noffsinger Chapter 523 The 36th Army
Chapter 523 The 36th Army
In the autumn of 1937, Li Jiayu's th Army was ordered to leave Sichuan to fight the war.
The Sichuan Army soldiers left Sichuan wearing shorts and straw sandals, carrying old sleeves and machetes.
Because the weather in the Sichuan Basin is humid, many people have the habit of smoking, and they smoke dry tobacco, so they all carry a pipe on their backs and are jokingly called "double-gun soldiers."
Li Jiayu's 47th Army was organized into the 22nd Army Group. It walked from Xichang to Baoji and then took a train to Shaanxi.
Li Jiayu's 47th Army was poorly equipped.
A regiment or a brigade only had three or five machine guns, and the average number of rifles was two per person.
They crossed the Bashan Mountains and the Qinling Mountains with great enthusiasm and arrived in Xi'an, but they did not expect to be treated coldly.
It was already late October, Shaanxi was freezing cold, and the Sichuan Army soldiers were wearing only single clothes. Moreover, due to their simple equipment, no war zone was willing to accept them.
It’s fine if you don’t want to accept it, the Sichuan Army are heroes wherever they go!
However, supplies are in short supply and need to be replenished urgently, otherwise these soldiers in thin clothes will freeze to death in Shaanxi.
However, Chiang Ting-wen, director of the Xi'an Pacification Office, refused to replenish supplies and referred them to Yan Xishan.
Yan Xishan evaded responsibility by saying:
Because all the weapons, ammunition and military supplies from Shanxi had already been transported across the Yellow River and stored near Tongguan, there was no way to get them in Taiyuan and they refused to replenish them.
As a result, only 20 light machine guns made in Shanxi were given to the 41st Army as a gift.
Li Jiayu's 47th Army followed the 22nd Army Group, crossed the Yellow River, and entered the anti-Japanese front in Shanxi.
After the Battle of Niangziguan, the main force of the 22nd Army went to Henan and Shandong and came under the command of the Fifth War Zone.
The 47th Army was ordered to stay in Changzhi and accept the command of Wei Lihuang, deputy commander-in-chief of the Second War Zone. It fought on the front line in southeastern Shanxi as part of the Fourth Army Group and participated in the battle to defend Changzhi.
Later he was transferred to the Zhongtiao Mountain area and stationed in Pinglu, where he repeatedly crushed the Japanese army's attempts to capture Zhongtiao Mountain.
On October 1939, 10, it was ordered to be expanded into the 24th Army Group.
After the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountains in 1941, the th Army retreated across the Yellow River and stationed in Xin'an, Henan.
However, in January 1938, Sichuan Army commander Liu Xiang died of illness.
The Sichuan Army lost its backbone and was gradually split up and then marginalized. Whether in terms of weapons and equipment, logistical support or rewards and punishments, it could not compare with the central army and local powerful groups.
In the middle and late stages of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Sichuan Army's enthusiasm for resistance was completely worn out by the injustice within the Chinese military, and negative emotions began to grow. In the later large-scale battles, the Sichuan Army's performance was mediocre and far less outstanding than in the early stages.
Li Jiayu's 36th Army is a typical example. His principle is to guard his own little piece of land and ignore everything else.
Li Jiayu positioned himself as a supporting role, and in the subsequent battle to recapture Zheng County, he attacked slowly and did his "job" well.
As for the capture of the northern part of Zheng County, as expected, the 36th Army was ordered by Chongqing to return to defend Xin'an County, Luoyang, because it was not a direct line of attack.
After listening to Monk Wei’s introduction, Wang Meng nodded.
"The Sichuan Army is worthy of China! But China is not worthy of the Sichuan Army! Hey, monk, how do you know this army so well?"
"Oh, when I was in the Central Army, I came into contact with the 47th Army of the Sichuan Army. Their equipment was very poor, but their combat effectiveness and fighting spirit were not bad!"
"It seems that Li Jiayu has been seriously managing this land since returning to Xin'an, Luoyang. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made Xin'an County so lively.
It's just that it would be a pity to put such a capable general in the Central Army! Moreover, I'm afraid he will become a thorn in the eyes of the Japanese devils! "
Wang Meng sighed, there was nothing he could do.
Just as Wang Meng was observing the Xin'an County Government, there were some guests who looked sneaky at the table next to them.
His dress and appearance were no different from those of ordinary Chinese people, except that his expression looked a little deliberate.
Monk Wei lowered his voice and said with a smile on his face:
"Boss Wang, do you think the people at the table behind you look a little weird?"
"Well, it looks like their goal is similar to ours. Let's see first. If they are the Japanese, whether they are in the territory of our independent column or the territory of the Central Army, we can't let them mess around!"
As a result, when the restaurant closed, the people at the next table did not do anything and left the restaurant calmly.
Wang Meng and Monk Wei didn't want to interfere too much. After all, if a fight really got out of hand, they might also get into trouble.
Early the next morning, Wang Meng and his companions had a simple bowl of noodles in the hotel and prepared to cross the Yellow River and continue their journey.
There is a ferry in the north of Xin'an County, which allows people to travel between the two sides of the Yellow River.
Wang Meng and his group stopped one mile away from the ferry.
"Chief of Staff, Commander, we need to check the ferry!"
"Monk, take out the note."
Monk Wei chuckled and had intended to keep the secret, but he didn't expect to be seen through by Wang Meng.
"Hey, Chief of Staff, how do you know I have a cop?"
"Tsk, if you don't even know what you need at the ferry crossing, you can forget about being a paratrooper!"
Before leaving this morning, Monk Wei spent a small amount of money to buy ten notes with red stamps from the innkeeper.
Just as they were leading the horses and preparing to cross the river in several groups, Monk Wei pulled Wang Meng's arm.
"Chief of Staff, look!"
Wang Meng looked in the direction of Monk Wei's gaze and saw the group of people he met at the restaurant yesterday meeting them again.
There were about seventeen or eighteen people in their group. Although they were divided into seven or eight groups and were seven or eight meters apart, you could tell they were a group by the way they looked around.
"There's something wrong with these people. Look at their clothes. Although they are covered in dust just like us, they are all new clothes. It's as if they were deliberately smeared with dust!"
At this time, this group of people happened to pass by Monk Wei.
Monk Wei looked down and saw that although these people were wearing cloth shoes that were covered with mud, you could even see the needle holes on the shoes, so it was obvious that they were new shoes.
"Well, ordinary people don't want to wear new shoes when traveling."
"Let's go, follow them and see what they are going to do! Get the soldiers ready. If they are the Japs, we will not hold back!"
After saying that, Wang Meng and his ten men opened the safety of their pistols, and then formed groups of two, leading their horses, and surrounded the group of people.
The two groups of people mixed together with their own thoughts.
Twenty meters away from the ferry, Wang Meng saw about a platoon of Central Army soldiers deployed there, including a light machine gun position, and the rest were carrying rifles.
The people lined up in two queues to undergo inspection and prepare to board the ferry.
"My fellow villager, the cop!"
The soldiers of the Central Army stretched out their hands in front of the group.
"Give!"
Just as the Central Army soldiers were about to take over, the sound of horse hooves was heard.