Rise From Eight Hundred

Under the command of Tang Tuanzuo, the various units that had occupied Shimen began to post notices on the streets of Shimen, which was already bright.

The content was to recruit young and strong laborers as laborers, and they could first distribute food as a reward. If they wanted to return home after moving the materials, they would also be given travel expenses. If they were willing to bring their families from southeastern Shanxi to Shaanxi Province, they were welcome to do so, and they would also be given food for the journey. If they were willing to help with transportation, the elderly, women, and children could all be given half the reward of young and strong people!

As the most important transportation hub of the Pinghan Line, Shimen is much larger than a small county town like Licheng, and its population is definitely over 100,000.

There are only fools who can become the head of the group. They not only fancy the various captured materials piled up in Shimen, but also the population resources of Shimen.

There are at least 20,000 to 30,000 young and strong men in a population of 100,000. If half of them can be tricked into going to the war zone, there will be more than 10,000 people, which is enough to make up for half of the more than 20,000 casualties and serious injuries in the Jindong War.

Moreover, it can also cut off the possibility of the angry Japanese army taking out their anger on ordinary people in Shimen City.

The various departments of Shimen now do not have much money. It is impossible to use the white money to distribute military expenses on the spot, but they have food in their hands! Three million catties of refined rice and more than one million catties of white flour are their confidence.

Even the white-haired general, the highest commander of the Shimen front, took out 800,000 catties of white flour as a reward after consulting the opinions of various departments. If you are willing to be a civilian, 60 catties of white flour and 40 catties of corn flour will be distributed on the spot.

By this time in the war, prices had already soared. A pound of white flour had already gone from one dollar for ten pounds a year ago to one dollar for two pounds, a full five times increase. Ordinary people had to save buckwheat noodles, not to mention white flour.

This reward was worth 40 dollars, which was a sky-high price. If you miss this opportunity, many people will probably never encounter such a good thing in their lives.

Moreover, as long as the elderly, women, and children are willing to move things, they will also be paid, even if it is only half of the young and strong. But if a family of eight goes out together, 3 young and strong people bring 5 old, weak, women and children, then they can get 550 kilograms of various grains. With the careful matching of the hostess, it is enough for the family to eat for at least half a year.

In order to attract young and strong people to sign up, in addition to posting notices on the streets, each unit also sent teams of soldiers holding tin loudspeakers to loudly promote along various alleys.

Most of the people were still watching for the first half an hour, but as the young and middle-aged people who couldn't stand the temptation of white flour registered their names, addresses and pressed their fingerprints and carried hundreds of kilograms of food home, the people became restless.

Human beings are a kind of group animal, and they have a strong herd mentality. Seeing more and more people taking food home, more people chose to join in. More than half of them took the food and discussed with their families at home, and resolutely joined the team of transporting supplies with their families.

The reason is very simple. No one is a fool. They know very well that if they join the transport team of the National Army, they may not have the opportunity to return to Shimen City until the end of the war.

Instead of this, it is better for the family to be tied together, either live or die together. Although Shaanxi Province is unfamiliar, it is a Chinese place after all. There is no need to live in fear every day. As long as you are willing to work hard and have a few hundred kilograms of food as a base, as long as the family does not starve to death, there will always be a day when the clouds will clear and the moon will shine.

It was this simple concept that, by the afternoon of the 17th, there were as many as 70,000 to 80,000 ordinary people who responded to the call and were willing to participate in the transportation of materials, accounting for almost 80% of the total population of Shimen City.

This is a considerable number, and an extremely spectacular scene.

Each family of these northern residents who participated in the transportation had at least a wheelbarrow. The little broken household items, pots and pans, mattresses and babies in swaddling clothes were all placed on this wheelbarrow, pushed by the white-haired old man in the family.

The young and strong, including middle-aged women and even children over ten years old, all carried grain bags on their shoulders and hung them on their chests. The average weight per person was nearly 60 kilograms, and they walked slowly but firmly along the highway and various paths towards Jingxing.

On the transportation line of more than 40 kilometers, in addition to soldiers, there were more people carrying things on their shoulders and in their hands.

The reconnaissance planes of the North China Front Army flew over such a spectacular transport army more than once, but no plane had the opportunity to shoot and strafe.

It's not that they didn't want to, but the anti-aircraft company of the Fourth Regiment had already been dispatched before, and deployed along the hilltops of this transport line. Various anti-aircraft machine guns and machine guns had already raised their muzzles high.

The Japanese reconnaissance plane would be greeted with a hail of bullets even if it descended to 1,000 meters, let alone 2,000 meters!

