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"My military merit has reached 53, not bad!"

Looking at the balance, Xu Le smiled secretly. The iron mine has resumed production, and with the drilling machines and generators brought from the Zhaozhuang Iron Mine, plus the addition of 400 veteran miners from the logistics department, the output of the iron mine can almost double.

However, Xu Le faced another difficult problem, which was electricity!

The operation of all machines, including the lighting of the barracks, depends on electricity. However, the generator is a coal-fired generator and requires a large amount of coal.

Previously, there was very little remaining mineable material in the Zhaozhuang Iron Mine, so the coal left behind by the Japanese devils could be used up.

Due to the convenient transportation in Meidong Mountain, both the iron ore mined and the coal available for use are limited. Based on the existing coal reserves, they can only support a maximum of 7 days of use.

Xu Le now faces two choices. The first is to attack the Japanese coal mines. Jin Province is a major coal-producing province in the Tang Dynasty, and its coal reserves rank first in the entire Tang Dynasty.

But now all the coal mines are occupied by the devils, and then the mined coal is transported to the Northeast, or back to Fuso. This is the devil's plunder of the Tang Dynasty, including various metal resources, cultural relics, etc.

As luck would have it, there were no coal mines nearby Meidong Mountain, and the nearest coal mines were more than 100 kilometers away. The 176th Division could not disperse so far to fight.

The second is to purchase the system's fuel generators, which come in a variety of powers.

But there is a strange problem with the system. Except for light weapons, everything else is sold at a high price. For example, a 100-kilowatt diesel generator sells for 10 military merit points.

"There are several sizes of drilling rigs in iron ore mines at present, and the power of other equipment combined is about 200 kilowatts. Fortunately, it is only used for mining. If it is used for iron smelting, the power consumption will increase several times!"

After thinking about it, Xu Le finally chose the only way, which was to buy three 3-kilowatt diesel generator sets. Together with the electricity needed for the division headquarters and three departments, it was enough for stable operation!

Moreover, it is not very large in size and weighs less than 2 tons. If it is to be moved in the future, it can be transported by a Unimog truck.

The required diesel can also be obtained free of charge and in unlimited quantities through the Unimog truck's accessory options.

Xu Le had to give a thumbs up to this setting of the system again. This is equivalent to a one-time purchase and enjoying all the after-sales services for a lifetime.

However, he once tried to overcome the bug in the card system, but the system responded that all free accessories were not allowed to be sold and could only be used by oneself.

The plan to exchange spare barrels of guns and National Guards for steel fell through, and the plan to sell fuel also fell through...

......

Pu County.

Numata Tokushige sat in the command center without moving for a long time before he looked at the people standing below.

Two brigade commanders, three infantry regiment commanders, and a field artillery regiment commander with bandages on his head and arms were the senior officers of the 3th Division.

As for the commander of the quartermaster corps and the commander of the engineering corps, their military ranks were low and their status was much lower than that of the combat troops, so they were not qualified to come.

"Can anyone tell me what the frontier scouts do? Otsuka Noboru, you said that the best scouts in the entire division are in your artillery regiment. Tell me the information you have collected about the enemy!"

After the battle, Otsuka Noboru was sent to the division's field hospital for treatment. When he received the call from the division commander, he crawled out of bed.

After a moment, he whispered, "I'm sorry, Your Excellency the Division Commander. All of my scouts died for their country. No one survived!"

"asshole!"

Numata Tokushige slammed the table hard, and the water cup on the table fell to the ground. No one dared to move, and everyone lowered their heads and said nothing.

"I'm asking you, did you get any information about the enemy? Don't tell me that your entire field artillery regiment was wiped out and got nothing!"

"Yes!" Otsuka Noboru shouted loudly and then remained silent, with his head buried lower than anyone else. When the enemy's cluster artillery shells fell on the heads of his own troops, he already knew what his fate would be.

Without paying attention to Otsuka Noboru, Numata Tokushige looked at the commander of the 128th Brigade and said, "Okuyasu, your brigade was the main attack force. The 150th Regiment was almost wiped out, and the commander of the regiment, Yamamoto Shigenao, was captured. How do you explain this to me?"

Obof also bowed his head and said: "Your Excellency, the enemy's firepower is unclear, and there are many snipers. I also sent out several waves of scouts, but they were all killed by snipers before they even got close to the enemy's position.

In addition, the enemy used some unknown method to accurately hit our heavy firepower points with their artillery fire. We could not even defend our fortifications, let alone fight back. Some of them were destroyed before they were half built. Major Noguchi, the commander of the engineering regiment, knew this best, as his unit also lost more than half of its troops.

Since the captain of the engineering regiment was not there, Okubo directly shifted the blame to that side. No matter what Numata Norishige thought, it was better to have one more person to take the blame.

He also knew what he would face, and at least giving more reasons could reduce his responsibility.

It’s not that he was afraid of death. As the major general brigade commander of Fuso, appointed by the emperor himself, he wanted to survive and do more.

Numata Tokushige didn't know what to say. The 114th Division suffered such heavy losses, and he himself had an unshirkable responsibility. On the one hand, he underestimated the enemy and hastily engaged in battle without conducting detailed reconnaissance.

Moreover, the 114th Division was not originally established for garrison duty, but it has been undertaking garrison duties for some time. He wanted to avenge the murder of his brother by Tada Shun, commander of the North China Front Army, and take this opportunity to be transferred to the front line or perform combat missions.

But I didn’t expect that although I had imagined a beautiful future, the development would go completely the opposite.

They lost three fully staffed regiments, the field artillery regiment was gone, and the division lost its firepower. The cavalry was gone, and the division lost its assault force. The 150th Infantry Regiment was gone, and the 115th Regiment also lost half of its men, and the engineer regiment also lost half of its men, so the entire division's main combat force was less than half left.

"Alas, as the supreme commander, I also have an unshirkable responsibility for the failure of this battle. I will personally apologize to General Shinozuka Yoshio. As for Okuyasu and Otsuka Noboru, you two should go to the military court on your own! Endo Torapira should go as well!"

"Yes!" Endo Torappei was the captain of the 115th Infantry Regiment and belonged to the 128th Infantry Brigade. Their brigade was responsible for the main attack, while the 127th Infantry Brigade was responsible for the flank and rear security. They managed to escape the disaster!

"By the way, General Shinozuka Yoshio sent an order for our troops to return to Linfen to ensure the safety of traffic on the Tongpu Line and resist guerrilla attacks! We don't need to take care of the Tang army in Meidong Mountain anymore, there will be other troops coming to reinforce! Akiyama-kun, the troops will be temporarily handed over to you."

After saying this, Tokushige Numata walked away alone with heavy steps.

The next day, Numata Tokushige went to the First Army Headquarters in Taiyuan under the protection of several guards. Okuyasu, Endo Torapisa and Otsuka Noboru also followed him to Taiyuan by car. However, their final destination was not Taiyuan. Instead, they took a plane from Taiyuan to the North China Front Military Tribunal in Peiping.

.....