Chapter 68: The Luoyang Uprising
Just as Hu Weidong was working hard to build the Western Henan Soviet Area, the great man in northern Shaanxi was preparing to launch an eastern expedition to open up a passage for anti-Japanese resistance. Even if it didn't succeed, they could use this opportunity to expand the Red Army's fundraising and improve the extremely difficult financial situation of the northern Shaanxi base area. Since the Western Henan Soviet Area is now located on the southern border of Shanxi, Taizu would not let go of the powerful reinforcements of the 8th Route Army, and immediately ordered Hu Weidong to dispatch troops to cooperate. After receiving the telegram, Hu Weidong did not dare to delay, and hastily ordered the main force of the 15th Red Army to prepare to cross the Yellow River and attack Yan Xishan's stronghold in Shanxi.
Hu Weidong learned from the telegram that it was likely due to the early appearance of "immediate capture and supplementation" and "three investigations for grievances" that the current Red First Front Army is much stronger than its historical counterpart, with a force of over 50,000 people and better equipment. It turned out that during the Long March, tens of thousands of "liberated soldiers" were converted from battles, and after arriving in Shaanxi, they encountered the Northeastern Army, which had poor combat effectiveness but good equipment, and annihilated several tens of thousands of them, greatly enhancing their own strength.
It's precisely because the overall strength of the First Front Army has increased significantly, and the Eastern Expedition Red Army, which had only 13,000 people in history, has become a powerful army of more than 30,000 people in this time and space. This must have given Yan Xishan a headache. To know that even the Eastern Expedition Red Army in history forced him to seek help from Chiang Kai-shek, let alone now that there are tens of thousands of elite soldiers led by Hu Weidong lurking around the southern border of Shanxi. Moreover, Henan is now in chaos, and the Dabie Mountains base area is located in between, making it difficult for the Central Army to pass through. The tens of thousands of Central Army troops that were stationed in southern Shaanxi and northern Sichuan have disappeared (due to the sudden appearance of the Red Eighth Army Corps, these Nationalist army units were all deployed to the south to "suppress bandits", among which a considerable number had been annihilated). Therefore, once the Red Army launches an attack on Shanxi, Yan Xishan can't expect Chiang Kai-shek's reinforcements to arrive for quite some time...
Of course, considering Yan Xishan's deep roots in Shanxi, even if the Red Army had 200,000 elite troops, it would be impossible to drive him out of Shanxi in one breath. However, it was not difficult for them to gain a foothold in Shanxi. With good luck, they could even capture several cities and make some money. Yan Xishan's industrial foundation over the years, especially the Taiyuan Arsenal, which was the largest in the province, made Hu Weidong covet it even more...
And on January 36, there was an unexpected joy. Zhang Fen in Luoyang announced the uprising, adding 300,000 elite soldiers to the already powerful Red Eighth Army Corps. After seeing Hu Weidong, Zhang Fen immediately bowed and said, "The people of Central Plains are suffering! In these decades, they have not had a good day, I have been self-proclaimed as a revolutionary for half my life, but I am also helpless in this regard, and instead hurt the local people in the warlord wars (Zhang Fen was one of the key figures in the Central Plains War), I feel guilty! Now you have only come for a few months, and the originally poorest western Henan mountainous area has been transformed, you are the real revolutionaries!"
"It's nothing, Comrade Zhang. You followed the national father to participate in the revolution in your early years and have always been a model for us younger generations. How can we accept such great honor?" Hu Weidong was overjoyed in his heart, but still maintained a respectful demeanor as a junior seeing a senior. This humble attitude undoubtedly further won Zhang's favor, and the reorganization of his 30,000 subordinates went more smoothly. Even Hu Weidong considered that Zhang's tactics were seriously outdated and he was too old, so he advised him to leave the military command post and take up the position of Minister of People's Armed Forces in the Western Henan Soviet Area, which Zhang also accepted with pleasure.
Zhang Feng's troops of over 30,000 people mostly came from the grasslands and green forests, among whom there were many skilled fighters from the rivers and lakes. The government soldiers were generally agile and brave in battle, and as long as their discipline was improved, they would be one of the best elite forces in the country. What made Hu Weidong even more happy was that many of them were good candidates for special forces and scouts, so three new reserve teams were established for the special forces battalion, with a total strength of over 5,000 people. The number of scouts in the Red Eighth Army Corps also exceeded 10,000, but they were scattered among various regimental units and did not have a special forces battalion that was as conspicuous.
Even after cutting off the old and weak, Zhang's uprising still increased the strength of the Red Eighth Army by more than 20,000 people, and its political significance was even more immeasurable. Zhang not only was an elder of the Tongmenghui, but also one of the most influential leaders in the country, and his joining the Communist Party naturally caused a stir in public opinion at home. Chiang Kai-shek was furious, almost ordering the deployment of troops to attack western Henan immediately, but this was fundamentally impossible with the Dabie Mountains blocking the way. Moreover, in terms of real threats, it was still the Min-Gan-Zhe-Yue-Wu-Su region in southern Jiangsu and the Dabie Mountains Su region that posed a greater threat to Chiang's regime based in the Jiangsu-Shanghai area, so under the persuasion of Chen Cheng and others, Chiang finally gave up his plan to march into Henan immediately and decided to solve the threats in southern Jiangsu and the Dabie Mountains first.
Due to the lessons learned from previous failed encirclements, this time the old Chiang learned his lesson and did not make the mistake of dividing his troops into two routes again. Instead, he concentrated almost all the forces that could be mobilized to surround Jiangnan's Min-Gan-Zhe-Yue-Wu-Su area with all his might, preparing to use the lion-pounce-rabbit tactic to remove these nails one by one. In the face of the National Army's advantage of over 500,000 troops, the Jiangnan Red Army, which had more than 50,000 people, still suffered huge losses and was unable to avoid it. At the most critical moment, more than 15 counties in the Soviet area fell, and the regular Red Army forces were reduced to around 20,000. However, it was their sacrifice that allowed the revolutionary situation in other parts of the country to develop rapidly...
Yan Xishan's Shanxi-Shandong-Hebei Army had an air force, but it was only the size of a squadron, with just over ten planes, most of which were old models from World War I. Only a few of them could guarantee to take off, let alone compare with the Central Army and Guangdong Army. Even the Red Eighth Army's air force was stronger than theirs. Therefore, Hu Weidong, despite having some "ten-year fear of well ropes", did not worry at all and personally led the main force of the 15th Red Army to cross the Yellow River from Mengjin, quickly and easily defeating a part of Yan Xishan's army that came to respond to the news, and quickly gaining a foothold on the north bank.
