Chapter 360 Autumn Harvest Battle, Changes in Lu Province
After the autumn harvest mobilization order was issued, Chief of Staff Xing Zhiguo and the staff of the General Staff Office worked out a harvest plan, which was divided into areas.
The grain fields opened on Yama Mountain and nearby mountainous areas were harvested by logistics minister Ding Dabapan, who directed the supply camp and farm personnel.
In Wuyi County, a regiment was commanded by Jing Dagang, and local armed forces and village troops assisted local fellow villagers in the harvest.
Wu'an County is under the responsibility of Li Da's garrison and others;
Due to the large number of people in the New Regiment, the 28th Regiment had to keep an eye on the movements of the Japanese troops in Lucheng. The New Regiment was in charge of Southeast Li and Lucheng.
The Fourth Regiment, the Second Regiment and the Basic Regiment are responsible for Cixi and Shexian County.
The autumn harvest orders were given to various regiments, and the war machines of the Tainan Military Region were activated. Nearly 15,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers rushed to various places.
In addition, there are nearly 30,000 local armed forces and militiamen, supporting millions of people in various counties.
An autumn harvest battle slowly begins. The harvest of corn is much simpler than that of wheat and rice. It only needs to be broken off from the corn stalk.
Then it is dried in the sun. When eating, the corn is separated and ground into cornmeal with a roller.
Fortunately, in the past ten days or so, most people in the base area had already begun to break corn, which saved a lot of time. In less than three days, all the corn left in the fields in the Tainan base area was harvested.
The harvested corn is organized into villages, and each household is hidden in the nearby mountains.
Yama Mountain, a small hillside of the back mountain.
Zhou Weihan, Zhao Gang and soldiers from the headquarters were breaking corn on a hillside.
The weather turned slightly cooler in October, so Zhou Weihan and others set out for the back mountain at four o'clock in the morning.
The corn field is a terraced field opened on the hillside. It surrounds the hillside one layer at a time, and there are about five or six rows of corn on each layer.
As soon as they entered the cornfield, everyone's figures were submerged in the corn stalks, and their military uniforms were wet with dew. The soaked military uniforms clung to their skin.
The leaves of the corn stalks prick the face and the back of the hands. Hey, it feels so comfortable.
Zhou Weihan and Zhao Gang were in charge of the bottom floor. Zhao Gang was breaking it in front and Zhou Weihan was loading sacks in the back.
Before the sun came up, the two of them harvested four crops of corn and packed them into thirteen or four sacks.
But after the sun came out, the sun shone on my face, and the area that had been scratched by corn leaves was scratching very much, and the more I scratched, the more itchy it became.
"Old Zhao, slow down and break up, take a break, take a break!" Zhou Weihan shouted from behind.
"This won't work anymore. For people like you, you really should go to labor reform!" Zhao Gang joked.
"Hey, young man, it's quite enjoyable for you to break it off by yourself. Just stretch out your hand, break it off, and throw it on the ground. I'm bending down from behind, hunched over. What you said is very light. Let's try it in a different way later!
"Zhou Weihan was full of resentment as soon as he opened his mouth. He rubbed his fingers on his waist and saw the red marks on his waist, which were unusually conspicuous.
Zhou Weihan and Zhou Weihan were resting when a clerk from the Political Department hurriedly found the two of them: "Detachment leader, political commissar, Director Li has something urgent. He said it was an urgent call from the headquarters!"
Zhou Weihan and Zhao Gang looked at each other, quickly got up and ran to the headquarters.
In the headquarters, Li Yunshan leaned on his chair, frowning, and subconsciously moved his fingers on the table.
"What happened?" Zhou Weihan asked first.
"Something happened in the Shandong base area. The telegram forwarded by the headquarters said that the Japanese army was encircling and suppressing base areas in western Shandong, southern Shandong, central Shandong, and the border areas of Hebei and Shandong!" Li Yunshan said.
"What?"
Zhou Weihan was surprised. The Japanese army frequently mobilized troops in the western part of North China. The Eighth Route Army unanimously believed that this was the Japanese army's revenge for the Hundred Regiment War.
For this reason, the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region where the headquarters is located, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region in the north of the Zhengtai Line, and even the Shanxi-Sui Military Region in northwest Shanxi are all preparing for war. Who would have thought that the little devil would target the Shandong base of the Eighth Route Army.
The Eighth Route Army in the Shandong base area did not participate in the Hundred Regiment War, so the garrison strength of the Twelfth Army of the North China Front stationed in the Shandong area was not damaged.
The main force of the Japanese Twelfth Army, the Twenty-first Division, the Thirty-second Division, and the Independent Fifth and Sixth Mixed Brigades respectively encircled and suppressed our Eighth Route Army's Luzhong and Lunan base areas.
Directly under the North China Front, the 110th Division stationed in Shimen and the 21st Division stationed in Jinmen each encircled and suppressed the Luxi base area.
A Japanese army of the 35th Division operating in the Shangqiu area secretly went north to encircle and suppress the Hebei-Shandong border base area.
The Yimeng Mountain area in central Shandong was a key target of the Japanese attack. The troops in the base area were cooperating with the people to harvest crops. They suffered heavy casualties under the Japanese raid.
The Japanese army burned, killed, and looted wantonly in the base area. Due to lack of previous preparations, various units of the Eighth Route Army were forced to fight independently. Many soldiers fell on the way to cover the fellow villagers entering the mountains.
The main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Shandong base area was forced to retreat deep into the Yimeng Mountains to fight guerrillas with the Japanese army.
"What a wonderful trick the little devil played. We were all kept in the dark. Who would have thought that the little devil would fake a shot to attract our attention, but then he would target the Shandong base area!" Zhou Weihan said through gritted teeth.
"It turns out that the Japanese army's usual routine is to frequently mobilize troops to deceive our intelligence personnel, and then seem to launch a surprise attack. I asked how the Japanese army let us know the details of the troop mobilization so easily this time. It turns out they are waiting for us here.
!" Li Yunshan said angrily.
"This is our preconception, subconsciously thinking that the Japanese army is targeting the troops in Shanxi and Hebei provinces. I'm afraid this is not the work of Okamura Neji!" Zhao Gang on the side also said with emotion.
"Is there any news about the 28th regiment? How is the autumn harvest in various places?" Zhou Weihan asked.
"Ding Wei did not report any abnormalities in Lucheng!"
"Lao Xing just sent someone to inform him this morning that Cixian, Lidongnan, and Ludongnan have reported that the autumn harvest is basically completed. Wuyi, Wu'an, Shexian and other places are expected to complete the autumn harvest early tomorrow morning!" Li Yunshan said.
"This will make me feel relieved. After harvesting the grain, I will be less burdened. The troops in each county should not withdraw yet. Plan the route into the mountains with the local people and practice it in advance!"
"I will never allow soldiers to die in vain on the battlefield!" Zhou Weihan ordered.
"Yes!" Li Yunshan responded.
After the order was issued, the Fourth Regiment and the New First Regiment each separated a group of soldiers, and with the cooperation of local armed forces and militia, conducted evacuation drills for the fellow villagers in each village.
New regiment defense area.
When many fellow villagers heard that they were going to evacuate to the mountains, they dragged their families, drove cattle and sheep, and it took them half a day to evacuate to the mountains.
Li Yunlong listened to the report of a company commander and couldn't help but his face darkened: "Damn it, at this time, the day lilies are already cold, but luckily I practiced it in advance!"
"In this way, let the fellow villagers leave their livestock and surplus grain in the mountains first, leaving some people to guard them, and the rest will return home. It will save a lot of time!" said Luo Benzhong on the side.