If you want to destroy this large-scale transport-type "retreat" built by more than 100,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians, let alone reconnaissance planes, even if it is a fleet formation, it will probably take at least 20 sorties.

Shanshan Yuan received the news reported by the Army Aviation in the afternoon, and of course he understood what kind of bad consequences would be caused if so many supplies were snatched away by the Chinese. He gritted his teeth and asked the North China Front Army Temporary Army Aviation Corps to overcome all difficulties and dispatch at least 20 bombers to bomb this large-scale transport team carrying the hopes of the Chinese!

If this is true, this transport team composed of civilians and tens of thousands of soldiers will lose at least 20%.

People, there may be mountains near the simple road to hide, but the loss of supplies is bound to be huge.

Even Commander Tang was helpless in this situation.

This is the sadness of losing air superiority. The Chinese army on the ice field will also face such a situation in the next ten years. The only thing they can do is to transport as many as you blow up. Even if there are 60,000 apples, only one can be delivered to the front line.

Although there are four-line regiment air defense companies deployed along the way, the white-haired general and Commander Tang have also made psychological estimates of more than 20% losses of various types.

For this reason, the three trains that already have train drivers are still staying in the suburbs near Shimen Railway Station. They did not start loading immediately, but planned to wait until nightfall.

However, perhaps it was God's favor that the Shimen area, which was still sunny and windy at noon, began to become gloomy in the afternoon. At three or four o'clock in the afternoon, it actually started to drizzle like the continuous rain in the south of the Yangtze River.

The rain was not heavy, but it was enough to make the mountain road slippery, adding more difficulties to the Chinese soldiers and civilians who were struggling to move forward on the mountain road.

But the smiles on the faces of the Chinese soldiers who were responsible for vigilance along the way were much stronger than before.

They had a hard time traveling, but compared to the countless casualties caused by the Japanese air raids, they were much happier.

There are no all-weather pilots now. Fog and rain are obstacles to aircraft takeoff. Even if the visibility on the ground is 100 meters, it is blind for aircraft in the sky.

The bombers of the Provisional Army Aviation Corps of the Japanese North China Front Army, which were already preparing to take off at the airport or had already taken off, could only wait for the weather to clear up or return in disgrace in this weather.

Shanshan Yuan, who was located in Pingbei City, was so angry that he even smashed his favorite teacups. Facing this sudden drizzle, he could only sigh at the rain!

As the highest commander of the entire Japanese North China Front Army, he knew too well that if he missed this afternoon, he had lost the best opportunity for air raids.

When the huge Chinese transport team arrived in the eastern Shanxi area tomorrow, even if his fighter planes could take off, the crazy ground firepower of the Chinese would be concentrated, and he might not get the mutton but get a lot of trouble.

The temporary aviation corps, which had lost dozens of fighter planes in a row, could not stand such a toss. If it lost this last trump card, the Chinese army in southern Shanxi might launch a major counterattack after being stimulated by the victory of the battle in eastern Shanxi.

Although there were more than 100,000 troops deployed there, without air support, the odds would be evenly split.

He had already lost a lot in eastern Shanxi. The battlefield in southern Shanxi was his last bottom line, or the last bottom line of the base camp. If there was a problem there again, no matter how much the emperor supported him, he would probably have to submit his resignation and leave the battlefield in disgrace.

"No military order from me, no bombers are allowed to take off!" As it was getting dark, the temporary aviation corps, which had been waiting for an afternoon but still saw no improvement in the weather, received the last military order from Shanshan Yuan about the Shimen battlefield.

The two mixed brigades and an infantry division that were being assembled also slowed down their pace towards Baoding.

Shanshan Yuan, who wanted to defend his bottom line, completely gave up the Shimen battlefield, which was rotten to the core.

For the various armies in eastern Shanxi that were stepping up transportation on the Shimen battlefield, it was a complete carnival of moving supplies.

Taking advantage of the night, almost all the officers and soldiers of the Four-line Regiment and the 772 Regiment who stayed in Shimen went into battle, plus 800 Japanese prisoners of war and more than 4,000 young and strong men, more than 10,000 people, sorted and loaded the various materials that had not been moved onto the train. The load capacity of a car was 60 tons, and 20 cars were loaded.

One locomotive just couldn't pull it, and finally two locomotives worked together, spewing black smoke all over the sky to pull a train of supplies to Jingxing County.

In one night, three trains were loaded, almost accommodating all the captured light and heavy weapons, ammunition and machine tools, but there were still thousands of tons of materials left in the warehouse.

