The winter offensive launched by the Eighth Route Army in the previous period caused heavy losses to the Japanese army stationed in Shanxi. Not to mention the majority of Shuozhou, Datong and Xinzhou, most of the troops stationed in those places were completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.

With the end of the winter offensive, reinforcements drawn from North China finally advanced into Shanxi and followed Itagaki's order. At the same time, considering that Suiyuan and Datong were recovered by the Eighth Route Army, a main division of Kanto Army immediately went south.

According to the combat arrangements of the North China Front Army, the main division of the Kwantung Army heading south will cooperate with the Japanese and puppet troops stationed in Zhangjiakou area to attack Datong and Suiyuan. The main attack direction of the Kwantung Army Division is the Suiyuan area under the charge of the independent column.

In view of the Japanese army's upcoming full-scale encirclement and suppression war, He Zhengdao temporarily handed over the matter of the Steel Plant to other people for responsibility. He soon received instructions from the Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army headquarters to prepare for the next battle of defense of Suiyuan.

The first two times were attacking Suiyuan, but now they are defending Suiyuan. He Zhengdao was mentally prepared for such a role change. The artillery brigade and cavalry units of the independent column were also gathering.

Considering the current severe situation in central China, in order to prevent the reunion of the Tuofeiyuan Division and the Shanxi Expeditionary Army, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters finally agreed to He Zhengdao's proposal and dispatched a reconnaissance regiment to sneak into the Changzhi area for harassment.

Focus on cracking down on and destroying the Japanese logistics supply line, striving to mess up the Changzhi area and give the Jinsui army an opportunity to take advantage of it. At the same time, Xu Xiang, the former unit of the 117th Division, which entered the Shanxi-Shandong-Hebei region, will also cooperate with the reconnaissance regiment's operations behind enemy lines.

At the same time, after some consideration, in order to ensure that the situation in Xinzhou and Luliang does not get out of control, the Eighth Route Army headquarters generated power to the 129th Division and ordered its main force to advance into the Xingtai area and enter the enemy's rear to fight, and support the battles in Shanxi, Shandong and Hebei.

When the Eighth Route Army made this strategic arrangement, facing the Japanese army that was coming in a fierce and unrestless way, the Jinsui army, whose troops were squeezed in Linfen and other places, also had no choice but to ask the National Government for help.

Unfortunately, the Central Army is now focusing on the Battle of Xuzhou. Regarding Yan Xishan’s request for help, the first war zone closest to him could not be dispatched to support him.

What even made Yan Xishan feel a little disappointed was that Cheng Qian, the commander of the First War Zone, also saw the Japanese's plan to attack Zhengzhou on both sides. He also sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, hoping that the Shanxi Sui Army could block the Shanxi Expeditionary Army going south.

Faced with such a situation, Yan Xishan, who had always been vigilant about the Eighth Route Army, finally said: "Send a telegram to Commander-in-Chief Zhu of the Eighth Route Army, hoping that for the sake of friendly forces, they can help restrain the Japanese.

If our Jinsui Army is exhausted, the pressure they will face in the future will be greater than that now. Since the Central Army has no time to pay attention to our lives and death, we can only find a way out on our own, and we can't wait to die!"

After receiving a telegram for help from Yan Xishan, Mr. Zhu also smiled and said, "It seems that Yan Laoxi really can't hold on anymore! When sending such a telegram, it seems that Yan Xishan is with Lao Chiang, and probably has not been able to pull reinforcements, so we can only help."

Listening to Mr. Zhu's words, Mr. Peng also smiled and said, "The Central Army is unable to protect itself! The first war zone closest to them is probably already in panic at this time. I still feel worried about protecting myself, so what if there are troops to support Yan Laoxi?

Forget it, although Yan Laoxi is a bit fence-skinned, we belong to the same war zone and cannot do anything that we don’t want to save. When the reconnaissance regiment arrives, we order our front-line troops to launch some tentative offensive cover reconnaissance regiment operations.

No matter what, now the Japanese want to deal with the Jinsui Army first and then work together to deal with us. If the Japanese can get involved with the Jinsui Army for a longer period of time, it will be very powerful for us. This is a busy situation, helping others and yourself!”

‘Yes! Maybe only at this time will Yan Laoxi truly feel that we are his friendly forces. It is probably impossible to rely on the Central Army to solve his problems. I hope that after this time, he will truly regard us as friendly forces.’

After some discussion, General Zhu quickly responded to Yan Xishan's telegram asking for help, saying that he was "bringing brothers" to the troops stationed in Luliang and Xinzhou would launch corresponding attacks to restrain the main force of the Japanese army in Shanxi.

After receiving a telegram from President Zhu, Yan Xishan felt a little ashamed of his readily agreed without any additional conditions. It seemed that he wanted to keep his current area and should really get closer to the Eighth Route Army in the future.

In the Jinsui Army, the National Government, which also sent a lot of intelligence personnel, soon learned the news. Lao Jiang, who received this information, also felt a little unhappy, but seemed helpless.

