Speaking of this, Yang Zhen paused and said almost word by word: "I have emphasized more than once that the entire battle situation in the country is a game of chess, and no one can do without it. A lone branch is not spring, but a thousand purples and thousands of reds are spring. Now the North China brother troops have suffered heavy losses under the continuous sweeps of the Japanese puppet army, and now they have lost the Jizhong Plain, the essence of North China. ”

"I once said that Jizhong is a granary and a warehouse for soldiers in North China, and it can be said to be a military station and financial source for the entire North China. The loss of Jizhong is equivalent to the loss of food and material supplies for the whole of North China. Without the support of the Jizhong Plain, I am afraid that the major base areas in North China will have to live a hard life. ”

"Although the sweep efforts of the Japanese puppet army have gradually begun to weaken, the tightness of the blockade is increasing day by day when the Japanese army in North China has fully realized its plan to be imprisoned. At present, it will be quite difficult for the North China troops to raise materials for the winter.

"In this campaign, the North China Brothers have made such a great contribution to us. We absolutely cannot sit idly by, we are well fed and warmly clothed, regardless of the life or death of our fraternal troops, this is definitely not our style. ”

"After you go back, call the central government and ask the central government to count the amount of cotton that our major military regions in Taihang, Taiyue, and Jinchaji have not been able to raise this year's winter clothing. and asked the central government to assist in the establishment of air communication lines. All major military regions are requested to select reliable airdrop sites and formulate detailed contact signals. ”

He also asked the central authorities to equip our air forces stationed in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border Region with a batch of detailed maps of North China, especially the detailed maps of the major military regions. We ordered our air force stationed in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border Region to dispatch the best transport planes and pilots and be ready for airdrops at any time. ”

"While making a strict airdrop plan, we must also make a good escort plan. A batch of P-40 fighters will be dispatched to make preparations for escorting the convoy, and we must ensure that these materials are safely delivered to our troops in North China. If these four C46 transport planes negotiate to come down, they will not stop at the base area after returning to China, and all of them will be transferred to Yan'an. ”

"The carrying capacity of one C46 on top of two C47 and Li-2 transport aircraft. Although the fuel consumption is higher, the one-time transportation volume has also increased. With the C46 as the main transport plane, we can greatly reduce the number of transport planes dispatched by our army and ensure the safety of air communication lines. ”

"In addition, please ask the central government to assist us in collecting a batch of sheepskins, wool, and some goatskins as much as possible. Even if it is an exchange, it will also solve the shortage of substitute materials for winter clothes in our army. Since we want to replace cotton products with sheepskin, we still have to make more preparations. ”

"Lao Li, Lao Guo, Ningxia's Tan sheepskin is world-famous. When the sheepskin in the center arrives, I will have you two prepare a sheepskin hat for each of you, so that the two brothers can also be a tyrant. If you can get purple lambskin, it will be even more classy. ”

Regarding Yang Zhen's kind ridicule, Li Yanping didn't care. But for his thoughts, Li Yanping pondered for a while but shook his head and said, "Old Yang, this is the case. But the problem here is not as simple as you think. Asking the central government to reduce the supply as appropriate, we have no way to do it. ”

"After we received the central telegram, we didn't think of a way. The commander-in-chief was negotiating with the Soviet side, even though coordination was carried out with the Soviet side. It is hoped that 500,000 catties of cotton can be purchased from the Soviet side in the form of bartering to meet the needs of the central authorities. ”

"But the Soviet side has always been hesitant on this matter, and has never had a clear attitude. Kovalev privately told me that cotton was now a strictly controlled strategic material in the Soviet Union, and that they would not sell a pound of cotton without the approval of the base camp. ”

"And on the Soviet side, after the loss of Ukraine, it is difficult for cotton production to meet its own needs. At present, all the cotton in the Far East, except for the Far East for its own use this year, the original reserves have been transported to the Western Front. He had nothing to say as to where it would go. ”

"At a time when the Soviet Union has entered the most difficult period, there is extremely little hope that Moscow will approve this. The Soviet side is now about to enter winter, and under the circumstances that the original plans have been completely disrupted and the losses of reserves are staggering, all the materials that can be used militarily belong to the materials that are strictly controlled, and the authority for examination and approval is in Moscow. ”

"In this matter, all he could do was to coordinate with the Far Eastern Military District to provide us with some of the old, Soviet shortcoats in sheepskin for the Siberian troops. Such old coats, their reserves are still very large. and a batch of felt for making zuò boots, but not in too many quantities. As for the purchase of cotton, don't talk about it now. Let's think of other ways, otherwise it's easy to delay things. ”

"And let Patten Dingjie coordinate the Americans to do their best to meet our second batch of cotton imports, not to mention whether we can talk about it. That is, to be able to talk about it, to solve the problems of transportation, export procedures, and a series of other problems. I'm afraid it's also hard to guarantee that we'll arrive before the whole army changes gear. ”

"You have to know this batch of cotton, but we ordered it from the United States in the spring. It was only a few months before it reached the ports of the USSR. At this rate, it may be difficult to transport the follow-up supplies before they freeze. If you insist on increasing the supply, we must be prepared to prevent the arrival of winter when winter arrives and the troops and civilians cannot distribute the winter clothes that are urgently needed. ”