After receiving the news, Brigade Commander Cheng, who led another main regiment, the 771st Regiment, to Jingxing County, sent an urgent telegram to the front line overnight. As the commander-in-chief of the Jindong Counterattack Army, Division Commander Liu was unable to transfer personnel, but ordered the 12th Division and the 101st Division, which had already entered the rear wing of Niangziguan to rush to Jingxing.

The two infantry divisions marched lightly and all the baggage was left at the rest area.

The military order was as heavy as a mountain. The two infantry divisions marched 40 kilometers overnight in just six hours and arrived at Jingxing County!

The ordinary officers and soldiers did not know, but the commanders of the two infantry divisions knew that this time they were not going to fight, but to be porters.

The supplies must be unloaded from the Jingxing County Railway Station and moved into the mountains as quickly as possible, otherwise, when the weather gets better, a bomb from an airplane can make everyone's joy vanish.

These two are not only first-class warriors in battle, but also first-class minds.

As early as noon on the 17th, he had received reports from his regiment commanders from the Shimen front, and knew that the Shimen capture was an astronomical figure.

Although Master Zhao had promised the participating regiments in the Shimen battle that the supplies would be distributed according to the number of troops and military merits, before the things were distributed, they were all mirages, and might just be a beautiful dream.

In this battle in eastern Shanxi, the two infantry divisions that fought against the Fifth Division suffered heavy losses. If they did not get some captured compensation, it would be difficult to explain to their superiors and they would not be able to provide the necessary pensions to the soldiers. The two elite division commanders sent telegrams to the headquarters continuously from the afternoon, hoping to participate in the Shimen material transportation mission.

But in order to prevent the Japanese army from moving and protect the rear wing of Niangziguan, which was already depleted of troops, Commander Liu had not allowed it. Now that they suddenly received the order to arrive in Jingxing, the two infantry divisions had to go lightly and run as fast as they could, fearing that they would not be able to get supplies if they ran slowly.

My goodness, the mountain road was slippery under the continuous drizzle, and it was night. The two infantry divisions, with a total of 20,000 people, ran nearly 40 kilometers of mountain roads in just 6 hours, which was a record since their establishment.

But this trip was definitely worth it!

The soldiers and civilians who set out from Shimen, under the threat of death, took only 13 hours to carry rice, flour and other supplies across nearly 50 kilometers. At around 6 a.m. on the 18th, under the eager anticipation of the officers and soldiers of the two infantry divisions who had just rested for less than 3 hours, they gradually arrived at Jingxing County.

This may be the busiest day in the small Jingxing County since its establishment. Together with the indigenous people, the small county gathered more than 120,000 people and up to 5 million kilograms of food and other supplies.

Throughout the morning, Jingxing County, which was still drizzling, was shrouded in blue smoke. Not to mention that there were no Japanese planes coming, even if there were, it would be in vain.

Because it was impossible to see clearly.

That was the blue smoke from at least more than 10,000 fires, which were used for cooking and heating.

It was also the first time in this era that Chinese people ate to their heart's content. Bags of rice were opened and rice porridge that was thick enough to be used as rice was used as breakfast. Each person could also get a spoonful of white sugar!

A breakfast that was extremely simple in the future became an unforgettable memory for the 120,000 soldiers and civilians in Jingxing County.

Really, eat until your belly is full.

It is said that Lieutenant Colonel Zhuang Shisan, who was in charge of the distribution of supplies that day, almost cried. How could a breakfast cost 50,000 kilograms of refined rice and 3,000 kilograms of sugar? Even the Four-Line Regiment had never been so extravagant.

Millions of kilograms of food certainly made the two masters who had seen the world very happy, but these would be gone after eating, and there were 80,000 Shimen people who had been transferred to need to be resettled, so the food consumed would not be small, and at least one-third of this batch of food would have to be distributed.

20,000 young and strong men are also rare resources, but what if each army does not get a single cent? For those who are still on the battlefield, weapons and ammunition are what they value most.

Especially those artillery, when they think of that, they are itchy and anxious.

Then, the two masters who were personally in charge of the Jingxing Railway Station saw such a spectacular scene.

To be precise, it was a scene where the 50,000 Chinese troops who had already eaten and drunk enough were collectively stunned.

Two locomotives were emitting black smoke and dragging a train that was not visible from the beginning to the end at a speed of no more than 15 kilometers from Shimen. There were actually three such trains.

The joints of the carriages and even the roofs were full of people. This was definitely not the main reason why the train was running slowly. When the soldiers opened the doors of the sealed carriages, they saw countless weapons and equipment loaded inside and the big guys wrapped in wooden boxes. Perhaps this was the main reason why the two locomotives could not run fast.

