In March, the temperature in the Hetao is still extremely low, and people wear thick winter clothes to stay outside for a while, and they also have to be blown through by the cold wind.

The Central Plains Campaign Command has been formed, and various departments are actively making preparations. Li Ming and Song Tao rode down to various units every day on war horses to inspect the preparations of various units.

After nearly two years of active preparations, the Logistics Department of the Far Eastern Army has already stockpiled all kinds of supplies. At present, in several logistics subdivisions, such as Bayannur, Ulanqab, and Chengde, all kinds of ammunition, clothing, food, and other war-ready materials have been piled up.

Now that the main forces participating in the war have received supplies and are assembled in various theaters of operations, all units have entered a state of combat readiness and can participate in the battle at any time.

Almost every day, all main divisions will summon cadres at and above the battalion level to attend operational meetings at the division headquarters to study and discuss the upcoming campaign. The training of officers and men of various grass-roots units did not stop throughout the winter, and they were quite well prepared.

Paramilitary and militia combat units, such as armed police forces and large numbers of grassroots musket militias, have not been idle even when the water has turned into ice this winter. Even together with the main force, they participated in several long-distance training marches in the snow in a windy and snowy environment.

The long marches in the snowy conditions of the northern winter were extremely difficult, and even the main forces were carried out only once or twice a year, and each time they were exhausted. Not to mention the paramilitary forces and militia units, after a winter of training, they have almost shed a layer of skin.

Although the Central Military Commission did not estimate the intensity of the Central Plains Campaign before the war, it still did not relax at all in its requirements for the participating troops.

In addition, the Political Department of the Central Military Commission has also strengthened political and ideological education in various units this winter, and the ideological education activities twice a week have also been carried out with great success.

The main purpose is that after the troops enter the war zone, they must abide by battlefield discipline and safeguard the safety of the lives and property of the local people in the war zone. The officers and men have been constantly instilled with the concept that the Far Eastern Army is the armed force of the Chinese nation, and the significance of the existence of the Far Eastern Army is to protect the safety of the Chinese people and property.

Although many officers and men do not have a deep understanding of this concept. Even in the eyes of the traditional common people in this era, there is almost no national concept, being a soldier and eating food is to work for others, and it is the same for whomever to work for him.

Even in Confucian culture, the meaning of loyalty is more loyalty to one's own master and loyalty to the feudal royal family, but there is absolutely no concept of loyalty to the nation.

Although it is necessary to change the traditional feudal thinking of this era, it will take a long time and spare no effort, and even through the basic education system of the Far East, it can only be achieved by pinning the hope on the next generation. However, the top echelons of the Far Eastern Army are still constantly instilling nationalist concepts in officers and men in their peacetime political and ideological education activities.

Just like Shi Mingfeng, director of the Political Department of the Central Military Commission, said, even if the soldiers do not understand it, as long as the officers and men shout the slogan thousands of times and make it again and again in actual action, it can be regarded as having achieved the goal of political and ideological education.

The Central Plains Campaign was directed by the Far Eastern Army's offensive to the Central Plains, and battlefield discipline became particularly important after the troops entered the theater.

In other countries and regions, when troops enter a theater of operations, they must first ensure the safety of officers and men, then how to quickly complete combat missions, and finally consider civilians in the theater.

However, after the Far Eastern Army entered the Central Plains, this policy was about to change. The first consideration is the safety of the lives and property of the local people, then the safety of officers and men, and finally how to accomplish combat missions.

At the very least, we will attack cities and towns and other solid targets, and will not bomb indiscriminately and indiscriminately, so as not to cause casualties to civilians in the city. When entering the urban area to encircle and suppress, it will not go on a rampage unscrupulously, burning a large area of the city in order to complete the task, and even using special weapons to harm the innocent.

Fortunately, the military strength of the Ming Dynasty was difficult to deal with the exiled army, let alone face the Far Eastern Army, which was armed to the teeth.

In history, tens of thousands of Jin elites and Mongolian iron horsemen were able to roam the territory of the Ming Dynasty for several months, plundering hundreds of thousands of people, tens of thousands of cattle, horses and livestock, and countless gold and silver silks, and finally returned to the border safely.

The Ming Nine-Border Military Town and the garrisons around the country had more than 100,000 troops, but the Tartars passed through the Jinggi Stronghold of the Ming Dynasty several times with countless people, livestock, gold, silver, jewelry, and food supplies, and no one dared to engage in field battles with the Tartars.

This kind of thing is not a joke, in history, before the Houjin Tartars entered the Central Plains, they had entered the customs several times to loot, and the result was that each time it was easier than the last, and the nine-sided nine-sided that the Ming Dynasty spent countless dollars to build was useless.

It can be seen from this that the military system of the Ming Dynasty has long been rotten from the inside out. These Ming officers and troops, who had rotted from the roots, were simply hitting stones with eggs in the face of the well-trained and well-equipped Far Eastern Army.

In particular, the more than 200,000 elite iron cavalry who participated in the 10 newly built cavalry divisions in the Central Plains Campaign were extremely fierce in combat.

The backbone of the grassroots noncommissioned officers and cadres of these newly built cavalry divisions are all veterans who have participated in the Westward Campaign, the Kazakh Campaign, the Siberian Campaign, and the Moscow Campaign.

Moreover, the vast majority of non-commissioned officers and cadres have followed the main Mongolian cavalry division of the Northwest Field Army several times to carry out thousands of miles of interspersed operations, and even the most famous rapid march in the history of the Far Eastern Army, in which many veterans of the newly built cavalry division have personally participated.

That is, the Moscow Campaign of the Northwest Army, the eight main cavalry divisions marched more than 1,800 kilometers in just 20 days, from the Ural Mountains all the way to the city of Moscow, and that march created a record in the history of the Far Eastern Army.

Although the veterans of the newly built cavalry divisions who had experienced that long distance were not at all comparable to the officers and men of several cavalry divisions of the indigenous cavalry divisions of the Outer Northeast, because by the time they arrived at the city of Moscow, they had completely lost their combat effectiveness. But for these warriors who came from an agrarian nation, it was definitely a miracle.

They were tempered in several large-scale battles of the Far Eastern Army, especially from the main Mongolian cavalry divisions.

The main Mongolian cavalry division belonged to the traditional rangers, while the indigenous cavalry division of the Outer Northeast belonged to the traditional assault cavalry. However, the idea of building the army of the newly built cavalry divisions in the Far East has more shadows of modern cavalry.

It not only has the ability to run long-distance in a wide range and depth. There is also an advantage that the traditional Mongol main cavalry division and the indigenous main cavalry division of the Outer Northeast do not have, that is, each new cavalry division is equipped with a strong combat support unit. (To be continued.) )