When two old devils, Yamamoto and Yoshio Shinozuka, were plotting how to deal with the Eighth Route Army.
Independent regiment.
After Chu Yunfei and a group of Shanxi-Sui Army officers left, the Independent Regiment faced two more things.
The first thing is that news came from Yangquan that the merchant ship of American businessman John arrived in Shanxi half a day ago.
According to the plan, the merchant ship that John came over this time should carry the second batch of arms promised to Kong Jie.
As for the specific number, Kong Jie didn't know, but he had some expectations in his heart.
Today, for Kong Jie, if the quantity of beautiful equipment is not large, no matter how sophisticated it is, it cannot change the trend much.
What the entire base area needs is the amount of equipment and ammunition to expand to the entire army.
For the entire Eighth Route Army, in terms of equipment, instead of acquiring a few heavy artillery, it is better to acquire tens of thousands of rifles, which will play a much greater role than a few heavy artillery.
Not to mention too many, if the entire Taihang base area can have more than 100,000 rifles, plus one or two million rounds of ammunition, will the little Japanese have the courage to go behind enemy lines and carry out a large-scale sweep?
Therefore, after receiving the second batch of arms, Kong Jie actually wanted to do a bigger business through the United States.
So when he sent someone to secretly receive the second batch of arms brought by John's caravan, Kong Jie asked Shen Quan, who was in charge of leading the team, to bring a letter to John.
In the letter, Kong Jie expressed to John that he hoped to further expand the arms business with John.
The reason Kong Jie made it very clear:
"Our country needs guns to resist the Japanese aggressors. This requires guns, not very good guns. Even if it is a gun that you Americans have eliminated, as long as it can be used to kill the enemy, you can send it over and I, Kong Jie, will accept it as ordered."
"You Americans have definitely eliminated a lot of guns on the battlefield. Instead of selling them as scrap metal, John, if you are willing, you can transport them to China and sell them to me, Kong Jie."
"This deal will not end even if you withdraw from the concession. This is a long-term and stable deal."
…
John is a smart businessman, and he can certainly see the potential huge commercial value in Kong Jie's words.
As for Kong Jie's true identity, Kong Jie didn't say anything, and John didn't ask much.
When an arms dealer sells arms, would he ask more about the other party's identity?
In the early morning of the next day, Shen Quan and his party secretly transported the arms sent by John back to the independent regiment headquarters at night, and brought back a reply letter from John.
The reply was written in Chinese, which made Kong Jie let out a long sigh of relief, otherwise his Chinglish would have been exposed.
In the letter, John expressed his willingness to continue various subsequent business cooperation with Kong Jie, including cooperation in arms.
John also said that the next time he arrives with his caravan, he would like to meet Kong Jie again to discuss the details of subsequent cooperation.
Finally, John's words were a little urgent, "Xu, after the third batch of munitions arrives, I hope you can give me the last third of the design drawing."
…
No hurries?
Kong Jie is not anxious at all. Without the design drawings of this MP3 submachine gun, how can you, John, be so anxious to send me the arms?
The last third of the design is the final part of the core.
Regiment Headquarters.
Kong Jie was more concerned about this second batch of arms and how many Americans had sent them.
Shen Quan's face was filled with uncontrollable excitement and ecstasy. When he saw Kong Jie, he couldn't help but say:
"Captain, the equipment sent by the United States this time is quite a lot!"
"About how many?" Kong Jie asked.
"There are more than 2,000 rifles, more than 20 heavy machine guns, 60 light machine guns, 100,000 rounds of bullets, 30 M2 60mm mortars, but there are less shells, each gun only has half the base shells, and Some semi-automatic pistols and shotguns..."
When it comes to the specific quantity of this batch of arms, Shen Quan is very familiar with it. After all, the second battalion commander personally counted it.
"Gone?"
"No more!" Shen Quan said.
Kong Jie's face was not happy, "This amount is still a lot less than what John promised me."
Chen Quan said: "Captain, I also asked the American boss about this matter. The American boss said that he was afraid of accidents along the way and being noticed by the Japanese army, so he controlled the quantity."
Kong Jie sneered, probably knowing what John had in mind.
After Shen Quan left, Kong Jie immediately wrote a second letter, then called the person in charge of the Intelligence Division of the Independent Regiment and explained: "Send the letter to Tianjin and give it to Lao Zhou. Lao Zhou knows what to do with the rest." Do."
"yes!"
In the letter, Kong Jie told Gao Qiang and Zhu Xuming, his representative businessmen who stayed in Tianjin, that they should not rush to acquire John's old American factories in China and wait for specific notifications from his side.
Kong Jie wanted to see how long John, a cunning American, wanted to take control.
If you don't send me arms in large quantities, I will never give you benefits easily.
