Despite the grim situation of the enemy, the anti-Japanese federation has a certain degree of mental preparation for the predicament it is in. However, when the commander-in-chief led the headquarters of the Second Route Army and the rest of the Third Division of the Fifth Army to travel at night, crossing the blockade line of the Japanese puppet army, in order to avoid the sight of the Japanese puppet army, most of the time could only go deep in the mountains and old forests. After more than ten days of arduous trekking, when he arrived at the secret camp of Laoheidingzi Mountain, Yang Zhen still couldn't help but cry quietly when he saw the unclothed anti-United Nations fighters in front of him.

Yang Zhen did not expect that the Anti-United Nations would fall into such a difficult situation. Looking at the less than 60 people standing in front of him, including the guards of the headquarters of the Second Route Army, under the severe cold of minus twenty or thirty degrees, they were still wearing single clothes, and their bodies were wrapped in old military blankets and various sheets from captured Japanese soldiers to keep warm. Even many people didn't even have shoes on their feet, only wrapped two rags with a rope, and the anti-United Nations fighters were frozen blue and purple all over their bodies, Yang Zhen felt as sad as a knife in his heart.

This is our ancestors, in the ice and snow, who have never received even a trace of assistance from their motherland, but they are still indomitable and still insisting on fighting alone.

Seeing the anti-United Nations fighters shivering from top to bottom, Yang Zhen hurriedly ordered Peng Dingjie to arrange for them to rest immediately, and send off the prepared winter clothes as quickly as possible. At the same time, Xiaohuzi asked Xiaohuzi to inform Zhang Ting, who was temporarily acting as the director of the military medical department, to immediately bring someone to conduct a physical examination for these soldiers.

Seeing Yang Zhen's arrangement, Wang Guangyu on the side quietly pulled Yang Zhen's hand and said, "Commander, hurry up and get some food for the troops." The troops had been without food for two days, and although all the horses were killed except for the horses that carried the radio station for us, they only held out until they crossed the Mudanjiang River. As soon as the Mudanjiang River was crossed, the troops ran out of food. It's so cold, and there's no food in my stomach. The soldiers were starving, and after entering the mountain, they almost forced themselves to reach the secret camp. ”

"How so? Have you not replenished a grain of grain since you set out? Hearing that after the Anti-United Nations fighters killed the horses, they had been out of food for two days, Yang Zhen's brows furrowed deeply. What does this mean, that they have barely received any supplies since they set out.

Yang Zhen did not doubt the commander-in-chief's command ability. To tell the truth, although the Western Expedition buried the two main forces of the Second Route Army, this time the Western Expedition was destined not to succeed but under the circumstances at that time, the Second Route Army was the only and necessary one. Choose. Despite his failure, it cannot be said that this decision was a mistake.

If there are flaws in this western expedition, then there is no formation of a commanding body, there is no effective commander, and when the guidance is deteriorating, all armies and even divisions have no unified command and fight their own battles. There are even some troops who disregard the safety of the main force and make decisions on their own.

But Yang Zhen also knew that unlike the Third Route Army, which was full of talents, and the First Route Army, which had right-hand men, the reason why this commander-in-chief, who was almost alone, did so was because there were really not too many talents in his hands who could take the shot, especially the extreme shortage of qualified military cadres.

However, for the fact that some of the troops who are now uneasy and worried about hunger and cold, and whose bodies have almost reached their limit, will be left behind and captured, it will expose the fact that the Lao Heidingzi Secret Camp, the only secret camp in the entire North Manchurian region that still has a large number of materials stored, enough to maintain a large number of troops for wintering, and personally sheltered the commander-in-chief of the stragglers in the back with Li Mingrui, who responded to him, for so many days, and the fact that he did not get much supplies for such a long distance, Yang Zhen was a little worried.

Because he knew that with the ability of this commander-in-chief, in the case of a long-distance march, he actually didn't even get much supplies, not because of the ability of this commander-in-chief, it must have changed the enemy situation.

Regarding Yang Zhen's frown, Wang Guangyu explained: "Commander, you don't know, before our retreat this time, the commander-in-chief tried to open one or two puppet logging workshops or group tribes in order to get some supplies. Because the commander-in-chief knew that the long-distance march from the north to the east would not be able to support the situation that the headquarters and the third division were short of food and ammunition. ”

"In order to enable the troops to safely pass through the deep mountains and old forests, and break through the encirclement and interception of the Japanese puppet army, the commander-in-chief made great determination to concentrate all the forces and ammunition at hand at hand, and tried to launch an attack to the east and open up one or two small group tribes. The first is to feint to the east to cover the follow-up. The most important thing is to get some supplies, especially some food supplies. ”

