Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

Those ordinary people who could not leave Handan for various reasons also began to help the Eighth Route Army soldiers collect various mules, horses and other tools for transporting supplies.

As soon as the day broke, the entire local group and the people who were preparing to follow the soldiers to the base began to evacuate to the Taihang Mountains in the west.

Xun Bai stood outside the city, looking at the team evacuating towards the base, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if the seized materials were divided equally among the three military divisions, it would be enough for each division to expand its troops.

At the same time, with a large amount of food and cloth, their troops in western Hebei should be much better off this winter.

Although there had been no food crisis before, with the Huayuankou dike bursting, many people also came to their base, and the logistical supplies stored in the base, except for weapons, began to become scarce.

Although the division commander had previously ordered the troops to do everything possible to prepare and collect food to prevent sudden famines in the future, they were also reclaiming wasteland in southeastern Shanxi.

However, all this time lasted less than a year, and the early gains were very small. Although a lot of spoils were captured, as the troops expanded, it remained at a barely sufficient level.

Xun Bai believed that since Handan had so many supplies, Xingtai would probably not be far behind. Together with Shijiazhuang's, the troops would not have to worry at least until next summer's harvest.

Previously, the division commander issued orders to various troops, asking them to help the local area build canals, flood control irrigation and other water conservancy facilities to prevent possible floods or droughts in the future. However, all of these require a large amount of food. After all, we can't expect the soldiers to work on an empty stomach.

After all, these large-scale projects are undoubtedly very physically demanding. Once these projects begin, the food stored in the base will be completely insufficient.

Not long after, Xunbai received telegrams from the 5th and 6th columns.

Xingtai has been captured by their two columns, and the Japanese regiment left in the city has also been eliminated by their two columns and six regiments. They are now organizing personnel to transport supplies.

After receiving the news, Xun Bai knew that the Japanese army would probably return to support immediately, and the entire North China Front Army might be mobilized as a result, so he immediately ordered someone to send the news of the recovery of Handan and Xingtai to the military district headquarters.

Tainan Military Region Headquarters.

At this time, Zeng Jiwen and Wang Zhuo, along with a group of headquarters staff, were busy looking at the news summary documents from various places.

Starting from last night, Zeng Jiwen and others began to pay close attention to the situation on the front line.

At present, on the Zhengtai line, they have received the message from Huang Hanjia.

Although some accidents occurred along the way, the two battalions from Shijiazhuang that came to reinforce Jingxing were annihilated in Shangxia'an Village by Huang Hanjia's men. At the same time, a Japanese battalion that came to reinforce from Yangquan was also annihilated at Nanyu Station.

Although the Jingxing regiment retreated to Jingxing with a part of the Japanese troops due to the Japanese army's crazy breakout in the wild, Jingxing has now been surrounded by three reinforcement regiments, and the remaining Japanese troops of this regiment will be wiped out in Jingxing County soon.

When the action took place early this morning, the neighboring Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region also began to follow the third phase of the combat plan. Commander Yang of the First Division concentrated his troops and began to prepare to drag the Independent Mixed Brigade No. 4 located in Yun County.

Other troops in the Fourth Division have also withdrawn to the Xingtang area.

The six regiments of Laiyuan also began to march quickly towards the Quyang area of ​​Fuping.

At this time, the telegraph operator handed the message that Xun Bai of the Fourth Column had recaptured Handan and Xingtai to Zeng Jiwen who was looking at the map.

Zeng Jiwen took the telegram and his expression relaxed immediately when he saw that Xun Bai had finished the matter.