“Also, Comrade Xiao Yun mentioned in his telegram that they captured a complete bullet production line and a complete small and medium-caliber artillery shell production line from the enemy.
Right now, they’re lacking raw materials, military experts, and skilled technicians. They’re hoping that we can send some support from headquarters.
I think we should absolutely help the 399th Brigade. Although our headquarters has an arsenal, the equipment in the arsenal is quite outdated.
These military experts and technicians wouldn’t be as useful working at the headquarters’ arsenal as they would be with the 399th Brigade.
We should leave enough personnel at headquarters to keep the arsenal running, and send the rest to Xiao Yun’s side!”
The deputy commander nodded.
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This level of support was undeniably generous. If other brother units of the Eighth Route Army were aware of this, they would surely think headquarters was showing favoritism.
However, the deputy commander was considering the overall development of the Eighth Route Army.
The 399th Brigade was currently exceeding expectations, and he intended to develop them into the Eighth Route Army’s ace division.
The arsenal the 399th Brigade was preparing to build was the engine that would provide this ace division with a constant supply of power.
On paper, the 399th Brigade’s combat strength after reorganization seemed impressive, but this depended on having sufficient logistical support.
Otherwise, they would be like a silver gun with a pewter bullet, all show and no substance.
If they were to engage in even a couple of slightly larger battles, they would face the embarrassing situation of running out of weapons and ammunition.
If problems arose within the 399th Brigade because of this, the losses would not only be theirs, but also the entire Eighth Route Army.
Predictably, news of the 399th Brigade’s liberation of Shuozhou would greatly boost the morale of the entire nation’s anti-Japanese movement.
The 399th Brigade, having completely wiped out an entire enemy brigade and now having liberated Shuozhou City, would become a star ace division in the eyes of anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians across the country, serving as one of their spiritual symbols.
This would allow the 399th Brigade and the Eighth Route Army to attract talent and rapidly develop while simultaneously coating the 399th Brigade in a golden armor that could not be broken.
This meant that the 399th Brigade had to continuously win against the Japanese in the future, they could not afford to lose, otherwise, everything would be back to square one.
Therefore, headquarters had to do everything in its power to support the development and expansion of the 399th Brigade.
Once the 399th Brigade developed and expanded, it could also reciprocate by supporting headquarters and other Eighth Route Army units, forming a positive cycle.
As for whether other units might harbor some resentment and think that headquarters was showing favoritism, the deputy commander believed that most would ultimately understand the good intentions behind headquarters’ decision.
Even if a few didn’t understand, he was confident that he could use his prestige to suppress those voices.
However, this was still just an immature idea in the deputy commander’s mind, and he wasn’t the only one who had a say in how to do it or to what extent it could be achieved.
The deputy commander decided to consult with the commander, the instructors in Yan’an, and other senior officers.
With this in mind, the deputy commander began to draft a telegram.
Soon, a telegram was sent from headquarters to Yan’an.
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Yan’an quickly received the deputy commander’s telegram and after a meeting to discuss the matter, they agreed in principle to the deputy commander’s proposal and sent a group of dedicated intellectuals to Shanxi-North to assist the 399th Brigade in building an arsenal.
Among them were several former professors from the Imperial Capital University and Peking University, the rest were also university graduates with higher education.
In addition, Yan’an highly praised the 399th Brigade for liberating Shuozhou, making this battle a model case and disseminating it to officers and soldiers at all levels of the new Eighth Route Army forces for them to learn from.
The instructor even personally wrote a piece of calligraphy and asked the dedicated intellectuals who were about to go to the 399th Brigade to help bring it to Xiao Yun.
Shortly after the reply telegram was sent to the deputy commander, a cleartext telegram from Yan’an spread across the entire nation, inspiring soldiers and civilians across the country.
Across the country, amid a wave of defeats against the Japanese invasion, the 399th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi-North had managed to liberate the important city of Shuozhou in Shanxi-North after wiping out an entire enemy brigade.
For most people, this was undoubtedly a shot of adrenaline.
Many intellectuals who had been pessimistic about the anti-Japanese situation were once again filled with hope for victory.
Some had already been thinking of leaving after the 399th Brigade’s victory.
Now that the 399th Brigade had liberated Shuozhou, they finally packed their bags and resolutely set out from all over the country towards Shanxi-North, where the 399th Brigade was stationed.