Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

"It's not just about beating the rich, it's also necessary to learn from them."

The Deputy Chief of General Staff also agreed. "Indeed, I've only heard Zeng Jiwen talk about it these past few months, and I don't know how things are going there. I think, after a while, we should go over there and eat at their rich restaurant."

"That's possible. Look at what the telegram says. It says that after the war is over, the brother troops can go there for exchanges." The division commander responded.

"This is just a way of showing off to you, hahaha~" the Deputy Chief of the General Staff joked.

As news of the complete annihilation of the Japanese 108th Division during the attack on Changzhi spread, it immediately caused a huge sensation in China. At home, upon hearing the news, Mr. Li exclaimed "Great, Great, Great!" three times in succession, so overjoyed that he couldn't sleep all night.

In the Second War Zone, when the man in his mansion was called up and told the news, he was immediately excited. He knew that he was worthy of being Zeng Jiwen. But then he thought of himself being banished to Kenanpo, and his face began to look grim. As for why, I am afraid only he knows in his heart.

In Wuhan, the man who had been waiting for news from the 389th Brigade, after actually learning the actual news from the Second War Zone, leaned on the windowsill with his crutches and pondered for a long time, wondering what he was thinking about.

Meanwhile, at the First Army Headquarters in Taiyuan, Umezu Michiro was anxiously awaiting news from the 108th Division. After the 108th Division became unreachable, he received news from the 52nd Regiment below. However, soon, the 52nd Regiment also became unreachable.

This was undoubtedly a big surprise to Umezu Michijiro, who immediately began to contact the 14th Division in Handan to reinforce the 108th Division.

However, the 14th Division had been ambushed by local guerrillas since it left Handan, and had been stopping and starting on the road. It had just reached Wu'an. It had not made much progress along the way, but the number of casualties had increased by hundreds, which made Umezu Michijiro so angry that he kept cursing under his breath.

Not long after, Chief of Staff Okabe Naosaburo hurried into the headquarters office, holding a telegram to Umezu Michijiro with a panicked look on his face. He said, "Your Excellency, Commander, something terrible has happened. The intelligence department has reported that the entire 108th Division has been destroyed. Division Commander Shimomoto Kumamiya has served His Majesty the Heavenly Locust."

When Meizu Mijiro heard the news, his eyes went dark. He immediately snatched the message and read it in a panic. After a long while, he sat dejectedly in his chair and said to the chief of staff in a low voice,

"Let the people of the 4th Brigade and the 14th Division withdraw. There is no point in going now." Upon hearing this, Okabe Naosaburo said nothing and quietly left the office. The moment he stepped out of the office, the smile on the corner of his mouth could not be concealed.

If the First Army lost a division, Okabe Naosaburo would not be happy no matter what. After all, they were a locust army, and the loss of an entire division was unprecedented in the history of the army. If the navy knew about it, I wonder how they would laugh at the army's incompetence.

But it just happened that the entire 108th Division had just been transferred from the North China Front Army to the First Army along with Umezu Yoshijiro. Unlike the 109th Division, the 20th Division, and the 14th Division, the commander of the 108th Division, Kumamiya Shimomoto, was a close confidant of Umezu Yoshijiro. Moreover, this operation was personally planned by that guy Terauchi Hisaichi of the North China Front Army, and had nothing to do with their First Army.

At the same time, the 20th Division had already captured Pu County in southern Shanxi and was about to attack Yuncheng. Its front line was unstoppable, in sharp contrast to the 108th Division. This time, he wanted to see how these two men, one the commander of the North China Front Army and the other the commander of the First Army, would deal with the situation.

He was the chief of staff of the North China Front Army, but was sent to the First Army by that guy Terauchi Hisaichi. This was a huge grudge.