Although the strength of the New Fourth Army is not the same as in history, Wang Haitao also noticed that the quantity and quality of the Kuomintang troops in southern Anhui now far exceed those of history. Historically, during the Southern Anhui Incident, the Kuomintang army used 80,000 people to surround more than 10,000 people of the New Fourth Army, and only two divisions belonged to the Central Army of these 80,000 people. But now the three main divisions of the Central Army in the Third Theater have all entered the southern Anhui region, and there are no less than 100,000 Kuomintang troops in the entire mountainous area of southern Anhui.

There were too many reasons for the incident in southern Anhui in history, and the war of words between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party also lasted for decades. However, in fact, it was the New Fourth Army that belonged to the Chinese Communists that suffered heavy losses. In the world that has been changed, Wang Haitao does not want to see the Southern Anhui Incident or anything like that happen. When this kind of thing happens, it can only benefit small Japan.

Wang Haitao saw the information and was surprised and at the same time gave an order to the reconnaissance group. Let Wang Rong immediately dispatch an effective reconnaissance team to closely monitor the movements of the Kuomintang troops, including the three divisions of the Kuomintang Central Army and the New Fourth Army. After Wang Rong received Wang Haitao's order, he temporarily put aside the expansion work and devoted himself to this task with all his might.

At the same time, Wang Haitao called Huang Guizhong and ordered Huang Guizhong's independent regiment to suspend the expansion work, and the whole army should be ready for battle, so that it could be pulled out and put into battle at any time. Regarding the reconnaissance mission of the movements of the Japanese troops stationed in several cities along the Yangtze River between Anqing and Jiangyin, Wang Haitao asked Wang Rong to cooperate with Wei Changxing's reconnaissance company to complete the reconnaissance mission.

After the task was issued, all Wang Haitao could do was to wait for the information to be transmitted back from all sides, but fortunately, on the third day, Wang Rong's reconnaissance team began to continuously transmit information back. The first column of the three columns of the New Fourth Army in the base area, under the leadership of Commander Fu Qiutao, had already taken the lead in leaving the base area and marching towards the Tongling area, where they were preparing to cross the Yangtze River between Tongling and Fanchang, and then join up with the fourth column in Jiangbei, and then go all the way north.

The third column, under the leadership of Commander Tan Zhenlin, also left the base area, and their marching route was to pass through Jingxian, Jingde, and Ningguo to Tianmu Mountain, and finally cross the river from the north near Liyang. The military headquarters and the second column of the New Fourth Army in the base area are still making preparations for the march and are expected to leave the base area in a week. As for the route from which the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army will leave, no information has been obtained.

On the Kuomintang side, the headquarters of the 40th Division had been moved to Jing County, the defenders of Jing County had also been increased from one regiment to one brigade, and the division commander Zhan Zhongyan had also arrived in Jing County. In addition, the 52nd Division was stationed in Ningguo, and the 108th Division was stationed in Jingde. The rest of the Kuomintang troops also moved frequently. Wang Haitao looked at the information he received, and it was really difficult to calm down in his heart.

The Kuomintang army is obviously preparing to attack the New Fourth Army, and the three main divisions are all deployed on the road that the New Fourth Army must pass through to the north, while the remaining five divisions are also deployed in several important places; if, as in history, the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army enters the Jingxian area, it will be encircled by more than 100,000 people from the eight divisions of the Kuomintang.

Once the two sides fight a big fight, with the current strength of the New Fourth Army, it will lose both sides with the Kuomintang army. The New Fourth Army would not necessarily suffer as heavy losses as it did in history, but it was not easy to highlight the encirclement of the Kuomintang army. If the two sides fight, they will also be very involved, first of all, their four main divisions are not there, and with the thousands of men and horses of the independent regiment of the base, it will not play a big role. Secondly, he is still subordinate to the Kuomintang Central Army on the surface, and the defense area is not here in southern Anhui, and it is not correct to meddle in it, and once he intervenes, he will obviously throw himself on the side of the Chinese Communist Party, and Wang Haitao does not want to be an enemy of the entire Kuomintang army for the time being.

But he couldn't watch the two sides fight, and then lose both, and let little Japan get cheap. What should I do, Wang Haitao was worried about the map on the table. Just when Wang Haitao was at a loss, Wei Changxing sent the information of the Japanese army along the river from his subordinates. There was no major movement of the Japanese army in other cities, only the Japanese army in Anqing had a major movement.

According to the intelligence report, the 116th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in the Anqing area transferred most of the main force to the Changde area, leaving only one infantry wing and some auxiliary units in the Anqing area. The report drew Wang's attention to the Anqing area on the map. In memory, the Battle of Changde in history began at the end of this year, so is the Japanese army going to launch the Battle of Changde ahead of schedule?

However, Wang Haitao is beyond the reach of Changde, he is interested in the main force of the Japanese army in the Anqing area is transferred, which means that the Japanese army in the Anqing area is empty, in this case, whether the New Fourth Army can cross the Yangtze River from the Anqing area, and then bypass through the Dabie Mountains to northern Jiangsu, so that they can jump out of the ambush circle set by the Kuomintang army, so as to avoid a defeat between the two sides.

However, the idea is good, and it is not easy to operate. Wang Haitao knew that although the New Fourth Army was subordinate to the Third Theater, it had always obeyed the command of the CPC Central Committee. The abandonment of the base areas in southern Anhui and the northward movement of the whole army are also a decision and order issued by the CPC Central Committee, and if we want to change the march route of the New Fourth Army, we must say that the leadership of the CPC Central Committee can be moved.

