Seeing that the 104th Division was frightened away by himself, Yang Zhen, who was relieved, naturally did not find himself bored to pursue. In addition to the battalion led by Ma Chunsheng, who swept through Luobei and Foshan counties, in order to open up the northbound communication line, continued to fight, Yang Zhen led the rest of the troops to honestly retreat to Xingshan Fortress to rest.

Within a month, the two battles fought almost consecutively, although they had not yet reached the level of a campaign, were not small, and although the results were rich, the casualties caused to the troops themselves were also very large. Except for Liu Changshun's second regiment, which was relatively complete, the rest of the troops had either not yet been reorganized, or had recently paid a considerable price and urgently needed to be reorganized.

After the 104th Division was leveled in World War I, at least in a short period of time, there was no large Japanese army in the entire puppet Manchurian Sanjiang Province except for the 4th Division of the Japanese Army, Yang Zhen moved his headquarters to Xingshan Fortress, which was more geographically important and more convenient to connect with the arsenal.

After the battle at Guanmenzuishan subsided, Yang Zhen was busy reorganizing a regiment with considerable losses, using the rescued laborers to form a new supplementary regiment with prisoners of war as the skeleton, and transferring some veterans and backbones to form local troops, Yang Zhen put more energy on Ma Chunsheng, the only one who is still fighting.

On the afternoon of the day when the 104th Division was half attacked and half intimidated by Yang Zhen, Ma Chunsheng adopted the tactics of bluffing, luring the snake out of the hole, and setting up an ambush to lure the puppet Manchurian border police force out of the well-fortified Luobei county town and encircled it in one fell swoop in a ravine 30 miles west of Luobei County.

After encircling and annihilating the puppet Manchurian border police team in Luobei County, and waiting for Yang Zhen to reinforce a battalion, Ma Chunsheng took advantage of the good situation that there was no large number of Japanese puppet troops in the entire Luobei and used the few troops at hand to sweep the entire territory of Luobei and the mountainous areas in the east of Foshan. At the cost of extremely slight casualties, it successively seized a series of important targets such as Luobei County, Wutong River, Dulu River, and Beizhongka three major gold mines.

Although it failed to seize the county seat of Foshan because of the limited number of troops, it seized almost all the strategic points at the junction of the two counties, successfully completed the task of opening up the communication line with the north, and seized more than 10,000 taels of sand gold in three gold mines.

When sweeping the border of Luobei County, the troops commanded by Ma Chunsheng unexpectedly met with the troops left behind after the Western Expedition of the Third Route Army of the Anti-Japanese Union at the junction of the southwest mountainous area of Luobei and Tangyuan.

After the brutal struggle in the winter of 38 years, after the remnants of the 29th Regiment of the Sixth Army and the 2nd Division of the Third Army, Ma Chunsheng sent a small force under the guidance of the left-behind troops of the Third Route Army to cross the Songhua River under the leadership of the personnel of the headquarters of the former Second Route Army.

After finding the remaining troops of the Seventh Army and the Third Route Army, Ma Chunsheng did not dare to hesitate and immediately sent a platoon to escort them to the headquarters that had been moved to the Xingshan fortress area. After receiving Ma Chunsheng's telegram, Yang Zhen immediately telegraphed to the commander-in-chief in Qingheishan.

When the commander-in-chief who rushed to hear the news saw the remnants of the Seventh Army, which had been denied contact with him for a whole winter, he couldn't help but cry quietly.

As the saying goes, good things come in pairs, this is true, a week after Ma Chunsheng found the remnants of the Seventh Army that were oppressed by the heavy troops of the Japanese puppet army in the dense forest of Baoqing, before the battle of Qunce Mountain, Peng Dingjie, who was called back by Yang Zhendian, also arrived at Xingshan Fortress with the military headquarters of the Fifth Army, as well as the main force of the Fifth Army of more than 100 people left after the defeat of the Western Expedition, as well as the Fifth Division of the Second Army operating in the Ning'an and Dunhua areas after more than 20 days of day and night.

In less than half a month, after the defeat of the Second Route Army's westward expedition and the loss of most of the main force of the Third Route Army's westward expedition to the Songnen area, almost all of the anti-coalition forces that remained in the Xiajiang area to persist in fighting gathered in the Xingshan fortress area.

The happiest division of the Anti-Japanese Federation in the Xiajiang area is naturally the commander-in-chief, but the most headache is Yang Zhen. Among them, there are not counting those at the division commander level, and there are only two people at the army commander level. Although the number of troops is very large, the number of troops at hand is only more than 400 people, even if it includes the Second Army and the Fifth Division in the First Route Army system.

In total, there are not as many soldiers as a formed battalion of their own, and as for the equipment, it is even worse. How to settle these people made Yang Zhen a headache. Under the situation that there is a huge disparity between the forces of the enemy and us, and the space for activities has been compressed to the extreme, let them go back except to swear that the Anti-Japanese Federation is still persisting in the struggle and has not been completely eliminated, there is no other role, and they can only lose in vain.

can stay, although he is named deputy commander-in-chief of the Second Route Army, commander of the Jidong Military Region and commander of the 1st Independent Division. can talk about the seniority in the Anti-Japanese Federation, although he is a strong soldier at hand, he is an absolute junior. Although the best troops do not pay much attention to qualifications, there is also the question of whether they can command it.

