Winter nights in the mountainous areas of southern Shandong are freezing. A wide range of cold air sweeps southward, covering many areas in North China with a layer of frost.
Since the beginning of the year, the Japanese have concentrated several divisions in the Sulu area to carry out public security operations in the occupied areas. Faced with the severe situation, the Sulu Theater Command had to move north to the mountainous areas of southern Shandong.
The deputy theater headquarters remains in the Xinghua area within Jiangsu Province. Commander Han, the chairman of Jiangsu Province and concurrently serving as the 89th Army, is responsible for commanding operations on the southern front.
Since then, the Sulu Theater has formed two headquarters, one north and one south, one main and one deputy. Commander Yu Xuezhong commanded the 51st and 57th Army and other troops to fight on the northern front in Shandong and northern Jiangsu.
The Chairman of Jiangsu Province, who also served as deputy commander, stayed on the central and southern front of Jiangsu and was responsible for fighting the enemy. Cooperating with him was the guerrilla army commanded by Li Mingyang and Li Changjiang.
But after all, it was an occupied area behind enemy lines, and the main towns and transportation arteries were controlled by the Japs. Moreover, the Japs had also changed their previous military-focused combat policy.
Now the Japanese base camp has formulated a strategy that focuses on political inducement and military strikes as a supplement. They are not only trying to win over senior officials such as Wang Jingwei in Chongqing.
At the same time, they also started to mobilize and divide the senior officers of various war zones and units. Among them, Li Mingyang and Li Changjiang, the commanders of the guerrilla army in the Sulu War Zone, were also targets of secret bribery and wooing by the Japanese.
The Japs tried to use this method to disintegrate and divide China's anti-Japanese armed forces. Although most of China's senior generals rejected the Japs' offer of high-ranking officials and generous salaries, they did not surrender to the enemy and treason.
However, in the face of the complex domestic and international situation, there are still many senior generals who are working hard to save the country and are secretly flirting with the Japanese.
The fighting conditions behind enemy lines were difficult, and they often faced attacks from the Japanese and puppet troops. They also had to prevent assassinations by traitors, so now the guerrilla army's chief and deputy commanders, Li Mingyang and Li Changjiang, also began to secretly contact the Japanese.
After all, he surrendered to the enemy and treason. The guerrilla army's chief and deputy commanders, Li Mingyang and Li Changjiang, were very cautious. However, even so, the military commanders embedded in the army spied on the clues and quickly reported them to the theater headquarters.
The 113th Division of the National Revolutionary Army is stationed in a village near Xuzhuang in the mountainous area of southern Shandong, and the theater headquarters of General Yu Xuezhong is also established here.
Although it was late at night, the small farmyard where the theater headquarters was located was still brightly lit, surrounded by roving gun-wielding guards, and even machine gun teams were on alert at high places, creating a chilling atmosphere.
In addition to more than a hundred households in Xuzhuang, the special service regiment, communications battalion, transport battalion, cavalry company, anti-aircraft machine gun company and other troops directly under the theater headquarters are stationed here.
The beeping sound of telegrams being sent and received was constantly heard from the confidential room, and the telegrams were delivered one by one through the hands of the communications staff to the dimly lit combat command room.
"The 117th 35th Brigade Division's attack on Yancheng was blocked. It was attacked by a Japanese infantry brigade on the flank. It has now withdrawn from its front-line position."
"The 349th Brigade has captured the area east of Baoying, annihilated a Japanese transport team, and is now attacking Baoying with all its strength."
"The 97th Brigade is attacking in the direction of Lianyungang. It encountered stubborn resistance from the Japanese and is currently fighting fiercely."
"The 8th Security Brigade is moving towards Guannan County."
"Tongshan has attacked the Jinpu Railway for more than 80 miles."
"The attack by Linyi and Tai'an troops was thwarted."
"The fifth guerrilla column lost contact."
"The 11th Security Brigade has lost more than half and has withdrawn from the battle."
"The third column of the Loyalty Rescue Army entered Funing."
...
The combat staff officers also wore tired faces and continued to conduct deductions and formulate new combat plans based on the latest military information on the sand table in the center of the war room.
All war zones have received winter offensive operations orders from Chongqing, and all troops in the Sulu war zone are attacking. Although the mountainous area is still quiet, the outside has become a mess.
As the commander of the theater, General Yu Xuezhong has not slept for several days and nights. With his blood-filled eyes, he is constantly reviewing telegrams from various places, giving replies, and controlling the overall situation.
