Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

Early the next morning, in major central cities across the country.

The streets and alleys were filled with the clear cries of newspaper boys: "Newspapers for sale, newspapers for sale!"

"The 389th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army once again completely wiped out an entire Japanese regiment!"

"Selling newspapers~Selling newspapers~"

Hearing the newsboy's cry, people stopped and hurriedly snatched the newspaper from his hand, quickly reading the news in the newspaper. The eye-catching photo on the newspaper headline immediately attracted the surrounding onlookers. The photo showed a large amount of guns and ammunition, which formed a sharp contrast with the miserable and broken bodies of Japanese soldiers nearby. No matter who saw it, they would be shocked.

The early morning news excited the entire nation, and people across the country were immersed in joy. At home, when my husband learned that the 389th Brigade had completely wiped out the 79th Regiment, the cigarette butt in his fingers burned for a long time.

You Ran remembers that two years ago, when the situation was critical, he was unsure of the future. He pondered until midnight every day. No matter how he reasoned, he was lost in the unknown. He vaguely felt that going north was an opportunity to escape the status quo. However, during a discussion with Zeng Jiwen, he pointed out that the future lay in going north. He explained the current international situation, the current situation, and explained that by using this period to develop and expand, he could ultimately achieve great things.

Unconsciously, the situation was indeed changing just as Zeng Jiwen had said, and for a moment, a huge wave of emotion surged in his heart. Every time he thought about what he had discussed with Zeng Jiwen, he found it incredible. He had never told anyone else about it, so he could only bury it deep in his heart, deeply afraid of putting Zeng Jiwen in the spotlight. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but once again look forward to Zeng Jiwen's words, and also began to look forward to Zeng Jiwen's promise to him.

Meanwhile, in Nanjing, a certain person sat quietly indoors, reading the newspaper announcing the 389th Brigade's victory. His inner thoughts were unknown. After a long pause, he sighed and ordered another commendation telegram to be sent, along with a double reward for the previous one. He also sent supplies over.

At this time in North China, the General Staff Headquarters was quiet, and all staff members were cautious when entering and leaving, for fear of angering the commander. From last night until now, Terauchi Hisaichi sat quietly in his headquarters and never came out. The commander of the 20th Division, Kawaban Bunsaburo, appeared outside the headquarters early in the morning and stood quietly, but no one dared to approach him, as everyone knew his most likely outcome.

Not long after, at the meeting, the senior generals of the Japanese North China Front Army looked gloomy, and Terauchi Hisaichi slowly stood up and said.

"Since the Meiji Restoration, our army has never been completely annihilated like this. Even in the Russo-Japanese War, the Imperial Army won a tragic victory over the Russians at a terrible price with strong will and courage, but there was no record of a regiment being completely annihilated. Twenty years later, a regiment of our Imperial Army was completely annihilated by a Chinese army. This is a huge joke and a shame for us!" He swept his eyes over everyone.

The atmosphere in the meeting hall was tense and the senior generals looked gloomy.

"Gentlemen, an entire regiment has been completely wiped out. This is a humiliation that the Imperial Japanese Army has never experienced before."

"Baga~"

Terauchi Hisaichi cursed fiercely.

All the generals bowed their heads. This incident was not only a disgrace to the 20th Division, but also to the North China Expeditionary Army. Since the early hours of last night, countless people at headquarters have issued statements denouncing the North China Front Army. Some even said that if the North China Front Army did not find a satisfactory solution to this incident, they would replace all military leaders and reorganize the North China Front Army.

"Now that things have come to this, the Imperial Army's most important task is to open up the Tongpu Railway and the important cities along the Zhengtai Line, and continue southward to capture all of Shanxi. The General Staff must immediately formulate a battle plan against this Chinese army. The intelligence department must devote all its resources to gathering intelligence. By the beginning of next spring, we will gather a large force and will certainly destroy it."

"Hi!" All the generals immediately nodded in response.

"Also, tell that idiot in the Chuan case that headquarters called and asked him to return to the country to stand trial. Committing suicide by seppuku would be too easy for him." After saying that, he dismissed the meeting.

A few days later, other countries around the world began reprinting Chinese newspapers, reporting the Japanese army's disastrous defeat with eye-catching headlines such as "Japanese Army Suffers Heavy Defeat in China" and "Japanese Army Suffers a Heavy Blow," mocking the Japanese army's incompetence. Even Xiao Huzi, who was busy fighting with Xiao Rizi, laughed at their stupidity and even wondered whether this quasi-ally could be trusted.

Zeng Jiwen, the protagonist of this battle, also began to gradually enter the sights of some foreign leaders and important military figures. The General Staff of the Tank Kingdom was particularly impressed by this person who had studied abroad in distant China.

At this time, our protagonists began to busy themselves with establishing guerrilla and militia organizations in the surrounding towns and villages. After this battle, the 389th Brigade became famous in Shanxi. When Zeng Jiwen sent troops to the nearby villages and towns to promote the national united front, they were warmly welcomed and warmly entertained by the local villagers. The villagers expressed their willingness to join the anti-Japanese team and defend their homes.

During this process, Zeng Jiwen led the 389th Brigade to integrate with the local villagers, helping them solve various difficulties, and began to organize a widespread rent and interest reduction campaign, which received enthusiastic participation from the villagers.

A month passed and it was mid-December.

At brigade headquarters, everyone was summarizing the progress of the past month. After the battle last month, the 389th Brigade had already established a firm foothold in the vast rural areas of Xiyang and Heshun. The 782nd Regiment operated in battalion units. One battalion, operating alongside the brigade headquarters, was based in Dazhai Town near the county seat. Small units were dispatched to the vast mountainous areas northeast of Xiyang, forming guerrilla units and militias in various villages, ranging from a few dozen to hundreds. They were equipped with a wide variety of weapons, including rifles, homemade artillery, and Hanyang-made weapons. Every household provided these local units with anything that could inflict damage on the Japanese. This made the Japanese troops in Xiyang County feel apprehensive whenever they went on a rural raid, fearing a sudden and unpredictable sniper rifle shot at their head. Once the main force moved in, the troops would vanish without a trace, frustrating the Japanese until they simply retreated to the county seat.

The Second Battalion moved further east to the Taihang Mountains, where they built a guerrilla force while searching for various strategic locations to build material storage bases, planning transfer routes and bases in advance for the upcoming large-scale raid by the Japanese army.

The Third Battalion developed the fastest, moving northward and even to the east. Based on this, it started to cause trouble for small Japanese units in the areas along the Guguan Great Wall and Niangziguan Railway. Under the leadership of Li Yunlong, the Third Battalion recovered from the casualties and expanded four companies. The total number of the battalion reached more than 1,500 people. They cut the Japanese telephone lines every two or three days and ambushed small Japanese units, and upgraded the equipment of the newly formed troops to the same level as the original ones.

The other two regiments were no less powerful. The 781st Regiment originally operated in Mafang and Hengling, a vast mountainous area west of Heshun. In order to open up a base, Chief of Staff Wang Zhuo simply deployed the entire regiment in company units in this vast mountainous area, and gradually moved to Yangle, near Beizhai, and finally to the Yushe area.

The 783rd Regiment occupied the vast mountainous area between Leheshun, Xingtai and Wuan, established a large number of grassroots organizations and militias, and extended its tentacles to the southern Hebei region.