The Eighth Route Army suddenly obtained a large number of heavy weapons, which frightened both Chairman Standing Committee and Yoshio Shinozuka, but their shock was far less than that of Commander Yan, who was in Zhaojiayu.
The heavy-duty tractors all over the mountains and fields, the sky-covering loess kicked up by the tanks, the dense artillery groups on the threshing floor, the continuous flow of weapons and ammunition transported to the mountains, and the thousands of light and heavy machine guns, shocked this World War II district commander. You know , even when the Jinsui Army was at its peak, it did not create such a situation. If nothing else, the one hundred and twenty tanks alone were not something you could buy with money.
During this period, Chief Yan's mentality was constantly changing. At first, he was grateful to the Eighth Route Army and was shocked by its strength. He wanted to unite with the Eighth Route Army to withstand the pressure from Chongqing and the Japanese army. Later, the Chief of Guard of the First Theater District gave The words he brought gave him renewed hope in Chongqing. After all, in terms of strength, the Eighth Route Army seemed incomparable with the Chongqing government.
Later, the Eighth Route Army won a tragic victory in the battle of Laojun Mountain and suffered heavy losses in personnel and technical equipment. This made him even less optimistic about the Eighth Route Army. After all, if weapons and equipment are not replenished in time, no matter how powerful the army is, it will be nothing but rootless. Just Zhiping, the reason why he continues to stay at the Eighth Route Army headquarters is just to continue to put pressure on Chongqing. As for sending a special envoy to northern Shaanxi, it is just a random thing. After all, it is just a case that the Eighth Route Army can provide a batch of weapons. A good thing.
But this time, after the Eighth Route Army showed its strength to him without hesitation, Commander Yan was completely frightened. The Eighth Route Army was not fighting alone, nor was it without support. Their backstage was strong. If according to the pre-war standards, the Eighth Route Army would have obtained the victory in one go. The equipment is enough to arm twenty infantry divisions, ten artillery regiments, and three tank regiments. This is already stronger than many small countries. Who is the master who gave so much assistance to the Eighth Route Army at once?
It doesn't matter if you aid the Eighth Route Army. The key weapons and equipment can still be transported in. Are the Japanese already so weak? If you can't even block Odu, it's definitely impossible! Although there is serious corruption within the Japanese army, they will never make such a big noise. If they did not go to the Japanese defense area, through what channel did the Eighth Route Army transport these in? Was it the defense area of the Jinsui Army or the Central Army's defense area?
Just when Chief Yan could not sleep all night thinking about it, the special envoy he sent to northern Shaanxi actually sent back the news that northern Shaanxi agreed to sell some weapons to the Shanxi-Sui Army to support the Shanxi-Sui Army in the war of resistance. This made Commander Yan even more uncertain while being excited. What on earth was the Eighth Route Army going to do? These are weapons, and heavy weapons. The Eighth Route Army actually agreed to sell them to themselves so easily. Could it be said that they can still obtain weapons in the future?
No matter what, it is a matter of great joy to be able to obtain weapons supplies when you are at your weakest. The last time I purchased a thousand light machine guns from the Eighth Route Army, the officers below felt a lot more at ease. If I could get another If light and heavy weapons are approved, the internal stability of the Jinsui Army will surely be more stable.
Early the next morning, Chief Yan brought Chu Yunfei to the Eighth Route Army headquarters to discuss the purchase of weapons. Since Daxia Bay was bombed by the Kwantung Army aviation, the 358th Regiment of the Jinsui Army stationed in Yangcun moved to Zhaojiayu. , strictly protecting the safety of Chief Yan, and Chu Yunfei became the de facto military attache. It must be said that Chief Yan is still very bold in hiring people. Qian Bojun's betrayal in battle is a big deal, but Chu Yunfei is still From the Huangpu Department, if it had been anyone else, Chu Yunfei's future in the Jinsui Army would have been lost, but with Chief Yan, Chu Yunfei was being used more seriously.
"Congratulations to the Chief of Staff. Your army has greatly increased in strength after receiving this batch of weapons and ammunition! From now on, in the borders of Shanxi Province, even the little devils will have to go around when they see the Eighth Route Army." When he saw the Eighth Route Army, he was in charge The deputy chief of staff who was negotiating, Chief Yan, quickly handed over his hand and expressed congratulations, his face full of sincerity and envy.
"Sir Yan is joking, I'm just replenishing some weapons. As you know, we suffered heavy losses in this battle. The loss of soldiers is not bad, and the heavy weapons are almost all lost. If we don't replenish it, it will be impossible." The deputy said. The chief of general staff laughed. Although he knew why northern Shaanxi allowed the sale of weapons to the Jinsui Army, he still felt very unhappy when he thought of selling precious weapons and equipment to the Jinsui Army.
"The deputy chief of staff is joking. The weapons and equipment your army has obtained this time are enough to equip twenty infantry divisions, ten artillery regiments, and three tank regiments. These are probably enough to re-equip the entire Eighth Route Army in Shanxi Province." Yan The chief feels that the deputy chief of staff is a bit pretentious. Your Eighth Route Army only has so many troops in Jin Province. If you put all the troops together, you won't be able to use so many weapons. As for transporting weapons to other areas in North China, that will have to be done by the Japanese. Agree, it is definitely impossible without paying the price of blood.