But he didn't expect that the commander-in-chief concentrated his forces and paid a lot of casualties to open the two group tribes, but found that the Japanese puppet tribes only allowed each group tribe to keep three days' rations, and if it exceeded three days, the puppet Manchurian police and the puppet self-defense regiment stationed in the group tribes could only go to the big market town where the Japanese puppet army had stationed heavy troops to collect it. Cotton can only be received according to the capitation quota. The little devil even restricted the people in the tribe to only keep one cotton coat per person, and destroyed all the rest. The little devil's hand is too poisonous, and we can't raise cotton clothes at all except for picking up the people's cotton clothes. ”

"Two groups of tribes were defeated, and in addition to capturing a few thousand rounds of ammunition, they only raised less than 200 catties of grain. That is, it is not even possible to meet the standard of one pound per person a day for roughly fifteen days to ensure the march. And I didn't get a single piece of winter clothes. ”

"Because we have to cross the blockade line overlapping with the Japanese puppet army, there must be many roads that cannot be taken in a straight line, so we can only advance in a roundabout way. There were even many times when it was impossible to march during the day, and could only be driven at night. Fifteen days, the commander-in-chief has tried to count as little as possible. However, what we didn't expect was that we walked for seventeen days from Yidong to Ning'an, a not too far marching route. ”

"On the way back, we killed the only two horses, and each of us could only be rationed five taels of grain a day. When crossing the Binsui Railway, he encountered the pseudo road protection police and fought. Although the interception of the puppet military police was defeated, more than a dozen soldiers were sacrificed and part of the food was lost. In order to avoid the Japanese puppet pursuers, I went around a few more circles and walked for a few more days. No matter how much food is being saved, it will only last after the Mudanjiang River and then run out of food. If it weren't for the commander-in-chief's insistence, I'm afraid the horses carrying the radio station would have been killed. ”

"Commander, when we interrogated the captured puppet Manchu military police, we got a confession, and the devil's plan to return to the cantonment and merge the household has changed again. In response to the situation in which the various armies of the Anti-Japanese Alliance attacked the group tribes to obtain supplies, the devils not only strictly controlled the amount of grain in the group tribes, but also began to merge the small group tribes in the entire Xiajiang, East Manchuria, and North Manchurian regions into the large groups. And each large group had to be heavily defended. ”

Regarding what Wang Guangyu said, Yang Zhen nodded and said: "It seems that the little devil's hand is not just aimed at us, this is to starve all the anti-Japanese forces to death and trap them in the deep mountains and old forests. It's not something we can do. ”

After arranging for the cooking squad to immediately cook porridge for the anti-union fighters, the change in the enemy situation made Yang Zhen fall into deep thought. Undoubtedly, the devil's doing this will greatly increase the difficulty of the troops' activities after they leave the mountain. If you want to get enough supplies, you can only go to attack the place where the Japanese puppet heavy troops are stationed with inferior forces, and there is no other way.

The little devil is changing from passive to active, forcing all departments of the Anti-Japanese Federation, including his own troops, to take the initiative to fight for supply and survival, and trying to take the opportunity to gather and annihilate the various departments of the Anti-Japanese Federation. They knew very well that when they could not get supplies, they could only attack the places where they were heavily stationed with small forces, and the only result would be to be sent to the door to be eaten by them. But if they don't go, the troops can only starve to death and freeze to death in the mountains and forests. It is much easier to wait for the rabbit than to mobilize a large army into the mountains to search.

The devil's hand is really vicious and abnormal, even if the anti-Japanese federation departments are reluctant, but for the sake of supplies, they can only bite the bullet and go to the devil to fight hard. Who is the commander of the devil this time, these serial schemes are really poisonous.

Yang Zhen, who was deep in thought, didn't hear Li Mingrui's voice next to him and said, "Commander, the commander-in-chief has arrived." Only then did Yang Zhen wake up from his contemplation.

I watched Li Mingrui walk over with a middle-aged man who was very tall and looked very old due to the continuous deterioration of his shape. In later generations, Yang Zhen, who had seen the photo of this famous anti-Japanese general, knew that this middle-aged man was the commander-in-chief of the Second Route Army, who had been famous for a long time in later generations.

Yang Zhen stepped forward in a few steps, took off his coat and put it on the commander-in-chief, who was also wearing a thin single military uniform like other soldiers, before he respectfully saluted and said, "Good commander-in-chief." ”

While Yang Zhen was looking at the commander-in-chief, the commander-in-chief was also looking at the young Yang Zhen in front of him, who couldn't believe the achievements in Wang Guangyu's mouth. Seeing Yang Zhen saluting himself, especially after Yang Zhen put on his coat, he hurriedly returned the salute: "Commander Yang is good." ”

Hearing that the commander-in-chief actually called himself Commander Yang, Yang Zhen hurriedly said, "Commander-in-chief, don't say that. In front of you, I am just a pawn, and I dare not say anything about what the commander is not commanding. That's what you call me Xiao Yang. ”

Meeting this anti-joint general for the first time made Yang Zhen a little excited. And Li Yanping, who rushed over after hearing the news, was extremely excited when he saw his superiors. After shouting the three words of commander-in-chief, he burst into tears with excitement and couldn't say anything anymore.

