In the original work arrangement, Yang Zhen's predecessor only left the military commander who contacted the Third Theater Zone to ask for funds and ammunition. At this time, he resumed his original work and spent the whole day with the representatives of the New Fourth Army stationed in the Third Theater Zone. Study the New Fourth Army's northern retreat route, and come forward on behalf of the New Fourth Army to demand the eastern route.
The Third War Zone has always disagreed with this request of the New Fourth Army, insisting that it can only take the northern route, which it said has deployed troops to cover Jiangbei, but almost all of Jiangnan is in enemy-occupied areas. In order to force the Anhui troops to agree to take the northern route, the Third War Zone For the first time, they even agreed to allocate 50,000 yuan in departure fees and 30,000 rounds of ammunition to the southern Anhui army before setting off.
The Third War Zone only agreed to the southern Anhui troops taking the northern route. Yang Zhen had expected it and it was in his plan earlier. Regarding the unprecedented generosity of the Third War Zone, Yang Zhen just laughed it off and asked the army commander to continue to communicate with the Third War Zone. In addition to negotiations in the war zone, the private reconnaissance operations on the southern front have not been relaxed for a day.
The two sides went back and forth. On the one hand, the military commander was waging a lawsuit on the radio with his Baoding classmate, and on the other hand, he kept calling Zhong Yāng, hoping that the Zhong Yāng office in Chong Qing could communicate with the National Military Commission. The selection of the northern withdrawal route of the Southern Anhui Army was completed as soon as possible. At the request of the Southern Anhui Army, representatives from Zhongyang stationed in Chongqing also frequently visited the Military Commission.
Although the troops have been thoroughly prepared to withdraw to the north, what everyone is confused about is that the military headquarters, which has been forcing everyone to jump into the well these days, has stopped making any movement at this time. The order was actually to eat and drink well, to adjust the tension of the troops, and even the troops' original daily training was stopped.
Everyone thought that the military headquarters did this because the retreat to the north through the eastern route had not yet been won, and the scouts who set out to reconnoiter the route to the east had not yet recovered the terrain. In fact, except for the army commander and the army chief of staff, Apart from the director of the Political Department and the deputy secretary of the Southeast Branch, even the combat staff of the military department did not know that these were just cover-ups adopted by Yang Zhen.
In order to strictly keep secrets and confuse the Third War Zone, Yang Zhen took all measures. Not only did he strive to take the northern route with the Third War Zone on the surface, but even the retreat route, plan and contingency plan drawn up by the army commander himself were based on The name of the meeting was drawn up by Yang Zhen himself.
The retreat plan that was placed in the war room of the military headquarters and drawn up by the military staff was specially shown to the liaison officer assigned to the New Fourth Army by the Third War Zone. Apart from Yang Zhen, no one else knew about the real plan. It is unclear at all. In order to do it more thoroughly, Yang Zhen also transferred the old regiment with the strongest combat effectiveness to the eastern front, assuming that as long as the three theaters agreed, they could march eastward as soon as possible.
The scouts sent to the northern and eastern fronts were just to cover the real operations. As early as the fifth day after Yang Zhen arrived in Wannan, he sent out all the squad that followed him to Wannan. With the cooperation of local cadres and scouts, they conducted focused reconnaissance on the southern route that had actually been selected.
The reason why Yang Zhen has not issued the final order is that the reconnaissance troops have not returned yet and the map of the southern front has not been completed. The second reason is to express an attitude to the third theater. If you do not agree with my plan to retreat northward through the eastern front , then I will not leave. This is also the last smoke released to cover the real retreat.
On December 27, when the reconnaissance troops returned with the completed maps and the latest enemy information, and obtained the approval of the central government, Yang Zhen, who had made all preparations, decided to finalize the retreat after discussing with the army commander. The time was 0:00 on December 30, 1940, after the final evacuation deadline set by the national government.
After the time for the retreat was finally determined, Yang Zhen, who had kept the third theater liaison officer strictly confidential since coming to southern Anhui and avoided talking to him and never let him know that he was coming to southern Anhui, finally came forward. Meet with the liaison officer in person.
When he saw Yang Zhen arriving in Wannan, at the request of the central government, he was sent back to the Third Theater Command by the military commander in the name of requesting relocation funds. When he returned, Yang Zhen deliberately avoided seeing him and traced his whereabouts. In order to maintain strict confidentiality, this person had no idea that the deputy commander who was originally in charge of the work had been transferred and the new political commissar had been appointed as the liaison officer. Yang Zhen did not hesitate and went straight to the point and signed up for his number.
When he heard that the man in front of him who was younger than himself was actually the new political commissar of the New Fourth Army, the liaison officer's face showed many changes. He never thought that he would return to the Third Theater Command Headquarters within a few days. Time has changed here.
Looking at the confusion in the eyes of the liaison officer, Yang Zhen knew that his reputation in the Guan Nei army was far inferior to that of some veteran generals. This guy who was far away from the rear area had never heard of his name. First of all, this is a good thing. If you can't figure out your own working style, it may provide you with some convenient conditions.