When the situation becomes more and more dangerous and the British and American concessions are about to be lost, let me see if you, John, are in a hurry.
At that time, even if you treat the arms as cabbage prices, you will still have to sell them to me.
At this point, Kong Jie never took the superficial goodwill shown by those Americans seriously.
Instead of believing in the character of American capitalists, you might as well believe that sows can climb trees!
…
After this matter is dealt with, the second matter comes.
Wang An, the enemy's Minister of Industry, came to the regiment headquarters to find Kong Jie and reported:
"Captain, I have something to report to you in person. During this period, our base area has been carrying out cold-blooded gunfire campaigns. The Japanese and puppet troops have suffered considerable losses in the periphery of our base area."
"The Japanese launched raids and retaliations several times, but we were repulsed by tunnel warfare, guerrilla warfare, and sparrow warfare carried out in each village."
"In addition, after the equipment of the militia forces around us has been strengthened again, their combat effectiveness has improved a lot. Sometimes, the Japanese's mopping up troops were wiped out by our militia soldiers before they even reached our base area."
"According to your original intention, several anti-Japanese brigades composed of militiamen have been drawn out around us. The strength may not be enough, but this gimmick has been carried out."
Kong Jie said with a smile: "This is called pulling the skin of a tiger to scare the Japanese. The appearance of the militia anti-Japanese brigade can confuse the little Japanese's judgment even more, making the Japanese unable to understand and see clearly the strength of our base area."
Wang An smiled and said, "Who says it's not true! After this back and forth, the little devil seems to have accepted his defeat."
"In addition, according to your order from the regiment leader, as long as the militia forces around us have obtained materials for producing arms, such as rails and wires, they can get them from our independent regiment in exchange for equipment."
"After the order was issued, how could we militia comrades sit still? We went to carry out raids every two days. The railways that the Japanese had repaired every now and then were snatched away by everyone as soon as they turned around. Hundreds of kilometers of wires were replaced. It’s gone.”
"Because of this, the little devils have to constantly spend manpower and material resources to re-repair the railway tracks, put up wires, build roads, etc. They also have to spend manpower everywhere and strengthen patrols."
"The Japanese and puppet troops were also beaten to the point of losing their temper by us. On the one hand, they were held accountable by their superiors for our sabotage operations, and on the other hand, they were also afraid of being sneak-attacked by us during their patrols. "
"So just two days ago, a puppet army secretly passed the news to our Eighth Route Army through the common people. According to the puppet army, this fornication was the intention of some Japanese officers."
Kong Jie was interested: "Oh, interesting. What tricks does this little devil want to play?"
Wang Andao: "Commander, the puppet army said that the Japanese hope that we can restrain the troops and stop destroying railways and wires.
In this way, if the Japanese superiors don't come to hold us accountable or send people to investigate, they can pretend to be at peace with us, and they won't invade our base.
In addition, the little devils expressed their hope to cooperate with us in smuggling and make money. "
"What? The kid is looking for us to engage in smuggling?" Kong Jie was also quite surprised.
Wang An nodded, "Captain, I was also puzzled, so I came to report to you as soon as I received the news."
Kong Jie thought for a moment, but he could understand the reason.
In recent years, the Japs' supplies have become increasingly scarce, and there has even been a shortage of successors. Life is not easy for the underlying Japs officers and soldiers.
In addition, most of the people around the independent regiment's base area are Japanese and puppet troops who maintain local security.
If you can calm things down and avoid the risk of being wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, you can also engage in smuggling to make money. By the way, you can hide it from your superiors and avoid being held accountable. Why not do it?
Thinking about it this way, this is the beginning of the Japanese army's failure. This news secretly transmitted by the Japanese and puppet troops may really be used.
"In this way, don't rush to give a clear answer to the little Japs. First, use vague rhetoric to stabilize the Japs and puppet troops. In addition, tell them that cooperation is not impossible, but I don't trust them enough. I hope to see their sincerity."
"Yes!" Wang An responded, then hesitantly said: "Captain, do we really want to cooperate with the Japanese and puppet troops?"
Kong Jie said: "There are many ways to eliminate the Japanese. Military operations are actually just the last resort."
"Don't underestimate this simple cooperation now. This is the flaw exposed by the Japanese and puppet troops. We may be able to use this cooperation to slowly corrode the security forces of the Japanese and puppet troops."
"Think about it, if one day the Japanese and puppet troops around our base area cooperate with us in smuggling, they will live a comfortable life, with enough food and warm living conditions."
"If the Japanese military command launches another war at this time to deal with our base area, it will cut off the financial resources of these Japanese and puppet troops and make them have no good life."
"Japanese and puppet soldiers are human beings too. Tell me, at this point, how much fighting spirit will they still have to deal with us?"
Wang An suddenly realized what he was doing. After secretly admiring him, he immediately responded: "Yes, Commander, I understand what to do."
