Chapter 33 6. Soldiers and civilians are the foundation of victory

In the Battle of Xiangxi, the Kuomintang army tasted the sweetness of popular support.In a war environment, it is impossible for the army to do everything, such as destroying the enemy's communication lines behind the enemy line, reconnaissance of the enemy's situation, rescuing the wounded, delivering food and ammunition, serving as guides, etc., ordinary people are very useful.In a sense, the army is like fish, and the common people are like water. Fish cannot do without water, and the army cannot do without the common people. In this regard, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army led by the Communist Party have done a good job, and even pushed the relationship between the army and the common people to the extreme, which can be called a model of the world's army.The Communist Party's army itself comes from the common people in China, and they call themselves the People's Soldiers.During the entire eight-year war of resistance, they always adhered to the line of the whole people's war of resistance, mobilized the masses, armed the masses, and continuously strengthened the armed forces of the people, so that the Japanese aggressors were buried in the vast ocean of the people's war.

At the beginning of 1945, the liberated areas behind enemy lines under the leadership of the Communist Party, after partial counter-offensives, rectification, and production campaigns in 1944, achieved remarkable achievements in military, political, economic and other aspects, and now had a population of more than 90 million and more than 2 million militiamen.The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army grew to 780,000 troops.This creates extremely favorable conditions for launching larger-scale offensive operations. At the end of 1944, Mao Zedong delivered the speech "Tasks of 1945".He proposed that the only mission of the country is to cooperate with the Allies to defeat the Japanese invaders.The task of the soldiers and civilians in the liberated areas is to eliminate the enemy and puppets, expand the liberated areas, and shrink the occupied areas.The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army will carry out larger-scale offensive operations, and turn all the weakly defended occupied areas that can be conquered under our current conditions into liberated areas, forcing the Japanese army to be in extremely narrow cities and traffic arteries, and be defeated by us. tightly surrounded.When all conditions are ripe, the enemy will be completely driven out.

When the Japanese dispatched troops stationed in China issued the order to open up the communication line in mainland China and implement the "Operation No. 1", they launched an attack on the frontal battlefield of the Kuomintang. Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi successively fell, and the frontal battlefield was repeatedly defeated. They lost ground in just a few months. Thousands of miles away, hundreds of thousands of lost teachers.The livelihood of the people in the Japanese-occupied areas was depleted, public grievances boiled, and civil uprisings arose.On the battlefield behind the enemy, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army concentrated their superior forces to attack areas that were weakly defended by the enemy, focusing on attacking and destroying the puppet troops, and seized the weak strongholds that were defended jointly by the Japanese and puppet troops and defended solely by the Japanese army.

The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army continued to open up new areas in northern Henan and southern Shanxi on the north bank of the Yellow River, developed the liberated areas in eastern Henan and western Henan, opened up the connection between North China and central China, and actively besieged the enemy's isolated strongholds and county towns that penetrated into the base areas of the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army, completely crushing the division of the Japanese army. and blockade, launched a key attack on the Japanese army on the east side of the Ping-Han Railway and the Luxi area, compressing the enemy to the narrowest area and front.

The most active battlefield behind enemy lines this year was the Shanxi-Hebei-Henan-Shandong area. In 1944, in order to strengthen its defense in the Pacific and attack the Kuomintang's frontal battlefield, the Japanese army withdrew some troops from around the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan area, and the enemy's defense force weakened.So the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army seized this opportunity and actively launched spring and summer offensives in Shanxi, Hebei, Luyu, connecting the anti-Japanese base areas into a large area, and the connection between the liberated areas and the liberated areas became smoother.The new liberated areas in southern Shanxi, northern Henan, and eastern Henan were opened up, the masses were widely mobilized, people's armed forces were established, and anti-Japanese democratic regimes at all levels were established.

The main characteristics of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army's operations during this period were: large scale, fierce offensive, unified action, centralized command, and enhanced continuity of campaigns and battles.The militia and self-defense forces participated in the war on a large scale and took on the tasks of battlefield service and rear support. With the support of the people in the enemy's rear, the Eighth Route Army fought more than 2,300 battles in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan, conquered more than 2,800 Japanese and puppet strongholds, recovered 28 counties, and annihilated more than 37,800 Japanese and puppet troops. The KMT's Xiangxi battlefield prevented Commander Ningji Okamura from mobilizing troops to support the Xiangxi battlefield. As a result, the Japanese troops participating in the Zhijiang battle were not only unable to receive material assistance, let alone supplementary troops.

When the battle in western Hunan was at its most intense, the Chinese Communist Party held its Seventh Congress, while the Kuomintang was also holding its Sixth Congress. Both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were making their final efforts to finally defeat Japanese imperialism.China's war of resistance against Japan was on the eve of the final victory. Allied forces including the Soviet Union, the United States, and Britain had reached the German mainland. Japanese fascists suffered consecutive defeats in the Pacific battlefield. The Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the soldiers and civilians in the Liberated Areas led by the Communist Party, inspired by the spirit of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, launched a more violent offensive against Japan in order to completely defeat Japanese imperialism.The liberated areas are expanding rapidly, and the armed forces of the people's army are also growing stronger.At the end of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, there were 910,000 people's army, more than 2.2 million militiamen, and tens of millions of self-defense troops. 19 liberated areas were established throughout North, Central, and South China, with a population of more than 95.5 million.

The liberated areas opened up by the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army are in an extremely important strategic position.Most of the Chinese cities, communication lines and coastlines occupied by the Japanese army were surrounded by local armed forces led by the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army and the Communist Party. During this period, whenever the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army won battles against Japan and opened up new revolutionary base areas, they would be greeted warmly by the masses beating gongs and drums along the way.The masses of the people in the liberated areas were liberated, and they were extremely joyful and encouraged. The young people who signed up to join the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were extremely enthusiastic, which can be said to be unprecedented.

