The most critical reason why Yang Zhen hopes to capture Chabei and Suiyuan is also the ultimate goal. It is not only to get through and establish a relatively solid connection with the pass, but also has another factor, which is Baotou, the important town of Suiyuan, and his The north is currently called Baiyun Obo in Maoming'an Banner.
Baotou and the Bayan Obo region to the north have the largest rare earth mineral deposits in later generations. In later generations, it was not only a large modern steel base in China, but also the largest source of rare earth mines and rare non-ferrous metals, as well as the largest main raw material for special steel in China. production base.
In just Baotou, apart from oil and gold, the remaining mineral products are far richer in terms of types and reserves than in North Manchuria, where the current base is mainly located. In particular, the reserves of urgently needed special metals and the ease of mining are far from what they are now. Northern Manchuria can be compared.
Even for coal, which has the largest reserves in Northern Manchuria, the reserves in the entire Baotou area are not much smaller than those of any of the three most important coal producing areas in Northern Manchuria: Hegang, Jixi, and Qitaihe, and the Baotou area has even more coal reserves in Northern Manchuria. Rare earths are the most important mineral resources that are not available in the region.
If oil is the blood of modern industry, then rare earths are the vitamins of modern industry. Modern industry, especially the special alloys and electronic industry components that the military industry relies heavily on, cannot get rid of its dependence on the rare metal elements contained in rare earths.
In later generations, due to the lack of nickel and chromium for manufacturing guns and armor steel, China used rare earths from the Baotou area to develop rare earth steel to replace nickel-chromium alloy steel. Although its performance is mainly in terms of rust resistance and wear resistance, it is different from authentic nickel-chromium alloy steel. There are some differences between steel, but the cost is far from comparable to that of nickel-chromium alloy steel, and these rare earth products play a decisive role in the electronics industry.
At present, some of the rare metals required by the Anti-Japanese Alliance to produce electronic equipment and the special steel used in making guns are basically imported from the Soviet Union or re-exported through the Soviet Union. However, these special metals and special steel are extremely expensive and have become a base in the The heaviest financial burden.
The nickel-chromium alloy steel sold by the Soviet Union to the Anti-Japanese Alliance was at least about 20% higher than the international price per ton, and even at the highest, it was more than 50%. The steel for artillery shells and bombs was about 20% higher than the international price per ton. It was 11% higher, and after the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the Anti-Japanese Alliance's import channel through the Soviet Union was actually cut off.
From the outbreak of the Soviet-German war to last month, the total import volume in three months was less than 1,000 tons, plummeting to less than one-fifth of the original volume. By the middle of this month, exports were simply suspended, and the Soviet Union The Anti-Japanese Alliance was also notified that because the Soviet Union had entered a period of total war, all material export agreements that had been signed could no longer be completed. In other words, the Anti-Japanese Alliance's import of materials from the Soviet Union had been completely terminated this month.
Now, before the Americans step in and provide large-scale assistance, the Anti-Japanese Alliance can only use some of the materials it has stockpiled, because in the first half of the year, the large-scale production of anti-aircraft weapons urgently needed by the troops and the production of machine guns for the troops have made the original The inventory of Soviet-made nickel-chromium alloy steel has been basically exhausted, and as for the precious metals necessary for the production of radio stations, there is not much left.
Although we took advantage of the opportunity of trading with the Americans to import a large amount of alloy steel and precious metals used in manufacturing weapons, considering the changes in the future situation, all the inventory cannot be consumed at once, so the current production quantity of Anti-Union equipment is It has been reduced to an extremely low number.
Before the launch of this campaign, the various military factories of the Anti-Japanese Alliance in northern Manchuria had actually stopped producing any firearms and weapons except for 60 mortars and recoilless rifles, and had focused their main production capacity on The replenishment of various ammunition, especially the production of various artillery shells and aerial bombs.
The 57mm anti-aircraft gun originally planned for mass production has been discontinued due to lack of steel after 500 were produced. The production speed of the 23mm twin-mounted anti-aircraft gun and the 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun has The monthly output basically remains in the tens of digits.
Although the current equipment establishment of the main force has been fully equipped with equipment produced from previously imported steel and some inventories have been established, once there is a need to expand the army, there will still be serious shortages of anti-aircraft weapons and artillery weapons. , the shortage of special steel and some necessary rare metals has become the biggest constraint restricting the construction of the Anti-League's own equipment industry.
In order to solve a bottleneck in the development of military industry now and in the future, taking over Baotou in the Suibei region, which was later known as the world's largest rare earth producing area, has become an inevitable choice for the next industrial development of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Of course, taking over now does not mean that It will be developed now.
Now that the Americans are about to join the war, although they are not yet representative of the Chinese government in the eyes of many people, the anti-Japanese base area in North Manchuria is at most one of the many local governments in China, and although the anti-union armed forces have become regular troops recognized by the National Government, Under normal circumstances, no one would deal with just a few of the many armies belonging to a given government.
However, based on the reality of Americans and their willingness to deal with the devil for the sake of profit, the Anti-Japanese Alliance, which is the most important part of the current war against Japan, will definitely get a share of the US foreign aid bill, because they Now, it has become an important part of the war against Japan.
As long as it is beneficial to them, Americans don't care which country's government you belong to, whether you represent a political party or a government. Although the amount of U.S. aid will not exceed that of the United States to Britain and the Soviet Union, it is better than nothing. It is much stronger. With the supplies and raw materials provided by the United States, it can be used as a temporary emergency, so there is no need to rush to develop it.
