Iron Cross

ps: This paragraph is about China-related content. If you don't like it, don't read it. I didn't put it here originally. Considering that there are many debates in the book review area, I put it out for everyone to read in advance. I have thought about the follow-up and implicit deduction of the book, but I don't think so. Convenient spoilers, please make up your own mind. If I am not satisfied with the relevant posts, I will delete or lock them. Thank you for your understanding.

January 11, 1943, Shanxi Province, China.

"Comrade Xiaolin, are you saying that the Japanese intend to withdraw from Qinyuan County?" An Ziwen, secretary of the **** Taiyue Military Region Party Committee, asked in an unbelievable tone.

The Taiyue Military Region was established not long ago. In January 1940, in order to consolidate the Taiyue Region and strengthen the military power in the region, the Special Agent Regiment of the 386th Brigade Headquarters of the Eighth Route Army entered the Taiyue Region to carry out a struggle against the enemy. In June, according to the decision of the Licheng meeting of the Northern Bureau, the Taiyue Military Region was established. The 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army also served as the leading authority of the military region. It was known as the Taiyue Column to the outside world. Chen Geng served as the commander. The military region was under the command of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army and consisted of 3 corps. Division, An Ziwen serves as district committee secretary.

"Yes, not only will we withdraw from Qinyuan County, but we may also withdraw from more counties..." Sitting opposite him, wearing a cotton military uniform, glasses, and a standard Eighth Route Army look, Kobayashi Mitsuhide nodded and walked to the map. He gestured, "The latest policy of the Japanese army is to shrink its troops and focus on defense. In the near future, it will take the initiative to withdraw from a number of counties in western and southern Shanxi. The number should be more than 15. I don't know the specific list and withdrawal timetable yet."

Mitsuhide Kobayashi is a mysterious figure. In December 1942, after occupying most of the Taiyue Military Region with Qinyuan County as the core, the Japanese army immediately launched a targeted raid, dispatching more than 20,000 Japanese and puppet troops. However, during the raid, , a Japanese lieutenant in his 40s suddenly left the army and was intercepted by a military team from the Taiyue Military Region on the way.

At the beginning, he was treated as a prisoner. Because of his military rank and status, the armed workers team sent him to a higher authority overnight. Then, everyone who paid attention to the incident received a piece of news that shocked them: instead of being depressed and committing suicide like other Japanese prisoners, Kobayashi Mitsuhide happily announced that he had found the organization.

If we count the beginning of China's nationwide Anti-Japanese War in 1937, it has been five and a half years. In such a long time, not to mention Japanese officers, not even ordinary soldiers have been captured, and Japanese officers at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel His surrender was rare in the country. When he was transferred to Taiyue Military Region, An Ziwen interrogated him immediately.

"You mean, you are a key member of the Japanese Anti-War Alliance in Shanxi?"

"Yes, to be precise, I am the top leader of the Anti-War Alliance's North China Front." Kobayashi Mitsuhide can speak relatively fluent Chinese and can write Chinese characters very well. When something is unclear, he often uses words to explain it. He eloquently introduced the history and origins of the Japan Anti-War Alliance, and highlighted some of the current work. He also introduced the deeds of Ozaki Hidemi and Nakanishi Ko to An Ziwen, which made the other party take a breath of air.

"Are you a Japanese Communist?"

"To be precise, I am not. I am just a sympathizer and supporter of the Japanese Communist Party, but I am not a Japanese Communist Party, and I will not consider joining the Japanese Communist Party in the short term."

"Why?"

"I doubt many policies of the Japanese Communist Party. I agree with the Japanese Communist Party's opposition to big capitalists and militarism, but I do not agree with supporting the Soviet Union." Kobayashi Mitsuhide's tone was very flat, "In my opinion, the Japanese Communist Party is, first of all, The Japanese, and then the Communists. It is not surprising that the Soviet Communist Party requires the communist parties of all countries to obey it for its own interests, and it is also in the interests of the Soviet people, but this is not necessarily in the interest of the people of all countries."

At this point, An Ziwen, whose own political level was not bad, put forward the theory of the consistency of proletarian interests, but it was almost impossible to convince Kobayashi Mitsuhide because the other party raised a difficult question to answer - the Middle East Road Incident.

Xiaolin's question is this: "The Eastern Railway is entirely within the territory of China. It was obtained from your country by the Tsarist Empire through unequal treaties. The Soviet Union obtained related interests through inheritance. I just want to ask one sentence. From the perspective of the Communist Party, let the Soviet Union control Is it better to let the Feng Faction warlords control it? My answer is - it is better to control the Feng Clique! No matter how bad the Feng Clique is, they are still Chinese, and no matter how good the Soviet Union is, they are still foreigners. By controlling the Middle East Road, you can seek to control Manchuria in the future - with the Kuomintang controlling the national power, if the Soviet Union occupied Manchuria one day, do you think it would be better for Manchuria to remain a part of China or a republic of the Soviet Union? "

An Ziwen didn't dare to answer this question, because if he did, he might be suspected of being on the wrong track - this was the rectification period, and he didn't dare to take this risk.

In addition to the issue of the Middle East Route, the two sides also had heated debates about the Sino-Japanese War.

