The situation in eastern Hebei is indeed very gratifying, and many guerrilla units, which originally consisted of only a few dozen people, have suddenly increased to several thousand in number, and their equipment has also been greatly improved. The rule of the Japanese puppet army in the counties was destroyed in an instant by the mighty wave of uprisings, and they could only shrink in the county seats, and the sky and the earth changed color in an instant.

However, the problem was also very serious, the fourth column of the Eighth Route Army was still on the way to reinforcement, and the newly pulled up team lacked combat experience. A large army of tens of thousands of people besieged the county town defended by hundreds of people, and it was impossible to defeat it for several days and nights. And the Japanese army, which had woken up, was already gathering forces and preparing for a counterattack.

Bang! Zheng Weiguo slammed his fist on the table and said in a deep voice: "The situation is urgent, and it can't be delayed any longer." I decided to immediately transfer the 63rd Army north to reinforce eastern Hebei! ”

Political Commissar Cheng and Chief of Staff Zhou glanced at each other and said in unison: "Since the commander has made up his mind, we resolutely support it!" ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded, pointed to the map with a small stick, and said: "If you want to reinforce eastern Hebei, you must break the blockade of the Japanese army in Beiping and Tianjin. However, the garrisons in these two places were very wary of us, and the depth of the enemy-occupied area was extremely deep, it was almost impossible to sneak through, and the cost of a strong attack was too great. Do you two have any good ideas? ”

Political Commissar Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Commander, I suggest that the Second Army Division send a division to develop eastward and contain the garrison in Tianjin. Then he ordered the Third Division to send troops north to threaten Beiping. In this way, it is difficult for the enemy to take care of both the head and the tail, and there is no extra energy to intercept the 63rd Army. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou agreed: "Lao Cheng's idea is very good, I think it is feasible. Other than that. I also have another suggestion, that is, to send a powerful force to cross the Jinpu line, forcibly intersperse with the Jinnan area, and directly threaten Tianjin. As he spoke, he swiped his pen on the map, pointing straight at the heart of the enemy.

The Jinnan area is now Jinghai, Dagang, Qingxian, and Huanghua, and historically belonged to the Jilu border base area. Among them, Huanghua City is named after the martyr Huanghua. However, at this time, the Jilu border base area had not yet taken shape, and there were no large-scale activities in the area, except for some small-scale guerrilla units. In fact, many troops were sent by Zheng Weiguo to fight the front station.

Political Commissar Cheng smiled: "Jinnan? I think it's okay, and if you want to occupy it, you have to be prepared to occupy it for a long time. Commander. In my opinion, it would be better to form a division of the Fourth Army there. Take the opportunity to expand the range of potential forces and increase our activity space. ”

Zheng Weiguo's heart moved, and he said, "Okay, since everyone has this intention." This matter is settled. "This area is right next to Tianjin. It is convenient to get in touch with Feng Kun's department in Tianjin. If only the troops could put down roots here. It is much easier to transport materials.

This plan of the Jizhong Military Region was quickly approved by the Northern Bureau. A few days later, a battalion-sized force covertly crossed the Jinpu line and entered the area south of Tianjin and east of the Jinpu line. And relying on the local underground party, Zhengshi formed the Fourth Army Subdivision of the Jizhong Military Region.

The newly appointed commander of the Fourth Army Division is Zhang Changgui. He was originally the commander of the special service brigade, responsible for the construction and operation of special forces, and made a lot of great contributions in previous battles. It is a pity that Zhang Changgui has never been able to get rid of the operational thinking of regular troops, especially after the arrival of German instructors, his ability has gradually failed to keep up with the pace of special forces construction.

Zheng Weiguo thought about it and finally decided to change his position, and the facts also proved that the position of commander of the fourth division was more suitable for him. After Zhang Changgui led his troops to the Jinnan area, he quickly opened up the situation, and the troops reached the south bank of the Haihe River, which greatly frightened the Tianjin garrison. The garrison brigade had to urgently shrink and defend Tianjin with all its might, handing over the defense of the suburbs to the puppet army. In this way, the purpose of mobilizing the Japanese army was achieved, and the 63rd Army could go north boldly with confidence.

In late July, on the banks of the Hutuo River in central Hebei, several large flags were hunting in the wind, and nearly 10,000 troops were ready to go. This is the 63rd Army, which is about to march north. The troops dispatched this time included six infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery battalion, one baggage battalion, one engineer battalion, and one special service battalion.

In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of this army, before the departure of the 63rd Army, Zheng Weiguo specially ordered one regiment each from the 97th Army and the 53rd Army to be transferred to the two newly formed regiments of the 63rd Army. First, it can strengthen the strength of the 63 rd Army, and second, by the way, the first step of "comprehensive exchanges" has been completed, and the integration of the 41 st Group Army has been accelerated.

