After hesitating for a moment, Yang Zhen gritted his teeth and said: "Chairman, boss, the Baotou area is rich in coal, steel, and rare metal resources. I must win there, even if I have to fight with the people of Suixi and Houtao areas in order to achieve this strategic goal. If there is a conflict between the government and the army, I will not hesitate to do so.
"Chairman, whether we can win Baotou is related to our future industrial layout. If we don't win, our industrial layout will always be lame. Therefore, when we make plans, we are very targeted. It is definitely not just a military need, but also a strategic need for industrial development."
"According to my plan, the second steel plant to be built with American assistance is located in Baotou. The existing iron ore resources that have been surveyed in the area under our control to the north are simply not able to satisfy the two needs of the leaders." The raw materials needed to run a million-ton steel plant at the same time.”
"The steel plant we are building now has a capacity of 500,000 tons, and as the steelmaking equipment such as electric furnaces and converters provided by Americans every month are gradually put in place, the production capacity of this steel plant that will be put into trial operation next year will increase every year. It will gradually expand, and the final production capacity will reach two million tons or even more in two years."
"Most of the iron ore in northern Manchuria are poor ores with relatively low iron content, and most of them are located in deep mountains, which is very difficult to mine. The best iron ore resources in the northeast are all in Benxi, Anshan and Liaoyang in southern Manchuria. The iron ore resources are incomparable with those in southern Manchuria, and both the output and the taste of the minerals are very different."
"Unless we take over Southern Manchuria within one to two years, at least half of the industrial equipment we have tried our best to acquire, and even the steel plants we built at any cost, will be due to insufficient raw materials after they are completed. It ended up being idle, and from now on, it is almost impossible to capture Southern Manchuria in a short period of time, and it is not conducive to our strategic development."
"Furthermore, locating this steel plant in Baotou will also help provide necessary military raw materials to Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia and Shanxi-Sui nearby, because a large part of the military equipment aided by the United States and Britain has its final destination in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. , we plan to use northern Shaanxi, the most stable base of the entire army, as the military manufacturing base within the pass."
"Although northern Shaanxi lacks water and is not suitable as a major industrial base, it can manufacture some basic infantry weapons such as guns, grenades and artillery shells here, as well as serve as a maintenance base for heavy weapons. We think it is still possible to take Baotou and build our The steel output of the second steel industrial base will mainly be supplied to the battlefield inside the pass."
"Also, we don't want to and cannot put all our eggs in one basket. Once the Japanese army completes its operations in Southeast Asia, it will free up its hands and concentrate a large number of aviation forces to carry out air strikes on our rear. This will put too much pressure on our air defense. If it is too big, if you are slightly negligent, the damage caused will be too great."
Yang Zhen spoke in detail. As he spoke, he continued to use various triangles, goniometers and other equipment to do the work on the map. When his voice fell, according to his thinking, a complete combat map also followed the markings. After that, the attack departure points, attack routes, supply routes, and even the selection points that can be used as field airports for each service branch are clearly marked on the map.
When the chairman and the bosses walked to the map and looked at the extremely standard map work marked by Yang Zhen, they were once again amazed at this guy's rich military background, especially since he had served as the director of the political department of Whampoa Military Academy, and this was the first time they had seen it.
Vice Chairman Yang Zhen, who had the most basic skills, was even more amazed and at the same time fell into thinking.
After a long silence, the chairman turned his head and looked at Yang Zhen and said: "If you follow your idea, then when do you think the time to launch the battle is appropriate? You have just ended a war and are in urgent need of recuperation. It will take at least three to five months.
Guilt is unfit for action."
"But don't forget, we have just signed a strategic coordination plan with the British. Once the Japanese army launches an attack on Southeast Asia, you will take action at the same time. We still have to implement the assistance signed in black and white. This can be regarded as people under the roof.
I have to bow my head."
At the Chairman's rhetorical question, Yang Zhen smiled and said: "Chairman, the agreement has been signed, but there is still a buffer period of two to three months. Although the Japanese army has mobilized a large number of troops in Thailand, Vietnam, Hainan Island and Taiwan,
But these troops also need training to adapt to combat in tropical areas."
"Given the character of the Japanese, they would not start a war like this that gambles on national power without being sure of victory in one blow. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Russo-Japanese War, and the War of Aggression against China, including those that are about to begin now,
In the war in Southeast Asia, they focused on not taking action easily, but once they took action, they would definitely kill with one strike. They never followed the rules of war, and it was their habit to fight without declaring it."
"The most important thing is that the Japanese will not officially launch an offensive into Southeast Asia until they have solved the powerful U.S. Pacific Fleet. They cannot seize the oil-rich Dutch East Indies without destroying the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
for this purpose.”
"Based on the intelligence currently coming from the Japanese base camp, as well as our deciphering and monitoring of Japanese radio movements, we can basically determine that the Japanese offensive will be fully launched in early December, and the Japanese operation will be carried by aircraft carriers.
Naval aviation began with the surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor."
