People in the Republic of China era began to rise from industry.

Chapter 174 The Northwest Conquest Plan: Ma Yuanqing with No Way Out

Lin Yi's previous attempt to control the Northwest was purely driven by his interest in the Northwest's oil and other mineral resources.

If that were all, he would also calculate whether it was worth spending money to help Yang Zihui rise to power.

Alternatively, the plan could be postponed appropriately.

Once their own car factories and arsenals reach a certain scale, they can directly overwhelm the Ma Clique's cavalry with mechanized forces.

But after this ordeal, taking over the Northwest is no longer something to be planned for, and it's an urgent matter.

Let alone 50 million, this investment can be doubled if needed.

This is not just a personal grudge.

Ma Yuanqing had to die, but more importantly, the Japanese had to be prevented from establishing a foothold in the Northwest.

Throughout history, foreign tribes have crossed the Yangtze River only three times.

One instance was the massive search and scouting of mountains and seas at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.

At that time, besides being a coward like Zhao Gou, he was also known as Zhao the Runaway.

Another important reason was that the main force of the small court's regular army was tied down in the northwest by the Jurchen's western army.

This enabled Jin Wuzhu to break through the Yangtze River defense line and plunder the entire Jiangnan region.

The second instance was the Mongol conquest of the Southern Song Dynasty.

First, they conquered the southwest, forming a strategic encirclement, and then pushed from west to east until the Yaishan Kingdom was destroyed.

The third time, the Manchus entered the pass... The traitors and collaborators were extremely ruthless when they turned on their own people.

This has nothing to do with strategy.

Therefore, the strategic importance of the Northwest is evident.

Although Lin Yi was knowledgeable about military affairs, he only understood six out of seven.

But they also understood that if the Japanese were to establish a firm foothold in the Northwest, it would cause serious problems!

If a national war were to break out, not only would the most important strategic depth be impossible to achieve, but the industrial base he built in the southwest would also inevitably be subjected to heavy bombing.

Therefore, we cannot only consider immediate benefits in this matter.

We must also take a long-term view.

Upon hearing his words, Yang Zihui slammed his fist on the table and declared, "Brother Lin, then there's no need to hesitate about this matter."

"I'll handle the matter of borrowing troops."

"I'm leaving Sichuan Province to develop my career. Liu Yuanfu should at least send a division to escort me out of the country, right?"

"If we add Deng Xiaoping's 28th Army and let him take over the Longnan area, he will definitely agree to send troops."

"And Liu Ziqian, he has no share in Sichuan Province either. When the Tibetan areas in the Northwest are handed over to him, he certainly won't hesitate."

"And some of my old classmates are also having a hard time right now. If they contribute some money, we can pool it together to form a brigade or a division. It shouldn't be a problem for us to gain the advantage in terms of manpower."

Yang Zihui counted on her fingers, clearly having carefully considered the matter over the past three days.

As he spoke, he asked someone to bring over a map.

He drew a circle around the Longnan area: "I've analyzed it, and this battle will be fought in two phases."

"The first phase was in the southern mountainous region of the Northwest."

"We have now taken Longnan."

“They are all people who care about their reputation. Ma Yuanqing will never sit idly by and watch us occupy Longnan. He will definitely mobilize troops and generals to try to recover the lost territory.”

“This area is mountainous, and his most relied-upon cavalry cannot play a significant role.”

"Therefore, we should try to deplete his infantry forces as much as possible here, and further expand our advantage in manpower."

"According to my plan, I will stay here for about two months."

"But as December arrived, everything in the Northwest became desolate."

"Although it puts a lot of pressure on our logistics."

"But for the cavalry, the pressure is even greater."

"If there isn't enough wild grass to feed the horses, then they have to rely entirely on fine grains. This way, the cavalry can at least shorten their raiding distance and reduce their time in the field."

