Chapter 71: The Red Army's Eastern Expedition (Part 2)

  But Lin Zong also wasn't one to be trifled with, and he quickly rallied his main forces to launch a counterattack. At this time, the 35th Army, which had won the first battle, also made the mistake of underestimating the enemy. As a result, one of its main force regiments accidentally fell into Lin Zong's ambush circle and was completely annihilated. After two battles, both sides were evenly matched, but since the 35th Army's regiment was destroyed in its entirety, while most of the Red Army's wounded soldiers could recover and return to their posts, plus the magic trick of converting prisoners of war, the Red First Army actually gained a slight advantage. However, after the battle, Lin Zong still received severe criticism from the Great Leader...

  Originally, although the army corps did not lose out in terms of personnel losses, perhaps because the 35th Army had many old soldiers who were very familiar with various techniques for preserving their lives on the battlefield, they were not easily eliminated, which greatly prolonged the battle time. As a result, the Red First Army Corps lost more than two million rounds of ammunition in the two battles, but only captured less than five hundred thousand rounds, which was undoubtedly a big loss by the traditional standards of the Red Army. After this battle, the average number of bullets left per person in the Red First Army Corps was less than eight. If Fu Zuoyi launched a major attack at this time, the army corps would be difficult to fight. Worried that Lin Biao would lose too much, Mao Zedong hastily ordered Peng Dehuai's Red Third Army Corps to go and reinforce, and he himself led his troops to rush to Shanxi Northeast to join forces with them. Therefore, Xu Haidong's unit, which had suddenly become isolated and unsupported, could only retreat northward into the newly opened Shanxi Northwest base area, in order to protect the results of the Eastern Expedition and the rear route of the main force.

  Fu Zuoyi can be considered one of the top generals in this era, but due to limited troop strength, he could not afford too much loss. After experiencing the true power of the Red Army, he did not dare to fight again and only occupied advantageous terrain to defend himself. In this way, even if Taizu personally commanded, the Red Army could not take it down for a while. Moreover, Fu Zuoyi's firm anti-Japanese stance and non-strongly anti-communist political inclination made him worth winning over by the Communist Party. It was not worthwhile to fight to the death politically. In view of this, Taizu quickly made the correct decision, leaving more than 10,000 elite troops to watch the 35th Army, while dispersing other troops and personnel to actively promote anti-Japanese salvation and expand the Red Army in the vast mountain villages at the junction of Shanxi, Chahar, and Hebei provinces. The Red Army's forces and influence expanded rapidly, and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area appeared on the historical stage more than two years ahead of schedule.

  As the Red Army grew stronger, and with Yan Xishan's promised reward already received, news arrived that the Japanese puppet army in Suiyuan was becoming restless. Fu Zuoyi no longer wanted to continue facing off against the Red Army, so after issuing a public statement calling on various domestic forces to put aside their differences and unite against external threats, he led his remaining troops back to Suiyuan. Yan Xishan was furious when he found out, but at least Fu had managed to buy him an extra month's time, which was more than could be said for Song Zheyuan and Han Fuqu, who had refused to send reinforcements. Old subordinates were still old subordinates, after all, but Yan had always been narrow-minded, and this only deepened his hatred for the "traitor" Fu Zuoyi...

  Compared with the two warlords in North China, Old Chiang had agreed to send reinforcements early on. Firstly, he was worried that his arch-nemesis, the Zhu-Mao Red Army, would regain power. Secondly, this provided Old Chiang with a legitimate opportunity to deploy troops on a large scale into Northern China, which he would not let slip by. As for the remaining Red Army in Jiangnan, Old Chiang thought they were no longer a force to be reckoned with and that leaving 100,000 men behind should be enough to annihilate them. However, he did not expect that after Xue Yue left with his main forces, the remnants of the Red Army in the Min-Gan-Zhe-Yue border region, which had already shrunk significantly, would quickly become active again...

  Henan has the Da Bie Mountains blocking it, and taking it down is not something that can be done in just one or two months. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek only had two options to rescue Yan Xishan: either attack Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region from southern Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, etc., to create a "surround Wei and rescue Zhao" situation, but the result was extremely disappointing for Chiang. Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng disobeyed his orders, and even the Northwestern Ma family army, which had always stood on Chiang's side, became less active after suffering consecutive defeats in attacking Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region (note 1). After all, for warlords, preserving their strength is always the top priority. Although Chiang also sent central troops to southern Shaanxi, the road through Henan was impassable, and they could only take a detour through the rugged mountainous areas of northern Sichuan and Hubei provinces. Without one or two months' time, it would be impossible to arrive, and by then Yan Xishan might have already been finished off.

  So, after some deliberation, Old Chiang decided to have Xue Yue, who had the most outstanding achievements in "suppressing bandits", lead an army of 2 million along the "Su North-Shandong" route into Shanxi, and at the same time, he could also get rid of Han Fuqu, with whom he had never gotten along. After all, Xue Yue was always very good at this kind of thing...

  But with the example of Wang Jia Lie in Guizhou, how could Han Fuqu again make the same mistake? As a result, Xue Yue's original clever plan had to be changed to a bold and decisive one. Fortunately, Chiang Kai-shek's usual strategy of buying off officials and sealing their mouths was once again effective. Wu Huawen, the commander of Han's most elite pistol brigade, was bought off by Chiang's people and suddenly defected during Xue Yue's attack on Jinan City, causing Han Fuqu's troops to collapse instantly. Xue Yue took over the entire Shandong province with little effort and received tens of thousands of local troops and a hundred thousand militia. However, the resurgence of bandits in various places due to the change of government made him somewhat worried.

  But even so, Xue Yue still sent a large army of 150,000 "reinforcements" to Shanxi at the fastest speed. However, what he did not expect was that due to Fu Zuoyi's withdrawal of the main force of the Eastern Expedition Red Army, Yan Xishan's pressure was greatly reduced. Xue Yue's means of getting rid of Han Fuqu also made him wary, and Yan Xishan suddenly changed his mind and sternly refused to allow the Central Army to enter Shanxi. This made Xue Yue and Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing extremely angry, but due to Yan Xishan's deep roots in Shanxi and his influence at home, Chiang did not dare to take drastic action without sufficient reason. He could only order Xue Yue to temporarily retreat back to Shandong. But just as Xue Yue had returned to Jinan, he heard news that almost made him vomit blood: Yan Xishan's main base in Taiyuan had suddenly fallen...

  Note 1: The Ma clan army was not as powerful as some people claimed. Even with a tenfold advantage in troops (several times that of the Western Route Army, just counting regular troops) and despite repeated mistakes by their opponents, the Ma clan army still suffered more casualties than the Red Army. This shows that in terms of combat effectiveness, the Ma clan army was clearly inferior to the main forces of the Red Army (the Ma clan army's weapons and tactics were very backward; bravery alone was not enough). Moreover, cavalry is not advantageous for attacking fortifications, and the Ma clan army, lacking heavy firepower, was even less formidable in offensive operations. Historically, the Ma clan army had repeatedly invaded the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region but gained little advantage. How could they be a match for the now even stronger Red Army? Of course, if it were a field battle, the Ma clan army's cavalry, especially that of the Qinghai Ma clan, was still not to be underestimated.