Kulikov's face was waxy and he was too thin. Compared with his slightly fat figure when he arrived in Yan'an a year ago, he lost a lot of weight. There was no way, the living conditions in China were still too difficult, and even a senior military adviser like him would not be able to get the treatment of living in the Soviet Union.

Of course, the most important thing is that Kulikov is a person who is very strict with himself. He believes that as a commander, he must take the lead and demonstrate. Without specialization, he will eat whatever the soldiers eat. The conditions in China are indeed too poor. Moreover, the water and soil are completely different from that of the Soviet Union. The serious disagreement of the water and soil caused his health to deteriorate, which is naturally normal.

However, compared with physical problems, what really made Kulikov unable to eat well or sleep well was the military problem. It was much more difficult than he thought to turn the guerrillas into regular troops. Even during the domestic revolutionary war, he fought guerrillas and thought he still had experience in this.

However, the guerrilla warfare in China and the guerrilla warfare during the Soviet Union's domestic revolutionary war are completely different. China basically has no heavy industry. In fact, there is no light industry in North China and Northwest regions, and it is difficult for the base areas to even self-sufficient in food. Most of the guns and ammunition rely on seizure or support from the Soviet Union. If enough enemy supplies cannot be seized in a battle, it will be too difficult for the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army to make ends meet, and such a battle cannot be fought.

In the War of Resistance in China, weapons and ammunition were sometimes more important than life. After almost all soldiers joined the army, the first lesson they were taught was how to save ammunition. However, although Kulikov could understand this kind of saving, he believed that if he wanted to be regular and fight a big battle, he had to give up this "small family spirit" first.

He told Commander-in-Chief Zhu and General Peng more than once: "The Soviet Union will spare no effort to support the Chinese people's anti-Japanese cause and do everything possible to provide material support. Therefore, it is imperative to formalize the guerrillas as soon as possible and fight big battles as soon as possible. Saving is important, but saving cannot be done for the sake of saving. We must tell the soldiers that they must dare to shoot fire and not have any concerns."

In order to help the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army complete regularization as soon as possible, Kulikov kept moving around almost all bases. He encountered the Japanese and puppet troops more than once, and almost lost his life.

But he thought it was worth it: "Nothing makes me feel more accomplished than helping the Eastern class brothers complete the cause of national independence and liberation."

With Kulikov's unremitting efforts, in 1942, a considerable number of the Eighth Route Army Group changed their appearance. Not only were they replaced with the world's advanced level in weapons and equipment, but they also began to move closer to the world's advanced level in tactics. Although this was just the beginning, as long as they continued to work hard, they would definitely succeed.

While the German army was about to launch a large-scale offensive operation, Kulikov was also helping the Eighth Route Army at the foot of the Taihang Mountains to get out of the ravine and expand its territory.

You read that right, it is expanding your territory. The Eighth Route Army, which had initially grown, is no longer satisfied with hiding in the valleys and is preparing to march towards small and medium-sized cities. The first one to launch an attack was the 120th Division, which was active in northeastern Shanxi.

According to the central government's plan, the division will launch an attack from Daqingshan to Jining and Zhuozi Hohhot, and recover these three cities in one fell swoop. Once successful, it will completely restore Suiyuan Province, and it will also mean that the northern passage of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region will be fully opened.

At that time, the materials sent by the Soviet Union through Outer Mongolia to Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia would be continuously transported to North China along the railway of the Contract Line, which means that the Eighth Route Army operating in this area would no longer be subject to material restrictions and could only carry out guerrilla warfare. It could completely carry out a larger-scale anti-Japanese struggle.

Of course, it is not so easy to achieve this. Although the main force of the Japanese invaders has already gone south, the North China region is still the focus of its attention. Especially as the Soviet Union initially opened up the ties with Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia, the Japanese invaders were always thinking about how to cut off this lifeline again. Therefore, on the Jibao Railway, the Japanese invaders concentrated relatively powerful regular troops and a considerable number of puppet troops, with a total strength of no less than 50,000.