"Sir Yan, I have received the order from the headquarters and will try my best to meet your requirements. What kind of weapons do you want to buy?" The deputy chief of staff did not continue to agonize over the minutiae with Chief Yan. Now the boss is He had to go back as soon as possible to lead his staff to study and further improve the replacement plan. However, Chief Yan was right about one thing. The only worry for the Eighth Route Army's happiness was transporting a large amount of weapons, equipment and supplies out of the Taiyue Military Region.
"Chief of Staff, this is our demand list, please take a look." With a look from Chief Yan, Chu Yunfei immediately presented the list that he had prepared long ago.
"50,000 Enfield M1917 rifles; 100 Hotchkiss heavy machine guns; 500 Sausha light M1915 machine guns; 36 M1910 122mm guns; 7,000 rounds of M1910 122mm gun shells; 5 million rounds of American .30 rifle rounds ; 40 CV-33 light tanks - Hey, why is Commander Yan interested in ordinary rifles? As far as I know, the Jinsui Army has never been short of rifles?" The deputy chief of staff let out a surprised sigh. .
"I'm ashamed. The arsenal in the rear area of the World War II area was destroyed by the Japanese. I don't know when it will resume production. I have to buy some light weapons to reserve for a rainy day." Commander Yan smiled bitterly. In the battle of Laojunshan, the Shanxi-Sui Army The losses were also considerable, with nearly 10,000 weapons lost. It was impossible not to replenish the inventory.
Let me explain here, never treat weapons as durable goods. In many cases, firearms are just consumables. On the battlefield, a shrapnel or larger gravel can destroy a gun. In addition, improper use , loss and other situations. Every battle, even if you win, you will lose a lot of weapons and equipment.
"One Enfield M1917 rifle costs 500 US dollars, which is worth 2.5 million US dollars; one Hotchkiss heavy machine gun costs 1,000 US dollars, which is worth 100,000 US dollars; and the Shosha light M1915 machine gun costs 500 US dollars each, which is 20 US dollars. 50,000 oceans; one M1910 122mm gun for 50,000 oceans, totaling 1.8 million oceans; one M1910 122mm gun shell for 100 oceans, totaling 700,000 oceans; American .30 rifle shells for 10 oceans , a total of 500,000 oceans; a CV-33 light tank of 50,000 oceans, a total of 2 million oceans. If you add it up, let me see, the total is 7.85 million oceans." The deputy chief of general staff took the There was a list, and he started to calculate it item by item. Even though he was prepared for it, he became more and more frightened. He never thought that one day the Eighth Route Army would be able to sell weapons like this. It was so satisfying.
"Chief of Staff, do you mean that all the weapons here can be sold?" There were not many objections to the price. Chief Yan was shocked that the other party did not make any changes to the list he proposed. Those were heavy artillery and tanks. Ah, it’s considered a valuable weapon of the country no matter what, shouldn’t we talk more about the conditions? He was ready to make a big concession, but the Eighth Route Army had no objection at all. Could it be that the Eighth Route Army really regarded him as a friend?
"Chief of Staff, is your price a bit too expensive? After all, most of these weapons are second-hand, and the price of 7.85 million is really unjustifiable." The speaker was Chu Yunfei, although the seller of the weapons is now market, but he still felt that he needed to say something. The total price of more than seven million oceans was really astonishing.
"Captain Chu, you should understand that many of the weapons in this list are not for sale. Sometimes, even if you have money, you can't buy them. So, if you are willing to pay in gold, we can build a 10,000-ton I’ll give you the canned meat.” The deputy chief of staff shook his head slightly. It’s expensive. It’s indeed a bit expensive. According to the price of Soviet aid supplies, it’s even expensive. But the problem is that the big northern countries have political conditions. Otherwise, the great northern country would not still have troops stationed in our northwest.
"Three and a half tons of gold, if you have no objection, we can deliver it today." Chief Yan made the final decision. He has ruled Jin Province for decades, and he will definitely not be short of money, even if the little devil destroyed the Jin Provincial Bank. and money printing plants, but precious metals such as gold and silver will not disappear out of thin air in any case.
The deputy chief of staff contacted Northern Shaanxi and soon received a positive reply, sell it, sell it with confidence and boldness! Anyway, the Eighth Route Army can continue to obtain more weapons and ammunition in the future. This arms transaction can greatly ease the Eighth Route Army's financial situation, so as to further expand the transaction with Wang Yue.
In the afternoon of the same day, Chu Yunfei led his troops to transport heavy artillery and tanks to his abandonment. As for the light weapons, they planned to transport them away slowly later. But what surprised everyone was that our Commander Yan actually removed them from his own. Three and a half tons of gold were pulled out from under the bed, each containing ten kilograms of 991 gold bricks. This is the real rich man. I really doubt that he used the gold as pocket money.
