In October 1939, China's main force had completed the first and second phases of training and replenishment, and its combat effectiveness had been restored to a certain extent.
At the same time, the nearly one million guerrilla troops deployed behind enemy lines and the harassment operations of regular troops restrained a large number of Japanese troops, making it impossible for the Japanese to launch a large-scale offensive on the frontal battlefield.
The victory in the First Battle of Changsha created optimism in Chongqing. In addition, the Japanese invaded the interests of many countries in China, and the international community's ambiguous attitude towards the Japanese invasion of China changed.
In just two months, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan and others strongly condemned the Japanese invasion of China and issued warnings, which finally allowed Chongqing to gain support from public opinion.
Although the Japanese were unable to launch a large-scale strategic offensive, they were still more than capable of launching local campaigns, and successively captured Chaoshan, Nanning and other places.
As a result, the international transportation line between Austria and Hong Kong was cut off, and the international transportation line between Yunnan and Myanmar was also seriously threatened. Guns and ammunition purchased from abroad could not be transported back, which greatly affected the protracted war of resistance.
The Wang Jingwei Group actively prepared puppet governments in Shanghai and other places, and electrified the country several times, which greatly affected the situation of the Anti-Japanese War.
In order to ensure the international communication line between Yunnan and Burma, to obtain more foreign aid, and to prevent the establishment of Wang's puppet government and review the combat effectiveness of the troops' training, Chongqing issued an order to prepare for a winter offensive.
The meeting decided to launch a large-scale winter counteroffensive across the country to recapture major cities and strongholds and annihilate the Japanese and puppet troops on the Chinese battlefield.
In mid-November, Chongqing issued an offensive order to troops in ten war zones across the country. Each troop would launch an attack with all its strength against the enemy in front of them.
The Sulu theater behind enemy lines where Yangling is located is also in the combat sequence of this winter offensive. The regular army, guerrilla forces, tax police forces, and security brigades commanded by Commander Yu Xuezhong will all participate in this offensive operation.
The second, third, fifth, and ninth theaters are responsible for the main offensive operations of the winter offensive, and the other theaters are assists.
The main task of the Sulu theater behind enemy lines is to launch attacks from the east and west sides of Tai'an, Lincheng, Tongshan, and Chuxian to coordinate operations along the river.
Yang Ling and his third guerrilla detachment annihilated the effective forces of the Japanese and puppet troops in Qinghe Town during the anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the troops.
Just one week after the end of the counter-encirclement and suppression campaign, they received an order from the commander of the Ninth Guerrilla Column, requiring them to take immediate action to regain Qinghe Town and at the same time cooperate with friendly forces to eliminate the Japanese and puppet troops in the direction of the county.
"Order the troops to stop resting and recuperate and enter wartime status!"
"Let the company commanders of each battalion go to the headquarters for a meeting quickly!"
After Yang Ling received the order from the Ninth Guerrilla Column, he did not dare to delay and immediately launched mobilization operations before the attack.
Their operations behind enemy lines have great limitations, that is, each unit is in a passive defensive state. After all, the Japanese have many troops, so they have to hide in Tibet from time to time.
But this time it is different. Once all war zones across the country launch an offensive, the enemy forces everywhere will inevitably be attacked at the same time, making it impossible for them to support each other.
This leaves sufficient time for China's offensive forces to destroy the current enemy without worrying about the arrival of Japanese reinforcements, allowing them to divide and destroy the enemy.
When the company commanders of each battalion of the Third Guerrilla Detachment learned that a big battle was about to begin, they all became excited and rushed to the headquarters one after another.
In less than an hour, the battalion and company commanders scattered throughout the country arrived at the headquarters of the Third Guerrilla Detachment in Xiaowangzhuang.
Although the army had just experienced a counter-encirclement and suppression battle and had not yet recovered, the morale of the officers was still high at that time.
This battle with the Japanese encirclement and suppression troops gave them a taste of the sweetness. Not only did the new recruits get tempered, but the large amount of weapons and equipment seized also greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the troops.
"Is there a big war?"
"I heard that the order was given by the column. Let's move together as a whole column. There are thousands of people. Tsk tsk."
"As you know, I met the column messenger on the way here. He said that this time the entire northern Jiangsu area is expected to be moved."
"No wonder the column supplied us with a batch of weapons and ammunition last time. It turned out to be prepared for it."
"No, this time we have to take care of the little devils and let them know how many eyes Lord Ma has."
The victory in the battle a week ago made the brothers' fighting spirit high, and their morale was also high.
In the past, when I heard that I was going to fight against a powerful little Jaap, I would always worry that I would never come back, so I would write a will before setting off, as if I was leaving.
But things are different now. When they heard that they were going to fight the little Japs, everyone was very excited and a little impatient.
Deputy detachment leader Zhang Liechen heard the excited discussions of these officers, but he remained silent. The last time he went to the column headquarters to shamelessly beg for ammunition supplies, he heard much more news.
Although this winter offensive was sent to all units with secret orders, after all, all theaters across the country were required to participate, so confidentiality work was difficult to maintain.
The Japs actually already knew that the Chinese ** Team was going to launch a large-scale attack in the near future, but the little Japs were very arrogant and arrogant and did not take the Chinese ** Team's attack seriously at all.
After all, in the past year, the Chinese *** team had launched several small-scale offensives, all of which were stolen, so the Japanese didn't pay much attention to them this time.
But what the little devils don't know is that their arrogance will cost them dearly. After several months of training in rotation, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese team has been restored to a certain extent.
In the early stage, all the main and elite troops of the Chinese Army were lost in Shanghai and Nanjing, so that in the subsequent battles, the Chinese recruits could not stop the wolf-like Japanese soldiers, and most of the country could not be defended.
However, after the Nanyue Military Conference, the Chinese ** team went through revitalization and training. Based on the backbone of veterans, the new recruits underwent intensive training. The field troops were no longer able to collapse at the first touch.
The officers were discussing with high spirits, and there was a sense of relaxation in the air.
Yang Ling stepped into the room where the meeting was held in uniform. The brothers put out the cigarette butts in their hands and stood up to salute.
When Yang Ling first arrived at the Third Guerrilla Detachment a few months ago, he encountered Zhang Liechen and others who had just suffered a defeat, and they were all in a miserable state.
But now the brothers are all in high spirits, with a rebellious energy on their resolute faces, and the third guerrilla detachment has become stronger again.
"Everyone sit down-"
Yang Ling is now very satisfied with his brothers. In a little time, the third guerrilla detachment will become a strong force.