According to the report of the reconnaissance unit, Lieutenant General Honma Masaharu believed that the Shina troops would fight him in a decisive battle outside Chongzuo Castle, so he spent some time here in the town of Jiangzhou to rest his troops. At present, in the hands of Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma, the Taiwan brigade has one and a half wings, and the 16th Division also has one and a half wings, plus the field artillery wing of the 16th Division, two tank brigades, and an independent field heavy artillery wing, the available strength is about 26,000 people.

In order to ensure that the troops were sufficient, Lieutenant General Honma Masaharu also incorporated the cavalry brigade and the engineer wing of the 16th Division into the combat unit, so that a total of 30,000 horses were gathered. Before the operation, Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma invited the commander of the 16th Division, Lieutenant General Shiro Makino, to the headquarters.

In the establishment of the 16th Division, there is an "epidemic prevention and water supply" brigade, which is actually a poison gas unit and a bacteriological and biochemical unit. Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma invited Lieutenant General Shiro Makino to come over, so that Lieutenant General Shiro Makino could use this "anti-epidemic water" force if necessary. Because of Wang Haitao's existence, there are not many cases of large-scale use of poison gas bombs by the Japanese army on the Chinese battlefield in history, and this is also because the Japanese side knows that Wang Haitao has a large number of poison gas bombs captured in his hands, and is afraid that Wang Haitao will retaliate with an attack. The 14th Army is a unit attacking Southeast Asia, and only in the 16th Division will there be such an establishment as the "epidemic prevention and water supply" unit.

After the Japanese army had made preparations, it finally began to advance towards Chongzuo City, but Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma and the headquarters did not move, leaving a brigade of gendarmes and a baggage wing of the 16th Division in the town of Jiangzhou. The troops advancing towards Chongzuo City were under the command of Lieutenant General Shiro Makino, and the forward was still a mixed brigade of Taiwan. Although Major General Ishimoto Zhenzhi, the brigade commander of the Taiwan Mixed Brigade, was a little unhappy, he had already issued a military order, and he would carry it out even if he was not happy.

As soon as the Japanese army left Jiangzhou Town, the reconnaissance unit of the reconnaissance brigade had already discovered the movement of the Japanese army, and a piece of information was quickly sent to the headquarters of Zhengzuo City. According to the intelligence of the reconnaissance unit, the Japanese army dispatched more than 30,000 people this time, and the chariot unit and heavy artillery unit left Jiangzhou Town. ”

Wang Haitao said with a smile: "These troops are almost all the troops that Honma Masaharu can take out, if you eat these 30,000 people, the commander of Honma Masaharu, will become the commander of the light pole." After everyone laughed for a while, Wang Haitao said: "Let Tang Xiaoshan reconnoiter the situation of the Japanese army in Jiangzhou Town, and see if he can recapture Jiangzhou Town and completely cut off the retreat of the Japanese army." ”

Tang Renxin responded: "Yes, Junzuo" turned around and asked the confidential officer to send a telegram to Tang Xiaoshan, and he said to Wang Haitao: "Junzao, when do you think it is appropriate to launch a general attack on the Japanese army?" Wang Haitao glanced at Tang Renxin and said with a smile: "This is up to you, the commander-in-chief, to decide, and you don't need to ask me for instructions." Tang Renxin nodded and turned his gaze to the sand table.

Tang Yikuan, commander of the 90th Division, also received information that the Japanese army had dispatched from Jiangzhou Town. Tang Yikuan called the two brigade commanders, Tang Yiqun and Zhang Lingfu, to the division headquarters, and said to the two: "It is only 15 kilometers from Jiangchuan Town to the position of our division, and if the Japanese army moves quickly, it will be able to arrive in half a day. During this period, neither the army's heavy artillery brigade nor the armored units can be exposed to violence, and you must be prepared for a hard battle. ”

Tang Yikuan and Zhang Lingfu both said: "Rest assured, we are all ready, and we will definitely drag Little Japan in front of the position." Tang Yikuan nodded and said: "Little Japan has heavy artillery to help in the war, the anti-artillery holes and bunkers you hastily built cannot prevent the Japanese heavy artillery, you must pay attention to the bombardment of the Japanese heavy artillery, to minimize casualties, the 90th Division is a unit that started from the military seat, and the casualties are too great, but I can't explain to the military seat." ”

Tang Yikuan repeatedly told the two of them before letting them return to the army to prepare for battle. Tang Yikuan returned to Wubei Mountain and called several regiment commanders under his command together, Tang Yikuan fully understood the situation of the position, and did everything he could, and then called several regiment commanders over, first, to tell them that the Japanese army had been dispatched from Jiangzhou Town, and would arrive in front of the position in about a few hours; second, he conveyed the words of the division seat to several people, telling them to pay attention to the bombardment of the Japanese heavy artillery and reduce casualties.

The mountain is not big or steep, and the slope towards the road is gentle, so it is not very difficult to climb. On the mountainside, 300 meters from the road, was the first line of positions of the defenders, which was garrisoned by the 1st Battalion of the 543rd Regiment. The 90th Division fought so many battles that it was a familiar road to build anti-dumping positions on the mountainous terrain. The length of this position halfway up the mountain is 150 meters, and it is a semicircular position built against the mountain.