Now Wang Haitao had no time or could not personally go to Yan'an to persuade the leadership of the Chinese Communists, so he could only send a long telegram to the Chinese Communists in his own name, in which Wang Haitao told the Chinese Communists about the movement of the Kuomintang troops, expressed his own worries, and asked the Chinese Communists to order the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army to change the route of the march and cross the river from the vicinity of Anqing to the north.

After Wang Haitao's telegram was sent, the Chinese communists did not receive any reply for two days. The reports of the reconnaissance group were sent one after another, and the first column of the New Fourth Army had arrived in the Tongling area and was preparing to cross the river and head north. The second column also reached the Ningguo area, bypassed the defense line of the 52nd Division of the Nationalist Army, and was advancing in the direction of Liyang, and the Kuomintang troops did not make any moves.

Wang Haitao was surprised at first that the 100,000 troops of the Kuomintang did not make any moves, but after thinking about it for a while, he realized that the Kuomintang army was afraid of startling the snake, and their real target should be the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army. At present, the New Fourth Army has only the military headquarters and the second column in the base area, and according to the report of the reconnaissance group, the New Fourth Army still has only about 18,000 men and horses in the base area.

If the New Fourth Army still has more than 50,000 troops acting together, then the New Fourth Army will not only be able to protect itself if the two sides fight, but will also be able to break through the encirclement of the Kuomintang army with relative ease, and the 50,000 New Fourth Army with good weapons and equipment will not be easy to deal with. However, the New Fourth Army, which now has only 18,000 men, and a large number of non-combatants among them, will not be easy to break out once it is heavily surrounded by the Kuomintang army.

The subsequent transfer of the Kuomintang army once again confirmed Wang Haitao's idea, and the eight divisions of the Kuomintang army, except for some guarding troops left in several county towns, all the main forces were transferred to Jing County, and whether the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army crossed the river from Tongling or went north from Liyang, the Jing County area was the only way to pass. Wang Haitao was anxious, and sent two urgent telegrams to the CCP in succession.

In the reply, the Chinese communists first expressed their heartfelt thanks to Wang Haitao for his great help and concern for the New Fourth Army, and secondly explained that the line of the transfer of the New Fourth Army was decided by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party through joint consultations, and that the transfer line could not be easily changed in order not to give the Kuomintang side a false pretext. In the end, Mao Dada also said that the Kuomintang army may not dare to take the initiative to attack the New Fourth Army at the risk of the world. Even if the Kuomintang army takes the initiative to attack, the New Fourth Army will resolutely counterattack in accordance with the spirit of 'if anyone does not offend me, I will not offend anyone, and if anyone offends me, I will offend others.'"

This reply letter made Wang Haitao's heart cool by half, but Wang Haitao still wanted to work harder, and he sent a long telegram to the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army in his personal name, persuading Commander Ye Ting to cross the river from near Anqing to the north in order to avoid the encirclement set by the Kuomintang army. However, Commander Ye Ting's reply was very clear, the New Fourth Army could only carry out the transfer task according to the orders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the route could not be changed, but Commander Ye Ting still thanked Wang Haitao in the telegram for his concern for the New Fourth Army.

After reading the call, Wang Haitao slapped the telegram on the table and scolded: "What a fucking bunch of fools! Knowing that there were 100,000 people surrounded by horses, they still insisted on drilling in. This is an act of looking for death!" Wang Haitao's angry scolding alarmed Huang Guizhong, who was about to enter the house, and Huang Guizhong had come to report the expansion to Wang Haitao.

It was the first time Huang Guizhong saw Wang Haitao making such a big fire, and said carefully: "Junzao, you are a hard worker, but people don't appreciate it at all, I think it's better to forget it, this time we can't do anything." Wang Haitao didn't speak with a gloomy face, but there was a thought churning in his heart, this matter can't be counted like this, he must not die without help. But what should be done?

Wang Haitao walked to the map on the table in a few steps, and his eyes were fixed on the small word Maolin on the map. In my memory, in history, the New Fourth Army fought fiercely with tens of thousands of Kuomintang troops in Maolin for seven days and seven nights, and finally ran out of ammunition and food before it suffered heavy losses. If it is the same now as it was in history, then Maolin will also become a battlefield. With the battlefield in mind, I have to do something.

Wang Haitao thought for a long time, and said to Huang Guizhong, who was still in the office: "Brigade Commander Huang, how many troops can you use now?" Huang Guizhong replied: "Report to the military seat, in addition to the troops left to guard the base, there are four battalions of troops that can move, 3,600 people. Wang Haitao said: "Three thousand six hundred people, plus the Jing County Security Brigade, there are more than 4,000 people, and they should also be able to play a role." Brigade Commander Huang, you immediately prepare these four battalions and wait for the departure order. ”

Huang Guizhong excitedly agreed, then turned around and left the office. Wang Haitao asked Wei Changxing to inform the soldiers to prepare for departure. After instructing these things, Wang Haitao found Tang Yisheng, accompanied by Tang Yisheng, went to the warehouse, put the weapons and ammunition that he had prepared to take away into the storage ring, and told Tang Yisheng that the base would be very empty after he led the troops away, and asked Tang Yisheng to do a good job in the defense of the base.