What's more, there is still the problem of the establishment system. These troops, which are not many in number, can almost belong to the three different fronts of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. There are less than 50 people in total, but there is a division plus a regiment, and the remaining troops of the Third Army and the Sixth Army are the Third Route Army.

The total number of people is more than 200, and it is also the largest number of the anti-coalition forces at present, and the Fifth Army and the Seventh Army are within the Second Route Army. Among them, the Fifth Army is also the starting unit created by the commander-in-chief. As for the Second Army and the Fifth Division, they were subordinate to the South Manchurian First Army. How to arrange these people really made Yang Zhen very embarrassed.

In order to unify the policy of struggle in the Xiajiang area, so as to coordinate the unified actions of various departments and cooperate with each other in combat, on the third day after the arrival of the military headquarters of the Fifth Army and the five divisions of the Second Army that Peng Dingjie led him, as the commander-in-chief of the current supreme leader of the anti-Japanese struggle in the Xiajiang area, a meeting of cadres at and above the regimental level of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Route Armies left in the Xiajiang area was held.

The meeting was awkward and not very smooth. Together, there are only more than 50 people left behind in the Third Route Army, but it doesn't matter. Unless they are willing to cross the vast mountains of the Xiaoxing'an Mountains to join the main force in the case of running out of ammunition and food. Otherwise, they could only temporarily obey the command of the Second Route Army.

The Fifth Army of the Second Route Army is a unit created by the commander-in-chief, and there is no problem. At the beginning of the meeting, the commander of the Fifth Army took the lead in expressing his position, resolutely obeying the commander-in-chief and the headquarters, including Yang Zhen, the deputy commander-in-chief who was more than 20 years younger than him.

Compared with the cheerfulness of the commander of the Fifth Army, the acting commander of the Seventh Army seemed a little silent. As the founder of the Seventh Army, the experience of acting as the commander several times, but being replaced several times, made the army commander very cautious. In particular, the reason for the death of the former commander of the Seventh Army caused great controversy within the Seventh Army, and the acting commander was even more silent when the Seventh Army itself was somewhat unstable.

Under the persuasion of Peng Dingjie, the Fifth Division of the Second Army, which decided to go north for a temporary rest because of his increasingly difficult situation, insisted on returning to the original combat site after easing some of the conditions. The reason is very simple, the Fifth Division of the Second Army plays the role of a liaison between the North and the South Manchurian Resistance Alliance. The retreat of the Fifth Division to the north means that the First Army, which is already in an extremely difficult situation, will be even more difficult after losing the strategy in the direction of North Manchuria.

And the commander-in-chief means that at present, under the heavy encirclement and suppression of the Japanese puppet army, it is already very difficult for the first army operating in the henchmen of the Japanese puppet army to hold on. At present, the only relatively safe way is for the Fifth Division to provide traffic personnel, and the Second Route Army will send a small unit carrying a radio station to establish direct contact with the First Route Army.

The headquarters of the Second Route Army was responsible for persuading the entire First Route Army to retreat north. Moved to the Xiajiang and Jidong areas, where the current situation has been relatively eased. so that they could fight hand in hand with the main forces of the Third Route Army advancing westward and rely on each other. As for the Fifth Division, it did not have to go south, but stayed in the Sanjiang area for training and fighting.

However, this somewhat stubborn young division commander insisted that after a short period of recuperation, the Fifth Division would return to the old base areas of Ning'an, Dunhua, and Antu. He repeatedly stressed that as long as the First Army continued to struggle in South Manchuria, he could not stay here.

The meeting lasted for two days, but no clues were sorted out, which made the commander-in-chief, who has always been decisive in killing, a headache. couldn't help but set his eyes on Yang Zhen, who was hiding aside and taking advantage of this rare opportunity to make up for sleep. The commander-in-chief's meaning is obvious: "You kid is better at solving difficult problems, so it's up to you to solve this matter." ”

Receiving the commander-in-chief's request for assistance, Yang Zhen, who was awakened by Guo Bingxun from his sleep, couldn't help but scratch his head in embarrassment. This matter involves the unity of the three route armies, especially when the three route armies are isolated from each other by the Japanese puppet army, which is not so easy to solve.

It's just that since the commander-in-chief has kicked the ball to his side, it's not good for Yang Zhen not to speak. It's just that he doesn't have a clue what to say.

These days, Yang Zhen, who has been busy with the replenishment of the troops, is exhausted, so what do you have to do with them? According to his idea, these units were all reorganized into local military sub-divisions and armed forces, and they were to persist in the struggle and create guerrilla base areas in Luobei, Foshan, Suibin, and other places.

