Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

To date, it can be said that the entire First Army was directly responsible for the growth and development of the 389th Division, which grew from a brigade of less than 10,000 people to what it is today in less than a year.

The southeastern Shanxi region is now like a hedgehog. Unless the locust army deploys a force like the one in the Battle of Wuhan, it can completely eliminate the 389th Division from southeastern Shanxi.

But how could he dare to say this? When Commander Katsuki Seiji reported the battle losses, it was tacitly accepted by all the generals of the First Army.

Moreover, as the Battle of Wuhan has been going on until now, Naosaburo Okabe, who previously served as the chief of staff, is very clear that after the Battle of Wuhan, the Locust Army will probably not have the resources to organize such a large-scale war for a long time.

Therefore, Naosaburo Okabe was not very optimistic about the autumn mopping-up operation launched by the North China Front Army in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region.

After all, it's next door to southeastern Shanxi, and that area is like a hedgehog now.

Moreover, according to the information reported to him by Kenji Doihara, the commander of the 14th Division who also came from an intelligence background, the majority of the 389th Division's forces are now distributed in the western Hebei area.

Although it is not known how many troops there are at present, judging from the strength revealed by Zeng Jiwen's troops during the summer raid on southeastern Shanxi, it is likely that the number is no less than before.

Will Zeng Jiwen allow your Excellency, the Commander, to carry out a large-scale sweep of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region as you wish?

There were only two words in Okabe Naosaburo's mind: hard to say!

Okabe Naosaburo didn't want to do anything now. When he learned that Commander Sugiyama Moto was preparing to mobilize troops to start a large-scale mopping-up operation, he just asked the troops below to cooperate.

For the rest, all we have to do is hold Jin and wait for Yoshio Shinozuka to take over the position of commander of the First Army.

As for the situation in southern Hebei, that was none of his business.

He had a premonition that Ji'nan might soon become the next Southeastern Shanxi, and he didn't want to get involved in it anymore.

After all, the locust army can no longer organize a large-scale battle like the Battle of Wuhan. Unless the 389th Division in southeastern Shanxi overturns the entire North China, I am afraid that the masters in the headquarters will really care.

As the Japanese troops in North China began to mobilize vigorously as a whole, the commander-in-chief soon received a general understanding of the Japanese troop movements.

On the morning of the 1st, the General Command Headquarters.

At this time, in the headquarters, the deputy commander, deputy chief of staff and other staff began to mark the troop situation of both sides on the map.

Looking at this situation.

The deputy commander stood up and turned to the deputy chief of staff.

"Look, the North China Front Army came out excitedly this time, but ended up falling flat on their face."

"I'm afraid the 110th Division will now launch a sweep directly towards the Beiyue area."

Upon hearing this, the deputy chief of staff nodded.

"More than that. We predicted before that the Japanese troops in other directions would only move out after the 110th Division's mopping-up efforts were ineffective."

"Now, most of the Japanese troops in other directions have been dispatched."

"A large net has been set up around the entire Jin-Cha-Ji base area, waiting for Sugiyama Gen's order to begin the sweep."

Looking at the current situation, the deputy commander looked to the Tainan area.

"What's the current situation of Zeng Jiwen and the others?"

Hearing the deputy commander's words, the deputy chief of staff suddenly laughed.

"As for him, I think all his troops should have entered the combat zone by now. We are just waiting to see how the Japanese army in North China will react."

"Moreover, we also asked for Old Chen's artillery regiment and assigned Sun Yuqing from the Tainan First Military Sub-district to lead it."

"I guess he has a big appetite this time. I'm afraid he's secretly planning to go after more than just Shijiazhuang."

Hearing the deputy chief of staff say this, the deputy commander became interested.

"Why, three artillery regiments aren't enough!"

"Go ask around and see who among the troops below can match the arrogance of the Tainan Military Region, with three fully staffed artillery regiments."

"Commander Luo from Ludi told me that among the Eighth Route Army's several military regions, Ludi is the only one without an artillery regiment. He asked me to urge Zeng Jiwen to give him his artillery regiment."