In the words of Kobayashi Mitsuhide: From Japan's perspective, it is actually easy to understand the war. China is a vast country with abundant resources and a population of only 45 million. Of course, it does not need or want to go to war. It is best to live a peaceful life behind closed doors. Japan has a population of 80 million, but it can only live on a small island with no resources. It is very difficult to feed them, so Japan will continue to launch wars to seize living space - an old Chinese saying is that the government forces the people to rebel, and the lives of many farmers in Japan It can't even catch up with China. Considering it on a global scale, Japan is actually forced by the environment.

He used a witticism to illustrate the thoughts of many Japanese people: "It is inhumane for wolves to eat sheep, but if the sheep are protected from wolves, the wolves will starve to death. Don't tell me that wolves can eat grass instead..." "

In the 1940s, there was generally no great development of science and technology. The idea of ​​using technological progress to solve population and survival problems could only be dealt with within the established framework. Therefore, on the issue of Japan's survival and development, the two sides debated many times and could not do anything. To convince the other party, Kobayashi Mitsuhide himself believed that the reason why China and Japan are now at war is because the two sides are not equal in strength. If China was as strong as Japan or Japan was as weak as China, there would be no such thing as war. The former must be that both sides unite to oppose Europe and the United States, and the latter must be that both sides become European and American colonies. If one day China is strong and Japan is weak, China may not attack Japan, but Japan will definitely send people to learn from China, just like the "envoys sent to Tang Dynasty".

After the relevant intelligence was reported, many people suspected that Kobayashi Mitsuhide was a Japanese spy. However, no matter whether Li Kenong's generals conducted in-depth investigations or inquired about Nosaka Sanzo (pseudonym Lin Zhe), the chairman of the Japanese Communist Party in Yan'an, they could not confirm his identity as a spy. . Nosaka Sanzo has been responsible for the labor movement in Japan. He has a relatively high theoretical level and a Communist International background. However, he has never served in the army. Therefore, although he can clearly explain the domestic situation in Japan on an overall level, he has a clear understanding of the internal situation of the Japanese army. The situation turned out to be a blur.

Mitsuhide Kobayashi was a very down-to-earth soldier. He could not explain the overall situation in Japan, but he could talk about confidential information within the Japanese army, including the formation, organization, equipment, soldier training, officer training, logistics, etc. He wrote tens of thousands of words about a series of work - he explained that he worked at the North China Front Army Staff Headquarters, and because he knew Chinese, he was also responsible for collecting intelligence about China. This time, he took advantage of the favorable opportunity to supervise operations on the battlefield and defected here.

As the investigation deepens, the initiative in the relevant inquiries has rested with the security cadres sent by Yan'an, and the problems have become increasingly acute.

"Have you ever killed Chinese people?"

"Killed..."

"several?"

"Not many, 3-4. I am a lieutenant colonel, and I work in the staff system most of the time. I basically don't have to kill Chinese people directly. Only 3-4 people are asked to shoot and kill directly, and they are still Before the China Incident (July 7th Incident), I served as a squadron leader in Manchuria to suppress the guerrillas. But I can guarantee that I have never killed Chinese civilians or committed any other criminal acts. After all, I am also in a non-commissioned officer school. and officers who graduated from mainland China.”

Everyone was very satisfied with Kobayashi Mitsuhide's attitude - at first they thought he would be secretive about these issues, but he readily admitted them. Not only did he explain the relevant time and place, but he also showed the process of the final failure of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces from the side.

After reversing the relevant prejudices and positions, the Eighth Route Army had to admit that he was a very good soldier - with outstanding staff skills and very solid basic infantry skills. His marksmanship is very accurate, and the grenades can be thrown very far. The Taiyue Military Region captured some Japanese grenades. There are very few soldiers who can shoot accurately. But in the hands of Kobayashi Mitsuhide, he can simply hit wherever he points, with fixed targets within the visual range. A sure hit within 4 rounds. In terms of stabbing skills, even though he is already a middle-aged man in his 40s, he is still able to deal with three Eighth Route Army soldiers with ease.

This superb skill coupled with his statements in previous debates made everyone in the Taiyue Military Region believe that Kobayashi Mitsuhide was not a Japanese spy. If he was a spy, he should keep a low profile as much as possible to blend in without causing such heated debates. dispute. More importantly, Kobayashi Mitsuhide is very capable - he can get the arms that the Eighth Route Army urgently needs.

After the Qinyuan sweep, the days when the Japanese troops went out to sweep became fewer and fewer, and the frequency of going to the countryside became less and less. They only huddled in a few county towns, almost indifferent to the vast rural areas outside, and allowed large tracts of " "Public security areas" became "quasi-security areas", and then from "quasi-security areas" to "non-security areas". Correspondingly, the booming anti-Japanese base areas - arms became the most urgently needed thing.

After the suspicion was initially lifted, in order to continue to observe him, Kobayashi Mitsuhide was assigned to work in the Taiyue Military Region. He was mainly responsible for training and education. He was responsible for carrying out formal education throughout the military region and helping cadres improve relevant military capabilities. He not only completed the job outstandingly, Although An Ziwen was doubtful about this, he did not stop him and allowed him to write a letter to the Japanese army and ask for 10 rifles and 2,000 rounds of ammunition, and also specified the delivery location.

At the designated time, based on the clues and targets he provided, the Eighth Route Army indeed dug up arms and replies.