Although when he came, Yang Zhen had already made preparations. After all, the losses of the Japanese army last year were in his mind at this time. He also knew very well that the northwest of Shanxi, which was originally barren and poor, might not be able to fully afford all the food needed for this operation. If he can afford half of it, he is already very content.

It's just that he still didn't think that even if he didn't want a lot of money, it would still be difficult to raise money. He knew that killing people and raising soldiers was absolutely impossible to do. Even if the troops run out of food, they can't all the food of the common people and kill the people to raise soldiers. The army is a fish, and the common people are water. Without water, even if the fish can survive for a while, it won't last long.

However, the food problem has now become the biggest dilemma for the combat troops in northern Shanxi. The northern Shanxi region itself has never been a major grain producing area, and it still needs to transport a large amount of grain from other places on weekdays to meet the needs. In particular, Biguan, Zuoyun and Youyu have never been the grain producing areas of Shanxi. With so many troops now concentrated, it is even more difficult to raise enough food.

Although all the miners who were rescued from the Datong Coal Mine have been withdrawn to the base area. But just by supplying combat troops, it is already unable to support. Since Mu Changqiu was transferred to the Datong War, all the grain that could be raised locally added up to less than 1,000 stones. And just like that, the Anti-Japanese Federation also had a certain contradiction with Zuoyun's local armed forces.

The amount of grain seized in Jining is indeed quite large, but it is impossible to maintain an indefinite consumption for a long time. After Wang Minggui's headquarters and the troops drawn from the advance army rushed to northern Shanxi, the food problem rose to a key issue directly related to the success or failure of the Datong operation.

Although Wang Minggui's unit carried a lot of food, it was still able to meet some of his needs in a short period of time. The troops drawn from the direction of the advance army also captured a lot of grain in Yanggao and Tianzhen, which were relatively wealthy, and raised some of the grain in Yanggao, but this was not a long-term solution after all.

Yang Zhen also did not expect that the northwest of Jin, which had been continuously swept by the Japanese army, would be able to provide a large amount of food for a long time. But Yang Zhen still hopes that in the short term, a batch of grain can be raised to relieve the pressure on the anti-union transportation. After all, with the arrival of Japanese reinforcements, all logistics and transportation must give priority to ammunition.

Except for some mountain artillery shells, the captured trophies of the anti-United Nations are simply useless, whether they are light weapons or heavy weapons. In the whole world, only the Anti-United Nations uses 7.62*39 rifle ammunition, and only the Anti-United Nations uses 82 recoilless guns and double 23-mm anti-aircraft guns.

The 107 rocket artillery and the 122 rocket launcher, in addition to the 107 mm rocket artillery also used by the Soviet Union, the 122 rocket is also the only one used by the Anti-United Nations. The power of these weapons of unique calibre is indeed astonishing, surpassing that of light weapons and similar weapons used in most countries today.

However, these munitions are only used by the Anti-Japanese Federation in the world. There is simply nowhere to capture it, and the captured ammunition cannot be used. In particular, these weapons generally have a fast rate of fire and a high intensity of firepower, and the amount of ammunition consumed far exceeds that of manual rifles.

These ammunition, which are only equipped with anti-United Nations equipment, including all the ammunition required by other anti-United Nations forces, can only be transported from the rear for thousands of miles. In particular, in the absence of railway lines, nearly half of the transportation can only rely on roads, which will inevitably affect the transportation of grain.

The most critical issue now is not only the heavy pressure on transportation, but also the road conditions. As the weather began to warm, last winter's permafrost was largely civilized. The improvised road, which was already in poor condition, had fallen into a muddy state.

The driving of wheeled vehicles is greatly restricted. Not only does it take more time and fuel, but it also limits the transportation capacity and efficiency on a certain distance. The muddy roads often make even American-made trucks with excellent performance and high engine power often sink in.

Yang Zhen's idea was that the northwest region of Shanxi Province could provide at least half of the food needed for the Datong battlefield, which would be enough to relieve some pressure on the supply line of the Anti-Union Union, which was already overwhelmed by the transportation line. However, even if the northwest region of Shanxi Province worked hard, plus the Japanese army's grain stockpiled by Yang Jicai from Taiyuan, he could only take out more than 10,000 stone of grain, which was too far from the amount he expected.

As for the drought mentioned by the boss, he remembered that it only occurred in Henan, so why did the southeast of Shanxi, southern Hebei, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan also fall into famine? But with the boss's personality, since it came out of his mouth, Yang Zhen believes that this situation must have happened. Definitely not an exaggeration for some reason.

In fact, Yang Zhen did not know that the drought and locust plague that occurred in 1942 were not concentrated in Henan Province alone, but swept across the entire North China region. Henan is just one of the hardest hit areas and the largest number of people dying of starvation. Of course, Henan, which has only a few dozen counties but bears the supply of hundreds of thousands of troops, is also the province with the largest number of victims.

In the various base areas behind enemy lines in North China, the disaster situation in the southern Hebei and Hebei-Shandong-Henan regions was not lighter than that in Henan, and the two major regions of Taiyue and Taihang in the southeast of Shanxi Province were also quite severely affected, but under the painstaking deployment, the shape did not deteriorate to the point of Henan.

Among them, the southern Hebei and Hebei-Shandong-Henan regions are particularly severe, and they are not lighter than Henan. Moreover, the disaster that has been revealed since the end of April 1 has lasted far longer than that of Henan, which has completely alleviated the disaster after the summer grain of April 43 has been completed. By the forty-second year, the shape had only worsened.

