After the words fell, Yang Zhen smiled bitterly in his heart. He could tell that next year, that is, from the summer of 1942 to the spring of 1943, there would be an unusually large drought, plus the locust plague in 2003.
, will two consecutive natural disasters sweep across North China?
In this drought, which has actually started to show signs of this year, coupled with the locust plague that is coming one after another. As the hardest-hit province, Henan, the most conservative estimate is that in these two consecutive years, the drought will continue.
Among natural disasters, the most basic number of abnormal deaths reaches more than three million.
In addition, deaths caused by falling from a car while escaping, deaths caused by various diseases, and various other abnormal deaths. Henan Province has a population of more than 20 million, and nearly 5 million died in this natural disaster. There are also
Millions of people are wandering to other provinces. These people are good laborers. Not to mention growing crops without any problems, there is also no problem in selecting young people among them to work in factories after being trained.
Even if the Nationalist Government has been conscripting troops for years, half of these people are middle-aged and above. But being incorporated into the Production and Construction Corps is enough to expand the current reclamation area and grain production of the Sanjiang Plain several times. On the one hand, there are fewer people in Northern Manchu and more land.
The development of the base area is in urgent need of population replenishment. On the one hand, a large number of people in North China are starving to death due to drought. Isn't this a big joke?
In order to destroy the Chinese people's determination to resist, this group of ordinary people created chaos within China and blocked the eastern Henan area, which was the least affected, from entering. The base areas behind enemy lines were either barren and the people were poor, or they were in a state of survival.
He was also threatened, and he couldn't even feed himself and couldn't afford to feed himself.
Think about it, one person couldn't get enough of black bean paste, wheat bran, crushed corn cobs mixed with wild vegetables, and young leaves as staple food. It was still dry and thin for just one day. Now ten more people suddenly showed up.
The only result is that everyone will starve to death. If you suffer this result, how can you feed so many millions of refugees?
Transferring these people to the Northeast can be said to be a win-win move. It not only provides the Northeast with much-needed manpower, but also prevents a large number of victims from starving to death. Although it is difficult to transfer so many people from the Kuomintang-controlled areas, and the mainlanders are not interested in breaking into Guandong.
There is always a sense of fear. But as long as there is convenient transportation, there is still a way.
But if we want to move such a large number of people, is it possible without a stable transportation line? Is it possible to move like troops crossing the Japanese and puppet blockades when moving base areas behind enemy lines? That's millions of people, not tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands.
Not to mention moving under the heavy blockade of the Japanese and puppet troops, even moving by train requires a lot of time and energy to organize.
Once they are attacked by the Japanese and puppet troops during the transfer, the consequences will be disastrous for these victims who have no military training and are old, weak, women and children. Therefore, in Yang Zhen's opinion, either we should not open up, or if we want to open up, we should build
A solid transportation line will ensure that these millions of victims can enter the Northeast smoothly. It will also facilitate the transportation of some food to some areas and distribute it to the victims, ensuring that these victims have the physical strength to walk to northwest Shanxi.
Compared with the Kuomintang-controlled areas, although the situation in the enemy-occupied areas and base areas behind enemy lines is better, the number of abnormal deaths is also a very large number. Even the basic people in some old base areas can only go out to beg for food. The food they beg for will be given to
The sick and wounded in the army ate it.
Frequent natural disasters, coupled with frequent raids by the Japanese and puppet troops, have put various base areas in North China into a difficult situation. Although he has been a man for two generations, Yang Zhen still remembers those veteran cadres who came to give reports to his troops.
, I once said that at that time, many troops were not defeated by the Japanese and puppet troops who swept away the troops, but they were starved to death.
There are even cases where ordinary people will starve to death by feeding the sick and wounded in their own homes with the food they beg for. Troops are starving in droves due to severe malnutrition. Even senior cadres are starving and suffering from malnutrition.
phenomenon. And when the troops themselves are not enough to eat enough food, the combat troops are required to save one tael per person per day, and the government agencies are required to save two taels of food per day to support the people.
When Yang Zhen later joined the army, there were not many people who had experienced that cruel war. But decades later, these old people still remember it vividly, which shows the seriousness of the situation at that time. It was not only the cause of this situation.
It is the loss of the Central Hebei Plain area. The entire Taihang District and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei District have lost nearly more than half of their food sources.
But what was even more serious was the rare drought that swept the entire North China region in 1942. From 1942 to 2003, the entire North China region, whether it was Henan, the Kuomintang-controlled areas of Shaanxi, or the Taihang Mountains and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei,
The base areas behind enemy lines in southern Hebei and the enemy-occupied areas occupied by the Japanese army were all in a state of mourning.
It's just that the occupied areas are generally the richest areas in their respective regions, as well as the main grain producing areas in various places. Compared with the current situation, they have retreated to mountainous areas, and grain output is generally relatively low. And the originally low grain output, due to frequent raids by the Japanese army, has
Base areas and Kuomintang-controlled areas that suffered heavy losses are better off.
In fact, the Anti-Japanese Alliance will not only transfer equipment to the pass, but also the food needed to maintain various base areas. Especially after the loss of the Jizhong Plain, the two major base areas of Taihang and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei have almost lost most of their food sources. Otherwise,
Can the mountainous areas with barren land and poor people support so many troops and institutions alone?