Even He Shuai felt that it was difficult for such a powerful enemy, especially when he learned that the Soviet Union would not intervene directly in this battle, and only two Outer Mongolian cavalry divisions provided support, this worry became even worse.

Although after more than half a year of re-arming and training, a considerable number of the Eighth Route Army Group have undergone qualitative changes, the combat effectiveness of the troops can undertake head-on combat. No one can guarantee this. Considering that the enemy is very powerful and is entrenched on the railway line, this kind of combat is even more difficult.

Because once the enemy cannot be quickly divided and annihilated, the enemy's reinforcements will quickly arrive at the battlefield through the railway. It is hard to say who will win and lose at that time.

When formulating the combat plan, the plan He Shuai gave to the central government described it as follows: "In the early stage of the battle, raid war was still the focus. Paralyzing railway traffic and isolating the enemy in the fortresses along the railway played a key role in the success or failure of the battle... After paralyzing and slugging the enemy, some of the elite forces were left to act as blocking forces, and then concentrating superior forces and firepower to capture Jining in one fell swoop..."

Is this plan feasible? It should be said that it is more in line with the actual situation of the Eighth Route Army. Since the two Hundred Regiments Wars, the Eighth Route Army has mastered the skills of raid wars and can be more proficient in temporarily paralyzing the traffic of the Japanese invaders. After the enemy's advantage of rapid reinforcement by using the transportation routes to eliminate the enemy's advantage, the subsequent blocking and encirclement and annihilation operations will be relatively easy.

But Kulikov didn't like this set of tactics very much. He put forward another set of suggestions: "Don't engage in raids, leave only elite forces to block, and the superior forces directly invest in the attack on Jining."

There was a big difference between the opinions of foreign advisers and local marshals, so it was difficult to deal with. Who should I listen to? The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to listen to the reasons of both sides first.

He Shuai's reason is very simple. He believes that without conducting a raid, the Japanese invaders' traffic line will not be paralyzed, and the enemy will not be able to prevent rapid reinforcements. At that time, the blocking troops will be under great pressure. Once the blocking is not effective, it will bring great trouble and difficulties to the main force attacking Jining.

This is indeed reasonable, but Kulikov is not making unreasonable trouble. His reason is: Since 1940, the Eighth Route Army has carried out two Hundred Regiments Wars, and each time it is about traffic lines. The Japanese invaders are already familiar with such tactics, and they may have made targeted arrangements long ago. Once the attack war is carried out again, the Japanese invaders will quickly become alert and immediately carry out reinforcements. At that time, the attack war will not end. The troops will be attacked by enemy reinforcements, and the blocking war will be difficult to fight at this time.

Kulikov believed that this was equivalent to alerting the enemy, so it would be better to do it simply and neatly. As soon as you start, you caught Jining's enemy off guard and annihilated it as quickly as possible. In this way, even if the enemy's reinforcements come through the railway, the blocking troops do not need to be held for too long. Once the main force of attacking Jining completes the task, you can turn around and teach the enemy's reinforcements a lesson.

It should be said that both He Shuai and Kulikov's words make sense. But at the same time, they are both problematic. Carrying large-scale raids is indeed easy to alarm the enemy, but if they do not carry out raids, the enemy reinforcements will come quickly and the blocking troops will be under great pressure. And no one can guarantee that the main force of attacking Jining will be smooth sailing. Once both ends are not smooth, the consequences will be very heavy.

Therefore, the Central Military Commission of the Turkish Communist Party’s reply was: “Large-scale raiding operations are not desirable, but delaying and delaying the speed of enemy reinforcements is also of practical significance. Is it feasible to carry out small-scale raiding operations in the Jining to Datong section and the Jining to Baotou section without investing in the main force? Is it feasible to only carry out small squads or local troops to undertake this task?”