"If you say that in North China and Northern Shaanxi, it is not too difficult to endure without winter clothes. Then we here, if there is no thick enough winter clothing, the troops will freeze to death without fighting. We all came from that time, and the army didn't have the taste of winter clothes, but we all tasted it. Lao Yang, I understand your thoughts, but we must take precautions in advance. ”

"Moreover, in addition to the second batch of cotton we imported, in addition to some of the preparations to be put into the market to ensure the supply of people's livelihood, the rest of the troops are ready to be used to spin cotton cloth and prepare to redress the troops next spring. Use it now in advance, and next year's plans will be completely disrupted. ”

"If, as you said, we can only focus on animal husbandry products. Judging from the total number of sheep raised in the base areas of more than one million, I think it is completely possible to meet the needs of the troops. ”

"In addition, if northern Shaanxi can provide some sheepskin, it can basically meet the needs, but wool may be difficult. To make a zuò sheepskin coat, it needs to be fur with fur. We must not shave the wool and spin it all into wool, and then peel off the sheepskin to make a coat. Not to mention that kind of leather is used to make zuò winter clothes, you can't do anything at all. ”

"A sheep only has one skin, and we can't use it for both. And those woolen mills in Harbin are producing some wool yarn or making some felt. Whether it is the production capacity or the source of raw materials, it is difficult to produce a sufficient amount of wool for a tweed coat in a short period of time. Even the Soviet-style tweed, which is relatively simple in the production process, is difficult to meet the needs. ”

"But this is also a solution, and when I go back, I will consult with the commander-in-chief and my brother to see how many fleece sheepskin coats, or short sheepskin coats, can be produced as winter clothes for the troops. In this way, the troops equipped with such short coats were only issued cotton trousers, saving a part of the cotton. However, I think we can talk to the central government about the wool issue. ”

"The Soviet troops in Siberia are equipped with a short sheepskin coat that is a little long to the waist, which I think is quite good. Even if it is warm and lightweight, the most fundamental thing is to save materials. As for the tweed coat, I think it's better to forget it. Our woolen mills, even if they are fully producing, can't make enough wool. And that thing doesn't work when it's short, and it's too bulky when it's long, which affects the movement of the troops. ”

"With that wool, it might as well give the troops an extra sweater. The climate here is not much different from that of Siberia, and the ability to protect against the cold is still a little poor with a sheepskin coat alone. At least a thin cotton jacket or thick sweater should be added to it to withstand the cold winter of North Manchuria. ”

"If I can raise enough wool, I still give out thick sweaters as much as possible. However, sweaters may still be a novelty for women in other places, and they don't know how to knit them. But most of the Harbin women, who were more influenced by the Russians, could weave. For the troops, they don't need any tricks, just the simplest style. ”

"We can spun wool into yarn from a few woollen mills that we have and distribute it to the women who mobilize them to make a portion for us. And the Belarusian women, can we also mobilize them to help? This can solve the problem that it is difficult for the Chinese in Harbin to meet their needs on their own, and most of the women from other places do not know how to knit sweaters. ”

"At the same time, we will also solve the livelihood difficulties of these Belarusians. But now the key is to be able to find a sufficient amount of yarn. If you make zuò winter clothes, the sheep cannot be sheared. If you don't shear the wool, you won't get the wool to make the wool. If the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia and Jinsui regions cannot exchange a sufficient amount of wool with us, then we will simply not be able to meet the needs of the sweaters of hundreds of thousands of troops. ”

"But Lao Yang, for us, we need more than just cotton clothes. The quilts used by the troops in winter are at least twice as thick as those used by the troops in North China, as well as cotton gloves, cotton hats, and cotton shoes. The captured stocks of the Kwantung Army, which we had previously equipped, were used the year before and last year, and there was not much left. ”

"And this year, we will also add winter clothes and quilts for the troops advancing into the army, as well as the needs of the people in the base areas. There are also individual military uniforms required by the troops in other seasons, all of which need cotton to be spun into cotton cloth. In addition to eating, the common people also have to dress. In addition to cotton clothes in winter, single clothes are needed in spring and autumn, and cool clothes are needed in summer. ”

"The common people also have to cover quilts, towels and other materials. Moreover, with the increasing expansion of industrial construction in the base areas, we have mobilized a large number of people, even housewives, to enter the cities and factories, and the output of homespun cloth in the rural areas has become lower and lower. ”

"Needless to say, we have made use of the textile machinery handed over by the Americans, the two cotton mills and three woolen mills handed over by Xiao Yuan's father, as well as several large cotton and woolen mills that were originally expanded on the basis of the woolen mills in Qiqihar, and recruited more than 5,000 housewives from several surrounding counties to work in the factories at the beginning of spring this year."

"With the urban population already too much to meet demand, factories have turned their attention to the countryside. It is now an increasingly common phenomenon for rural people to work in factories. Moreover, with the gradual completion of the construction of various factories, the number of rural people who have entered the cities to work will gradually increase. ”