At the same time, the Hebei Central Administration also urgently requisitioned a batch of materials to ensure the logistics needs of the 63rd Army. With the concerted efforts of the military and civilians in the base area, this heroic unit finally embarked on the journey to eastern Hebei.

On the issue of the marching route, the General Staff originally planned to let the 63rd Army advance eastward from Lixian County, reach Hejian City, and then go north along the Pingda Highway (that is, Beiping to Daming, which was an important communication route in Hebei at that time). This line is in good condition and has a short itinerary, which can enter eastern Hebei in the shortest time.

However, when a comprehensive assessment was carried out later, Chief of Staff Zhou still decided to abandon the original plan and take the Hutuo River instead. Mainly because of logistical reasons, it was necessary to recruit a large number of wagons and people by land. If there is a river, it is much simpler, most of the supplies can be placed on the boat, and the troops only need to follow lightly. It is safe and convenient, which is why ancient marches often followed the river.

At that time, the Hutuo River was one of the most important passages from Jizhong to Tianjin. During the period of the Republic of China, someone once described that the water potential is endless in the rainy season, the sandbar shoals are woven in the dry season, the river ferry is crossed by light boats, and the upstream and downstream sails are combined. There are more than 500 ships in the river, and they travel to and from Zhengding Gaojiaying, Shenze Chengma and other wharves.

When the morning and sunset shine, the Hutuo River is like a dragon, the waves are like scales, the lights and sparks flow, the call to and fro, the industry is numerous, the shops are lined up, and the bustle is extraordinary. There are groups of fish, shrimp, turtles and crabs in Hanoi, swans and ospreys on the water surface, birds and animals on both sides of the river inhabit, and the riverside is lush with green grass and miscellaneous cattle and sheep......

Zheng Weiguo was attracted by this peaceful and detailed scene at this time, and couldn't help but admire: "What a beautiful scenery! Even for the sake of this hot land, devils can't be allowed to run rampant here. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou nodded and said, "Yes, Commander-in-Chief!" The Hutuo River has been famous since ancient times, and the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, Wen Tianxiang, once recited here: The first belief in the Hutuo ice is together, and the rise and fall of the world is not up to people! Note: This is a sentence in Wen Tianxiang's "Two Songs of the Hutuo River", which expresses the poet's feelings about the operation of history and his helplessness about the current situation.

Zheng Weiguo smiled: "Poetry is good poetry. But I don't agree with the second half of the sentence. As long as we move in the right direction, no matter how great the difficulties are, we will not be able to overwhelm us or the Chinese nation. ”

"Well said, Soza!" Captain Feng Zhan happened to come over, and when he heard this wonderful remark, he hurriedly applauded in agreement.

Zheng Weiguo asked, "Shoushan, are the troops ready?" ”

Commander Feng pointed to the dock and explained, "Report to the general seat, the cavalry regiment has escorted the first fleet to depart. The second flotilla has not yet arrived. Therefore, the lowly intend to put the infantry on hold. to ensure the safety of materials. "Because there are more materials, they are still being transported, and now the ships are tight, so they can only be transported in batches.

Why do you have to bring so many supplies? Because from Lixian to eastern Hebei. The straight-line distance is more than 500 miles. More than half of the distance was in enemy-occupied territory. It was difficult to get supplies on the way. For this reason, the military region had to prepare a large amount of military supplies, accounting for almost half of the total reserves of the base areas.

On the dock at this time. Several warehouses were already full of all kinds of military supplies, and the carts outside were still moving to this side. The guys in the warehouse were so anxious that they shouted loudly: "Bosses, don't move, there is no place to stand inside." ”

The commander of the baggage battalion, who was in charge of escorting the supplies, came in to take a look, and saw that it was indeed impossible to pile up, so he had to go out and shout to the soldiers: "Just pile it outside, don't move it inside, and you can save some effort by moving it to the ship later." ”

The deputy battalion commander reminded: "But the devils send planes to reconnoiter twice in three days, what if they find out?" ”

At present, North China is extremely empty, and the Japanese army is very vigilant, for fear that the armed forces behind the enemy will make some big moves. In particular, since the beginning of the uprising in eastern Hebei, planes have been conducting reconnaissance in various base areas almost every day to see if there are any signs of a large army massing. Although Jizhong is so big, the possibility of being discovered by the Japanese machine is very small, but everything is afraid of what happens. In case of being encountered, it will inevitably bring extremely heavy losses to materials and personnel.