"Is there any news from Commander Li of the guerrilla army?"
Although the whole of southern Shandong, northern Jiangsu, central Jiangsu and southern Jiangsu were all in a state of chaos, each unit had some successes and some setbacks, but most of them were under control.
Only the guerrillas had no news so far, which caught the attention of Commander Yu Xuezhong, who had to take the initiative to ask.
Chief of Staff Wang Jingxuan quickly found a telegram from the pile of telegrams and said: "Commander, Commander Li Changjiang sent a telegram in the morning, saying that the troops had suffered excessive losses and requested to retreat and rest before fighting again."
"Bullshit! How many days have we been fighting? You can't hold it anymore?!" Commander Yu Xuezhong, who had always had a good temper, turned livid with anger. His angry look made Chief of Staff Wang Jingxuan sigh slightly.
The weak local guerrillas were able to recover the towns and made the Japanese and puppet troops flee, and achieved a lot of results. However, the guerrilla army with 13 regiments of well-equipped weapons and equipment made no progress at all. This made him
Very dissatisfied.
"I heard that Commander-in-Chief Li has been flirting with the Japanese in private recently. I wonder if I should transfer him back for review first?" Political Director Zhou Fu said quietly from the side.
"Is there any evidence?" Commander Yu Xuezhong's face immediately darkened when he heard that the guerrilla commander Li Changjiang was in cahoots with the Japanese.
Political Director Zhou Fu shook his head: "Our people haven't obtained the evidence yet."
After hearing this, Commander Yu Xuezhong's expression finally softened. If there is no evidence, it means it is just speculation. As the commander-in-chief of the theater, he does not believe in rumors.
"Maybe this is false news deliberately released by the Japanese to drive a wedge between us and make us suspicious of each other and weaken our combat effectiveness." Commander Yu Xuezhong paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, as if muttering to himself.
"Commander, there is no smoke without fire. The situation is serious now, so we still need to make more preparations." Chief of Staff Wang Jingxuan also had a worried look on his face.
"Well, you can send someone to investigate secretly, but you must not let others know. After all, Commander-in-Chief Li is also a senior military officer. We must rely on facts and evidence to speak for ourselves. We have fallen into the little devil's plan to alienate you."
Commander Yu Xuezhong has been promoted very well. Although he also knows that there is no smoke without fire, he still has the rank of major general and is considered a senior general.
"Good news! Huaiyin has been recovered by our army!"
At this moment, a communications officer burst into the room with a message in his hand. He ignored the room full of senior officers and started shouting loudly.
The news of the victory caused a burst of cheers in the busy war room, and the combat staff also hurriedly searched for Huaiyin's location on the combat sandbox.
"Let me see--"
Chief of Staff Wang Jingxuan was also full of joy. He stepped forward and snatched the telegram into his hand, then lowered his head and read it.
"It was that unit that recovered Huaiyin. I want to give them credit." Seeing the strange look on Chief of Staff Wang Jingxuan's face, Commander Yu Xuezhong couldn't help but ask.
"Commander, something is strange." Chief of Staff Wang Jingxuan said and handed the message to Commander Yu Xuezhong: "Near Huaiyin is the guerrilla zone of the Ninth Guerrilla Column, but the signature of this message is the third guerrilla detachment under it.
.”
"Huh?" Commander Yu Xuezhong also took the message and read it, and also discovered this strange place.
"Quickly call back and inquire about the situation." Commander Yu Xuezhong didn't think much and directly ordered the communications officer.
The communications officer replied: "Sir, this is a clear telegram. It was sent from near Huaiyin. We have changed several channels just now, but there has been no response. They probably don't know our communication channel."
"Quickly contact the radio station near Huaiyin and ask them to quickly confirm the situation in Huaiyin."
"yes!"
When the theater headquarters received the clear message from Yang Ling and others regarding the recovery of Huaiyin, the Japanese commander in North China, Gen Sugiyama, and the commander in central China, Shunroku Hata, also received the clear message instructing them about the fall of Huaiyin.
However, big cities in various regions such as Nanchang and Jiujiang are now crumbling under the torrential attacks of the Chinese Communist Party. The loss of a small county town in northern Jiangsu really does not attract their attention.
Because the northern Jiangsu area where Huaiyin is located is at the junction of the two major Japanese groups, Central China and North China, both sides thought the other would send people to take it back, but in fact no one sent anyone.
This allowed Yang Ling and others to escape a disaster and win a good development opportunity, which Yang Ling did not expect.