Route 442: Ask for a ticket, ask for a guaranteed ticket

Northern Shaanxi, Yan'an

The figures of the two great men are once again presented on the majestic Futu Mountain. Zhou Elai has returned to the "red capital" of China's GCD people, but from his slightly tired eyes, all he sees is a piece of withered yellow.

It has not rained for half a year in northern Shaanxi, and a severe drought that has not been encountered in a century has arrived. The Yan River, which meanders at the foot of Futu Mountain, is now only a thin stream in the middle of the riverbed, and it looks like it is about to dry up. The exposed riverbed was dry and cracked, and there was no trace of moisture. Large tracts of farmland on both sides of the Yan River have been completely barren, and spring ploughing, which was supposed to begin, has not been carried out at all...... Sowing seeds on such dry desert-like land is doomed to nothing.

"Runzhi, it looks like our career has reached a critical crossroads." Zhou Elai tightly twisted his eyebrows, and his tone was heavy: "Our northern Shaanxi, Suiyuan, Longdong, and northwest Shanxi have all suffered from a major drought that has not been encountered in a century...... Only the newly acquired Lubei Soviet District is likely to receive a bumper harvest. But this land alone can't support our 200,000 Red Army, right? And we, the Red Army, must also grow and grow. Therefore, we must change the focus of our work and put economic construction, especially heavy industry and mining construction, in a more important position. ”

Mao Zd's face was calm, just smoking a cigarette. The severe drought that has swept through the northwest is simply a severe test for China and G at present. The people of the Soviet districts have made unimaginably tremendous contributions to the cause of the Party in the past few years, and it is precisely their day and night work in this barren land in the northwest that has fed more than 200,000 Red Army. But now, what can China G do for this almost depleted land?

“…… In addition, in this Jinan defense battle, although we were defeated, we also learned a lot of tools Runzhi, but we didn't see the power of those A-dive bombers, this kind of aircraft threw bombs very accurately. They can accurately drop a 100-kilogram bomb on the enemy's artillery positions or fortifications, and when they broke through from Jinan this time, it was the Kuomintang dive bombers that opened the way for us. I, He, Zhu Rui, and Bi Shi all believed that our Red Army must grow its air force, otherwise it would definitely suffer losses in future wars. ”

&nb glanced at Mao ZD beside him, saw the anger on his face, and just muffled his cigarette. Zhou Elai shook his head slightly and sighed: "Runzhi, I know that I am blaming me for throwing the Red Army into the frontal battlefield of the Jinan Defense War, but otherwise, how can our party win the love of the people of the whole country, and how can it win the respect of all factions in the north?" Now that General Feng Yuxiang, Deng Xihou, and Yang Huchen have all submitted applications to me to join the party, I am planning to make them secret members of our party. Their 100,000-strong army has become an armed force that indirectly accepts the leadership of our party. ”

"Another 100,000 mouths...... Looking at the barren scene in front of him, Mao ZD couldn't help muttering, and lost the cigarette butt in his hand casually: "E, what to use to feed Feng Yuxiang's 100,000 army?" Do you want the Kuomintang to pay them? ”

&nb came to smile faintly and waved his hand: "Don't worry about money, hasn't the Kuomintang already set us an example?" Tariff autonomy, care for domestic industry and commerce, abolish the levy of direct taxes on centigold, and issue paper money to rectify financial ...... In addition, we have abundant coal mines and iron mines in the north. There will be a pattern, and it will definitely grow. ”

Mao ZD shook his head with a smile: "E come, it's not me, these ...... How do we do it? The Kuomintang is the richest land in China, and our Soviet districts, look at the barren land, and still collect taxes? It's whimsical. ”

"The Soviet region has suffered a disaster now, but there are many areas in the whole north that are in good weather." Zhou Elai smiled and pointed to the purpose of the Northeast Mark: "This battle of Shandong can't be a wake-up call for us, Zhang Zuolin and Yan Xishan of Shanxi are afraid that they have already felt the crisis, right?" If our family is not able to unite in time, Duan Qirui's today is our tomorrow. ”

&nb come, what do you mean? Mao Zd raised his eyebrows, and the gloom on his face had long since disappeared, but he looked slightly excited.