According to preliminary estimates, the three trains carried more than 3,000 tons of supplies, which was a terrible data just in terms of weight.

That old guy Shanshanyuan must be crying with snot all over his face at this moment! The Chinese officers and soldiers thought so at the same time.

The train could no longer be used after arriving at Shimen. It was not because Tang Tuanzuo was reluctant to give up the coal, but because of the stingy old man.

During his tenure as governor of Shanxi Province, this cunning guy actually did something tricky in order to prevent someone from stealing his home. The original narrow-gauge railway tracks in Shanxi Province were retained, still with the original 1-meter width standard, which is about 43 centimeters narrower than the standard track from Shimen to Jingxing.

This means that any materials and personnel who want to enter Shanxi Province by rail have to transfer to the train.

Without the train, these 3,000 tons of materials have to be transported by manpower. Fortunately, after a day of light rain yesterday, a large part of the military and civilians have arrived in Jingxing County. The air defense company of the Sihang Regiment can shrink its positions. 24 anti-aircraft guns and 48 anti-aircraft machine guns have been deployed around Jingxing County at 10 a.m.

As long as there are no more than 30 bomber formations attacking at one time, the air defense positions are fully confident of protecting most of the materials in the city.

The tens of thousands of people here only need to transport these materials to Xuehua Mountain. Basically, this large-scale transportation of materials and personnel is a victory.

Large equipment such as machine tools were wrapped in wooden boxes and transported by the third train, guarded by officers and soldiers of the Four-line Regiment and the 772nd Regiment. Although the two division commanders did not know what was in them, they were very wise not to pursue it, and did not even ask when they knew that the weapons and ammunition of the Four-line Regiment did not want these things.

These two were smart people who knew their own value. The full Japanese equipment of an infantry regiment, sufficient ammunition and three months of food supply were enough to make up for the losses of this counterattack in eastern Shanxi, and even exceeded them.

Moreover, the theater command had promised to pay soldiers' pensions and various military merits. It can be said that this war did not lose money but made a lot of money. Why should we be unhappy with such tough friendly forces as the 921st Division and the Four-line Regiment for a few captured items!

However, if the master commander from the 101st Division of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army knew that the big guys in this train were all the favorites of his boss, I am afraid his face would not be so kind.

That was the foundation of China's largest arsenal at that time. Who would not feel pain?

But the dazzling array of Japanese weapons and ammunition made this smart man too happy at the time, and he missed the opportunity to make up for the wealth of a stingy old man.

With the arrival of tens of thousands of civilians and more than 10,000 regular troops organized by the 80th Army of Southeast Shanxi, this round of transportation also entered its final climax.

The transportation in Shimen was completely completed on the 19th. The Japanese army's baggage in Shimen was completely moved away, and there were less than 50,000 Chinese people who were unwilling to leave their homes in the city.

The transportation from Jingxing County to the southeastern part of Shanxi lasted for 20 days. A large number of transport teams composed of civilians and regular troops passed by almost every day on the mountain roads and in the dense forests.

But no Japanese army dared to harass them. The Chinese regular troops in the entire eastern part of Shanxi even exceeded 100,000 at their peak to transport this huge batch of materials, which was two more infantry divisions than when they went to war with the Japanese army before.

The 108th and 109th Divisions, which were hiding in the county town, could only tremble at the sight of this number. Even though they could see a huge transport team in the mountains through the telescope, they did not dare to send out a single soldier or even fire a single shot.

For fear of angering the Chinese who were working hard to transport supplies, they had even captured Shimen. Wouldn't it be a piece of cake to attack a small county town with only one or two thousand soldiers stationed there?

Unprecedented frustration, this was the mentality of the Japanese army in southeastern Shanxi at this time, but they could not fight, so they could only hold it in.

As for eastern Shanxi, except for the remnants of the 18th and 20th Divisions that had ended their confrontation with the 921st and 104th Divisions, the rest were all corpses!

The 21st Division, which retreated to the mountainous area, reoccupied the empty Shimen town on September 23, six days after the entire Shimen was captured.

It was not until October 6 that the Jindong Counterattack Command, which had basically transported the supplies back to southeastern Shanxi, officially announced that the Jindong Counterattack had ended successfully!

At the same time, the "Jin Province Anti-Japanese War Briefing" led by the Second War Zone Command began to widely publicize the news of victory!

. . .

ps: Fengyue did not expect that the traditional etiquette was so complicated, especially as Fengyue was a nephew, he had to participate in the whole process, so Fengyue did not get home until 10 o'clock yesterday evening, because he stayed up all night the night before, he was too tired, and time was tight, so he could not fulfill his promise. I apologize to everyone here!

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