What Yang Zhen didn't expect was that after this guy got over the initial confusion, he was sweating profusely not long after. Looking at Yang Zhen's expression, he was a little embarrassed and curious: "Sir Yang, what's this?" I didn't know about it until I took office, and I didn't inquire about it before going to visit him. It was really rude, and I asked for a letter of guarantee from the chief."
"But please forgive me for my stupidity, did Commander Yang defeat several divisions of the Japanese Army in one fell swoop in the Northeast last year? The anti-alliance commander of your army, as far as I know, seems to be the senior officers of various departments of your army. Among them, there is only one officer named Yang Zhen from the Northeast, oh, he is the officer who caused a sensation in Chong Qing last year."
Regarding the colonel's compliment, Yang Zhen didn't care at all and said: "You don't need to know where I come from, let alone who I am. You will understand and know who I am in the future."
"I came to you today to tell you that since the Third War Zone is firmly opposed to our taking the Eastern Front, we have decided to change the route and go south to Maolin and cross the river to Liyang. In order to show our firm obedience to the Third War Zone and to safeguard the resistance against Japanese aggression, National United Front, we have decided to set off on the 30th, which is the day before the deadline you set."
Yang Zhen's words stunned the colonel: "Thirty days from the southern route, which is the day after tomorrow, you will set off. This is a bit too hasty. The war zone commander's department simply cannot reply so quickly. Sir, although the war zone The final deadline given to you by the commander's department to withdraw northward is the day after tomorrow, but the route you choose again still needs the approval of the commander of the theater, and it is impossible to come in two days."
Regarding the colonel's objection, Yang Zhen said: "I'm not here to ask for your opinion. I'm here to tell you our decision. You don't agree with the Eastern Front. You force us on the Northeast Front. But the actual situation on the Northern Front must be regarded as the whole The third theater responsible for the Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang operations knows better than us."
"Thanks to you, we can only choose to take the southern route. You can immediately tell your superiors now that we will not be able to obey the order within thirty-six hours. Since we have decided to carry out the order, we can also We hope that the theater commander's department will help us coordinate friendly forces on the route."
"I can tell you clearly that when we retreat, if there is an accident on the road, we will not be responsible. Also, if we encounter an armed interception on the road, don't blame us for being rude. If necessary, we can fight all the way. Our withdrawal to the north was requested by the Chongqing Military Commission, and it was also an order from the Third War Zone. If anyone has ulterior motives, wants to fish in troubled waters, deliberately creates conflicts between the two armies and undermines the anti-Japanese united front, we will not be polite. You have guns in your hands, we It’s not like I’m holding a fire stick in my hand.”
Having said this, Yang Zhen looked at the colonel who was dumbfounded by his words and said: "You are right. I am the Yang Zhen who was awarded the rank of lieutenant general by you and is a member of the Northeast Anti-Resistance Alliance. I have hundreds of thousands of planes on board." , I’m not afraid of the Japanese troops with tanks and heavy artillery, and I’m even less afraid of the tens of thousands of friendly troops with ulterior motives.”
"Let me tell you, commander of the war zone, I will not attack anyone unless they attack me. If someone attacks me, I will attack them. One of my characteristics is that I will be strong when I am strong. If you are tyrannical, I will be even more tyrannical than you. I led hundreds of people back then. He fought his way out of an encirclement and suppression campaign by tens of thousands of Japanese troops, fought a hundred battles for the rest of his life, and climbed out of the pile of dead men without fear of anything."
Seeing this guy dumbfounded by what he said, Yang Zhen just smiled and said nothing. He waved his hand and walked away without taking away a single cloud. Looking at Yang Zhen's back, the colonel's adjutant was also stunned for a long time. Then he said: "Sir, their new commander is very arrogant, what should we do?"
The major woke up from the shock at his adjutant's words. Hearing his adjutant's words, the major said angrily: "What should I do? Damn it, you asked me what to do. How did I know? Immediately report to the theater commander's department, their latest information." Change the route and report this guy's arrival as well."
"This guy is not simple. He is much more difficult to deal with than his predecessor. If it is really like the legend, the commander of the theater has encountered a tough opponent this time. How did he get here in such a short time? , you are all a bunch of fucking losers, I will report to the war zone commander's headquarters, you are staying here, and you don't even know that such a big living person is coming. What else can that guy on your neck do besides eating. "
When the adjutant heard the officer's angry words, he had to say cautiously: "Sir, as soon as you left, we were sealed up and put in solitary confinement. We were not allowed to go anywhere except the office. There were double sentries posted outside. You can't even get out of the courtyard gate, so how can you investigate the situation? Even if you come back, you will be trapped in the house and unable to get out."
"It's just that one night, I heard the roar of a plane. It couldn't be their new commander who came by plane. But these Tubal Roads don't even have guns. Where can I find planes? Even the Russians If you give them a plane, where will they find a pilot?"
"Even if there are planes, pilots can't just emerge from the ground overnight. Are the Japanese soldiers along the way blind? They can't see such a big plane. You know, from the northwest When we get here, we have to pass through enemy-occupied territory. If they fly over, we don’t know how to intercept them.”