There are still no major incidents in the base area. The Japanese occasionally change their positions. It’s just that the Japanese from one stronghold switch to another stronghold. Now they basically no longer take the initiative to invade the base area. They no longer have the courage. They are trying to organize large-scale attacks.
When the troops came to invade, the Eighth Route Army organized a larger force to fight back. The final result was that several of their county gates were bombed and the military police warehouses in the city were plundered.
Sometimes soldiers and bandits just have a thought: just how ruthless the Japanese were in the past, and how ruthless the Eighth Route Army is now. Seizing food is not important, what is important is seizing weapons and supplies.
In one battle, all the ready-made military supplies in the county were robbed. This was not a small disaster, it was a very big disaster. The Japanese were almost unable to fight the next war, but the Eighth Route Army got a relatively long respite, etc.
Once you've regained your breath, it's time for the next attack.
"Now the troops are going very smoothly, and the food has been planted. We are just waiting for the rain to fall and the food to mature."
The staff officer is looking forward to this. Where is the regiment leader? He is drinking on the side. Anyway, they are drinking after they finish their work.
"Wait! The days are still long. If you are willing to grow some vegetables, open the land yourself. If you don't want to, then just gather some wild vegetables and eat them yourself."
The ground has been planted, but it will take a lot of time and effort to care for the growth of these seedlings and wait until autumn for a big harvest.
In fact, vegetables are grown in every household, and they can basically satisfy their own needs. What the troops need every day is basically all the harvests from several entire vegetable gardens, and the troops must handle vegetables themselves.
As for eating, drinking and pooping, now we only solve the problem of eating. If you want to drink, drink well water. The place where you poop has been stipulated, and people will go there regularly to accumulate fat. If this thing is completely solved, everything else will also be solved.
"But you bought so much food, did you eat it? It was all stored in the ravine. No one knows how much you saved except you and the brigade commander."
"That's right, this thing can save lives at critical moments. What's wrong if I stock up on more?"
More importantly, these grains were prepared for 1942, an era that was very difficult both economically and war-wise. At that time, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were basically torn apart except for their faces.
"Then there's no need to have so much. It's not like the local comrades can't collect food. When there are more people in the base area, they will be able to feed us."
How many common people can there be in the base area? The number can reach 5:1, which is quite a lot. There is a lot of moisture in the middle. One kind can be harvested, and the other cannot be harvested. Most of them cannot be harvested. Why can't they be harvested?
? Because their production harvest is very small, and they can’t even feed themselves. If you are determined, you can collect it. The tax in the Kuomintang-controlled areas is almost collected every day. How can they send so much money to recruit so many soldiers?
.
The current population is far from reaching the 1.4 billion of later generations, especially after a long period of war. However, the current census is still based on the data of the late Qing Dynasty. It is nominally 400 million, but in fact it is not that many. Japan
People used bacteriological warfare and chemical warfare in North China, and the population density has been destroyed to the point that it no longer meets the conditions for the use of bacteriological warfare.
"It's not that few, right?"
"Didn't I conduct a survey? According to the conversion ratio, the people under the control of our troops can barely reach five times that of the troops. If the grain production area is also so large, maybe there is no need to consider so much. The grain production area is not
It’s not as big as expected, just one-third of what was expected.”
This is a very simple arithmetic problem. I know how difficult the difficulties we are facing now are. Of course there are still difficulties, but the difficulties we are facing now are far from being unsolvable. That is why Hancheng is now taking the initiative to talk to anyone.
A person who comes to ask questions clearly explains the pros and cons. This is because the war forces him to settle the accounts with the soldiers.
"So, the base area simply cannot support so many soldiers?"
"It's not that we can't afford it, but if we do, the people will starve to death! We also need to collect food, and the food collected cannot satisfy any regiment-level unit."
Production work naturally has to be given top priority. In the past, the enemy was limited to food, but after the enemy stopped taking the initiative to attack, the gains of the troops were not so much. Although the base area can produce its own firearms and ammunition, the superiors do not allow self-produced weapons to be used.
The sale of firearms is only allowed for internal digestion.
But how much can be truly digested internally? Not much at all. The captured firearms cannot be used by the already established troops, because such troops pay attention to uniformity. If there are different guns in the troops, they must be equipped with different ones.
Ammunition is a very serious problem for logistics.
"What does the brigade commander think about the uniform caliber of machine guns in the troops?"
"The brigade commander didn't say anything. He asked each unit to come over and submit a report."
"Let's do it step by step."
The current army looks strong, but in fact it is not that powerful. Although it is said that it can be self-sufficient in weapons and ammunition. But in fact, once it encounters a large-scale battle and the battle lasts for a long time, the disadvantage will come out.
The ammunition provided by them was completely insufficient to meet their consumption.
Dr. Bethune had actually been here before, but it was just by chance that the two had known each other for a long time but had not met. Han Cheng was also very sorry that he could not have a cordial conversation and give each other some gifts.
The alcohol used in the hospital now is brewed from grains. When the sweet stalks come out, I don’t need to use grains to brew the alcohol. I will completely use the sweet stalks of sorghum.
"Let me tell the regimental commanders, don't fight around if you have nothing to do. There are so many wounded soldiers in the hospital. Train your soldiers more. You can reduce casualties and it will be easier for us here."
It has almost become a tradition for the troops to take the initiative to attack. After every new unit appears, the first tradition is to take the initiative to attack the Japanese army, as long as it can cause casualties.
Regardless of whether they can learn anything in the war, the casualty rate of recruits on the battlefield is very high, but this must require them to adapt. If they cannot adapt to such an environment, they will be even more vulnerable in more brutal battles later.
Easy to sacrifice.
The training of the troops is extremely difficult. No matter how difficult the training is, how can the real battlefield environment be like that during training? They have to go to the battlefield anyway, because this is the best way to reflect the results of their training.
"Actually, not only you have said this, but the brigade commander has also said it. The division commander has no good solution for this. The only thing I can say is to reduce the number of such incidents and use professional troops to protect these recruits."
The superior leaders all came from professional military academies. These recruits have really become obsessed with it. Without the baptism of war, how can recruits become veterans?