The commander of the baggage battalion said: "If you have a camouflage net, use it as much as possible, and if you don't have a camouflage net, let the soldiers do some simple camouflage by themselves, which is better than not having it." Then he said, "You are watching here, and I will report to the military seat." ”

After listening to the report, Commander Feng said to Zheng Weiguo: "General, in fact, our army may be able to capture some on the way, and the materials in the base area are also very scarce, or leave a part for the turnover of the general assembly (the abbreviation of the group army headquarters)!" ”

Zheng Weiguo flatly refused: "No, you must bring as many supplies as possible to prevent accidents." If the warehouse can't be piled up, you can find a way, and the living can't be suffocated by urine. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said with a smile: "The old rules in the army are all desperate cards from above, and desperate from below. You two are good, completely upside down. ”

Commander Feng hurriedly said: "This is the great love of the General Seat for our 63rd Army, and the rank and other departments will definitely remember it." ”

Zheng Weiguo smiled and said, "There is no need to say anything about the flesh. He also suggested: "If you can indeed obtain some seizures when you enter eastern Hebei, and the materials are inconvenient to transport, you must not discard the distribution materials at will, but find a way to establish a secret material supply point." ”

Commander Feng was puzzled: "Are you worried that our army will be short of supplies when it returns?" Jidong is also a rich land, shouldn't it? I still want to bring a batch of supplies back to the general manager! ”

Zheng Weiguo explained: "When the time comes, the Japanese army will chase after the ass and beat hard, blocking on all sides, and the scene will inevitably be chaotic. In this case, it would be good to keep the troops from dispersing, how many supplies can be withdrawn? ”

Commander Feng nodded and said busily: "The general seat is right, the humble position must follow the instructions. ”

Zheng Weiguo waved his hand and said: "It's just a little suggestion, you don't need to take it as a golden rule, the specific way to do it is subject to the actual situation at that time." If you can break through the blockade from Jilin and fight all the way to North China, this difficulty will definitely not be difficult for you. ”

Commander Feng was very happy to hear this, and was about to say a few words of modesty, when a sudden whistle suddenly sounded on the river. The warriors on the edge of the dock cheered loudly.

Chief of Staff Zhou smiled: "It should be that the fleet has arrived." ”

This fleet is strange, starting with a miniature motorboat built by the Dagu shipyard, but towing a dozen wooden boats behind it. These ships are connected from end to end, and they are discharged far away. From a distance, it looks like a long dragon winding in the river.

The battalion commander of the baggage battalion walked to the river and shouted with some dissatisfaction: "How did you do it, you only came here at this time!" ”

An officer stood up on the motorboat, stretched out his hand to say hello, and said with a smile: "Lao Niu, it's me." I'm sorry, but something delayed on the way. ”

Seeing that it was an acquaintance, the battalion commander Niu didn't complain anymore, waved his hand and said, "Forget it, you guys quickly bring the boat up, we are still waiting to carry it!" Materials can't be piled up here, it's too conspicuous. ”

The flotilla quickly approached, and the guys at the dock hurriedly fetched the gangplanks and put them on the boats, signaling that the fighters could carry them. Because the Hutuo River is relatively narrow, there is no need for a too formal wharf, and you can find a place to put on a wooden board to load and unload goods.

The fighters were busy carrying supplies from the shore to the ship. Boxes of ammunition and sacks of supplies quickly filled a dozen wooden boats, and the waterline kept changing, and the weight was pressed down by more than a dozen inches.

The officer on the boat said in surprise: "My good man, how can there be so many supplies, fortunately I brought a few more boats, otherwise I would have to make a trip!" ”

Battalion Commander Niu was about to answer, when Yu Guang suddenly saw Zheng Weiguo and his party coming over, and he was so busy pouting that he didn't dare to make a sound.

Commander Feng was very happy to see that the supplies were all loaded onto the ship, and said to Zheng Weiguo and Chief of Staff Zhou: "General seat, Chief of Staff Zhou, see you off for thousands of miles, there will be a farewell, you two will be sent here!" I promise you that I will bring you back safely. ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Okay, Shoushan, be careful!" ”

Commander Feng saluted, turned around in a dashing manner, and shouted the order: "Pull out!" "The infantry brigades quickly raised their flags and began to assemble.

The Hutuo River flows all the way to the east, and is called the Ziya River after the confluence of Xianxian County and the Fuyang River, and then flows into the Daqing River system and joins the Haihe River in Tianjin. The 63rd Army will go ashore on the Daqing River, and then forcibly intersperse it from Pingjin and Tianjin, rush across the Yongding River, and approach eastern Hebei. (To be continued......)

PS: The power was out for a day, and it only came at night, so I'm sorry. Of course, it's also strange that the mountain people are too lazy, and they don't usually save more manuscripts.