During the war years, which was more important, the front or the rear?
Anyone with military common sense knows that it is equally important, and without the bloody battle on the front line, there will be no so-called big rear. Without strong logistical support in the rear, the front-line troops cannot last long.
Whether it is ancient or modern warfare, a sentence applies: before the soldiers and horses move, the grain and grass go first!
Whether it is the period of the agrarian revolution or the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, if the troops want to develop and grow, they cannot do without the construction of base areas, and effectively guarantee logistics supplies, including food, medical care, and the supply of soldiers, so that front-line operations can be more sustainable.
Mr. Chen once said that we can achieve victory because the people push it out with a wheelbarrow.
During the War of Liberation, our field troops fought on the front line, and there would be tens of thousands, if not more, of migrant workers in the back, transporting grain, vegetables, the wounded and sick, weapons and ammunition, and so on. The purpose is to let the front-line commanders and fighters concentrate on fighting, and this is the people's war.
During the battle of crossing the Yangtze River, the Central Plains Military Region, which was opened up by the Second Field, became a strategic rear and was in an extremely important strategic position; it was the main battlefield of the southern front before that, and from now on it will become the main rear of the Jiangnan operation.
At that time, the second and third fields had to cross the river to fight, and they had to prepare not only ships but also food. How many ex-migrant workers are needed for 1 million troops to go south? There were 600,000 troops in the Huaihai Campaign, and 2.25 million former migrant workers who participated in the war.
The Tongbai Military Region, Jianghan Military Region, Hubei-Henan Military Region, and others under their jurisdiction seized the time to collect grain and ensure the military supplies of the Second and Fourth Fields. In fact, during the Huaihai Campaign, several second-level military regions under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains Military Region raised food for the troops.
Now that the troops are fighting in the south, they also have to provide food for the passing army, and only the Tongbai Military Region has to levy 100 million catties of grain. In two months, Tongbai District completed the requisition of 70 million catties of grain, 40 million catties of Jianghan District, and 30 million catties of Hubei-Henan Military Region, ensuring that the southbound army was guaranteed in terms of food.
Under the leadership of Wang Hongkun, grain has been concentrated and stored at the intersection of railways, highways, and waterways, and can be mobilized to the passing army at any time. The 12th Corps went south as an advance corps, and after arriving in Wuhan, Tan Zheng, as the director of the Political Department of the Four Fields, did not see the local responsible person come for a long time, nor did he see the food supply.
Siye's combat mission is responsible for liberating the central and southern regions, and after going south, there is no food, how to fight next. It is said that the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Government, and the responsible persons of the Military Region should go to Wuhan, but they did not see anyone. Therefore, Tan Zheng was angry.
As a matter of fact, although the local party, government, and army were established, their offices were not located in Wuhan, and there were also local jobs, and in addition to collecting grain, they also had to contain the enemy. What's more, Wang Hongkun, as the acting secretary of Hubei and the first deputy commander of the military region, had already arranged the grain properly, and it would be enough to contact him as soon as the army came.
However, when the contact was made, the local government had already informed the troops of the location and amount of food, but the troops did not report it to Tan Zheng, which led to a scene of anger. At that time, Wang Renzhong, vice chairman of the provincial government, wanted to explain to the other party, but he couldn't interject. Wang Hongkun is experienced, and after the other party finished speaking, he was also polite: What are you angry about! The local government has already taken care of what needs to be done, and the location of the grain has already been informed, so I don't believe that it can be tested.
Once the matter is verified, the matter is over.
The occurrence of such episodes is also a common phenomenon, because of information asymmetry, a situation in one link may lead to misunderstanding. That is why the superiors always emphasize the need to strengthen unity.