefield, were too great.

However, it is undeniable that from the point of view of war potential, the Japanese devils have not yet reached the point of exhaustion, and it is really not a problem to give them another year and a half to recover and reorganize dozens of army units.

Because the requisitionable soldiers of the Japanese army are far from being exhausted, what they lack is weapons and equipment and military materials for various combat needs, and even new army equipment that can compete with the German-style weapons and equipment of the Dragon's Tooth Column.

Don't forget, until now, the Japanese devils still control the four provinces outside the Guanhai and the entire Korean Peninsula, as well as Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, as well as South China, East China and a large number of other regions......

These areas alone include the four provinces outside the customs area and the Korean Peninsula, which are nearly 2 million square kilometers, especially the four provinces outside the customs area, which have a large population, a large land and abundant resources, and are very rich in various resources except for oil. And these became the war dividends of the Japanese devils, from which the Japanese empire could continue to obtain a steady stream of resources and money to restore its own war potential.

The Shenyang Arsenal, which the Japanese seized from the Northeast Army, can now basically meet the supply needs of hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army, and can even produce tanks, airplanes, and other high-tech combat equipment.

If it weren't for the fear that the Soviets would invade at any time, the Japanese devils could have transferred hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army into the Guannai and fought with the Dragon's Tooth Column.

At that time, the outcome was unpredictable, and it was still unknown who would kill the deer.

Therefore, Zuo Quan's worries are not unreasonable, and from another aspect, it also proves that Zuo Quan is a famous anti-Japanese general with strategic vision, which is worthy of admiration.

Qiao Youhua also realized this, if the Japanese did not launch the Pacific War and take out even two or three percent of the strategic resources belonging to the navy to build an army and use it for the war of aggression against China, then for the anti-Japanese forces of the whole of China, the truly cruel test may have just begun.

If you are not careful, a series of seemingly brilliant victories may be wiped out in an instant.

"It seems that in addition to expanding the troops, it is still necessary to improve the combat capability of our troops." Qiao Youhua said thoughtfully. It's easy to increase the number of troops in a short period of time, but it's hard to get them to have combat effectiveness! Since the quantity is not good, the only way to improve the "quality" of the dragon tooth column is to improve it as much as possible.

The so-called quality means to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops, and to follow the line of elite troops; for the sake of the present, only by equipping the troops with more and more advanced weapons and equipment can we complete the enhancement of combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time.