"Sir, after crossing the river from east to east, can we leave part of the air defense force to prevent the enemy from using aircraft to destroy the ice surface and pontoon bridges?" Zou Degui, who is in charge of logistics, suggested, "If this happens, the supply of tens of thousands of troops in Hedong will become a big problem."

"It is to prevent the enemy from destroying logistics traffic. However, it is not about worrying about the replenishment of the troops in the front, but to transport the materials stored in Baode to the base as soon as possible." Zhao Zhenzhong smiled, "Don't worry, the supplies of the troops after crossing the river can be completely solved by reserve materials. You just need to organize transportation forces to transport them to Hexi."

The Baode Huamei Industrial Base and the Kelanshan medium and large material reserve base have stored a large amount of materials accumulated over the past four years. With the current transportation power of the People's Army, Zou Degui has been moving for a long time.

"Sir, I think the First Column can restrain Fu Zuoyi's troops in the trap." Zhang Mingrui suggested, "I want to send two thousand cavalry from the First Column to Chazishan, where to raid Dongsheng and other areas in the trap, so that they cannot get close to the Great Wall line. In this way, the Dongjin Group's detours will be more concealed."

Fu Zuoyi's troops in the trap will indeed strike the Dongjin Group. Zhao Zhenzhong originally wanted to take advantage of the suddenness of the first mover to quickly detour to the Fugu area and then realize his combat intentions. However, Zhang Mingrui's suggestion could make Zhao Zhenzhong's original plan more perfect.

"Yes, this suggestion is very good," Zhao Zhenzhong praised, "You will decide the deployment of the first column. However, we must guard against abnormal movements of the enemy in northern Ningxia."

In the northern part of Ningxia, there are Ma Hongkui, Ma Bufang, Sun Dianying, Wang Jingguo and other troops who were severely injured by the People's Army last time, and there are less than 100,000 people so far. The first column has 35,000 troops in Hexi, Ningxia, and this time, Zhao Zhenzhong sent 20,000 new soldiers. With the advantage of fortifications and firepower, as long as there is no big mistake, it is still okay to withstand these remnants with different minds.

After pausing, Zhao Zhenzhong encouraged again: "Tell me any suggestions you have. Don't put them in your stomach and brainstorm."

"Sir, I think the feint attack troops between Qingjian and Yanchang can be faked." Yang Tianming pointed to the sand table and analyzed, "If our momentum is too obvious, it may arouse the enemy's suspicion and will not get the effect. But if our troops secretly cross the river and start in advance, mobilize Yan Xishan's troops in western and central Jin's hinterland, the resistance will be smaller after entering the eastward group across the river."

"In addition, after the battle begins, a force can be sent to set out from Suide and seize Wubao first, so that the army crossing this convenient ferry crossing cannot play a role, and force the enemy to cross the river from the Jikou."

From Taiyuan to Fenyang and Lishi, there is a road to Jundu, which can facilitate timely reinforcements by Yan Xishan. If Wubao on the west bank is still retained in the hands of the enemy, the enemy troops in Hexi will definitely last longer with the assistance. This is inconsistent with the People's Army's purpose of stabilizing northern Shaanxi as soon as possible.

In contrast, although the Likou in Lin County is also an important ferry, the transportation is inconvenient. Even if the ferry located in Jiaxian and Wubao is left to Yan Xishan, it would be difficult for him to cross mountains and ridges to reinforce Hexi in winter, and he could only use it as a means of withdrawing troops.

Zhao Zhenzhong agreed with Yang Tianming's suggestion and nodded and said, "Okay, you and Zhou Mingyuan will arrange the attack on Wubao and the western part of Jinxi. The troops can be drawn from the troops left by the Sixth Column, the Special Column and the new recruits. However, after the arrangement, you must also act with the Dongjin Group. In addition, the war in northern Shaanxi will be handled by Zou Degui, Zhuang Yi, Liu Haidong and Huang Tiancheng."

"In addition, since the base area lacks population, the East Advance Group and the attack on the western Shanxi forces can promote the policies of our base area in Hedong and attract more people from Shanxi."

In recent years, due to a series of actions by Huamei Company in Shanxi, disaster victims from nearby Hebei, Henan, Chahar and other places have also come here to seek survival, which makes Shanxi's current population close to 12 million, almost twice that of the northwest base. Shaanxi's population is also about tens of millions. In addition to seeking a favorable strategic situation for the future, the idea of ​​increasing the population in the northwest is also a major task.

