"Political Commissar, you not only underestimated the determination of the Japanese in this sweep, but also underestimated the extent of this large-scale drought in North China!" Wang Ping said with a serious face.
"I know that in your eyes, this drought will last for at most one year and will get better next year... But I want to tell you that this drought will last for at least three years!"
Ignoring the shocked expression on Huang Yuanqiang's face and not giving them an explanation, he continued to ask.
"Political Commissar, how did the people in the base area harvest the little grain they harvested this autumn?"
"If you have five acres of land at home, you can protect two acres of it to the death. You can carry water from the river on your shoulders to water the land, and then you can save part of the grain field!"
"If there are canals connecting our fertile fields from the river, and when the land needs water, we can directly draw water with water trucks, pump the water from the river to the canals, and then flow it to the fields through the canals, how many grain fields can be guaranteed!"
"There are canals, and there are waterwheels to draw water from the river..." Huang Yuanqiang frowned and fell into thought.
Soon, a pair of eyes became fanatical: "If this is the case, as long as it is not a sloping land, all the land should be saved~"
"Even if it is a sloping land, most of the land can be saved because the distance between irrigated fields is shortened!"
At this point, Huang Yuanqiang suddenly reacted, stared at Wang Ping and replied: "I will give an order now, and all the people within a hundred kilometers in depth will move to the back!"
At the Japanese division headquarters in Linfen City, Lieutenant General Ito was in a good mood at first.
The offensive force was victorious, killing three infantry companies of the New Regiment on the first day and severely damaging one company, which was equivalent to killing one battalion of the New Regiment.
But it only lasted two days, and the good mood disappeared.
"Division commander, the frontline troops report: The villages and towns they occupied are still empty. Except for empty houses, there is not even a single livestock, let alone the Eighth Route Army!" the chief of staff rushed to Lieutenant General Ito and reported.
He took out another telegram and continued to report: "The intelligence department reported that the Eighth Route Army is moving the common people within a hundred kilometers in depth in front of us to their so-called rear area!"
"I have an idea. Since the front hundred kilometers have been cleared by the Eighth Route Army, should we directly occupy this area?"
Lieutenant General Ito was moved, but after thinking for a few minutes, he still shook his head and refused.
"No, the raid plan remains unchanged!"
"This Wang Ping is too cunning. Maybe this large-scale transfer is a trap set by the Eighth Route Army for us to lead us into a trap!"
"Don't worry about them. Each brigade will continue to advance steadily and steadily according to the original battle plan. If you occupy a place, you will control it by building bunkers and gun towers. Don't give the Eighth Route Army any opportunities to take advantage of it!"
The chief of staff couldn't help complaining: "However, it is too slow to advance five kilometers in one day and occupy more than ten villages and towns!"
"Not too slow~" Lieutenant General Ito replied.
"The base area of the new regiment is less than three hundred kilometers deep. According to this attack speed, we can sweep through their base area in one and a half months!"
Then he changed the topic and continued: "However, I have just been thinking about how we can force the Eighth Route Army to come out and fight us after the Eighth Route Army implemented a strong wall and cleared the country in our offensive area. It was like the attack on the first day that killed more than one of their battalions. I ignored it.
Another thing?"
"Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people were moved together to what they called the rear area. This is equivalent to the new Eighth Route Army regiment suddenly having hundreds of thousands more mouths to eat!"
"Based on the ration of half a kilogram of grain per person per day, more than 200,000 kilograms of grain will be consumed in one day, more than two million kilograms in ten days, and seven to eight million kilograms in one month. Our opponents have so much grain to consume.
?"
"No!" the chief of staff replied with certainty!
"There is a severe drought in North China this year, and many places have lost their harvests. The ordinary people cannot even feed themselves with the little grain they harvest, let alone use the extra grain to feed the Eighth Route Army!"
"The Eighth Route Army didn't even have food to feed itself. How could it possibly spend 7 to 8 million kilograms of food to feed hundreds of thousands of ordinary people!"
"That's right!" Lieutenant General Ito's frown suddenly relaxed.
"In this case, not only cannot we attack the base area of the New Regiment of the Eighth Route Army as fast as possible, but we must attack it as slowly as possible!"
"When the time comes, we may not need to fight them decisively. The shortage of food alone will bring them down. All we need to do is rush forward and reap the benefits!"
"The division commander is wise!" A smile appeared on the chief of staff's frowning face.
He immediately replied: "I will give orders to the frontline offensive troops now, so that they can fight steadily and not expose any loopholes to the Eighth Route Army..."
At the enemy headquarters of the New Regiment, several battalion commanders' telegrams calling for battle were sent to Wang Ping one after another like snowflakes.
However, Wang Ping never issued a counterattack order from beginning to end, but simply asked the troops to retreat.
Ever since Wang Ping came to the New Regiment, the New Regiment had never fought such a frustrating battle.
The commanders of several main battalions were so angry that they wished they could rush forward and fight the Japanese to the death!
"Captain, according to the reports from each battalion, the Japanese are still encroaching on our base area bit by bit with a steady attack and a gradual advance. Moreover, every time they occupy a village or town, many Japanese and puppet troops are left to garrison for defense, and they hardly allow us to counterattack them.
The opportunity..." Chief of Staff Zhong Chenggong frowned and reported.
Then he pointed at the map and introduced: "From the beginning of the attack to now, the ten infantry brigades and five puppet regiments of the Japanese and puppet frontline offensive troops have penetrated more than 20 kilometers into our base area."
"In addition, there are two Japanese troops in mixed reinforced brigades following closely behind. They should be acting as mobile troops!"
Wang Ping nodded without answering. He hesitated and asked the political commissar on the side: "Old Huang, have the arrangements been made for the hundreds of thousands of people who have been transferred from the front line?"
"All the food has been distributed to the villages and towns, and all the food has been arranged. In a few days, I will arrange for them to build water conservancy projects." Huang Yuanqiang gave Wang Ping a positive answer.
Wang Ping's last worry was gone and he made a decision immediately!
"Now that everything is ready, let's fight once!"
"Aren't the battalion commanders below all rushing to fight and fight the ghosts? Then let's fight once and see if the water the ghosts are sweeping up this time is deep or deep!"
"Pass my order, the five independent battalions are free to choose an attack target tonight and take the initiative to launch an attack!"
"Five new main battalions will provide reinforcements, and five new main battalions will serve as reserve teams."
"The offensive is commanded by the commanders of the five main battalions respectively. No one can give me any trouble, otherwise, military law will be engaged!"
After the murderous order was issued, Wang Ping immediately turned his attention to the security director!
"Director Wei, the common people in the fighting area have now been evacuated. There is a big operation by the troops tonight. There must be moles and Japanese and puppet intelligence personnel who can't stand it. So, tonight is also a good opportunity for you to show off your skills!"
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