He was lying through his teeth. He was talking about someone like Liu Chuan. He was indeed an old fox who had been in society for decades. When he lied, even the old devil, Eternal Turtle Shiro, could not see anything wrong.
Since he couldn't tell, he wouldn't look at it anymore. Anyway, this matter had already been decided.
"Liu Chuan-kun, it doesn't matter if you don't know. You just need to know that I'm giving you authority now. You're in charge of Xu Prefecture and the western part of the country.
My request for you is also very simple. I hope that you can provide us with food and resources by the end of autumn this year, ensuring that we no longer have to transport them from the distant Empire.
Next year, I hope that you can make those damn guerrillas have nowhere to hide. As long as you can do these two things, I will personally send a message to the headquarters to ask for credit for you ~"
Eternal Turtle Shiro's words were firm, but in fact, Liu Chuan was a little disdainful. Who do you think you are? If you were the Lieutenant General of a regular division, I would not believe your nonsense. You are only a B division's major general, and your position in the army is even lower than that of a special division's major general. Who are you trying to fool?
Of course, even though he thought this way, he still had to put on a good show.
" Teacher, don't worry. I will definitely do it!"
Liu Chuan pretended to be grateful, but in fact, he was planning how to strengthen the guerrillas in his jurisdiction.
Many people were more familiar with the frontal battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War. They knew about the Battle of Shanghai, the Battle of Jinling, the Battle of Xuzhou, and so on. However, they did not know much about the battlefield behind the enemy's back.
When it comes to the battlefield behind enemy lines, the first thing we think of is the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. In 1943 and thereafter, only the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army survived and developed on the battlefield behind the enemy's back.
However, before 1941, there were not only the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army on the battlefield behind the enemy line, but also the defeated national army. Many of the defeated Chinese troops had surrendered to the Japanese and became traitors. Some had disguised themselves as civilians and disappeared. There were also some who fought guerrilla warfare with the Japanese in the enemy's rear.
In the early stages of the war, the Japanese were indeed very aggressive. On the main battlefield, whether it was the Battle of Shanghai, the Battle of Jinling, the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Taiyuan, and other large-scale battles, the Japanese won and gained a lot.
However, as the war continued, another disadvantage of the Japanese appeared, and that was the lack of troops. The area occupied by the Japanese was very large, but the total strength of the North China, Central China, and South China armies was about 600,000.
The total strength of the North China army was around 270,000 to 300,000. Central China would send about 25 troops, and South China would send 100,000 troops. This was confirmed, and the total number of troops would be more than 600,000.
Of course, the military strength referred to the Japanese soldiers, not the puppet troops. As for the changes in the puppet troops, they would be mentioned later.
The 600,000 soldiers had to be spread out across the millions of square kilometers of territory. Moreover, they had to ensure that the pressure on the Chinese army at the front line would be maintained. This would inevitably cause the Japanese to be seriously lacking in their rear forces. This would give the guerrillas room to survive.
According to historical records, the number of guerrillas in the enemy's rear was between 400,000 and 500,000 in 1939. The specific data was not available, only a rough figure.
By 1940, there were about 300,000 troops on the battlefield behind the enemy lines. The reason why the rest of the guerrillas were defeated and most of them were wiped out by the Japanese was that only the 8th Route Army was able to survive and continue to fight with the Japanese. This was related to another strategic policy of the Japanese at that time.
In 1941, the Japanese had already hated the guerrillas behind the enemy lines. These guerrillas did not fight head-on with the Japanese front-line combat troops. What were they doing?
Today, they destroyed two of your outposts. Tomorrow, they would take down one of your turrets. A few days later, they would attack your transport team. A few days later, they would destroy your railway and blow up your highway. The Japanese would suffer.
Under such circumstances, the Japanese decided to put the puppet army on the table. However, we all knew that the puppet army's combat effectiveness was extremely low. They were completely the leader of the logistics and transportation team. Perhaps a 200-man puppet army would throw away their weapons and run away when they encountered a 50-man guerrilla team. This was not nonsense. It was true in history because the puppet army was just making a living and did not want to fight for the Japanese at all.
Don't worry, the Japanese have a way. If they can't just send a puppet army, how about sending you a supervision team?
Thus, a formation that many people saw in later anti-Japanese dramas appeared-the Imperial Association Mixed Brigade.
The main force would be the puppet army, but there would be Japanese soldiers at the back. For example, in a mixed infantry division of the Imperial Association Army, there would be 5,000 puppet soldiers, and there would be a large group of Japanese soldiers supervising the battle.
During a battle, the puppet army was in the front. If you retreated, the Japanese's supervision team would shoot you directly, so you could only charge forward. After coming out of the mixed forces of the Imperial Association, the guerrillas behind the enemy suffered a major setback.
Most of the hundreds of thousands of guerrillas behind the enemy lines were wiped out, and a small number of them were scattered. Some of them turned to join the Eighth Route Army and other troops to learn the essence of guerrilla warfare from the Eighth Route Army.
In this aspect, the Eighth Route Army fought well, so in 1941, no! To be precise, after 1942, almost only the guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army survived and continued to fight against the Japanese and puppet troops.
Others might not be clear about this, but Liu Chuan knew very well that guerrilla warfare could never be eliminated. Liu Chuan wasn't a real traitor. He was in Cao's camp, but his heart was in Han.
And if the guerrillas were gone, who would give the weapons and equipment he produced to? Therefore, not only could the guerrillas not be eliminated, they had to be allowed to grow.
The stronger the guerrillas were, the bigger the stage for Liu Chuan to display his skills. The Japanese would rely on him more. This was a kind of self-respect. Of course, this was just a metaphor. Don't take it seriously. The guerrillas couldn't be described as bandits.
...............
Yongsheng Guishilang was a man of his word. It was May, the time when the winter wheat was harvested and the spring wheat was still being sown.
This was the case for the past two seasons. Of course, some people who were quick had already planted the spring wheat, and some were almost done.
This was not the main point. The main point was that the Eternal Turtle Shiro needed food.
Liu Chuan also embarked on the journey back to Xuzhou, but there were many people who went back with him. Eternal Turtle Shiro sent a squadron of troops to follow him, in the name of protecting his life.
As for the captured Sichuan soldiers, other than some who died from infection, the rest who survived were brought along by him.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]