The transfer of troops from the Southern Hebei Military Region to the Taihang Region to participate in the war was, of course, part of the reason for the shortage of the original strength of the Taihang Military Region under the current situation of dealing with an unprecedented war. However, there is also a considerable part of the reason, because of last year's disaster and the brutal sweep of the Japanese army, a considerable part of the southern Hebei region, which has been out of food, is no longer able to supply so many troops.

Last year's autumn grain harvest in Hebei, Shandong, and Henan was largely poor, because a drop of water had not fallen in one winter, and winter wheat had not been sown for a long time. At the beginning of this year's spring, the scope of spring drought continued to expand. In the spring of this year, the Southern Hebei Military Region disbanded the only cavalry regiment when it was really unable to provide for it.

With the disbandment of this cavalry regiment, in addition to the five divisions of the New Fourth Army operating in southeastern Henan and northern Anhui, where the economic conditions were slightly better, there was also a formed cavalry regiment. In all the base areas, there is no longer a single formed cavalry.

What Yang Zhen didn't know was that the development of the entire North China base area this year and next year would be much worse than what he had already understood. The drought that swept across North China lasted only one year in Henan, and was fundamentally alleviated after the summer grain harvest in four or three years. However, in some areas of southeastern Shanxi, southern Hebei, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, it lasted for three years.

In the past four or three years, the drought in Taihang, southern Hebei, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan regions, and the locust plague that accompanied the drought have exceeded the drought of four or two years. In particular, the two regions of southern Hebei and Hebei, Shandong, and Henan have suffered the longest drought and have suffered the greatest losses. In some areas, the drought lasted for four or four years.

The protracted period of natural disasters and the frequent sweeps by the Japanese army four or four years ago have caused the area of the base area in North China to shrink sharply since last year, and the development of the army has come to a standstill. Especially after the loss of the Jizhong Plain, which is called the Ukraine of North China, the various base areas in North China are becoming increasingly difficult.

The troops in various localities have not only been downsized, but most of the time can only be used for production and self-help. The lack of guns and ammunition, the lack of food and clothing, and the bad influence of strict zhòng have become a common phenomenon in all troops. The headquarters of the Eighth Route Army held a meeting, and the participants were all high-ranking personnel, but they couldn't even sit still because of hunger, so they could only lie down and listen to the report.

This is the case with all the high-ranking organs, let alone the troops below? In front of the various base areas, the problem of feeding and surviving the troops must first be solved, and then the battle will be carried out. The troops can't eat, they can't stand up, let alone fight and fight.

This period is also a period of continuous accusation by some so-called fans in later generations. In fact, after this three-year famine, the troops in North China did not partially catch their breath until the autumn of 44. Not to mention the matter of weapons and equipment, first of all, the troops can't eat, so what are they talking about fighting? But some people just don't see it.

At this moment, Yang Zhen didn't know how much burden the drought in North China had brought to the Northeast in the second half of '42 and '43. During the winter of '42 and the year of '43, the amount of grain transferred from the northeast to the customs through northern Shanxi Province was as high as one million tons, receiving millions of disaster victims in Henan, southern Hebei, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan regions. The amount of soybeans that have been transferred to the customs as nutritional products alone has reached 50,000 tons.

In addition to the troops in the various base areas in the Guannai that have entered the northeast for rotational training, the burden on the northeast base areas in the entire 43 years ago has exceeded the sum of the previous 42 years. It can be said that in the past four or three years, the Northeast and the Anti-Japanese Federation have borne the food needs of almost all the party, government, and military personnel in the base areas in Guannai, except for the New Fourth Army and the Shandong Military Region.

Fortunately, in the past two years, the weather in the North Manchurian region has been smooth, and in addition to the adjustment of the agricultural planting structure, the cultivation of low-yielding sorghum and millet has been basically abolished, and the cultivation of wheat and corn, which have much higher yields, has been replaced by the cultivation of much higher yields. As a result, the overall grain output in the North Manchurian base area has increased several times compared with the previous time when sorghum was the mainstay.

In addition, in 42 years, the Production and Construction Corps used a large number of tractors and harvesters with US assistance to reclaim a large amount of wasteland, and increased the income of nearly one million tons of grain. In the course of the 42 years of warfare, it also captured several well-known grain-producing counties around Xinjing, which added a lot of new channels to the source of grain.

In addition, the emergency negotiations with the United States and the Soviet Union to use 10,000 tons of mutton to return the 150,000 tons of Canadian flour, 10,000 tons of sugar, and 20,000 tons of canned American meat that were originally planned to be transferred to the Soviet Union also eased the pressure on a certain extent. Otherwise, the economy of the northeastern base areas will have to collapse.

At this time, Yang Zhen didn't think at all about how much impact this natural disaster that swept the entire North China would have. And the current food dilemma has just begun. The real predicament is still waiting for him and the Northeast Bureau, as well as the major bases in North China.

But that's all for later, and now for him, it's the food he needs that counts. Even if only part of the food needed to solve the battlefield in northern Jinbei is much better than transporting all of it from the rear. At least some of the capacity can be freed up to increase the volume of ammunition transported.

However, the grain of more than 10,000 stones, totaling only 1.2 million catties of grain, could only meet the needs of the troops participating in the battle in the northern Shanxi Battlefield for six days. More than 50,000 troops need 200,000 catties of grain a day based on the calculation of four catties of grain a day for one person. Coupled with the large number of war horses and pack horses, this food is really insufficient.

But the good thing is that being satisfied for a week is better than nothing. Although the quantity was too far from what I expected, it still partially met my needs. With this 1.2 million catties of grain, plus more than 200,000 catties of grain remaining in Jining City, the transportation line that has been extremely tense can breathe a sigh of relief.