Both veterans emphasized that if Chanan is chosen as the main combat target, a considerable part of the food problem can be solved on the spot. This will prevent the supply line from being too long and giving the Japanese and puppet troops an opportunity to take advantage of. But according to the current situation, choosing
Cha'nan, as a breakthrough point, would be pretty good if it did not mobilize food from the Anti-Japanese Alliance to supplement the troops in the nearby Beiyue District.
Even if Chanan and the neighboring Beiyue District can provide some food, black beans are something that even livestock don’t like to eat. Can people eat them for a long time? Even if they can barely fill their stomachs, are they nutritious? Let alone rice.
, white flour, millet and other fine grains are horribly low in nutrients compared to corn and sorghum.
Are there enough millets and yams? If your own troops don’t have enough to eat, how can you still have enough energy to provide it to the rest of the troops? A soldier whose company is severely malnourished because he doesn’t have enough to eat, and is so weak that he can’t even climb a mountain. Far worse.
A well-fed and well-nourished unit has combat effectiveness.
Although the situation of the Guannai troops was better during the most difficult period than that of the Northeast Anti-Japanese War, no matter what kind of black beans or wheat bran they were, they still had some food to eat. The sick and wounded, with approval, could also drink some corn and soybean grinding.
It becomes a mushy porridge. Especially for the sick and injured, some nutritional supplements such as eggs can be eaten.
In addition, the winter in North China is very different from the winter in Northeast China. However, being in this state of hunger for a long time is undoubtedly very detrimental to the development of the army. One of them was so hungry that he even climbed mountains because he could not even eat black beans.
How much fighting power do you expect from an immobile warrior?
The reason why Yang Zhen insisted on choosing Chabei as a breakthrough point and seizing the Suiyuan area. In addition to the mineral resources in the Guisui and Baotou areas, which he was bound to obtain, was because he wanted to rely on the northwest Shanxi base area to be close to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei and Taihang areas.
The situation was to completely eliminate Jinsui, stabilize Luliang, and establish a stable communication line.
In addition to replenishing equipment for the troops inside the customs, relying on the industrial base being built in North Manchuria, changing the weapons of the troops inside the customs, which are seriously short of ammunition. As well as using the rich human resources in the customs to feed back the base areas in North Manchuria, there is also preparation for next year's severe drought.
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The two veterans may not have realized the harm that the loss of the central Hebei Plain will bring to the entire Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area. They also did not anticipate the huge drought that has shown a trend this year but will really start next year.
Only when I arrived did I think that the Beiyue Mountains and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region still had enough energy to provide some supplies for the westward marching troops.
It's just that quite a few of these reasons cannot be said. How can he say it? Like the ancients, he semi-mythized himself and could predict the weather next year? I guess if he said it, others would not regard him as a madman. It would be strange.
What a joke, everyone is atheist. If you are not criticized as mentally abnormal, then others are abnormal.
At this time, he could only use the lack of food production in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei mountainous base areas after the loss of the Jizhong Plain, as well as the mineral resources in the Guisui and Baotou areas as an excuse to stick to his own ideas. Here Yang Zhen could not explain his reasons
The explanation was too clear, and facing the stubborn Yang Zhen, the two coaches also had a headache.
For them, the main reason why they oppose the westward march to Suiyuan is not only that the supply line is too long, which can easily give the Japanese army an opportunity to take advantage of it. Moreover, Suiyuan is the territory of the Eighth War Zone, and there are also troops from the Eighth War Zone.
.In the current delicate period of the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the westward march to Suiyuan is bound to conflict with the troops of the Eighth Theater. This is something no one wants to see. This label of undermining the united front is too big.
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However, for Yang Zhen, he did not intend to use the advancing army as the main force in the process of marching westward. In his opinion, the advancing army would not be able to undertake such a combat mission without undergoing a period of training. In this westward march,
We still need to focus on resistance.
Now that he has said this, Yang Zhen did not hide anything and directly stated all his thoughts: "Two old chiefs, my determination is to use Chabei as a breakthrough and march westward to the Suiyuan area. I
We still insist that the Chanan area is not suitable as a breakthrough point."
"According to the plan we made before the war, the troops invested this time are two armored brigades and an independent tank regiment, two cavalry brigades, five infantry divisions, four rocket artillery regiments and five battalions, three directly under the
The 50th Heavy Artillery Regiment, two anti-aircraft artillery regiments, seven battalions, and thirteen companies."
"One brigade each of fighter jets and light bombers, three squadrons of medium bombers, and two squadrons of transport aircraft. In addition, in order to cooperate with this operation, our army will deploy 1,200 trucks from three directly affiliated automobile regiments, as well as some internal security forces.
Depending on the situation, we will increase investment in some troops and technical equipment as appropriate."
"This battle will focus on 80% of the anti-alliance tanks, 50% of the cavalry, 30% of the combat aircraft, and 40% of the heavy artillery and direct artillery. In other words, in
After the Western Manchurian campaign is over, the troops of Wang Guangyu, Du Kaishan, and Chen Hanzhang, who are now concentrated in the Western Manchuria area, will all devote themselves to the westward advance. Moreover, we are also preparing to transfer a group of troops from the North Manchurian front."
"However, if we need to launch air strikes on the Japanese railway lines in Hebei and the railway lines from Peiping to Guisui, then we will also need to mobilize some bombers and fighter units, and at the same time reserve a batch of gasoline in Jehol