After the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chiang Kai-shek did not see this.They think that they have the support of the United States and the support of 4 million regular troops with American equipment, and they think that the more than 1 million Communist Party troops are overwhelmed.In fact, behind this team, there are millions of militiamen and tens of millions of people's self-defense forces.Of course, in the eyes of Chiang Kai-shek, this is nothing more than a group of rabble, vulnerable to a single blow. In the stage of the final counter-offensive of the Anti-Japanese War, the power of the people can be best reflected.Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the liberated areas quickly set off an upsurge of participating in the war.Under the call of the Communist Party to "all for the front, all for victory", militiamen were organized in counties and marched to the front.They are responsible for the logistical work of various battles of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. Take the 129th Division as an example, and there are no fewer than 450,000 militiamen following them.This is not counting the transportation and logistics army.

At that time, it was the busy season of autumn harvest and farming, but the masses were still organized and enthusiastically supported.The children's regiment cooperated with the militia and self-defense forces to stand guard, check the roads, and maintain order in the base area.Women participate in autumn harvest and autumn planting, mill rice and flour for the troops, make shoes and socks, form ambulance teams, and take care of the wounded. The Communist Party raised its arms in the liberated areas, and an unprecedented scale movement to join the army was launched in 19 liberated areas across the country.Under the call of "join the Victory Army", "revenge parents, brothers and sisters", and "defend the fruits of victory in the War of Resistance", the militia joined the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army collectively in squads and rows. The touching scene of brothers vying to join the army.

These are things that the Kuomintang army will never be able to do.On the Xiangxi battlefield, the Kuomintang's defenders were still catching, buying, and binding soldiers. This was in stark contrast to their active participation in the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.Soldiers and people are the foundation of victory, and this is an unbreakable truth that will never be subverted.No wonder Marshal Chen Yi said that the victory in the Battle of Huaihai was achieved by the people using small carts, and that the Battle of Crossing the River was achieved by the people using rolls. If these words were told to Chiang Kai-shek and his generals, they would never believe them.Only the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army led by the Communist Party believe it, because this is the true knowledge they have seen, experienced, and personally participated in the practice. In today's world, no matter how society develops, how advanced science and technology is, and how powerful the military is, we must follow the trend of history and the aspirations of the people.Any nuclear power or superpower that dares to launch a war against the wishes of the people of the world, no matter how powerful the country is and how good the weapons are, will not escape the punishment of the people of the world.The theme of today's world is still peace and development.The people of the world yearn for peace, which is the trend of world history.No one can stop the yearning of the people of the world for peace. Soldiers and people are the foundation of victory. This is a summary of the experience of the Chinese Communist Party in the War of Resistance Against Japan.Japan is a small country, but it is also a military power.China is a big country, but it is a weak country.When a weak country confronts a strong country, it must mobilize the human and material resources of the whole country in order to resist the invasion of a strong country. The Kuomintang's line of one-sided war of resistance could not defeat the aggression of Japanese militarism.Only by adhering to the comprehensive anti-Japanese line proposed by the Communist Party, mobilizing the people of the whole country to fight a people's war, can we win the Anti-Japanese War. To persevere in people's war, we must not only pay attention to the building of the regular army, but also continuously strengthen the building of local armed forces and people's armed forces.In the course of the war, it is necessary to go deep into the masses, propagate the masses, and mobilize the masses freely.When the masses are awakened, we must actively help them arm them.The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army of the Communist Party clearly saw this, and creatively organized the main force, local army, militia, self-defense force and the broad masses of the people closely. Based on the unified leadership of the various armed forces and the masses by the counties, districts, townships, and villages, the military and local combat operations are closely integrated, so that under the leadership of the party, all anti-Japanese forces can be fully mobilized to form an all-out force. The people's war changed the situation greatly, and the Japanese army was surrounded by Chinese soldiers and civilians. Regrettably, however, the Kuomintang often despises and despises what the Communist Eighth Route Army did. They even ridicule the Communist Party for not doing serious things.This is the stupidity of the Kuomintang. They don't look at where their troops come from.Li Zicheng, the leader of peasant uprisings in Chinese history, knew that he would go to Henan after losing a battle. Henan is densely populated. This is the truth that soldiers come from the people. The Communist Party's method of combining the main force, local armed forces, militias, and self-defense forces is not only conducive to the development of the main force, but also can quickly improve the military and political quality of the local army. , The main force has a strong reserve force. The combination of the main force, the local army, the militia and the self-defense force's mass armed forces is conducive to giving full play to their respective advantages, cooperating with each other, and learning from each other's strengths.This was the case with the Eighth Route Army. While carrying out combat missions on outer lines or with larger forces, local troops and militias could carry out inner-line tasks, persist in local struggles, deal with the Japanese army in flexible and diverse forms, and cooperate with the main force to crush the enemy's siege and blockade.Once the situation deteriorates, the main force can be partially localized, and when the situation improves, it can be transformed into the main force again immediately.This is the trick used by the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army to carry out struggles behind enemy lines.These Kuomintang troops cannot learn.They cannot integrate themselves into the masses of the people. In the Battle of Xiangxi, although the Kuomintang army received strong support from the people, they still did not take the initiative to mobilize the masses, organize the masses, arm the masses, and turn the masses into a special force that cooperates with the main force.The Kuomintang army can't let go of the airs of the national army, and often has a sense of pride. The national army is the national army, and the local armed forces are the local armed forces. The two are clearly distinguished and cannot be confused. On the surface, when dealing with the Japanese army, they were people in the trenches, but they were incompatible ideologically and emotionally, so they had already separated from the people, the source of soldiers.