Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 434 The Great Counterattack Era Arrives

After the base area won the victory against the mopping-up operation, the hundreds of large and small bunkers that the Japanese had painstakingly built along the Jiaoji Line and the Shandong section of the Jinpu Road were almost all destroyed, the Japanese blockade line was useless, and the various base areas were connected again;
The 12th Army also experienced the power of the guerrilla column, so it just hid in big cities and key points along the railways, not daring to leave the railways easily.

The guerrilla column did not easily provoke the devils, but focused on development, and the two sides seemed to have reached a tacit understanding;
After the victory of the anti-mopping-up operation, in order to strengthen the strength of the base, Yanzhou transferred 500 graduates from the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University to serve as deputy positions in the guerrilla column. In fact, they were political cadres who assisted Yue Qianli in carrying out the revolutionary transformation of the troops.

At the same time, 3 military backbones were drawn from the three main divisions to the guerrilla column for training, and the successful experience of Shandong's guerrilla warfare and base construction was promoted to other bases.

As the Japanese invaders' attack was repelled, the base area won a relatively stable development opportunity. Attracted by a series of preferential policies of the column headquarters, a large amount of capital poured into the base area to invest in factories and industries.

Among them were a lot of Chinese and overseas Chinese capital from across the ocean, as well as some powerful American capital. They cooperated with the base area government to open more than a dozen joint venture factories, which led to an explosive growth in the base area's industrial capacity.

In order to protect these factories, the Eagle Sauce showed rare toughness and helped the guerrilla column to set up a joint aviation volunteer team in the form of a volunteer team. The team leader was Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Xin, Yue Qianli's sworn brother.

The Japanese knew clearly that it was the Eagle Sauce that was causing trouble, but they still did not turn against them and endured the anger.

A year later, the base introduced an aircraft manufacturing plant, tractor factory, fertilizer plant, and steel plant. The scale of the military factory was further expanded, and the Garand rifle production line and mortar production line were introduced. The monthly output was 5 semi-automatic rifles and 500 mortars, basically meeting the needs of the base.

With the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, almost all of Europe was involved in the war, and millions of Germany's elite troops were soon trapped in the ice and snow of the Soviet Bear and could not extricate themselves.

Franklin finally couldn't sit still anymore. He intensified his provocations against the Yuren Military Government politically and economically. After the Eagle Sauce used the trump card of embargo on oil, Yuren finally couldn't help but take action against the Eagle Sauce. He sent the Combined Fleet to attack Pearl Harbor and severely damaged the Pacific Fleet.
Franklin gave a speech full of grief and indignation, then declared war on the Japs with a grin. Later, China also declared war on the Japs, and the Japs also declared war on the Eagle Sauce and China. The Pacific War broke out, and the last great power in the world also joined the war. China finally got rid of the unfavorable situation of dealing with the Japs alone.

After the two sides declared war, the Eagle Sauce took a defensive position at sea. In order to delay the main force of the Japanese army, Franklin began to vigorously support China;
Their support was divided into two parts. The bulk of it naturally went to the government in the mountain city, but the guerrilla column also received a lot of support.

At first, it was covert, but later it turned into blatant support, helping the guerrilla column to establish a complete industrial system in Shandong, and the steel output far exceeded the total of other regions.

Yue Qianli asked the Eagle Sauce to purchase another 200 Mustang fighters. Franklin donated 200 of them with a buy one get one free offer. This time, Yue Qianli was not polite to him because he needed enough planes to protect the base.

As expected, it was put to use soon. In order to destroy the industrial base of the guerrilla column, the North China Front Army and the Central China Front Army, with the support of the Kwantung Army, concentrated more than 600 bombers and attacked Shandong from multiple directions under the escort of 300 fighters.

Okamura Neiji even threatened to raze Shandong to the ground. Yue Qianli also dispatched more than 600 Mustang fighters from the base to fight back. The two sides engaged in the largest air battle in the East in East China.

The guerrilla column's aviation unit, led by Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Xin, split up to attack the enemy, using their radar, aircraft performance and tactical advantages to crush the enemy's fleet.

After several days of fierce fighting, the air force achieved a decisive victory, shooting down more than 700 enemy planes while losing only more than 150 of its own. The exchange ratio between the two sides was as high as 5 to 1.

What drove Okamura Yasuji crazy was that in less than a week, the Eagle Sauce replenished the guerrilla column with 200 more advanced improved Mustang fighter planes. The funds required came from the Yue Group, and they replenished as many as the ones used up.

The Japanese could not replace the planes they lost within half a year. Unwilling to accept defeat, Okamura Yasuji assembled an army of 10 to carry out a retaliatory sweep of the base. However, he was strongly repelled by the main force of the guerrilla column, suffered more than 2 casualties, and was completely subdued.

The guerrilla column's rocket artillery cluster taught Okamura Yasuji a profound lesson, and from then on he never dared to challenge the guerrilla column again.

The guerrilla column once again entered a period of explosive development. After its strength was strengthened, it also began to vigorously support the Second Detachment that persisted in mountain guerrilla warfare in Zhongtiao Mountain.

Since the main force of the Nationalist army was defeated in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountains and retreated from southern Shanxi, Gao Zhisong led the Second Detachment to gather tens of thousands of defeated soldiers and persisted in Zhongtiao Mountains.