&nb looked at Mao ZD with a smile and said with a smile: "I plan to form a coalition government with the Lafeng faction, Yan Xishan, and Feng Yuxiang to lead the Northeast, Zhili, Shanxi, Chahar, as well as the Shaanxi, Gansu, Suisu District, and Mongolian premises under our name. In the areas under the jurisdiction of the coalition government, self-reliance customs zones have also been established, and protective tariffs have been adopted to grow national industry and heavy industry. Runzhi, can you see that this will not work? ”

Mao Zd bowed his head slightly when he heard this, twisted his eyebrows again, and paced square steps on the top of Futu Mountain with his hands behind his back, and carefully calculated it in his heart.

The formation of a coalition government by the northern factions seems to be a model that rivals that of the Kuomintang. In addition, no, even if the number of troops of the next few families, there are 200,000 in the middle of the army, not counting Wang Zhongyi's army, Feng Yuxiang has 100,000, Feng has no less than 100,000, Yan Xishan always has 780,000, Wu Peifu has more than 20,000, and there are more than 700,000 troops in total, while the Kuomintang is only 600,000. With such a huge army, the Kuomintang probably would not dare to continue to encroach on the land in the north, right? Looking at the way they have shrunk over the years, it is estimated that they are also afraid of a big beating, and if they really fight to the end of the people's wealth, it should be the proletariat......

However, there are many problems in forming a coalition government, first of all, who will be the leader of this coalition government? If the leader of Zhongg is to be the leader, I'm afraid that the Feng Department will not promise, right? But if the leader of the coalition government is given to Zhang Zuolin, it doesn't seem appropriate.

Second, how should the land contradictions in the areas ruled by the coalition government be resolved? Should land reform be implemented? If land reform is not carried out, what is the difference between this coalition government and the national government in the south? But if land reform is to be implemented...... Will the Zhang family father and son and Yan Xishan of the Feng family promise?

Finally, how should the coalition government's financial revenues be distributed? Is it still up to each family to decide their own land? Will the armies of the various factions be unified into a new army, or will they continue to maintain their respective formations?

Thinking of this, Mao Zd's brows tightened again and tighter: "E, the issue of establishing a coalition government in the north...... I am afraid that we will have to think in the long run, and we will not be able to blindly form an alliance with those feudal warlords, landlords, and capitalists because we see that the Kuomintang army is strong. It is okay to form an alliance, but they must accept the help of our party, and they must carry out land reform and social reform with the help of our party. Only in this way will the alliance of our northern factions be meaningful, and will we be able to secure our victory over the Kuomintang reactionaries. ”

"Then let's submit this proposal to the Politburo for discussion." Zhou Elai's thick eyebrows also frowned slightly, and the slightest unhappiness quietly flashed across his face.

……

At night, the fire dragon that cannot be seen is winding and rolling on the mountain road in the Yimeng Mountains in central Shandong Province.

This is the 20,000-strong army of the 6th Division of the National Army. Carrying all the artillery and baggage except for the Min-17 Type 0mm heavy howitzer, they untied the cable from Boshan, a county on the edge of the Yimeng Mountains, and advanced overnight to Zichuan County, more than 20 kilometers away. However, in fact, it was not a sneaky sneak, but a ten-mile-long marching army with torches, advancing mightily, arrogant, and it seemed that the invincible Fourth Division of the Imperial Army was not taken into account at all

At the same time, on the mountain road from Linqu County to Yidu County more than 60 kilometers away, another almost mighty fire dragon is also rolling north, and the target is Yidu County. This army was the 18th Division of the Nationalist Army, which had defeated 40,000 Soviet Red Army in the first Battle of Zalainoer

The two armies marched overnight with torches towards the purpose of the Jiaoji Railway mark, and naturally they could not hide the eyes of the Japanese reconnaissance army. In the early morning of 6 April, a telegram was sent from Linzi County, where the headquarters of the Japanese Fourth Division was located, to the headquarters of the Shandong Dispatch Army in Wanzhuyuan, Jinan.