The current situation is very unoptimistic. The performance of the two direct troops on the Lanfeng battlefield also made him feel embarrassed. He even used the excuse that the radio was bombed and could not contact the First War Zone. Huang Jie, who gave up Shangqiu, was dismissed and investigated.

Originally, according to Li Zongren's intention, such generals who led the troops to escape without firing a shot should be engaged in military law. How can a mere dismissal and investigate the matter? How can a mere resignation and investigation of the anti-Japanese generals who were afraid of death?

Unfortunately, Lao Jiang has always favored his direct generals. Although Huang Jie's actions are a bit hateful, he really wants to apply his military law, Lao Jiang is also worried that it will make other direct generals feel disappointed.

As May just entered, there were wars everywhere in North China, Northwest China and Central China. Many people also realized that the war between North China and Northwest would be the responsibility of the Eighth Route Army.

As for the war in central China, the Central Army will also be fully responsible. This change in the situation has led many people who are waiting and watching to come to a conclusion. That is, the Eighth Route Army, whose strength seems to be growing after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.

It can even be said that the number of Japanese troops that the Eighth Route Army has now eliminated has exceeded that of the Central Army in the front-line war of resistance. Many people find such a result incredible, but they know that this is an ironclad fact.

A capable army will naturally be loved and admired more. Knowing that the Eighth Route Army lived a hard life in Shaanxi, the donations raised from overseas began to be handed over to the Eighth Route Army.

When he heard about this situation, Lao Jiang felt very dissatisfied. But he also knew that compared to the Eighth Route Army's performance on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War, the Central Army that he relied on for his value and trust made him repeatedly disappointed.

In this case, Chiang Kai-shek could only warn Li Zongren that he would fight a turnaround battle on the front battlefield to clear the reputation of the Central Army. Otherwise, as the Central Army of the National Regular Army, he would be afraid that he would not be able to raise his head and be a human being.

Looking at the telegram sent by Jiang Jiang, Li Zongren also said: "Don't take other people's troops seriously, but he feels sorry for the casualties of his own troops. How can such completely different treatments make the soldiers of the three armies use their lives?"

On the other hand, Bai Chongxi, who served as the chief of staff of the command center, smiled and said, "From this telegram, we can see that our chairman is a little anxious. People are fighting in North China, but we are fighting here but not satisfactory.

It is said that we are regular soldiers, and they are beggar-style guerrilla troops. But they recaptured Suiyuan and Datong, and even destroyed a Japanese division. Although this matter is a bit incredible, it is also worthy of admiration.

Commander-in-chief, it seems that we must have a fight with the Japanese in the next battle. The blocking troops sent to Taierzhuang this time are all troops that dare to fight with the Japanese in the Japanese. I believe that something like Lanfeng should not happen.

Although we failed in Teng County, we are also worthy of our admiration for the Sichuan Army that blocked the Japanese army for nearly a week. Now the defensive fortifications in Taierzhuang have been completed, and all we can do is wait for good news."

‘I hope so! To be honest, I feel really tired when commanding so many troops to participate in this battle. I finally understand why the commissioners sometimes feel tired and want to concentrate their power.

Such a coalition seems to be strong, but in fact there are too many troops with small thoughts. Any mistake in the arrangement may affect the comprehensive layout. In this regard, we are really inferior to the Eighth Route Army!’

‘Yes! However, I’m afraid the life of the Eighth Route Army will not be very easy. According to what we have learned, the 12th Division of the Kwantung Army stationed in the puppet Manchukuo has gone south to cooperate with the North China Front Army to attack the base of the Eighth Route Army.

In addition to the two divisions currently stationed in Shanxi, as well as other subordinate troops drawn by the North China Front Army, the Eighth Route Army will face more than 100,000 Japanese main troops. This is also a tough battle!’

Although Li Zongren also considered whether to ask the Eighth Route Army to draw a main division to cooperate with their blocking war in central China. However, under the current circumstances, I am afraid that the Eighth Route Army will not be able to send reinforcements.

The reason is very simple. The Eighth Route Army needs to bear no less blocking pressure than them. In this case, if the Eighth Route Army draws a main division to increase, the Eighth Route Army will probably not agree.

But no matter what, with central and northwest China, north China has been in trouble again. The main forces of the Eighth Route Army, which had just been resting for more than two months, also began to gather combat and plan to welcome the heavy troops of the Japanese army.

On the other hand, He Zhengdao, who was turning to Yan'an, reported to the central leaders about the matter of the steel factory, and then took a car back to Yulin the next day to preside over the subsequent anti-encirclement and suppression battle.

In this case, the marriage application had been approved, and even the cave distributed to them by the central government, He Zhengdao had no time to think about it. He met Chen Siya and said goodbye after chatting for a few words.

As for how long the battle will take and what it will end up, He Zhengdao is also unsure of his mentality. But he knew that only by winning this time the Eighth Route Army could maintain the current good development situation.
Chapter completed!