Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Hundred Regiments Offensive began on the 20th of August 1940 as a major strategic operation by the Eighth Route Army to dismantle Japanese prison cage policies in North China. This synchronized offensive spanned thousands of kilometers along railways including the Shijiazhuang Taiyuan Railway and targeted multiple fronts simultaneously.
Zhu De Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan jointly issued the Preliminary Battle Order on the 22nd of July 1940 outlining the campaign objectives against Japanese forces. Their directive mandated participation from at least 22 regiments drawn from the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region the 129th Division and the 120th Division.
Internal records indicate that losses of the Japanese First Army in the first phase amounted to 199 killed including 9 officers and 283 wounded including 15 officers. Two separate reports from the Eighth Army based on statistics before December 5 presented conflicting casualty numbers totaling either 21,338 or 46,000 combat successes.
Peng Dehuai faced unfair trials from the 1950s because he was charged with launching war without permission from the Central Military Committee according to historical documents. Red Guard groups issued leaflets in 1967 claiming Peng launched the offensive without consulting Chairman Mao as an adventuristic impulse leading to terrible consequences.
A memorial was erected in 1987 at the peak of Shinao Mountain in Yangquan Shanxi Province to commemorate this significant offensive. In 2010 a new edifice for the Hundred Regiments Offensive Memorial Hall was finalized containing historical artifacts and actual directives issued by Zhu De Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan concerning railway destruction.