Zhao Zhenzhong knew that the "Eastern Expedition" that originally happened in history in early 1936, under the banner of anti-Japanese war, was a robbery of money, grain, and abducting the young and strong population. Of course, the People's Army's actions this time were just a bit more peaceful.

As for the time when the People's Army attack was launched, Zhao Zhenzhong thought it would be better to put it in late December. By then, the Yellow River will definitely be frozen and solid. There will be more places where Dongjin Group can choose to cross the river, which will achieve unexpected results.

After the combat meeting, the departments of the People's Army carried out adjustments and deployments, and promptly made various preparations for the operation one and a half months later.

However, what Zhao Zhenzhong and others did not expect was that Chiang Kai-shek actually ordered the troops to take the initiative and launched an attack on the People's Army on November 20

The People's Army hoped that the Yellow River would freeze and would be better than cross the river, and hoped that the weather would get colder. However, under the order of Chiang Kai-shek, all the troops to fight against each other wanted to open up the situation before the heavy snow came.

Yang Hucheng, Jing Yuexiu, Ma Bufang and others, who once attacked the People's Army in the winter of 1931, have experienced the hardships of winter combat. It is really a chore to attack the People's Army hiding in fortifications during the cold weather in the northwest.

All the military leaders were dissatisfied with Lao Chiang's decision. Fu Zuoyi, who participated in the first battle to fight in the suppression, commented in private with Wang Jingguo and Zhao Chengshou: "Winter combat seems to be equal in time, but in fact, we are coming from afar, so logistics transportation and cold season protection are not as prepared as the enemy, which is a secret loss. However, the geographical location and harmony are not with us. I really can't figure out how to launch a battle at this time."

Wang Jingguo, who is proficient in avoiding war plans, patted Fu Zuoyi on the shoulder and said, "We don't want to fight this battle, but we can't resist someone's success in the career and want to go further. Brother, your 35th Army is the only division left. Take it easy, don't turn your capital off."

Fu Zuoyi knew that he was referring to Li Shengda, sighed, shook his head and said, "I didn't expect that Brother Shumin would be like this now."

Li Shengda's 72nd Division originally belonged to the same 35th Army sequence as Fu Zuoyi, but the 72nd Division basically did not stay seriously under Fu Zuoyi's command. During the Great Wall War in 33, Fu Zuoyi went to the front line, and Li Shengda's division only drove to the front line of Shijiazhuang and ceased fire. After receiving Chiang Kai-shek and instructed, he was stationed in the Jingxing area. After the People's Army attacked northern Shaanxi in 33 years, at the request of Chiang Kai-shek, Li Shengda's troops were sent to northern Shaanxi by Yan Xishan.

In history, Li Shengda's army was promoted to commander of the 19th Army by Chiang Kai-shek when he went to Jiangxi to suppress the Communist Party in 19th. Now, due to the appearance of Zhao Zhenzhong and others, he was promoted during northern Shaanxi. However, the time for promotion was almost the same, both in October 1934. Li Sheng achieved the commander and officially left the 35th Army.

In theory, Li Shengda belonged to the Jinsui Army and was nominally under Fu Zuoyi's command. He should say hello to Yan Xishan and Fu Zuoyi for his promotion. However, after Nanjing was appointed, Li Shengda did not refuse. In this way, not only did Fu Zuoyi feel resentful, but Yan Xishan was even more angry.

This time, Yan Xishan refused to command the commander-in-chief, and Yang Hucheng failed to attack the previous few times. This time, the Jinsui army was nearly half, so he refused to accept it. Chiang Kai-shek wanted to find Ma Hongkui, but Ma Hongkui looked at the remaining troops and knew that he could not command others, so he refused. He looked for Fu Zuoyi, and Fu Zuoyi said that winter was coming and there were still many disaster victims in Suiyuan to be resettled, and as the chairman of Suiyuan Province, he was really unable to escape.

Everyone is smart, either knowing that they can't command others and are unwilling to make things boring, or they are not optimistic about the prospects of this battle and are unwilling to cause trouble for themselves.

As a result, Chiang Kai-shek finally gave Li Shengda the job of suppressing bandit commander-in-chief. Firstly, Li Shengda was also a commander after all, and his level was enough; secondly, Li Shengda also came from the Jinsui Army, and had the same relationship as before, so the command was more convenient. After receiving the appointment, Li Shengda did not refuse, but actually issued orders to various departments in the name of the commander-in-chief.

After Yan Xishan found out, he threw several cups in a row and scolded him in front of Yang Aiyuan, Wang Jingguo, Zhao Chengshou and others who were visiting him. The trouble caused Wang Jingguo, Zhao Chengshou and others hurriedly expressed their loyalty to Yan Laoxi, saying that they would lead the troops well and minimize the losses.