After a discussion with He Shuai He, Kulikov agreed to the suggestion of the Military Commission. Late at night on September 20, some engineers cooperated with local armed forces to carry out a simple, fast and decisive small-scale raid war, destroying some railways and interrupting the enemy's traffic. While they were acting, the main force of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army began the first attack with the support of artillery troops under the Outer Mongolian cavalry unit.

Li Ergou is an Imperial Army, the so-called Ergouzi. Of course, Li Ergou was not Ergouzi at the beginning, but at the beginning he was Yan Xishan's team. However, after Yan Laoxi was beaten by the Japanese, they all surrendered to the Japanese invaders and acted as accomplices of the Japanese.

The second Japanese are Chinese, but many times, they are more hateful and hateful than the real Japanese. For example, Li Ergou is a careless guy. Eating, drinking, gambling, fish and meat in the countryside is his daily work.

On this day, Li Ergou came out of the tobacco shop yawning and stretched happily. He was thinking about whether to go to Yihonglou or go to the gambling shop to have fun. Just as he was thinking hard, Zhang Sanpao ran over with Hanyang Zao.

"Report... Report... Team Captain."

This guy is a stuttering. He can't say it without dividing a sentence into five paragraphs.

Li Ergou glanced at him, stretched his waist, and yawned and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Ta...Ta...Ta...Ta...Ta...Ta...Take...Take...Take you"

When Li Ergou heard that the Japanese were invited, he immediately lost his laziness, as if he had been poured a basin of cold water on the 39th day, and he was sober.

"You're not leaving quickly." Li Ergou kicked Zhang Sanpao and scolded: "Taijun is looking for me, why don't you inform me earlier?"

Zhang Sanpao answered honestly: "You...you...you...you aren't you talking...it's your...your dad...you're looking for you, and you have to wait for you...you...you finish smoking...you're smoking?"

Li Ergou slapped him again and cursed: "Is my biological father the same thing as Taijun? Taijun is even bigger than my biological father."

Li Ergou ran back to the station. When he returned, he realized that Taijun had no other things to invite, just to clear the countryside and sweep. The Imperial Army was full of resentment:

"What if he patrols again? What should I do if I encounter Tujia Route Army?"

"The Eighth Route Army? The armed forces are in trouble"

"I said, Captain, how many times have you patroled this month? The more you swept the Eighth Route Army, the more you swept, so you can't tell Taijun, so we shouldn't spend this time."

Li Ergou is actually unwilling to go out of the city. It's so dangerous to patrol the city. Outside, either the Eighth Route Army or the Martial Arts Team. If you are not careful, you will be shot coldly or step on a landmine. The captain above him was beaten to death by the Martial Arts Team. He has only been working together for half a year, but he still doesn't want to go to the West like this.

However, Li Ergou had no courage to protest with the Japanese. When he saw the Japanese calves cramped and became weak, he instinctively wanted to put on his knees. He asked him to say no to the Japanese, so he might as well kill him. Anyway, the Japanese said that he would never dare to go westward, he was a complete slave.

"Li Sang, this time, it's still your brigade who is fighting the vanguard and the Imperial Army to support you."

This made Li Ergou's alveolar hurt. Damn, every time the Imperial Army is blocking the gun in front, and he is called "the vanguard". As for the Imperial Army to press the formation, are you pressing the formation? When you see that the situation is not right, you start running first. Or even our Imperial Army to fight together, Damn, you will have no other moves?

The Japanese really have no other tricks, and letting the Imperial Army go to mines and block guns is also the only use of the Imperial Army. Anyway, as long as the gun is fired, these turtle grandsons will escape without a trace. What can such a thing be used?

Li Ergou took his brother Xiongjiu out of the city with a high spirit, but less than three miles away from the artillery tower in the east of the city, the momentum of these grandsons disappeared. Without the artillery tower and bunker, these unethical grandsons were really not brave enough to walk on the road as if they were stepping on cotton. As for the Japanese behind them, they were still riding on horseback, watching the Imperial Army like monkey tricks. They also looked at these timid and incompetent "Chinese people".

