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Although not all of the 114th Division was transferred to Fencheng and Xinjiang, it was a mobilization of tens of thousands of troops. There was no need for the Intelligence Department to deliberately investigate this, as anyone with eyes could see it.

Xu Le was the first one to know about this, but he was not in a hurry. However, Jiang Feng and the three team leaders were anxious.

Jiang Feng temporarily put aside the work of the three major departments and took the lead in convening an emergency meeting. Everyone expressed their opinions and discussed for most of the day. Finally, they summarized several plans and then found Xu Le, who was enjoying himself all day.

"Young Marshal, the large-scale mobilization of the Japanese is obviously aimed at our 176th Division. The intelligence department has collected detailed information about this unit. I'm here to ask you for your instructions!"

"Ah!" Xu Le opened his mouth wide. Xiaohuan next to him fed a piece of beef jerky into his mouth, while Xiaocui massaged his shoulders.

He's a typical second-generation rich kid!

It's no wonder that everyone felt more at ease after knowing that their young commander was like this, because Xu Le was like this before.

"Which unit of the devils is this?"

"It's the Japanese 114th Division, whose commander is Lieutenant General Tokushige Numata. The 127th Infantry Brigade has two infantry regiments, the 66th Infantry Regiment and the 102nd Infantry Regiment.

The 128th Infantry Brigade under its command also has two infantry regiments, namely the 115th Infantry Regiment and the 150th Infantry Regiment.

In addition, there is the 18th Cavalry Battalion, the 120th Field Artillery Regiment, the 114th Engineer Regiment, and the 114th Quartermaster Regiment.

It is the Japanese's powerful 44th Type B division.

Previously, the 114th Division had been roaming around Shanxi Province and had many battles with the Shanxi Army, which suffered heavy losses at its hands.

Now their 127th Infantry Brigade has all moved to Fencheng, and the 120th Field Artillery Regiment and the 115th Infantry Regiment have also taken over the area around Xinjiang. It is not known whether the rest of the division's troops will be transferred here, but this has already formed a strong encirclement trend for Zhaozhuang!"

Upon hearing that it was the Japanese 44th Division, Xu Le put away his enjoyable expression and asked the two girls to retreat.

Apart from the permanent Type A divisions, the Japanese had few Type 10 divisions, and their combat effectiveness was so strong that it would take at least National Guards to barely fight against them.

"The 114th Division is certainly strong, but from this wave of their deployment, we can see that our firepower has not been leaked. Otherwise, we would not have sent so many infantry regiments. We should have sent heavy artillery and armored units first."

After thinking for a while, Xu Le continued to ask: "By the way, how is the final finishing work of Zhaozhuang Iron Mine going?"

"Zhaozhuang Iron Mine previously had more than 400 miners and a monthly output of about 250 tons of ore. Since the 665th Regiment was sent to help, the output has increased nearly fivefold, and 5 tons have been mined in the past few days. This is when there is insufficient equipment. If there is enough equipment, the output can be increased to 350 times."

"Well, 350 tons. I'm afraid we won't be able to mine anything more!"

"Yes, yesterday's output was only 15 tons, and there were two small collapse accidents, injuring more than 30 people, but no deaths occurred."

Xu Le stood up and made the decision: "In this case, let's give up this iron mine! There is no need to take risks for that little bit of iron. The Japanese are mobilizing troops to deal with us, right? Let's do as they wish and open the door so that they can see for themselves!"

"Young Marshal, what you mean is that our troops should withdraw from Zhaozhuang, leaving an empty shell for the devils?"

"Yes, it's not just Zhaozhuang, it's almost time to give up Fanzhuang too. If we stay here for too long, the Japanese will get their hands on us sooner or later!"

Jiang Feng also agreed: "Fanzhuang is located on the edge of the Huoyan Mountain. Although there are rolling hills and rivers as barriers, as long as the Japanese conduct a small-scale sweep, they can easily find the location of our headquarters!"

"That's secondary. Given the devil's character, they will definitely vent their anger on the surrounding people. The density of villages around Fanzhuang is high, so it's easy for them to be implicated!"

As Xu Le spoke, he pointed to the location on the back of Fanzhuang on the map and said, "I have already thought about it. After the troops have completely withdrawn from Zhaozhuang, our division headquarters will move northward in the direction of Pu County.

There are three roads connecting Pu County, which are very suitable for the mechanized operations of our troops. In addition, there is an iron mine in Meidong Mountain, 3 kilometers south of Pu County. Although its scale is similar to that of Zhaozhuang Iron Mine, it has only been mined for a few years and is at its peak.

Meidong Mountain is easy to defend but difficult to attack. According to intelligence, it took the Japanese three days and three nights to occupy this iron mine. The Jin army counterattacked several times but failed to recapture it, and suffered heavy losses instead! "

Jiang Feng was shocked. He must have known this information. "Young Marshal, are we going to attack Meidong Mountain? I think this matter needs to be carefully considered. I think the mountain village next to Meidong Mountain is very suitable for us. It is also easy to defend and difficult to attack. It can also block the traffic between the iron mine and Pu County."

"The Japanese must have deployed troops in the mountain village, and we must control it. And there is more than one road to the Meidongshan Iron Mine.

There is one road to the village in the north, one road to Baozidong in the northwest, and one road to Nanyao in the southeast. These three roads intersect at the iron mine, so if you want to occupy the surrounding area, the first place you have to attack is the iron mine. As long as you occupy that point, you can control the area within a radius of 50 miles! "

Xu Le didn't think that Jiang Feng didn't understand this. Looking at the other party's somewhat conflicted look, he understood his considerations.

"Hey, are you worried that we can't take over the Meidongshan Iron Mine?"

"Young Marshal, if Meidong Mountain didn't have the iron mine, it would just be an ordinary hilltop, but it has natural advantages, plus the enemy's deployment, we can take it down, but I'm afraid there will be a lot of casualties!"

"You don't have to worry about this. I know you want to attack Meidong Mountain by siege. In this case, we must divide the troops into three parts, which will disperse our combat effectiveness!

And don't forget that siege takes time. The entire Shanxi Province is occupied by the devils. If the devils' reinforcements arrive within three days, we will be surrounded.

Especially since Pu County has a road that goes directly to Linfen, a major city more than 100 kilometers away, where the Japanese elite are stationed. Their vanguard mobile forces can reach the vicinity of Pu County within half a day!"

Jiang Feng finally compromised. He understood what Xu Le said, but the 176th Division had won huge victories at a small cost in recent battles, which made him accustomed to this method.

With this sudden strong attack, the losses suddenly increased, and I felt a little reluctant!

Although he didn't know why Xu Le cared so much about the iron ore, he understood one thing: every time the escort team sent away a batch of iron ore, Xu Le would bring a batch of weapons and equipment.

"Okay, it's up to you, young commander. This will be a tough nut to crack. We now have three regiments. Which direction should we focus on, and which regiment should be the main force?"