Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

At this time, Wang Zhuo thought of the Japanese 16th Division, which was the focus of this attack. Looking at the map, he found that this group of Japanese troops was still in Jingxing and Taizijing area yesterday, but now they have reached Donghui and Beixiaozhuang.

Compared with other Japanese troops, these two regiments were searching along the mountain roads and were almost reaching the center of the base. Moreover, Beixiaozhuang was only two mountains away from the Taihang Military Factory. If they continued to move forward, they would most likely discover the arsenal in Songjiazhuang.

Wang Zhuo seemed to have realized what was happening. "Brigade Commander, I'm afraid you let the Japanese troops from the 16th Division through on purpose. They're completely within our base now."

When Zeng Jiwen heard the chief of staff's question, he sneered at the two regiments marked on the map.

"The 16th Division is used to being arrogant. The original order of the First Army was that they were forbidden to march at night and had to move as a whole. Look at these two regiments, how far have they come in just one night?"

"If I were to target these two regiments now, with the North China Japanese air force nearly annihilated, would the other seven Japanese armies continue their march to sweep the base or withdraw?"

Zhou Xi looked at the map and pondered deeply. "Logically speaking, the best strategy for the Japanese army now is to withdraw from the base and wait until they have recovered their strength next year. However, if we close the door on these two regiments, I'm afraid that this Gangbu Naosaburo will be roasted on the fire."

"That's right. The 16th Division previously belonged to the Central China Expeditionary Force. If we were to annihilate it in Shanxi, not only would the commander of the First Army have to be replaced, but even the Japanese troops in Central China would probably have complaints. So he must be rescued." Wang Erzhuo agreed.

"Moreover, all the troops in North China have been withdrawn. If we want to rescue these two regiments, the Japanese troops sweeping across the country will undoubtedly be the nearest reinforcements. He has to rescue them or not. It's not up to him to decide." Wang Erzhuo picked up the cup on the table, took a sip of water, and continued to add.

"But if that happens, I'm afraid the Japanese will likely have to quickly regroup their separate units to prevent annihilation," Zeng Jiwen continued. "It seems best to have the troops disperse the Japanese first. Once the Japanese receive the reinforcement telegram, all units will make every effort to prevent them from reuniting and then annihilate them when the opportunity arises."

Zeng Jiwen immediately came up with a plan in mind. "At the same time, this time, we must focus on killing the Japanese troops in other directions. We can't wipe out the Japanese army as we did last time."

Zeng Jiwen suddenly joked, because he suddenly thought that if they could defeat the Japanese army in an organized manner again this time, they would not be afraid of ten thousand but of one. The battle in Xuzhou was almost over. Once the Japanese army abandoned central China and continued to attack westward after the war, it was very likely that they would turn their guns and head directly towards Shanxi.

After all, heavy casualties sound much better than annihilating an organized unit. Once the Japanese army finds out that the three divisions' encirclement and suppression have resulted in organized casualties, given their petty and vengeful mentality, they will probably come directly against themselves.

After Zeng Jiwen explained his idea to the two, they realized that they really couldn't do that this time. After all, the air force in North China was almost wiped out. If several regiments disappeared from the battlefield, it would be a real blow to the Japanese army. God knows how crazy these Japanese soldiers would be.

After the few people finished discussing, they immediately issued the second phase of combat orders to the troops below.

The troops on the western front were ordered to have the 1st Battalion of the 781st Regiment look for opportunities near Yangle to harass the 39th Brigade of the 20th Division advancing towards Yushe, and to divide its forces to lure them to the mountainous area to the west. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions would rely on the terrain in Shecheng to block the remaining troops for eight hours.

The 1st Battalion of the 82nd Regiment blocked the 80th Regiment's southward advance in the direction of Jingshang Town from Shouyang to Songta, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions blocked the 79th Regiment led by Ushijima Mitsugu in sections between Changning Town and Mafang.