The deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army looked at the small tree that had just been planted, and thought of the anti-Japanese roots, the army and the people, who were carrying out an indomitable struggle against the enemy and puppet army in a tenacious spirit in order to break the blockade of the Japanese army, sabotage the 'cage plan' and the 'three-light policy' implemented by the devils, and never stopped the sabotage operations along the railway.

He analyzed the current situation of the enemy's and our troops' deployment along the railway lines, and clearly realized that if we want to hurt the enemy, we must find weak points and attack them unprepared, and the devil's weakness is that our forces are scattered and cannot take into account the patrols and deployments along the railways and highways.......

Just as the deputy commander-in-chief braved the cold and pondered the new plan for the attack, a report interrupted the deputy commander-in-chief's train of thought: "Report to the chief, the heads of the corps and military regions who have come to the meeting have arrived, please instruct." ”

As soon as the deputy commander-in-chief heard that all the leaders of the meeting had arrived, he walked excitedly back to the war room with vigorous steps.

He said to the leaders who had come to the meeting: "You are coming so fast, you are passing through the blockade on the road, how is it going?" ”

The leaders said with a smile: "Although the Japanese blockade is very strict, they can only use the transportation network to blockade our anti-Japanese base areas, and it is difficult to blockade our people, haha, it is not an easy task." ”

The meeting officially began with mutual greetings.

The deputy commander-in-chief said straight to the point: "I invited you here today mainly to study the next move. The focus of the recent struggle between the enemy and us mainly revolves around the railway and highway communication lines, and launching a sabotage attack on the enemy's communication lines is already an imminent matter that cannot wait any longer. ”

When it came to the critical moment, Lei Jian said 'cough, cough': "Alas, mom, my broken mouth, I have said so much, I don't know how wrong it is, I don't dare to say it again, I will make a mistake if I say it again." Lei Jian coughed twice, picked up the cup in front of him, and took a few sips before sitting down.

He knew in his heart that although what he said was historical information that he had read before crossing over, but now before the 'Hundred Regiments War' that had not yet begun, he would say it in such detail that it would definitely arouse the suspicion of the leaders present, so in the process of explaining, he tried to be as vague as possible, the purpose of which was to confuse the public and not to pull his pigtails.

Without waiting for Lei Jian to sit down, Brigade Commander Zhang of the New Ninth Brigade couldn't listen to it, looked at Commander Chen and said, "Commander Chen, Regiment Commander Lei just said that it was a critical moment, why didn't you say it?" This is not good, but it can't lead everyone's interest up, he is good, and he sat down and didn't talk about it. ”

Commander Chen heard what Lei Jian said today, many of which were the first time he had heard of them, especially the discarding of secret letters and confusing the enemy, as well as the analysis and layout of the current battle situation by the former commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief, as the commander of the Eastern Column, he didn't know.

How could this stinky boy who came from the coast of Jiaodong and came in from the west know so much? Could it be that he ran to the front again, was received by the chief, and understood it so clearly? Originally, Commander Chen wanted to ask about it, but he was afraid of scaring Lei Jian, a stinky boy, so he simply didn't say anything, and he didn't know anything about the news behind it.

In order to understand the current operational deployment of the headquarters, Commander Chen stood up and grabbed the Lei Jian who was about to sit down and said, "Commander Lei, isn't this okay?" Your task today is what I told you, to tell everyone what you know about the current political and military affairs, as well as the "722 Deployment" of the headquarters. ”

"Yes, little brother, you can go on." Brigade Commander Song of the New Seventh Brigade urged.

Lei Jian saw that he had said so much, and none of the leaders present questioned it, and the kid was happy, stood up and poured a sip of water, and then began to say:

The heads of the Shanxi-Shandong-Henan Military Region, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and the Taihang and Taiyue Military Regions have expressed their views on the battlefield situation in their respective theaters; More than 60 percent of the battles were related to the enemy's lines of communication.

Commander Liu of Jin, Hebei and Yu said worriedly: "The Japanese army is now stepping up the repair of roads and digging ditches on both sides of Pinghan and Jinpu, which not only contains military significance, but also contains economic, political, and cultural significance.

In military affairs, the railroad is used as a pillar, the highway as a chain, and the stronghold as a lock to create a cage, and put our soldiers and civilians in the cage and put them to death, and its purpose is very sinister. ”

In view of the dangerous situation facing the anti-Japanese base areas at present, the commanders of the various corps and military regions present here believe that it is necessary to start the attack as soon as possible, and the longer it drags on, the greater the military, political, and economic pressure on the military and people in the base areas.

Everyone considers that the devils use railways and highways to transport strong mobility, and if they fight one point, they will inevitably be reinforced by the devils from all sides, and if they want to fight, they will fight a general sabotage war, which will bloom from all directions, and the devils who fight will be overstretched and take care of one or the other.

