Chapter 889 The Ancient Capital of the Eight Dynasties
"The Longhai Line runs from east to west, through Shangqiu, Minquan, Lanfeng, and Kaifeng. Judging from the current situation, our army can cut off the enemy's connections at any time and turn the trapped enemy troops into isolated armies!"
"However, the 35th Division still has troops stationed in parts of the Pinghan-Han Line and along the Dao-Qing Railway, so the connection between them must be cut off. Yangwu, north of Kaifeng, is the focus!"
Although Zhou Weihan is now commanding the troops to press hard, the Japanese and puppet troops of the 35th Division still have room for survival and are not really on the verge of despair.
Yangwu is a little-known little place, but when Zhengzhou was occupied by the National Army, its geographical location became more and more prominent. As a hub connecting Xinxiang and Kaifeng, the Japanese army would definitely let the Japanese army know if traces of the Eighth Route Army appeared.
A dog jumps over the wall in a hurry.
Jumping over the wall will naturally accelerate the start of the war. However, the main force to attack the Japanese and puppet troops of the 35th Division is only Zhou Weihan's initial purpose. The ultimate goal is to mobilize more Japanese troops by compressing the living space of the 35th Division, so it cannot be directly
The Thirty-Fifth Division was beaten to death with one stick.
"Kaifeng is the ancient capital of eight dynasties, but from the perspective of geography and the current situation, Kaifeng is not suitable!" After Zhou Weihan finished speaking, everyone felt a little confused after hearing this.
As mentioned earlier, everyone knows this well, so why is Kaifeng so important?
The importance of Kaifeng is self-evident. When it comes to Heze, the capital of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan base area, people in other parts of the country may not know it, but Kaifeng is definitely a household name.
If Kaifeng can be recaptured, it will not only greatly increase the Eighth Route Army's domestic and international reputation, thereby obtaining military assistance from the Americans as soon as possible, but also greatly boost the morale of the military and civilians across the country.
"Is it possible to leave it to the little devil?" Jing Dagang asked.
Zhou Weihan did not immediately explain. After all, this involved a conflict of interests between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Instead, he mentioned Zhengzhou.
"Speaking of it, Zhengzhou is the transportation hub of the Pinghan-Hankou Railway and the Longhai Railway. Zhengzhou has repeatedly changed hands between the National Army and the Japanese Army. The National Army has been able to hold on in the Changjin area and western Henan. The fundamental reason is that Zhengzhou is still in the hands of the National Army.
, preventing the Japanese army from advancing along the railway line, and Zhengzhou’s ability to hold on to this day is due to the obstruction of the New Yellow River!”
"Once Zhengzhou is occupied by the Japanese army, it will move south along the Pinghan-Han Line or westward through the Longhai Line. This battle of our army can greatly weaken the effective strength of the 35th Division, but it must not be completely annihilated!"
"Whenever our army recaptures Kaifeng, the national army and our army will be in close combat again, and the slightly eased relationship will take a turn for the worse. I'm afraid Chiang Kai-shek will be unable to sleep at night, so..."
Zhou Weihan did not finish the second half of his sentence, but everyone understood the meaning. The war was not only about military victory, but also about its political impact.
In addition to making military arrangements, this meeting is more important to unify our thinking. Once a fight breaks out, we may not have time to communicate, so we don't know how to deal with it.
1943 was a crucial year for the Eighth Route Army. All frontline base areas were undergoing internal integration and preparing for counterattack. All commanders and fighters were looking forward to a big fight with the Japs.
In order to cope with the upcoming large-scale battle, through the coordination of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, the Shandong Military Region formed a southbound detachment to advance from Teng County to Linguan, near Xuzhou.
The Third Division of the New Fourth Army in Northern Jiangsu and the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army in Huaibei each sent two regiments to form a westward detachment to advance into Xiaoxian and Suxian areas, echoing the northern Anhui base area.
Time flies to early July, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, and the situation does not develop as expected for some reason. The Japanese army has not made any movement.
According to intelligence, the Japanese troops of the Second Guards Division stayed in Haizhou Bay for seven days, but did not make any move to land. However, a few soldiers came ashore to purchase and consume.
This move of the Japanese army confused the Eighth Route Army. Zhou Weihan even suspected that the Japanese army was trying to create suspicion. On the surface, it did not take any action, but secretly it was carrying out big operations in secret.
"Inform the front-line troops to increase the intensity of the 35th Division. The key groups of the local military divisions should take this opportunity to increase their actual combat experience. If the Japanese army does not come, they will continue to practice like this!"
Zhou Weihan has only one strategy, which is to boil the frog in warm water, slowly consuming you, and scaring you so much that you won't be able to sleep well at night.
"Comrade **, the situation of the Japanese army is not right no matter how you look at it. The Japanese and puppet troops in eastern Henan were so beaten some time ago that they even took the initiative to fight with our army. However, they have suddenly become sluggish in the past few days!"
"Judging from the time, it happens to be the date when the Guards Division arrived in Haizhou. This series of reactions must be closely related!" Zhao Bingzhang just rushed back from eastern Henan and reported on the situation in eastern Henan as soon as he came back.
Zhou Weihan put out the cigarette in his hand. During this period, he had already smoked two packs a day. He was obviously under a lot of pressure: "We can afford it, but the Japanese army certainly can't afford it. It's just a Guards Division, let alone one."
In the whole of North China, even in Hebei, Shandong and Henan, it is a drop in the bucket, and the top brass of the Japanese army will not fail to understand this truth!"
"To rashly dispatch the Guards Division is to risk death. The headquarters judges that the Japanese army is still mobilizing troops from other places, one in Southeast Asia and the other in the Northeast!"
"It is reasonable to say that Southeast Asia will only increase troops, but the Guards Division returned from Southeast Asia. Alas, what is going on here, I can't figure out for the moment!"
Zhou Weihan said he couldn't figure it out, but he actually had some speculation in his heart that the first batch of military aid promised by the Americans in early June would be shipped from India to Myanmar, but something went wrong later.
According to the Americans, military commanders stationed in Myanmar reported that the expeditionary force had private contacts with the Japanese, and then Chiang Kai-shek sent an investigation team to investigate the matter.
Although no specific results were found in the end, the military assistance promised by the Americans was delayed. After the storm subsided, the matter was put on the agenda again.
It happened that the Guards Division blocked the gate of Haizhou at this time. Terauchi Isamu did not know whether the Guards Division was coming for his group, so he could only stop the transportation of merchant ships.
Therefore, Zhou Weihan suspected that there was an internal problem within Isamu Terauchi's group. The military assistance was known to senior Japanese officials, and was then revealed to the Nationalist Government. The two sides had such a stumbling block, which ultimately led to weapons and equipment being afraid to leave the sea from Myanmar.
The best way to describe Zhou Weihan's current situation is as a rat-throwing weapon. We must make a clear distinction between the Japanese army. Since we are attacking the Japanese army like the Thirty-fifth Division, we must also win over Japanese generals like this in the temple, and even include the Second Division stationed in Xuzhou.
Only by maintaining good cooperation with these Japanese troops can the 11th Division ensure that weapons and equipment are transported to the Hebei, Shandong and Henan base areas.
