Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

As the Fifth Division moved south, there were no other Japanese troops in Handan City at this time except for a puppet army corps and a security battalion.

At the same time, in addition to the supplies that the Japanese army had transported southward for many days being piled up in Shijiazhuang and Xingtai, Handan also stored a large amount of weapons and ammunition to support the south.

Because almost all the forces of the 5th Division and the 14th Division are currently concentrated outside Anyang City.

At this time, the Japanese troops in North China were focusing on Shanxi, Chahar, Hebei and northern Henan. Xingtai and Handan seemed to be ignored by all the Japanese troops.

Xun Bai, who had been keeping an eye on the Fifth Division, suddenly felt that this was a huge opportunity.

At this time, after more than half a month, the 4th, 5th and 6th military districts had already set up blocking positions and were waiting for the 5th Division to return for support.

At the same time, in order to prevent the Japanese troops in Shandong to the east from sending troops to support when the Japanese army returned, the three military divisions also expanded their defense lines eastward.

Now, we just have to wait for the troops of the entire military region to arrive at the designated positions, the 4th Column to take Handan, and the 5th Column to take Xingtai.

Then, under the organization of the local authorities, they prepared to empty the supplies from the two cities.

His discovery had already been reported to Zeng Jiwen. After learning about the situation in Handan and Xingtai, Zeng Jiwen immediately agreed to Xun Bai's battle plan.

Zeng Jiwen's original words were: "No matter how you fight in Xunbai, the Japanese troops in front of Anyang must not cross Zanhuang until the battle of Shijiazhuang is over."

Xun Bai, who received the original message from the division commander, immediately set out for Handan to survey the terrain.

Since the 4th Column had been active near Xingtai, Xun Bai already had a plan to capture Xingtai.

But the situation in Handan is still unclear.

When Xun Bai was outside Handan City and learned about the current situation in Handan from the locals, he immediately had a plan in mind.

Xun Bai now has nine regiments of troops from three military sub-districts. At the same time, there are nearly twenty local regiments of various sizes in the entire western Hebei area on the east side of Taihang Mountain.

After detailed consideration, Xun Bai decided that the 4th Column would attack Handan, the 5th Column would attack Xingtai, and the 6th Column would serve as a mobile force to respond to emergencies at any time.

At the same time, after the main force entered the city, supplies were immediately transferred to the Taihang Mountains by local regiments.

As for the time of siege, it was scheduled for the early morning of the 13th.

After capturing Handan and Xingtai, the 5th Division and the 14th Division in the south will definitely rush back to provide support at all costs, and this is the time to test the three regiments in the south.

23:30 on the evening of the 12th.

Outside Jingxing City.

At this time, three regiments of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region and an artillery battalion had quietly moved to the mountainous area around Jingxing.

According to local reconnaissance intelligence, the 79th Regiment of the 40th Brigade under the 20th Division was stationed in Jingxing at that time.

After this regiment was completely wiped out by the 389th Division last year, the Japanese army decided to reorganize the regiment. However, after the formation was completed, it suffered heavy losses in the large-scale mopping-up operation in southeastern Shanxi.

Together with the 80th Regiment under the 40th Brigade, when Zeng Jiwen's troops intercepted the equipment of the Taiyuan Arsenal on the Zhengtai Line last year, almost all the Japanese troops stationed in the strongholds along the Zhengtai Line were wiped out.

As a result, the 40th Brigade was used as a security force in subsequent operations.

At this time, the newly formed 79th Regiment, in addition to two battalions stationed in Jingxing County, also had a battalion and a puppet army corps stationed in the Jingxing mining area not far outside the city.

At this time, in the command center in the Qingshiling area, Commander Lu of the Fourth Division and the commanders of the three regiments were discussing how to surround the Japanese troops in Jingxing and attract the Japanese troops in Shijiazhuang to come out of the city for reinforcements.

According to the early combat plan for the attack on Shijiazhuang, the Jingxing area was under the charge of Commander Lu of the Fourth District.