The mountain behind the house is a rocky hill with few rocks, so the position is a trench dug out, and then a one-meter-high female wall is built with stones, and many shooting holes are opened in the wall. Behind the trenches was a leveled ten-meter-wide flat ground with sandbag shelters scattered among the twenty-four large and small caliber mortars of the first battalion. This is the best defense that can be done in this terrain.

Tang Weimin, the commander of the 543rd Regiment, came out of the brigade commander, and the first one came to the position of the first battalion. Tang Weimin said to Tang Yiqiang while watching the position: "Yiqiang, Little Japan is coming soon, you are the first place to exchange fire with Little Japan, you must play the prestige of our 543rd Regiment, Lao Tzu must avenge the Battle of Changsha this time!"

On the battlefield of Changsha, Tang Weimin lost his position because of carelessness, which made him unable to raise his head in the division for a while, this time the brigade commander Tang Yikuan handed over the task of taking the lead to him, Tang Weimin was grateful to the brigade commander at the same time, and made up his mind, that is, the whole regiment was wiped out, but also to hold the position and complete the task, as for the brigade commander just explained to minimize casualties, Tang Weimin did not go to his heart at all.

The 90th Division was ready to meet the enemy from top to bottom, but the Japanese army was nowhere to be seen. Mo Huaishan, the commander of a company under Tang Yiqiang, came to Tang Yiqiang's side and said: "Battalion commander, it's only more than ten kilometers from Jiangzhou Town to here, and Little Japan will be dispatched in the morning, why hasn't it arrived yet? This is too slow, and you should climb it, right?"

Tang Yiqiang spit out the grass roots in his mouth, and replied: "You ask me, who do I ask? Stay at ease and be prepared, little Japan will come at any time." Don't be careless and drop the chain, I won't be able to spare you then. Mo Huaishan said with a smile: "Battalion commander, if you put one hundred and twenty hearts, I Mo Huaishan will never drop the chain." As he was talking, the observation post hurriedly ran over and said, "Report to the battalion commander, little Japan is coming!"

When Tang Yiqiang and Mo Huaishan heard this, they both grabbed their binoculars and looked in the direction of the mountain pass in the distance, and sure enough, a line of Japanese troops appeared in the telescope. The Japanese army set out from Jiangzhou Town, and after entering the mountainous area, they began to raise their vigilance, marching very slowly, and in the complex terrain, they had to reconnoiter repeatedly before continuing to advance. Fortunately, including the 462nd Brigade on Natong Mountain, the troops along the way were well concealed and were not discovered by the Japanese army.

In this way, the fifteen-kilometer journey took the Japanese army seven hours to complete. At two o'clock in the afternoon, an infantry brigade of the Taiwan Mixed Brigade, which was the vanguard, came to the foot of the mountain behind the house. The Japanese already knew that there was a defensive position built by the Chinese army on Wubei Mountain, and this infantry brigade stopped its advance a kilometer from Wubei Mountain and set up a position in a more spacious place.

The Japanese army of 30,000 people stretched out for three kilometers along the mountain road, and there were also chariot troops and heavy artillery units, which was even more immense. In this way, if it is other troops of the national army, it is ten divisions, and they dare not say that they can completely annihilate the Japanese army, that is, Wang Haitao, dare to use three divisions that are not satisfied with the number of troops to lay a pocket formation for these 30,000 Japanese troops.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, one and a half infantry wings and a mountain artillery wing of the Taiwan Mixed Brigade arrived at the foot of the mountain back of the house, and dozens of mountain artillery units of the mountain artillery wing were also lined up in a good place. The brigade commander, Major General Sadamao Ishimoto, stood on a high place and observed the two positions of the defenders for a long time before deciding to launch an all-out attack on the Yabeishan position first.

If you only attack the position on the road, you will be flanked by the defenders on the mountain, but if you only attack the side of the position, you will be able to avoid the flank attack of the defenders on the road position because of the angle. Also, once you take the position on the back of the mountain, it is condescending and it is easy to take the position on the road. Therefore, Major General Sadanao Ishimoto naturally chose to attack the Yabei Mountain position first.

The mountain artillery wing of the Taiwanese mixed brigade first launched an artillery bombardment on the defenders' positions halfway up the mountainside. Although the defenders' positions on the mountainside were not too strong, the power of these old 75-caliber mountain guns of the mountain artillery wing was really limited, and the 20-minute shelling did not cause much damage to the positions on the mountainside. As soon as the shelling stopped, an infantry brigade began to attack the defenders' positions halfway up the hill from the flanks of the position.

The front of the halfway up the hill was facing the road below, and if the Japanese wanted to attack from the front, they would inevitably be caught between the two positions. In order to avoid the flank attack of the position on the road, the Japanese chose to attack from the flank of the position halfway up the mountain. However, the actions of the Japanese army were already expected by Tang Yiqiang, and Tang Yiqiang put the company with the strongest combat effectiveness here.

Seeing that the Japanese army began to climb up the mountain, Mo Huaishan, the commander of the first company, ordered the whole company to prepare for battle. In the shelling just now, the whole company was hidden in the trenches, covered by a female wall, and only eleven soldiers were killed or wounded. Hearing the order of the company commander, the soldiers of the first company were ready for battle. Six heavy machine guns, twelve light machine guns all protruded from the firing holes.