Li Ergou moved forward slowly along the railway line. Their task was to ensure the smooth line and disperse the armed forces teams that were making a fuss about the railway. However, such patrols were not very meaningful, because the number of armed forces in the Eighth Route Army was too large, and they had the masses to do their best to avoid patrol teams like Li Ergou. Maybe when Li Ergou and the others left, the armed forces team would drill out of the woods or the underground and pry the rails away.

Li Ergou saw such things too much, and he couldn't even take care of them, and he didn't dare to take care of them. He was afraid of the Japanese, but he was even more afraid of the Eighth Route Army's armed forces. The Japanese would only slap him in the mouth, and the Eighth Route Army took his life.

So when Li Ergou patrols, even if they really find that there is an activity of an armed work team, they will deliberately pretend to be invisible. Anyway, the armed work team generally has weak firepower and will not fight head-on with the patrol team. The goal of the armed work team is to rob the train and get supplies. Li Ergou just pretends to be invisible and continue patrolling honestly. Generally, both sides do not violate the river water.

For Li Ergou, this is better. Anyway, he is working hard for the Japanese just to make a living, so he doesn't have to joke about his life. As for the discovery of the military work team by the Japanese, it is another situation. Fortunately, this kind of bad situation is generally rare, because the military work team is quite good at concealing and is not easy to be discovered.

"Team... Team... Captain, there are... There are situations in front of you"

Li Ergou asked sternly: "What's the situation? Is it the armed forces team?"

"Too...too...too...black, I can't see clearly"

Li Ergou grabbed the back of his head, thought for a while, and asked again: "Have you discovered it?"

"No...no"

Li Ergou replied naturally: "Then pretend you didn't see it."

Kulikov was also quite surprised by the wonderful relationship between the Imperial Army and the Eighth Route Army. As a foreigner, he really could not imagine that the two hostile sides would have such a "tactical understanding". Logically speaking, this was completely impossible.

After repeated understanding, he realized the reason. The so-called puppet army was actually a group of scum. These people could not be considered real soldiers at all. For them, being a soldier was just a way to make a living. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were not as easy to bully as ordinary people. In order to save their lives, they naturally slacked off.

For example, Kulikov once saw that in a battle, the puppet army that was fighting the vanguard search forward obviously walked past the Eighth Route Army, but pretended not to see anything. When the Japanese followed foolishly, when the gun fired, the group of people would scatter birds and beasts, and then the next thing was the matter between the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese. These people would avoid the battlefield from afar and flee home in a big circle.

The situation this time was similar to before. The puppet army, who was blind, walked into the encirclement of the Eighth Route Army in a swaying manner, making the Japanese behind them think everything is safe, and they also rushed in stupidly.

Then, the gunshots were different from the previous fighting style of the Eighth Route Army. The Eighth Route Army was very cautious in firing fires, and rarely fired more than twice. Basically, they started charging after one or two shootings, and then used hand-to-hand combat to solve the problem. Or they would smash the overwhelming grenades, blow the Japanese into a wolf and pig rush, and then clean up the battlefield.

This time, the Eighth Route Army did not launch a charge quickly, but continued to shoot. Of course, the grenades did not stop. Moreover, these grenades were different from the counterfeit grenades produced by the base area earlier. Most of them were standard grenades assisted by the Soviet Union. The loaded ** is trinitrotoluene, and the bullet body also had prefabricated fragments, which was more lethal. In addition to grenades, the Eighth Route Army also used mortars.

When the shells exploded among the Japanese cavalry, the invaders were a little unresponsive because this was not a typical Eighth Route Army combat method, and the Japanese were a little unacceptable for a while.

With such a bad kung fu, the battle ended. Under the powerful firepower of the Eighth Route Army, none of the Japanese left and were wiped out. Even Li Ergou, a group of traitors who were preparing to escape with oil as soon as the battle started, were caught alive.

"Isn't this Li Ergou, Captain Li? Why are your legs trembling? Last month, you were so angry when you went to Dongzhuang to sweep the bus."
Chapter completed!