Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

(This chapter is for today's check-in, you don't need to read it, it still needs to be revised.)

The hot air was filled with the smell of tobacco, and a detailed battle map and the latest battle intelligence were laid out on the long table.

In the conference room, the lights reflected the golden badges on the military uniforms, making the faces of everyone present look even more solemn.

Tada Shun sat at the head seat at the conference table, his eyes scanning the generals below.

Some of these people were the backbone of the North China Front Army, some were elite division commanders who came from the Kwantung Army to provide support in the south, and some were senior officers who had just been transferred from Central China.

The theme of this meeting was clear - to break the battlefield deadlock in North China and inflict heavy damage on the Eighth Route Army, especially the 389th Division led by Zeng Jiwen.

Most of the officers present were familiar with the situation in North China and were aware of the difficulty of the Eighth Route Army, especially the 389th Division.

But when they saw the troops involved in the operation - five Kwantung Army divisions, the main divisions of the North China Front Army, and the two divisions of the Central China Expeditionary Force heading north, they couldn't help but feel secretly shocked.

Such a massive deployment of troops, just to "destroy" the Eighth Route Army? This goal is too conservative.

Especially those division commanders who had just been transferred from the Northeast. Although they had heard about the defeat of the North China Garrison Army in the previous battle with the Eighth Route Army, they did not know the details.

They only knew that the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla tactics had caused considerable trouble to the garrison troops, especially the presence of the 389th Division, which made the war situation in North China even more confusing.

However, the Kwantung Army has now sent five divisions to provide support. Is this scale just to severely damage the Eighth Route Army rather than to completely encircle and annihilate it?

This made these newly promoted division commanders feel uneasy.

Years of combat experience told them that there might be a more complicated situation hidden behind this - the headquarters actually agreed and approved such a large-scale troop mobilization, what does this mean?

This shows that the Eighth Route Army, or more accurately, the 389th Division, had posed a serious threat to the Japanese strategic deployment in North China.

Several newly arrived division commanders from the Northeast looked at each other, thinking secretly:

After the meeting, they had to try to obtain more detailed battle reports to find out how big a threat this Eighth Route Army unit posed so that they could make the right response.

As the discussion deepened, First Army Commander Yoshio Shinozuka frowned slightly and finally spoke:

"Your Excellencies, have we considered this question? The Eighth Route Army's tactics have always been flexible and maneuverable. Will they notice before we complete our encirclement and withdraw early?"

As soon as these words were spoken, silence fell in the conference room.

Everyone knew that the Eighth Route Army's combat style was completely different from the traditional defensive tactics of the Chinese Army.

They would not defend the city to the death, but were good at maneuvering flexibly on the battlefield, using mountains, valleys and jungles to move quickly.

Once they sensed an encirclement, they would likely choose to evacuate quickly, avoiding the main engagement, and then resort to harassment tactics to wear down the Japanese offensive.

This is also one of the reasons why the Japanese army suffered repeated defeats on the battlefield in North China - they were accustomed to regular warfare, but when faced with guerrilla tactics, especially troops like the 389th Division that could compete with the regular army, the situation on the battlefield often became unpredictable.

Tada Shun's eyes narrowed, and he spoke slowly: "We must be fully prepared for this."

He pointed to the map and continued, "The General Staff must strengthen intelligence reconnaissance on the Eighth Route Army, especially the location of their command center.

We must ensure that their escape routes are completely blocked before the encirclement operation is launched.

If they realize this in advance and retreat, this battle will hardly achieve the desired effect."

"Hi!" The generals responded in unison, but some of them still had frowns on their faces, obviously still having doubts about the battle situation.

Many people present had heard of the combat effectiveness of the 389th Division. This unit was not only well-equipped, but also extremely experienced in combat, especially in guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare, demonstrating amazing capabilities.

Zeng Jiwen, the commander of the 389th Division, gave the Japanese army a headache with his command style on the battlefield.

Unlike traditional Chinese military commanders who were wedded to frontal combat, he was adept at employing flexible tactics, constantly searching for flaws in the Japanese defenses. His tactical thinking was even considered by some senior Japanese officers to be similar to the mobile warfare used to the north.

What's more troublesome is that the Eighth Route Army's tactics in the North China battlefield have changed in recent years.

They no longer rely solely on light weapons and terrain, but gradually establish a more complete firepower system.

According to intelligence, the 389th Division possessed a large number of mortars, heavy machine guns, and even captured Locust Army mountain artillery and armored vehicles.

What made them even more worried was that the Eighth Route Army seemed to have begun to form mechanized troops - this was what the top leaders of the Kwantung Army feared the most.

Faced with such a difficult enemy, Tada Shun understood that this operation must be carried out with extreme caution.

He ordered the General Staff to immediately formulate a more thorough combat plan to ensure that a heavy blow could be dealt to the Eighth Route Army in one go.

"Our first step is to ensure the blockade of the battlefield." He tapped the map. "From south to north, we must deploy ambushes along all possible routes of the 389th Division's retreat to prevent them from escaping."

"The second step is to adopt the 'hammer and anvil' tactic."

Tada Shun's eyes were grim. "We will use our main force as the 'hammer' to suppress the 389th Division of the Eighth Route Army head-on, while the five divisions of the Kwantung Army heading south will become the 'anvil'.

Block their retreat and force them into a circle."

"The third step is to concentrate superior forces to encircle and suppress the enemy." He looked at everyone.

"We must not repeat the mistakes of the past and must not allow the Eighth Route Army any breathing space."

Everyone nodded, but they still felt a little uneasy in their hearts.

With the end of the meeting, the large-scale encirclement and suppression campaign against the 389th Division of the Eighth Route Army was about to begin.

After the combat plan was finalized, the General Staff of the North China Front Army immediately began to deploy troops.

In this operation, the Japanese army assembled a huge force, attempting to use its absolute numerical advantage to encircle and annihilate the Eighth Route Army, especially the 389th Division.

In order to form sufficient suppressive force on the battlefield, Tada Shun decided to draw the main force from the North China Front Army and the Kwantung Army's southward troops to form the "Iron Hammer" force, which was responsible for suppressing the 389th Division head-on.

Then, to prevent the main force of the Eighth Route Army from retreating, Tada Shun ordered the elite troops of the Kwantung Army to move south to form an "anvil" to block the retreat route of the 389th Division.

In addition, two elite divisions of the Central China Expeditionary Force also joined the battle. Their main task was to provide reinforcements from the south and cooperate with the Kwantung Army to block the Eighth Route Army's retreat.

Taking into account the mobility of the Eighth Route Army, Tada Shun specially formed a rapid mobile force to be responsible for mobile support and encirclement operations on the battlefield.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of the operation, the General Staff also mobilized a large number of logistical and blockade forces.

When the order to mobilize troops was issued, the Japanese troops in the entire North China battlefield took quick action.

On the North China railway line, military trains loaded with soldiers advanced toward the front line, and the Kwantung Army's armored and cavalry units also began to move south.

On the front line, the various divisions of the North China Front Army entered combat positions, waiting for the order to attack.

However, at the same time as the Japanese army was mobilizing on a large scale.

The Eighth Route Army's reconnaissance personnel have also begun to take action. Intelligence is being urgently sent to the Eighth Route Army headquarters. The battle is about to enter a critical moment...