"Go! Remember, the principle of doing this well is to boil the frog in warm water and let the Japanese and puppet soldiers slowly wear away their will to fight."
"yes!"
After Wang An left, Kong Jie thought about it. Although this was a good thing, it could easily be manipulated.
So this matter needs to be discussed with the political commissar Li Wenjie, and Li Wenjie can make a report to his superiors, so as not to give me a black hat in the future, right?
Afterwards, Kong Jie arranged for someone to inform Ye Min.
Let Ye Min lead the commando team and give priority to selecting and retaining the American equipment sent by John.
Especially the M2 60mm mortars that John sent over, Kong Jie directly approved ten of them for the commandos.
for subsequent backup.
…………
…………
New second group.
Shi Kui, the commander of the 117th Regiment of the Jinsui Army, finally found the opportunity to find Li Yunlong alone.
Under the eaves, Shi Kui was too embarrassed to beat around the bush and said straight to the point: "Brother Yunlong..."
As a result, Li Yunlong didn't give him any face at all. Although he had a smile on his face, his words made people choke: "Captain Shi, you should call us Commander Li. I remember we are not so close, right?"
Even though Li Yunlong usually always smiles and laughs, Lao Li is so high-spirited!
When a good man like Chu Yunfei called him Brother Yunlong, he responded. He would not pay anyone else's debt.
Shi Kui's face froze, a little embarrassed, but he quickly suppressed it. After all, he was asking for help.
"...Captain Li, please don't tell me secret words. Brother, I came here this time to ask you to get your equipment and people back!"
Li Yunlong pretended to be a sheep and said: "Captain Shi, we, Old Li, don't understand what you are saying. You ask me for equipment and people. What do you mean?"
Shi Kui said anxiously: "Squad leader Li, stop pretending to be stupid. Didn't you kidnap all the more than 300 soldiers of my third battalion back to the second regiment? Also, the equipment of my two battalions , it’s all in your hands now!”
Li Yunlong said: "Commander Shi, please don't slander anyone. The team that Old Li arrested was a team of traitors who were colluding with the Japanese. When did they catch your Jinsui Army?"
Shi Kui: "..."
How could he not see that Li Yunlong was deliberately pretending to be ignorant, eating everything with just a touch of his mouth, and not wanting to admit his guilt?
"Captain Li, what you did was so unkind. I admit that my third battalion commander really deserves to die. He dared to surrender to the Japanese army. This kind of thing is what I, Shi, hate the most."
"In this way, if Commander Li is willing, you can shoot my third battalion commander for me and clean up the house. But my more than 300 brothers and the equipment of two battalions, Commander Li, you are afraid You have to return it to me, otherwise I won’t be able to report it to the higher ups.”
Li Yunlong seemed to have come to his senses, and his stern face showed a smile, and he said: "Oh, Commander Shi, I understand, it turns out that the 300-plus cowards who surrendered to the Japanese were soldiers of your 117th Regiment? "
"Shi Mou is ashamed!"
"Forget it, since we are Commander Shi's unit, I will release the more than 300 prisoners when I turn around. Is this okay?
In addition, I will return your third battalion commander to you. It is up to Commander Shi to clean up the house himself! "Li Yunlong said.
Shi Kui breathed a sigh of relief and replied: "Thank you very much, Captain Li. Captain Li understands the righteousness, and Shi admires it."
Li Yunlong smiled and said: "You don't understand justice well, but the key point is that you have more than 300 mouths in my new second regiment, and I still have to take care of the food. If you shoot your third battalion commander, I still have to waste a bullet." , we, Old Li, will not do this loss-making business."
"..."
"Captain Li, please give me the equipment of my two battalions when you return my brothers."
"What? What equipment?" Li Yunlong asked in surprise.
Shi Kui: "Captain Li, are you trying to disown the equipment that was seized from more than 300 of my brothers and later from a battalion led by my deputy commander?"
Li Yunlong said: "Oh, I remembered it, but... I'm really sorry, Commander Shi. As you know, our Eighth Route Army has iron discipline. We have to take credit for the capture."
"The equipment I got from you has been handed over to the headquarters a long time ago, so if you want this batch of equipment, you can.
You must first go back and report to Commander Yan to explain the matter clearly, and then Commander Yan will personally come to our independent group to explain the situation.
After we have determined the situation, the equipment of these two battalions will be returned to you. "
Shi Kui: "…………"
For a moment, I felt like crying. As for Chief Yan, who is obsessed with saving face, how could he condescend to your Eighth Route Army to ask for equipment from two battalions?
Not to mention that it was really embarrassing for his third battalion to surrender to the Japanese. If Commander Yan knew about this, it would be nice not to be punished. How could he be embarrassed and help him get the equipment?
