Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

But before that, the immediate priority is to confirm the new commander of the First Army.

With the defeat of the nine-way locust-sweeping army, Okabe Naosaburo must also take responsibility.

Although in Sugiyama Gen's eyes, Okabe Naosaburo did not do much wrong in this battle.

He even requested reinforcements to encircle and suppress the 389th Brigade, but was rejected by himself.

But Sugiyama Gen certainly cannot admit his mistake himself, no matter what he says this time.

Could it be that Naosaburo Okabe's strategic deployment was correct, and that the new commander had a problem with his vision? How is that possible?

No matter what, I'm afraid that Okabe Naosaburo will have to endure injustice this time.

Fortunately, with the failure of the locust army's sweep across southeastern Shanxi, the 389th Brigade has completely entered the sight of the headquarters.

As a result, the former commander Terauchi Hisaichi and the commander of the First Army, Umezu Yoshijiro, were also bailed out during their military trials.

As a result, the two followed in the footsteps of Kazuki Seiji and were transferred to the reserve force.

Therefore, in this battle, it is very likely that Okabe Naosaburo will receive the same punishment.

Therefore, a new commander is urgently needed to stabilize the morale of the First Army.

Suddenly, Sugiyama Gen thought of a name. Due to the previous Battle of Xuzhou, the 10th Division suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Taierzhuang. He then appointed the commander of the Military Academy, Yoshio Shinozuka, as the new commander of the 10th Division.

At this time, Yoshio Shinozuka was taking the 10th Division to rest and prepare to cooperate with the Central China Front Army in the Battle of Wuhan.

Although Sugiyama Gen did not make any obvious guesses, judging from the performance of the First Army when the 389th Brigade encircled and annihilated the 108th Division.

That guy Umezu was definitely someone who was squeezed out of the First Army, so when he first took office, he appointed Naosaburo Okabe as the commander of the First Army.

However, they did not expect that the Locust Army would suffer such a huge setback in this counter-mopping-up operation. Okabe Naosaburo certainly could not stay, but the new commander had to gain the approval of the First Army, otherwise, he would probably follow in Umezu's footsteps.

So Sugiyama Gen thought of Yoshio Shinozuka. Regardless of his background or the faction he belongs to, he is currently capable of serving as the commander of the First Army. Moreover, as the commander of the military school, he is familiar with most of the generals of the First Army.

It is obvious that Shinozuka Yoshio is the most suitable person to be the commander of the First Army at this time.

Immediately, Sugiyama Moto prepared to appoint Yoshio Shinozuka as the new commander of the First Army.

The First Army is now resting, so we can wait until the Battle of Wuhan is over before letting Yoshio Shinozuka take office.

At the same time, the commander of the 14th Division, Kenji Doihara, was appointed Chief of Staff of the 1st Army.

Sugiyama Gen believed that after these two stabilized the First Army, when the First Army recovered its strength next year and the Locust Army had sufficient manpower, it would be able to take revenge on the 389th Brigade.

As for these few months, let Naosaburo Okabe make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.

After confirmation, Sugiyama Gen sent the order to the 1st Army and the 10th Division.

July 1, 389th Brigade Headquarters.

After more than half a month of rest, the affairs of various parts of the base area after the counter-mopping-up operation have basically been dealt with.

Then everyone needs to discuss the next step of expanding the troops and the development of the base in the future.

With the recovery of a large area of ​​lost territory in southeastern Shanxi, the Eighth Route Army has completely established a firm foothold in Shanxi.

However, the next question that arises is how to develop and deal with such a large amount of lost land.

It can be said that both the 389th Brigade and the 386th Brigade are currently busy dealing with matters after the recovery of lost territory.

At the same time, after the Eighth Route Army recaptured southeastern Shanxi, the Central Army in the south and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army in the west also began to have some subtle ideas, and both sides wanted to extend their hands into southeastern Shanxi.

At present, the headquarters and the family are still constantly passing the buck with all parties to buy time for the troops below. They will only be able to decide how to deal with it after the situation below is thoroughly summarized.