Before the arrival of Zhou Weihan, the Southwest Shandong Military Division had already taken the initiative to shrink its troops, and its scope of activities shrank to the area east of Dongming, Heze, Dingtao, and west of Caoxian.
Although the local Japanese army had the upper hand in the battle, they faced the same problem as the Eighth Route Army, that is, they had too few troops to control the vast towns and villages except for the county seat.
Therefore, after noticing that the Eighth Route Army had taken the initiative to shrink its troops, the Japanese army was deeply aware of the lack of troops and ordered the puppet governments in various places to distribute reward orders in various counties.
All the large landowners in various counties who were loyal to the Japanese army and supported the communist circles, or the bandits who occupied the land and gathered in the mountains and forests, were all given official positions, large and small, under the generous rewards of the Japanese army.
.
On the Eighth Route Army side, whether it is the intelligence personnel of the local government or the enemy engineering section belonging to the Southwest Shandong Military Division, they have been paying attention to the enemy's every move.
Shortly after Zhou Weihan arrived at the Shandong Southwest Military Division, he ordered a plenary meeting of the Shandong Southwest Base Area to be held. The participants included cadres at the battalion level and above in the army, guerrilla brigades in the local armed forces, captains of several county brigades, and principal officials of the local government.
principal.
This move is, first, to unify the thinking of all officers and men and restore low morale, and second, to clarify the development goals of the base area and convey the next step of combat deployment.
In Hanji Town, the Southwestern Shandong Military Division Headquarters, Zhou Weihan and others gathered together to study the recent movements of the Japanese army.
"In the past few days, the little devils have realized that their dominance is insufficient, and they have successively recruited several bandit armed forces. At the same time, they have helped large households in various places form security teams. The momentum has been very lively. Some thugs from the puppet government have openly arrested family members of our comrades.
Destroy the grassroots political power in enemy-occupied areas!"
The person who spoke was Li Lu, the director of the military department of the regional government. Although the main troops had withdrawn, some comrades from the local government still stayed in the enemy-occupied areas to continue the struggle.
When Li Yunlong heard this, he became furious and slapped the table: "Damn it, I shouldn't have been so soft-hearted in the first place. I should have stewed these bastards into a pot. What the hell were they doing for the united front?"
"Lao Luo, look, these idiots have some conscience. How can they do things for the Japs? As soon as our main force left, they jumped out immediately!" Li Yunlong pointed the finger at Luo Benzhong.
Previously, Zhou Weihan led his troops to ruthlessly annihilate a group of stubborn armed forces in Heze, Dingtao, and Caoxian counties in southwest Shandong, but his purpose was to only kill the culprits and not implicate innocents.
However, the leaders of these recalcitrant armed forces were all from local wealthy families. They had strong local power and deep ties among the villages. After the Eighth Route Army left, they revived.
Afterwards, Li Yunlong arrived with his troops, and Luo Benzhong suggested seizing the main contradiction, uniting local forces, establishing a firm foothold first, and targeting the Japanese and puppet troops.
Afterwards, the Political Department of the Southwestern Shandong Military Division sent several cadres to contact armed forces in various places, including bandits and escorts of large landlords, in an effort to win over them to remain neutral at the worst.
There was a conflict between the military chief and the political chief. Luo Benzhong did not continue the dispute with Li Yunlong because of his face.
Seeing this, Zhou Weihan patted the table gently and said in a deep voice: "Okay, why are you so uncontrollable?"
"This matter must also be viewed dialectically. When two forces confront each other, and when one force has a disadvantage, hidden dangers that are usually ignored will emerge!"
"Aren't these people dancing more happily now? If they don't jump out, where will their weapons and equipment come from? Where will their money and food come from? There will be a time to settle accounts with them, Comrade Li Lu!"
"Yes." Li Lu stood up immediately when he heard Zhou Weihan calling his name. Zhou Weihan waved for him to sit down: "Inform the comrades in the enemy-occupied areas to temporarily stop all activities. Just remember who is interested in our Eighth Route Army and who is
Remain neutral, and whoever works for the little devils will settle the accounts with them in a short time, and the hidden dangers will be eliminated in one fell swoop!"
"yes!"
"Sit in the balcony and watch the wind and rain!"
Li Yunlong understood what Zhou Weihan said, but he was a little reluctant: "Then let's just forget it? I can't swallow this breath!"
"Of course, you can send a few small and capable troops to secretly sneak into enemy-occupied areas and go for some activities!" Zhou Weihan said.
After the matter was over, Luo Benzhong said: "Comrade **, there is information from the enemy's engineering department. Yesterday, more than 7,000 soldiers of the Fourth Puppet Army of Sun Liangcheng's troops, who have been stationed in Kaifeng, advanced into Lanfeng. At the same time, the puppet troops of Zhang Lanfeng's troops advanced to Lanfeng.
They are gathering from counties in eastern Henan and northern Anhui towards Shangqiu, and the Japanese army's intention is very obvious, which is to suppress the development of our base area in southwestern Shandong!"
"Which one of the two puppet armies, Sun Liangcheng and Zhang Lanfeng, is stronger?" Zhou Weihan asked.
"Sun Liangcheng's puppet army has only been established for less than a year. Although the weapons and equipment are not bad, the personnel are mixed and may not be as good as the guerrilla column he controlled at the beginning. The combat effectiveness of Zhang Lanfeng's puppet army is not weak, but its leader Zhang Lanfeng was defeated in Lingchuan
, I am afraid that the puppet troops under him will be divided into pieces and each will fight for power!" Luo Benzhong replied.
"Both of them served the Japanese army before, but one was in Kaifeng and the other was mainly in Shangqiu. In the future, they will both develop in southwest Shandong. If the two tigers fight, it will be a favorable situation for us. At present, Zhang Lanfeng's tribe is leaderless, and this Sun Liangcheng
I definitely won’t let such an excellent opportunity to expand my strength slip away!” Zhou Weihan said.
[To be honest, I have been using Yeguoyuedu to read and catch up on books recently. I can switch sources and read aloud with many sounds. Yeguoyuedu is available for Android and Apple.]
"Then send someone to do some activities?" Luo Benzhong's eyes flickered.
"Sun Liangcheng has the style of a warlord. He knows how to have military power and is strong-willed. He will not sincerely serve the little devil!" Zhou Weihan nodded: "Well, I will write a personal letter to Sun Liangcheng!"
As for the content of the autograph letter, Zhou Weihan would certainly not express it openly. Luo Benzhong knew it well and did not ask any more questions.
"Then who should we send?"
"Let Dong Jiang go. He has a good relationship with Sun Liangcheng, and Sun Liangcheng will not embarrass him!"
The two of them talked to each other, and I discussed the strategy to deal with the two puppet armies. Regarding the tricks, Li Yunlong and others on the side could not talk to each other.
Then Zhou Weihan divided the personnel for the recent work. Xin Tiebing, as the chief of staff, was in charge of the training of the new regiment, the independent regiment and the local armed forces. Luo Benzhong, as the political commissar, led the staff of the Political Department to do a good job in the ideological and logistical work of the personnel.
"what about me?"
"You!" Zhou Weihan tapped his fingers on the table and said jokingly: "The two cavalry regiments are training together. You can go to the cavalry regiment to do some work. Remember, the cavalry regiment must be able to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. If reinforcements arrive,
, your newly formed cavalry regiment may only be able to do some odd jobs!"
"Shit, before the end of the month, the cavalry regiment will be on the battlefield!" Li Yunlong said, patting his chest.