Brigade Commander Chen of the 386th Brigade first proposed: We have fought many sabotage battles on Zhengtai Road, and this railway is the center of the seven main railway lines in North China, as long as everyone destroys this Zhengtai Railway, it will shake the mobilization and deployment of the total strength of the Japanese army in North China.

Commander Nie of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region put forward his own views on launching a sabotage campaign on the entire Zhengtai Road, and he believed that it should be easy to get rid of the entire Zhengtai Road that was heavily defended by devils, but it was not realistic to control the entire Zhengtai Road and connect the two major base areas of Jincha-Luyu and Jin-Cha-Ji together.

Even if all the forces of the Eighth Route Army were concentrated and the Zhengtai Road was destroyed in bridges, culverts, and hilly areas, it would soon be repaired according to the military and technical strength of the Japanese army, and it was very likely that the troops would be increased on this main line and bring about an even worse environment for struggle against the Japanese base areas.

However, Commander Nie completely agreed with the attack on Zhengtai Road, and he said that our soldiers and civilians of the Eighth Route Army along Zhengtai Road often carry out sabotage attacks on Zhengtai Road, and have accumulated experience in the struggle of sabotage warfare, and it is completely okay to carry out a large-scale sabotage attack on Zhengtai Road.

The deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army walked up to the railway traffic map hanging on the wall, pointed to Zhengtai Road, and said: I have been thinking recently that it should be completely possible to carry out a large-scale attack on Zhengtai Road from the north and south with the coordination of the troops of the Shanxi-Hebei-Henan and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Regions, so as to open up the connection between the two major anti-Japanese base areas in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei and Taihang Mountains.

At this intense and enthusiastic military meeting, under the joint secret discussion of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the heads of various corps and military regions, an important strategy for carrying out a large-scale sabotage attack on Zhengtai Road was initially drawn up.

Zhengtai Road is the earliest railway in Jinnei, which was started in May 1904 under the supervision of foreigners, but most of the sections were designed and constructed by the Chinese. After three years, in October 1907, the Zhengtai Railway was fully completed, with a total length of 243 kilometers, 35 stations, 23 tunnels, more than 1,200 large and small bridges, and the longest tunnel of 640 meters.

This starts from Liulinbao in Zhengding County, Hebei Province, repairs to Taiyuan, Shanxi, is called Zhengtai Railway, and later because the line passes through the Hutuo River, the water flow is turbulent, the cliff is steep, and the water depth is difficult to build a bridge, and then it is changed to Shijiazhuang to Taiyuan, also known as Shitai Railway.

This Zhengtai Road, which is more than 240 kilometers long, traverses the Taihang Mountains, splits the mountains and winds around the mountains, crosses the lofty mountains, and winds straight to the northwest. This Zhengtai Railway is one of the most important railway communication lines of the Japanese North China Front, and is responsible for the internal and external transportation of military strength and important materials.

This important military trunk line is also one of the important railway lines for the Japanese army to blockade the anti-Japanese base of the Eighth Route Army and sabotage and encroachment.

On this important transportation line, from the initial station to an altitude of more than 70 meters, enter the Taihang Mountains, pass through the dangerous Niangzi Pass, cross the mountains and mountains, wade through the river to drill holes, go to the highest altitude of more than 1,000 meters, arrive at the terminal station Taiyuan, and fall back to less than 800 meters. Along this dangerous Zhengtai Road, in addition to the natural danger of Niangzi Pass, there are also Yangquan and Jingcheng, two coal mines with extremely high coal storage output.

The Japanese North China Front deployed the ninth, eighth, and fourth, three mixed brigades of Japanese troops on this important railway line, and built blockhouses and garrisons near large and small towns, bridges, tunnels, dangerous passes, and stations along the line, and often sent armored rolling vehicles to patrol non-stop to strengthen the smooth traffic and safety of Zhengtai Road.

At the same time, it is also a very important blockade line to divide and infiltrate the base area of the Eighth Route Army.

After the April meeting, the deputy commander-in-chief and chief of the general staff of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters often stood in front of the Zhengtai railway map hung on the wall of the war room in accordance with the suggestions and ideas put forward by the heads of the corps and military regions at the meeting, and further discussed the general sabotage battle that was about to mature.

In the summer of this year, the anti-fascist situation at home and abroad gradually deteriorated, and all kinds of pessimistic news passed through Taihang and entered the front finger of the Eighth Route Army. In order to strive for a better improvement in the situation of the Anti-Japanese War and strive for an all-out war of resistance by friendly forces, the Yan'an General Headquarters proposed that it would be best to win a battle in the rear of the enemy to encourage the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in the Anti-Japanese War.

(End of chapter)