However, it is necessary to lay a solid industrial foundation first and establish a special metal smelting and production industrial base, because Yang Zhen knows very well that the Americans’ assistance will not be too generous. If he gains the upper hand, his assistance may be terminated at any time.
In fact, Yang Zhen's premonition was correct. Only half a month after the Pearl Harbor incident, the Americans publicly announced that the Anti-Japanese League would be included in the Lend-Lease Act, and the aid provided to the Anti-Japanese League would not be calculated separately from the National Government. The Anti-Union Office in the United States, which used to be somewhat secretive, made its public appearance directly.
However, three months later, the first batch of U.S. aid supplies had arrived via the Soviet Union. Although it was only more than 150,000 American-stocked replica British Tony-style helmets produced during World War I, as well as some truck accessories, As well as rubber and gasoline, but its speed is far faster than the aid to the National Government.
During the entire war, the amount and intensity of assistance to the Anti-Alliance far exceeded that of the National Government. After the U.S. military ended the Battle of Okinawa, the intensity of assistance from the Americans dropped significantly, and their weapons, equipment, and machinery were basically exhausted. Aid was stopped, even raw materials were stopped.
In the final stage of the war, the aid items were mainly military uniform fabrics, vehicle accessories, and some non-military materials, especially cement and other materials urgently needed for post-war reconstruction. For example, after the Battle of Okinawa, the United States originally planned The 400 M-4 medium tanks given to the Anti-Japanese Alliance were replaced by 100 bulldozers and 200 tractors.
But for Yang Zhen, regardless of whether there is US assistance or not, it is still necessary to prepare for a rainy day. Taking advantage of the special circumstances during the war to establish his own special steel smelting and rare metal refining industries is still crucial to the Anti-Japanese Alliance, including the future development of China as a whole. .
This is not only related to the immediate future, but also related to the long-term development of China's industry. Yang Zhen knew that after passing this village, there would be no such store. When the war is over, if he wants to build a complete national defense industry system, what cost will it cost? I don’t know how many times I have to pay, so Baotou must be taken down, and the sooner the better.
However, in order to realize Yang Zhen's idea, at least the Japanese troops stationed in Mongolia must be completely defeated and lose their ability to counterattack in the Chabei and Suiyuan areas. Otherwise, even if the Baotou and Chabei front lines are captured, if the Japanese and puppet troops fight back with all their strength If so, it is still difficult to hold a position, because neither the Anti-Japanese Alliance nor the internal troops can maintain a large number of troops in the Suiyuan and Chahar areas for a long time.
It's just that many people seem to think that it is almost impossible to annihilate or defeat the Mongolian garrison army, which is equivalent to a military organization of the Japanese army. However, in Yang Zhen's view, as long as the troops inside the customs and the troops leaving the customs cooperate well, But it is not impossible to succeed.
The first is that after the troops arrive in the Suiyuan area to fight, they can get strong support from the Jinsui Military Region. The main force of the Jinsui Military Region was developed from the main force of the 120th Division. The main force is still the old foundation of the Red Second Front Army, both in terms of fighting will Or his ideological quality is absolutely excellent.
At the same time, under the leadership of Yang Zhen, a considerable number of troops in the Jinsui Military Region have completed the re-equipment and their combat effectiveness has been greatly improved. Although most of the main forces in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region have been integrated into the advancing army, they are still in the Beiyue Mountain area. There are still considerable forces left, which can provide support to the troops after the campaign is launched.
Moreover, although the main forces of the Jinsui Military Region are in northwest Shanxi, there is also a sizable guerrilla detachment in the Daqingshan area of Suibei. Although this guerrilla detachment is somewhat inferior in equipment, it is not only familiar with the terrain of the entire Suibei area , and can contain the larger strength of the Japanese and puppet troops.
The most critical thing is that the main force of the puppet Mongolian army that can cooperate with the Japanese army has been defeated by Yang Jicai in the battle of Keshiketeng Banner. Except for some of the troops in the Suixi area, the entire puppet Mongolian army has no troops to deploy. Without the cooperation of the puppet army, the strength of the Japanese garrison in Mongolia alone was simply not enough.
Second, although the Japanese garrison in Mongolia has a reorganized division stationed in Datong, a considerable part of its energy has to be absorbed by the troops of the Eighth Theater of the National Army in Suixi, and it cannot fully deal with the advancing army attacking from the east. Joint attack with the Anti-League.
At this time, the chairman of Suiyuan Province and the deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Theater of the National Government who was stationed in Suixi was not a straw bag who only focused on making money. His combat command capabilities were definitely first-rate. Looking at the country, It cannot be said that there are no troops who are more capable than him in all aspects, but they can be said to be like Mao Linfengjiao.
The main force under his command, although the Jin-made equipment of Yishui is inferior to that of the Central Army and lacks heavy firepower, its combat effectiveness is definitely one of the best in the country, and its style is extremely tenacious. The most important thing is that this deputy commander The commander was not only brave and good at fighting, but also had an extremely resolute will to resist the Japanese. He had severely damaged the troops stationed in Mongolia on many occasions.
Compared with the poorly equipped Eighteenth Army, this man has always been the number one enemy of the Mongolian garrison. As long as he is still in Suixi, the Mongolian garrison will deploy a considerable part of its troops to defend his troops. The next step in the battle will undoubtedly be quite beneficial.