After repelling several raids by the Japanese, the Second Detachment firmly established its foothold in Zhongtiao Mountain, established the Zhongtiao Mountain Base, and set up three military sub-districts;

Subsequently, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters secretly dispatched hundreds of military, political and local cadres to the Second Detachment, firmly controlling Zhongtiao Mountain in the hands of the guerrilla column.

As the troops grew stronger, supplies and equipment became the biggest obstacle to their development. Fortunately, they had the guerrilla column as their mother-in-law.
Yue Qianli spared no expense to support the Second Detachment, allowing them to independently deal with the enemy's raids. At the same time, they cooperated with the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi, and became popular in southern Shanxi. The troops also expanded to 2 people. Time soon entered the winter of the 33rd year of the National Government. The world situation has undergone earth-shaking changes. The Chinese military and civilians have also survived the most difficult strategic stalemate. The time for a strategic counterattack has matured.

At this time, the National Government was in a precarious situation, and millions of troops were struggling to survive with a small amount of American aid. There were too many people and too little food, and most of the troops were just idling around, waiting for victory to come.

The Japanese really picked on the weak and launched an attack in early April to open up the mainland's transportation lines.
The Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi lasted for 8 months. The Kuomintang army lost more than 60 soldiers, lost 146 cities, lost 7 air force bases and 36 airports, and lost more than 20 square kilometers of land. The army was defeated and lost thousands of miles of territory, which made the Kuomintang army lose face internationally.

At the guerrilla column headquarters, a high-level meeting was in progress. Yue Qianli, commander of the Su-Lu-Yu-An base area, said loudly:
"Comrades, the Nationalist army suffered another disastrous defeat in the Henan-Hunan-Guangxi Campaign, losing 2 kilometers of territory and 60 soldiers. It is unrealistic to expect them to launch a counterattack.
Yanzhou has become the mainstream of the War of Resistance. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army have launched a local counterattack. Our hometown requires us to respond to the call and launch a full-scale attack on the Japanese in the vast areas of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui.

The time for a strategic counterattack has come. After several years of silent development, the five detachments of the guerrilla column and its subordinate units now have a main force of 25 people, an additional 30 garrison troops, and 50 militiamen! "

After hearing this, everyone cheered. They finally became the mother-in-law, because only they knew how rich the assets of the 25 main forces and 30 garrison troops were.
It is no exaggeration to say that even the 50 militiamen had undergone several years of training. Machine guns were equipped to each militia platoon, with two machine guns in each platoon. Each man was equipped with a steel gun that was eliminated from the main force, and each was equipped with 30 rounds of ammunition. Many of the Kuomintang troops were not as good as them.

The 25 main force troops were all equipped with American weapons produced in the base area. Each squad was equipped with one M1 light machine gun and three Garand semi-automatic rifles.
连一级装备了3挺M1919中型重机枪，3门M2型60毫米迫击炮，可以轻易的压制鬼子一个中队。

The brigade level is equipped with 6 109mm heavy mortars and 12 40mm rocket launchers;
营一级装备6门12管107火箭炮、12门109毫米重迫击炮。

The detachment was equipped with 12 12-barrel 130mm heavy rocket launchers, towed by jeeps or mules and horses, and 16 105mm American-made howitzers. The firepower intensity was enough to defeat an entire Japanese division.

The column's direct artillery group is equipped with the latest 24-tube 130mm heavy rocket launchers, a total of 30 guns. Each launcher can carry 720 heavy rockets. They are strategic-level weapons and will not be used easily.

There was also a battalion of Sherman tanks, totaling 120 tanks, 300 bombers and 700 P-51 Mustang fighters.

The 30 garrison troops are fully equipped with Japanese weapons, and their combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of the Japanese Class C division. These garrison troops are organized into battalions, companies, and platoons, with each battalion having 1500 people.

After everyone quieted down, Yue Qianli continued:
“Comrades, the most difficult period has passed, and the time for strategic counter-offensive has arrived;

According to the battlefield situation, the guerrilla column's counterattack will be divided into four stages.

In the first stage, we launched a counterattack against the important cities, strongholds, and railway lines surrounded by the base areas, recovered cities such as Jinan and Qingdao, and recovered the entire province of Shandong, northern Jiangsu, eastern Henan, northern Anhui, the northern foothills of the Dabie Mountains, and all of southern Shanxi;
The second phase was to form a field army to assist the Eighth Route Army in recovering North China, Northeast China, Hedong and other places, and to annihilate the Japanese invaders in the entire north;

The third stage is to launch a counterattack south of the Yangtze River and recover the entire China;
The fourth stage..."

The blood of the people began to burn. They had been waiting for this day for a long time. They had been looking forward to the arrival of this day since the Battle of Songhu.

All the promises that Yue Qianli had made were fulfilled one by one. Although they did not get promoted in their positions in the past few years, they had no regrets.

Each of the five detachments of the guerrilla column has a main force of more than 5 people, and the battalion level has over 4 people, so their life is not bad now, not to mention that there are more local troops and militia to cooperate with them. A detachment commander is even the commander of the army group of the National Government Army, and strength is king.

“Comrades, I will give you a week to prepare. The first phase of the counterattack will officially begin in a week.

Whether it’s a mule or a horse, pull it out for a walk!”

After Yue Qianli finished speaking, he waved his hand with great momentum.

(End of this chapter)