"After completing the destruction of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army will use Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan as bases to launch attacks on the Philippines and Malaya. Judging from the military strength they currently concentrate in Southeast Asia, they may
Take a rest after capturing Burma, or directly continue to attack India."
"But considering the problem of the supply line, I feel that they should still take a period of rest, and they also need a certain amount of time to digest the food they swallowed. Although the real purpose is to snatch the food from the hands of the United States and Britain and swallow it themselves
But at least on the surface, things like organizing some puppet regime still need to be done. It will take them a certain amount of time to get from Malaya to Burma."
"We ourselves also need a certain amount of time to train the troops and adjust their equipment and organization. At the same time, we also need to secretly deliver ammunition, fuel, food, medicine and other supplies to selected storage points. We have also arranged field hospitals in various military regions.
Starting in January, we started to drive towards Linxi and Rexi in the name of free clinics to set up a secret field hospital."
"There is also a need to reserve ammunition, especially artillery shells of various calibers. The most important thing is that the newly formed troops need time to train and form combat effectiveness. They need to conduct at least one or two synthetic exercises. This requires a lot of time, so according to our estimation, next March is the best time for us to launch an attack."
"Moreover, Chairman, the agreement has indeed been signed, but if it is not implemented completely in accordance with the agreement, it is another matter. Chairman, it is not completely impossible to occasionally let the other side off the dove and delay it for a period of time. The United States The assistance from the British is destined to not be 100% fulfilled, so there is no need for us to be too serious."
"I will choose the best time to launch it, of course before the Japanese end their war in Southeast Asia, but I will not launch an offensive hastily before the troops have completed the required training. In that case, not only will we not be able to slow down the so-called British The pressure is very likely to involve ourselves.”
Yang Zhen's answer made several central leaders present, including the vice chairman who had been silent and the political commissar of the advancing army who participated in the entire negotiation, all look at Yang Zhen speechlessly. What does this guy think this agreement is? He is a child. Are you playing house? This is an agreement signed with the two major powers, to put it bluntly, with the two major financial sponsors. You dare to play tricks on this.
Although the Chairman has always emphasized self-reliance and hard work, this great man, who has come from a lack of guns and ammunition, longs for a well-equipped army in his heart more than anyone else. The assistance from the United States and Britain this time is actually very important to the Chairman. , I was really scared of being poor. The experience of tens of thousands of soldiers not even having food to eat, and having no bullets in the barrels of their guns was really scary.
The Chairman, who has a long-term vision and a strong sense of national self-esteem, hopes more than anyone else that China can complete industrialization as soon as possible and establish its own defense industry. He should not be forced to crawl into ravines and deep into mountains and old forests to survive when others kill them all at every turn. As the leader of a political party, the chairman desires more than anyone else.
There are also bosses and vice-chairmen. All leaders who have gone through the most difficult times have not longed to build their own strong defense industry from the bottom of their hearts. Therefore, everyone, including the chairman who has always firmly supported Yang Zhen, I really don't understand what he said.
The vice chairman pointed at Yang Zhen and shook his head: "Comrade Yang Zhen, this is a formally signed agreement. The political commissar represents the Central Committee, and you represent the Northeast Bureau and the Anti-Japanese Alliance. This means that this is an agreement that has officially entered into force." , No matter what the purpose of the United States and Britain is, for us, we should implement the agreement within the scope of our capabilities."
Listening to the Vice Chairman's Huai'an accent, which was very comfortable to listen to, Yang Zhen smiled and said: "Vice Chairman, it's not that we will not fulfill the agreement at all. I am just delaying it for some time depending on the situation. , I know very well that the basis for what we get is the strategic coordination relationship we have reached with them. Once the United States and Britain think it is not necessary to maintain this relationship, we will gain nothing."
"But no matter how important the aid from the United States and Britain is, it still requires us to cooperate with them strategically. Therefore, several heads of state, if we are dragging our feet in some aspects, we don't have to worry that they will really cut off our aid. As long as the Japanese offensive is in One day, they won't really part ways with us, and of course there will be some protests."
"What's more, I have other solutions. We have some Soviet-made Il-4 bombers in our hands. The combat range can take off from the base area and reach the Japanese mainland. Once Japan launches an offensive against the United States and Britain, in order to show support for its allies, We will dispatch a group of bombers to carry out several air strikes on the Japanese mainland."
"Also, there are prerequisites for us to launch a coordinated offensive, that is, all the aid equipment promised by the British must be in place. However, judging from the current war situation, it is difficult for the US and British aid to arrive within two months of the outbreak of the war. , at least the British, they do not move so fast, and the situation on the North African battlefield will affect the speed at which they provide equipment."
"Of course, our offensive will be launched when the Southeast Asian campaign is underway, because we don't want to face the pressure of the Japanese alone. Although we know that the British cannot defend Southeast Asia, there is one person who can disperse the Japanese forces and contain them. Housing part of the Japanese army’s reserve team is also a good choice for us.”