Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

"After we build our military factory, we'll need a lot of industrial machinery. My family's really worried about money right now. If we don't procure a lot of machinery now, it'll be very difficult later." Zeng Jiwen explained to the two of them, "It's inconvenient for us to handle these things on the front lines, so let our family take care of it."

The two men couldn't help but nodded immediately. Once the Eighth Route Army had its own military industry, the development of the entire Eighth Route Army would be able to be rapidly improved, instead of relying on captured goods and supplies from the opposite side, which might be cut off one day.

After saying that, Zeng Jiwen continued to talk to the two people, "Look, this is Wu'an. Currently, the 108th Division is basically stationed here. When the Japanese army attacks Changzhi, except for the 52nd Infantry Regiment of the 104th Brigade, the Nakamura Regiment, which went south to Henan to capture Xinxiang and then north to attack Jincheng, all other troops must go through Shexian County, Shentou Township, Dongyang Pass, and then to Licheng."

"Although the Handan-Changzhi Highway offers convenient transportation, it is mostly mountainous, with dangerous terrain and numerous strategic passes. Our 389th Brigade currently has nearly 30,000 main combat troops. Together with the nearby local regiments and the 47th Army, the total number exceeds 50,000, while the Japanese army only has over 20,000."

"As for weaponry, our current firepower, aside from our air and armored strength, is completely comparable to this Japanese division. Why should we defend? We can just take the initiative and set up ambushes along the Handan-Changzhi Highway, cutting off the 108th Division like a sausage, dividing and encircling it."

"Although we cannot completely annihilate the Japanese army, we can still annihilate most of them. In this way, we can lift the siege of Changzhi and completely cut off the connection between western Hebei and southeastern Shanxi along the Handan-Changzhi Highway."

When Zeng Jiwen finished speaking, the two were quite surprised. They originally thought that this time they were just cooperating with the defenders in Changzhi area to delay the Japanese offensive, but they didn't expect that Zeng Jiwen's idea was to severely damage this army.

Since July 7, under the offensive of the Japanese army, the Chinese army has been retreating throughout North China and Central China. However, because all parties put aside their differences and united in the early stage, they gave the Japanese army a powerful counterattack on various battlefields.

Although most of North China has fallen and the Battle of Xuzhou is in full swing, the overall anti-Japanese atmosphere is not as depressed as it will be the year after next.

So at this moment, when Zeng Jiwen expressed his idea of ​​severely damaging the 108th Division, the two were just surprised, rather than worried about whether it would work.

After thinking about it carefully, he suddenly realized that this idea was not impossible. There were too many places for ambush on both sides of the Handan-Changzhi Highway, and as soon as his troops left the city, they would be basically under the nose of the 389th Brigade.

Moreover, the two powerful weapons that the brigade commander had come up with before could easily cause heavy casualties to the Japanese armored forces and infantry.

The only thing we are worried about now is the Japanese planes. In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, the main time of this battle will probably be at night.

However, Zeng Jiwen thought that it would be possible during the day. In Zeng Jiwen's plan, he would lure the Japanese army deep into the Handan-Changzhi Highway and block them in sections. According to the current firepower of his own troops, he could completely use the troops as companies and platoons to penetrate the Japanese army with firepower, divide them into small pieces and annihilate them.

In this way, when the troops are completely intertwined with the Japanese army, the planes overhead will become useless. It is still the early stages, and the Japanese army has not experienced a major defeat and will not bomb their own people.

So, after Zeng Jiwen told the two of them about his plan, Zhou Shi expressed his concern to Zeng Jiwen.

"Brigade Commander, is this feasible? Many soldiers have only just learned how to march and infiltrate. Isn't this a bit risky?"

"Except for the newly formed regiment, the seven old regiments are basically trained. We can let the new regiments set up the ambush, and let the old regiments conduct the offensive and penetration."