The chief of staff of the Central Military Commission was quite satisfied with the military construction in the northeast during his current visit to the northeast. And that Lieutenant General Stilwell, under Yang Zhen's resolute opposition, naturally could not achieve his goal, for this old man's trip to the northeast, Yang Zhen was warmly welcomed, but just didn't nod.

At this time, Washington did not approve of the Anti-Japanese League sending troops to India, believing that it was better for the Anti-Japanese League to stay in the northeast to fight. After all, on the Chinese battlefield, even the Kwantung Army led the Chinese dispatch army, which accounted for half of the entire Japanese Army, and no matter which direction they were transferred, it was not something that the Americans wanted to see.

Washington also didn't want the nearly 2 million Japanese Army, which had been freed from the ties, to end up being a big stick and smashing it on the top of its head. Even Washington could not even accept that Northeast China once again fell into the hands of the Japanese army, let alone let the Japanese army draw troops against itself? What's more, on the Korean Peninsula, there is also the DPRK army, which is constantly expanding and reorganizing.

The clear attitude of the US side made this US Army lieutenant general, who wanted to take advantage of China's own internal situation to find some opportunities to realize his ambitions, and finally left Northeast China empty-handed. And Washington's opposition to the attitude, Yang Zhen is expected.

Under the circumstance that the Japanese army has already entered the Australian mainland, the Americans will not be stupid enough to let these hundreds of thousands of well-equipped Kwantung Army in the northeast. Even a moment of respite can free up his hands, and turn the heavy troops in other directions. For the Americans, the more Japanese troops the Chinese dragged on the battlefield, the more advantageous they were.

In particular, the Kwantung Army, which is still the largest strategic group of the Japanese army, hopes that not a single soldier will be transferred from northeast China to other fronts, and that everyone will want to hit other people's heads with a stick, not their own heads. Therefore, although the Americans repeatedly urged the Anti-Japanese League to launch an offensive in early '43, they rejected Stilwell's request for the Anti-Japanese Union to send troops to India.

The White House is very dissatisfied with this old man's practice of running to the Northeast without consulting Washington. Moreover, the protest in Chongqing also made the Americans very annoyed. The Americans will not tolerate anything within the Chinese at this time that will interfere with the war against Japan and the overall war situation.

After giving the hasty lieutenant general a severe reprimand, he was told to return to Chongqing immediately, do what he had to do, and not try to have any personal contact with Yan'an or Harbin. After receiving a telegram from the chief of staff of the US Army, this old man could only return to Chongqing unhappy.

But not long after the old man returned to Chongqing, the US Army Air Corps formed a large expedition group and came to the northeast. The purpose of this US military inspection mission is not the same as that of Lieutenant General Stilwell. The purpose of their visit to Northeast China was to discuss with the Anti-Japanese Union the matter of the US Army Air Corps stationing in Northeast China to participate in air raids against Japan.

It's just that it was no longer Yang Zhen who received them at this time. Half a month after Stilwell returned to Chongqing, that is, the meaning of Yang Zhen, the chief of staff of the Central Military Commission, after making a detailed report to the Central Committee. Yang Zhen also received a telegram from the central authorities, temporarily handed over the work to Li Yanping to preside, and he immediately returned to Yan'an to study the strategic goals for four or three years.

Originally, after receiving the telegram from the central government, Yang Zhen wanted to report it himself, but after several considerations, he finally brought Guo Bingxun with him. As for Yang Jicai's marriage, it is already something he can't take into account now. Even the original promise of going to his parents' place for dinner was never fulfilled, so he had to release the pigeons.

After Yang Zhen and Guo Bingxun arrived in Yan'an, Yang Zhen found that the commanders of several strategic regions in North China were basically all in place. Even the main commander of the New Fourth Army in northern Jiangsu, except for a deputy army commander and chief of staff who stayed in northern Jiangsu, the rest of the senior cadres all arrived in Yan'an.