Looking at the excited Li Yanping, Yang Zhen smiled and said: "Political commissar, you have been separated from the commander-in-chief for a long time and want to reminisce about the old relationship, which I can understand." But we can't just talk in the snow. Besides, the commander-in-chief was still hungry like the rest of the soldiers. I see if there is anything to say, do you want to go back to the headquarters and say it? You'll have to let the commander bake the fire. ”

After that, Yang Zhen personally led the way in front, let the commander-in-chief to his headquarters, arranged for Xiaohuzi to hurry up to the cooking class to get food for the commander-in-chief, and personally explained that after letting the cooking class open a few cans, he sighed for a long time and sat down with Li Yanping, who had barely calmed down, to accompany the commander-in-chief.

Although Yang Zhen was very modest, the commander-in-chief, who had already learned some information from Wang Guangyu, did not dare to despise it at all. After being silent for a while, the commander-in-chief spoke first: "Commander Yang, Guangyu has already talked to me about your situation. I've read all the telegrams you've sent me these days. And our situation, with Yanping here, you must also have a certain understanding. ”

In that case, I will not say any polite words of thanks. You know, we've lost touch with the central government for two whole years. Don't be in a hurry to eat, can you give us a brief introduction to the situation in the Guannai, especially some of the party's situation. ”

Regarding the commander-in-chief's somewhat eager attitude, Yang Zhen waved his hand and said: "Commander-in-chief, some things are not in a hurry, and we will have a long time in the future." The people are iron, the food is steel, the troops have been without food for two days, and the commander-in-chief and the soldiers share weal and woe, so they should have not eaten for two days. Let's eat first, solve the problem of food and clothing first, and then talk about the rest. ”

Speaking of this, Yang Zhen paused for a moment before saying, "Commander-in-chief, and I think the most important thing we should do now is how to study the situation we are facing, how to break the devil's conspiracy, and let our troops survive." As for the rest, I think we can press it down first. ”

"Moreover, since we were captured at the beginning of the year and taken to Manchuria in the middle of the year, we are not very clear about the extent of the development of the war situation in Guannai. Like you, I have lost touch with the party for a long time. ”

Hearing this, the commander-in-chief nodded and said, "What you said also makes sense. But I also hope you understand us. It has been two years since we lost contact with the Party Central Committee last year. I wrote many letters to the Central Committee in the hope that the Soviet Party would help us to transfer them, but so far there has been no news. Having lost touch with the party, we are like a bunch of children without a mother. ”

"I understand. But commander-in-chief, I can only say that the idea that you pinned your hopes on the Soviets was in vain. The Soviets would definitely not want us to get in touch with the Central Committee, at least not for now. Honestly, it was easy for them to help us. But you have written so many letters and still haven't heard from them, don't you feel something? ”

"It's not that the Soviets don't want us to survive, or even develop. After all, whoever has a strong opponent by his side will be uneasy. With the Japanese army constantly increasing its strength in Manchuria, as long as we continue to fight, the threat posed by this opponent will be correspondingly reduced for them. ”

"But the premise is that we have to control it in their hands. You want to get in touch with the central government, which is clearly against their will. Do you think they'll help with that? But even if they wanted to keep us in their hands, they wouldn't risk war with the Japanese to support us. Because it is not in their interests to go to war with the Japanese. And it is even more not in their interest for us to get in touch with the central authorities. Yang Zhen said the word "interest" very seriously.

"Actually, if we want to get in touch with Kannai, we don't necessarily have to go through the Soviets. At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, part of the 115th Division of our Eighth Route Army was already deployed on the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei front. There are also units of our Eighth Route Army in the Shandong region. ”

"I asked Deputy Chief of Staff Wang to tell the commander-in-chief that we could send a competent man, carrying a password, to enter the customs alone and find a way to establish radio contact with the customs. We now have 100-watt and 50-watt high-power radios in our hands, and as long as we have the password and get some gasoline that can be used by the radio stations to generate electricity, it is not a difficult matter to get direct contact with the central authorities. ”

Regarding Yang Zhen's thoughts, the commander-in-chief nodded, sighed and said, "We have also thought about this idea of yours, but we didn't dare to think too deeply. Moreover, there is always a glimmer of hope in our hearts for the spirit of internationalism. ”

For the trace of melancholy in the commander-in-chief's tone, Yang Zhen shook his head and didn't know how to persuade him. Seeing the little tiger who went to pick up the meal coming in with a few lunch boxes, Yang Zhen waved his hand and said, "Commander-in-chief, you eat first, if you have anything to say, we will talk after eating." There is no rush for this moment. ”