Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

After discovering that it was difficult to develop in the north and northeast directions because the Japanese troops were concentrated there, the two discussed developing in the south, so the current focus is on Zhao County and Xinji areas.

After listening to this, Zeng Jiwen advised the two men not to target the Japanese county town in the future, but to continue to build the underground transportation network in the rural areas around the county town and prevent sneak attacks by the Japanese army.

In particular, we must prevent the Japanese army from cutting off the connection between the villages when they leave the city on a large scale to sweep. At the same time, we must pay attention to setting up emergency exits and ventilation holes, and hide as many exits as possible to prevent the Japanese army from isolating the village, surrounding the entire village, and then digging a deep isolation zone.

After all, this was the lesson of the North China Plain before the original time and space. After the Japanese army suffered heavy losses in the tunnel warfare, they followed the plains, unlike the Shanxi area, and directly isolated the entire village completely, then dug a deep isolation zone, and finally threw poison gas bombs directly into the tunnel, resulting in the death of all the wounded and villagers hiding in the tunnel.

At the same time, after learning about the approximate number of militia guerrillas in several counties, Zeng Jiwen asked the two to prepare. After this battle, basically every county in these places would have a local garrison regiment, so he asked the two to speed up the training of various troops and select military cadres at all levels in advance.

Then, Zeng Jiwen suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Li Yunlong, "What's going on with your Fifth Battalion? Why haven't I seen you report to it? Who is the battalion commander?"

Zeng Jiwen knew that Li Yunlong had raised four battalions. Because they robbed the Japanese transport team, they equipped the entire regiment with a large amount of Japanese weapons and equipment. However, he learned at the time that the Fourth Battalion was actually a battalion of recruits. He did not expect that Li Yunlong had raised another battalion of troops in the past few months.

Li Yunlong chuckled after hearing this and said, "Brigade Commander, I was previously operating in the Zhao County area with the Fourth Battalion. The Japanese were wreaking havoc there. When the local people saw our Eighth Route Army coming and heard that we were from the 389th Brigade, specifically designed to fight the Japanese, they became very enthusiastic and rushed to join the army to fight the Japanese."

"I'm still following the brigade commander's previous instructions and only accepting those with siblings. I've selected over 800 people to form a new recruit battalion, and the rest will each organize their own militia teams in their villages for training. But there are still too many people."

"In the end, there was no other choice. With so many people to feed and equip, we had to go to Xinji and look for trouble with the Japanese."

Zeng Jiwen nodded after listening to this, thinking of the troops that our army had deployed in the North China Plain in just a few years in the original time and space. The population here is dense, and if managed well, it can support a large number of troops. The only disadvantage is that it is located in the North China Plain. Once the Japanese army launches a heavy sweep, the villagers will have nowhere to retreat, and a single mistake will result in heavy casualties.

Zeng Jiwen therefore instructed the two to pay attention to the evacuation of the villagers during the plain sweep, and not to be careless or underestimate the Japanese army. They must summarize and discover the various deficiencies in the tunnel transportation network and then make up for them to prevent heavy casualties.

Later, Li Yunlong continued, "The commander of the Fifth Battalion is Guan Dashan, the former Third Company Commander of the Third Battalion. He was the one who came back with me from the Fourth Front. After the Fifth Battalion was formed, I didn't have a suitable commander, so I asked the old regimental commander to take him over as acting commander. I haven't had time to report yet."

After listening to this, Zeng Jiwen nodded and agreed immediately, allowing him to be promoted directly. After all, when the Third Battalion was expanded, Guan Dashan was already a battalion commander. How could it be a matter of him being an acting commander now?

After explaining the mission and the affairs of the base here, Zeng Jiwen did not stay for too long and immediately rushed back to the brigade headquarters. After all, the Japanese army could be mobilized at any time at this time, so before the mobilization, the troops that were going to ambush the Japanese airport began to be quietly mobilized.