Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

The Chinese army currently stationed in Changzhi is the 47th Army under the 14th Army Group of the Second War Zone, and is directly commanded by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Second War Zone.

This unit was reorganized from the Sichuan Army, with Li Jiayu as its commander. It had two divisions, the 104th and the 178th, and a total of seven infantry regiments, with a total of about 18,000 people.

Zeng Jiwen looked at the map. Currently, the battles on the western front were primarily under the direct command of the Second War Zone, but the situation on the eastern front was less certain. The two armies belonged to different factions. Currently, to prevent the Japanese from capturing Changzhi, the two sides had to work closely together. However, Zeng Jiwen's memories from his previous time and space fully demonstrated how unreliable the army there was.

Fortunately, the 47th Army defending Changzhi fared much better than the rest of the Nationalist army. Its commander, Li Jiayu, was posthumously recognized as a renowned anti-Japanese hero in his original timeline. He enjoyed a harmonious relationship with our army on the Jin battlefield, and his troops demonstrated valor and strict discipline in the battle against the Japanese. It's a shame he died a heroic death on the eve of victory.

Zeng Jiwen was full of admiration for Li Jiayu and the Sichuan Army. In the Changzhi battle of the original time and space, part of the Japanese 108th Division and more than 1 puppet troops, under the cover of a large number of air forces and the cooperation of artillery and tanks, attacked Dongyang Pass.

The 178th Division of the 47th Sichuan Army, under the command of Li Zongfang, put up a tenacious resistance, relying on mountain fortifications. Battalion Commander Zhou Cexun led his troops in hand-to-hand combat, but was shot and killed. After two days of fierce fighting, the 178th Division, depleted of ammunition and food and suffering heavy casualties, retreated to Changzhi.

It can be said that the entire 47th Army truly practiced the words spoken at the Sichuan oath-taking ceremony: "A man will leave his hometown with a sword in hand and will not return until the Japanese pirates are wiped out. Why bury our bones in our hometown when the world is full of green mountains?" It is both praiseworthy and lamentable.

Moreover, in the battle of the 47th Army defending Changzhi, the large forces of the Japanese 108th Division surrounded Changzhi City from the east, west and north. On the evening of February 21, the Sichuan Army ran out of ammunition and food and withdrew from the south gate. More than 7000 brave Sichuan Army soldiers died heroically in this battle.

In the second half of the year, during the battles to defend Anyi County, most of the officers and soldiers of the 106th Regiment of the 178th Division died heroically in street fighting with the Japanese army. Only the regimental commander escaped from the battlefield and was executed by Li Jiayu.

It can be said that if Zeng Jiwen was asked to choose an opposing army to cooperate with on the battlefield in China, Zeng Jiwen would rather cooperate with the Sichuan Army led by Li Jiayu than with the Central Army, otherwise he might be sold out by the opponent at any time.

If the defenders in Changzhi were the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army or the Central Army, Zeng Jiwen would never accept the things given by the person from Shanxi. At most, when the Japanese army attacked, they would attack the baggage trains in the rear to slow down the Japanese army's advance and reduce the pressure on the defenders on the front line.

However, since it was the 47th Army that was guarding Changzhi, Zeng Jiwen immediately had a plan in mind.

After thinking for a long time, Zeng Jiwen said to Zhou Xi and Wang Zhuo beside him, "Old Zhou, Old Wang, please help me think about this. I have some new ideas for the defense of Changzhi."

Zhou Yi and Wang Zhuo, standing nearby, immediately showed interest. Zhou Yi jokingly said, "It seems that the money he spent was actually quite useful. If he knows how dedicated you are, he should give us more."

"Oh, Old Zhou, you are not satisfied with 500,000. You should know that our entire 18th Group Army and the New Fourth Army in the south only received 600,000 at the beginning of the year. This time, Old Yan is very generous." Wang Zhuo on the side laughed.

"That's not enough. We're also short on supplies back home. The brigade commander sent everything home after that one person brought it over," Zhou Xi explained with a smile. "You know, the last time we purchased raw materials, the brigade wasn't able to afford them, and then our families and headquarters took a large portion, draining us of almost all the funds. Now that we've received a windfall, we need to quickly make up for it."