"I Have a Picture Book of Ghosts and Gods"
Yes, this batch of equipment is like a piece of meat that will never come back if it beats a dog.
"Captain Shi, don't look at me like that! If you look at me like that, there's nothing we can do about it. How about I report this to our headquarters in advance and report this matter to your Commander Yan? There's nothing you can do about it." Now that it’s clear, how about we go through the procedure again and return the equipment to your 117th regiment?”
...In the end, Shi Kui gritted his teeth and left, feeling depressed.
There was nothing he could do about Li Yunlong, a guy who didn't know how to deal with anything.
Looking at the figure who left depressed after suffering a loss, Li Yunlong happily patted his pocket and said, "Okay, this time the equipment of the two battalions is in his pocket."
…
Brigade Headquarters.
As soon as Li Yunlong brought the equipment of the two battalions back to the New Second Regiment, the brigade commander with great powers learned of the matter.
The political commissar was shocked when he heard about this, "At this critical moment, Li Yunlong, a bastard, can't commit any more trouble."
The brigade commander smiled and said: "After all, there were no casualties, which is a good thing."
"At this moment, Li Yunlong has grasped the evidence that the 117th Regiment colluded to surrender to the Japanese, and by taking this batch of equipment, his Jinsui Army really has nothing to say."
The political commissar smiled and said: "That's right, Yan Laoxi can't afford to lose this person."
"The equipment of the two battalions, although the 117th Regiment of the Jinsui Army is far stronger than the 358th Regiment, the equipment of the two battalions is not a small amount."
The brigade commander was muttering to the side.
The political commissar said happily: "Brigade commander, are you thinking about Li Yunlong's equipment again?"
The brigade commander said with a serious face: "I'm not thinking about the equipment, I'm just thinking about it. But I haven't seen my old subordinates in some days. I always ran to the independent regiment in the past few days. Tell me, as an old leader, I can't favor one thing over another, right?"
The political commissar was startled for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.
…
New second group.
Ding Wei, who has always been bold, careful and eye-catching, was not at all conceited when some officers from the Shanxi-Sui Army rushed to the new regiment to visit, exchange and study.
The next morning, Ding Wei led a company of troops, and a group of officers from the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army followed the army to watch the battle.
This was an ambush battle, and it was a coincidence that the officers of the Jinsui Army arrived. Ding Wei had been planning for this for a long time. The collection of intelligence and the plan to lure the Japanese army into the trap were all ready and all he needed was the east wind.
One of the two combatants was a company of the New Regiment, and the other was a transport squadron of the Japanese army.
When the battle started, Ding Wei handed over the command to the first battalion commander Sun Zhenguo, while he led the officers of the Jinsui Army to watch the battle from a distance with the help of binoculars.
What a beautiful battle of annihilation.
Throughout the battle, the deployment before the ambush was exquisite. After the battle began, the soldiers of the New Second Regiment suddenly burst out with combat effectiveness, which made the officers of the Shanxi-Sui Army look at them with suspicion.
It only took less than an hour to finally kill the Japanese transport squadron, clean the battlefield, and return with the Japanese transport squadron's supplies.
The accompanying officers of the Jinsui Army marveled at it for a long time.
Only then did they realize that if an Eighth Route Army team like the New Regiment did not lack sophisticated equipment and abundant ammunition, the combat effectiveness it could unleash would be astonishing.
Ding Wei did not take this seriously: "The Japanese transport squadron is not elite, and its firepower is not as strong as ours. We are using the strong to fight the weak, which is not a good thing."
In this regard, what else can the officers of the Jinsui Army say?
In their opinion, the Japanese army was so powerful that they almost did not dare to provoke it, but in the Eighth Route Army base area, it seemed to be made of mud. This once aroused their doubts about the strength of the Japanese army.
Even the commander of the Jinsui Army couldn't help but wonder, is the little Japanese really so defeated?
…
Three days later, in Taiyuan City, under the deployment of the old Japanese Yoshio Shinozuka, the Japanese army began to take action.
The Japanese army's operational deployment this time is very clear, combining the odd and the right.
Taking into account that the Eighth Route Army is now growing in size, Yoshio Shinozuka mobilized four brigades with more than 20,000 troops. According to Tiejun's mopping-up style, he divided his troops from both wings and approached the area where the Eighth Route Army's general headquarters is located in the Taihang base. .
In addition, while the frontal battlefield attracted the attention of the Eighth Route Army, Yamamoto led a special agent team to sneak through the gaps in the battlefield and follow the established insertion curve to sneak attack on the Eighth Route Army's headquarters.
The Japanese army deployed four brigades on the frontal battlefield to attack from two fronts. Two of the brigades went straight to the defense area of the Northern Shanxi Iron Triangle...
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
I even paid off what I owed, and I was sweating...
