Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

At the same time, Kazuki Seiji thought of something and turned to the chief of staff and said, "Order the aviation unit to conduct reconnaissance along the mountainous area south of the Shotai Line. The bomber formation will also set off. If the whereabouts of this ambush force are discovered, bomb immediately without asking for instructions."

Noon on the 6rd.

In the mountainous area west of Pingding, Zeng Jiwen and his men were hiding in a hidden cave that had been scouted in advance, eating dry food with everyone.

In this operation, Wu Lin led the 781st Regiment to block the 5th Division. After pretending to attack Jinzhong last night, he could return safely along Changning and Mafang areas. There was no need to worry about the 782nd and 80th Regiments following him. After the 783rd Regiment pretended to attack Yangquan and forced the Japanese army to retreat, he asked them to cover the political commissar and others.

However, there has been no news yet, and Zeng Jiwen couldn't help but worry. If the 82nd and 83rd Regiments were discovered by the Japanese army, it would be quite troublesome.

However, Zeng Jiwen's worries did not last long. He received a telegram from Zhou Shi, saying that the entire army had safely evacuated to Donghui and would be able to return to the base after dark at night.

However, this was a bit of a problem for him, as he was located west of Pingding County. To conceal his whereabouts, he couldn't go between Pingding and Xiyang. The Japanese army was probably already patrolling all the traffic routes. He could only go south through Zhanshang to the former 781st Regiment's base, then circle back to Dajinggou.

Not long after, Zeng Jiwen heard the buzzing sound of engines coming from the sky, and machine guns were firing from time to time. Afterwards, more than a dozen bombers began to drop bombs on some open areas.

Seeing this scene, Zeng Jiwen couldn't help but curse inwardly, "What a waste of ammunition! If the Japanese headquarters knew about your consumption, they would probably skin you alive." However, it seems that this time, Xiangyue Qingji was so angry that he was confused. Suddenly, his mood became much better.

When it got dark, the Japanese planes finally returned, so everyone immediately started to move forward with their equipment.

Evening, Taiyuan Command Office.

Chief of Staff Naosaburo Okabe handed the loss documents sorted out today to Seiji Kazuki.

Kazuki Seiji took the document and looked at it for a while, his face darkening. He had originally thought that only the equipment from Taiyuan and the supplies from North China had been lost, but he hadn't expected that the Japanese troops stationed in various places had also suffered heavy losses.

Of the Imperial Army troops along the Shotai Line, the 80th Regiment was almost completely destroyed, and the 77th and 78th Regiments of the 20th Division were ambushed by the Eighth Route Army after their reinforcements and return. The total number of casualties was more than 3,000, most of whom were injured by the Eighth Route Army guerrilla fighters. It can be said that the 20th Division was almost in a semi-crippled state.

The Fifth Division was not in a much better situation. When it went to reinforce, its cavalry regiment was completely wiped out, and the artillery of two battalions of the field artillery regiment was annihilated. The loss of nearly 30 artillery pieces and the casualties were close to that of an entire regiment.

The 119th Regiment in Jingxing not only lost the Jingxing Coal Mine, but almost all the equipment in the mine was destroyed. In addition, the casualties during the support operation were close to that of a battalion.

This does not include the security forces in the attacked counties and the Japanese troops in the surrounding strongholds. Taking the entire battle into account, the Eighth Route Army's operations resulted in heavy casualties for the First Army of the Shanxi Garrison Army.

It can be said that the Eighth Route Army's offensive directly led to the overall loss of the Imperial Army of approximately 10,000 people. What does 10,000 people mean? This is almost comparable to launching a large-scale battle on the front battlefield.

Kazuki Seiji thought about it for a long time, knowing that he would definitely be transferred back to Japan and might even be tried by a military court. He suddenly lost the mood to think about how to recover the equipment and fight back.