As he spoke, Yang Zihui chuckled and said, "When the time comes, as long as I take one step at a time and proceed steadily, his cavalry advantage will definitely be greatly reduced."

"Just keep pushing them all the way to Jinzhou."

"And if we take Jinzhou, we'll basically win this battle."

“Without this most important source of tax revenue, Ma Yuanqing’s troops won’t last long.”

Lin Yi nodded and then looked at Sun Zhongneng beside him.

Sun Zhongneng understood and smiled, "Commander Yang's insight is brilliant. Such a battle plan can indeed greatly weaken the Ma family army's advantage."

"Then let's do it this way. In two months, I guarantee your troops' firepower will triple!"

……

northwest.

Ma Yuanqing, who hadn't been able to eat for three days straight, looked at Ma Jizu, who had his head down, with a livid face: "Didn't you say Lin Yi was still in the Qilian Mountains?"

"Then who is it that showed up in the mountain city?!"

With that, he slammed his hand on the table and cursed, "Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

"Father, could the information be wrong?"

"...You idiot!"

"They've all published articles in the mountain city denouncing me for colluding with the Japanese, how could that be false?"

"The only person who knows the details of the matter so well is someone close to Lin Yi."

"If Lin Yi didn't escape, do you think the people around him could have escaped?"

Ma Jizu sighed in frustration and looked up with a distressed expression: "Father, what should we do now?"

"With such strong public opinion, should we still cooperate with the Japanese?"

"Damn it, how did I give birth to such an idiot like you?!"

Ma Yuanqing glared at him, "Use your dog brain! Things have come to this point. If we don't cooperate with the Japanese, just wait for Chiang Kai-shek to use this as an excuse to deal with us!"

"That's oil. Do you think he's really indifferent just because he's not making a sound?!"

"I just want to watch a good show first, and wait for the right opportunity!"

As he spoke, he pointed at Ma Jizu and scolded, "What are you all standing there for? Go see Kimura immediately and tell them to speed things up and get the weapons over here as soon as possible."

"The remaining 30,000 units must also be shipped out as soon as possible; there's no room for discussion on this!"

"Also, tell him to put pressure on Nanjing and find a way to suppress the current public opinion."

"Otherwise, if things really escalate, I'll have to seriously consider whether we should continue cooperating!"

"what?"

Ma Jizu looked bewildered, feeling that his father's words were somewhat contradictory.

They were both urging and threatening.

Unless the Japanese are stupid, they will never agree to it.

"Do as I say!"

Not in the mood to explain, Ma Yuanqing yelled again.

Watching his son dash out in a flash, he deflated like a punctured balloon and slumped into a chair.

It wasn't that he was confused, but rather that he realized the real danger.

Previously, Chen Bonan and his associates had called him one after another, urging him to think twice before acting.

At the time, he didn't realize the implications of this.

They assumed it was just a group of people greedy for money, advocating for a businessman for their own benefit.

But now Lin Yi is publicly denouncing him in Sichuan newspapers for colluding with the Japanese and betraying national interests.

This was clearly coordinated with the previous statements made by Chen Bonan and his associates, creating a powerful public opinion offensive against him.

The Sichuan Army occupied Longnan, and now Lin Yi has returned safely. He is also constantly concentrating his forces on Quchang.

They showed no signs of retreating.

He knew what would happen next when these two things were combined.

This is not something that can be resolved by him giving in and severing cooperation with the Japanese.

Not to mention, even if the matter could be settled by driving away the Japanese, Nanjing, which had remained silent on the matter, would not let go of this golden opportunity.

Therefore, he had nowhere to retreat.

The only option is to fight.

Not only must we defeat the Sichuan army with overwhelming force.

We must also be prepared to deal with Nanjing.

To achieve this, we would need the strong support of the Japanese!

Unlike their own foolish son, the Japanese should be able to realize this.

As long as they can't let go of the oil and mineral resources in the Northwest, they can only spare no effort to support themselves.