Earl Muto Nobuyoshi seemed to have expected that the battle would start tonight, and at this time he was already sitting in Wanzhu Hall in disguise. It used to be the brain and center of Feng Yuxiang's anti-Japanese allied forces, and now it has become the command room of the Japanese Shandong Dispatch Army Headquarters. A huge military map of Shandong Province was spread out in front of Muto at this moment, and several young advisers with excited expressions had already indicated the general locations of the two Kuomintang army integrated divisions with blue arrows on them.

"Your Excellency, Commander, they are finally here." Ishihara didn't know when he had appeared in the Wanzhutang headquarters, and his expression was slightly gloomy. When he heard the Japanese government's peace talks, he knew that something bad was going to happen, and he took a plane back to Jinan the next morning.

probably knew that this battle would be extremely difficult, and Muto Nobuyoshi was also obviously haggard in the past two days, and his eyes were full of black circles of lack of sleep. He glanced at Ishihara and muttered, "Any suggestions?" ”

Ishihara stepped forward and walked to the map, staring at the location of Linzi County on the map with some cold eyes. The tools of the two Kuomintang reorganized divisions were on both sides of Linzi County, and their goal was very clear, it should be the direct team of the Osaka Fourth Division in Linzi County. The two Kuomintang integrated divisions had 10,000 men and more than 200 artillery pieces, of which more than 100 large-caliber heavy guns of 00mm or more should be more than 100. The military and firepower of the 4th Osaka Division was only half theirs. If this were the case, Ishihara would still have the confidence to let those Osaka vendors fight the enemy, but ...... The Kuomintang Army Aviation also had more than 100 terrible dive bombers, which were enough to render the artillery of the Fourth Division useless, and also to make the reinforcements suffer heavy losses on the way, and this battle was only unwinnable.

"Your Excellency, we have no chance of winning this battle, so please withdraw the Fourth Division to Jinan." Ishihara was silent for a moment, then made his own suggestion.

"What?" Muto Nobuyoshi stared at Ishihara Wan'er with wide eyes: "Withdraw the Fourth Division into Jinan?" Do you still want the Jiaoji line? Do we still need a logistics line? Do you want to let the four divisions squeeze into the city of Jinan until they run out of ammunition and food? ”

Ishihara snapped and said loudly: "Your Excellency, if we don't withdraw the Fourth Division in time, we will lose this valuable division, and then there will be no possibility of winning this war." ”

"Eight grids" Muto scolded, shook his head and sighed: "I also know that the Fourth Division is not the opponent of the two Kuomintang divisions of the Southern Branch, and they still have air superiority...... It's just that if the Fourth Division is withdrawn, the Jiaoji Railway will be completely cut off. When the time comes, what will happen to the ammunition supply of more than 100,000 troops of our four divisions? We can collect grain from the war zone, but we can't grow weapons and ammunition in the fields of Shandong."

Ishihara leaned forward again, leaned over to Muto's ear, and said in a earnest tone: "Your Excellency's current cabinet is using the aftermath of the Jinan victory to intimidate the Kuomintang into making concessions, so we will definitely not be able to bear the defeat of the second battle If we are not defeated, there are still many people in the Kuomintang who are afraid of the imperial army, but if we lose the battle...... That hard work will be in vain. So we had to withdraw the 4th Division. As for the supply line, we may have to keep an eye on the Jiaoji line, and the Jinpu line can also be replenished. We can use the 4th Division on the north bank of the Yellow River and fight to Texas. When the time comes, we can use the Jinpu Road to transport ammunition supplies, and the Feng Department will not dare to stop us. ”

Muto frowned, looked left and right, and saw that no one else was approaching, so he lowered his voice: "This ...... Isn't this a run away without a fight? When did we do deserters in the Imperial Japanese Army? If this gets out, I'm going to have to cut my stomach, you know? It hurts," Muto gestured with his finger on his belly.