Originally, I wanted the central government to hold a meeting after the situation behind enemy lines in North China was opened, because the Japanese puppet blockade was basically quite difficult. However, after the end of the battle in 42 years, the blockade of the Japanese army between the entire Jinsui and Jinchaji, Jinji, Shanxi, Hebei, and Luyu was far less than before.

In addition, all base areas in North China, including the location of the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army in northern Jiangsu, have all established airfields that can be used for light aircraft to take off and land in accordance with the requirements of the central authorities. Jinsui and Jinchaji, which directly border the northeastern base areas, simply established an airfield that could be used for transport planes to take off and land.

In addition to stationing some fighters and light bombers in Yan'an, the Anti-Japanese Federation also sent a squadron of C47 transport planes and a squadron of light transport planes. If necessary, it can also be supported by the anti-coalition air forces stationed in Rehe and Chahar. At this meeting, the Anti-Japanese Federation sent a plane to take all the princes from all walks of life to Yan'an, which greatly shortened the time for going back and forth.

What used to be a month, or even a few months, is now reduced to a few hours. Although the risk is a little greater, the speed is much faster. However, except for the New Fourth Army, which came to the northeast and needed to fly over enemy-occupied areas for a longer time, Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan actually did not fly much time over enemy-occupied areas, and the danger was not high.

Among these princes sitting on one side, most of them Yang Zhen had already seen it. Only a few leaders of the Shandong Military Region and the Taiyue Military Region, Yang Zhen met for the first time. Especially the famous marshal of both military and political affairs, Yang Zhen met for the first time. As for the senior commanders of the New Fourth Army who came to Yan'an, they were basically his old subordinates in southern Anhui, but they were much more familiar with them.

Seeing the small political commissar who had been separated for two years, the military commander who was transferred back to Yan'an for a meeting and studying, and several other senior cadres, except for a few people, most of them were overjoyed to see Yang Zhen who led him to highlight the danger again. Especially the military commander, he was very excited after meeting Yang Zhen again.

On the night of Yang Zhen's arrival in Yan'an, several military cadres who had brought the New Fourth Army to Yan'an for a meeting did not go back to rest until most of the night at Yang Zhen's residence. The military commander who returned to Yan'an with his wife also complained about why Yang Zhen didn't notify them of his marriage.

However, after a short period of excitement, Yang Zhen had to take into account the reality. After seeing the two veterans of the Yuan Advance Army, who had only been separated for a few months and had returned to their respective bases to preside over the work, Yang Zhen was also taken aback. In the Northeast, the two old handsomes managed to raise some strong bodies, but in such a short period of time, they became extremely thin again, and they were obviously in a state of malnutrition.

After talking with several veterans, Yang Zhen found that with the subsequent impact of the drought in 42 years, the situation in 43 years is still not optimistic, whether it is Shanxi, Chahar, Hebei, Shanxi, Shanxi, and Henan, the situation of food shortage is already quite serious. The Taihang Mountains and Wutai Mountains, which were already barren and not abundant, were even more sad during the famine.

Since the beginning of winter last year, the amount of snowfall in the southeastern part of Shanxi, which was barely mentioned in the midst of the great drought of '42, has continued to drop significantly. In some areas, there is not a drop of water throughout the winter. In the southeastern Shanxi region, which escaped the catastrophe in 42 years, this year's spring drought has been initially exposed. The situation in southern Hebei and Hebei, Shandong, and Henan has become even worse.

The damage caused by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region's 41-year sweep has not yet fully recovered, and although the drought in '42 was not as serious as in Henan, the harvest in '42 was quite unoptimistic. Moreover, the western Hebei region and the Pingxi region have also experienced quite serious spring drought this year.

Faced with the grim situation in the North China base area, Yang Zhen's brows furrowed deeply. He finally understood why the central government wanted to recover the central Hebei region that had been completely occupied by the Japanese army after the 41-year Japanese sweep at this time. With the loss of the grain supply base in central Hebei, the various base areas in North China, especially in Jinchaji, had a very difficult time.