After pondering for a long time in his heart, and remembering the future fate of the 27-year-old division commander of the Anti-Japanese Federation in front of him, Yang Zhen finally spoke: "Division Commander Chen, I personally still admire the efforts and sacrifices of the comrades of the First Route Army over the years. ”

"I can understand your insistence that without the order of the First Army Headquarters, you can only rest here for a period of time and continue to go south, converge with the main force, and cooperate with the main force to fight. We are all soldiers, and we should make it our duty to obey orders. And I know what you mean. ”

"The separate activities of the three route armies of the Anti-Japanese Union can not only expand the influence of our army and deal a heavier blow to the Japanese army, but also play a role in mutual coordination and support. At the same time, it also avoids the difficulty of raising supplies, and avoids the risk of being surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese army because our army gathers in one place when the enemy is strong and we are weak. ”

"But the current shape is different, since the Japanese puppets launched a great crusade against the Xiajiang area last year, the anti-union in the Xiajiang area has suffered severe losses. The main force of the Third Route Army withdrew westward, and the remaining troops suffered heavy losses. The strength of the Fourth and Fifth Armies, the main forces of the Second Route Army, fell sharply after the defeat of the Western Expedition. The Seventh Army was also compressed in the mountainous areas of Baoqing and Fujin and could not move. ”

In this way, the First Army, which had lost its direction in North Manchuria, could be said to be alone in the struggle in South Manchuria. How long can the First Army, which has lost its strategy, hold out in the South Manchurian region when the Japanese army has completed the plan of returning to the cantonment and merging households, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise supplies? Especially in the case of the rebellion of the commander of the first army and one division, and all the secret camps of the First Army are almost no secret to protect, how long can the First Army hold out? ”

"I have long been known to the commander-in-chief of your First Army, and I have long wanted to fight alongside him. So I sincerely hope that you and your fifth division can stay. I also hope that you can help us do the work, so that the troops of the First Army can even withdraw here first to rest and take a breath. ”

After that, Yang Zhen opened the map and said: "We have fought twice in Qunce Mountain and Shimiaozi before, and we have severely damaged the Fourth Division and the 104th Division of the Japanese Army. So that from Foshan in the west, to the confluence of the Songhua River and Heilongjiang River in Suibin in the east, and to the line of Jianshanzi in Tangyuan in the south, there is no large Japanese puppet armed force. The anti-Japanese form of the entire Xiajiang area can be said to be quite good. ”

"However, although the shape is good at present, the speed of expansion of our troops is too fast, and there is an extreme shortage of experienced cadres, especially qualified political cadres. Moreover, our troops still need to focus on field warfare, and there is a lack of cadres and units to form local troops. Therefore, the shape of the Xiajiang area is good now, but we have fought down many places, but we can't hold it. ”

"If we can't hold it, creating a solid anti-Japanese base area can only be empty talk. Without a base, we are rootless duckweed. What is lacking is not only weapons and ammunition, but also all materials, even the most basic food for human survival. ”

"We want to break the Japanese army's purge of us, not just to transfer when necessary. Rather, it is necessary to conduct joint operations on the internal and external fronts. The inner line is dominated by local troops, and the outer line organizes a strong field army. This mode of operation requires not only a field army with strong combat effectiveness, but also tenacious local troops. ”

"Before, whether it was the Second Route Army or the Third Route Army, after the strategic transfer, the remaining troops were either too scattered or too few, and they could not form a pattern of coordination with the main force that jumped to the outer line. Of course, there is a tangible relationship, but it cannot but be said that our troops are very insufficient. ”

"The most critical thing is that because of the lack of personnel, local work is almost impossible to carry out, and the existing advantageous forms are simply not able to be used. In order to create a stable rear for all the anti-Japanese armed forces in the northeast and to hold the territory that we have beaten down, I sincerely hope that you will stay. And it would be better if all the troops of the First Route Army could come. ”

Yang Zhen's words were not only said to the division commander alone, but also to all the cadres above the regimental level of the Second and Third Route Army present here. In his remarks, he told almost all of his future plans and strategic goals to the cadres at and above the regimental level. Moreover, I also made it very clear about the attitude towards the future use of these anti-coalition forces.

Although he did not say it explicitly, Yang Zhen also told these people that all troops must be reorganized. As for whether to stay in the army or to work in local areas, whether to be reorganized into a main force, or to be used as a local force, the General Headquarters will make unified arrangements.

Regarding the words of this young commander who was younger than himself, but already had tens of thousands of well-equipped divisions, and his so-called strength of a division was almost equal to the total strength of the Anti-Japanese Federation in its heyday, although this division commander Chen seemed very silent, he attached great importance to it in his heart.

Although he thinks that Yang Zhen's words are still very reasonable, and it is also his best choice at present. But when he thought of the fact that the South Manchurian army was fighting alone, and the situation was already very difficult, and it would be even more difficult after he withdrew north, the commander-in-chief still gritted his teeth and insisted on his principle: "I still say that, as long as the headquarters approves, I agree." ”

However, the next tone was a little loose: "Our First Army Headquarters has a radio station, but it is rarely used because other troops lack it. This way you provide the password as well as the escort. I'm out of liaison. Let's go south to find our commander-in-chief and political commissar. Although he did not say this explicitly, it was almost equivalent to acquiescing in the commander-in-chief's construction.