Under Yan Xishan's instruction, Wang and Zhao came to explore Fu Zuoyi's words in the name of asking for advice on combat deployment and implement Yan Xishan's intention to preserve his strength.

Fu Zuoyi's mentality has changed a lot after experiencing the Great Wall War. He believes that the civil war in China over the years is the root of the decline of national strength and the opportunity for foreign enemies to take advantage of. Facing the reminder of Wang and Zhao, Fu Zuoyi sighed: "Why do you compete for male and female on the horn of a snail? Brother Yin Fu has also fought with the Japanese. He knows the strength of the Japanese. Even if we really defeat the People's Army, if we do not change the situation in the country, we still cannot be right with the Japanese without developing military industry and improving equipment."

Thinking of the Great Wall's War of Resistance, his cavalry faced the Japanese plane bombing and artillery fire, Zhao Chengshou felt powerless and shook his head and sighed: "It's not comparable, that's a real gap between countries."

After pausing, Zhao Chengshou said again: "Winter is coming now, and it is a matter of effort to replenish the cavalry in winter. To be honest, I don't want to fight this battle from the bottom of my heart."

All year round and in other seasons, horses can be stocked in the wild, saving some effort. However, in winter, when the snow is everywhere, it can only be fed by the accumulated forage, which consumes more during combat.

The Jinsui divisions had different thoughts, and the situations of other troops were similar. Except for Hu Zongnan, the other troops lost their troops in the last battle and were not replenished, so they naturally did not want to work. Xiao Zhichu and Pang Bingxun privately believed that Chiang was using a knife to kill people, or using a double knife: using various troops to attack the strength of the People's Army; using the People's Army to attack the strength of each unit.

In this case, Li Shengda followed the will of Chiang Kai-shek and issued an order to the various ministries on November 20 in the name of the commander-in-chief of the Northwest bandit suppression, and the attack on the People's Army began.

However, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the battle, at Li Shengda's request, Chiang Kai-shek came forward to coordinate with Yan Xishan again, and transferred Gao Guizi's troops, which were carrying out the road protection mission on Zhengtai Road, to northern Shaanxi. Gao Guizi's troops were not from the Shanxi Sui faction, so they did not make any difficulties for the troops to go to Yan Xishan, northern Shaanxi. Of course, Yan Laoxi knew who was doing this, and he would inevitably scold Li Shengda again.

After receiving the battle situation from the troops in front, Zhao Zhenzhong was a little surprised at first, but after thinking about it, he felt relieved. People had a heart for a tiger and had a plan. The People's Army wanted to take over northern Shaanxi and advance into northwest Shanxi. Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan naturally wanted to stabilize the northwest and stabilize the surrounding area.

"It's good that you can use the advantage of the geographical advantage to severely damage the enemy. It is conducive to the attack of the eastward group afterwards." In the Haiyuan Command of the People's Army, Zhao Zhenzhong said to Zhou Mingyuan and Yang Tianming, "I ordered the troops and the enemy to delay the Yellow River for 20 days to one month to wait for the Yellow River to freeze, which is when the various units counterattack and the eastward group attack. In addition, let the new recruits take turns to the battlefield to experience the actual combat, and the air defense forces are ready to fight. The news from Huamei, Chiang Kai-shek's air force has entered Taiyuan Airport."

Due to the launch of regular flights from Qingdao-Taiyuan-Paude, the matter of Chiang Kai-shek's air force entering Taiyuan could not be concealed by the relevant personnel of Huamei Company passing through Taiyuan Airport. The relevant situation quickly spread to Zhao Zhenzhong.

"No problem." Zhou Mingyuan promised, "Several radars in northern Shaanxi have been in place. As long as the planes at Taiyuan Airport are lifted to a certain height, they can be displayed on the radar. The troops can also prepare for air defense in advance."

With the radar, the "Classic Eye" providing information in a timely manner, not only did the plane sent by Lao Jiang not get the results they deserved, but he lost seven aircraft, including reconnaissance aircraft within a few days. This made Lao Jiang, who learned the news, feel very painful.

The Air Force, which was highly anticipated, had such a result, which surprised the army leaders. The already different thoughts became more active, and the little abacus in their hearts was making noises.

But his mind was active, and the combat operations on the battlefield seemed to be frozen by the increasingly cold weather in the northwest. Except for Li Shengda, Ma Hongkui, Hu Zongnan and other limited military leaders who were still working hard, the other departments began to get started with foreign workers...
Chapter completed!