Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, brothers, and may your family be reunited!
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Regarding the issue of Yuncheng, Wang Xuexin believed that the Eighth Route Army's greatest advantage was not its military strength, equipment, or strategy, but "the will of the people."
The Eighth Route Army indeed has more troops than the Jinsui Army, but on the one hand, most of the Eighth Route Army's troops are distributed in the Luliang Mountains to build a defense line. On the other hand, among the 400,000 troops of the Eighth Route Army, only more than 100,000 have guns... Originally there were only 90,000. Get Eagle Sauce
Those 20,000 rifles later increased to 110,000.
Compared with the Jinsui Army's approximately 150,000 troops, this force has no advantage at all.
Equipment, the Jinsui Army has both guns and artillery, and its light and heavy equipment are much better than those of the Eighth Route Army. If the Eighth Route Army has any advantage, it is the dozens of tanks Wang Xuexin exchanged from Mao Xiong, but these tanks have not arrived yet.
.
In terms of strategy, the Eighth Route Army originally had an advantage, but after Chu Yunfei guessed the Eighth Route Army's strategic goals, the Eighth Route Army lost all its advantages and fell into a certain passivity... Although leaking intelligence to the Japanese was not in the interests of the Jinsui Army, Jinsui
But the army could use this to threaten the Eighth Route Army.
After all, this is a matter of life and death for the Eighth Route Army, and the Shanxi-Sui Army will withdraw from Shanxi and completely rely on the stubborn army at worst.
The reason why "the people's will" is the advantage of the Eighth Route Army is that when the Eighth Route Army is willing to cooperate and give up Yuncheng... the Jinsui Army has no choice.
Don’t choose Yuncheng?
This is the place that the Jinsui Army dreams of returning to, and it can be said to be the biggest concession for the Eighth Route Army. How could they not want it!
If not, the Eighth Route Army, which is what the people want, will definitely grow rapidly here. This is not what the Jinsui Army wants to see!
Choose Yuncheng?
It seemed uneconomical to have life and death in the hands of the Eighth Route Army, not to mention facing the Japanese counterattack.
If that's all, then that's it. What's even more troublesome is... Yuncheng is a big city with hundreds of thousands of people, and the people obviously support the Eighth Route Army more. Even if the Jinsui Army takes full control of Yuncheng, it still can't stop the flow of troops and talents.
Eighth Route Army.
There is a saying that "he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world."
This cannot be said to be absolutely correct, but it makes sense to a certain extent.
Because it has won the hearts of the people, the Eighth Route Army can safely let go of a large city like Yuncheng that is made up of people. Even if it is let go, it will not be able to escape. The people's hearts are with the Eighth Route Army.
But for the Jinsui Army...it can't hold on even if it wants to, and it may become a hot potato.
At this time, Yan Laoxi had not thought so deeply. When Chu Yunfei returned to the headquarters to secretly report to Yan Laoxi, Yan Laoxi's eyes immediately lit up.
"Is this serious?" Yan Laoxi sat up from his chair with a sudden leap.
"It's absolutely true!" Chu Yunfei replied affirmatively: "Commander, although I don't have much contact with Li Yunlong, I know this person well. His reaction is enough to prove that what I expected is correct. The Eighth Route Army did attack Yuncheng.
intention!"
Therefore, the responsibility is not only due to Sun Ming, but also to Li Yunlong... Although Li Yunlong talks about being powerful, he can't hide what he is thinking in his heart, and it is all exposed on his face.
Yan Laoxi was anxious and excited when he heard that. He walked back and forth in front of the chair, his military boots thumping on the wooden floor.
He was anxious because he was worried that if the Eighth Route Army succeeded, it would not be easy to recapture Yuncheng from them.
If Yuncheng is in the hands of the Japanese, the Jin-Sui army will take it back to eliminate harm for the people and bring glory to the country.
If Yuncheng was in the hands of the Eighth Route Army, what would it be like if the Jinsui Army went to attack Yuncheng? That would be called destroying the Great Wall before the foreign invasion was over. The Jinsui Army would soon be pushed to the forefront of the country.
Of course, Yan Laoxi doesn't care about such naughty public opinion.
The problem is that if public opinion goes against them, the Jinsui Army will neither be able to recruit troops nor receive assistance, which is what the Jinsui Army needs most at this time.
Therefore, no matter what, we cannot let the Eighth Route Army take Yuncheng to itself.
I was excited because I once lamented that retaking Yuncheng was far away, and even worried that I would be driven out of Shanxi by the Japanese and be "completely" incorporated by the stubborn army. I didn't expect that there would be an opportunity to make a comeback so soon.
Suddenly, Yan Laoxi stopped and ordered Chu Yunfei: "This matter must be kept secret and no one else can know! If it leaks... the consequences will be disastrous!"
"Yes, Commander!" Chu Yunfei stood up and replied: "I have strictly ordered Fang Ligong and the guards to keep it a secret. Only a few of us know about this matter!"
Of course Chu Yunfei understood this. Only by strictly keeping secrets would it be possible to cooperate with the Eighth Route Army. Otherwise, it would be a doom and gloom situation.
"And!" Then Yan Laoxi ordered: "Continue to maintain contact with the Eighth Route Army and let the Eighth Route Army know that if they don't cooperate... we have no obligation to keep their secrets!"
"Yes!" Chu Yunfei stood up again.
This is also what Chu Yunfei meant.
But of course, Chu Yunfei didn't want to come to this point, because doing so would be of no benefit to either the Eighth Route Army or the Shanxi-Sui Army, and the only ones who would benefit would be the Japanese.
But in order to return to Yuncheng... we can only risk our lives.
Chu Yunfei believed that the Eighth Route Army would not refuse to cooperate with the Jinsui Army at the risk of their plans being known to the Japanese.
Chu Yunfei thought further, and then he stepped forward and whispered to Yan Laoxi: "Commander, if we want to cooperate with the Eighth Route Army, I'm afraid the Eighth Route Army will have some requirements..."
Yan Laoxi nodded without thinking: "We still have some stocks of guns and ammunition, and we can also provide some food. In addition..."
As Yan Laoxi whispered a few words to Chu Yunfei's side, Chu Yunfei nodded repeatedly.
Chu Yunfei was not in a hurry to contact Li Yunlong, he was waiting for Li Yunlong to contact him.
Chu Yunfei knew that the more anxious he was at this time, the more passive he would be in negotiating. Now was the time to stop with silence.
Sure enough, Li Yunlong soon sent someone to deliver a letter to Chu Yunfei. The letter was written in an elegant manner, and it was clear at a glance that it was not something Li Yunlong could say:
"Brother Chu, we were separated from the three stores a few days ago. My younger brother was on official business and was not able to entertain us properly. I feel very ashamed. Why don't Brother Chu and his party return to the three stores tomorrow and let me be the host? You and I can have a good time together."
This is my little brother’s apology to Brother Chu, and I hope Brother Chu will reward you!”
In fact, this is indeed what Li Yunlong meant, but it was written by Zhao Gang... Of course, Li Yunlong couldn't write a letter because he didn't know a few Chinese characters.
Zhao Gang felt that speaking plain language in the letter was not up to standard, so he changed it without permission.
Chu Yunfei paused for a moment after looking at the letter, then stood up and said to the guard: "Get your horses ready and go to the three stores!"
Fang Ligong was puzzled and stepped forward and asked: "Duan Zu, didn't the letter say we will meet again tomorrow? We will go now..."
Chu Yunfei smiled and replied: "If we go tomorrow, do we want them to be prepared?"
Fang Ligong said "Oh" and understood that Chu Yunfei was going to kill Li Yunlong again and caught him off guard.