"It was not to flee without a fight, but to pursue the Northern Branch of the Anti-Japanese Allied Army north of the Yellow River." Ishihara also replied in a low voice: "No one will know that we are avoiding the battle, we are just attacking the north bank of the Yellow River, and it just so happened that at this time the Kuomintang army attacked the county town of Linzi on the Jiaoji line...... This is nothing more than an oversight. Moreover, our brilliant victory along the Jinpu Road on the north bank of the Yellow River could fully compensate for this mistake, and the fact that the empire remained invincible in the eyes of outsiders was important to the ongoing negotiations. ”

Muto Nobuyoshi's eyebrows tightened more and more, and he was silent for a moment, only to see the two gray beards trembling, and shouted loudly: "Then how about mobilizing the 2nd, 6th, and 6th Divisions in Jinan City to move eastward, and the 10th Division to advance westward, and have a decisive battle with the Kuomintang army around Linzi?" ”

"Your Excellency, this is not the time to be angry." Sparks are about to pop out of Ishihara's eyes, and the divisions in Jinan City have not yet been repaired, especially the lost artillery has not yet been made up. Moreover, this division is now holding back the integrated divisions of the Kuomintang, and when they leave the city, the Kuomintang divisions will immediately follow suit. And there will be more than 100 planes overhead to drop bombs at dawn, but I am afraid that if I can't get to Linzi, I will have to make dumplings......

"Alas......" Muto sighed heavily: "This battle is really too bad, the fourth division withdraws, what should the tenth division do?" Withdraw to Qingdao? ”

"Yes." Ishihara nodded his head: "The Eighth Division and the Ninth Division have also begun to lead to reach Qingdao by April 12 at the latest, and then Qingdao will have a division, and the southern front of the Chinese army will be threatened by us." The dispatch army will be able to turn the corner. ”

……

On the morning of April 6, the 17th year of the Republic of China.

The 6th Division of the Nationalist Army occupied the county town of Linzi, which had been abandoned by the Japanese army, and the news of the cutting off of the Jiaoji Railway reached the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government in Wuhan. In response to this news, there was a lot of discussion among the high-level leaders of the Military Commission, and no one could bear the time to ban the Japanese on what their intentions were.

"Hehe, the Japanese are cowardly, they would rather abandon the Jiaoji line than fight with us, it seems that our planes are really scared."

Luo Yaoguo threw the copy of the telegram in his hand on the table with a snap, and guessed the true intentions of the Japanese immediately. Obviously, the Japanese were avoiding a decisive battle with the Kuomintang army at the moment, as was the case in the battle of the southern front of Jinan, and the same was true of the abandonment of Linzi this time.

He Yingqin, the deputy chief of general counsel who was guarding the war room of the General Counsel Department with Luo Yaoguo, picked up this battle report, flipped through it and read it several times, with an unbelievable look on his face: "How is this possible?" Didn't the Japanese discover the Sixth Division and happened to transfer the army away from the Jiaoji line? Can't do it...... The Jiaoji line is their logistical lifeline, how could it be abandoned? Is there some conspiracy? ”

Luo Yaoguo couldn't help but sneer: "Flee without a fight, what else is there to conspire to?" They abandoned Jiaoji, and the line should have sent troops north of the Yellow River, and then made a way to retreat. ”

He Yingqin looked at Luo Yaoguo, whose eyes were bright, and said lightly: "Isn't the north of the Yellow River the land of Zhongg?" Feng Yuxiang's National Army seems to be there too, right? Do you want to send them a telegram so that they can intercept the Japanese army? ”

Luo Yaoguo slowly stood up, straightened his clothes, and said with a smile: "General Jingzhi, put these things aside, take a telegram to Deng Zesheng to tell him about the situation of the Japanese army, but don't ask them to intercept the Japanese army, let's quickly destroy the Jinpu Railway." I also have to go to the president and report to his old man about the occupation of Linzi and the cutting off of the Jiaoji line. Let's see what other ways the Japanese have to blackmail us this time."

He Yingqin also stood up, but after walking a few steps, he stopped again, and turned to look at Luo Yaoguo: "Fuwen, the Japanese army has now brought two more divisions, and it is estimated that it will be able to reach Qingdao on the 12th, should we also increase our troops to Shandong?" ”

Luo Yaoguo sneered: "There's no need, when the Japanese divide their troops to cross the river, we will counterattack Jinan and drive the Japanese army from Jinan City to the north bank of the Yellow River." ”。