Chapter 12 11. Yan Xishan was deeply moved

The battle of Pingxingguan was the first battle of the Eighth Route Army.The Eighth Route Army gave full play to its advantages in mountain warfare and close combat, and correctly used ambush tactics to achieve the goal of winning the first battle, boosting the morale of the people, and improving the prestige of the Communist Party of China and the Eighth Route Army. Just after the battle ended, Lin Biao asked Sun Yi, acting chief of staff, to send telegrams to the Eighth Route Army headquarters and Mao Zedong in Yan'an.As a result, the news of Pingxingguan's victory quickly spread throughout China.

On the 26th, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters first issued a good news to the Nanjing Kuomintang Military Commission: Chiang Kai-shek has not heard such good news for a long time.On the same day, he congratulated Commander Zhu De and Deputy Commander Peng Dehuai of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters.The full text of the telegram is as follows: Yunnan Provincial Government Chairman Long Yun called Zhu De and Peng Dehuai: On the 28th, the Shanghai Professional World Salvation Association called the Eighth Route Army: Afterwards, congratulatory messages flew in like snowflakes. On October 1, Mao Zedong called Bogu and Ye Jianying and received the congratulatory telegram: Our victory news was sent to the whole country, and there were many congratulatory telegrams in various provinces in recent days, including Chiang Kai-shek, Yang Hucheng, Ma Hongkui, Fan Changjiang, Long Yun, Sun Weiru, Shanghai Ta Kung Pao , Shanghai Vocational Salvation Congress, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hubei, Guangdong, Shaanxi, and Henan Provincial Party Headquarters, Wuhan Camp, Kaifeng Appeasement Office, Zhejiang and Fujian Provincial Governments, Zhejiang Anti-Japanese Salvation Congress, etc.There are even congratulatory telegrams from overseas. The Paris Salvation Times said in a congratulatory telegram:

When Yan Xishan received the good news from Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen at Yanmen Pass, he felt quite complicated. Since the start of the war, his army has retreated steadily, making the battle situation worse and worse. Now Shanxi's survival is at stake, and public opinion in the whole country is in an uproar.Yan Xishan is in the ambivalence that he can't explain to the people of the country without fighting, and he is not sure if he fights.As early as when he made the plan for the Pingxingguan battle, Peng Dehuai had already seen that he was not determined.When Yan Xishan was hesitating, he suddenly heard that the Eighth Route Army had made a great victory, and he felt like he had knocked over a five-flavored bottle, unable to taste it.He stared at the military map on the wall obsessively, and was silent for half an hour...

He has been looking forward to a good news, to blunt the spirit of the Japanese army, and at the same time to comfort the world: the Jin army is not a rat who flees when he hears the enemy.Now the first good news has finally arrived, but it happened that the Communist Party took the lead.In this regard, Yan Xishan was very disappointed.Lin Biao, a junior from the fourth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, has a childish baby face, and he should be proud now.Yan Xishan recalled that the Eighth Route Army generals he had seen recently were all outstanding.Zhou Enlai is very talented, he is a great talent, and he was a famous man 10 years ago.Even the plain-looking Peng Dehuai is full of ideas and talks well.The images of Zhu De, Zuo Quan, Peng Xuefeng, and his fellow Wutai Xu Xiangqian all emerged in Yan Xishan's mind one by one. Thinking about the generals of the Jin army under him, this veteran warlord couldn't help feeling deeply: all the good generals belonged to Mao Zedong's tent Down!After finishing speaking, Yan Xishan looked at the victory report sent by Lin Biao again, and said to himself: "You should have been promoted to be an army commander, but it's a pity that you are a Communist Party..."