The central authorities didn't know that if this battle was fought, I was afraid that it would hurt my muscles and bones. However, the situation that has emerged in the various base areas in North China has made the central authorities have no choice but to make up their minds to fight this battle and thoroughly alleviate the grain problem in the various base areas in North China. In addition to participating in the rectification, the most important thing in convening the responsible persons of the major strategic regions to Yan'an for the meeting is to mobilize the major strategic regions to participate in the war in coordination and strive to completely solve the problem of grain shortage in the two major base areas in North China.

However, the intention of the central government is not to capture Pingjin for the time being, after all, this kind of big city battle, for the military experience is still zero. The central authorities believed that a direct attack on Pingjin would contain a large number of troops under the fortified city, and would not be conducive to adopting a strategy of moving to annihilate the enemy.

The chairman's intention is to isolate Pingjin, recover Jizhong, and alleviate the grain shortage in the base areas behind enemy lines in North China, so as to strive for an early recovery. At the same time, he used this war to show some attitudes to certain parties in the country. In order to alleviate the enormous political pressures that might arise in the country after the dissolution of the Comintern.

After several discussions with the chairman and detailed research with the veterans of the major strategic regions, Yang Zhen finally made up his mind to fight this battle in accordance with the intentions of the central government. But in the first half of the fourth and third years, it was too late to prepare for this battle. And it is far from completing the recuperation and recovery of the Anti-Alliance, and it is impossible to invest too many troops at this time.

After studying, the central authorities still decided that the North China operation should be mainly based on the anti-Japanese alliance, and that the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, Shanxi-Hebei, Shandong-Henan, and Shandong Military Regions would cooperate in the operation. In accordance with the division of labor between the central authorities and the Anti-Japanese Federation, in the first half of the fourth and third years, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region was responsible for sending people back to Jizhong to disperse activities, mobilize the masses, collect enemy information, and reorganize and train the troops left behind in Jizhong.

He also dispatched capable cadres to return to the central Hebei region to restore the intelligence system and prepare for the next battle. In this matter, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region is the mainstay. At the same time, the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region dispatched troops from the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region and the Southern Hebei Military Region to the Jinpu Road and Pinghan Road.

The Shandong Military Region, with the main forces of the Luzhong Military Region and the Lunan Military Region, spread out along the southern section of the Jinpu Railway and closely monitored the Shandong section of the Jinpu Railway and the Sulu junction. Once the battle began, a large-scale sabotage campaign was carried out on the Tianjin-Pudong Railway. The units of the New Fourth Army carried out close surveillance of the entire Japanese army in Central and East China.

In the first half of the fourth and third years, the Anti-Japanese Federation was responsible for secretly stockpiling ammunition and materials in the Pingxi and Beiyue districts of Shanxi, Chahar, Hebei, and completing the final training work. After the autumn harvest in the second half of 43, it was planned to cooperate with the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, as well as the Southern Hebei Military Region and the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region to launch a recovery operation against the central Hebei Plain.

In terms of strategic guidelines, the plan was formulated quite quickly, but in terms of the specific tactical application, it was never settled, and it became a situation like a grinding. Without his divergent opinions, it is still quite large. In particular, there are different opinions on the investment of troops and equipment, as well as in many aspects.

Yang Zhen's attitude towards the next strategic requirement of the central government is very clear, in order to reduce casualties and speed up the process of the campaign, and to buy time for preparing to counterattack the follow-up forces of the Japanese army. It was still necessary to mobilize as many tank and heavy artillery units as possible to participate in the battle, so as to roughly complete the combat mission before the arrival of Japanese reinforcements.

In the research stage of the battle, Yang Zhen raised an extremely important question. That is the issue of secrecy before the anti-Japanese coalition troops entered the customs from the northeast to the south, and before it was fully launched. In particular, a large number of armored and heavy artillery units went south, as well as a large number of baggage security and secrecy issues.